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crowdusk · 21 days ago

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One Piece Chapter 1132: Adventure in Elbaph (thoughts & predictions for the arc)

Part 1 here.

Lessons in strength

I also think strength is going to be one of the biggest themes in this arc. We’re in the final saga, and although we know Oda’s not interested in writing a typical shonen with a lot of fighting, it’s sort of inevitable that the final war will be, well, a war. The Strawhats are going to be up against some formidable enemies – from the Marines to the Elders and the Holy Knights – so it only makes sense that they need to be able to hold their own in battle. We’ve just had an arc where we saw them struggle against the Five Elders, even with DorryBrogy and their crew’s help, so I expect there will be some growth necessary before those final showdowns. Of course they get stronger every arc, but I think this one will make that quite explicit. And where better to develop strength than the ancient island of Elbaph, and a country of proud fighters that, as Loki said, once lived and breathed warfare?

More specifically, though, I think this arc will look at definitions of strength. What does strength mean? How do we define it? What is it important for? One piece and the Strawhats have already answered these questions, but I believe Elbaph will take it further. In light of Gear 5, we see that the true definition of Luffy’s strength is not simply physical, but creative – how much can he break free of expectations, play, and imagine? Gear 5 Luffy does not follow the rules of reality, and this is crucial. The reality of the One Piece world is dire, as it is – people oppressed by the power-hungry and so-called gods, isolated from one another by geography, targeted by bigotry. The task is to refuse this reality, and break it to make a new one.

Like many readers, I’ve been waiting to see a lot of growth from Usopp in particular, during this arc. Of course that’s because his dream is so tied to Elbaph, but let's get into more detail. Usopp is never going to be an inhumanely strong fighter like Zoro (no matter what the powerscalers say and expect). He isn’t supposed to be! That isn’t his strength! That’s not why we and his crew love him. Usopp’s strength is in bravely facing down his fears every single day, as a normal guy who doesn’t have extraordinary physical prowess. Usopp’s strength is that he believes, and he tries, and he fights with his whole heart for what he cares about. He inspires other people with his stories, and his words are powerful. As we know, stories are so important in the One Piece world (Skypiea was a whole arc related to a story most famous for being a huge lie!). I could say a lot more about Usopp but I won’t here because this is already long enough, but he is first and foremost human, compassionate, creative, and imaginative. He keeps trying for himself and his friends, regardless of not having the lofty dreams of some of his crewmates. That’s why Luffy liked him and recruited him. It would go against his whole character for him to have some kind of sudden wild power-up like I’ve seen people expect.

Rather, his journey is about him reckoning with himself around what it truly means to be a brave warrior of the sea, because ultimately only he can define that for himself. I think he was first inspired by Dorry and Brogy, but that he might well find that he can’t simply follow the Elbaph codes to the book to achieve his dream. In Wano, we saw that Usopp was particularly upset with the samurai’s values when Kin’emon and Kiku were prepared to die in Onigashima because he strongly disagreed that it was right for them to “take responsibility” by throwing their lives away, proclaiming that he would rather “cling to life with snot running from [his] nose.” I don’t expect the dynamic to be the same in Elbaph, since of course he deeply idolises the giants and has a much different relationship with them. However, I think his path this arc is going to be one of taking what works for him in terms of being courageous and confident in his abilities, while also realising that he already is brave and can be strong on his own terms using his specific skills (long-distance precision sniping, surprise attacks, storytelling and playing with reality using his intelligence as we saw in Thriller Bark). He’ll develop his fighting abilities (observation haki, maybe get some cool new plants from the Elbaph jungle) but most importantly develop confidence, and understand the power of his words in battle (see: becoming God Usopp in Dressrosa). Incidentally, I fully believe we will see him leading 8,000 men some day – not because he’s some overpowered fighter, but because people are drawn to his speaking.

On the opposite end of things, I think we’re also going to see Zoro go through an important learning curve. Clearly, the swordsman is not in a great headspace. He literally saw Death in Wano and it freaked him out despite him always proclaiming he has no fear. He was then off his game in Egghead, leading to him clearly repressing his feelings of fear and guilt afterwards (see: him calling Luffy pathetic for being upset they lost Stella). Something’s off with him and he’s trying to hold it together, but I’m hoping Elbaph might just burst his dam of inner anxiety. As we know, Zoro’s whole thing is strength – being strong enough to become the best swordsman in the world, being strong enough to protect his crewmates and make Luffy the Pirate King. He takes that responsibility incredibly seriously, to the point of being much too hard on himself and his body.

