#Theo raeken character analysis

[bittersweet-nothingss]

“I was only falling in love”

This line gets me every. single. time. I always associate it with Theo because if you really think about it, Theo's story is heartbreaking.

His whole life, even before the dread doctors, was so sad, with him having his heart condition and probably having shitty parents who couldn't do much, which led to Theo listening and going with the dread doctors for help. For that to only turn out to him being made into a killer, ripped off of any humanity or innocence, and molded into whatever they wanted (along with having to survive and endure all the pain, torture, and experiments, + being alone throughout his entire time with them),

Then he goes through all of the stuff, trying to become the Alpha and kill Scott, take his power, kill Tracy and Josh, and get sent to hell by Kira. Then his entire time in hell itself, which was the turning point for him in his story, all the trauma and pain he had to endure by getting his heart ripped out again and again by his sister, is the one thing he truly regrets and will forever haunt him.

Then along comes Liam Dunbar. Liam Liam Liam—the blue-eyed beta— who changed everything for Theo. This boy, "the beta with anger issues," turned Theo's whole world upside down, first by releasing him from his own personal hell and then sticking up for him, keeping him by his side throughout the war, and saving him. Theo found comfort in Liam in a way he had never found in anyone else. Because he never got the chance to. Theo's humanity and emotions came back after his time in hell and after being brought back.

There was an understanding between Theo and Liam and a level of connection that wasn't with anyone else or one that they had with anyone else. I think it hit harder for Theo because of his past, but when he finally realizes the extent of his feelings, it stops because we never see what happens next.

The last scene we have with them directly speaking is so raw and beautiful; it's the last time we see Theo being vulnerable in Liam's presence alone considering the fact that he normally has a facade in front of everyone else since the beginning, yet the look and smile he gives Liam in the elevator is so bittersweet.

It seems as though he knows that this may be the last time he's ever going to get this close to or even just be alone with Liam at all. The boy who was his savior and who he couldn't help but love for being so kind and courageous—a boy who has rage living inside of him, running through him almost the same way his blood is—yet he's so selfless and brave, and he's trying his hardest in a world that forced him to grow up too fast.

The scene in the elevator will forever remind me that Theo was in fact only falling in love with Liam. He fell hard, yet he's reminding himself that for him, happy endings don't exist. His happiness ends here. The one thing he wants nothing more than in that moment is to have Liam; however, with the way his luck is and who he is, it's not enough. He was only falling in love, an act that was outside of his control and power—two things he's longed for his whole life, but his story ends here.

Something so pure and beautiful that was cut short too fast.

Sorry for the whole essay I had to get this off my chest and my head was hurting from thinking about this all day.

My baby deserved so much better and this is not even half of what I wanna say, I could go on for hours. 😭

[bittersweet-nothingss]

Reblogging this again cuz it’s been on my mind the whole day.

[gayholloway]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken Characters: Liam Dunbar, Theo Raeken Additional Tags: Character Analysis, Post-Season/Series Finale, Pining, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Relationship, Getting Together, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, First Kiss, Theo Raeken Needs a Hug, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending Summary:

“What’re you thinking about?” Liam asks lazily, staring at Theo.

His face must do something then, because Liam is scrambling to cover his tracks at the thought of making him even the slightest bit uncomfortable. He opens and closes his mouth a few times - in a way that’d be endearing if he didn’t look so nervous.

“You don’t have to answer that. It was just too quiet.”

Theo hums, feigning indifference.

He wants to answer it. He wants and wants, wants Liam, wants a home, wants a family.

More than anything, he wants them to understand. The complexities of his childhood he keeps buried so far down, covered by rotten wood and damp soil. His life, his sister, his parents, the house they grew up in, everything before the doctors.

Or: Theo character analysis and his relationship with language

[kissyourdemons]

We don’t talk enough about the fact that Scott is indirectly responsible for Tracey and Josh’s deaths. Just because it was Theo’s claws that ended their lives doesn’t absolve Scott of his role making that happen.

Theo wanted a pack and killing it wasn’t part of his original plan. He only killed Tracy and Josh because Deucalion lied to him and told him it was how he could achieve his end goal of becoming an alpha. Scott’s thing has always been to find another way and yet this was the plan he went with? Granted, Scott didn’t know exactly what Deucalion would do, but what else did his expect from the demon wolf who slaughtered entire packs?

