#I tried to base my answer on Laurel's previous actions

[theredhairedmonkey]

Based on the response you gave in the last reblogged post, you said that Callum learns magic to "protect his loved ones." Isn't Rayla supposed to be the protector?

First off, thank you, anon, for being my very first question! I appreciate you had read what I had written about Callum, and came up with some of your own thoughts as well!

So, the simple answer to your question is: Yes, Rayla is certainly a protector. That doesn’t detract or contradict what I said about Callum wanting to protect his loved ones as well, which he absolutely does.

I think what you might be referring to is the fact that Rayla’s character arc is about her, being a trained instrument of death, realizing that being a protector of life feels much more right for her. Rayla realizing she wants to protect others is integral to her character’s journey.

It’s not integral to Callum’s for one simple reason: he’s always been protective, particularly of his loved ones.

In fact, his character arc is an inversion of Rayla’s--Rayla is already a skilled warrior, but is trying to figure out what she wants to do with those skills.

But for Callum, protecting his loved ones is part of who he is. And who can blame him? He lost his father, his mother, and stepfather, and almost lost his brother and the love of his life on several occasions each. He’s going to want to protect the people he has left.

Callum’s arc involved developing the ability to defend others, the kind of ability Rayla takes for granted.

This was the case from the very first episode: when Callum finds out that assassins are coming to kill his step-dad, the very next scene he shows up ready to go with Soren to attack them.

Why? Because he must.

He’s in ceremonial armor, which would only weigh him down without doing much to protect him from an assassin’s blade. He knows he can barely hold a sword and has fallen off every horse he’s ridden (a streak he was not about to break that day). While his stepfather is an accomplished warrior, with some of the best fighters in the Five Kingdoms at his beck and call. Callum could do very little to defend him, and would probably wind up getting killed if he tried to.

It did not matter to him. He was going to try and protect his father, because to Callum, that’s simply what you do for the people you love.

This also does a good job highlighting the fact that it doesn’t matter their relative skill level. Just because King Harrow is a warrior and Callum is not won’t deter the precocious 14-year old. If you’re important to him, he’ll defend you with his life.

It’s for this reason that it initially bothers him that he’s “always been bad at everything,” or “can’t do anything,” or that without magic, he’s “nothing.” These are obviously untrue assertions (something that Rayla, Ezran, Ellis, and others never believed were true). But while Callum knows he’s good at some things (he’s very confident about his artistic abilities, for instance), he didn’t think he was good at anything that would protect the people in his life.

Notably, Ezran.

When he jumped into a frozen lake, Callum’s first instinct was to go after him.

Ezran is probably the main reason Callum is this way. He always had to take care of his little brother, and knowng that he was going to be king meant knowing just how much support and protection he would have to be prepared to give him.  

For his entire life, he was likely preparing for that responsibility. As Harrow tells him:

This probably isn’t the first time Harrow told Callum something along these lines. It was always expected of him to advise and to protect Ezran, both as his brother and later as his King. As a result, Callum grew up becoming attentive and protective of him.

And, when he fell in love with Rayla, we seem him become noticeably more attentive and protective of her too.

He rushes to her when she’s unconscious.

And when the battle against Viren’s army is over, Callum barely takes a moment before his thoughts immediately turn to Rayla’s safety and well-being.

You can see in his gaze right there, that he’s worried about her. What if something had happened? What if something is wrong? Callum ponders. He doesn’t take a breath or rest on his laurels, instead racing up the Storm Spire to make sure she and Zym are safe and sound.

Rayla has certainly come a long way, and ended Book 3 as a hero and a protector. But for Callum, being protective comes naturally and instinctively, and it drives his pursuit to learn magic.

I said in a previous post that for Callum, learning magic has almost always come in response to a need, rather than a desire. His need to protect his loved ones drives his growing magical abilities.

Here’s what I mean:

While there are small exceptions, whenever Callum tries to learn magic for its own sake, he usually doesn’t get very far.

In Book 1, he runs into Claudia in the library, and brings up how interested he is in learning magic. But then she runs off without giving him any useful tips or advice.

In Book 2, Callum tries to learn Moon magic from Lujanne, but she rebuffs him.

In Book 3, Callum tries to learn Sky magic from Ibis. He tells Callum to leave.

But in each of these moments, he takes small pieces of information with him, and when he or his friends are in danger or need his help, the pieces click and he’s able to perform new magic.

The biggest moment is with his mage wings. When he tries to conjure them the first time, he can’t do it.

But when he’s trying to save Rayla, somehow, he can.

Part of this involves Callum being able to work well under pressure, but it also stems from the fact that his magical abilities develop in response to how much he needs them to.

He needs the aspiro spell to work to save the group from Claudia’s shadow dogs.

He needs to wake up from his coma.

He needs to save Rayla from falling to her death.

Callum is a very interesting microcosm of the Narrative of Love in action—his strength stems from love, and the need to protect that love. And yea, because of that’s tied to how he’s learned magic thus far, it’s likely going to continue to push him to learn as much as he can, perhaps becoming one of the most powerful characters in the show. Who knows?

I accidentally wrote a mini-meta here. Honestly, this answer deserves a much longer meta than I have time to write at the moment. I promise that it’s on my mind to flesh this topic out some more in the next few weeks (if I can hold your attention for that long). but the main takeaway should be that: Callum is a protector. He’s always been protective, and those instincts are what drive him to learn new magic, whether he’s aware of that or not.

That doesn’t take away from Rayla’s journey, nor does it imply their relationship isn’t a two-way street: they’ve both had to protect each other.

Because after all, that’s what you do for the people you love.

[darklygophilia]

Hey hope all is well with you. Want to pick your brain. What do you think laurel would have done i f she found out about Thea's paternity in season 2 before Oliver or felicity? Would she have kept Moira 's secret to gain her favor or tell oliver?

I’m doing well-ish. I’ve recently recovered from shingles (wince), & before that I had a wretched cold. It feels like I’ve been sick for forever. I’m finally feeling well enough to get back to work & catch up on stuff.

Warning: Like all my responses this is likely gonna be unnecessarily long.

Hmm. This question is very much in the AU realm of “What if.” I wanna start off by saying that I LOVE the scene between Felicity & Moira where Felicity confronts her & tells her in a very non-threatening way that Moira should be the one to tell Oliver the truth. Felicity never even gives Moira an ultimatum & she doesn’t threaten to tell Oliver herself b/c, at the time, Felicity didn’t know what she’d do! Felicity simply points out that Moira she’d tell Oliver the truth herself. I agree. When it comes to guilty truths, it really is better hearing it from the guilty party themselves rather than from someone else.

The scene parallels how Oliver had the chance to tell Slade the truth about how Shado died, but didn’t (following Sara’s advice instead). What happened? Slade found out from someone else! In that context, not only was Slade hurt by the tragic truth, he was also hurt by the fact that Oliver wasn’t the one who told him. The truth of Shado’s death was made worse b/c it was compounded by Oliver’s betrayal of secrecy. Moira choosing NOT to tell Oliver the truth not only shows how similar Oliver is to his mother in his choices regarding family, it also pushes Felicity into an internal war with herself. Should she get involved in the Queen family drama & go against Moira’s wish to keep it a secret, or does she go with her instincts as a loyal friend to Oliver & tell him the truth? Not only was it a great scene between two powerful actresses (Susanna & Emily knocked it out of the ball park), it also showed Felicity’s own personal internalized conflict.

Now, how would Laurel react if she’d been in Felicity’s position?

“What do you think laurel would have done if she found out about Thea’s paternity in season 2 before Oliver or felicity?” Well, first we need to think about how Laurel would find out about this secret in the first place…

Maybe while she & the DA were doing some digging on Moira’s relationship with Malcolm during the trial, & Laurel found about their affair. But she also figures out that said affair also lead to Thea!

So, after that, we get into the concept of Laurel’s own manipulative side in regards to, “Would she have kept Moira ’s secret to gain her favor or tell Oliver?” Moira & Laurel are similar, to an extent, & their similarities are pretty straight forward.

They both have a major blindspot for family; both go into extremes when their family is threatened. Look at Moira’s cooperation with Malcolm - she was willing to risk the entire population of the Glades in order to ensure Oliver & Thea’s safety! Look at how revenge-hungry Laurel was when Sara died in S3.

Both women are also shown being driven & ambitious when they want something.

Moira always seemed far more forgiving (IMO) than Laurel, & I think that had 60% to do with how she was written. We the audience can logically & emotionally understand a mother going to extremes for her child. The other 40% being how Susanna Thompson portrayed Moira. Even in Moira’s most manipulative, villainous moments, Moira was still likable, b/c Susanna focused on Moira’s “motherhood” & the emotions behind that.

There was always a hint of reluctance & feeling behind what she did. It wasn’t all about bitterness or revenge! The essence of Moira was a mother’s unconditional, sometimes blind, love!

A lot of what Moira did came from a genuine place of love for her children, to the point that she was willing to turn herself into a villain to ensure her children’s happiness & safety. Her ability to go to such extremes is disturbing, but its compounded by the truly heartfelt reasoning behind Moira’s actions!