Zoro needs to learn a parallel lesson to Usopp – that the expectations he places on himself as a fighter and protector cannot be too rigid and extreme, or they become self-destructive. Prioritising the values of honour and strength can help you grow, but they can just as easily become chains holding you back. We know that’s not what Luffy wants or expects – the Pirate King’s crew should be free! That’s why I really think we need to see Zoro cut himself some slack and remember to rely on others. Being obsessed with individual strength is unhealthy, and may well cause more damage than good in the end. Mihawk is a good example of that – he’s the strongest swordsman in the world, but he’s completely alone. What did he sacrifice for his throne, and was it worth it?

I would love to see Zoro in Elbaph finally allow himself some vulnerability, ask for help, stop repressing his emotions and work with others instead of fixating on simply training to an extreme level. I want to see him get over his ego a little (or a lot). Unfortunately, knowing how stubborn he is, this lesson may need to be learned through some kind of painful experience. Don’t get me wrong, I say this from a place of so much love for Zoro. It’s difficult to see him be so closed off and hard on himself, as much as I understand where it comes from. So if events on Elbaph lead him to have to face all the fear and emotions he’s not dealing with, I think it will only make him a stronger and more resilient fighter. This could very well be Zoro having to deal with the promise he made to Sanji and realising he can’t take on that responsibility alone, nor would the other crewmembers want him to. Or, maybe that impossible choice would help him understand that he isn’t just an emotionless fighting machine – that what powers his strength is his dedication and love for his friends in the way that it is for all the Strawhats.

What I would also really like to see out of Zoro’s development is more teamwork with Sanji, since they mirror each other’s growth (with Sanji currently going through his own mutation-related changes) and need to work together as the wings of the Pirate King. Of course that doesn’t mean they’re always going to fight as a team, but I can imagine that they might need to against particularly tough enemies. I do think whatever happens with the promise, they will come out of it stronger (if maybe traumatised) somehow. Oda’s cheesy – he loves demonstrating the power of friendship and deep love. We saw that in Egghead with Kuma protecting Bonney against all odds. Kuma, like Nika and Joyboy, essentially broke reality and science because he loved his daughter so much. One Piece is just that kind of story. Plus, the whole point of Sanji and Zoro being Luffy’s wings is that they reflect each other perfectly, and they are at their most powerful when they work in sync, balancing out each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Sanji is too driven by emotion, with that balance currently changing slightly with the Raid Suit mutations. Zoro, on the other hand, isn’t connected enough to his emotions, and I think something needs to happen (potentially in this arc) to move him towards being more driven by them. I love the symmetry of it all. They can then balance each other out with even greater coherence, which will translate into battle.

Elbaph technology, ancient technology

I can’t wait to learn more about the painters (sunstones) that have been introduced to us in this arc. They’re incredibly reminiscent of Skypiea’s dials, with a hint of sun-based technology that makes me think of Vegapunk’s research and his dreams. Now, Oda could just very well never explain what they really are, or where they come from – we never got answers about the dials. However, given that we’re much further along in the story, I’m hoping we will get more information. My suspicion regarding the dial technology is that it came from the moon with the sky people who became the Skypieans, Shandorans, Birkans and Lunarians. Alternatively, it might have been developed by the Ancient Kingdom.

The painters of Elbaph could be a technology of similarly ancient origin (there may be more kinds of painters that serve different purposes, like the dials). Given we’re likely to start getting more information about the Ancient Kingdom and the Void Century if Robin visits Saul and his library, it would make sense for Oda to start bringing together the threads of these ‘otherworldly’ technologies. On top of that, Egghead very much highlighted technology as critically important – something that can cause immense harm, as well as bring immense relief and ease to people’s lives. We know that the Ancient Kingdom had incredibly advanced and sophisticated technology, and it seems like too much of a coincidence to me that islands and societies with strong historical links to that kingdom would also happen to have sustainable technologies that haven’t been shared with the world at large.

