sir-phineas-lost

[sir-phineas-lost]

Yes! Particularly the part about Aang's unwillingness was less about "killing" than it was about "murder". We can suspend our disbelief and accept that the Gaang has somehow not killed anyone even indirectly with all their cool fight-scenes but even if we don't and say that at least a few soldiers have died, in the last few episodes Aang was asked to not just go into a fight intending to kill but to make sure he acts as the world's executioner. That is a big difference.

Also, very good point about how the surprise reveal of energy bending actually proves that a Deus ex Machina can enhance a story sometimes. That is not a perspective I ever considered.

Sometimes I think about how and why some people had such a *bad* reaction to the end of Steven Universe, specifically in regards to the Diamonds living.

Even though they no longer are causing harm to others and are able to actually undo some of their previous harm by living, some folks reacted as though this ending was somehow morally suspect. Morally bankrupt, even.

And I think it might be because so many of us were raised on a very specific kind of kids media trope:

They all fall to their deaths.

Disney loves chucking their bad guys off cliffs. And it makes sense- in a moral framework where villains *must* be punished (regardless of whether their death will actually prevent further harm or not), but killing of any kind is morally bad for the hero, the narrative must find a way to kill the villain without the protagonists doing a murder.

It's a moral assumption that a person can *deserve* to die, that it is cosmically just for them to die, that them dying is evidence that the story itself is morally good and correct. Scar *deserves* to die, but it would be bad for Simba to kill him. So....cliff. (edit: yes, cliff then hyenas. But cliff first. Lol.)

Steven Universe, whatever else it's faults, took a step back and said "but if killing people is bad, then people dying is bad", and instead of dropping White Diamond off a cliff, asked "what would actual *restorative*, not punitive, justice look like? What would actual reparations mean here? If the goal is to heal, not just to punish, how do we handle those who have done harm?" And then did that.

Which I think is interesting, and that there was pushback against it is interesting.

It also reminds me of the folks who get very weird about Aang not killing Ozai at the end of Avatar. And like, Ozai still gets chucked in prison, so it doesn't even push back on our cultural ideas of punitive justice *that much.* and still, I've seen people get real mad that the child monk who is the last survivor of a genocide that wiped out his entire pacifist culture didn't do a murder.

[sir-phineas-lost]

Look, on one hand I wholeheartedly agree, because you are right that it just doesn't make sense and it is very obviously one-sided, but on the other hand I think you are giving the narrative way too much credit in thinking that there is some secret reveal that is going to come up and make it all fit together. Despite what the story claims to be about, the one-sided-ness is very much the real point.

From the very beginning, the story has been completely uninterested in ever treating the exile as anything other than the ur-example for why dark magic is bad and why humans are the ones who are really to blame in the conflict. It initially seems to make the humans sympathetic and frame the conflict as nuanced and complicated, but with every new thing we learn about it that perspective has only ever shifted in Xadia's favor. To begin, the return from the exile to their ancestral lands is the villain's original motivation (later revealed to be just personal issues). Then we learn that humans totally had magic before dark magic came along and "corrupted" them, and that they totally killed off all the kind unicorns, and that the exile was really a mercy when you think about it, and finally that the western side of the continent had all the same resources and it's humanity's own fault that they don't have any magic left.

Like, the point is so obviously blatant because there was no reason for Anya revealing that little nugget of information in context (Duren having one of the last cashes of magical resources works just as well if Magic used to be rare in the West rather than abundant). In fact her story completely breaks down if you apply some logic to it. If the West used to be "just like Xadia" then how come it is now full of regular plats and animals? To my knowledge we haven't seen as much as a blade of grass in the East that isn't magical so either regular flora and fauna doesn't exist there or it is so rare that it is negligible in the ecosystem. So how exactly did such a minuscule amount grow enough to completely replace the magical ecosystem after its complete strip-mining? If non-magical life used to be the majority in the West while magic was sparse, it would make sense that it wouldn't be too strongly impacted when magic disappears and it would replace the barren pockets in time. But you pointed out yourself that a small enough population would be unable to reproduce and if they used to be the minority of life compared to the magical species then they would also have been reliant on them to survive. It doesn't even make sense to drop this lore here from a narrative perspective since the current conflict has long since moved on from dealing with the exile, but the writers would apparently prefer to break their own lore completely than let an opportunity to chastise humans for their own suffering slip by.

