#I LOVE THEMES AND PARALLELS AND CHARACTER FOIL AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[unfried-mouth-wheat]

It’s particularly annoying because Luz and Belos are made to parallel eachother. They quite literally go through the same motions, if you think about it! (Enter the isles, become powerful human witch, become one with The Titan)

The main fear Luz exhibits is that there is nothing stopping her from becoming like Belos. We see this very blatantly in her nightmare sequence. And her isn’t unfounded in the sense of similarity! Both were Humans that went to the isles by choice, were unable to leave, had their preconceived ideas tested by the isles, and more! Luz had her image of idealistic fantasy worlds tested, while Belos had his image of how evil witches are tested, both of which being notions that they learned from childhood as a way to cope trauma.

The thing that separates a them isn’t that Luz is good and Belos is evil, it’s that Luz accepts that she was wrong. That what she used as a coping mechanism was wrong, and as such changes the way she thinks to reflect the reality of her situation.

Belos can’t. Belos has been shown time and time again that he refused to let go of the past, refuses to even consider changing his ways, because then that means he has to accept that he was wrong. He would rather keep digging himself into a pit rather than accept that he was digging for no reason.

Luz in the first season is selfish. She is. She lies to her mother to stay in the demon world, she steals Eda’s potion on the chance it will give her magic, she steals Amity’s training wand, and so much more. But each time she’s faced with the consequences of her actions, she learns from them. By the end of the series, Luz is an incredibly self sacrificing character, and I truly feel that this development was a gradual one, but also had a turning point.

The season one finale.

It’s here that Luz sacrifices what she believes to be her only way back home to protect her loved ones. This is where we truly see the shift in her character. Coincidentally, Belos also had a turning point very similar to Luz’, in form of his confrontation with Caleb.

He is given the same choice. He can either sacrifice his hopes of returning home to stay and care for his loved one, or he can continue searching for a way back at his brother’s expense. And it’s here that he cements himself as the villain, as being unable to be redeemed.

Belos would rather continue to search for a way back home than accept that what he believed was wrong, and he’s willing to do this at the demise of Caleb.

And what’s more, he refuses to feel the consequences of that choice by recreating Caleb over, and over, and over. He would rather kill his brother a thousand times over than accept that he was wrong, because maybe, maybe, Caleb will agree with him this time. Because with each Grimwalker comes the chance for him to have his beliefs validated, and he would rather chase that than accept the evidence to the contrary.

Belos refuses to accept that he was wrong, and as such he refuses to change. That is what separates him from Luz. That’s what allows her to rise above every trial the isles have thrown at her while Belos is stuck climbing.

And isn’t that a much more compelling narrative? Luz isn’t the hero because she’s good, she’s the hero because she let herself fail and learn and grow and make connections in spite of adversity. Belos isn’t the villain because he’s evil, he’s the villain because he would rather stay trapped in the past than recognize that he’s wrong. That’s what separates Luz from Belos. Not some nebulous idea of predetermined morality, but her active dedication to growing as a person.

It’s just such a beautiful message, and it’s so incredibly upsetting that it wasn’t fully nor properly executed.

Belos is just born evil *blows you with my mind*