Speaking of Egghead technology, I’m curious to see if we get more information about why Elbaph has island clouds. We know from Egghead that they’re formed when pyrobloin (also found in seastone) meets water vapour after being ejected in volcanic eruptions – and that Vegapunk managed to create them and maintain them artificially. It makes sense that Elbaph’s Sun World is high enough in altitude for island clouds to exist stably there, but does that mean there are also volcanoes around there? Were they created a long time in the past when there were volcanoes there? Same question goes for Skypiea. Can the giants work with and manipulate island cloud in the way the Skypieans did, too? Regardless, they’re going to become invaluable given Vegapunk’s global flood prediction. Scientists like Haredas and the remaining Punk satellites’ knowledge of how to create them might become essential to saving people’s lives, as hinted during Egghead. And again, I sense connections to the Ancient Kingdom’s technological prowess that I believe we’ll start to get more and more pieces of as the story progresses in Elbaph.I’m sure the connection to seastone and Wano is important – even the idea of bringing together the elements of earth, water and air/sky (which happen to be linked to each of the ancient weapons) as well as fire/the sun and the Motherflame?? Oda’s cooking something, I know it.

With all of that said, I'm very excited to see what Nami might learn and do this arc – we've already seen her invoke "divine retribution", and I wouldn't be surprised if we see some more of her skills in a setting as nature and environment-based as this. On top of that, she's one of the scientists of their crew. She's a genius when it comes to weather science and technology, so who knows what she'll be able to do with painters and other weather-related technology on Elbaph, or even knowledge from Saul's library.

One of the biggest challenges in the One Piece world and one of the reasons that the world government is able to maintain dominance to some extent is its literal geography. It’s a world mostly covered by sea, with the only large land mass being the Red Line where the World Government's leadership is based. Parts of the sea cannot be crossed unless you have specific technology (Calm Belts) and on top of the usual difficulties and dangers of maritime travel, the Grand Line harbours extremely erratic and dangerous weather phenomena. This disconnection of people across the world serves to break up collective power, connection and communication, which is part of the reason why the Great Pirate Age was so threatening to the World Government. Normal people basically can’t travel long distances because they lack the resources and technology to do so safely.

As we’ve seen, technology is a double-edged sword – in the hands of those in power, it can easily become a tool of dominance and destruction, as with the Motherflame. However, if distributed amongst the people for the purposes of bringing better quality of life, it is also invaluable (as we’ve seen with the dials and painters so far). I believe we’ll see more examples of this emerge from this arc, potentially even including tools from the Ancient Kingdom itself. I imagine that part of the downfall of that advanced civilisation might have been their resources and technology. Perhaps they themselves took things too far, or maybe some other group wanted control of what they had, leading to war.

The return of the princess

One thing that did surprise me slightly in this chapter is the reunion of the Strawhats, because I genuinely thought Oda was going to keep them split up. My reasoning was that he would keep the Alabasta crew and older crew apart, to make it impossible for the message from Vivi to get to the relevant crewmembers. This makes me sound like I don’t want Vivi back ASAP and I promise, I do! For clarity, I think Vivi is (already) the last Strawhat and will join the crew on the Sunny sooner or later. Something that supports the idea of her meeting them on Elbaph is that we’re of course getting a lot of parallels and throwbacks to Little Garden (DorryBro, the giant animals, themes of strength) and who was with them on that island? None other than our beloved princess. Oda loves doing things like that.

To be honest, I thought he would want to draw it out for longer, just to tease us. Of course, just because the crew is back together for now doesn’t mean that a) they’ll stay together for long (although I would love for that to be the case) or b) the Strawhats who saw the newspaper will bring it up to the others. I’m sure Robin will want to see Saul as soon as possible after the welcome feast (maybe even immediately if he’s unwell), and they might not all go with her. Plus, there’s no guarantee that any of the crew who did read the newspaper would think to mention it to the others (since only Robin picked up on the mark). It’s not like they got new bounties after Egghead. On the other hand, someone could just produce a copy at the feast as an update, and someone like Nami picks it up – it wouldn’t be that clunky for Oda to do.

Initially upon reading it felt to me like the Vivi thing was going to be forgotten and left for a while, especially if the crew got split up. Thinking about it now, I really don’t know what kind of timeframe we’ll get. There are just too many possibilities to guess. He could have it be something that gets relatively resolved quickly and they send a message to Vivi early in the arc (I’m sure they can send a letter to the WEJ) so she can start heading over (again, don’t know how long that would take), or it could be something that’s left aside for a while. I have no idea. Also, very smart of Oda to put her on an airship that could just, directly land on the Sun level of a certain giant tree. Hmmmmmm.