Do I think the show is ever going to come straight out and say that last bit, or that the exile was totally justified? No, but I think they will keep doing exactly what they have been doing so far, which is downplay and ignore any exploration the ethnic cleansing that took place in the opening scene while dropping constant bits of lore that put more blame on humanity not just for the state of magic but their own situation as well. The best we get is our main characters finally dealing with some of their personal anger over Xadia's recent actions, but when it comes to exploring the larger history of the conflict and the worldbuilding it implies, the show just isn't interested in nuance and wrecking your brain for it to make sense is a futile effort.

... wait, that's not even a unicorn

[sir-phineas-lost]

Giving them the benefit of the doubt here, I just assumed it was an animation error that the orb suddenly disappeared into thin air when Aaravos dropped the staff. It cuts away the instant the glass shatters and the orb seems to just vanish into nothing or dust.

Ways to stop Aaravos using the sun orb:

1. Make the difficult decision to destroy it, a course of action that will also destroy your ancient capital, erasing any hope of one day returning there, plus you have to rope in your most distrusted (and untrustworthy) mage in order to do it

2. Drop it from a great height and it just goes poof, apparently with very little consequences

. . . Excuse me Zubeia and co, I know some Sunfire elves who would very much have liked to have known this was an option ahead of time

[sir-phineas-lost]

Numb // Linkin Park 80s Remix

[sir-phineas-lost]

Aaravos was definitely sowing seeds for his own destruction with Ezran and the Nova Blade, but I'm pretty sure that was just him setting up additional contingencies. Taking out all the Archdragons by blowing up was probably not his preferred plan, especially after he became so close to Claudia and no longer wants to put her at risk.

I suspect "Plan A" was to raise the dead and bring about Eternal Night for as long as possible while killing off the Archdragons the old-fashioned way through Avizombium since that is safer and brings down the Cosmic Order much quicker. Taking out the dragons and most of his enemies in a kamikaze-plan (either through Ezran using the Nova Blade or just through a fatal bite) so that he can return and finish the job much easier in 7 years was "Plan B". And if Callum really did use Dark Magic to seal him away then "Plan C" was to possess him fully and continue acting on the world that way (Another reason to namedrop the Nova Blade was probably so Ezran would use it to save Callum, which would be preferable to getting sealed away). This is why he is visibly upset when Callum defies his expectation with his suicide-plan since this would be just as effective as trapping him in the pearl and possibly delay his plans indefinitely once more. That didn't end up happening though since Claudia delayed Callum and the Archdragons sacrificed themselves to spare the next generation, which put Aaravos back on Plan B.

After watching Dying Light for the 3rd time, I realized Aaravos' eternal night plan was actually just because he needed Avizandum for his plans to help him wipe out the Archdragons all along.

I'm so slow.

[sir-phineas-lost]

I rather suspect he had multiple objectives here and eternal night was something he did want just for its own sake as well as being useful in doing other things at the same time.

I'm starting to think the Cosmic Order is more than just an abstract vision of how the Startouched Elves want the world to be and something much more central and necessary for them personally. What if "The Cosmic Order" as a whole is the key to their immortality and power and by breaking enough natural laws like the day/night cycle or the border between life and death it will make the Startouch Elves vulnerable? The Archdragons, as the top of the Hierarchy in the mortal world, are probably one of these "pillars" of the Order as a whole.

After watching Dying Light for the 3rd time, I realized Aaravos' eternal night plan was actually just because he needed Avizandum for his plans to help him wipe out the Archdragons all along.

I'm so slow.

[sir-phineas-lost]

This would instantly justify her entire character creation.

