#because why take everyone with you when it was conqueror vs those fighting to not get conquered)

[writing-and-rebloging]

i think the biggest whiplash i had was when barbatos and leraje was released from whb. sun lover versus hunting/ cynical vs a guy who likes thunder - magi anon

Now, I'm a little fuzzy on this, but I think they *can* reject conquerors. If memory serves right, Belial tried to do so with Hakuryuu (but was forced to anyway), so did Zepar with Sinbad (He picked Serendine instead, after a contest, but wasn't all that keen on Sin regardless iirc), and we saw that with Leraje too (flipped Kouen off and picked Kouha instead, which I'll actually talk about below) as well as Sinbad getting kicked out because he already had seven djinn, so I'm working with that assumption in mind, just as a heads up.

Leraje also gave me whiplash, in a way. However... I don't know if I'd say she's cynical as whole. She was hurt and betrayed by someone she trusted and as result, she ended up guarding her heart behind three military-degree walls. And the worst part is that it still hurts like a bitch. That's way she rejected Kouen without a moment's hesitation and called him a cheater to his face. That's why she picked Kouha as her king candidate instead. Was he the one with more odds? Probably not. But she had a little bit of hope in him, because that child, who was tagging along his beloved older brother, wasn't just feared and respected, but loved.

In a way, Kouha is what she needed, someone willing to pick the broken pieces of everyone around him, patch them together and remind them that they are worthy of love and respect themselves. That's why a lot of people follow Kouha, because at his core, he's kind and caring and maybe a little bit self sacrificial.

Leraye, on the other hand... Well... We don't have the whole picture, but he seems more cruel, and bratty overall, and I bet Leraje would take a single look at her counterpart, and say that he looks like a playboy... But at least he's pretty, as a saving grace.

They both share that streak of being maybe a little too invested in someone they love, though (Leraje never quite let go of Focalor, and Leraye trails after Satan like a puppy) so yeah.

I don't quite recall Djinn Barbatos in terms of personality, but the silver vs gold color palette is definitely interesting. But I dived into the wiki anyway, and he is noted as someone cheerful, the easygoing type you can get along with, but also a responsible sort who knew that when duty calls, you must attend to it, but after the fall and all, he lost some of his mortal morality and became much more war loving. But he still chose Muu of all people. Muu, who's kind, caring, a goof, the pitch perfect sunshine pup... And also a terrifying, if a little obtuse, guardian dog when he has to, so apparently Barbs kept that outlook of we party when we can, and we fight when we must.

Devil Barbs... I think he's a wee bit more careless. He wanted to go naked to war, after all. Which isn't all that different from the Alma Toran gang and the Djinn equips in a way, but it kinda gives "I don't give a shit" right now. And he seems a little less approachable, more callous, I guess?

So overall I think those two would get along somewhat, but they would have frictions, especially when it comes to "you should get your shit together, you're in the middle of a literal war". But if you get them together to party and spend downtime, congrats! You are now in the middle of a) a shit show b) an orgy c) lots of fun or d) all of the above! They would gang up on OM!Barbs, probably, at least to get him to loosen up on down times. Although Djinn Barbs would be against disturbing Demon Barbs when he's on duty. He might not be fighting, but he is serving a king, just like he did in the past.

I know you didn't ask for a rant-analysis-speculation, but! :D!

[lesbiradshaw]

OMG IKARIS APOLOGISTS RISEEEE bc yeah he turns out to be a “villain” but he was a victim like the rest of them low key😗 like he’s not irredeemable he’s just complicated don’t fight me

this post (and my tags) explains a lot of how i feel about ikaris and ikaris in comparison to all of the other eternals. i feel like the “family dynamic” among the eternals as a whole vs individually was kinda just dropped on us without any real connecting background to get us invested in it but there are certain roles i see them falling into … like, although they don’t all see each other as siblings, sprite is the youngest child, druig is giving me major middle child syndrome vibes, ajak is the mom, and ikaris is obviously the oldest child, which i feel kind of shapes his relationship with ajak So Much.

ikaris is literally like the eldest sibling who is closest to the mother but mostly because she trauma dumps on him out of loneliness from having no one else in the family to talk to and as a result, trusts him the most but also worries about him the least when he definitely NEEDS someone to be worried for him. he gets the most responsibility from her. like. think about the movie from his perspective only. after years and years of fighting with the other eternals to keep humanity safe, ikaris is finally told he’ll be able to live freely. he’ll be able to have a long and fulfilling life with sersi on earth for however long they’re there for— but no matter how long that is, the job is done as far as he knows. and THEN, he all of the sudden finds out more. he has that freedom, the bliss of ignorance taken away from him, and he is the only one of the eternals besides ajak (WHO KNOWS BECAUSE ITS HER LITERAL JOB) who is aware of this awful secret that changes everything. i totally get that ajak told him because she was having doubts, but i also feel like she told him BECAUSE she knew his response would be to try and reassure her that doing their job is the right thing. she’s seen how seriously he takes his duties— in the beginning of the movie does he not literally go up to her and say he won’t let his feelings for sersi get in the way of things? HE DOES! AJAK IS THE FIRST TO FIND OUT ABOUT HIS CRUSH! and she therefore knows that he is willing to put the job first at personal expense, and that was even before he knew that their mission was so much bigger than he was initially told.

so ajak tells him, and to be blunt, pretty much ruins any normal life he could have had after that living among humans with sersi. i’m just so?! WHYYY DID SHE TELL HIMMM. i know why but also WHYYYYYY?:?;!4$ if he had only had the CHANCE to live his life before being burdened with that knowledge … if he had connected with humans without it being tainted by this horrible secret … if he had only been able to do those things with the freedom he thought he was gonna have for like two seconds. the thing the other eternals apparently weren’t willing to think about is the fact that ikaris never got the chance they did to settle down or see the world with the same ease. that was an option for him that was taken away when ajak chose to tell him, and only him, the truth.

and like, i can’t condone murder, but also if the woman who was basically like my mother sort of ruined my relationship and life by telling me this giant secret that would devastate the entire family and then all of the sudden after 7,000 years said “hey. i know i watched you leave your soulmate behind for centuries because of the secret i chose to tell you that you had to keep otherwise you’d run the risk of ruining her life with the knowledge like i ruined yours, but i’ve changed my mind” I MIGHT WANNA KILL HER TOO ??? HELLO ??? all this “for the greater good” bullshit you’ve been fed throughout all your memories, all of those years you were expected to be the pillar of reassurance that this is the Right thing, all of that time alone …. no wonder the emergence became ikaris’s only truth. all his life, it was his only purpose, because even though he fell in love with sersi and could have had purpose with her, that was also something that he thought he couldn’t have anymore after what ajak told him. if ikaris had been told the truth with the rest of the team at the right time after he had had the chance to live his life, i genuinely do not believe any of the disagreements in the movie would have happened.

in a way i think i like ikaris because he reminds me of steve, or at least what steve could have been if he didn’t have people around to remind him that he needed to remain not a perfect solider, but a good man. ikaris WAS a perfect soldier, but that was part of the problem the other eternals had with him. being a good man … how was he supposed to gain such a human trait when he felt completely alienated from them because of what he knew? the other eternals cared only about the morality of the situation. he cared about the reality he had been centered around alone for far too long.

he’s a character with a lot of flaws and made a lot of poor choices throughout the plot (though to be fair he did try and come clean about the betrayal multiple times before the big reveal happened in front of everyone) but i don’t view the character as black and white. he’s not the villain to me! he’s an antihero. an antagonist. and my son.

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1024 - Initial Thoughts

Happy Volume 100 Day! Indeed, Volume 100 officially comes out today, it's a shame we didn't get more of those We Are One segments (just like the Nissin noodle commercials) but it wrapped up nicely

There's also a chapter to deal with though so let's get to it

Spoilers for Chapter 1024, Support the Official Release too!

I forgot to mention the special Popularity Poll colour spreads last time but here's our middle one mainly involving the Straw Hats, Vivi, the remaining Supernovas, Bon, Merry, Woop Slap (seriously how?) and some villains (Crocodile, the rest of Moria and Enel). Sneaky bit of Sabo on the side too who'll be fully displayed in the next spread

Oh Usopp, your braggadocios scamp you. He's spreading Fear of God by claiming some recent KOs are due to his Conqueror's Haki

Also claiming to have defeated 2 of the Tobi Roppo...I mean he contributed at least, maybe word it like 'I fought two of the Tobi Roppo and I'm still standing'

Plus he's riding a very unimpressed Alligator SMILE atrocity XD

Horsealina chan (aka Speed) is back to protect sweet child Tama, as it turns out the KOs are from Big Mom's Conqueror's Haki who's fighting on this floor, which must mean that Law and Kid are taking it to her

Also it's still worth applauding that Nami, Usopp, Speed nor even Tama have succumbed to BM's Conqueror's Haki

Luffy's status is still unknown to the crew though, and Nami does seem a bit nervous about it when asking Franky

Franky's right though, no news is good news because if Luffy was defeated or dead he'd be paraded around by the Yonko

Franky is also making motions to move Nami and Usopp with him to the performance floor, so the crew's gonna be converging soon

Some Heart Pirate action too as they fend off any attempts at enemies intervening on Zoro and Sanji's fight with King and Queen, seems like Law they don't like to be told to do stuff by the Straw Hats either

Everyone's bouncing from the Third Floor too thanks to Maria's arson attempts

Out in a blaze of Yohoho is Brook carrying Robin, but no you're not cremated just yet, need to be ashes for that

Look at Robin so peaceful, as Brook guards over her and also is eager to know how things are going

He calls Jimbei who's on the Fourth Floor with Kid's remaining crew, didn't know Kid has a feral female crewmate

Trust Jimbei to be concerned about the big picture of Kaido, but he also mentions how people are fleeing the castle, is it because of the fight in the Performance Floor or because we've reached mainland?

Showing Kawamatsu defending the line does make me think the former

But back to Yamato vs Kaido now, looks like some parent/child attack tennis

Since we can't avoid it now I know the Vivre Card Databook is saying that Yamato is female but since Yamato is identifying as Oden and was still canonically called Kaido's son I'm gonna continue to use male pronouns for the time being. Don't read too into it okay or leap at me for using the wrong pronoun because it's a can of worms right now and I don't want to be part of it

I mean, come on Yamato it's not like you expected Kaido to take it easy on you when you're trying to stop one of his endgame plans

Flashback time! And that's where the Dragon statue used to be...

Kid Yamato is precious, and also has Conqueror's Haki

Kaido all about not winning any Father of the Year awards, he's been starving Yamato, says if he wants to be Oden then he'd be better off dead, then threw him in a cave for a month

Yamato isn't alone though, there are three master swordsmen samurai in the cave too

And now he entices them, with a serving of food for one and a load of swords to fight over it

And the twisted cherry on the bastard cake: 'But I thought you were Oden', was there ulterior motive though? Oden would be able to inspire the Samurai right? I guess not for his own gain though given how he's treating Yamato

The Samurai grab the swords, but they hand Yamato the food: Samurai don't get hungry...unless they're Kin'emon and Momo, like how Kunoichi don't get hungry unless it's Tama

Full on Tama vibes from Kid Yamato eating their first meal in ages, I see that Oda

Dang then one of the Samurai just cut the chains off of him

Since I was given away on spoilers (like seriously guys use the 'Keep Reading' thing, it's the best way to hide spoilery stuff for those who don't wanna be spoiled) this must be Ushimaru, and he does look like those old Zoro pictures

He also now has an eye injury, but he feels disgraced, probably because he was captured rather than killed

Look at this little baby who is probably 5 foot tall hiding behind Oden's journal and doesn't know how to read yet

Looks like Yamato had 3 Dads, all of them Samurai, who taught him to read Oden's journal so he could fanboy more

10 Days pass and Yamato is weakening, seems like the Samurai feel that Yamato will need to be in the fight

Ushimaru though with the Shimotsuki crest on his back has had enough of prison, the Samurai are busting out and in turn giving Yamato freedom from the cave too

Amanowato, I feel like that's important, but the only thing I can find is a special dance (Amanowato Mai) that's performed on the day of the Annual Festival - October 15th...which is a Friday so maybe...

Back to the present and Yamato asks the tough questions, what right does Kaido have to steal freedom?

But Kaido makes a usual cruel response, there are no easy answers

And then we conclude with a clash of Thunder Bagua

Whooof, lot in that chapter huh?

We've got collective chaos with the Straw Hats as they do as expected begin to converge towards the performance floor, perhaps for the final hold off before Luffy and Momo arrive.

Oda though must've known that we were hoping for a Zoro flashback, because he then gave Yamato one instead XD It was cool to see some supportive people in Yamato's past, but while Yamato4Nakama fans will point that he now has a link to Zoro via Ushimaru we also have to note that Yamato's backstory may not have enough tragedy to be a Straw Hat (I'm joking in this btw, Carrot doesn't either unless the Dukes die but Zoro and Usopp's backstories aren't so tragic either)

Yamato giving me Tama vibes when a child is interesting, I do wonder why we have gone that route other than adorableness, but you can see where his strong admiration for Samurai lies too. Wonder how he got Oden's journal so young though

But yeah, no break which is good, I have a feeling though we'll get one next chapter after the colour spread is finished, 1025 could be setting something up big so Oda can pass out for a few days till giving us fire once again

[neverwatchedonepiece]

645-647: "Destruction Cannon Blasts! Lucy in Trouble!", "The Legendary Pirate! Don Chinjao!" and "Light and Darkness! The Shadow Behind Dressrosa!"

There is something rotten in the state of Dressrosa right now. Doflamingo has some seriously shady shenanigans on the go. Turning humans into toys? Letting them live alongside relatives who - it appears - have their memories wiped? Tossing them for scrap if they show any signs of rebellion? Yeah, this whole situation is totally messed up. Now I get why a Resistance is mounting against the Donquixote Family. 

I watched three episodes because I thought I might see the end of the Block C battles. No such luck, but Luffy vs Don Chinjao has been fun so far. 

Still, that freaky Toy Human transformation reveal was totally worth it. 

(Will catch up on replies this week too! It’s been a weirdly busy couple of weeks but next week won’t be as rammed. :D)

Electric Fist Bump

I am still not certain that Brutal Bull is, in fact, going to recover. Let’s just pretend he will. At least Luffy gently carried him to safety and thanked him for fighting with him. ;_;

A random called Ideo (way too much eyeliner, Shoulders McGee) finished the job by punching Hajrudin out the ring. After Ideo’s brag-fest, I thought Luffy would be the one to kick his ass too, but it was funnier than that.

A random competitor called Jean the Bounty Hunter (no relation to Dog) had seen through Luffy’s disguise. He knocked off Luffy’s helmet and slashed his beard. Instead of giving up his disguise, Luffy chased him (lmao) to get his helmet back. 

Once exposing Luffy, didn’t work, Jean picked up all the weapons dropped by competitors who fell to Don Chinjao’s conqueror’s haki. Jean seriously thought he could defeat Luffy by carrying around a giant blade ball. Okay, mate.

Jean, at least, was allowed a quick shit-talk. He’d made so much money recapturing all the criminals Luffy set free from Impel Down. Now, Jean was aiming to snare Buggy (I guess he doesn’t read the papers), Crocodile, Jimbei, Ivankov and Shiryu (good luck with those names, mate).

Meanwhile, Luffy was standing there, reminiscing over all the old names like it was old times. “I wonder how Jimbei and Iva are doing?”

Jean got mad, threw his dumb sword ball and... it did not go to plan.

Luffy dodged.

Instead, a rather large and intimidating man absorbed all the swords.

Staring down Don Chinjao was too much for poor Jean. He was so scared, he made moe eyes before Don Chinjao took him out. (Good luck chasing after Crocodile from your new job on Doflamingo’s Factory Assembly Line!)

The fight between Luffy and Don Chinjao was actually fun to watch. The moment when they both punched out Sai and Ideo “Get outta the way!” was funny. And the Conqueror’s Haki clash was stylish (still love that blue filter), powerful (that Whitebeard soundtrack) and also pretty interesting.

Diamante watched the whole thing from his private booth. He used it as a teaching moment for Bellamy. “See, that is what it takes to be a king.” Don Chinjao sort of backed this up later when he said to Luffy that loads of people in the New World could use Conqueror’s Haki. “Only battling it out amongst themselves will reveal who the Pirate King will be. A battle of conquerors. That’s what’ll decide.”

I thought Conqueror’s Haki was a much rarer type. Maybe it still is, but that all the big shots are now concentrated in a smaller area, so there’s more chance you’ll meet someone with it. I know Shanks has it, I know Whitebeard had it, but I’m wondering if Big Mom and Kaidou also have it? (The jury’s out on Teach. Is he too much of a coward, or will he awaken it too? Who knows?)

Don Chinjao also kept veering between wailing with rage and attacking with rage at what Garp had taken from him (treasure and strength, apparently).  He also kept demanding Luffy tell him what Garp had done. Luffy was like, “No, you walnut. I have no idea. How many times must I repeat myself?”

Luffy didn’t know whether Don Chinjao wanted to be sad or mad. Maybe Luffy should set himself up as a therapist because I think it’s a bit of both.

At the moment, Don Chinjao has transformed into an Upside Down Tornado of Large Man, so we’ll see how that pans out in the coming episodes.

Oh, and by the way, Bobby Funk wore his brother like a jacket during the fight. Don’t ask. It was deeply, hilariously weird and I’m glad they got their asses kicked because I felt wrong watching that.

He’s Not an Idiot. He’s Directionally Disadvantaged

On the way to Flower Field, Wicka was astonished to discover Zoro is the opposite of a homing pigeon. They yelled at each other the entire time. Wicka because Zoro veered away from Flower Field yet again, and Zoro because Wicka “sucked at leading the way.” Meanwhile, the concerned residents of Dressrosa wondered why the strange man was yelling at himself.

Wicka kept punching Zoro for not going the right way. Because the Tontatta people make up for their lack of stature with super strength, I actually cheered when Zoro had enough of Wicka smacking him. He set her down in a plant pot, was like, “I have friends I care about too. Stop complaining or ask some damned cat to carry you,” then walked off.

Damn straight, Zoro. Don’t put up with that crap.

Luckily for Wicka, Zoro has no sense of direction. He circled straight round, which gave her the opportunity to apologise.

I guess it’s for the best. Otherwise Zoro would end up stuck on Dressrosa forever. Or at least until Sanji turned up.

And speaking of Sanji, he has teamed up with Kinemon again. They are currently lurking outside the Colosseum. They have spotted something ominous. Lots of Marines gathered outside, including new Vice-Admiral Bastille, waiting to swoop and arrest any unsuspecting Block A and Block B fighters leaving the arena.

I laughed at Kinemon’s weird cognitive dissonance. “Yeah, well criminals should be caught!”

Sanji would not have it. He smacked Kinemon and was like, “You are working with pirates.” Lmao, Kinemon. Old habits die hard, I guess.

At least Sanji has returned to the Sanji I like best: sneaking about, trying to solve problems. He knows Luffy needs to know about the Marines lurking outside, but how to tell him?

Plus, what’s happened to all the Block A and Block B competitors who lost their fight? Vice-Admiral Bastille is on to something. None of them have left the Colosseum. Not a single one. That is strange. Something weird, and possibly sinister, is going on here. (I wonder if they’re being turned into toys?)

This is Why I Like Nami

This was only a short scene but I loved it.

In the last couple of episodes, I assumed Nami, Brook, Chopper and Momo were retreating to regroup with a master plan to win back Sunny.

Nope. As if they would ever leave Sunny in the hands of an enemy. What was I thinking?

Even though Nami sees herself as weak compared to the DF eaters and haki users of the crew, she is not helpless. One, she is smart, and two, Nami has freaking weather controlling powers! Nami used both of those qualities to her advantage. Chopper and Brook were a distraction. While Giolla’s attention was on them, Nami readied some thunder balls.

BOOM! Direct hit on Giolla’s submarine. Now, as a DF user, she has no means to return to Dressrosa and all her goons were smoked by thunderbolt.

Your move, Giolla! :D

How About Hide-and-Seek?

Like, with a four day head start? 

No?

I guess Law must be content with running like hell from the two Absolute Monsters chasing him. Fujitora was not making it easy. Every time he sheathes that sword, a jet of purple (no idea what it is. Let’s call it pure purple) rocketed into the clouds and, hello meteor shower!

Luckily, Law can Room those and slice them like bread rolls, but Doflamingo’s bullet strings were another matter. Law scarpered, dodged, hid and tried to call Nami. To no avail. Why wasn’t she picking up?

“I know what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to buy time,” Doflamingo said. “And I’m not gonna let you have it your way.”

No Burger King for you, Law.

Poor, beleaguered Law screeched to a halt when he realised that, somehow, Fujitora had overtaken him. My new favourite Admiral was sitting on a rock, as if he’d been politely waiting for Law to show for ages. Then it was meteor time.

Even Doflamingo was like, “Wow, you have no mercy.”

Fujitora just said, “I’m all thumbs.”

Lmao, mate. Yeah, those extreme overkill meteors? I’m just clumsy. Nah, no one believes you, Fujitora. You love smashing felons. Admit it.

Meanwhile, deep underground, Usopp was beginning to regret feigning descent from Noland. The ominous, earth-shattering rumbles from Fujitora’s onslaught were passed off as “just Usopp’s amazing haki!”

When he realised the Tontatta people kept going on about the Donquixote Family, he consulted Robin. “Um, what kind of relationship do they have with Doflamingo exactly?” he asked.

“Well, they’re serious about fighting him,” Robin replied.

Usopp had an uh-oh moment. He drew Leo (the battle hype man) aside and asked why they wanted to fight Doflaming. That’s my Usopp! Asking all the right plot questions.

Apparently, the Tontatta want to rescue five hundred friends forced to work at the “shady factory”. Moreover, Doflamingo also holds their “obnoxious, selfish, mean, moody and short-tempered Princess Mancherie” there too.

Good sell, Leo. Good sell.

“Um, she sounds horrible,” Usopp said (lmao).

“Yup!” Leo cheerfully agreed. But then he added, rather sweetly, “But she’s one of us too. Noland would save everyone who’s in trouble, right?”

Usopp looked a bit ill at that point. He did not have to answer that question, as Flapper, another Tontatta kid, hoofed it into frame. Apparently, the Donquixote Family at the palace were on the move. Rumour had it they were probably moving to the Colosseum basement. And why were they moving there?

Under the Colosseum is only where the Shady Factory is hidden! :D

I thought the Factory would be in Green Bit. This is even better! Now I’m very suspicious about all the defeated fighters. They are prime for processing. At least I got one thing right about people being forced to work at the Factory (though it wasn’t related to stealing stuff). 

This Really Makes You Re-Think Toy Story

I knew it! I knew there was something weird with the toys. At first I just went with it because, well, One Piece, right? There are giants, sentient fruit-eating swords, dudes stuck in barrels. Anything goes, right? I mean, who can explain the wonder of Gekko Moria?

Turns out this does not extend to talking toys. Talking toys are not normal. Unless they’ve been invented by Vegapunk, as Franky rightly thought.

Nope. These toys are not the work of Vegapunk.

They are the product of a twisted Devil Fruit user under the employ of Doflamingo, who transforms humans into toys.

Why? I have no idea.

But the reason has got to be some dodgy kind of punishment for something. 

There was a creepy scene when a toy desperately tried to convince the woman who was once his girlfriend that he was a human, that they once lived together, were once happy together. The trouble was, his girlfriend could not remember him! She looked at him in disgust, said, “This toy has human syndrome!” and he was dragged off to a ominous looking building with the word SCRAP emblazoned above a forbidding door.

It seems a lot of the toys remember being human. Sol spoke to a guy called Milo, who is currently masquerading as Onepoko-chan the dog. Turns out the boy who plays with him is actually his son, and the boy’s mother is his wife.

What. The. Actual?

Sol asked the boy if he had a dad. Nope, was the answer. What about the wife? Had she ever been married? Don’t be silly.

Something really, really weird is going on here. And I never even mentioned the midnight curfew. Anyone who is caught outside after then is arrested (and probably turned into a toy). Toys and humans are allowed to hang about during the day, but at night? They are segregated. Toys live in toy homes. Humans remain in their homes.

This is totally weird and cool and I cannot wait to see where this goes.

Every time questions are answered in Dressrosa, another ten rise to take their place. :D

[catgirlxox]

A Rebuttal of Ohvist Small’s "Modesty vs Arrogance" Video

My first issue with this video clip compilation is the context of the scenes depicting the events in Ben's life. The “modest” and the “arrogant” clips go back and forth through different contexts. The actions which are considered as his "modesty" happen as he watches, what he was made to believe was, his Grandpa literally dying in an explosion, as well as before he even knew Max was still alive. This how any real person should react in that situation because it is traumatic. You can not compare a person's behaviour directly following a traumatic event to a later circumstance where the has likely recovered and is in a better state of mind. 

His "arrogance" is not as malicious as it is made out to be. 

Not only that, but this “shift” in attitude is shown to happen to Ben’s character frequently throughout the series, and specifically when something traumatic occurs or is brought up. He takes on this very “mature” and “adult” behaviour, but this is obviously his way of coping with situations kids his age generally do not have to deal with. He has to deal with grown up problems, so he better act like one. 

In the Original Series’ “Ben 10,000″ episode, future Ben was shown to do this exact thing, albeit to a bit of an extreme since he actually was an adult. 

In Ultimate Alien, Ben reverted to his part of his character during times such as the Ultimate Kevin arc situation, as well as the episodes “The Ultimate Sacrifice”, and “The Ultimate Enemy.” 

In Omniverse, we are introduced to Malware -  a villain who traumatized Ben at the age of 11 and returns to cause him even more trouble at 16. When Ben is faced with the trauma Malware inflicts upon him, this triggers him to go into that “mature” and “serious” character. 

The Omniverse episode “Malfactor” showcases the way these types of triggers affect the way Ben acts. One of the Nemetrix aliens, a predator to Ben’s chosen alien (Big Chill), manages to hypnotize him in order to distract him from Malware. This predator manipulates Ben’s mind to find what he truly wants deep down and manufactures a hallucination which displays Ben’s reaction that hypothetical situation. 

Crowd (chanting): “Ben 10! Ben 10! Ben 10! We love you, Ben 10!”

Ben (inside the hallucination): “Yeah! Thank you! I love you all, too! But not as much as you love me...”

Ben (outside the hallucination): “No. This isn’t what it’s about. I'm a hero.”

Ben (controlling inside the hallucination from the outside): “Being a hero isn’t about fame. It’s about putting other people before yourself or what you want. It’s about doing the right thing just because it’s the right thing to do. It’s about about making a difference.” 

From this scenario, we are shown that all Ben truly wants is some recognition for his deeds. He could very well have dreamed of more, considering there is an alternate Ben (23) who is rich and famous. But, because he has been criticized for being proud of himself in the past (for “saving the whole entire universe”), once he begins to enjoy receiving the credit and love he deserves, he doesn’t even allow himself to feel good about it. 

But what he does say in the end is still very admirable, smart, and “mature.”

The rest of the time, when he is not faced with these stressors, Ben is his regular optimistic, confident self. This is not a flaw. This is him in a positive state of mind. He does not lose this “mature” outlook. He knows very well why he continues to do his job. 

Moving on to clips included in the compilation:

“Vengeance of Vilgax”

Gwen: "I'm not kidding, Ben. I'm really mad at you! Kevin and I could have been killed!"

The reason Gwen and Kevin are mad is because they weren't capable enough to take down Sserpent on their own. They really should be, but, apparently, they've been fighting him for an hour since Ben wasn't there. 

And, reasonably, you might think, 'oh, how insensitive of him to forget.' 

What makes him seem like the bad guy is the fact that he does not seem very apologetic when he does arrive. The reality is that he was not there to see Gwen and Kevin having an usually hard time fighting Ssperpent in the first place, and probably assumed that they were capable enough to do so, or at least hold him off until Ben did get there. 

But the fact that Gwen and Kevin are mostly mad at him for not showing up earlier proves that they need him. They need him to ultimately solve the problem because they know he is most capable of that. Seemingly more so than either Gwen or Kevin. Even if this is slightly strange considering both of them have gone through their own battles and won, if Ben is just that good at problem solving...should he not have good reason to be proud of himself?

That is exactly how he stopped the Highbreed invasion. He didn't “win.” Nobody “won” that war. Ben only stopped the Invasion by solving their problem in a creative way and therefore saving everyone’s lives.

Why is Ben "obnoxious" when he is no longer suffering as much as before, and when he has a good reason to be happy now? 

Granted, perhaps it is slightly premature since other threats will be coming up in his near future, so he shouldn't get too comfortable. But, the most important motivating factor behind Ben’s choice of actions and perception of his hero duty in the previous two seasons was his Grandpa Max’s disappearance. Now, he has Max back and that is no longer emotionally weighing him down. 

But even though forgetting to do something is not a good thing to do, showing up late to a mission unintentionally is not a big deal in comparison to the way some other characters are portrayed throughout this season. Everyone harps on about how terrible they think Ben is, however, whether you like it or not, Ben’s point of view can be explained.

Multiple times in this season, Kevin actually seems to stray from the motivation he had to help Ben in the first two seasons. 

Coercing the team into hacking the Omnitrix...

Blaming Gwen for not helping him when it all backfired and hit him the hardest...

Having an increased interest in sneaking petty crime in wherever he could...

I am not saying that he has regressed, because I have no interest in jumping to conclusions such as those everyone seems to have concluded about Ben. But, these things are just never spoken about even though they happened. 

In the beginning, it was Kevin's idea to hack the Omnitrix. Ben agreed to do it as well, but Kevin had all the necessary equipment ready. He got hit the hardest by it as a cause of his own bad suggestion. Some have made the argument that it was Ben's fault because it was his Omnitrix. 

But...who put him in that position? 

By doing what Kevin thought was “helping”, he was actually setting them all up for this catastrophe to happen. He brought them to the garage, he set up the machines and devices, he hooked Ben up to it, and then it overloaded. He caused this mess for himself. 

“Con of Rath” 

Ben: "Don’t worry, Ambassador. We’ll get the Tiffin to his destination.You have the word of Ben Tennyson"  

Gwen: You’re talking about yourself in the third person now? 

Gwen has a problem with the fact that Ben is talking about himself in the third person. But, Ben, being in such a position of authority where these aliens trust him enough to put their baby's life and safety into his hands is saying a whole lot about how the Galaxy sees him now. He has to reassure them that he will, without a doubt, be able to do what they expect of him. 

You could look at this as "arrogant", but you could more so look at this as Ben living up too his responsibilities and the Galaxy's expectations of him. The Galaxy treats him like this now out of both gratitude and a realization of what this boy is capable of. 

Would it be unreasonable to assume that some may even fear this over powered human? Individuals such as Vilgax are well known throughout the Galaxy because of how capable and powerful they are. Vilgax even attempted to connect that and compare himself to Ben in Ultimate Alien’s "The Ultimate Enemy." But Ben has defeated Vilgax multiple times at this point. Ben is arguably even more powerful than “the conqueror of ten worlds.”

So, in order for these aliens to not fear him as well, wouldn't he want to reassure them that he is here to use his powers to help them rather than enslave and destroy them? 

Ben also ends up stuck as Rath the entire episode, which works both for and against them while they pursue their mission. It leads Kevin to this conclusion:

Kevin: “I'm almost starting to appreciate the old Ben.” 

“Ghost Town”

According to Gwen, it was stupid of Ben to jump in front of Vilgax, allowing Ghostfreak to possess him, which then would lead to Ghostfreak being out of Ben's control. Does that not imply that he didn't know what was happening outside his body since he was possessed? 

And because Ben is no longer in control like he expected to be, Ghostfreak takes that chance to try to kill everyone. This was not Ben’s doing. Even if Ben and Ghostreak were not morphed into one, Ghostfreak would most likely try to do the same thing.

Even aside from the indication that he could not have known what was going on around him, what if Ben got killed during this series of events?

Ghostfreak and Ben, two of Vilgax’s enemies, are now morphed into one. He has the chance to take them both down. And that is what he tries to do. 

Previously, Vilgax even asked to use the Omnitrix on his own to save his planet, which obviously Ben wouldn't agree to. Therefore, it seemed there wasn't much else he could do aside from reabsorbing Ghostfreak in the Omnitrix because then he wouldn't be free to cause harm to others. 

Contrary to popular belief, there are moments in Season 3 of Alien Force where Ben was still “mature”:

“Simple”

Ben gave up his three day weekend to voluntarily, and with a good attitude, travel to another planet just to try to solve their problems for them. It was his intention that counted in this episode, and it also portrays how willing he is to live up to the expectations everyone has for him. A little girl asked him to stop their war, and he didn't have a singe doubt that he could it. 

His motivation was good. His outlook was fuelled by his new found confidence. These are good traits for a hero to have. 

Kevin, on the other hand, had done something less than heroic while Ben was actively trying to get the War leaders to come to an understanding. 

Gwen: “You’re making money off of other people’s misery? I thought you were here to help Ben.”  

Rather helping Ben find a way to get the War leaders cooperate and stop fighting, he and Argit (who was conveniently on that planet as well) begin to repaint the soldier’s weapons and resell them, encouraging them to keep fighting.

I realize that this may have been because he wasn't in a very good financial situation a this point and still partially relied on this type of business to get by, but is that any excuse to be so indifferent to other people’s problems because they are not your own, and therefore do not affect you directly? 

Kevin’s character had shifted a bit in this arc as well, and, similarly to Ben, it had been as a cause of a traumatic event which occurred to him. Namely, the one in “Vengeance of Vilgax.” 

Being deeply affected by a traumatic experience with lasting psychological, and in Kevin’s case, temporally physical effects, causes one’s character and actions to be affected as well. This can mean for better and for worse. 

“In charm’s Way”

Kevin: Where's Gwen?”

Ben: “Went home. You hurt her pretty bad.”

Kevin: “I hurt her? I'm the one who looks like this, and she hasn't done a thing about it.”

Ben: “You are a giant, rock-faced jerk!”

Kevin: “Yeah, whatever.”

Ben: “Not "whatever. " She's spending every spare moment going through every magic book she can find to try and help you. She's been doing it since the accident.”

Kevin: “She never told me.”

Ben: “Should she have had to?”

In the end, everyone is capable of doing better and worse. However, this depends on having context in order to come to a logical understanding of where those choice of actions stems from. It does not excuse a bad behaviour, but it does shed light on the factors which have caused it to exist in the first place, and therefore can potentially prevent it in the future. Such as Omniverse Ben correcting his own thinking in “Malfactor” because of what he has learned from his past experiences. 

[theusurpersdog]

Hi, so do you think Young Griff is going to be set up as the big bad, or is he the unlikely/just ruler that a power-hungry dany will slay in her quest for the IT?

Great question! I don’t have a concrete answer, because I think this plotline could go any number of ways. 

The most popular theory in fandom is that Young Griff/f!Aegon and Jon Connington are successful in their invasion, take King’s Landing, and have the love of the people. Then Daenerys would come shortly after, feel as if her birthright has been stolen from her, and burn down King’s Landing in retaliation, setting off Aerys II stores of wildfire. This is certainly the more predictable, simple way for the Aegon storyline to conclude, him being a hero who dies with the Martells. All the politics of this ending also make sense. This ending is also very similar in tone to what GRRM pitched in his Original Outline, which was three novels with three main conflicts each having a book dedicated to them: A Game of Thrones, exploring the Starks vs Lannisters, A Dance with Dragons, exploring Westeros vs Daenerys, and The Winds of Winter, exploring Westeros vs the Others. Knowing the original outline had Dany surviving, that implies that Dany would rebound from her invasion to fight against the Others and end a hero.

There’s some stuff that really doesn’t work about this ending though. The first thing that comes to mind is that f!Aegon is in all likelihood a Blackfyre, and I don’t see how that storyline would make his true identity important. The history of the Blackfyres, especially the whole narrative of Blackfyre Pretenders, seems like it has to be incredibly relevant because odds are GRRM wrote that history with f!Aegon specifically in mind. I can’t remember the source right now, but I know GRRM had not thought of the Blackfyres until either A Clash of Kings or A Storm of Swords, and I’m pretty sure it was in A Clash of Kings (which is when all the Bran stuff takes off with Bloodraven foreshadowing). A Clash of Kings is also when Daenerys sees the visions in the House of the Undying. The Slayer of Lies visions in particular are important here:

Glowing like sunset, a red sword was raised in the hand of a blue-eyed king who cast no shadow. A cloth dragon swayed on poles amidst a cheering crowd. From a smoking tower, a great stone beast took wing, breathing shadow fire… . mother of dragons, slayer of lies

The cloth dragon swaying on poles amidst a cheering crowd is definitely f!Aegon, so his status as a “Targaryen” is one of the lies Daenerys has to slay. Combine that with the history of Blackfyre pretenders, and I don’t think Dany defeating him is going to be this moral low point. When the Blackfyres rebelled in history, their supporters ended up looking the fool and history laughs at them largely. And that is history that GRRM created specifically for f!Aegon, so to me his storyline needs to line up with that a little better than the above theory suggests. People will love him, but Daenerys will expose him for what he really is, which is one in a long line of Blackfyre pretenders. I think in the books, her killing him will be one of the last “wins” she has, where she does something morally questionable but also “right” in the minds of readers who are so inclined to defend her. Illyrio and Varys have been set up as villains to us, shady people operating with compromised morality, so I can’t see Dany’s big villain moment being against them. 

It also seems like narrative whiplash to have Daenerys hit her low point in burning f!Aegon and King’s Landing, then to redeem herself going North against the Others to save the world, and then reverting back to someone so dangerous Jon would kill her. We saw an arc like that with Jaime’s show character, and it rings very false to people. Obviously GRRM is skilled enough to pull it off, but I have a hard time understanding why he would try. It seems like an easier story to track if Daenerys comes in as a conqueror, buys into her own hype more with the defeat of f!Aegon, goes North to fulfill the destiny she sees herself having as a savior, and off of those victories becoming too high on herself. 

The one thing about this theory is that it’s a little harder to connect events, like who is in charge of King’s Landing when everyone goes North? And how does Daenerys come to burn it down? It’s not a perfect theory, but to me it tracks a lot better with some of the foreshadowing and character arcs GRRM is setting up. Especially knowing that Daenerys will die in the story, and that her ultimate end is as a villain not a hero, I find it hard to believe that much about her changed from the Original Outline yet her plot points would be unchanged. 

f!Aegon’s character also would be pretty unresolved if GRRM killed him off that way. The biggest thing to me is that the set up for him invading Westeros is negative, he’s been convinced by a scheming Tyrion to do something rash and without foresight. If Daenerys kills him while he holds King’s Landing and is loved by the people, I fail to see how the narrative punishes him for this mistake? Too much buildup has gone into him being hot headed and snotty for it to not be a part of his downfall. 

Like I said at the start, though, I think there is so many ways GRRM could resolve this. To me, the cleanest most thematically resonant way to wrap it up would be Daenerys defeating him in a morally dubious but overall justifiable manner, and then going North to meet and eventually fight with our protagonists. I don’t think her big moment of villainy can come completely divorced from our heroes. We know in an abject sense that her burning King’s Landing with f!Aegon and the Martells inside is very very bad, but it doesn’t involve any main characters. It seems to me like our heroes have to play a role in that conflict. 

[segadores-y-soldados]

Alexandra the Great

Alright, I’ve finished work, had a nice nap, drank some more coffee, and I am READY to rumble.

The new comic gave us a lot of great details to work with - some of it takes a little digging, some of it is speculation, but it feels like, after a year and half of slow, steady story and world-building, constructing the “details” is finally paying off for Blizzards.  This comic had so much to work with, and you can tell that the writers and the artist were so dedicated to making it feel like the most in-universe, grounded comic yet.

To start off with, I’m going to present a few things.

First, you should read these, if you haven’t already:

http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/164852538245/overwatch-companies-and-corporations

http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/164417776210/devil-in-the-details

http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/163200042035/death-becomes-you

You should also have this:

(I’ve seen a lot of people get confused on things like Volskaya’s location vs the “Krasnoyarsk Front, Russia,” where Dorado is, etc.  These are straight from Michael Chu himself.  The columns go: [Real world locations] > [the versions that Blizzard wanted to make for the game] > [the end “combination”])

And finally, a rough timeline of where “Searching” fits in with the rest of the current events in the Overwatch plot:

[Infiltration] > [“Searching” begins] > [“Masquerade” comic occurs (approximately late February, around Carnival in Venice)] > [“Searching” continues] > [Doomfist attacks Numbani] > [Efi makes Orisa] > [Zarya arrives in Numbani]

This essay will be operating on the premise that Sombra and Reaper are working together in some fashion, specifically that they are working on either 1) uncovering the conspiracy that Talon is a part of together and/or 2) to bring down Talon together and/or to take over Talon together.

Let’s begin.

Corruption in Corporations

It was fantastic to see that the very first thing Zarya did was make an effort to seek out major corporations that could have been affected by Sombra.  Recall that at this point, most of the world knows that Sombra targeted LumériCo in an effort to reveal corruption by Portero and his corporation to the world.

The Sombra ARG also highlighted that Portero had direct connections with individuals in two other major corporations - Sanjay Korpal of Vishkar, and Katya Volskaya of Volskaya.  We don’t know the exact nature of these connections, but in “Companies and Corporations,” I write that the larger thematic issue we are being shown through these three companies in particular is that corruption runs in circle - a “network” of mismanagement, power, and control that results in profits for those at the top.

If anything, this comic reaffirms that idea, as Zarya works through her own list of “leads,” starting with a company that has quietly flown under the fandom “radar” - Lucheng Interstellar.

With the narration by Winston in the video, we have a better understanding of the unethical, probably inhumane treatment of the gorilla troop that lived in the moon colony.  The gorillas were subject to injections that gave them the intelligence of at least humans, and they were seemingly subject to some harsh rules.  Emails in the “New Details Emerge About Possible Fate Of Horizon Lunar Colony” article (https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/blog/20812209) show that the gorillas (or “specimens”) were often put in “in their rooms” when they acted up.  At the very least, one “speciment” (Hammond) was put in a cage.

Lucheng is suspicious for their probably unethical treatment of animal test subjects, the “genetic manipulation” of them, and their radio silence on the issue for what is apparently several years.

Lucheng has yet to play a “huge” role in the current Overwatch plot, but they do feature into the background of Winston, whose narration for the Horizon Lunar Colony map details some unethical and likely abusive experiments against the gorilla troop living on the moon.  Lucheng’s central control room is also one of the KOTH maps for Lijiang Tower, though no real explanation is given as to why people are fighting over the room.

Does Katya have connections to Lucheng?  Hard to say at this point, but rather, the detail of Zarya thinking that Sombra might have an interest in the company is a telling one, one that the comic dances around until the very end:

Though she does not fully realize it, Zarya is actually more suspicious of the looming power figures in the world than her “enemies” - Omnics...and Sombra herself.

Before I get more into that, I’d like to mention that I was thrilled to see a certain “corruption CEO” make an appearance:

I’ve said for quite some time now that the motifs behind Portero and LumériCo are representative of a really cool, really interesting concept grounded in Mesoamerican mythology, specifically Aztec and Mayan stories and world concepts.  Seeing this panel just confirms that the idea is still present.

Dorado itself was rather blindly (hah) designed by the Overwatch team who, in their haste to make a “bright, colorful village map,” drew references from an Italian city by the sea (gj guys, way to double-check your sources).  But the LumériCo power plant was almost certainly designed based on the Laguna Verde Nuclear Power Plant, which exists in almost the exact same location as Dorado’s maps (note that the in-game map within the LumériCo appears to be incorrect, as the Uprising map confirms that Dorado is supposed to be further south on the Gulf of Mexico).  More than anything else, the LumériCo power plants are designed to evoke the pyramids of Aztec and Mayan design.  These were massive stone builds of ritual, political, and social power that were meant to mimic the mountains that gods such as the Feathered Serpent, Tlaloc/Chaac, and Huitzilopochtli were believed to live on.  They were also meant to be displays of power and regality by various kings, queens, and rulers.  

So like the Temple of Anubis, the LumériCo power plant is a remixing of “real world mythologies” with the dev team’s “vision of the future,” a vision where humanity celebrates its diversity and the beauty of its multitude of ideas and histories with a “futuristic twist.”  

But what it also implies is that Portero - the CEO of LumériCo - is imposing himself as a psuedo-ruler in Mexico.  

From here: http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/159665523340/overwatch-apocalypse-now

The entire Sombra ARG was about Sombra attempting to “dethrone” Portero.  This isn’t even subtext or close reading - this is literally how Sombra herself describes her actions:

“The King Guillermo Portero of LumériCo invites cordially, his loyal servants, to participate in his crowning event and to celebrate his infinite greed and treason toward the people of México. We gave coordinated the publication of info that demonstrates that Portero is a viper, that have for a long time ripoff the riches of our country for his own wealth. He has corrupted our government, turned our sisters and brothers into beggars, and he won’t stop until controlling the whole country under his dominance. But we, Los Muertos, won’t tolerate the celebration of his reign of corruption. We’ll demonstrate to our new conquistadores (conquerors) who will take the reins of the future of our country! On November 1st, we’ll dethrone the King Viper and we’ll celebrate the recovery of our home.”

Zarya references this fact as well, on the next page of her comic:

Here, she talks about Stepan Razin, who led a popular uprising against the Tzardom and nobility of Russia in the 1600′s.  The implication of these three panels is that everyone in Dorado (save LumériCo) knows who Sombra is, but they aren’t telling Zarya and Lynx because they support Sombra’s actions.

This is important 

because Zarya is the exact same type of “popular folk hero” to the people of Russia as Sombra is to the people of Dorado.

From Zarya’s hero profile:

Aleksandra Zaryanova is one of the world's strongest women, a celebrated athlete who sacrificed personal glory to protect her family, friends, and country in a time of war.

Now she serves—a symbol to some, a stalwart fellow soldier to others. But for Aleksandra, it is a chance to use her great strength to protect the ones she loves.

Though subtle, we start to see some of the doubt being cast over Zarya about her actions, the things Katya told her, her interactions with Omnics (and Lynx specifically), and this seemingly wild goose chase she’s been put on.

Is Zarya’s power helping the people...or is it helping something more sinister?

Soldier or Hero?

I think I actually gave an audible gasp at this point.

This is where we can see the details of Blizzard’s slow, almost painfully deliberate world-building process start coming together.

These sets of panels are a great reference to the “Hero” animated short, and show us how everything in the Overwatch story - every line, every action, every idea - has a ripple effect.  It’s been about a year and a half since the “Hero” animation was released, and, in theory, about approximately the same amount of time has occurred “in-universe” in the main Overwatch plot (“Recall”/“Alive,” “Hero,” and “Dragons” all occur approximately at the same time as the game’s official release, with “Recall” leading right into the “Are you with us?” message Winston sends to “agents” aka players).

At the end of the “Hero” animation, we see that Soldier: 76′s actions of fighting Los Muertos members and saving Alejandra has resulted in her being inspired to be braver and more heroic.

Alejandra: You’re one of those heroes...aren’t you? Soldier: 76: ...Not anymore. Alejandra: ...I think you are.

And finally

FINALLY

after all this time

we see some of that pay off.

In “Searching,” one of the Overwatch main cast finally comes in contact with Alejandra, and what do you know -

It happens to be the woman with the same name.

“Aleksandra” and “Alejandra” are both linguistic derivatives of the feminine form of “Alexander” - “Alexandra” in English.  All of these names generally stem from the most famous “Alexander,” Alexander the Great, the often romanticized Macedonian general and king who founded one of the greatest empires in antiquity.  Names deriving from Alexander are meant to inspire thoughts of heroism, bravery, courage, and - 

Oh yeah - 

The name Alexander is derived from the Greek Ἀλέξανδρος (Aléxandros), meaning "Defender of the people" or "Defending men" and also, "Protector of men", a compound of the verb ἀλέξειν alexein, "to ward off, to avert, to defend"and the noun ἀνήρ anēr, "man" (GEN ἀνδρός andros).

So, inherent in her very name, we see Zarya’s dilemma arise again:

Who is she defending?  The people?  Or those already in power?  Who is she “a friend” to?

These panels between Aleksandra and Alejandra are great for highlighting a major turn-around moment, for both characters: Aleksandra shows her charm, her kindness, and her patience, getting down on the same level as Alejandra, telling the girl that if she helps her, Alejandra “would be her hero.”

And as we know, being heroic is what Alejandra wants and believes in more than anything else.

We can even see some of the hesitation here: Alejandra, who presumably knows Sombra as all the other people of Dorado do (by her civilian name), is reluctant to give away Sombra’s information (Sombra also has a line on the Dorado map about “stopping by the bakery,” implying that she knows Alejandra and her mother or at least sees them on a regular basis).  But Alejandra makes the decision to “be a hero” and explain where Zarya and Lynx can find Sombra, especially because Sombra has “done something wrong.”

Connecting the Dots

“There’s something bigger going on.  It will affect everyone.  Everything.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“Hahahaha, listen, mi amiga.  Between me and Katya, one of us hasn’t lied to you.”

This is, by far, the most cryptic part of the comic.  Why does Sombra want Katya to have considerable social and political power in Russia?  Hell, even real military power, when you consider her mechs?

Since all the Overwatch characters are unreliable narrators, you can’t always take their word at face value.  We do know that Sombra believes Katya should stay in power - we saw this in “Infiltration.”  So at the very least, she believes Katya is of more use alive rather than dead.

What we need to look to next is other clues that we have.  And the biggest one is Sombra’s version of her interconnectivity/relationships web.

So we also know that there’s a conspiracy - probably the “something bigger” Sombra tells Zarya - represented by The Eye symbol at the center of Sombra’s web.  And the “corrupt” corporations like Volskaya and LumériCo are connected to it, along with “a group” in Numbani, Talon, and even Overwatch.

It’s difficult to say at the moment if The Eye represents the Talon council alone, or something “much bigger,” which it is definitely looking like.

Remember what caused the original Crisis?

A corporation that got caught up in fraud and corruption.

Doomfist’s goal is to bring about a global conflict that will drive both humanity and Omnics to be “stronger.”  His ideology is a twisted form of Social Darwinism, but if you’ve read some of my other stuff, you’ll know that he’s not “wrong” in the sense of history.  Forcing conflicts helps a very select group of people:

The Military-Industrial Complex.

This is a term to describe the people, groups, corporations, technologies, and industries that “profit” off of war.  Typically, these are weapons manufacturers or defense companies that produce the supplies needed in wartime endeavors...

(From here: http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/164852538245/overwatch-companies-and-corporations)

It is tantalizing to speculate beyond this, but at the moment, it’s not clear who or what exactly is involved in this.  Rather, I would say that Doomfist’s “revitalized” Talon’s goal is to set out to create a conspiracy “network” that enmeshes many of the larger corporations and organizations into a unified “conflict” organization that can create wars whenever they need to.

And before people jump at this, remember.

Doomfist already has one “corrupt corporate” member on his council.

Sanjay Korpal...

Who has connections to Guillermo Portero...

Mr. Portero, 

I have conveyed the contents of our latest discussion with the executive directors and they are all in agreement in principle on the framework for a deal. Of course there will be a lot of discussion and communication in the coming days, but I am optimistic that we can reach a mutually beneficial understanding.

I understand your concerns over the recent press about our Rio de Janeiro development, however I can assure you that this is just a blip on the radar and that we are taking care of it. And of course, we are more than happy to keep our negotiations private until such time that you feel comfortable in discussing them with the public. And of course, we are more than happy to assist with smoothing over any conflicts that might come up in opposition of our proposals.

Sincerely, Sanjay

Who has connections to Katya Volskaya.

The Sanjay link is a big deal.  I’m not going to say that Guillermo and Katya are “part” of the Talon council until we have further proof of their direct involvement.  But at the moment, they look like they might be...beneficiaries of some sort of overarching protection, possibly “enforced” by Talon.

I’ve seen almost no one comment on this, but Portero being exonerated “of his crimes” and then reinstated as the CEO of LumériCo is a major detail - 

Because, in theory, it “undoes” all of the work of Sombra’s email leaks.

Sure, yes, it could mean that Portero never actually did anything wrong.  But no one believes that at this point.  Even if Sombra is an unreliable narrator and her motivations are not “just” or “noble,” we still have his emails, his shaky connections to Volskaya, the weird power plants, the psuedo-Mesoamerican-styled “pyramids of power.”  Even Soldier: 76 is suspicious of him.

And of course, we have his connection to Sanjay, and therefore to a member sitting directly on the Talon Council.

And this is another great detail of the Zarya comic:

Almost everyone “in power” is corrupt in some way.

Zarya should not be able to go to the police of another country, ask for highly sensitive details on a black market hacker, and get vague promises of being shared results. (And in the background, Omnics are being “herded” somewhere.)

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.  And corruption bleeds down to everyone.

This is a thematic issue that we will see repeat itself time and time again - that corrupt companies and corporations are undermining global stability and peace, whether directly or indirectly.

Corruption and the misuse of power are not “structural, hierarchical ladders” in the world of Overwatch.

Corruption and the misuse of power are circular, connected, linked together -

into a spider’s web.

What is also great about the Zarya comic is that we get a new web to double-check Sombra’s against.

We have to keep in mind that Lynx’s web is a little bit different - Lynx is an outsider “looking in” at the pattern of Sombra’s attacks and her connections.  Lynx seemingly has “no connections” to the larger story, but they do come “recommended” by Katya.

But Lynx’s web does give us some insight because it offers some minute locational data that Sombra’s web does not.

Yellow simply represents a direct “line” to Sombra, whatever that line represents.  Red represents secondary lines of connection (again, whatever that means specifically).  The blank box connected to Soldier: 76 is likely Ana, who Sombra is already aware exists.  Lynx’s web might not know who Ana is, but might call her by her bounty hunter name, “The Shrike.”  One of the other blank boxes with a direct link to Sombra might be Doomfist.

Remember, this could be Lynx’s “speculation.”  It’s difficult to say.

In my opinion, the most interesting part here isn’t actually the Soldier: 76 - Sombra link, but the weird triangle connected in the top.

Katya has direct ties to one of these individuals (possibly Portero), who - along with two others - have connections to a circle around...

Switzerland?

Now, before people jump up about Chateau Guillard and Annecy -

Widowmaker’s line actually terminates at a specific location in the web.

Yup.

That’s probably Gibraltar.

Which is weird, because we have no reason to believe she’s been there.  In fact, Reaper has been to Gibraltar “recently,” when he went to steal the Overwatch agent list from Athena and “inadvertently” caused Winston to initiate Recall.

So believe me, I’m just as confused by this as you are.  I don’t know what it means.  I don’t know if this is an error and Reaper and Widowmaker’s portraits in Lynx’s web were misplaced.  I don’t know if it means something more.  For now, I’m taking Lynx’s web with a grain of salt.

What we do know is that there are three individuals or groups that Sombra has “hacked” or made some sort of connection with who have ties or their own connections to something or someone in Switzerland.

Which, I mean.

These maps of “active Overwatch investigations/areas of interest” from the “Uprising” comic provide additional support for the circle on Lynx’s web being something related to the Swiss Base Watchpoint.

Could Blizzard tease us any harder?

Even if she herself isn’t looking at people with direct connections to the fall of Overwatch, Sombra is actively investigating people with ties to Switzerland.  Which is very interesting when you consider that two of the people who have portraits and “direct lines” to Sombra

Are also actively investigating people with ties to Switzerland - specifically, the fall of the Swiss Base.  Reaper’s investigation of the matter is more hypothesized/speculated (again, this essay assumes that the hypothesis that Reaper and Sombra are working together “in some way” is correct), but Soldier has actually stated multiple times that he’s trying to figure out “who caused the fall of Overwatch.”

Now -

Lynx doesn’t know any of this.

Hypothetically, this makes Lynx an unbiased source.  Again, take all that with some skepticism - Lynx was recommended by Katya, and they were also hacked by Sombra while Zarya and Lynx were still in Numbani (we don’t know when exactly).  So “biased” vs “unbiased” is very loose here.  But I do think we can at least use Lynx’s web to explore some theories.

Lynx might suspect that Soldier: 76 is Jack Morrison - hell, the entire world of Overwatch “suspects” it at this point (https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/blog/19809396/), but Lynx has no idea who Reaper is, and what his connections to Sombra are, just that the two work together “for Talon.”

But we the audience know that isn’t entirely true.

Michael Chu has stated that the only people who know Gabriel Reyes is Reaper are Soldier: 76/Jack Morrison, “The Shrike”/Ana Amari - 

And Sombra.

Therefore, Sombra’s in-game interactions with Reaper can be considered “canon.”

Sombra: What's the plan today, Gabe? You don't mind if I call you Gabe, do you? Reaper: Stick to the mission.

Reaper: Try to stick to the plan, Sombra. Sombra: Look, someone has to be ready when all your careful planning doesn't pan out.

And that includes this fun little tidbit on Oasis:

Sombra: So what are we doing here, boss? Reaper: I need to pay a visit to a friend.

If you’ve read my other essays, you know that I generally support the theory that Reaper is in Oasis to visit Mercy, or someone connected to her.  Mercy’s last known location as of Recall was somewhere in the Arabian Peninsula, “close” to Oasis’ location.

Based on the “Reaper sightings” map on Necropolis, Soldier: 76 and Ana are also aware that Reaper has been to Oasis (these locations are: Los Angeles in “Reflections,” Gibraltar in “Recall,” Numbani in the Museum Heist trailer, St. Petersburg in “Infiltration,” and Oasis for some reason).

I would argue that, even if they have their differences, there is a tentative trust between Reaper and Sombra - he trusts her enough to bring her along on his “personal mission” in Oasis, and we know they “have a plan” together.

I will posit the hypothesis that Sombra is feeding information about Reaper to Soldier: 76 and Ana, though I don’t know how much I buy it myself.  Either way, the breadcrumbs are there, if you wish to make that connection.  I just find them a little too thin, even for my own speculating, conspiracy-lovin’ ass.

No matter what, I will agree that Sombra is at the center of a movement to try and “bring down” a major, global-politics-dominating conspiracy, which may have had a hand in destroying Overwatch.

Which Katya has “some sort of connection to.”

This is alluded to at the very end of Zarya’s comic, in which Zarya has - much like Reaper - decided to tentatively trust Sombra over Katya.  It is not known if Sombra somehow gave Zarya more information, or promised to, but at the very least, Zarya seems to have pieced together that “something bigger” is happening with Katya - “something bigger” than just using Omnic technology in her mechs.

The dialogue here gets really awkward with the layout, so I’ll try to give a direct transcription, and then my interpretation of it.

Direct:

Katya: To be honest, I didn’t think you’d get as far as you did.  Well done.

Zarya: Covering it up...Why not take the gun from her hands? Confess

Katya: Ah, Aleksandra, it is not so simple.  Someday they will understand that I was doing what I had to do...But not today.  Not yet.  For the good of our people, this must remain our secret.  Yes, Aleksandra?

Zarya: It is simple.  Friends should not lie to each other.  So to you, I am Sergeant Zaryanova.  But for the good of Russia...Yes.  Our secret.

There’s a ton to unpack here.  I’m going to give my interpretation/rewrite of the lines first.

Interpretation:

Katya:  To be honest, I didn’t think you’d get as far as you did.  Well done.

Zarya: Hiding the truth...Why don’t you simply admit to the public where you get your tech from?  Take the “gun” from Sombra’s hands?

Katya:  Ah, Aleksandra, it is not so simple.  They won’t understand that I was doing what I had to do.  Maybe someday, but not today.  For the good of our people, this must remain our secret.  Yes, Aleksandra?   

Zarya:  It is simple.  Friends should not lie to each other.  So to you, I am Sergeant Zaryanova.  But for the good of Russia...Yes.  Our secret.

What’s happening is that there’s a very interesting implication of “something more” lurking behind Katya’s words - that if she admitted she got technology from Omnics to the people of Russia, “something bigger” might come out.

(I also wanna say that I love the return to the lines on the first page here - the reference to “friends not lying to each other,” “I am Sergeant Zaryanova” vs “Aleksandra,” “it is (not) simple,” etc.  Even if the layout of the dialogue is awful, the actual writing is wonderful.)

What is also implied is that, very subtly, Katya and Zarya have settled on different meanings of “for the good of Russia.”

While Zarya is willing to keep the secret about the Volskaya mechs - and possibly “something bigger” - in order to maintain some sort of peace, she recognizes that her own goals are for the people, whereas Katya’s goals are for herself.  We have come back to Zarya’s biggest dilemma:

Who is she defending?  The people?  Or those already in power?  Who is she “a friend” to?

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Michael Chu has danced around the word “friend” with regards to Sombra and her “allies” within Talon.  Specifically, Michael Chu has said that Sombra considers Reaper and Widowmaker “friends,” though to Sombra, “friends” and “enemies” are not so different.

It seems, then, at that the end of this comic, Zarya has come to a similar sort of conclusion.

Omnics can be good allies.

Her “heroes” can be corrupt.

Her “enemies” can tell the truth.

And her “war” -

Her fight - 

Can be for “something bigger” than her country.

What does it take to make a hero?

Strength?

Courage?

Power?

Perhaps it is the ability to do what is right.

[hopelesstvaddict]

SPOILS OF WAR AFTERTHOUGHTS

So this episode still upsets me somehow. Everyone around me is just like wow this was an amazing episode and I’m here trying to pinpoint why I still have concerns. And then I think I finally pinpointed what’s wrong. It’s Dany’s storyline. This episode really made me realize how problematic her character is no matter how much I love her.

At the beginning of the show she was introduced as this fragile young woman who awakened and seized her chance at living life on her own terms and she instantly became this symbol of feminism and girl power. All the while she retained her greatest quality: compassion. By season 3 she had become the badass Mother of Dragons everybody rooted for. At this point, I was cheering every time she accomplished something without really thinking about the other side of said something. When she torched Astapor and took the Unsullied I was like YEAH. Like everybody else. When she was celebrated as Mhysa I was like YEAH. Like everybody else. When she freed Meereen I was like YEAH. Like everybody else. Etc etc.

Until the Field of Fire where I should have been like YEAH. Like everybody else. Except I wasn’t. The scene itself was impressive but for the first time it was constructed differently. Instead of an epic and victorious variation of the Dracarys theme - as was used during every single one of her battle scenes (yes I pay much attention to the score) - we got a sad rendition of the Rains of Castamere. And so I realized what was wrong. The show had just gone on the other side for the first time. Apart from Jaime and Bronn who we naturally root for and so don’t wish to see dead, we met Ed Sheeran and his friends three episodes ago and it was a nice scene of humanizing what we still perceived as the enemy because they were Lannisters.

This got me questioning everything backwards. And I realized the show made us root for Dany by never showing us the other side of things. It always painted her storyline as her vs evil men. Plain and simple. Sure the guy in Astapor was a douchebag. He deserved to be torched. And yes the dynamic between masters and slaves is problematic and needs to be changed. But when you think about it the rest of the masters were just guilty of respecting centuries-old traditions. Nothing more. Same in Meereen. When she crucified them as retaliation for the slaves that were crucified I did not think twice about it because the show just identified the masters to bad men. That’s why the Sons of the Harpy storyline never properly worked to me. They were just depicted as rebellious terrorists who didn’t accept Dany’s reign. It would have been more interesting if we could actually go into their reasons. Reasons being they do not accept this foreign ruler who would come and change the way things had been in forever because nobody likes change. And so I did not even notice when she said or did problematic things because I was only seeing her side. She fed masters to her dragons just because they were masters and on the assumption they were guilty of helping the Sons of the Harpy. Those men were potentially innocent… but I only saw the badassery in it.

Now seeing the Field of Fire and how the show established that not all Lannisters are bad I noticed how big of a contrast there is between then and now. What helped during past seasons is that we could still see a soft side to Dany. She genuinely seemed to care for the small folk. When she had to execute one of them we could see she didn’t like it. But Westeros seems like a curse to her because she seems to have lost the last of her humanity since she stepped foot on it. Where is the girl who gave her followers the choice to walk freely and unharmed if they did not wish to go with her ? Compare this to her upcoming ‘Bend the knee or die’ speech. (Although we already got a taste of it before: ‘They can live in my new world or they can die in their old one’.) Some choice she’s giving here…

Where is the wit and the clever strategy we saw during past seasons ? When she conquered all those cities, when she killed the Dothraki chiefs, that was always through a smart plan with a twist. That was part of why we loved her so much. But now she’s reduced to traditional war ? Granted Westeros is not a city. It’s seven kingdoms. Still… And I get that this is war and that she is still a better person than Cersei because she comes with good intentions (at the very bottom of her heart she’s not bad. She just goes the wrong way). Yes war means soldiers will be lost. Innocent soldiers with lives and children and families. So I’m not saying that she did a bad thing in waging war. It is what it is. Dany has always been a conqueror more than she is a ruler. And she’s a beginner. That’s why she surrounds herself with people who are more skilled in that matter yet she does not always listen to them. Sure when she takes matters in her own hands we’re in for spectacular stuff. Most viewers stop at that. But what has she accomplished here on the Field of Fire? Besides weakening the Lannister armies, she’s also weakened her own - albeit significantly less - she’s harmed her most powerful dragon and she flambeed food reserves that would have been very useful. And she didn’t listen to every single one of her advisors. Tyrion was utterly devastated in seeing this massacre. (No matter his allegiance, he cares about Westeros and its people. And he still cares about at least his brother and Bronn). He chose her and he thought that with clever plans he could have her win the throne without too much bloodshed. She didn’t listen to Barristan in the past who once told her to be merciful. She didn’t listen to Tyrion when he told her to be patient in her war. War is not a matter of days, Dany. She didn’t listen to his strategy despite it being smarter than go upfront with the enemy. Or Jon for that matter. Who told her not to do it either. Jon who seems lately to think more about the small folk that she does. Both Varys and Tyrion said they chose her because she is the one who thinks about the people first. But since she’s arrived at Dragonstone all I could see from Dany is teenage-ish behavior of someone who throws a tantrum when they don’t get what they want. ‘Call me by my rightful title’ and ‘bend the knee’ seem to be her new favorite sentences. Bend the knee and I will help you save your people, she says to Jon. Uh you know you said the North is one of YOUR kingdoms so that’s your people as well who are going to be attacked. Where is Tyrion to give her a good wake-up slap ? A good ruler thinks about their subjects first, not about their crown. Wouldn’t it be better if you’d go save everyone in an unselfish way and then maybe perhaps they would be more willing to accept you..? Because so far, again let us go on the other side. The Westerosi just see this foreign queen, the last remaining of a dynasty they consider cursed because of its last ruler… of course they are weary. Of course I can understand Jaime and Bronn going against her and Drogon.

She made Varys swear to tell her to her face when she’s failing her people. Your first failure to do your duty, Varys. Varys? Varys where are you ? Oh over here with Tyrion discussing about maybe you chose wrong again. She used to genuinely care about the well being of the small folk and I believe she still does. She still refuses (for now) to attack King’s Landing and kill innocent people. But it’s not her priority anymore. Her priority is getting people to bend the knee. Meanwhile we have Jon whose new favorite sentences are ‘Help me fight the White Walkers and save the lives of everybody’ and ‘Do not touch my sister’. Jon who was thrust into the role of being King when that was clearly not his wish. Jon who united Wildings with Northmen to save them from the White Walkers. Jon who’s trying to rally everybody to save the lives of small folk and highborn alike. Jon who initially decided to take up the fight again because he could not fathom the idea of harm coming to his sister whether it be from Ramsey or the White Walkers. Jon who left his Kingdom in the care of his sister who’s trying her best to follow in his steps in her own ways - starting food reserves, making sure that the soldiers who will defend them are warm enough against winter, preparing Winterfell as a rallying location. Just Jon and Sansa caring more for the people than the power they were given.

And so here I am. Still liking Dany as much as before but not blind anymore to her faults. I still like her better on the throne than Cersei but really who are the better rulers here I ask you Tyrion and Varys?

[genevievedanielle]

Thoughts on Jonerys Part 2

I recently finished a rewatch of the entire GoT series and I’m so happy I did. There were so many things that jumped out at me this time that I’d forgotten about, hadn’t really noticed before, or just didn’t catch the significance of that I did this time. Going through this rewatch with the knowledge of season 7 and now the books because when I had previously watched I hadn’t read the books I’ve noticed so much more. Especially in terms of Jon & Daenerys and their relationship and I think I’m going to do a couple of posts breaking down some of my thoughts on their relationship, their character progression, and where it seems like they’re going in the show. 

So I’ve already shared a couple of things that really jumped out at me in terms of the Dany/Drogo relationship compared to the Dany/Jon relationship (if you’re interested in my thoughts on this you can check them out here) so the next logical progression for me is the Dany/Daario relationship compared to the Dany/Jon relationship. Maybe you’re thinking, “Well wait a minute, why are you just jumping on Dany’s relationships? What about Jon/Ygritte?” I haven’t forgotten Jon & Ygritte, I’m going to circle back around to them, it’s just the way my brain is working on this Dany/Daario are in my head, I was going to post about them with the Dany/Drogo comparison, but it started to get long so I decided to break this up into a series of thoughts. Sorry if I’m rambling, bear with me.

Okay so, Daenerys and Daario vs. Daenerys and Jon. First of all, what jumps out at me with them is the circumstances in which each pair met. When Daenerys met Daario she was in a position of power, but she kind of needed the Second Sons, whom Daario was a Captain of. Initially this is what put Daario into Dany’s orbit. Daario is literally a character that makes me cringe every time I see him, more so with the original Daario casting, I don’t know why, and then I was hopeful when he was recast with Michiel Huismen that I’d enjoy him more because I love Michiel Huismen, but alas I cannot stand Daario. Even doing the rewatch I found myself with the same thoughts, “Ugh, Daenerys, he’s pretty, but no.” My cringing obviously doesn’t change the outcome even though I wish it did. Anyway, Daenerys needed the Second Sons in order to take Mereen. Daario gives the Second Sons to her by killing the other two captains and offering her their heads. Initially he’s invited into her presence, that first meeting goes off the rails, and then he sneaks into her tent after killing the other two captains, uninvited and she’s exposed and vulnerable, literally because she’s in a bathtub naked and unguarded. Now if you look at that compared to her first meeting with Jon where Jon is summoned to Dragonstone at her request and he comes to her, she’s completely guarded, she’s in a position of power, she’s dressed like we’ve never seen her dressed before, her look is more powerful in season 7, more Targaryen, and she wants Jon to bend the knee, but she doesn’t really need him in the same way he needs her because she has the armies and numbers she needs, but she wants an ally from the seven kingdoms because those who were with her are gone. This is the first thing that really jumped out at me with Daenerys interactions with the men in her life. Even Drogo, who I’m not going to talk much about here, but when Daenerys first encounters Drogo, again she’s not in a position of power. She’s very vulnerable, she’s been sold to him, she’s not guarded, even what she’s wearing is very transparent and vulnerable, and she and Viserys need Drogo to go home. The men she’s paired with always come to her armoured and ready for a fight, but Jon is the first where she’s on an equal playing field. Both of them need something from the other and both hold similar positions. Drogo and Daario were completely sure of themselves and arrogant, Jon was not.

Jon Snow was so humble in his first meeting with Daenerys, he didn’t look at her like he owned her or like she was some prize, he was clearly attracted to her, but he was also in awe and showed respect for her. The other two men kept these stoic, hard looks on their faces, whereas Jon looked vulnerable and open.

Moving along, the next thing that pops out is the fact that Jon demonstrates a lot of respect for Daenerys. I feel like this is one of the most obvious things and everyone has seen or commented on this, but Daario kept pushing with Daenerys. Eventually she gave in, obviously, but the way he pursued her was arrogant and he treated her like a conquest. He knew he was charming and attractive and used it as much to his advantage as he could, but when she wasn’t totally giving in to him, he pretty much forced his way in, all so he could sleep with the queen. Obviously she didn’t turn him away, but these’s a big difference between this...

And this...

Jon wanted her, but he approached her with respect for her and waited for her to invite him into her room. He didn’t assume she would just want him and allow him in if he showed up. He’s vulnerable which is interesting, Jon is rarely vulnerable yet he always seems to allow himself to be vulnerable in front of Daenerys. Jon isn’t the type of man who pushes his way in or even the type of man who goes after what he wants, but Daenerys brings out this boldness in Jon. He’s willing to leave his comfort zone for her and be open and exposed.

The next thing that jumps out is the nature each brings out/encourages in Daenerys. I’ve talked about this with a couple of people and seen comments others have posted about this and the more I see it talked about, the more I kind of love this point. 

So Daenerys is feisty when she wants to be and can have a temper, a lot of people attack her for that, but the thing is she’s a woman in a man’s world and she uses the power that’s at her disposal to show she’s equal. I actually love her for it. She doesn’t back down and she’s not afraid to stand up for herself and what she believes. Does she always make the right decision? No, but she’s human. People are so fast to jump on the Daenerys is evil train, but come on! Jon makes mistakes too, he owns it the same as Dany does, but he’s just got a stronger moral compass that came from Ned, Daenerys grew up with Viserys as her only influence and we know he was crazy, so give the girl a break. She always does what she thinks is best for the people she leads, which is what Jon does. That’s part of what makes them such a perfect pair. No matter what choices they make, whether they’re right or wrong, their choices are always influenced by the people they serve (I’m using the word serve because even though they’re a king and queen they’re giving all of themselves for the benefit of others). 

Daenerys cares strongly for people and she has no time for injustice, when she sees it she wants to act fast to help people. Here is where Daario was completely terrible for her. Daario always played into Daenerys impulses. He advised her to make harsh decisions. The decisions he thinks she should make lead away from who she really is. In the example below, Daario encourages her to use her dragons to rule, but Daenerys knows she has no control over them at this point and doesn’t want them to harm someone again. She doesn’t want to rule based on people fearing her. She’s not her father.

Even when Daario gives her advice about how she should lead and what she should do, he again doesn’t get who she is. His advice is to be a conqueror. Daenerys has never been a conqueror, she’s a liberator. She sees injustice and tries to save people from it.

He doesn’t get her motives or her ambitions. Daenerys wants to return to her home and free the people ther from the pattern they’re trapped in. It isn’t about conquering to be queen of the seven kingdoms, it’s about ruling justly. Daenerys knows she’s not a war lord, she knows she needs council and asks people she trusts who have more experience than her, Whenever she asked for advice from Daario you could see she always took it with a grain of salt and didn’t always do what he suggested because she didn’t necessarily agree with his methods. Daario speaks to the impulsive side of Dany and luckily she knew herself well enough to know better than to listen to him most of the time, but if you look at this in comparison to Jon you see the major difference. Dany’s impulses are still there and if she didn’t feel that her impulses could be wrong she wouldn’t ask for advice when she needs it.  What’s interesting with Jon is that she trusts him enough to ask his advice. Normally she only asks her trusted councillors or advisors, but here she has an impulse and instead of trusting the people who normally calm her, she turns to Jon and asks what he thinks she should do.

Daenerys’ impulse is to fly to the Red Keep and burn it to the ground, but she knows inside herself that its not the right choice and who does she look to affirm this, not her advisors, she looks to Jon. She looks to this man she is beginning to trust because she’s seen something of herself in him and he calms her impulses and tells her, “I never thought that dragons would exist again. No one did. The people who follow you know that you made something impossible happen. Maybe that helps them believe that you can make other impossible things happen. Build a world that’s different from the shit one they’ve always known. But if you use them to melt castles and burn cities, you’re not different. You’re just more of the same.” What’s more, she listens to him because he’s speaking to that rational side of Dany. He’s speaking to the side of her that’s like him and he’s calming her temper. It would be easy for her to fly off and just end the war, and I know a lot of people have issue with the fact that Daenerys used Drogon against the Lannister army, but she’s at war. Those soldiers would have killed her and her armies had she not killed them. She didn’t fly to the Red Keep and kill innocent people, she took Jon’s advice, she only attacked those who were in open war with her and had chosen to fight against her. Even when she gave them the choice to fight for her or die, it was just. I know Tyrion had doubts about what she did, but she’s at a point where she needed to make a point. She’s lost allies and she needed more people from Westeros to support her cause and she needed to send a message to Cersei and those following her. If she had done that in Essos people would have been all for it because it was justice. Even when she and Jon talk afterward and she says Jon’s unsure how he feels about it, he’s unsure because he hates the idea of more people dying, but he also knows she’s right and it was necessary. I don’t think Dany just wanted to kill people, she did what she had to in order to make a point to those against her and to try and sway people to her side. People forget Dany could have ended everything a dozen times over by now, but she cares about people and ultimately that’s what draws her and Jon to each other.

Both Daenerys and Jon know they need to make decisions as leaders to benefit others, they may not always want to do what they have to do, but that’s being a leader. For them they are so similar in their worldview and view of justice that they speak to each other and can see reason through each other. Daenerys is always a little more impulsive than Jon, but Jon is always stuck in duty and being honourable. I think what’s going to be nice moving forward with Jon and Dany is the fact that each makes the other see reason and each is able to speak to the other and trust the other. I’m actually so sad we won’t have more time with these two together because their characters are the perfect balance to each other.

[occupyvenus]

But why?

Dark!Dany in season 7 (part 1 of ~4). 

I was almost finished writing down my dark!dany-impressions from episodes 1 and two, but then episode 3 aired and I decided to completely change the structure of this little essay and start anew. So of course, this took way longer than anticipated. I decided to finish the first part now, hopefully post the second part later today or tomorrow and complete the third and fourth after Dany went Dracarys in ep 4 (because she will, I just know that she will)

A couple of disclaimers before I get started :

First: D&D are playing loose (very loose) with the social rules and norms established in the books. I will try to keep any “that doesn’t make any sense, in the books xyz would happen” out of this. For example if the show tells me that besieging a city from all sites, thereby cutting its supply lines, will cost the least civilian life, I will take that as a fact. If the show claims that Cersei’s claim to the Iron Throne is “secure” enough to be seen fucking her own brother, at least within Kings Landing and in the mind of several Reach Lords who answered her summon, I will accept that as well. In short: If D&D say that’s how it is, then that’s how it is.

Second: I do not believe that primarily judging characters and their actions from a westerosi point of view really makes sense anymore. The world in which this story takes place should be taken into consideration, yes, but watsonian consistency and accuracy have really taken a backseat to the doylist intentions the show is trying to express. D&D are clearly changing and constructing plot lines, characterizations, decisions and reactions with a modern audience in mind and, most importantly, to accommodate their modern moral and ethical views. This is not to say that modern audiences lack the capacity to put themselves into alien positions and worldviews. This ability simply seems to be very inconsistent and sometimes even contradictory. For example: Even though decapitation has mostly vanished as a form of punishment, it’s fairly easy to recognise the supposed “justice” in such an act. If we are presented with a culprit guilty of a capital crime. As the show has displayed many times, chopping off someone else's head for breaking a vow, does not turn you into a blood-thirsty murderer or ruthless tyrant, even though we all agree, that it’s good we don’t do that anymore. But on the other hand (pun intended) if one of our good guys were to cut of a thief's hand on screen -a widespread punishment for theft over many continents and centuries, including the setting of asoiaf* - we would probably have a harder time to “forgive” them for it. I know I would. Humans and their perception of “moral” are weird. I’m sure there are some theories out there on why that is and what influences this, imo, rather weird phenomena, but I hope you understand what I mean when I say: We can accept different realities and their rules, but only when we can. In my opinion, that’s a framework D&D are carefully working with.

You can disagree with me on that, but that is how I am going to approach the show from now on, this little post included. I will focus on what the show-runners are trying to convey to a modern audience. How do they want us to react to what happens on screen and what tools do they use to influence and guide our reaction. Many of my estimations will be intuitive and not necessarily fully objective, so everyone is free to disagree with me in that perspective. But if you want to refute one of my arguments here, solely based on “but it is based on the medieval !!!”, you will have to present a very compelling case for me to care. Because the show mostly doesn’t care on what time period Westeros is vaguely based on, so why should I? 

Third: These are only my opinions, blah blah. I do not claim to have an insider in HBO who tells me what they were trying to do. These are only my thoughts, my analysis, my interpretations. 

Fourth: I don’t “hate” Dany, I don’t think she is the most evilest person on the show, I simply believe that she is moving into a darker direction. Honestly, that would be the exact twist the series could need right now. It’s starting to get a bit boring and predictable.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get started with the first big question:

Why even conquer Westeros ?

I believe that both intentions and consequences are important. As a rule of thumb I always judge an action by its consequences, the character of a person by their intentions. This is often intertwined, an “evil” person will often do “evil” things, “good” people can sometimes do “evil” things for “good” reasons, and if a “good” person keeps doing “evil” shit you will sooner or later question how “good” they really are. It’s useless to say that all of this is indeed very subjective and it’s pretty unlikely that two people will always be on the same page. No one has to agree with me on that (after all the entire field of philosophy has been arguing about this for centuries), but I found it to be a fair and meaningful way to assess “ethical positioning”, at least for fictional fictional characters and my own opinion. 

So in this first section, I will focus on the question Why does Dany even want to conquer Westeros? Rather than her qualities as a queen or the consequences of her actions I will try to focus on her intentions, on what drives her to conquer the Seven Kingdoms. I will end this section on whether those intentions justify or warrant the price she is willing to pay for the Iron Throne and talk more thoroughly about it in later parts.

Season 7 has had a number of interesting hints and revelations about this issue.

EPISODE 1 “DRAGONSTONE”

I honestly didn’t pay much attention to the single short scene Dany had in episode one. (I was preoccupied with the case umber & karstark vs the north). But some comments made by Dany-fans caught my attention and made me take another look at her behaviour. What I’m talking about is Dany entering the Throne Room in Dragonstone, walking towards the throne (a symbol for “ruling”) but moving to the next room, rejecting it for the carved table Aegon planned his conquest on 300 years ago (a symbol for just that - “conquest”). 

I read comments along the lines “This was such a great character moment! It really shows where her priorities lie” or “She doesn’t just want to rule, she wants to win!”. After giving it some thought I fully agree with these statements, but ... I do not think that’s ... a good thing? This reminds me very much of something Dario said in season 6: 

You weren’t made to sit on some chair in a palace. [...] You are a conqueror, D Stormborn. 

I think he is spot on with this. It has been shown again and again that what Dany is good at, what she thrives at, is conquest. Fighting and defeating your enemy. My question is: does this make her a good candidate for the Iron Throne? Shouldn’t her conquest simply be the means through which she accomplishes her real goal - ruling - instead of her true vocation? I don’t believe that Dany actually wants to sit on a throne, she simply wants to win it. Robert showed that good soldiers don’t make good kings, I do not believe that good conquerors make good queens neither.

EPISODE 2 “STORMBORN”

This episode tackles and subtly undermines two motivations behind this conquest, that made it an relatable, righteous venture in both our and Danys mind. 

First, Dany admits that Dragonstone “doesn’t feel like home”. 

Dany to Viserys in Pentos [s1]: I don’t want to be his queen. I want to go home. 

Dany to Tyrion in Meereen [s5]: I fought so that no child born into Slaver’s Bay would ever know what it meant to be sold or bought. I will continue that fight here and beyond. But this is not my home. 

Dany to Tyrion in Dragonstone [s7]: I always thought this would be a homecoming. Doesn’t feel like home.

Longing for one’s home is an outmost humane desire. We can empathize and sympathize with this. We can’t begrudge her for this wish or the actions she takes to fulfill it. She might have never spend a day of her adult life in westeros before, but it has always been “home” in her mind. Now she is faced with the ugly reality that it isn’t. That Dragonstone, and I would deduce the Seven Kingdoms as a whole, are a strange, foreign place to her. If the castle she was born in, her family's ancestral seat doesn’t feel “like home”, what will? The Red Keep? The Iron Throne? It is quite tragic, but the only real home Dany ever knew was the House with the red door in Braavos she lived in as a child. And that is not the home she will find at the end of her conquest. 

Second, Dany realizes that the common folk is not praying for her return, sewing dragon banners and drinking secret toasts to her health.

The wine seller and Dany [s1]: You know there are many in your homeland who pray for your return princess. --  I hope to repay your kindness someday.

Tyrion and Dany [s5]: When you get back to you home, who supports you? -- “The common people”. 

Dany to Varys [s7]: They call out for their true queen? They drink secret toasts to my health? People used to tell my brother that sort of thing and he was stupid enough to believe it. 

Acknowledging that Viserys was a fool to believe this, certainly shows maturity and that she’s come to understand “how the world works”, but this notion, that she would return the rightful ruler to her people also gave her conquest a “moral backbone”. After all Dany has always depicted herself as a champion for the common people (at least as long as she was in essos, more on that later). If she believes that “her people are crying out for their true queen”, even if it isn’t true, simply if she believes it, her conquest is to some extent meant to fulfill the wishes of her subjects. Whether that is an important factor for the legitimacy of a feudalistic ruler, is another question, but it definitely is a quality we admire and look for in a good ruler. What makes the King in the North scenes so powerful and engaging, is the fact, that both Robb and Jon are chosen by their people. This has always played an important part in Dany’s self-image as a ruler. She was always shown to be loved by the essosi commoners (ie former slaves), she herself has stated that “the common folk” is who supports her in westeros. But quite frankly the show hasn’t addressed yet what the westerosi small folk is thinking about the dragon queen's return. Neither has Dany. It is only brought up once, when Varys starts to recount how unpopular Cersei is and Dany shuts him down immediately.

I noticed that “the good” Dany could do for the small folk in Westeros is mostly addressed by her supporters, not herself. Varys claims to back her because he believes “she is the best chance the common folk has”, Tyrion is the one to tell Jon that she “protects people from monsters”. In her time in slaver's bay she brought this up numerous times herself: What SHE could do to better their lives. But since she landed in Westeros, she only talks about bringing peace and prosperity to the people twice. Once when talking to Onella, who immediately shits all over warfare-the-nice-way and tells her to be “a dragon” (more on that in part 3) and a second time when talking to Jon. But this sentiment was brought up in the context of how “a targaryen on the Iron Throne and a Stark as warden in north” have been good for the realm. It isn’t directly linked to Dany herself, rather her conception of her family's legacy and it’s influence in the past.

EPISODE 3 “THE QUEENS JUSTICE”

This episode has done nothing to paint Danys motivation in a, let’s say “humanitarian”, light. Quite contrary, Dany freely admits in her own words that this conquest is most and foremost about her. Her wishes, her desires, what she thinks she deserves. She is approaching her “negotiation” with Jon with two key arguments in mind. First, her hereditary claim as a Targaryen and secondly, her personal claim based on her life experiences. 

The last King in the North was Torrhen Stark, who bend the knee to my ancestor, Aegon Targaryen. In exchange for his life and the life of the Northmen, Torrhen Stark swore fealty to House Targaryen in perpetuity. [...] You’ve travelled all this way to break faith with House Targaryen? ...

I’ve already talked about my problems with Dany calling herself the “rightful” ruler. Though she admits that her father was an “evil man”, she doesn’t acknowledge Robert's Rebellion as a justified uprising against a tyrant. She simply sees her father as the bad apple of the family. As a single outlier in the otherwise “consistent” history of “righteous” Targaryen rule. Not only showing an unwillingness to accept any wrongdoings done by her house, her father gets outsourced as an exception, but also the consequences his downfall has for her “birthright”. Notice how she is specifically introduced as the “rightful” ruler (which is a little node at Jon heritage as well). She insists that the oaths Torrhen Stark made to Aegon are valid for eternity. She accuses Jon of “breaking faith” and “being in open rebellion”.  She is not trying to re-establish House Targaryen post-rebellion, she is refusing to acknowledge the rebellions significance, as if it doesn’t even matter. Her goal is to keep the Targaryen rule going, because in her mind, it never was rightfully “interrupted” in the first place. This is a mind-set that hasn’t changed since season 1.

While this argument seems to be prepared, her “outburst” that follows, reveals her most honest thoughts and opinions.

I was born in Dragonstone. Not that I can remember it. We fled before Robert’s assassins could find us. Robert was your father’s best friend, no? I wonder if your father knew that his best friends sent assassins to murder a baby girl in her crib. Not that it matters now, of course. I spent my life in foreign lands. So many men have tried to kill me, I don’t remember all their names. I have been sold like a broodmare. I’ve been chained and betrayed, raped and defiled. Do you know what kept me standing through all these years in exile? Faith. Not in any gods, not in myths and legends. In myself. In D Targaryen. 

 Don’t get me wrong, she deserves sympathy for all this. She was victimized for most her life, breaking free of this role, taking agency and even drawing strength from her abuse is indeed inspiring. I don’t know if that was the purpose of her speech, but I’m sure that many people perceived it that way. I don’t want to badmouth those who took just that away from it. 

But somehow ... it also raised some “tragic-villain-backstory” alarms in my head. You know, traditionally at the end of the movie, when our heroes are chained up somewhere in the bad dudes lair and ask “Why are you doing this?” and the villain responds with all the bad shit that happened to them. Talking about how the world wronged them, often how our heroes wronged them.  “All my life the laughed at me, look who’s laughing now?”

This is not a sentiment directly expressed by her, but I feel like it’s so heavily implied that it’s fair to list it here. She has endured many, many hardships and now she feels that the world “owes” her big time. I feel like her ambition of conquering an entire kingdom has crossed the line of “not letting all your traumas stop you” and entered the realm of “I deserve everything I want, no matter the cost because life was unfair to me.” And that really is a text-book villain motive. 

I really do not like to compare female characters, and I’m not trying to say that one of them “had it worse than the other”, but all of these things also apply to Sansa, some of them even to Cersei. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that in an episode titled “The Queen’s justice”, we see one Queen using her sufferings to support her claim, one taking revenge on those who wronged her and another taking care of her people’s needs. All of these three women have suffered in similar ways and while two of them use it to justify their rather selfish behaviour, one of them is shown to spend her time working for others. This “parallel” is only amplified by Bran mentioning Sansa’s wedding night in the same episode. The only reason I can see for Bran bringing up this specific incident (there were many other options to proof his three-eyed-raven powers), is to draw a connection to Danys speech. Again, I am not necessarily trying to set them against each other, but Danys approach to coping with her abuse, at least resembles the one Cersei chose to take. Compare Danys speech to this book quote from Cersei and tell me you don’t get similar vibes:

I waited, and so can he. I waited half my life. She had played the dutiful daughter, the blushing bride, the pliant wife. She had suffered Robert's drunken groping, Jaime's jealousy, Renly's mockery, Varys with his titters, Stannis endlessly grinding his teeth. She had contended with Jon Arryn, Ned Stark, and her vile, treacherous, murderous dwarf brother, all the while promising herself that one day it would be her turn. If Margaery Tyrell thinks to cheat me of my hour in the sun, she had bloody well think again.

This makes me believe that Dany is more or will be more like Cersei than she would like to think. If we all believe that Cersei is power hungry, isn’t Dany as well? For very similar reasons? 

The ending of her little speech also makes her seem a bit megalomaniac. 

[...] Do you know what kept me standing through all these years in exile? Faith. Not in any gods, not in myths and legends. In myself. In D Targaryen. The world hasn’t seen a dragon in centuries until my children were born. The Dothraki haven’t crossed the sea, any sea. They did for me. I was born to rule the Seven Kingdoms and I will. 

It’s no surprise really. She is the Mother of Dragons, the Unburnt, the Khal of Khals. It’s no wonder all of this goes to her head. This also ties into her conversation with Melisandre in episode two. She immediately assumes that the prophecy is about her, or at least, seems rather pleased at the possibility. She seems to be taken aback when Mel said she (only) “has a part to play”. (At least that’s how I interpreted it, it’s not really easy to know what EC is trying to convey with her ... “acting”. Sry, not sry.) She has fully accepted herself as a chosen one, a prophesied savior, an über-mensch. Whether because of her lineage or her own achievements, this attitude hinges on plain arrogance and is way more often found in “villains” than “heroes”. 

Please notice that her speech is not triggered by Jon refusing her claim, but by his insistence that the white walkers are real and coming for all them. Having her react like this at that point off the argument seems a bit out of place. It could boil down to shitty writing, but it could also be meant to emphasize an apparent contrast between Jon and Dany. Jon embraces leadership to protect his people, Dany seeks it to satisfy her need for self-importance. 

While episode two subtly degrades her relatable and philanthropic motivations, episode three highlights those who are ultimately self-centered. Those rooted in ideas of superiority and entitlement. Whether she feels entitled because of everything she had to endure or her birthright as the last (lol) Targaryen, isn’t important. The point is that she feels she deserves to rule. She feels entitled to the seven kingdoms because of external circumstances, not because of her own qualities or competence. 

I would also like to point out one more thing: Dany could have very well stayed in Essos. She could have chosen to remain in “the Bay of Dragons”, rule as it’s queen, bringing real stability to the region. The show swept that under the rug, and yes, I promised to just take the bullshit D&D feed me at face value, but it she just left Slaver’s Bay behind when it was time to conquer Westeros. I don’t see any reason why the region shouldn’t return to chaos after she, her armies and her dragons are gone. After all, it was “D Stormborn and her dragons coming to Meereen”, as Tyrion put it, that finally brought the former Masters to obey. Now that she’s busy somewhere else, what’s going to keep them in check? Daario and his 2000 Second Sons? 

She could have stayed there, leading a comfortable life as it’s queen, caring for the people who worship her as the breaker of chains. Instead she decided to lead a war of invasion on Westeros. She decided to leave as soon as a fragile peace took hold, to wage war again. For what? If Dany isn’t fighting for “home” or “the will of her people”, what is she fighting for? What is left? She said it herself: D Targaryen. She is fighting for herself. This all is primarily about her and no one else. Honestly, I have a hard time rooting for someone who starts an invasion for selfish reasons.

This was part 1 of this long-ass post. I really hope I can finish “Tyrion Cricket starring in Danoccio” today or tomorrow. The sections “Fire and Blood and Burning Shit” will follow most likely after episode 4 has aired and my favourite topic right now (Targ!Cest vs Targ!Bowl) will come shortly after that. Stay tuned and thank you for your attention. 

[cattythoughts-blog]

Game of Thrones: The Alternate Ending

Intro of Dissatisfaction

           Okay, so I’ve never been much of a revisionist when it comes to story-telling. Whatever ending I got, I could have mixed feelings about with no sway one way or the other to impact my overall enjoyment of a story. When stories go completely off the rails from what they once were (first 3 seasons of Supernatural vs everything after, Penny Dreadful season 3, Hannibal) I can still enjoy the show and, in the end, hold whatever first few good seasons I did have close to my heart.

           And, I think the reason for this is that all all those shows had an “ending” before their true season ending. That ending paid off everything and was consistent with theme and tone first presented. Which brings up the question: What do you do when you have a story as big as Game of Thrones, a grand-scale epic by design? There can’t be a satisfying conclusion mid-way through the Game of Thrones show, where everything comes together because there’s too much going on. Too many loose strings. Too many factions. Stannis Baratheon’s death after burning his daughter could have been that great end-point of the show (the Baratheons known for gaining power by drawing the blood of their relatives finally take infighting to the deepest, darkest conclusion and are left with ashes) if we’d only been following Stannis, the Battle of the Bastards for the stark plot (to resolve the imbalance of rule of the north. The show starting with Ned and his family losing power and this culminating in the ultimate regain of that power through virtuous means but also new compromise and understanding of the “Great Game” on Sansa’s part), go all the way back to the Red Wedding and that could be that satisfying cut-off point if we only cared about the Starks.

           Instead, there’s a show pushing a bolder of its own plot threats up a mountain, slowly dwindling in stakes and tension as the plot armor becomes too strong to kill of anyone important. That’s kind of a problem. The show has lost what made it, and the books, so great in the first place. Understand that I’m mostly talking about the show Game of Thrones, not the book series—but, this is actually a problem I have with both if George RR Martin and the writers are shooting in the same direction. If the TV show was without a doubt Full Metal Alchemisting these final seasons, I would probably not feel the need to write this. I’d just wait for the books and get my sweet, sweet, Brotherhood fix with George’s conclusion—but what if George’s conclusion is the show’s conclusion? If the end-goals set up in the show are the ones I’m to expect in the books then all I can say is—George…my man…my buddy…my better Santa…dafq?

The Core of Game of Thrones:

           Here’s what I mean:

           The main selling point of George RR Martin’s books is not realism—stop that, please. When people say “realism”, they’re talking about the feeling of stakes and motivation that copy realism. In realism, a lot more people would have died from drinking the bacteria in foreign fresh water and syphilis by now. George RR Martin doesn’t kill people without purpose. They have a thematic or plot-related edge to them that makes every death make sense in the grand scheme of things.

           The main selling point of Georg RR Martin’s books is the subversion of expectation, actively taking tropes and turning them on their heads, and the consequences of actions. Every character is out to get something and if you don’t know what they want or how to make them think you can get it for them, you’ve lost. Here’s the problem of the show since season 5, more prominent in 6, and overt in 7, there are no consequences. All that cold-calculated conversation where you were trying to figure out what someone really wanted in the end-game is gone. All those terrible decisions made by Danny don’t backfire and have an overall consequence on how she’s viewed as a leader. Cersei—well the Margery-taking-over-thing was pretty good and the religion backfiring—but no consequence for blowing up the church when (especially in the books) it is explicitly stated that any ruler who ever did that was turned on by the people? The Iron Born suddenly decide to go and team up with Danny and give up their old ways in a snap because we need clear dividing lines on who is good and who is evil to wrap up this thing. Arya gets away with “tricking” the many faced men—the ultimate deception crew? No!

           But, here’s the thing that frustrates me the most about all of this, up until Season 7, I could live with it. Fine. The overall story still had some promise to it. We have the “prince that was promised” thread, Tyrion “using” Danny to get revenge on his family or just see what happens (though in the show they kind of just make him love her and have no motive). Jon essentially usurping Sansa’s birthright to be lady of Winterfell and keeping Little Finger around while also having not told him about the vale, and then the whole Arya killing spree she was finally going to go on, Cersie dealing with a city/country that had to hate her after blowing up the church, the white walkers still had potential to be twisted as some kind of “no yeah, we’re sapient, and it’s cold and we just wanna go south, shut up” type-thing. Pieces were in place to be played with and set in order that was unexpected—an order with consequence.

Why Season 7 Fails:

           What did I get in season 7?

           In a nutshell: sister’s fighting over nothing from 5+ years ago—Danny and Jon, the 5$ love story. Cersei sitting in her chair with a fresh set of crazy pants and Jamie being angry, but not enough to do anything about it. And last—OH NO—That one! That dragon! I’m not sure which one but oh no…oh no…that one’s dead. Bummer. Wall down. Scene.

           So…what was the consequences of this season? What were the biggest changes? The wall came down because the walkers had a dragon. Everything else was putzing around until that point. I’m not even joking. Little Finger’s death means nothing because he’s an inactive player in the story at that point. Danny’s getting evil—except—she’s always been evil (well, like, shes no more ruthless than she had been before). She crucified an entire city, so burning two guys alive is not out of character for her and changes nothing about the propoganda. Jon being declared the prince that was promised means nothing because that prophecy is vague. Bran’s omnipotent and missed the part where his aunt whispered the baby’s legal name because…reasons. Oh, oh, and the sand snakes finally died. Cheers to that.

Petty Child Explaining the Petty Rant

           Now, here’s why I’m so mad. Because they have set up for—maybe not a great ending—but a good one that stays true to the tone of the books. Yes, this is the part where I say I can do better—and I really REALLY wish I couldn’t. The fact that I want every action to have a consequence, should not be something I have to insert to a story.

           The following is “fixing” Season 7 of Game of Thrones, working with the plot threads set up at the beginning. I’m not going all the way back to 6 or 5 because that’s too much work, and I’m honestly just doing this for my own piece of mind. You can tell me this version of season 7 sucks. Hey, you’ve got the real TV version written by people with more talent and success than I’ll ever see. I’m some idiot with a keyboard and some ranting issues. Also, I’m more editing things that already exist like “working off the same budget” not adding new things, just going with what they gave me.

______________

           So, the best way to fix this is to go narrative thread by thread, so let’s start with the 2nd worst one first. Danny. Oh…Danny, Danny, Danny. So much set up. No payoff. Loved you this season, girl. In the original Season 7, nothing changes with her character besides her becoming the ultimate Mary Sue with everyone falling in love with her left and right and her never dying on her dragons. Nothing she does or says or what people do or say to her this season have consequence unless it leads to getting into her nephew, Jon’s, pants (is anyone else not creeped out that there are literally no degrees of separation there. Her brother was his father. He’s sleeping with is aunt…no? And she’s totally going to get pregnant with an incest baby next season because they made a really huge point of saying she couldn’t have kids (and that’s mostly a man’s fault if you can’t have kids—like biologically speaking). Okay, it was a thing when the Lannisters were doing it but sure).

DANNY CHANGE:

           To explain how to fix Danny is to explain her overall relevance to the plot—the plot of Game of Thrones. Her mechanical purpose was two main things. 1. Bring dragons to the army that dies of getting burned so that they can be defeated by getting burned, but also so that they have a dragon to break down the wall and make plot happen. 2. Be the inspirational invader that provides pressure for the native forces to band together and fight on two fronts (north and south) while bringing in these foreign fighters.

           Danny is not meant to sit on the iron throne. Mechanically, she has been foreshadowed to be a great conqueror and a terrible, terrible ruler. In the books, it is better portrayed that she’s a little girl who can draw in inspiration, but has no clue what she’s doing when we get down to brass tax. In the show, she’s like mid-20s, so it doesn’t come off the same way. But, that’s the core of her. A girl who does not want to become the monster of her past, but believes that her lineage—not her actions—makes her deserving—not earning—of the Iron Throne. She wants to rule over this country because it exists and someone told her it was hers. Danny is a villain so letting the invasion play out is fine, but the two major threads need to be addressed. 1. Dragons are in Westeros (check), but now they need to go north. 2. Danny is leading inspiration and causing terror (check if you do the first 3 episodes of her plot the same).

           There’s two main themes for Danny this season that culminate into nothing. She’ll ask for advice and listen to no one after they’ve given that advice “Be a dragon.” That should make Tyrion more frustrated with her and put a strain on their relationship because Westeros is Tyrion’s home, and he’s trying to put a ruler on it that he can’t mold to his views so easily. She’s an impulsive child. That’s what you should get out of all those close calls where she takes her dragon and nearly gets killed. The other theme is succession. After Danny is gone, what will happen? Danny doesn’t want to think about that, but she’s this inspirational ruler that brought armies across the sea for her. What do they have to fight for if Danny is dead? This isn’t their home. They won’t care after she’s gone. That’s why the children thing kept being brought up, and it’s never acted upon. So, here’s Danny’s conclusion for Season 7.

           That stupid plot with the guys going across the wall to kidnap a walker happens, they’re on that lakebed… sure. Tweak it. As Danny swoops in to save them she is yet again not listening to advice and endangering herself. Danny drops with Drogo to go pick up the SQUAD and it’s too hot. She gets on a dragon, commands one to pick up the boys while she goes straight for the white walker kings (as the boys could have pointed out to her that you kill the boss, the adds die). And then, that Olympic-gold-winning javelin throw goes straight into Drogo (the only dragon you can actually tell apart) with Danny riding on his back. They both plummet to the ground behind a mountain or something (not in the lake because where’d the wights get chains?) out of sight and the SQUAD has to take the walker and run because one of the least favorite children dragons takes them away already. Jon can even have his stupid staying behind moment if he was trying to get Danny if they really needed that scene (he’d have a reason to stay in the middle of the army of wights fighting one or two because he’s just as impulsive and brash). I’d prefer everyone just left on least-favorite-dragon #1 or #2 and they flew back over the wall.

           Then, by the end of the season, the white walkers now have the ice dragon they wanted. Not just any dragon. The only dragon the audience could name/care about: Drogo. (maybe Danny’s in there too as a wight, or a wight king if we wanna apply the rule of cool—like this would be kind of dumb but I’d want to see it. It’s probably more poetic for her to fall off the dragon and one of her least favorite children to pull her corpse out of the snow and fly her home).

What does this change/do?

           Danny’s arc is a woman who doesn’t want to be an evil ruler but is not willing to learn or be flexible. Her inflexibility and inability to understand her limits because of years of have the ultimate advantage of dragons is what causes her death, ending that thread. Two, now what are Danny’s forces doing in Esos? Tyrion still has this army to deal with and they have no leader, no inspiration. That burning fire that has been carrying them is snuffed out and an entire group of people who’d hoped to find a great ruler (Tyrion’s hope) is dead. As for Danny, she did not want to become a mad king like her father, she did not want to kill hundreds of thousands, but due to her inflexibility, her ultimate drive for power, her defiance of death shown many times throughout the series—she has failed to reach her ultimate potential (and if we go with the white walker thing, she defies death for the final time becoming the ultimate conqueror of death and the destined ultimate conqueror of the nation she set out to rule, but not how she would have wanted. (but this one I’m ehh on because I got a better plan)) She’s fallen to tragedy because of her lack of familiarity with the country she was going to reign over. (also something else pays off from this in like 10 paragraphs, I’m sorry).

____________

           Chopping block goes to Cersei next…also not that long. Mostly because it’s not hard to make it interesting.

CERSEI FIXING WHAT’S BROKE

           Cersei’s character is fine. It’s not great, it’s not the best with the magic plot lack of logic, but it’s fine. Have her do the thing with the iron bank and take Highgarden…Highgarden—the wealthiest country—being overthrown because…rich people don’t have the biggest armies to protect their loot? Oh my god, Highgarden. The way the show presented it, I could run in there with a toothpick and win.

           Anyway, sure. But, the people hate her because she blew up their religion. (I know the show plays it off that the people think it’s an accident but…come on). Consequences is that she now has lack of support from the people while this foreign invader tears up her home. She needs aid. So…she’ll call upon the north, upon Winterfell because there’s a new Boss up there who may be wiling to work with her. She hears they’re in need of military aid. Why wouldn’t she band together as many men as she could from all corners of her country to kill Danny?

           When she summons Jon, he’s already south yucking it up with Danny so Sansa has to deal with that.

What does this change?

            Things remain basically the same, but Cersei has to be willing to drag in new allies like she did with the Iron Born. The Lannisters have always been a flexible group. With the North having a new power player, why wouldn’t she reach out to them? Also, she should be shown protecting the people to keep them happy. It has never been a more crucial time to get rid of the problem that is Danny. Danny is making the people unhappy as Cersei’s reign is starting with the terror of invasion. People already hate Cersei. The longer Danny’s around, the more they’ll hate her. Now, she has motivation beside territory claims to hate Danny. Motivation is clear, it’s present, and it relies on public opinion—something the Lannisters are slaves to. The lions do consider the opinions of the sheep.

_____________________________

That Meeting at the End Tho:

           Okay, that last episode was everyone bitching until nothing got accomplished or changed. Here’s how you change/fix it. Danny wasn’t invited. Cersei organized the meet-up, inviting Jon along with other lords she’s going to try to win over. Jon happens to be doing exactly what he’d been doing throughout the entire season with the walker expedition (there’s honestly just no good way to fix this, unless they break the wall early or if they just have Danny fly up, swoop down to grab a white and fly back. I get it. Mechanically, walkers need to be shown as real and dragon needs to die. Mostly, dragon needs to die) So the show can do whatever needed to happen to get Jon to meet Danny and be like…you’re a hot aunt. That…happened. Then the usual sich happens with Jon coming back with the walker. Sure. Whatever.

           But, we changed what happened with Danny. Danny’s now dead. Tyrion is the one in charge. So…what does he do when the Queen’s dead? Tell everyone pack up and go home? NO! He’s got a steak grilling on this army. He wants his family out of power and this is the only way he’s ever going to get anywhere. He’ll show up, uninvited, as the ambassador for the queen, a messenger protected by the knight’s law (or a dragon). He will take a seat at the council saying that Danny wants to negotiate peace in order to fight the wight walkers. Spin the excuse so that he says it was Danny’s plan all along to invade Westeros just to kill the things in the north and she has every intention of leaving afterwards (some kind of clever bs lie that gets his foot in the door and makes Cersei consider it).

           We’ll come back to this in a second, but the point is, this meeting had a reason to happen. Here, there’d be tension because…why couldn’t Danny come herself? Cersei has a reason afterwards to doubt the power of Danny. Tyrion is left a leader, unofficially an equal with his sister.

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           Next important plot line is Sansa, but it won’t be touched on that much. Because, basically, for what they were going for, they did okay. Like…yeah…if you took Sansa, put her in her own Sansa box in this season and edited some things in your mind, it’s cool.

SANSA, LADY OF WINTERHELL:

           Okay, so first off, Jon has to scream at Sansa for not letting anyone know that she had a cavalry that would be a larger army. That knowledge alone would have prevented many deaths in the battle of the bastards. (or at least have it that Sansa told him and then they go like “Oh, I guess the vale didn’t show…shit we have to fight these guys on our own” and then it just turns out the vale was late. Jimmy stubbed his toe—anyway). Sansa and Jon have a power dynamic that is inherently interesting—until it’s presented to you.

           A bunch of old white guys chose a bastard over a queen and Sansa’s birthright was taken from her. Now, the reason this is cool is because, though the Starks are the closest family, they haven’t seen each other in years and Sansa has grown up in places of manipulation and deceit. Living with her Aunt should have broken trust she had in family ties. Jon, has usurped her and she’ll see it like that, but know that he’s too stupid to have done it on purpose.

           In public, she has to put on a bold face because if they go against Jon, they go against the Starks. She and Jon are a packaged deal in the eyes of the northerners right now, so she has to be quiet and kind in public, while in private, they can have those confrontations. (If Sansa learned anything from the series, it should have been to keep her mouth shut and pretend to be one unbreakable unit—but she doesn’t in the show. Pretend she did in this version and went against Jon only in private). Sansa would be caught between two things: The love and trust she has left in her family, and survival through playing the great game. She can love Jon, but think he is a terrible leader in Winterfell, think/ know she can do better, be great where Jon is failing.

            When that letter comes from Danny inviting the king of the north, it should be Sansa pushing Jon to let her stay in charge if he does go—because she knows he will go. Make it her decision. The consequences of her conversations with him are carefully crafted for Jon to instill confidence in her and leave Winterfell to her as if it was his idea. Sansa wants power because she thinks she can be better. So, Jon shoves off, and she’s lady of Winterfell, to many people’s chagrin.

           Then, she uses the tactics she learned in the south, throwing sly comments here and there that make people twist on themselves and acknowledge her as ruler and stabilizes her power. She’s not trying to take the throne back from Jon as much as she’s trying to secure it (instead of little finger doing all of this for her). The entire Season 7 could have been her dance between loving her family and desiring power because she can’t trust anyone else with it. Little Finger would be the devil on one shoulder, whispering encouragement to be tricky. She could employ him to sway the Vale her way, making their change in allegiance and sudden trust in Sansa not LIttle Finger make sense. Arya would be the voice family on the other shoulder.

            Little Finger would still die in the end. Sansa, the most Tully of the Starks, ultimately choosing family over the poison she’s seen in the slimy pursuit of power—but she will want to remain lady of Winterfell because she’s doing such a good job at it and Jon (who she hasn’t seen in years, has deserted the night’s watch, come back, and never even waved at her as he passed their home some 2 odd times on his travel past the wall and back) isn’t capable, and she uses her manipulation to strengthen the FAMILY not herself.

What does Sansa change?

           This basically gives Sansa more agency and culminates in payoff for her arc. That whole thing where Arya was accusing Sansa of wanting power comes off as flat in the show because you know Sansa already chose family and hasn’t been manipulative, it’s only been Little Finger. So…give those actions weight. If Sansa really is torn, show why, because she has more than enough reason to be.

           She’s a new ruler of people in uncertain times whose alliances are in a shifting period. Power is hers and Jon’s but unstable and she should be able to see it. She does in the show. The fickleness of the people around her is a danger and honest tactics, which rely on knowing another’s character, is impossible for someone like Sansa or Jon who haven’t been present. Have men whispering of usurping the absent Starks, saying things were better before this dumb war. Have them saying two children of Ned, their failure, will get them all killed. Have Sansa deal with that. She’s learned from her travels how to be clever, how to make people follow her, how to gain power, but only ever power for herself. Here, with her family, she’ll take the cruelty she learned and grow as a character to expand her definition of rule and make the Starks, as a house, as a name, strong as a pack.

__________________

           So, let’s go to the next major plot thread that made me gnash my teeth: Sibling rivalry. I think the worst part about this is that the fight between Sansa and Arya never needed to happen. It has no consequence. It had no reaosn to exist because niether sister changed status. Before, they were annoyed with one another but willing to work together. After, it’s the same thing. The presentation of this plot is also terrible. The writers leave you in the dark with Sansa and Arya because they want a cheap “shock factor” when Sansa puts Little Finger on trial. But for an entire season, Arya is bringing up bs from 5 years ago (as sisters tend to do) and threatening to murder her own sister over it! But, twist! Sansa and Arya actually weren’t fighting—but they were-and it was all a ploy to get Little Finger exposed���only we were only ever shown Arya saying she is super jiving to kill Sansa in a room with no one else around. Why would a single private conversation between them ever end with Arya threatening to kill her sister if they’re fine with each other by the end? It certainly wasn’t for Little Finger’s benifit, he clearly wasn’t around. It was to manipulate the audience, and it’s dumb. Simple as that. Dumb. Soap Opera levels of lacking in consequence. (In my head, Bran was the one to end it. Like the fight between the girls got so bad it literally created a future that would tear down Winterfell, so he had to grunt and wheel himself into a room with them. Then he used his omnipotent power and told both his sisters to stop being idiots off screen).

           Arya…oh god. She has plot armor just because she’s the favorite and it hurts. Nothing hurts more than seeing a 14 year-old rave about how they could have done everything better and you suck for bending to the world. And, unfortunately, she hasn’t had to compromise for a long time. Everyone she interacts with lets her get away with things that would kill other characters. (many faced men plot).  Somehow, she’s still one of my favorite characters in principle, but execution is….er… The girl needs a thematic slap on the wrist.

ARYA AND THE MANY-FACED CONTRIVANCES

           Let’s look at the core of Arya’s character again. She’s the reluctant princess. The girl who was wild and always wanted to be wild, and there were consequences for that for a very long time. She was never able to be a proper lady, and judged for that so she turned to being tough. That was great with the hound and the red wedding for a long time. Her learning the hardships and cruelties of the world and the need for compromise through a man like the hound was great. 

        Then, she goes to the many-faced men and…tricks them. The cult that makes a living understanding people and taking on the personas as their own indoctrinated a faker because 12-16 year old Arya was the first kid to try to trick them? By being good at the hazing ritual of being blind that everyone probably had to go through? It’s dumb, but roll with it because the books is doing it cleverly so I’ll live.

           Let’s say we keep that, but that the many-faced man let her go because he knew she’d only be more trouble if she stayed. (GLaD0s motivation pretty much. Want her gone because killing her has proven to be more trouble than its worth). Arya can have her Frey thing and the poisoning scene, but then she goes home to Winterfell. She was on a murder spree until she heard Jon was alive. When she gets there and there’s no Jon, she should want to go right back to murder. She’ll want to leave. But Sansa, seeing Arya is trying to travel alone to the most dangerous place in the country, will want to keep her around. As far as Sansa’s concerned, Arya is a child. To Sansa, if she goes out on her own again, she may very well die. Sansa has to keep Arya in Winterfell, lock her in for her own good, not wanting to split up a family. Arya can even tell Sansa she has people on her list to kill and Sansa isn’t going to believe her sister became a magical face-murderer. She’ll say “Okay, that’s nice. Wash up for dinner, don’t stab anyone, please stop creeping everyone out by staring at them like they all killed Nymeria.”

           So, Arya has a reason to bring up distrust and events of Sansa’s past. The sister fight now has a purpose grounded in the characters and their actions. The fight still shouldn’t last long. At best, two episodes. The consequences of a conversation/fight matter more than the actual fight/conversation.

            Set the scene so that Arya confronts and threatens to kill Sansa in that lying game. Sansa says something like this, “I’m keeping you here because I love you and I love my family. I don’t want you to die, and I don’t believe that you can waltz into king’s landing and kill the Lannister’s. You’re a child. You’re going to get yourself killed so excuse me for trying to keep what little of our family is left together. You belong home to be a lady of the house and help when winter is coming!” Only, you know, written well.

           Arya is told for the first time since bravos that she’s not “the shit.” (because who was listening to the waif or the many-faced guy. No one she’s taken seriously has talked her off of her high horse in a while and it shows). So the fight happens and though it ended with Sansa confessing her choice of choosing family over power, Arya takes it to heart that someone thinks she can’t take care of herself. She hates the the idea that she may still be that powerless little girl watching her father get executed from season one. All that’s been keeping her going since that point is that list. If she can’t check off the names, and can’t be a proper lady, what’s left of her? She’s stuck in the past, stuck in a fantasy that will be a revisionist history and keep her from achieving closure.

            Thinking this, Arya runs away from Winterfell and fast-travels to King’s Landing. There, she steals the face of another servant girl and tries to kill Cersei, but the mountain (or something) catches her and her face is removed. Cersei (who’d is about to have a council meeting with the king in the north) will now have leverage. She’ll use Arya as a pawn to win the Stark loyalty, showing her craft and desperate need for allies.

           Arya gets traded for Jon’s declaration of loyalty. He’ll choose family over Danny (who he’s been dicking around with for a while the same way as in the show, sure). Now we got a happy little brigade that’s going to fight the white walkers together.

What does this change?

           Now, there’s a reason for Arya to stay in Winterfell and for her to have a conflict with Sansa. It also fleshes out Sansa’s family vs cunning theme we were going for. Now, Arya can bring up her sister’s past mistakes because Sansa is actually trying to overthrow Jon, so there’s grounds for suspicion. NOW this fight has a consequence. It leads to Arya, who’d been a character shown to be consumed by revenge, relentlessly pursuing that path instead of truly coping.

           When Arya fails to kill Cersie, it makes an impact on her character. She goes to thinking she’s just as powerless as she was when she was little, and it crushes her, frustrates her, boils in her. She can’t stand that thought. She’s trapped in the past and now her purpose is shown to be infeasible. She’s the weak princess she didn’t want to be. (of course, she’s not actually, but that’s what she would think of herself as she’s taken down a peg and she’ll understand her sister’s need to play the game.)

           What else does this change? Something that I really hate. (coming up next).

THE PRINCE THAT WAS PROMISED

           I wonder who—it’s Jon. It’s always Jon. Sure. But NO! NO! NO! NO!

           Here’s why I say NO! Because prophecies in this show have been used as kind of like a cryptic underline to events that happen. Whatever is said is not always whatever is meant. Now, remember when everyone was theorizing who could be the prince that was promised and this is basically Game of Thrones Jesus? For the story to be in keeping with it’s original tone, Game of Thrones Jesus should not exist! Jon should not be him. He’s the most obvious choice and the show has built that up since day one. Sure. It was a three-way tie between Jon, Danny and Tyrion for a long time. But…how about this:

         Keep it the obvious choice everyone discounted. Keep it Danny.

           “But…you killed Danny in this narrative before anyone got to smash,” you say.

           “I did!” I say to you. “Because we’re going to make this prophecy better.”

           Arya has been set up as the girl who can steal faces, someone designed to slip into personas that aren’t hers and nothing of use has been done with that. (I mean in the overall plot. There’s this story telling tool that says you introduce a mechanic early on in a book and reuse that mechanic for another purpose later that wouldn’t be initially thought of. Face stealing is a mechanic with boundless potential).