We also know Sabo needs to talk to her and Luffy, so I’m anticipating (praying) we might see him meet up with them towards the end of Elbaph, or shortly after. No, I’m not being delusional just because I want to see him...

Brag Men, fictional romance and Shadow the Hedgehog

Lastly, I wanted to talk about the very ominous ending of this chapter, which of course will have caught everyone’s attention. If you remembered Louis Arnot and Brag Men, big kudos to you. I will own up and say I remembered Louis Arnot vaguely being mentioned in relation to Little Garden, but not much else.

It feels obvious to state, but the first thing that jumps to mind for me is that Oda is once again making the parallels between Little Garden and Elbaph extremely clear. He is also showing us that Brag Men and this Louis Arnot character are important in the One Piece world, which was previously hinted at. Specifically, it ties into Montblanc Noland’s story and the Skypiea arc, and further strengthens the key theme of stories in Elbaph. Both Brag Men and Noland’s story are considered fictional or even lies by most people. However, we know that Noland’s story turned out to be completely true, including the fact that the sky islands do exist and can be reached, and likewise with Louis Arnot’s account of Little Garden. It seems very clear that Elbaph is going to explore ideas around fantasy vs reality, truth vs lies, fact vs fiction, myths and storytelling, and the nature of what’s possible in the world of One Piece. I think Oda will get a little meta, and I love it.

On the topic of the actual Louis Arnot quote, two things jump out at me. Firstly, the emphasis once again on Warland being a part of Elbaph, which I discussed earlier. This raises the question of when people started predominantly calling it Elbaph, and why? What changed, or was erased, on the island? Secondly, Arnot’s warning that travellers should not regret their “lost time” or overstay their welcome. I’ve touched on ideas around this earlier as well, but I think there are many options as to why this might be. It could be a question of time passing strangely (like on Little Garden), danger (whether from the environment or the inhabitants), or something else. My guess right now is a combination of those. Since before the arrival on Elbaph, the giants have been associated with a stretching out and lengthening of time, as well as a detachment from reality itself (e.g. the Green Fairy alcohol and hallucinations, the idea of drinking and feasting for days). It makes me think of entering a fae realm where time passes differently, and it’s all too easy to never return to the real world, or maybe even become trapped. I also think there may well be threats to humans especially due to internal conflict, secrets kept well-hidden on the island, and/or hostility from certain inhabitants. It feels too early to say much else.

What was particularly interesting to me, though, is the choice of visuals Oda paired with the Arnot quote. In the panel where we see a natural jungle landscape, with a huge bear right in the middle of it, there is a tiny mysterious silhouette. It is wearing what looks in shape like a Wano-style straw hat, and seems to have a distinctive spiky hairstyle or coat. Of course not that much can be deduced from this one panel, but this figure does look very similar to the seated one we saw after Egghead, who was drinking from a bottle and saying “come on…”. The hat is the same, and if you zoom in, it looks like they are holding something to their mouth (a bottle?). I’m putting my money on it being the same person, and I also think it may well be the same mystery character from the cover story of Chapter 631, where we see Crocus drinking with someone who’s back is turned. They are wearing the same Wano-style amigasa and have spiky hair. Crocus seems happy and relaxed, so they probably know each other and are quite close. Obviously we know absolutely nothing about this character apart from a vague silhouette and maybe their hair and hat, but I will put on my clown makeup and say I think it’s Scopper Gaban.

Why? Because I want it to be. This theorising about the silhouette is the part I’m fully just including for fun, because we have so little to go on but. He would be friends with Crocus since they were both on Roger’s crew, he has spiky hair which might now be white from age, he’s been to Wano, it would make sense for Oda to make him cross paths with the Strawhats, and he’s strong – which he would need to be to get from Twin Cape to the New World alone, and to survive in the wilderness of Elbaph. Also, I just think it’s interesting that we haven’t yet heard anything about someone who was clearly extremely strong in Roger’s crew (unconfirmed but likely Roger’s #3 after Rayleigh). I have no other evidence, but that’s my theory. The timeline of Louis Arnot’s activity would actually also fit with someone from the Roger Pirates (pen name, maybe?) but I feel like that’s stretching it. I will be a clown if it turns out to be someone we’ve never met before, or even just Louis Arnot himself (real not pen name), but that’s fine. I’m manifesting.