Petition for Kim’dael to come back in arc three in a subplot where Miyana’s twins are in trouble and Kim’dael has to watch over them because “if you two little fools get yourselves killed on this stupid hare-brained adventure, then one day, when your dearly beloved aunt kicks the bucket, I’ll die too.” A sharp toothed grin. “So now I guess I’m your guardian angel.”

[sir-phineas-lost]

For people who want an example of the annoying fandom attitudes I talk about here, check out the comments on this post.

Ok, I'm really getting tired of seeing people saying Aaravos is manipulating Claudia and I don't know if those people are watching a different show or seeing the show through a different lens but clearly, they turned a blind eye to the intention of this scene:

Aaravos confesses the whole truth about Viren to Claudia.

Then Claudia confessed that she KNEW Viren wasn't in the in-between and that she has been going along with Aaravos by her own free will.

Aaravos even asks her if she knew he wasn't there, then why would she want to invert the Nexus?

And that's when she asks Aaravos to give his full reasoning for opening up the Nexus. And he does. He becomes vulnerable to his true feelings.

Then Claudia stays by her own agency.

There is no more manipulation. They are now both on the same page.

Those of you saying after this that he's manipulating her have completely turned a blind eye to this scene for some reason and I really don't know why. Its a beautiful scene where two people who have both been through immense trauma have bonded and have become family. They have both lost someone and are now walking the same path together whether good or not.

I spoke about it in my post yesterday so I won't go too much into detail here but you can even see it in this scene:

Terry and Soren hatch a plan to use an illusion of Claudia's mum to get her away from Aaravos (now THATS manipulation) and Claudia says to Aaravos that she will handle it and guess what? He respects her wishes and stands back.

Even when the illusion version of her mum comes out from the Nexus, Aaravos doesn't say anything. If he really was manipulating her, he would have tried to stop her but no, he gives Claudia the breathing space to do what she needs to do and stays back.

Aaravos had given her a chance for an out earlier at the Nexus and Claudia went with him by her own free will so if she chose her mum, Aaravos would have respected that. Especially from the language he was choosing here by letting Claudia take the reins in this situation. It was about her, not about him. Why is this stuff being overlooked?

There's even proof in the openings:

Season 6 Opening:

Season 7 Opening:

Claudia no longer turns to stone and Aaravos has a much softer expression. Now why do you think that is?

That's right. She's no longer his pawn but someone he genuinely wants to see happy and healthy.

Now, lets look at the season 7 interview:

Note: Its supposed to say, "When Aaravos confessed that he does not believe Viren will emerge from the Moon Nexus" because we know that's what happened.

This is a Youtube interview from Cartoon Universe with the creators of The Dragon Prince. This was said by Aaron Ehasz himself:

"One of the things the season does, it deals with this idea of the transference - like Claudia's relationship with her father - and he's (Aaravos) sort of very aware of like she sees me as a father now and its not a perfect transference and he really sees her as a daughter - and he really does - I will not watch another daughter die, he says - he MUST save her. And so, I don't know. I do think - he's not just completely - he's not just an evil force, he has ALOT of cosmic anger to play out. He looks up at the stars "Are you watching?!" He's got a lot to work through."

Aaravos legitimately does see Claudia as a daughter and does very much care for her. There is no denying it.

At the end, Aaravos gets Claudia out of the final fight and says "I will not watch another daughter die" and you can feel how much he means those words (amazing performance by Erik Todd Dellums.) and in the way he looks at her, even though he's beaten and bruised.

He is now her father and she is his daughter.

No manipulation to be found after episode 6.

Was he once manipulating her? Yes. But not anymore. They are very much on the same page and care for each other very much as family.

Can we please move on from this whole "Aaravos is manipulating Claudia" charade now because I'm getting very tired of seeing it.

[sir-phineas-lost]

[sir-phineas-lost]

The best jobs are the ones that give you time and resources to do what you actually love regularly.

I see a lot of people who tell young people–especially young people who are heading into college–that they should “do what they love.” And they’re right. You should do what you love.

