#I'm honestly surprised but also not surprised? at the overwhelmingly positive response WaD got

[welcometogrouchland]

"Hunter should have gotten to kill Belos" I get the instinct and I think his desire for revenge was an important part of his development this season (learning that the things that happened to him were wrong and he's allowed to feel angry about it and want justice) but ultimately for the future showed that Hunter isn't happy when he's seeking revenge. He's angry, unlike himself, so wrapped up in his own grief that he can't reach out to the people he loves. Hunter never needed revenge. He needed a support system, closure for his loss and the promise of people who love him and a future where he can finally be who he wants.

His powers provide closure for his loss (flapjacks sacrifice wasn't for nothing, he'll never forget his first friend who's now helping him out from beyond the grave, always a permanent part of him), has a support system (first the hexsquad/Nocedas and then Darius and Eberwolf) and knows what he wants (his speech at the end of thanks to them). Whatever happened with Hunter after the scene in the detention pit where he's finally able to admit how much his friends mean to him is inconsequential, because that was the crux of his arc.

Hunter doesn't like revenge. I'm not even sure Caleb and the golden guards were ever anything other than a figment of Belos' imagination (although I love the golden ghosts concept for fanfic purposes) meant to represent the one thing that could make Belos feel guilty. And then he bullheadely ignores them, because he refuses to ever admit that he could be wrong.

This show has also rarely (if ever) championed revenge. It just hasn't. On a petty scale, yes, characters are allowed to get intentional and unintentional revenge. But this show is fundamentally very big on restorative justice and sticks to it's guns on this theme even when traditional western storytelling would deem a punitive approach the most satisfying. Because punitive approaches historically are bad at inducing change and growth (which is what this whole series is about)

It would've been a whole other can of worms to have the extremely kind boy that is hunter succumb to his most belos-like instincts (bc Belos thinks he's getting revenge for himself and for (his own, twisted idea of-) his brother for most of the series, I think) in the final minutes of his arc that's otherwise been dedicated to healing.

I get it. It's one of those things where, because of human nature (but also western nurture) and the general trends of stories like these. We want Hunter to kill him. But I honestly don't think that was ever on the cards, no matter what I may have wanted/thought before. It makes sense in retrospect to me. And it feels like this was always what the crew had planned.

Again, you don't have to like it. It's okay to like vengeance in your stories! I love a good old fashioned vengeance storyline! (though I think it's wrong to say that toh is a story that, based on what we knew before WaD aired, promoted or venerated vengeance). But I don't think it's fair to act like the writers are unintelligent for this decision. They're not. They're just coming at the scene with different priorities