While, yes, Theo made the choice to act on Deucalion’s words, it doesn’t change Scott’s role in it all. Too many fics gloss over this and I just wish they didn’t. Scott’s humanity has always been a core value of his character, but that doesn’t only mean the nice parts. Yes, he’s very forgiving and trusting. But he also makes mistakes and those mistakes hurt the people around him. It’s a disservice to Scott’s character as well, because really, what’s more human than making the wrong judgement call that gets two teenaged killed at the hands of a child soldier?

[mikhardwheat]

Dread Doctors and Parenting: Opinions. Theo Reaken Character Analysis and (trigger warning) Scott Slander.

Dread Doctors ruined Theo's life, because he was easy to manipulate and was tend to be violent, making him value his self-worth based on their approval, screwing his brain over with untreatable damage, just to throw him out as soon as he got useless.

They haven't teached him basic human skills and raised a murderer, thinking it'll be easier for evil to grow inside of him instead of it taking over at once over a kind soul, which is messed up by itself, but…

Theo really believed that being evil was the one single thing he was capable of. He believed he was destined to gather an impossible power and then Doctors said it wasn't even an option? He couldn't do the only thing he was supposed to? Jeez, his head was a fucking mess.

And then the pack sends him to hell? To relive his biggest nightmare over and over? To the point where he thinks everything what's happening is purely his fault and he lets Tara tear him apart, because "you don't have to stop"?? Because now he's not only blaming himself for her death, he thinks he deserves the suffering and that's a price he's willing to pay???

Scott McCall is getting the dirtiest side-eye from me right now.

He convinced Deucalion to manipulate Theo into killing his own pack. The kid was mentally unstable and haven't got any real friends since he was 9, 10 years of brainwashing made him foget how valuable life actually was and he was going against the Doctors' orders for the first time in who-knows-how-long-its-been-since-his-last-rebelion. It was also around the time Doctors decided to ignore him completely? Let him do his little dumb thing, knowing it won't work out as he wants it to? Neglected child getting neglected even more and feeling emotionally vulnerable?

And Scott thought making him kill his first attempt at friendship was a good plan? This mf has a "no killing rule", but he allows others to do the dirty job and then it's fine. If they killed before, then there's nothing wrong with them killing again, especially if it benefits him, am I right?

To be fair, it's not completely Scott's fault, just poor writing doing him wrong for the umpteenth time. Both deserved better, both deserved to get back the friendship they once had.

Just a friendly reminder that TW's canon sucks.

[cmnzoq]

Theo was already corrupted before the Dread Doctors got to him.

In 5x19 they literally say it point out that he was basically already evil to some extent. At 31:05 "Not a complete failure. We learned from you"

And what they learned is that you need someone "innocent/good" and corrupting them to create the perfect evil. Hence why they took Mason.

Theo was a failure because he was already corrupted, because he was already to some extent "evil"

(5x19)

The dread doctors didn't "torture" Theo to the extent some people make it out to be either. He WAS a willing participant. Yes, he was a child so there for, yes it's iffy, and I am not saying Theo didn't get affected by the Dread Doctors at all and what happened.

The thing is he isn't some innocent little kid they just choose to corrupt. He wanted to be a Chimera, that's why he killed his sister. So that the Doctors could transplant it into him making him a natural Chimera.

In 5x11 Dr Valack explains that Theo was the first step in the right direction for the Dread Doctors for making the "perfect evil" and is the reason they changed their methods in creating one.

They changed their methods to "corrupting something truly good" to create the "perfect evil" because they originally thought to create the "perfect evil" they had to start with the "perfect killer" that is said as stated before.

[sweetlullabyebye]

me when theo raeken analysis

[strahable]

(if I misread your tone within your reblog, I sincerely apologize.)

This post... this post, man. I have a lot to say, but I'll start with:

Well, you see... they're fictional.

Honestly, I get it, some fictional characters have done some profoundly messed up things that make you sometimes question the writer's own choices. Those are the characters that you can't forgive because they're either so horribly written, written to be unforgivable, or they're just forever tainted in your eyes when you learn what they did.

However, in my book, Theo isn't any one of those things.

Theo was not only written to be hated, but then he was written to be redeemed. Now, I know it's Jeff Davis and this dude writes some deeply messed up stuff (unforgivable things). You can see it in the earlier seasons the most. However, Theo is one of the very few characters on that show that actually deserved to be redeemed.

Now, I don't want to go too far into that because that's not my point.

Beyond redemption, Theo's actions were not great, but at the same time... who the fuck cares? He's fictional? The only reasons to get upset about fiction is to judge the writers or to worry about the messages it's sending to people. Jeff Davis has rarely sent a good message (and created a safe space for creeps because of certain plots in his show), but Theo did NOT contribute to that.

"He committed murder," "He killed so many people!" Okay? We know? We also know that millions upon millions of other characters have.

Now, how many of y'all wanted to kill someone for real or condone murder after seeing a TV show character do it? Probably not many. I don't have the numbers, but I imagine that majority of well rounded and okay individuals did NOT want to commit murder after seeing it on TV. I'd say almost all of them.

Theo killing people left and right didn't make you want to do it any more than you did before.

The point I'm trying to make is that there are some actions that even if they're fictional or not, that can either send such horrific messages or that can be so badly written that they are unforgivable. What Theo did was none of those things.

The narrative HATED Theo. It wanted him to suffer. No one was being told ✨murder is okay✨

I would also like to add that Theo was GROOMED by the Dread Doctors. They made him that way. Does the narrative suggest he had the potential to be that way on his own? Yes. However, it's by characters who are not trustworthy in their objective opinions.

There are countless other scenes with Theo himself that suggests an uneven power dynamic between him and the Dread Doctors.

So, not only did Theo's actions not contribute to an overall bad message, but his actions were also rationalizable if you just consider how deeply messed up he was from a young age.

All of this adds up to my conclusion, simply put, who the fuck cares if people are woobifying Theo? It's literally not hurting anyone to do so.

I'm also not saying that thinking critically about characters like Theo is stupid, because it's not. I have done it myself. However, making an entire post about how someone should ALWAYS be thinking critically, and taking their fun away to act all pretentious (I apologize if I'm misreading your tone) about it, that... that is stupid.

Let people have fun when it doesn't hurt anyone else.

i love doing apologism for fictional characters. yes he killed people and ruined everything but thats ok bc i like him and hes my little baby. so who cares

[klartzzie]

Pass the happy! 🌻🌈 When you receive this, list 5 things that make you happy and send this to 10 of the last people in your notifications!

Ouuuu that’s fun🥰 things that make me happy hmmmm

1) my mom. Ily mama

2) anything Theo Raeken related I’m currently writing BSHJWJS whether my analysis or the Thiam fic I’m working on

3) my new classmates! They’re really awesome

4) my characters. They always always make me feel better

5) video editing. A hobby of years and a habit that never seems to die lmfao

[bittersweet-nothingss]

These are the same hands that pushed Liam into the Elevator to save his life.

They’re the same hands that held and carried Liam away from the Zoo to Theo’s truck.

They’re the same hands that cleaned the blood from Liam’s hands and fixed his hair. 

They’re the same hands that buckled him in and drove him to safety. 

They’re the same hands that drove back towards death and destruction when he heard Liam was in danger.

And they’re the same hands that pulled Liam back into the elevator and saved his life one last time.

[guessimherenow1]

Stiles in season 5 was definitely my favourite. A more serious, angry, emotional side to his character came out and it definitely made him a much realer, vulnerable character to me. The first episode, before Theo’s arrival, was particularly interesting because his insecurity about his friends not returning his enthusiasm about sticking together is so damn relatable and stirring. Him being so insistent on proving Theo is guilty in such a frenetic, unreasonable manner (dissimilar to how he presents his usual theories, which usually have some credibility) seems like a weird kind of self harm. It’s like he’s saying look, i just have a feeling, the letters of his signature is different, you don’t believe me? my friends think I’m crazy, I’m going to end up alone. I was right all along.  Should Theo have come any earlier, and i think their interactions and the way Stiles approached everything wouldve been wildly different. Theo was just another part of stiles’ insecurity that him and Scott would become distanced, or he would be replaced.

[amethystskeleton]

Whoops my hand slipped, here's the whole essay :)

I’ve gotten a few requests for the full essay on this, which I am more than happy to oblige (really it’s only enabling me to rant about this idea and the mess that the writers caused by creating Theo as a character, which I am thrilled to talk about). First and foremost, warning for a long post. Secondly, I am genuinely so pleased that other people were interested in this when I posted it, because as I said, this has been something that has been rattling around in my brain since FOREVER. This is half a theory that comes from the writers not really understanding exactly what the existence of Theo as a character meant for the show (which is a whole other essay), and half from actual in-show evidence. This is all a personal interpretation though so please don’t take this as me trying to explain or follow canon perfectly. 

This will also deal with Theo and Malia specifically during Season 5A and 5B. Stiles is also pretty heavily prevalent with both Theo and Malia during this time frame, and there is a particular  theory I have that ties Stiles in here as well. However, it takes too long and requires too much suspension of disbelief to put in an essay like this rather than in fanfic format. So if anyone is specifically interested in a Stiles scene or moment from the show and how that might tie in, feel free to ask, but I’m not going to include the Stiles' involvement in all of this in essay formatting. (Maybe it will be a future fanfic or smth lol)

Also in general, yes I have watched all 6 seasons and I have seen 5A and 5B recently, but I’m not watching them while writing this, so everything here is based off of what I remember. 

That said, let's get into the essay!!

So the main question here bothering me about this was ‘what was the mission given to Theo by the Dread Doctors when he showed up in Beacon Hills?’

We know that the Dread Doctors showed up and got Theo to kill Tara between the ages of seven and eight. However Stiles then tells us that Theo didn’t leave town until he was nine or ten, so depending on exactly when things happened, there was at minimum 1-2 years where Theo was a chimera and still hanging around Beacon Hills. 

For me, this indicates that the Dread Doctors were willing to keep him around for a reason outside of just the Beast experiment. They clearly had a use for him and it was enough that they would keep him around and keep him safe despite being a “failure” in their eyes. I believe that this manifested in the form of Theo completing missions for the Dread Doctors that they themselves couldn’t do. 

When Gerard caught up with them in the tunnels and stopped them with the frequency emitter we see that they do have weaknesses. Being with them for eleven years Theo could have those weaknesses trained out of him as he wasn’t bound by the same limitations as the Doctors. Even though he is naturally more vulnerable to high pitched noises like Scott and other supernatural creatures, over time that resistance to noise could be built up. Which could lead to him being able to defend the Doctors against their weaknesses if the need arose.

So then we get to Episode One of S5A and Theo shows back up in Beacon Hills after eleven years. At this point he has survived and thrived with the Dread Doctors. He is very clearly good at his job and good at what he does. When Belasko breaks out of that wall with the assistance of Parrish, the first thing Belasko does is go after Scott. Now, if the Dread Doctors had placed Theo there to kill Scott, it makes no sense to send Belasko first. Belasko was already bleeding black liquid (mercury?) and doesn’t seem to be doing too well. There was no way he would have survived a fight with an Alpha, let alone a True Alpha with a full pack backing him. 

And yes the Dread Doctors could have placed him in the wall in order to keep him from breaking out on his own. Something which Parrish reversed by breaking him out, but if they were so worried about Belasko getting out, they would have just killed him. It seemed like they wanted to see if he was able to get out and survive like Theo did when he had his experiments. 

Additionally, with Belasko showing up as he did, it allowed for the pack to find out about the existence of chimera’s way faster than they probably would have without Belasko. Doing this and having Belasko out in the field, put Theo at a higher risk of discovery. Now the Dread Doctors probably didn’t care that much about the risk to Theo, however, at this point in time a risk to Theo was a risk to them as well.

Scott ends up ripping the talons out of Belasko. But Belasko didn’t seem to be doing too well before them anyways. Due to the lack of any other evidence of experiments being done to him, it’s reasonable to assume that the claws were the thing his body was rejecting. 

We see with both Theo and Corey that it is possible for a chimera to remain somewhat stable and not die from the experiments. I believe this is because the DNA needs to “match” in order to maintain stability whenever something is added to the body. Belasko’s talons were not something that he showed evidence of being able to retract, this implies that they were added onto after the fact and after being fully created separate from Belasko. With the talons, I theorize they were a mixture of eagle DNA and coyote DNA. Thus why the werewolf side of Belasko rejected them. They had the eagle chimera DNA in them but not a wolf’s DNA to match with Belasko who was a werewolf and garuda (i.e. wolf and eagle chimera). 

The reason I theorize it was coyote DNA and not wolf DNA was after Theo betrayed Malia and Braeden to the Desert Wolf, she tosses Theo the talons and when he catches them we see his eyes glow at the same time as the talons. This could happen due to the coyote DNA within Theo. Since he is a mixture of wolf and coyote DNA it would be a 50/50 chance of the talon’s working for him. If the coyote side was strong enough he would be able to steal power, but if the wolf side of him was too strong it would have killed him like it did with Belasko.

When Stiles shows up at the McCall house with the talons later on, Malia gets them onto her own claws and we see her eyes glow. Since the 100% coyote DNA within Malia matched to the coyote DNA in the talons, there was a 100% chance of it working and her being able to steal that power from her mother. 

Now prior to this when Scott gives Stiles the talons to bring to Malia he says that it was “something he had been working on for a while” and that it “was plan A”. He obviously knew about the threat of the Desert Wolf to Malia long before this; he just didn’t know how personal it was. I believe that he realized; a, what the talons did, when Belasko tried to steal his own power and b, that letting Malia go through with it was the best way to keep Malia safe against her mother as the Desert Wolf would let nothing but death stop her from getting her power back from Malia. 

Additionally, since he went through with the plan after his own death, Scott may have thought it was the only way to regain Malia’s trust and show her that he still trusted her in turn. We see in his conversation with his mom after she resurrects him that he feels like he’s lost his whole pack. She points out that he still has hope to give them. Scott sending the talons to Malia was him giving hope and trust over to her hands. He believed in what she was doing, and while he might not have liked that it came down to that, he knew what he was doing by sending her the talons. These realizations wouldn’t have been possible without Scott’s own death and the loss of his pack, both of which Theo facilitated.

During the conversation with Stiles at the gas station/while picking up Kira, Scott reveals that he always believed that he should be the one to “get blood on his hands” as a repayment for asking his friends to give up so much for him and his mission. I believe that by sending the talons, it's Scott’s way of dipping his own hands into the blood as well. He’s making sure that Malia doesn’t feel isolated in her guilt over the death of her mother. 

With bringing in Deucalion Theo knew Scott would ally himself to Deucalion, (although he probably didn’t know the full extent of their alliance until the big reveal) and would be able to tell Scott about the talons. Deucalion would confirm how they worked with Scott which would cement Scott’s plan for Malia into place. Deucalion would also be able to steal the talons back and get them to Scott who could get them to Malia. 

While there were other, less dramatic, ways to go about getting Scott to understand this point, Theo killing him and separating the pack up, worked as a distraction to get Scott behind Malia’s original plan, to get Malia behind her original plan, and split the pack up so they never realized that everything happening was intentional. 

Malia is the one character who’s goals/plans never seem to change throughout Theo’s appearance. We see Liam go from wanting Scott to save Hayden to then wanting to kill Scott to save Hayden. We see Stiles go from wanting to stay close and protect Scott to then wanting to keep Scott from finding out what happened with Donovan. Malia’s goals stay consistent from the beginning and are only invigorated by Theo’s words, actions and choices.

Additionally, during 5A we see that Theo’s main people who he manipulates are the three people most heavily involved with Malia and the death of the Desert Wolf. Obviously there is Malia who did the killing. Then there’s Scott who got Malia the talons in order to help steal her mothers power. And then there’s Stiles who brought Malia the talons. Before his reveal as a villain however, we see that these three are the main ones Theo focuses on. He becomes the therapist friend for Scott, he helps Stiles cover up the death of Donovan and he helps Malia with the plan to kill her mother. 

Focusing on the actual process of Theo’s mission however, there are two key things that don't make sense if Theo’s mission had been to kill Scott. First and foremost is his focus on Malia. We see time and time again he puts all his energy into getting close to Malia (and Stiles but he’s not important rn). He intentionally interacts with her and makes it very clear from the get go that he’s willing to help her go after her mother. 

He’s allying himself to Malia’s cause more than to Scott’s cause if he was just trying to gain access to the pack. He could have just as easily gotten himself into Scott’s pack by making them all push Malia away in fear of what she was going to do to her mother and then taking that spot of trust for himself. But he didn’t, he made Malia trust him specifically in regards to her mother and plan.

The second thing that doesn’t make sense about this, is when Liam goes after Scott. We don’t see any part of Theo’s conversation with Liam prior to Liam entering the library. All we have is the word of various different characters stating Theo’s involvement in that process. In fact the first time I watched S5 I thought the reason that we never saw Liam and Theo’s conversation outside of the library was because it was going to be revealed that the Liam in the library was another chimera shapeshifter who had shifted under Theo’s orders to look like Liam. 

Overall, if Theo’s goal had been to kill Scott, steal his power and get him out of the way, it would make more sense for there to be a greater focus on Theo’s relationship and direct manipulation of Liam. With it the way that it is, it seems as if Liam was more aware of his own actions and choices rather than being the focus of Theo’s manipulation. Not to say that Theo played no part in Liam’s fight with Scott because he undoubtedly did. But if the focus was on the stealing of that power, then Theo would have needed to put more focus into Liam rather than Malia 

That might be a small piece of evidence comparatively, but it’s such a poignant thing to me. 

However, the one thing that really tied this whole idea together for me was right before the Desert Wolf broke into the McCall house. Braeden sees the mountain ash was broken and then Tracy walks by the door. Tracy and the Desert Wolf had never interacted on screen before that. So that means that the Desert Wolf had some form of contact with Theo in order to get in contact with somebody who could get her past the barrier.

I highly doubt Theo would just share the fact that he was a chimera with random people that he had never met before so the Desert Wolf had to have known about the existence of chimera’s and the fact that they would be able to get her over the barrier. In fact, given how desperate she was to get her power back, I wouldn’t doubt if she had gone to the Dread Doctors before in an attempt to get her power back through them. 

This would have given the Doctors experimental access to the Desert Wolf and untapped coyote DNA. They would have taken that deal 100%. And if they never gave her more power, they would have a coyote who was constantly returning to them in an attempt to gain more power. They would be keeping her addicted to the idea of more power, without actually providing it. However, the Desert Wolf realized they weren’t helping her and decided to try another route. 

This route being through Deaton and the supernatural way of stealing back power. The Dread Doctors would have heard about this or figured out her plan and sent Theo to interfere and help Malia steal the Desert Wolf’s power. With Malia now having the power, she would be in Beacon Hills with the Nemeton, closer to the Doctors and their lab, and have even more power due to having the full power of the Desert Wolf and being a Hale by birth. Malia getting the power would have been more appealing to them than the Desert Wolf getting the power.

Right after Tracy breaks the barrier, the next time we see her is after Theo’s fight with the Beast. I highly doubt Theo was planning on getting injured during that fight (cocky little shit) but I do think he was still planning on killing Tracy regardless. Due to her involvement in the Malia/Desert Wolf plan it left her as a loose end. If Braeden ever saw or recognized Tracy after the power transfer, she might have figured out what was going on, or told someone who could figure out what had happened. This realization would have put Theo and the Dread Doctors at further risk. So Tracy wouldn’t be allowed to live. Thus leading to the messy nature of her death with Theo being too injured to kill her in any other manner than how he did. 

With hindsight of Theo betraying Malia for her mother we realize that Theo must have been able to contact the Desert Wolf on his own. If she had been using the Dread Doctors as a power supplier Theo would have been able to easily track her down. We find out when Braeden returns that the Desert Wolf has found out about Malia’s plan, but we never find out just how she knows. But with Theo’s betrayal it opens a pathway there. He could have gotten into contact with the Desert Wolf (either pre-meeting Scott or post-meeting Scott when he first returned to Beacon Hills) and offered a trade. Malia for the talons, which he knew Deaton would be carrying. He most likely also knew where Deaton would go for more information on the Dread Doctors and told the Desert Wolf how to find the Doctor’s second lab to kidnap Deaton. This trade got the talons back into the Beacon Hills circulation where they were more accessible to Scott and Malia for the final plan.

Taking all of this into account, I believe that Theo’s mission from the Dread Doctors was to get Malia to kill her mother, thus transferring the power of the Desert Wolf into Malia. He chose to go about this by first splitting up the pack but allying himself to Malia so that when she had nobody else she would turn to him for support. When she did turn to him for help Theo used her to track the location of the Desert Wolf/Deaton who he knew was carrying the talons. He then contacted the Desert Wolf and offered the trade of Malia for the talons. After “falling prey” to Deucalion’s manipulation and leaving the talons behind Deucalion was able to steal them away and get them to Scott which allowed for Scott to get the talons to Stiles to get to Malia. Then sending Tracy to break the mountain ash barrier, and with Theo being busy with the Beast, he allowed the Desert Wolf to get to Malia. After which he killed Tracy to cover his tracks and make sure that the pack believed his mission of killing Scott and stealing his power to be a failure. Then once Stiles arrived with the talons, Malia was able to put them on and kill her mother and steal her power, thus completing Theo’s mission without him being suspected or the pack trying to stop him. 

Presumably the Dread Doctors had further plans for powered-up Malia after this, however with the success of the Beast experiments they forgot/moved on quickly and were then killed by the Beast. 

In conclusion Theo’s manipulation abilities are significantly more terrifying than previously and the writers missed out on such a great opportunity to go full out in the later seasons. Again as I said in the beginning, this is all really just a theory so it might have some holes but I am always open for discussion if someone wants to add something or discuss parts of this. 

If you made it this far, congratulations, you have reached the end of the analysis.

Hopefully you enjoyed it!!

amethystskeleton

💜💜💜

Theo Raeken’s original mission in Beacon Hills, given to him by the Dread Doctors, had nothing to do with killing Scott, and was actually about getting Malia to kill her mother instead. In this essay I will-

[all-i-do-is-live-in-daydreams]

i have an entire rant about liam and theo (mostly about theo) in my drafts but it's so long I don't think I should post it

[scarfs-and-paws]

"Only the Brave" by Louis Tomlinson screams Theo Raeken and you cannot convince me otherwise

Pour mercy, mercy on me Set fire to history

Begging for forgiveness and wishing to be able to turn back time? Reminds me of Theo's loop in the skinwalker prison, esp. "You don't have to stop".

I'm breaking my own rules I'm crying like a fool

Him going against every survival rule the Dread Doctors teached him in season 6 to save Liam over and over again, but still not having anyone to get help from? (Yes, I am thinking about the damn spider scene.)

Tall stories on the page Short glories on the fade

Just his whole downfall in 5x20. Like he spent years and years with the Doctors, managed to tear apart Scott's pack, get his own chimera pack, killed so many people - and all of that success is gone within seconds, when Kira pushed her sword into the ground.

I've been close enough to touch But I never cared for love Basically Tracy's death scene. Do I need to say more? Plus this moment in idk which s5 episode with Hayden and Liam being lovey-dovey in his backseat while he only cares about how he can use this to turn Liam against Scott? Damn.

It's a church of burnt romances And I'm too far gone to pray

"I am an atheist. Fire at will." Also again "you don't have to stop" bc i'm pretty sure Theo thinks he will get back to hell and Tara when he dies.

It's a solo song And it's only for the brave

"I am not that much of a pack animal." Like ?? He said it himself in the beginning of s5: "lone wolfes, they don't make it on their own". And still, even though he is clearly struggling with nightmares, not being able to call anyone, sleeping in his goddamn car - he tries to survive, tries to be brave because he freaking has to? If the truth tell Darling, you fell Like there ain't enough dying stars in your sky

Maybe that's a stretch but this line reminds me of him trying to protect Liam more and more. "Why are you trying to save me?" Because Liam is a good person who went through too much already, lost too many people, experienced too much pain (part of which Theo caused himself). Especially the whole "your dead friends are gonna stay dead, no matter what you do" thing is a very bad communicated way to say "this is not going to end well and I don't want you to loose even more" (like people, but also the yellow eyes).

It's a tall tale And it's only hello, hello, no goodbye

Makes me think about he probably never had the chance to properly say goodbye to anyone he met through his teenage years? The Dread Doctors would leave as soon as they were finished with their experiments in whatever city they've been in, and getting to a new place probably meant coming up with a new persona and integrating to a group of people to manipulate them and lure future experiment objects in a false sense of security rather than letting people see how he really is and getting friends. Which. My heart breaks a bit. Pour mercy, mercy on me I'll fall upon my knees

Again. I am thinking about the hospital loop. Him always hitting the floor as soon as Tara grabbed his/her heart. Also: him being choked by the Ghost Rider and Liam saves him even though he vowed the opposite only minutes ago

And they'll say, "I told you so" Come on, when you know, you know

Liam and Theo being in the morgue and Liam going "I think you were rotting down there" and "Whatever happened to you - you deserved it". I remember watching that scene for the first time and nearly yelling at the scream because NOBODY DESERVES THIS? Liam, you have no clue what Theo went through in the skinwalker's prison, shup up, please.

All the lonely shadow dances From the cradle to the grave It's a solo song And it's only for the brave

EDIT: I forgot to mention that "Only the Brave" is widely seen as a song about queerness, perhaps in combination with religious trauma. Which opens even more possibilities to link this song to Theo bc a) Theo is queer (at least for me) and b) seems to have a conflicted relationship with religion as far as it was shown.

[mikhardwheat]

Thiam's Fight: Quick Analysis

Cody Christian's performance and Theo's struggles in the Ambulance Scene explained by the subjective opinion of mine.

(The edit I put below belongs to @raekens on TikTok)

I'll never forgive Cody for the tears (the best thing he could've done for us), because you can see how:

"So don't care if they get to you?.." he is so confused and lost, because for Theo surviving is a crucial. Nobody cared for him before and he doesn't understand how Liam can prioritize his pack in the moment like this.

And then you hear him shouting "You! You're going first!" as if he isn't sure that Liam understands what does it actually mean. That he's sacrificing himself.

And then there's a change in his tone before he goes with:

"The only reason I'm with you is because while they're busy wrapping a whip around your neck or shooting a hole in your head, I'll be running in the other direction"

And this is such an inconvenient lie, because that's not the reason at all. He didn't sign up for that, he didn't know Liam had this in him. He could've run away, but the hospital seemed safe enough, because Liam wasn't a target, and now that wasn't the case.

And that's why "I'm on your side as long as it helps me" cuts so much deeper. Theo is scared and he knows to watch his words, because if it wasn't for Liam, he'll be still rotting in hell.

But he snaps, and his emotions are messily tangled in, so he tries to cover them with a lie, and this lie is a hurtful one, it's the one that says "I'm here, because otherwise they're sending me back and that's all I care about"

The problem is: this Theo doesn't care about himself. He doesn't value his life anymore, at least not in the same way he did it before.

So when Liam says "Trust me, I know" it hits him harder than a literal punch. Because Liam knows he isn't compassionate, isn't capable of caring. He doesn't think that way, he knows it.

Liam isn't disappointed, it's more like if he was proven right, and this is why Theo's eyes are wet. Because he isn't a cold-hearted chimera anymore, he is a scared to death kid who just learned how the emotions work. He is overwhelmed and he keeps lying, but the fact that people believe those lies means that he still is suffering alone, the only difference is: he didn't know he was suffering before.

[equallyloyalandlethal]

I cannot say the extent to which I love the way their relationship, be it what we dream or platonic besties, is built.

Neither compromises their core selves but they both mature and become amazing people, learning important lessons from one another:  Liam learns to balance his heart-of-gold and being more of a ruthless fighter, something he could never learn in a million years from Scott “We don’t need to kill” McCall, which in turn allows him to better control his anger. Theo learns to see the value in loyalty more than the potential threat of it, which leads to him overcoming his engrained self-preservation instincts more than once for Liam’s sake.

They’re so similar yet different. Each of them has emotional difficulties that make it difficult to connect and engage with a lot of people (IED for Liam and the most traumatizing childhood to ever traumatize a child). Hell, they struggle to communicate with each other (ie, the three broken noses) but they manage to get past those instances and build something amazing that, I believe, is on par with and occasionally surpasses the Scott&Stiles dynamic. 

*the grumpy one is soft for the sunshine one*