But there’s a world of difference between doing what you love for you, and doing what you love for a paycheck. 

I went to undergrad for graphic design and 3-D design–art and more art, I usually say–and I loved it. You know what I didn’t love? Trying to collect my fees from clients. Trying to meet unrealistic, over-simplified or over-specific briefs from people who didn’t know what they were talking about. Coming home, having worked creatively all day, with no creative juice left for the things I wanted to do.

You know what I would tell you instead? Do something that you can be interested in, with people you like.

You don’t have to love it. Loving your work can be a lot, and it often means you have to live in your job 24/7. Some people can do that. Not everyone can, or should.  But if you can find work that’s interesting enough that it doesn’t feel tedious, and people you can enjoy spending your 9-5 with, and you can make money, that’s great! It means you can do the things you love for you.

I’m in law school now. It’s interesting work, and difficult, and I like doing it. I like how complicated it gets, and I like the stories it tells. But I don’t come home and read law journals for fun. I come home, and I sculpt, and I draw, and I paint, and I read. I do these things for me.

And I love it. 

[sir-phineas-lost]

A few reasons. One is that whenever I make a long-ish meta I usually put it under the "critical" tag just to keep it organized. It is criticism after all, even if it is positive.

The second reason is that while I am very happy with how Claudia's story turned out this season, I really can't separate that opinion from the context of what I think of TDP's thematic storytelling as a whole, which is...not great. I am very glad that Claudia's decision to fight the Cosmic Order is treated as a valid choice with agency on her part, but the fact that it is only our villains who see "an almighty authority hell-bent on keeping humans down and punishing even children who threaten that with death" as a problem worth addressing is a major criticism I have had with the show since season 2.

The third reason is laid out in the opening of the post. I don't just have criticism of the show I also have some with the fandom itself. I see a lot of people who insist on taking the most unflattering view possible of Claudia. That she is immature, that she is incapable of thinking for herself, that she is lying to herself about her own nature, that she should totally blame Aaravos for Viren's death and not Xadia/The Cosmic Order, the list goes on. This constant infantalization annoys me as a Claudia fan because it feels like most of the fandom has only ever really "liked" the the Claudia that is a goofy, pleasant jokester and ignored that she does have her own wants and goals that go beyond "help her dad". That is what I'm critical of.

Claudia Deserves Respect

One of the things I think the last(?) season of The Dragon Prince did right was giving Claudia her due as a character. For a long time now, I feel like both the show and the fandom has had the bad habit of either demonizing or infantalizing Claudia and her motives. Even the corners or the fandom who are sympathetic towards her tend to go on about how she is "emotionally immature" or naive and easily manipulated because she wants her dad back and listens to Aaravos when Viren is gone, but that has never been my read on her.

The big shift in Claudia and Aaravos' relationship this season happens when they are at the Moon-Nexus and Aaravos has a rare moment of introspection and vulnerability with her, confessing that he doesn't really believe that Viren is going to be there. This is obviously very surprising for Aaravos to admit because he has no reason to do so other than genuine guilt about manipulating Claudia after bonding with her and also breaking her and Terry up, but Claudia surprises us even more by admitting that she has already done the introspection to realize that her dad is not going to be waiting for her at the end of this. This is one of those moments that I have seen people argue makes Claudia a passive puppet because "she just wants Aaaravos to tell her what to do" but I disagree. It is important to know that until this point Aaravos has not given Claudia any reason for why inverting the Moon-Nexus would be a good idea other than the vague suggestion that Viren might be there, but she has already come to the conclusion that he isn't on her own. When she answers Aaravos with "Good question. Why don't you answer it?" she is not making Aaravos think for her, she is telling him: "I know you didn't suggest this for my benefit, I know you have an agenda, now spill it". In this moment, Claudia demands to hear exactly why Aaravos is doing this and she decides that his is a cause worth pursuing. Aaravos was open with her and she decided for herself that she is 100% on-board with tearing down the entire structure of the world and making the cosmic assholes suffer.