What Moira did is no less excusable, but its very clearly explained within the show’s narrative as to WHY she did what she did. B/c of this, what she did may not strictly be forgivable, but its easier to sympathize with her as a character.

Laurel & Moira may both be manipulative at times, but their reasons behind their manipulations are very different…

When Moira’s manipulating someone it always comes back to the happiness & safety of her children. She’s a mother first & foremost; that’s how she’s written & that’s how Susanna portrayed her.

To an extent that same love could be seen as selfish, I suppose. In regards to the Undertaking, Moira’s only thinking about the safety of her children, but seems to disregard the safety of all the innocent people, & children, in the Glades. It’s as disturbing as it is heartfelt!

However, b/c of that same love she has for her children, Moira is talked OUT of her alliance with Malcolm by Oliver who blatantly calls her out, & reminds her that his & Thea’s lives are NOT the only ones that matter. Despite Thea not really knowing as much of Moira’s involvement as Oliver’s aware of, her mentioning Roy & her love for him, also reminds Moira that while her alliance with Malcolm has ensured her children physical safety, her part in the Undertaking could emotionally harm them.

Thus, Moira’s love for her children is the thing that could drive her to ‘burn the world to ashes’ if need be, but that same love is also the thing that stays her hand! This is why, at the last minute she betrays Malcolm & alerts the Glades to the danger of the Undertaking. Moira’s love for her children may be selfish, when all is said & done, but we sympathize & understand it.

Within the first 2 seasons we learned that Laurel & Sara BOTH fell for Ollie. Laurel realized Sara’s crush on Ollie &, IMO, she also realized how similar Sara & Ollie were in temperament & personality. They’re both the wild child of their respective families. What did Laurel do? She conveniently got Sara grounded; by the time Sara regains social freedom Lauriver are together. That sure sounds like Laurel essentially manipulated her relationship with Ollie into being from the beginning! She was willing sabotage her sister’s chances with Ollie & even break her sisters trust to do it!

Laurel’s secret lunches with Ollie that Tommy wasn’t aware of, & how she’d claim to love Tommy but would go running to Oliver with her relationship problems. That sure seems manipulative even if that wasn’t the writers’ intention.

Laurel blaming the Hood for Tommy’s death & using her relationship with the Hood to manipulate & trap him.

Laurel blackmailing her boss to get her job back was pretty manipulative.

Laurel’s manipulation were ALL for the greater good of Laurel! At least Moira’s manipulations almost always went back to her love for her children. 

So, to conclude answering this “What if” question of, “Would she [Laurel] have kept Moira’s secret to gain her favor or tell Oliver?” Is Laurel really that manipulative, to keep Moira’s secret just to gain her favor, or would she show loyalty to Oliver & tell him?!

When Laurel found out about the affair between Moira & Malcolm, she did offer a hand-out to Moira. But, Laurel did NOT tell Oliver or Thea about the affair! Moira told them herself. With that said, & based on ALL of the above…

I feel that Laurel would’ve confronted Moira about Thea being Malcolm’s daughter. Now, b/c Moira knows Laurel, she’d also know how to manipulate her.

Moira tried to manipulate Felicity but, after she gives it some thought, Felicity goes against Moira’s manipulations & instead acts on her own loyalty for Oliver, telling him the truth. Felicity unintentionally & simultaneously gains Moira’s respect.

B/c of Laurel’s history with Ollie, Moira knows Laurel. So, I think Moira would explain herself to Laurel more than she would with Felicity. She’d likely tell Laurel that it would break Thea & Oliver, pleading to Laurel’s own extreme sense of “family.” But she’d also use Laurel’s feelings for Ollie against her the way she tried to use Felicity’s feelings for Oliver against her. I don’t think Laurel would keep the secret to gain Moira’s favor. I think Moira would succeed in manipulating Laurel, & Laurel would keep the secret out of some twisted sense of “love” for Ollie, & by extension that by keeping the secret she’d be protecting Ollie. B/c, as both the show & KC have made it abundantly clear, everything about Laurel comes back to Ollie!

Essentially, Laurel would falter where Felicity didn’t. Laurel would let her feelings for Ollie cloud the issue & that’s why she’d KEEP the secret.Felicity being in-love with Oliver does NOT define her the way it defines Laurel. Felicity may want Oliver’s love, but she doesn’t need it the way Laurel (KC) seems to. B/c Felicity is an individual. I’m not saying this to cast stones at the Lauriver-ship. I’m saying this b/c that’s what’s in the show’s narrative. The Arrow writers defined Laurel by her connection to Ollie & wrote her thus.