#Thoughts ? opinions? criticisms?

[vaguesnail]

this is the best thing that's ever happened

[nonsensology]

Later at the wish granting ceremony, CEO Magnifico announces he’s greenlit Ice Age 6 and five more live-action remakes.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _

There are so many cancelled and unrealized projects that Disney is sitting on, that they do not benefit from in any way by keeping them locked up tight. They really ought to just let them go if they don't have any intentions of doing anything with them.

Incidentally, I could never agree with the mentality of “Magnifico is actually the hero, and Asha is the TRUE villain” that a lot of people seem to have. I drew my comic based on this post. I feel like if more people had been aware of this possible interpretation, they wouldn’t have sympathized with Magnifico.

Does Wish have bad writing? Yes, it does. And it’s because of that bad writing that every single character suffers. What I think happened is that, as a result of said bad writing, Asha became a character that’s so uncompelling and lacks uniqueness that she ends up a blank slate for audiences to project their frustrations with the movie onto. King Magnifico on the other hand, is probably the most interesting and entertaining character, due in no small part to Chris Pine’s performance, and so the audience is much more sympathetic towards him and willing to ignore his flaws.

One of Asha’s problems as a character is that she doesn’t really contribute much to the story. By contrast, Magnifico’s downfall is brought about entirely as a result of his own actions. Magnifico is in fact not a good leader, because he gives in to paranoia and temptation, acts in a very unprofessional manner, and escalates the conflict to an absurd degree.

Please note, Asha does not get upset that Magnifico refuses to grant her grandfather’s wish, nor does she ever demand that Magnifico needs to grant every wish. She gets upset that he insinuates that her grandfather might have dangerous intentions, and because he does not have a convincing reason why he doesn’t return wishes that he won’t grant. Rather than calmly explaining his reasoning to her, Magnifico rudely dismisses Asha and then blows up at her.

If Magnifico were a good leader, he would have explained to each person WHY he won’t grant their wish, and given them advice on alternatives. As it stands, he knows full well that everyone expects their wish to be granted. It’s why they even came to Rosas in the first place, it is the literal reason he even built his kingdom. He clearly makes a big spectacle out of the wish granting ceremonies, which every citizen visibly goes wild for. He never elaborates to anyone his specific standards for the wishes he chooses to grant, other than a broad statement of "for the good of the kingdom". In his regard, Magnifico reminds me of bureaucratic systems that never provide every option or solution upfront, with their logic being "you didn't ask".

Not to mention, he literally tells Asha, "People think wishes are just ideas. But no, no, they are a part of your heart. The very best part." He knows, for a fact, how important wishes are to everyone. But the movie's awful writing makes him think the best solution to dealing with wishes that MIGHT have dangerous consequences, is to just hoard them. All that returning the ungranted wishes will accomplish is returning the memory of what the wish even is, that's literally it, and the people will be no better off than they were before they gave Magnifico their wish.

I dunno about you guys, but whenever I watched stories that preached “be careful what you wish for”, my takeaway was never “your desires could be dangerous and you should never pursue them for fear of disaster”, I always thought the stories were telling us, “beware of anything that promises instant gratification, because it’s usually too good to be true, and will cost you more than you will gain”. While the things you want in life may have disastrous consequences, you won’t really know until you try to pursue them through your own honest efforts, and not through “magical” shortcuts. That’s how we learn and grow, through trial and error. 

As it currently stands from my point of view, when people say "Magnifico has every right to keep ungranted wishes" it looks like they're unintentionally saying, “The Disney Corporation has every right to keep your work and ideas, because you willingly and legally handed them over. Tough luck if you regret the deal you were given. No takesies backsies!”

While I have found no evidence to confirm that the filmmakers intended for Magnifico to be a criticism of Corporate Disney, considering the inclusion of the animation sweatshop scene in Pixar's Inside Out 2, I think the probability is likely. (Not to mention, when Asha shows Magnifico her little flipbook animation, he dismissively remarks “Do we consider that a talent?”)

Please note, everyone is free to rewrite and reinterpret Magnifico however they want. He's just a fictional character after all, and fan content is supposed to be for fun. I just think it's funny how defensive people get over him a he appears in the final movie. They say he deserved better, and I agree, but we have very different ideas of what "better" means. In fact, I think every character in Wish deserved better, because again, they were all victims of bad writing. My problem isn't that they took a good man and made him arbitrarily "evil", it's that they didn't make him evil enough from the very beginning. Remember those deleted scenes featuring a villainous Magnifico with better writing, along with an evil Amaya that he can play off of? I'm fairly certain that everyone unanimously agreed these deleted scenes were much better than the final movie, and yet some still insist that Magnifico should have been a hero all along. I dunno, it's a funny dichotomy. 

EDIT: A few days after posting I came across this video essay supporting the interpretation of Magnifico as a critique of Corporate Disney and I loved it. Please go watch it!

[brenatto-apothecary]

I am a very vocal hater of the whole "the game is just for the cast you can't criticize it ever!!" mentality, to the extent that even when it's in response to a take I think is awful, it will always bother me more than the original take. After some reflection, I've broken it down to five key reasons why it upsets me so much.

1) The obvious one is that the idea that the show is only being made for the cast is false. If they didn't intend to make a piece of entertainment, they wouldn't have posted it online. A lot of creative works are made with the creators enjoyment as the highest priority. That does not mean that's all it was made for.

2) The way these posts commonly focus on how the cast isn't obligated to do what other people want is a fundamental misunderstanding of what criticism is and why we make it. I assure you the vast majority of people do not think their complaints should be met with the cast personally kneeling before them.

3) It implies that something being made with love automatically makes disliking any element of it wrong. Which is a belief that is impossible to hold without becoming a hypocrite. There is no way in hell you have never disliked a piece that the creator(s) had fun making. I'm writing this post for my personal enjoyment. Have fun with that paradox.

4) There's this weird belief that all complaints are about specific desires that weren't met. There are actually a whole lot of posts about whether the story succeeded in doing what it intended to do, but I guess I can't expect people to read things.

5) This is my big one. Art deserves to be criticized. It's one of if not the most important way of interacting with a work. I don't believe saying actual play is uniquely exempt from critique is respectful of the medium. You are treating it as though it shouldn't be engaged with in the way we engage with all other art and is, therefore, lesser.

[fiona-fififi]

Okay. I'm about to say something that's probably going to get me run out of the fandom, but.

I don't actually think Tommy leaving their date early had anything to do with him not wanting to pressure Buck (regardless of what he claimed later). Instead, I think it had everything to do with Tommy being annoyed and no longer into it that evening, and I think that is both okay AND significantly more interesting than taking him at his word later and framing it as some selfless act by a sanitized elder gay shepherd just trying to do right by Buck.

[lavellaned]

Actually I think one of the reasons why this game is so awful to get through is how it treats abuse, abusers, and abuse victims.

Under cut due to length of rambling:

First of all, Morrigan. Abused as a child by her mother, Flemeth aka Mythal, learned about the world and how to interact with it in a skewed way. Was treated in a way that no child should be by anyone let alone their parent.

Fast forward to Inquisition, particularly a worldstate in which Kieran is alive. The scene in the fade where Morrigan confronts Flemythal is one of the most important and special scenes in all of dragon age to me.

Growing up through abuse as a child you never think "I don't deserve this", you mainly think things like "Why is this happening to me?" and "Bad things happen to me." You know that these things are bad and make you feel bad, but when your baseline for how you should experience the world is abusive, you don't have the point of reference to think otherwise. And then you grow up. You look back on the abuse through the eyes of the child who experienced it but also through the detached, adult view that you currently have and have to reconcile the two. It's not easier nor pleasant. Getting to the age your abuser was/getting into the position of power your abuser had over you is difficult. Being at that stage and picturing yourself doing what was done to you to someone else is fucking sickening, and then you start to realize "I wasn't the problem, it WASN'T my fault, YOU are the one that's fucked up." But a lot of people can't and therefore the cycle of abuse continues.

But Morrigan does. She straight up tells her abuser "I will not be the mother you were to me." To have a character who survived childhood abuse be able to reach a point in their life where they can take back their personhood from their abuser is pretty damn important, actually. To this day I get weepy just thinking about it.

And then fucking veilguard happened.

Not only does it not matter if Kieran is alive or if Morrigan drank from the well (something that would BIND HER SPIRIT TO HER ABUSER), but Morrigan straight up let Mythal hitch a ride in her. The very thing that Morrigan tried to prevent ever since the first goddamn game? And we're all just supposed to accept and be ok with this?

The only way I can see this not being a complete character assassination of Morrigan is if Mythal just straight up possessed her unwillingly/killed her. Have Mythal use Morrigan as a information receptacle for new players, but also use old players' already-implemented relationship with her as a way to manipulate them. Either way, shit sucks.

Then there's the Crows. You know, the guild who takes children from brothels, orphanages, the streets and puts them through Hunger Games levels of training in which they either die or survive to become a slave assassin for the rest of their life. Not in veilguard. We're all just one big happy family. We rule Antiva, yippee!

Finally, there's Solas. One could argue his entire existence is the product of abuse, and everything that has happened in Thedas is because of it. I think framing his regrets as physical manifestations that want to kill him is a really interesting narrative choice. Unlocking the regret murals was one of the very few parts of this game that invoked a strong emotional response from me, not just because I'm an unapologetic Solas Enjoyer but because the implications are heartbreaking.

And then the game has you sit through the most fucking unbearable CBT group therapy session to talk about them with some of the most annoying damn people in Thedas who treat the literal apocalyptic levels of abuse Solas went through for millennia as something like a joke? And we the player are not given the option to challenge this? This game makes the point to force the player to agree with the flippant attitudes brought up from this.

Then brings up the final scene with Solas. Do I think the meeting with Mythal and Solas was handled well? Yes and no, but that's for another time. Solas is so far in the trenches of the trauma of abuse that he will not stop until his abuser pretty much tells him "I'm done abusing you." I think this was good and bad, again another time.

The way Solas interacts with his abuser is the direct flipside of how Morrigan does. You see more than one way someone can heal/not heal from it.

Morrigan, someone with arguable little power in the world, stands up against her abuser unflinchingly.

Solas, described through history as a GOD, someone with unfathomable amounts of knowledge and power, cowers and offers his abuser a literal weapon to kill him with, unprompted.

If this was a good game, it would be about regret but also about survivor's guilt, something that those who survived abuse have to deal with for the rest of their lives. But it's not, because it's a a bad game.

[1800naveen]

Unpopular opinion

Tamlin is morally grey, not Rhysand. Hell, he's the definition of morally grey in the Acotar universe.

He's good at heart but at times, he executed them poorly.

He truly cares for his court and lets in refugees or anyone who needs a place that they can call home. He will protect the people he loves, even if it means sacrificing his life. He's actually making a difference.

Tamlin may love someone but no one is enough to push him away from the path of fighting against tyranny (that's iconic as hell like yes. If I had two choices: my lover or fight against tyranny, I'm fighting every time. Tyrants will make sure that almost everyone suffers and I'm not down with that. No offense but get the hell out of my way, I got tyrants to kill).

His moral compass is like a diamond and it's unbreakable.

But one of the few actions where he did wrong is held over his head unlike Rhysand who has done numerous amounts of bad stuff but most people don't get mad at him for it.

"It's because he's morally grey!" Nah, he's just a bad guy and that's completely fine, I like a good villain. But sjm keeps defending him and his actions which is just annoying.

IF TAMLIN WASN'T BLONDE, PEOPLE WOULD LIKE HIM MORE. THEY CAN'T HANDLE A BLONDE MAN WHO SERVES JUST AS MUCH OR MORE THAN THEIR DARK HAIRED RIVAL😔

On another note, what's up with the Tamlin would sacrifice you to save the world but Rhysand would sacrifice the world to save you?? Girl, I don't ever want a man to do that just for me, nobody is going to have a place to live anymore. What's more important, a singular person's life or the lives of millions? Fuck the villains, heroes on top.

(also he reminds me of a golden tiger, I can't hate him when he looks like this to me)

(I love this animal so much, I would adopt one if I could. You can't tell me that this is not Tamlin.)

[kindred-spirit-93]

cassandra & clytemnestra

class doodles <3

cassandra: super proud of how she turned out!! i love noses so much and ive managed to give her a really glorious one today. she got a few compliments too hehe

clytemnestra: idk how well ive managed to depict it lol but cly is both mourning iphigenia and planning out her vengeance. its going to be a long 10 years but she will have her killers blood.

--

i still have a long way to go till i finish the iliad so i dont know everyones story yet, i do know however that cly like many before and after her arent often portrayed with the complexities that make them them, that make them human, but instead as paragons or pariahs. and i think theres lots to be said on the matter, but i dont want to get ahead of myself lol. anyway enjoy :D

[housederiva]

i'm so depressed about how staunchly they refuse to return to their unfinished game

I sighed heftily when I read this cause yeah, I agree. It feels very much like 'okay okay we finished the game now shut up and let us move on to Mass Effect'

And if ME5 is treated the same way as Veilguard then that's all she wrote for BioWare. The vast majority of us aren't here because of how pretty the graphics are or how shiny the UI is. It's the story some of us have spent nearly two decades with and the characters that have been a gateway to escape from the actual world for a moment. It's the love and care that was put into Dragon Age that moved it away from being just another AAA game shelled out by EA. Each of the four games has been drastically different yes, but Dragon Age has always been a collaborative story that used to feel more like art than an obligation.... and now that their focus has shifted to what brings in the biggest revenue pot... dear listener I'm afraid

[tackykachowch]

Idk if I'm gonna get jumped for this but....Iiii don't know if it's really appropriate to call Vander Jinx's dad. He definitely was her guardian, with huge uncle energy for sure, but dad? Like, dad is something really personal and requires a high level of closeness, and they didn't seem to share that bond. Out of all the kids Powder seemed to be the most removed from him and share very little traits/interests with him, and after growing up we don't see Jinx care about him at all. So, idk, to call him her dad seems more like a fanservice to me rather than what can be confirmed by the show.

He's defo her dad in the au, tho, because there he would spend a lot more time with her and because of Vi's death pay more attention to her, therefore tightening their bond.

UPD: I mean, Vander isn't even a part of her hallucinations. Now, you could argue that it's too traumatic for her even to remember him as is seen in season 1 ep9, but I think it's the opposite, actually. Knowing Silco he probably yapped about Vander all the time (and he literally does this in ep5), so Jinx definitely remembers him and thinks of him to some extent. But why then his hallucination appeared only once? Well, I think it only happened because Jinx was under extreme pressure already, plus she recently had a shimmer operation, which could've worsened her mental state, hence Vander appearing as a hallucination. Again, this is just how I see it, I may be wrong, but I do think this view of their relationship is rational enough.

[soath]

The thing about Bells Hells is that asking their opinion on anything is like setting up a political survey at a rave under a bridge or in some sort of especially niche genre specific goth club or backstage at an off-off Broadway conceptual show; you’re going to get really interesting answers! They are not going to be representative of the general population in the slightest. There is a faction of people who think we need to solve this by introducing one Designated Average Relationship With The Universe Dave to the polling sample, ruining their beautiful natural diversity of guys-who-could-be-in-the-musical-RENT. To which the wise man says: “Never!” This is the little freaks with half baked philosophies and unresolved personal issues party. More pressingly, it has been noted that Bells Hells doesn’t seem to realize that their relationship with power writ large is bafflingly different from the average Exandrian. This is an problem, but it’s one that could be in-character, one more extension of an admirable commitment to trauma-informed alarming theological opinions.

[curapicas]

Lots to say about Vex's attachment issues. So instead I'll point out: THAT is indeed the face of a man who just found out the guardian angel that took a bullet for him won't put a ring on it

[callsthefaithful]

angel dust redesign take 2. i want to do the others now ngl

my old one was awful i am Not going to lie. he is serving more cunt here i think. sorry abt my awful handwriting i just wanted to jot down me notes

ft some colour variations at the bottom 4 fun and if i wasn't trying to at least pretend to stick to his in-show colour scheme

[yali-the-sloth]

If someone told me last November that a year from then I’d be procrastinating doing anything BUT continuing my playthrough of the newly released dragon age game I’d call them crazy. I’m extremely tolerable to bullshit. The amount of objectively bad media I am able to enjoy is really high. I have been willing to forgive BioWare for a lot of bad game dev decisions. But not for the bad writing. So here we are.

I have not opened the game in a week now. Something broke in me when after 50 hours I finally reached act 2. So many people said it’s supposed to get better starting from that point. But I’m sorry, what exactly got better? Why is the story suddenly just ‘go do your companion quests!’? Where’s the freaking plot???

I can’t get rid of the feeling as if the game has been chopped into pieces at the last minute, rearranged by throwing out like 3/4 of the writing bits and then hastily sewn together.

[se-dissimuler]

i think casper rudd is the only atp player who reads

[darkwing-ramblings]

The Dragon Prince Season Seven: Ezran

Hello @leavemealoneniw ! My explanation is long so I have made a separate post but shall reblog yours with a link too? Also much of this text was drawn from discussion with @fanf1cadd1ct , if you want to check that out for further elaboration. But first, your request:

 “So… why we making it seem like Ezran  went down a “Dark Path” when literally all he did was put a criminal (in Katolis eyes)  in custody? I’m confused please tell me without the Rayllum code cause I couldn’t honestly care less.”

It’s undeniably unfair asking Ezran to just forgive Runaan but not acting to imprison Runaan is in no way equivalent to the personal nature of whether forgiveness has been granted and so pretty irrelevant to the debate. Ezran doesn’t have to forgive Runaan at all: him being angry and resentful was all within his rights and shouting and being upset and walking out of the room and refusing to look at Runaan would all absolutely have been deserved. But the other four assassins involved are notably dead so in terms of consequences four out of five of the team who infiltrated the castle to kill the king have already paid with their lives not to mention Runaan himself has paid with two years of his freedom to summarise why, on principle, it was imprisoning Runaan I find to be where Ezran crossed the line. If Exran had simply banished Runaan from Katolis it would be a different story- that’s absolutely reasonable and everyone involved would be happier I imagine if Ezran let Runaan disappear half a continent away where Ezran never has to see him again (which is an extremely reasonable urge and I utterly support).

Rayla does not phrase her demands Ezran release Runaan politely but they hold water in my eyes: Runaan is essentially a prisoner of war from a kingdom Ezran has no authority over who was just released from the custody of Katolis by Katolis’ high mage and crown prince/heir to the throne (aka Callum), who additionally gave permission for Rayla to bring Runaan to Katolis as a guest. Politically it complicates Ezran’s reaction significantly as a result and this is where Zubeia herself is most relevant: Runaan is essentially military personnel under her authority who acted under her orders assassinating King Harrow. 

At the time Runaan killed Harrow Katolis was essentially at war with Xadia, the kingdoms were not allied in any way at all and open hostilities were ongoing such as concerning Harrow and Viren’s personal assassination of Avizandum, Xadia’s king, and believed lethal violence against Azymondias the unborn heir (that in reality it turns out Azymondias was kidnapped and stored in a basement for likely dark magic usage under conditions he couldn’t hatch in which would eventually kill him- it’s barely better). Harrow is the king of Katolis and Viren its high mage who killed another head of state (that he commits treason by lying to Harrow about Azymondias is completely irrelevant to the case of killing Avizandum where he committed no crimes so far as Katolis’ law was concerned)- retaliatory military violence is more of the same and not special. Runaan’s arrest and imprisonment by Katolis post-killing Harrow is absolutely legitimate: he’s a foreign soldier (an assassin is not a separate category that means anything tangible given what we’ve seen of Katolis’ actions against Xadia) who just killed their king.

And yes, it is by Katolis. Callum and Ezran have voluntarily left the castle and Amaya is away- Soren is the legitimate head of the crownsguard and Viren is the legitimate high mage of Katolis and they are two of the major authorities for Katolis left in the castle at that point post Harrow's death. Additionally, Viren is later legitimately given leadership in a peaceful transfer of power (no matter the circumstances of political stuff surrounding it) when Ezran steps down so I don't feel he's exactly divisible from the authority of Katolis. It is understandable Ezran probably doesn't feel that way, yes, but Viren very much is not practically separable from the kingdom at that point in time or following. Soren as head crownsguard with delegated authority also is particularly legitimate on behalf of the crown of Katolis. Runaan remains imprisoned by Viren and to his knowledge during his time as regent and king. The imprisonment of Runaan itself is fine as a hostile agent of a kingdom they’re essentially actively warring with- the torture isn’t and Claudia implying Runaan may be used as dark magic spell parts isn’t (Xadia’s cultural taboo on dark magic is absolutely enshrined in their laws and so it may be legal in Katolis but I still object to treating anyone that way regardless).

Zubeia being brought up to point out the hypocrisy of not holding it so tangibly against her yet holding Runaan accountable is why it matters as a discussion point.

But that’s all well and good for somewhat covering the two year time skip period where Runaan can arguably be seen as facing consequences for killing Harrow already by Katolis- which is what Ezran we see feels he should do. The other four assailants also died in the break in- during combat or slain afterwards perhap-. Harrow’s death has not gone unpunished or unaddressed under the authority of Katolis. Hence my issue with Ezran ordering Soren to arrest Runaan who is not a citizen of his kingdom and is a prisoner of war just released from Katolis’ own imprisonment by a legitimate authority of Katolis (its new high mage undoing the actions of its old one rather poetically, neatly stopping the cycle of violence on a microcosm pleasingly). Because Katolis and Xadia AREN’T AT WAR after the time skip they’re diplomatic allies- Ezran, if he wants to legitimately prosecute Runaan needs to go through Zubeia for permission who is his ally or it’s potentially an act that could justify renewed war and reopen hostilities. In other words it’s utterly irresponsible, dangerous and unjustifiable by any legal principle if Ezran intends to honour his agreements of peace.

Ezran, as king of Katolis, being on first name terms with Zubeia, the queen of Xadia, does not make the political and diplomatic implications go away. Peaceful negotiations with her for reparations arguably owed when the kingdoms are at peace once again is what he needs to open up process wise and a bag of worms it’s extremely ill-advised to open: Zubeia would be within her rights to open up equivalent cases against Katolis’ citizens and military personnel felt to have committed particular crimes she’s decided she cares to prosecute. Amaya was on the expedition to kill the magma titan and killed Xadian elves on the border and helped establish new military outposts by pushing further into new ground aka she’s not an innocent to this type of situation. It isn’t inconceivable Zubeia has solid grounds to push for Amaya’s death in such a situation (slaying the magma titan was the expedition where Avizandum defended their own border from invasion by foreign powers on behalf of one of their civilians or else sentient beings under their protection who was killed and used in a dark magic spell as parts desecrating the corpse that King Harrow/Katolis drew on to “justify” Zubeia’s mate’s death). The goodwill between Xadia and Katolis is new and fragile- Ezran’s confidence Zubeia was injured and perhaps unlikely to object to her subject’s ill treatment for actions taken during a war undertaken with her authority is no justification for Ezran risking everything he’s worked for and the safety of the people in his kingdom who are unusually vulnerable given the loss of their fortified capital has just happened because of a personal desire for vengeance. Imprisoning Runaan is a significant political failure and provocation on a practical level.

(Yes, I do have complaints about Azymondias here too- he may be young but he's prince and Runaan is his subject and frankly Zym getting involved would have made sense on a practical political level at least, particularly given Rayla is one of his citizens he knows and it's her father and Runaan did it on Zym's mother's orders, he could at least have said something passed on through Ezra. Ezran is a young king rising to the challenge Zym also ought to try and act fittingly as a prince. But he’s practically a toddler so it’s still significantly younger than Ezran’s age equivalent so there’s that.)

Additionally, it’s hypocritical of Ezran to not hold both Zubeia and Runaan equally accountable for Harrow’s death- he can’t pursue only one and have any moral high ground because as understandable as Runaan seemingly registering as the sole perpetrator is it’s utterly baseless in how royal power works. Ezran is a child but he’s also a king- having emotions is no crime but it’s extremely important what he does with them and if age was an excuse and the reason he couldn’t be expected to work past them in any scenario then the argument becomes not about Ezran’s choices and slight moral decline in the throes of anger at all but about how actually Opeli or whoever should be regent as Ezran shouldn’t hold the throne in the first place. I do wish the conflict had bubbled up concerning Zubeia and her delegated authority more though previously in the show yes as her and Ezran having such a harmonious relationship has always confused me because she factually ordered Harrow’s successful assassination- and ordered Ezran’s own too even if it was unsuccessful without fact checking what his age was at all (which we know because Rayla was on the mission and fully briefed and didn’t know that Callum wasn’t Ezran at first). It’s a failure of due diligence but even a toddler is comparatively less bad than an unhatched egg so given Ezran is named and it’s reasonably inferable he’s an unborn child it’s not hard to see why it occurred: Zubeia just didn’t care that much she wanted someone to pay for her pain and didn’t much care about the specifics of it. Zubeia actually saying something about the whole mess she created feels like the missing piece of character moments I’d personally have enjoyed being touched on a little further.

Now I personally think imprisoning Runaan (note that Soren may have done it but as it was under Ezran’s command Ezran is just as accountable) made Ezran very compelling as a character with all of his complexity and it was an extremely entertaining watch as no character is flawless and they can all make mistakes, but it was absolutely not a path taken free of darkness in terms of his decisions becoming morally murkier. It reminded me of Harrow as a character foil to Ezran wherein they both fell prey to the same impulse that Harrow denounces before his death: it's all well and good denouncing the cycle of an eye for an eye and a life for a life and a wrong for a wrong until it's your loved one who suffers it if you can’t put your money where your mouth is! Blood feuds (rarely considered morally a-okay) are a staying feature in history for a reason! Ezran paralleling Harrow oh so well was neat (whilst Zym has it seems actually for the time being moved away from Avizandum's shadow of violence more fully following Zubeia's over reformation, her wholeheartedly rejection of it is neat as it parallel's Amaya meanwhile and gives proof adults as well as children can change no matter how far down it all they may be!). I particularly loved the ensuing Rayla and Soren dynamic reprise too where they're both opposed because of principles and personal loyalties! How it worked out perfectly showed the show’s themes in the microcosm I thought!

Another character who was crucially missing at the key window of that situation imploding was Amaya. I feel like Amaya’s presence would have helped mediate a lot more than Callum’s and that her presence was sorely missed as an adult, a family member and a soldier more accustomed to situations of complexity like it to talk to Ezran and help him process it all better. Perhaps even to suggest banishment. Surely she was needed in Katolis more than in Lux Aurea even if she's newly married? Sigh, oh well, she did hug Ezran before he left at least? I still sorely missed her experience and wisdom from being an adult tied to the crown family as long as Ezran's entire lifetime and then marrying into a separate one (kudos to Janai for lucking into a spouse with both a military and political background that's dead useful in an advisor who has actual experience supporting a king and queen!). The disparity highlighted of Callum taking Harrow’s death better as he’s both older and unlike Ezran has grieved a parent he can remember (as well as one he mostly can’t/can’t at all about his birth father which their mother is the equivalent for to Ezran)

before Harrow was also pronounced in a very cool way. Callum feels like he comprehends Zubeia played a significant role in Harrow’s death and has a relationship in spite of that- Ezran it feels didn’t and may never get closure on fully now Zubeia isn’t around to face the fallout of her actions directed towards her anymore (but he had two years so honestly he did have time to seek it out if he really wanted to and he has Zym who parallels him directly and lives with the knowledge Ezran’s father killed his own father so they can support each other at least?).

The following is less about why I don’t think it’s ambiguous that Ezran failed to adhere to his own standards and principles- hence undeniably showed decline from his more established role as the ideal moral example to everyone in the show- but is relevant to the discussion in terms of aggravating and mitigating circumstances.

To me it feels notable that in the scene Ezran spots Runaan and during their stay in Katolis briefly Runaan was always unarmed- Rayla had the sense to not return his bow to him etc in that period because that would have been horribly undiplomatic. Runaan being an invited guest and unarmed when he’s arrested are ways that the disproportionate scale and immediacy of the escalation cannot be pinned on him or Rayla regarding them. Runaan on his part is very helpfully not making things worse by resisting arrest or denying his actions or adding fuel to the fire saying anything horrible and went quietly when arrested by Soren (again... the deja vu cannot have been fun, it was very handy there were no explosive PTSD reactions to chains and guards from Katolis soldier's uniforms later either, given the timeline for him is barely a week since being conscious outside of Katolis' dungeons that could have been much worse, he also didn't beg for death this time). I only imagine Rayla appearing on good terms with Callum and Ezran regardless, helped enormously in soothing worries Runaan might face "more practical uses" as Claudia put it again in any type of dark magic way as was said at his previous capture. None of it needed to be written that way but Runaan shows no signs of present hostilities and beyond breathing cannot be said to have aggravated the situation- making Ezran’s choice that much more clearly unjustified in his handling it the way he did and his own. 

Callum informing Ezran that Runaan would be arriving with Rayla beforehand would have helped, possibly, but that’s something it’s reasonable for Rayla and Runaan to assume he would do if it was necessary and not on them given they have literally just arrived in that scene. Callum hasn’t seemingly been there much longer but has met up with Soren and Ezran for a bit beforehand so had the time practically if unlikely emotional capacity. Again, I reiterate, Ezran screaming for Runaan to get out of his sight I would stand by- having Runaan dragged away by an armed guard not so much.

Callum starting with "I understand how you feel and why Ezran, it was wrong that our father was killed and I grieve him as much as you and it is a terrible tragedy that Katolis was destroyed and I am here with you and just as grieved. But it is still not Runaan's fault and I don't think you should be holding him prisoner" would have helped, but to some degree Callum DID cover most of those points so... I can see how they were all trying and it still fell apart. Callum's approach in private later if repeated a couple of times would have eventually gotten somewhere, I imagine, but not in a time frame that was fast and it’s not actually fair for Runaan to await Ezran fully processing Katolis’ destruction before he’s given his freedom back.

Rayla breaking Runaan out in the middle of the day as a MOONSHADOW ELF was absolutely hilarious, I have to say, waiting less than a day would have helped greatly but she was really just that impatient. It’s utterly terrible decision making. Without it we wouldn’t have gotten confirmation that Ezran is willing to violently recapture Runaan at potential cost to his soldier’s lives though which was another yikes when the imprisonment was for reasons I put above not one I felt was warranted, sensible or particularly justified in a legitimate capacity. After all, if “any actions taken against someone once they’ve killed a king are inherently justified and there is no disproportionate force etc and diplomacy doesn’t matter judging if it’s fine” then Harrow’s death was absolutely justified so Runaan facing consequences for it is… both shaky and exploration of why the cycle of violence continues: which Ezran’s actions endorse in spite of his words about the cycle in how own view being bad and hurtful and something to stop because continuing it isn’t right. For her part, Rayla just had to see two of her parents pass on and pick only one to save and chose Runaan, she's not seen Ethari in two years and when she did he was hurting and she was hurting and they were both grieving so she wasn't ever going to compromise her family given the poked at wounds of her own grief. If grief is a good enough defence on its own she and Ezran’s ought to cancel each other out. To her minute credit she did try to ask Ezran release Runaan before resorting to breaking Runaan out: her father the tortured ex-prisoner-of-war imprisoned by her kingdom’s allies for actions taken when their respective kingdoms were not allies and were not those of a renegade but their monarch’s will making disobeying if ordered arguably treasonous and ergo illegal. 

Ezran sits in the ruins of Katolis on his violently killed father’s burnt throne, having not fully grappled with the nature of Harrow’s death as he's young and it's hard and unlike Callum he has no memory of working through grief of the type where a parent is remembered was never going to resolve smoothly. Amaya isn’t there. Callum tries but him having a romantic relationship with Rayla doesn’t help with mediation and Ezran is just not at a point that sort of plea can get through to him yet. He’s snapping at Zym because of stress later on in the season for instance and talking about weapons against the dragons in very cold war-esque terms oblivious to Zym being a dragon and right there and looking extremely uncomfortable about it. Ezran seeing Runaan was never going to end well but the specifics of how it goes are what raised flags to me. Ezran and Rayla are friends so there’s elements of mutually feeling personally betrayed by each other over the entire mess because they wanted more support that doesn’t help. 

It’s brilliantly entertaining and a delightful powderkeg of politics and diplomacy and vengeance and grudges and grief. I have no complaints as it let the characters all be complex and none were one dimensional and loved them all the more for it!

[1800naveen]

Here's an unpopular opinion. Don't get mad.

The high lord meeting was one of the most dumbest shit I've read.

Almost everybody and their momma were acting immature and bitching about personal drama.

Like, shut your ass up. War is on the horizon and y'all complaining about shit that shouldn't be brought up in the first place.

And enough with the slutshaming because half of the characters got BODIES ON BODIES. No shame in the game. They get down and they don't play.

Tamlin and Beron were out of pocket but they were putting out the info. Mostly Tamlin but yeah.

And why was Azriel getting treated like a dog by Feyre? "Come sit next to me." That's a grown man.

It was entertaining but stupid.

So called high lords but you can't even do a political meeting correctly?

The way Tamlin and Rhysand were acting? The entire inner circle? Fatherless behavior.