This is also not demonizing her in any way because it is perfectly in-line with her previously established good traits. Claudia has consistently been the most vocal about voicing the injustice of this world in how poorly the elves and dragons have treated humanity so tearing down the cosmic order is not framed as her just wanting the world to end but her usual way of standing up to injustice by breaking taboos.

Her last big scene of the arc is her confronting Soren and Corvus on top of the Storm Spire where they chased her down with the intent of killing her and she lets them go saying that she is still herself, still nice. This is also something I see a lot of people framing as negative because it is Claudia "holding on to a false image of herself" but I see it as her confirming something about herself. Claudia has changed a lot, but the one thing that remains true about her is that she is nice. She will prioritize her loved ones over all else, but when she has an opportunity to be good that doesn't conflict with her larger goals, she will take it. In this moment she is furious with Soren, who all but confirmed that he will kill her when he gets the chance and not even a sworn oath from his king will stop him. She has every reason to toss him off the edge to be broken the same way their father was, but she doesn't. When Claudia is in control, she chooses to be kind, even to people who are never kind to her.

So if this is the end of the show, I am glad with the position it left my favorite character, because it respects her in both her motives and her autonomy. She is still out there, still scheming to bring down the injustice that our heroes won't even acknowledge. And she is confirmed to not do this out of blind devotion or even blind love for Aaravos, but a genuine conviction in that goal. And above all, she is still the wonderful person who proves that you don't have to be a paragon or follow the arbitrary rules of "good" to be a good person. To just be "nice".

[sir-phineas-lost]

Naked Madness Revolution.......interesting

Witchcraft, Wisdom, Death...

[sir-phineas-lost]

listen I love Pokemon but this person is SO right

[sir-phineas-lost]

[sir-phineas-lost]

That is...depressingly plausible.

Hey this is the same anon that made a little rant about rayllum and his I didn't get the hype about them.

Anyway I just wanted to ask what do you think about rayla being callum's truth or light because Imma be honest I don't think it should be her. Yeah okay cool he loves her but the whole reason that Callum is suffering from dark magic and all is because of her. If the show tried viewing it as a double edged thing then I would of liked that. This is the reason why I like the interpretation that callum's deep truth is actually love and that his love for people is a double edged sword type of thing.

Anyways Iam sorry this is long and I will leave my opinion as that.

Ps I also think it's much more fitting for ezran to be his deep truth (maybe cos Iam biased and I love platonic family relations a lot more)

Conceptually, I don't have a problem with Rayla being Callum's moral compass. She is certainly a lot more steadfast in her convictions of right and wrong and overall I don't necessarily think her own moral compass is askew or anything (at least not as it relates to Callum's path, there is a lot to unpack in regards to her overall view on violence against people she deems deserving of it and how those people are only ever humans). I'm also not a fan of putting the consequences of Callum's actions on anyone but himself. That's not Rayla's burden to carry.

Where I think this concept falls short, especially compared to Claudia and Terry's similar dynamic, is that they never really show the same trust and intimacy. Terry is very good at calming Claudia's darker impulses without invalidating her fears or stepping on her pride whereas Rayla's method of guiding Callum is to blow up at him.

[sir-phineas-lost]

Oh? I legitimately didn't know my meta on Claudia's agency and the respect it gives her character had author's approval when I wrote it. Neat

YOUR HONOUR

I think this meant to say "When Aaravos confesses that he does not believe Viren will emerge from the Moon Nexus"

I really need those 2 years now more then I've never needed them before in my life. I'd do anything for a comic of during that time.

I wanna see what they were up to when they weren't focused on reviving Viren!

The two of them have lost a very important person to them and now are stronger together as father and daughter. Its really beautiful.

And the fact Aaravos even gave Claudia an out if she wanted it and she chose not to go was powerful. And it seems like there's more to come from their dynamic in arc 3! I'm excited!

I love them so much 💖

Source for the interview if anyone is interested: