#Especially when we now know that MK has been transformed this entire time. Like I'm curious

[imminent-danger-came]

Possible thought about Qi Xiaotian in relation to the fact that he and broken memories make similar sounds- he is a memory.

A memory of Sun Wukong given life. Here's my evidence:

While he did come from a stone egg, we never actually see that egg in reality, just in the memory scroll.

One of Wukong's most used powers is shape-shifting, and that is still used. But Wukong has a long history of shifting into human guises, and we never see him do that- Macaque does it, changing both into Xiaotian in his debut episode and the puppet master. It may be possible that Wukong hasn't done that in the present because he doesn't need to, but there's not even a mention of it in glimpses at the past

All the mirror parallels between Xiaotian and Wukong

And that's my only pieces of evidence. My other theory is that it's a side effect of having his monkey woken up inside the scroll when you probably should have done that anywhere else.

(Post anon is referencing!)

So, I think it's pretty clear by this point that MK is connected the scroll is some shape and form. Both times he enters the scroll, it emanates from him (which MK distinctly notices the second time):

(4x02 Familiar Tales)

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(4x11 A Lifetime of Mistakes)

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In s4, we also have the gang embody/meet their past counterparts: Tang becomes Tripitaka, Pigsy becomes Zhu Ganglie, Sandy becomes Sha Wujing, and Mei meets Ao Lie, but MK....MK meets the curse. That's the reflection of himself he comes across.

In 4x02, this is how Azure describes the scroll/curse:

Azure Lion: "[The scroll of memory is] a prison, designed to contain wicked souls, forcing them to relive their past misdeeds over and over again, for all eternity. In order to contain it's prisoners, a powerful protective curse was cast upon the scroll to prevent those in prison from escaping, and ensnare any who would seek to free those locked inside, trapping them forever. Left unchecked, that curse would have spread, consuming everything until nothing remained."

So, the scroll/curse forces you to re-experience memories, but for MK it tries to encourage him to give into Chaos and pushes him to the brink to reveal his Monkey Identity.

MK is a reflection/mirror of Wukong, yes, but there's also this other aspect to him we've never quite touched on. His eyes go blue on occasion, he interacts strangely with the Lady Bone Demon's powers, he seems to be associated with memory (LBD's og plan was to "undo" the memories of the world, and to use MK to do it).

MK being a warped memory of Wukong isn't necessarily off the table, but I do lean against it because of this scene:

This is what Scroll Subodhi asks MK to "remember" about his childhood. It's a memory that's linked to his creation, in some way.

And right now, I'd posit that MK is part underworld/scroll/memory, and part Wukong/the stone.

Wukong wasn't able to defeat the Jade Empeor, he says so himself (and so does the plot lol):

Sun Wukong: "But don't worry—I almost beat the Jade Emperor single handed once!" (4x12 The Plan Man)

But then soon after, Wukong makes this claim:

MK: "Ne Zha's right—while Azure has the Jade Emperor's power and the scroll, there's NO way we could beat him head on!" Sun Wukong: "I mean, some of us could beat him! *ahem* One of us, specifically-" MK: "Nope! None of us at all."

(4x12 The Plan Man)

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Wukong isn't talking about himself here. He's talking about MK, and how MK could beat the Jade Emperor single handed. MK then quickly denies it, wanting to ignore this part of himself. Then in 3x13 MK pushes Azure to his absolute limits, causing Azure to go berserk and almost destroy everything. Had MK not been thrown out of his Monkey Form, I have no doubt that he really could have defeated the Jade Emperor—which makes him terrifyingly more powerful than Wukong.

One of my biggest questions pre-s4 was how MK got his powers, and why exactly he was so strong (particularly when facing the Samadhi Fire, something that's world-ending). Monkey Form explains some things, but we haven't gotten to the real meat of MK's origins yet, which I'm excited for.

[totallynotokguys]

Lego Monkie Kid Rewatch: Season 2

Episode 7, The Shadow Play

I know I'm backtracking a bit, but this episode is just so ripe with angst and reveals such interesting things about Macaque and MK's character.

Before we dive in, I kindly ask you to throw away any notion you have that Macaque's words and opinions about other people is gospel truth. The guy is cool. His SSS (snark, sarcasm, smugness) levels are off the charts. His voice and design drips favourite character. But that doesn't make him right all the time, especially about other people. This simian's perspective on others is flawed. Like, VERY, DEEPLY FLAWED!

Now that we have that out of the way-

We open up with a very tired and anxious MK. Thanks to a certain SOMEONE, MK is plagued with dread that he isn't strong enough or good enough to be Monkey Kings successor.

He has also had the pleasure of seeing a hint of the danger to come and does not feel anywhere close to ready to protect his family. So MK has been training non-stop, sacrificing activities and hang outs he usually enjoys to try and be better.

Then in saunters Macaque, steals MK's friends and then proceeds to unload his deepest insecurities in true theater kid fashion.

Performance!!

MK walks out of the theater with Macaque's tale of abandonment ringing in his ears and calls Mei (who of course does not answer) and says "You guys just left me back there."

Just to be clear- MK's friends are gone and what does he think? That they left him! Also remember what happened in Sleepbug when MK walks into the shop and doesn't see his friends. He immediately says, "They've abandoned me."

No joke. That's what he thinks. A rational and well adjusted person would see their friends and family not around and think "Oh, they must be doing something else or had other plans."

But not MK! Our dear boy has self confidence issues (as Monkey King pointed out in s1ep1) and part of this lack of confidence manifests as a fear that the people he loves most could grow bored of him, stop caring about him, not see him as worthy anymore of their time. He fears abandonment.

Macaque doesn't see that, though. He sees MK's inaction to find his friends as MK not caring about them. He legit thinks MK didn't even "realise they were missing."

Why did Macaque think this? Why, when he was obviously spying on the kid (you saw that shadow slip by when he was calling Mei too, right?), did his brain jump to 'kid doesn't care about friends.'

Because Macaque is blinded by his own faulty perspective- in which Wukong is a power hungry peach brain who only cares about himself. And he projects that onto MK because he thinks that MK must be just like Wukong.

(Thus falling into the same trap that nearly everyone else falls into, including MK… That MK is just another Monkey King).

'Wait', you say. 'Faulty perspective? No, Macaque is totally right about Monkey King. He did abandon Macaque in search of more power and was only thinking about himself!'

Ah, I see you failed to throw away your pesky lil notion that Macaque as a cool character and thus must always be right. Here, let me help!

Remember how Macaque describes his story?

"You saw a story about a hero who got handed everything, who didn't have to work for anything? And you thought you were the other guy?"

Did you catch it? The hero got handed everything? Didn't have to work for anything?…

… How many years did Monkey King have to train to learn the 72 transformations and immortality? How many demons and celestials did Monkey King have to fight to gain enough respect for everybody to stop trying to pulverise him and destory his kingdom? How long was the Monkey King stuck inside of a burning cauldron for him to gain his fiery red, golden eyes of truth? How many demons and trials did he have to go through in his journey west to become a better person?

What about Monkey King's entire life does Macaque think was easy?!

Just because Monkey King is overpowered now does not mean he had it (or even still has it) easy.

Macaque is just so, so bitter against Monkey King that he lets that anger and rage literally overshadow how he sees the rest of the world.

So yeah. Moral of this story is MK has some serious insecurities towards feeling of worthiness and belonging (no one who feels they belong thinks they have been abandoned at a drop of a hat, this poor kid) and Macaque projects his own insecurities and bitterness onto the world around him.

The way a lantern projects its shadows across a stage. How poetic.

[imminent-danger-came]

Hi there! Anon sent reeling by S1E6 again! And I would just like to say that your response to my ask made me So Normal. Especially you bringing up S2E6, which is why I’m currently setting up a lawn chair here on the brink of insanity, because apparently I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. 

Because yes, you’re completely right about S2E6 demonstrating this cycle of pushing others away while pushing themselves towards greatness and accidentally leaving pain in their wake that MK and SWK have managed to stick themselves in, but ALSO now I can’t stop thinking about how we get Shadow Play IMMEDIATELY afterwards. 

Like… how much do you think Macaque had seen? Obviously he could see MK getting too caught up in his own head (*cough* and trauma *cough*) and shutting out his friends, but… how much had he seen seen, you know?

And now I also can’t stop thinking about how immediately after Shadow Play, we get To Catch a Leaf. Which is obviously an incredible episode in its own right, but it’s also the first episode since Minor Scale where MK is surrounded by his friends and he lets them help him. Because in S2E6, Mei and Sandy are with him, but he’s not really with them. He’s focused on getting stronger, to the point where he ignores them telling him exactly how to do so. And in the beginning of Shadow Play, we learn that he’s been further isolating himself off screen and blowing off activities with them so that he could focus on ‘[being] ready’. 

But then To Catch a Leaf happens. And it starts off with MK surrounded by the others, having recently done something fun (curses aside) with Mei, and it’s not a big deal. He’s not stressing about getting stronger or being ready, he’s just… there with them. Present and in the moment, at least as much as he can be, and it’s fine. He’s fine, and more importantly he seems to be letting them in and being a bit more open with them. 

And this carries on into 72 Transformations! Because obviously he still hasn’t told them The Thing, but he does go from ignoring/avoiding them while trying to get more powerful to calling them all up so that he can involve them. Figure at least some things out, together. And it drives me insane because he was getting better! He may very well have worked his way up to telling the others about LBD! But then she came a-knocking with more trauma, and it blasts him two steps back and it’s just… AHHH! He was SO CLOSE!!!

Also, side note: Do you think MK believes he has a body count? And I don’t even mean the nebulous potential casualties from all the recent disasters that MK blames himself for, I’m talking about Spider Queen specifically. Because MK isn’t an idiot. If he didn’t know she was dead (or whatever getting sucked into the furnace counts as) immediately after the sewers, he would have put two and two together after Destiny Fulfilled. And considering this is the guy who blames himself for DBK getting out despite knowing that SWK was right next to him in bird form the entire time, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that he probably thinks it’s his fault. So… do you think it’s possible he sees himself as a murderer? Or, like, murderer adjacent? And if he does, how much more layered and messed up do you think that’d make the potential ‘Wukong reveals he killed Macaque’ moment?

Sorry for the long ask, the monkey show has changed me for better and worse. I will never be the same. *reclines on my lawn chair, gazing out over the precipice of madness with a thousand yard stare*

One: never apologize for a long ask, especially when it has so much good stuff in it! Two: I KNOW RIGHT. The monkey show really does change you for the better or for the worst. I'm still reeling from s4 and it's been 4 months, and then the s4 special came in and permanently altered my brain chemistry once again. I have a house next to this abyss.

ANYWAYS.

The back and forth of MK's character is one of my favorite things about lmk (of which I have many)! He takes 2 steps forward and then 4 steps back, and I think that's a testament to what getting better can look like—it's not linear. Sometimes, it's not even moving forward, and that's hard.

I think a great example of this "2 steps forward and then 4 steps back" phenomenon is MK's growth in Revenge of the Spider Queen:

MK starts believing in himself, smiling at that face in the mirror. It's not a strong belief, not yet, but it's a start. You can even see him making this attempt to improve in 2x01:

(this got a little long so everything else under the cut!)

MK: "Ah! Ugh, come on MK you can do this! Self-confidence! That's Monkey King 101!"

"Wait! I am worthy! Definitely worthy!" I'm Monkie Kid! Basically the new Monkey King—might have heard of me? You know, the next chapter? I'm totally worthy!"

(2x01 Sleep Bug)

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MK's even trying to mimic Monkey King here, the person he thinks he should be:

But then, as you've mentioned, LBD and 2x05 comes along.

And it's funny, because now we know MK did become more like Monkey King, just like he wanted, but it's in all the wrong ways.

((Kind of a side note: We also know that Monkey King couldn't have "picked the wrong successor", because there honestly wasn't another option for a successor to begin with. MK grappling with like, 3 levels of Wukong lies is what makes s2 so delicious to watch))

And then we have 2x06, and THEN 2x07, and I'm sure that's exactly why Macaque stepped in! He saw MK going down the same path Wukong did. The drive to become stronger, pushing his friends away—Macaque in Shadow Play knows exactly what he's talking about:

Macaque: "Well, with ol' Monkey King not around I thought someone should teach you a lesson! Ah MK, you really are dense, aren’t you. Haha, you saw a story about a hero who got handed everything, who didn’t have to work for anything, and you thought you were the other guy? The second the hero got real power, he couldn’t care less about his friends. That’s you bud." (2x07 Shadow Play)

("Everything I did was for us!" "You did it for yourself!" *head in my hands .png*)

Wukong leaves. That's what he does, and that's what he did to MK in both Revenge of the Spider Queen (leaving MK to fight Spider Queen and her mech alone) and 2x01.

And honestly, MK in s2 is simply doing his best to pick up the pieces, to be Monkie Kid alone, without SWK or even his friends. But it doesn't really work—hiding LBD's return from his friends didn't save them in 2x10, and it didn't stop the Lady Bone Demon, just like Wukong hiding LBD's return from MK didn't protect MK from any of it.

This pattern, of walking in Wukong's footsteps and making the same mistakes, keeps repeating itself.

MK's 2x08 parallel to Wukong in 3x10 is another good example of that.

MK's terrifying of hurting the people he cares about, so he leaves. He runs off, and this only hurts his friends further. ("Can't you see you're hurting the people who care about you the most?" and "I can’t risk hurting the people I care about—the one’s I have left.".)

And so, tying this all back to the s4 special, we're starting to see MK take 2 steps forward again:

MK: "You ever wish things will just stay like this, like they are right now?" Sun Wukong: "Pssshhkk, where's the fun in that?" Tang: "Uh um, Monkey King, we need to have a serious conversation about your idea of fun."

Mei: "At least we fixed something for a change, instead of destroying it!" MK: "Yeah! So long as we leave the world in better shape than we found it, then it's all good right?"

(4x14 Better Than We Found It)

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And I'm waiting for the eventual 4 steps back.

Because well..."At least we fixed something for a change, instead of destroying it"...it's not that they didn't fix anything, but plenty was broken:

Flower fruit mountain was destroyed. Azure died. Whoever orchestrated all of this is still out there.

So, MK's current answer to "doing what you think is right" leading "to pain" might just not hold up. Because well, MK can try, that's for sure, but all that effort might still not make it a net positive, you know?

I think MK will blame himself for Azure's death, for SURE tough. He might have residual guilt about Spider Queen and everyone else harmed along the way, but Azure is the one I'm certain on. MK feeling like he's a "murder adjacent" and that compounding with the "Wukong Murdered Macaque" reveal and being "just like Wukong"...OH BABY. IT'S ALL COMING TOGETHER.

Like,

MK: "I just- I just want to be me. To be MK!" Curse MK: "Yeah well...we all know exactly where that leads." LBD Voice Over: "To pain."

(4x07 Pitiful Creatures)

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Identity and destiny are very much intertwined in this show, and MK doing what he thinks is right and being himself leads to pain. That's exactly what happened to Azure—he took the Jade Emperor's throne to try and make the world a better place, but all he managed to do was barely fix what he himself had broken.

MK: "Yeah well...I'm kinda always the one getting the world in trouble to begin with so..."

(4x01 Familiar Tales)

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All it's going to take is one antagonist speech towards MK that hits a little too close to home, and everything else is going to come crashing down.

I am very much getting geared up for my s5 lego tragedy, thank you very much!