The last thing I’ll say about the last page of the chapter is that the last panel, with the pitch-black background, very much reminds me of the ‘blackout’ panels we saw during the Lego world adventure a few chapters ago. It could of course just be a coincidence, and Oda’s using the background for pure dramatic effect. But, and again I am in a full face of clown makeup, something else could be going on… [insert DOOM! panel]

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mulders-too-large-shirt · 6 months ago

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s2 episode 17 thoughts

whispers softly. man... i need a minute. shaky breath.

okay. i'll start at the top like always. AUGH THE TEARS. fighting them. okay. need to put on some sad songs to accompany the 45-60 minutes it will take to type all this up

so, i sat down ready to see where this was gonna go. in fact i noted that i was incredibly locked in. which i continue to believe that i was.

we see a submarine, which is a type of craft i just do not trust. even before all that went down last summer. too scary for me. but they see something giving off a signal. and despite being a cartographer ship, they have missiles. and they're gonna go towards the thing they see on the radar, because they were told to. which seems wrong.

but then all their power is knocked out!!! and they are ordered to surface. but how will they do that under a ton of ice?!?!

title sequence. i was expecting different than the usual "the truth is out there" but i guess it's just business as usual over here despite it all

back to where we left off: scully's on the phone with real mulder and fake mulder is in her room. she hangs up on real mulder and tells the fake one that it was a wrong number, which had to be confusing to real mulder.

she tells him to put his hands on the wall, and he makes some quip about being shot before and not caring for it, and for a minute i'm like oh shit, that's a very mulder thing to do- what if he is, in fact, real mulder, and it's fake mulder on the phone? but that theory didn't make much sense anyway and also it was quickly put to rest by the fact that he started beating the hell out of scully.

so time skip: real mulder shows up to the scene with his "sister", who says the alien hit man is gonna call and ask to make a trade: scully for his "sister", and yeah, quotes are verbatim, i was still not buying this whole family relation thing

but his "sister" says that she knows how to kill the alien hit man: you have to hit the base of his skull. maybe. she isn't 100% certain. and also you can't miss because their blood is toxic. which we actually did already know!

and he's getting suspicious. why won't she explain exactly where she has been all this time? and what's this deal with her "father"? he's yelling at her at this point and i get it because it's not adding up to me either

she says that the aliens have been trying to establish a colony on earth since the 1940's, and:

"it's their belief that the stewardship of the planet is being forsaken" <- okay yeah. can't argue there. some of us are trying, aliens. i am not one of the mega companies pouring nuclear waste into the ocean. but maybe y'all could do a better job. and she continues:

"and that by default they'll someday become the natural heirs" <- well hey. you were sounding reasonable but now you are not. have we considered that maybe the people already here could give it another go free from the shackles of the 1%? you're acting like it's an estate sale and buddy we're still living in the house. you lost me there, and i was willing to hear you out.

she says that all of the clones worked at abortion clinics to gain access to fetal tissue, so they could combine human and alien dna. which i imagine had to be a good pr boost for abortion clinics (heavy on the /s here)

and the killer is after them because their experiments with mixing alien with human dna were not sanctioned, so they're "diluting the race", which i guess seems like the thing they would be worried about.

he doesn't seem to fully buy it, because he says "that's a good story, but i've heard a lot of good stories lately" which is true!!! our old worstie ambrose chapel was a liar, remember? or at least someone impersonating him was doing some lying!

"i'm your sister, fox, you have to trust me" UM PROOF?? have we done a dna test??? you can't just show up like that!!!!!

skinner knocks at the door... but is it really him? or the shapeshifting hit man????

"why are the lights out?" skinner asks quite reasonably "orders from my ophthalmologist" he says, lying very easily for a man for loves the Truth. but it did make me giggle.

sister approves that it is really skinner! only after they set a trap to get him just in case it wasn't. again i ask why she can tell if it's the man or not but okay. we move past that.

he makes introductions: "this is my sister, samantha mulder" to which skinner replies "WHAT"

and yeah. i would react the same!!!!

(also weird to hear mulder used as a last name. to me that's just the guy. you know?)

NOOO his phone rings. it's scully calling from a payphone. "he says he's gonna kill me if you don't give him what he wants" oh. okay.

there's no time to explain to skinner what is going on so!!! just please trust me, he says!!! and he does. another point for skinner, who is like a strange uncle or cousin to me.

they go to do a hostage trade: "samantha" for scully. and is this the same bridge where they did the hostage deal for mulder at the end of s1? do they only have one bridge for hostage deals. might be a bit much to have 2 in one city.

skinner has a sniper in the bush, ready to shoot at the base of the alien hit man's neck during the exchange. okay save the day mister sniper please.

AUGH HOSTAGE EXCHANGE. it's so tense. i paused here to write how tense it was, which did not ease it in the slightest. the hit man has a gun to scully's head and it's recalling mulder's early trauma with hostage exchanges. they're waiting for the right moment to shoot....

scully's in the car!!!! but samantha tried to use the needle that kills the aliens and she MISSED and the sniper shot was messed up and then there's firing and is it the sniper? or is it the hit man? who is hit? it is very unclear!!!!! both hit man and samantha tumble into the cold water beneath.

he's still at the bridge, staring down into the place he last saw her. scully comes out to join him, and he says "you should be at the hospital" (she has gauze on her head and says she was just discharged)

he's staring into the water, trying to come up with different ways she might have lived

"why didn't you tell me on the phone that it was her?" "i couldn't tell you 'cause you'd never let me go through with it" AUGHHHHHHHHH.

(and knowing how the episode ends. i am glad this happened. but in the moment. this was a gut punch)

she asks how he knew it was really his sister (valid question, one i fear he should have asked as well) and he snaps about how could she ask that, and she's like, dude someone with your face and body just kidnapped me???? so the whole who is who thing is a little murky??

(she actually calmly explains this. without any judgement. judgement added was my own. but you can imagine that after this experience, hearing "he's an alien" might still be a bit of a hard sell)

okay, mr. mulder is on the scene. he has to tell his dad he lost his sister. I lost her, he says. emphasis on the I. as if it was an action that he took. fuck.

and his dad hits back with a "you LET this man take your sister?" and son mulder is CRYING. what the HELL this is too much. the man has suffered too much. i'm given flashbacks to the last time we saw him cry when he thought he lost scully forever.

PAUSE. i just know the actors were eating up these lines. ohhh i know they were sinking their teeth into them the way that good dialogue allows you to. when you tap into the soul of a character, a whole person who isn't even real, because the writing cuts to their heart. yeah yeah yeah i knowww they were rolling with it and it felt Good

back to the scene. his father is giving him a guilt trip about how his mother is going to deal with "losing her again". and he's apologizing and crying when his dad pulls out an envelope

"your sis- SAMANTHA" told me to give you this.

the implication that he lost the claim to be considered related to her????? is sooooo entirely messed up?? that is the kind of thing that ruins a person???? holy fuck??

he's sobbing while opening the letter, and it gives an address where she says they can meet up if they are separated... so maybe she's really still out there??? hope has been installed back into "she's not actually dead" camp

he rolls up to the address and parks in an area labeled "NO PARKING". grief will do this to a guy.

but just as he arrives, scully calls and says they found her in the river. NOOOOOO THE NEWLY RETURNED HOPE.... "whatever you're feeling, you can't blame yourself" she says, knowing that he must be putting his whole soul into Blaming Himself

but... her body is melting??? is it an alien body??? is the melting gonna turn into toxic gas?? scully don't stare at it you're gonna get all thick blood!!!!

back to mulder. this man is experiencing all stages of grief at once on the steps of a women's clinic. he goes in and pulls out a gun and boy i sure hope there are no women inside.

someone is in there. it's... someone with samantha's face??? saying that she knows "she's dead"????? "it was all a lie", he mumbles as he realizes he was played

YESSSS I KNEW IT. i knew that was NOT his sister. i knew it was too weird and coincidental to be true. this makes the grief of losing her dissipate entirely so i do consider this a win beyond me just being able to guess where the plot was going

and i'm thinking, how the hell is he gonna explain all this to scully? like, to mom and dad, you will have to play along with the whole "she died" thing, and while that is by no means easy, it is a concrete thing you can say and do. but scully??? how is she going to react to "someone pretended to be my sister and then got killed"

(i suppose mulder could tell his parents that DNA testing on "samantha's body" proved no relation, but that would still be complicated to walk through, because there was no corpse to prove that, you know, because she dissolved- maybe scully could make some paperwork to make it look real?)

back to the matter at hand: these aliens with the same face are saying that he must save their original source. and he says "i am not your savior" which- tea. set your boundaries king. in fact, had i been there, i would have done the opposite of protecting, and instead start blasting these aliens that pretended to be my long-dead sister.

but they have leverage... they know where she really is...... so he doesn't walk out....

hit man arrives!!!!! armed with his needle!!! and mulder goes to confront him, but he knocks him on his back, and sets a fire- mulder's weakness!!!!!!

scully is making a report. she cannot substantiate his claims of aliens. and she's got a cut on her forehead from hit man taking her. my poor queen :(

back to the fbi agent that died in the last episode. he has nasty cuts allllll over. like he was carved with designs. sorry for that imagery but i saw it and must describe it.

she thinks she can solve this case with the power of SCIENCE!!! what killed this guy, exactly? maybe if we can figure it out, the other pieces could fall into place

so the virus that causes the blood to thicken is inhibited by the cold.... which explains our earlier scene of mulder in the ice tub and her yelling about him needing to be cold...

DEEP THROAT 2.0 ARRIVAL? (sidenote does this dude have a real name? like while this was airing what were y'all calling him...)

he tells mulder that the last alien- the one who was sent to kill the clones, our shapeshifting hit man- has been tracked to alaska, and that you have to pick your battles to win the war. telling him not to go to alaska. can you imagine.

scully goes to his place and knocks but no one answers. and his newspapers on at the doorstep. so she busts out her keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey..... heart still melts that she has this.......

and HE KNEW SHE WAS GONNA INVESTIGATE???? he sent her an email..... and he's saying how he wouldn't let her risk her life... nooo don't you weaponize the earlier drawing a line thing, that was about chasing a very vague alien lead to an agent's death, not about investigating ur sister...........

she bursts into skinner's office. and then apologizes for doing so.

(i love this so much. such a tiny detail that tells us a lot about her character. that Need to be good and do the right thing and please those whom she looks up to. ohhhhh)

he asks to speak to her off the record, and it seems at first promising... but he won't help her get in contact with mulder. EVEN after she says please!!!! she is gonna cry!!!!!

skinner's bitching about mulder's actions being a violation of his oath, and she's saying that he saved her life, and he comes back with a "if he wanted or expected you to do the same, he would have told you where he was going"

skinner being a jerk... at this point i began to revoke the point i earlier gave him...

he looks deeply troubled though, and i was like, ohhh, mulder must have promised him to not tell her where he was going... i see into your plans, mulder (<- this is not what happened)

back at mulder's place. scully's searching for clues. there's an x taped to the window again, which must be something he just does sometimes. and there's ominous music.

she falls asleep on his couch, and i swear i actually felt my heart melting at this moment. the way she was curled up. subconsciously trying to hold onto a piece of him. only finding rest where he did. i can't even wax poetic about this because i can't put the words into the right shape. but it is gonna destroy me.

someone is knocking... but who?

DEEP THROAT 2.0?!?!

he tries to act like he just went to the wrong room, but she isn't buying it, following him and demanding to know where he really is

SKINNER IS HERE? GETTING ON THE ELEVATOR????? SKINNER ATTACKING D.T. 2.0??? the girls are fighting!!!!!!!

he makes deep throat 2.0 tell him where mulder is, even when skinner is pinned up and deep throat 2.0 is the one holding the gun, and he said "i've killed men for less", but skinner says that if you kill him, he'll be killing 2 men....... this gag seems to have worked

SKINNER is AT THE DOOR to mulder's place where scully is staying. and he is bleeding from MANY wounds. tells scully where he is without elaborating on the blood pouring from all over. okay skinner. you're real for that. you get that point i was tossing around back. and a bonus one, in fact.

so mulder's out on the ice, and usually him wearing a big jacket would spark joy in my heart. and i won't lie, it does a little. but there is also a LOT of tension going on, so it's very brief. feels wrong to rejoice in the simple pleasures of man in big funny coat when he just had to lose his sister and then learn it wasn't even her.

but he sees some sort of tower and he's going in!!! and a dead guy is spotted.

pause. at this point i am sitting here thinking, man, these episodes are good, definitely among the best i've seen so far. who let these men cook? can we get them back in the kitchen with more regularity?

someone is leading him deeper and deeper into the maze of this... station? sub? and i fear he is being led into a trap. but he finds a very very scared man and having a big man point a gun at him doesn't help with the fear, i'm sure. but is it really a sniveling coward... or the hit man???

and JUST as he almost had me fooled and wondering if mulder was gonna really shoot an innocent guy, BAM! hit man reveal.

mulder keeps asking where his sister is, even while being pummeled by this alien with super strength. and he says "she's alive. can you die now?"

mulder shoots at the alien and he misses the back of his neck, so his toxic blood is filling up the space, and things are not looking good at all. and the alien takes him out and drops him on the ice!!!!!

he's going to break the ice and let him freeze or hit him with the sub as it goes down, both very bad endings........

CUTSCENE TO WHERE WE BEGAN!!!!

scully is bursting in, telling this doctor that he has a virus that can only be slowed by keeping him cold, and he isn't buying it, but just as he tries to get her kicked out of the room, his heart stops, so she intervenes.

and she's calling all the shots- get 100 grams of this and that and a drip of this- and this doctor has had his shift hijacked by a better doctor. he implies that mulder might not make it, and she refuses to hear this out.

and she's.... gently stroking his hair... while this is going down........

and sitting by his bed while he's getting better...

(so are the counts for who has been in a coma now tied? justice is served)

and now she's doing the case conclusion:

"several aspects of this case remain unexplained, suggesting the possibility of paranormal phenomena" <- OHHH??? is this what makes scully a believer? are we gonna see some character changes?

"but i am convinced that to accept such conclusions is to abandon all hope of understanding the scientific events behind them" okay!!! we are getting a deeper look into her philosophy here. yes yes yes give me more. and more i was given:

"many of the things i have seen have challenged my faith and my belief in an ordered universe, but this uncertainty has only strengthened my need to know, to understand, to apply reason, to those things which seem to defy it"

and i love it. i love it so much. seeing how she understands the world, why she knows that there has to be an order to it all, and if it seems there isn't, it's just because she hasn't figured it out yet... and science did allow him to get better... the need to fight a good fight in the way she knows how... yeah... that's lovely...

and she's CRYING at his bedside and holding his arm when he finally opens his eyes. her smile. her gentle "hey". it's so innocent, seeing that he is okay, that he made it through the worst part of getting better.

"thanks for ditching me" aughhhhghhhhh.......

he says he didn't find what he was looking for, but he did find the faith to keep looking. ohhhhh. ohhhhhhh...

the way his faith was gone at the start of season 2, but now it's back, there's something worth fighting for, his sister is out there, there is a world worth figuring out..........

man.

at this point my friend was sending me texts and i was like queen i need a minute. i need a minute. to put these things in order. and honestly i STILL do!

it was an absolutely amazing duo of episodes. i truly loved the writing, seeing them pushed to the brink with each other and with themselves. seeing skinner come into fruition. seeing what motivates them both and how they see the world and how it is entirely different but still driven by hope and faith and a need to learn the truth. and the tenderness of it all. of her sleeping on his couch in his absence, thinking maybe he'll be home soon. of running her fingers through his hair while he was being revived. the fury of being blamed for the loss of his sister, the fury with which she screamed at deep throat 2.0 to tell him where he went off to, the fury of mulder realizing he had been lied to and that his sister had never come back at all. but there still being hope despite it all. because there are things worth searching for. and they can do it together.

man. it was a very good episode but your girl is gonna go watch a silly video because it definitely hit me right in the Feelings!!

#sniffles #my friend was texting me about the debate during this and i was like queen i can't handle the collapse of this country #AND sad scully mulder time at once. we need to space it out a lil.#man. i love them so bad. i am NOT complaining i love angst. the angst lovers just also must recover at times #and they're not even gonna go to a fun time zoo in the next episode it'll be a SAD zoo!#with possessed animals!#maybe i need to shift the goalposts. where could they go now that zoos might be off the table...#mini golf. an arcade? the mall. museums. obviously museums. natural history museum. let her talk about the world. the bones #and look at the dinosaurs. yeah yeah i'm cooking here. they have all the smithsonians right there!!!#museum date. which they have done before!! but that was business related (end of the jersey devil ep)#let's have a purely “wow life is amazing isn't it” day at the museum #yes. this has been decreed by Law. it shall be what i think about now.#good times. good times.#juni's x files liveblog #2x17 #the x files #txf

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