             What if, at this meeting with Cersei, Arya is thrown in the center with the face of the servant she tried to use. Arya’s called a witch. Tyrion takes notice (because we put him at that meeting already). When Arya is traded back, and Jon has her, Tyrion takes Arya aside and asks her if she can slip into any face. (This is why we need Danny’s corpse back—Oh shit, Danny could be that white walker they present to Cersei. Like, they got what they wanted…you know what? They should have literally just brought someone [like a prisoner marked for death or something] over the wall, killed them, tied up the corpse, waited for the corpse to reanimate, walk back…ANYWAY). Tyrion and Arya have a conversation about the face-stealing-thing and a plan forms in his mind.

           He looks to Arya and asks, “How would you like another chance at ending the Lannister reign? I can help you kill all the people on your list.” (With better written dialogue). Arya’s super down for this plan. Why wouldn’t she be?

           They got the Danny-dead-body-face and Arya slips it on. Now, she’s impersonating queen Danny. In comes the Princess that was promised. Arya will be exactly who she wanted to be, Nymeria, the conquering queen, who has to juggle the duality of the game in her deception, with the gore and violent vengeance promised to her. Now, the legacy of Danny will truly be one of a merciless mad-queen driven only to kill the enemy. Burn them all, Arya. Burn them all.

WHY?

           Because I don’t doubt that Jon Snow’s birth would be a great twist, but it makes the prophecy too obvious now. It fits too well. I hate the prince that was promised prophecy because of how much it adheres to modern convention. I just think George has set up a world that can easily subvert the obvious. If it turned out that someone was wearing the face of the person who was supposed to be this prophesied messiah, that’s so much better in my opinion. (It also has to be someone the audience has as much attachment to as Danny. Someone from season 1, who won’t be a “lesser” replacement. You still want to keep people interested after killing off a major character so another major character has to take her place). Arya’s technically Danny from that point on, making her the prince that was promised. The “savior” is now Arya, the girl consumed by revenge and blood, the girl shaped in this world, taken all around it, and culminated into this leader for people she doesn’t care about. Her own goals are short-sighted, leaving her a pawn for Tyrion (a great ruler the people would never follow) to shape the world as he sees fit. You can even add Cersie’s prophecy that a younger queen will usurp her–Arya in Danny’s skin.

             You remember that phrase “The dragon has three heads?” One for Danny (the OG ruler), one for Arya/impersonator, one for Tyrion (the man who will rule in her name). I know it’s supposed to refer to the riders, but let me dream.

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           Oh my god, we’re finally near the end! There’s other plot points that aren’t great, but they either ultimately don’t impact the story that much, are implied with the changes, are fine as they are, or I don’t care. This is long enough as it is. A few closing thoughts: you can’t have a long-running series and kill off all the main characters while still keeping investment intact, I get it. Danny’s a favorite, so is Jon, so is Arya, so is Peter Dinklage. That’s why they have super thick plot armor. But, the show has grown toothless. The overall story is not the story of these characters. It’s the country’s story. How this one continent ends up scarred by the damage of people who ends up ruling it. Whoever sits on the Iron Throne says something about the world, not the people in it.

           The main conflict of the show is that there’s this terrible force coming in from the north. While it’s approaching, power has to be a loose structure and chaos has to run rampant through all of Westeros. If you watch everything before season 6 and say “Hey, looks like this country’s plot line is finally going to be in order and we may have a stable and just power structure”—No. That’s why you had the Red Wedding, that’s why you had the Lord of Light and demon baby, that’s why you have a line of dead Lannister kings. It’s a world-wide story. That’s why there’s no mini-cut off point with perfect plot resolution.

           Also, I know there’s a lot of cool stuff in the books I’m not mentioning. That’s because the books and show are separate entities with just the main stretch goals as their common ground at this point (I guess). So, most of this is show-based.

           I feel like I said this before, but I don’t hate this series. I love it. I’ve had a lot of fun with it. There’s a metric ton of talent going into the show and the books and I am glad they exist. I’m still dying waiting for the next book, and the show will have my groaning support every Sunday when it next airs. Until then, for my own piece of mind, I’ll just scream at this wall.

[word-katamari]

matpat pls

I know, I know -- we’re all, to some extent, excited about For Honor, and with its release date so close, we’re all lapping up as many videos as we can and buying tickets aboard the hype train.

During my hype-routine, I stumbled across this video. As entertaining as it is, I can’t help but feel that it’s a treasure trove of misinformation, and that its central argument is inherently flawed.

Ordinarily, I’d let this go -- because, after all, it’s a video about Vikings vs Knights vs Samurai -- the premise is fucking batshit, and supposed to be merely a fun thought exercise, and hopefully, hilarious.

However, with the Game Theorist’s claim that they ‘treat old school yard debates with the seriousness of post-graduate dissertations’, one can’t help but feel that they intended to take the topic seriously, and present an informative and intellectual view to their general audience.

This does not seem to be the case.

While I’m sure Matpat and the Theorists had no ill-intentions with their poorly researched video, their points were presented confidently under scholarly pretenses; which, to me, is at best careless, and at worst, disingenuous.

Obviously, it wouldn’t be fair, nor constructive for me to simply leave it at that, so I will now correct and debunk this video.

Let it be known that while I do know a thing or two RE: this subject matter, I do not know everything, and (especially when you consider the sources available) cannot possibly know everything regarding Vikings/Knights/Samurai. Some things have been lost to history.

So, let’s get this started.

1. A FUCKIN’ SUMMARY: your argument is invalid

The Game Theorists, in an effort to come to a conclusion on the question of ‘who would win -- Vikings/Knights/Samurai?’ decided to ‘make the fight fair’ by ruling out any anachronistic armament/technology, and limiting the three factions to equipment/tactics/training that they’d have access to in the 11th century (1000-1100CE).

From this, they concluded that:

The Vikings would be eliminated immediately, due to their ‘poor equipment’

Samurai would defeat Knights due to their focus on the bow, and their ridiculous wealth (allowing them to purchase the best armaments and retainers)

I believe this conclusion to be incorrect because:

The Vikings did not have ‘poor equipment’

Wealth should be equalised in this scenario, much like armament/technology, due to the varied nature of individuals within the three competing groups

Kyuudou (mounted archery) does not confer as much an advantage as implied

Furthermore, as Matpat was unable to state the context of the battle (ie. whether we are talking about 100v100v100, or 1v1v1), it is unclear who the actual combatants are; as 100 fighters are fundamentally a different beast compared to 1.

While I understand that Matpat did explicitly use a 1v1v1 scenario to ‘play the fight out’, he also cited the Samurai’s ability to hire retainers/soldiers/bodyguards to cover his weaknesses as an advantage -- which would be irrelevant in a 1v1v1 scenario.

As such, I will be counter-arguing with a focus on 1v1v1, and only address team combat when appropriate (ie. when debunking Matpat’s claims).

Without further ado, here is why the Vikings would put up a better fight than claimed:

2. VIKINGS: badass for a damn good reason

Right off the bat, the video loses all credibility by positing that ‘vikings’ were ill-equipped, ‘defensive nudists’ with ‘garbage weapons’ and the ‘medieval equivalent of tissue paper’ for armour. They also make the meaningless claim that they would ‘easily crumble against someone who knew what they were doing’.

First, let me remind everyone that the Vikings were raiders, yes -- but they were also settlers, traders, mercenaries, and conquerors. They were an entire culture of people who had, by the 11th century, been from Thracia to the Americas; and not only that -- returned to Scandinavia with both goods and knowledge.

As such, it would be an insult to the Viking legacy to insinuate that they were nothing but nude barbarians.

Contrary to what the video states, the Vikings did have access to quality arms and armor.

For one, Viking armament was generally equivalent to that of their Western European counterparts, considering much of their armament was acquired from other European Kingdoms to begin with. It’s noteworthy that an entire classification of swords are named after the Vikings because a large portion of them were found in Viking graves!

Furthermore, there is a direct mention of armored Vikings in the Saga of Olav Haraldsson (47. OF THE BATTLE AT NESJAR). To quote it directly, it is stated that: “King Olaf had in his ship 100 men armed in coats of ring-mail, and in foreign helmets.” As the Battle of Nesjar happened in 1016CE, it’s quite clear that any determined/wealthy enough Viking would have access to a mail hauberk.

Not only that, but in the Saga of Harald Hadrade (97. SKIRMISH OF ORRE), it is stated that in the Battle of Stamford Bridge (1066 CE), Hadrade’s forces ‘threw off their coats of ringmail’, which resulted in heavy casualties. This is further evidence to 11th century Viking access to mail armour.

Additionally, ever since the 10th century, the Vikings consistently flocked to ‘Miklagard’ (aka. Constantinople, aka. the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire) to join the Varangian Guard (appropriate music); many of which returned home. Do you really think these crack shock troops of the Basileus himself would not return to Scandinavia with a few pieces of Roman gear with them; let alone their training and experience?

Matpat also seems to discount or not acknowledge the effectiveness of the shields employed in that era. Yes. Viking shields were made primarily of wood -- but that didn’t make them ‘shoddy’ or ‘poor quality’. In fact, wooden shields have been the norm across centuries -- and work just fine against most conventional medieval weaponry (like arrows).

All of this completely contradicts the basis of Matpat’s argument -- that the Vikings would be out of the running due to inferior equipment. That claim is blatantly untrue, and it’s clear that the Vikings would be on par with the Knights in terms of equipment -- if not identical.

I would also like to dismiss the claim that the Vikings ‘would easily crumble against someone who knew what they were doing’. This is a nonsensical claim that can be applied to any fighter. A Navy SEAL would easily crumble against someone who knew what they were doing. A child would easily crumble against someone who knew that they were doing. In martial arts and combat, there is always someone better.

To conclude this segment, I will now summarise and counter the duel which Matpat narrates:

The Viking charges in a display of bravery.

Why? What’s the purpose of charging into a fight without properly assessing the situation? They’re Vikings, not idiots.

And then he takes an arrow to the back.

If he were fighting smartly, he wouldn’t. He’d be behind his shield. Or loosing arrows back.

Blade to the side.

This implies that the Viking doesn’t know how to use their shield, or how to fight. Considering Matpat has the Knights use longswords (???), this seems unlikely. I’m a longsword fencer. I have difficulty fencing i.33 guys and gals with their teensy bucklers. A big, Viking round shield would provide an edge over a two-handed weapon, due to the fact that you can effectively close off entire lines of attack, while simultaneously striking.

The Viking’s desperate axe swing ‘rejected’... His rudimentary armaments no match...

A sturdy, wooden shield and a damn dinner knife can serve perfectly fine in a fight, as long as the fighter knows how to use them. I don’t thin, it’d be unreasonable to assume that the Viking in this scenario would know how to use his weapons.

3. WEALTH IS IRRELEVANT: seize the means of consumption!

Wealth is definitely important, when considering conflict -- but that’s like saying breathing is important when considering living.

Money means better equipment and training; but it’s also finite, and dependent on an individual’s factors.

Most Samurai would be able to afford expensive equipment, due to the fact that the Samurai class is a much smaller and more specific class than ‘Knights’ or ‘Viking’.

However, there were likely incredibly rich Vikings and Knights as well; just as how there were less-wealthy Samurai.

As such, I feel it would be more in the spirit of the scenario to consider that all three combatants were equipped with the best armaments they’d have access to in the 11th century.

4. WHY KYUUDOU ISN’T THAT EFFECTIVE: and why ringmail is so damn popular (even in Japan)

Let me start by saying that horse archery is effective -- against unarmored targets.

The moment you throw mail and shields into the mix (of which the Vikings and Knights had aplenty), those arrows suddenly fall off a cliff in regards to effectiveness.

Yes. Mail. Ringmail. Chainmail.

Contrary to popular belief, mail (riveted, not butted) was highly effective at preventing piercing damage. Don’t believe me? Here’s a video of a pilum being thrown full force at a properly made set of mail. Of course, Eldgrim explains that there’s still a lot of kinetic energy being transmitted through the armor, but with the gambesons (padded armor) that many wore beneath their hauberks, this would mitigate some of the impact.

Most videos you find on the internet that show mail being penetrated usually shows butted mail -- which is an absolutely useless form of armor.

The only type of damage that butted mail can effectively prevent is slicing. I don’t mean a chop or a swing of a sword -- I mean a sawing or a drawing motion, and let’s be real here -- a padded jacket can do that, and be much cheaper.

Riveted mail is a different beast entirely. While it’s not impervious to all piercing attacks, it is impervious to most -- and coupled with a gambeson, and a good helmet, the wearer will drastically reduce their vulnerability to a Samurai’s arrows.

Furthermore, in an arena setting, a Viking or a Knight could easily just turtle the fuck up behind their shield, and wait for the mounted Samurai to... Run out of arrows -- or come to them.

Matpat also brings up the mobility of ou-yoroi armor for some reason. I can only assume he brings this up to imply that the mail hauberks used in Western and Northern Europe in the 11th century were heavy and clumsy -- but considering that full sets of ou-yoroi weighed around 30kg, they aren’t particularly the lightest sets either.

Not only that, but their design and shape, compared to mail, makes their wearers less dextrous, and agile. The bulky pauldrons, arm guards... Etc.

Mail, by contrast, is flexible. It’s like wearing a shirt. Sure, it can be heavy if you let it hang from your shoulders, but if you tie a belt round your waist, all that weight gets evenly distributed along your core, and bam, it really is like wearing a shirt.

Therefore, ou-yoroi being designed to allow for the most mobility is a non sequitur. It’s made even more nonsensical when you consider that all armor (save for jousting armor) is made for mobility -- how the fuck else are you gonna fight in it, then?

Also, Matpat mentions that ou-yoroi covers more areas of a person’s body -- when in reality, 11th century ou-yoroi covered just as much as a mail hauberk. Upper body, upper legs.

5. OTHER MISCONCEPTIONS AND CONCLUSION

At around 9:30 of the video, Matpat introduces knights as having used Longswords during the 11th century. This is incorrect. Longswords became popular/in-use primarily during the 14th century. It is an anachronistic technology in this 11th century scenario.

He also tells us to look to the Warden class for some ‘really accurate knight weaponry’ but... idk man, that is probably the longest and bulkiest longsword i’ve ever seen... (distal taper, where?)

There are a few more that I’ll save for a later article -- but for now, I’ve downed way too much coffee to be healthy, and will now move to my conclusion:

If the best equipped and trained Viking, Knight, and Samurai were put into a battlefield -- there is no clear picture on who will win.

Also, do some damn research.

[dfroza]

Amazing grace is everything

in which we find our True identity as children of Light

and we’re not here to make enemies, but friends. something i just read in an email sent this Saturday morning that includes an excerpt from a book:

Religion Makes Enemies / Jesus Makes Friends

by Jefferson Bethke, from Jesus > Religion

Meet Jefferson Bethke

Love Stays

We are trained to make enemies. From birth it’s always “us versus them.”

Black vs. Whites.

Conservatives vs. liberals.

Rich vs. poor.

Republican vs. Democrat.

Americans vs. whoever we’re at war with.

Let’s be honest: sometimes Christians are the worst.

Calvinists vs. Arminians.

Complementarians vs. egalitarians.

Charismatics vs. cessationists.

Catholics vs. Protestants.

As if the world dying outside really cares.

Now, I’m not saying some of these clarifications and differences aren’t necessary. In the book of John, Jesus prays we would be “one.” (John 17:21) The only way to become one is to engage in healthy discussion on topics we disagree on. But we can’t honestly think any non-Christian will want to come into the family of God if we are just as — if not more — divisive than the rest of the world. Sometimes how we dialogue in today’s culture is just as important as why we dialogue.

Religion, unfortunately, is notorious for making enemies.

Women? Gays? Muslims? Let’s make them our enemies. Yes, I know this doesn’t represent everyone. Yes, I know religion doesn’t do this all the time. But throughout history, it is clear that when it does happen, it can almost always be traced back to people who think their standing with God comes from their own righteousness. The minute you think you have gotten on God’s good side by your own behavior, you are naturally prone to demonize those who haven’t.

The biggest difference between religious people and gospel-loving people is that religious people see certain people as the enemies, when Jesus-followers see sin as the enemy.

Religious people see “them” as the problem; Jesus-followers see “us” as the problem. When Jesus told the first disciples to love their enemies, (Matthew 5:44) He didn’t add, “as long as they look like you, talk like you, and act like you.” Loving an enemy means loving “them.”

I remember the moment this first hit home for me. I was having lunch with my mom. As we started to eat, I felt the tension.

I was a Christian now, and my mom was openly gay. Wasn’t I supposed to hate her? Wasn’t I told “not to associate” with her? Doesn’t she know homosexuals will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Instead I made a decision to listen. She was my mom. I listened as she poured out her thoughts, emotions, and feelings that had been pent up for years. I heard how she had been burned by certain religious communities — brutal stories of so-called Christians offering grace and redemption to all those around her, as long as the sin was socially acceptable. The sad part is, I couldn’t disagree. I’d seen the same thing.

For some reason the church had made homosexuality a varsity sin. Religious people are very particular and selective on this issue. They quote “Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

I don’t see homosexuality getting any prominence in this list, do you? In fact, the apostle Paul is attempting to broad stroke everyone, highlighting the fact that

none of us are good enough.

Ever had a lustful thought?

Looked at porn? Guilty.

Ever wanted something more than God? Yep.

Ever looked at or engaged with someone else besides your spouse? Ouch.

Ever stolen? I have.

Ever had an insatiable desire for more money? Check.

Ever been drunk? Double check.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not scoring too well on this list. But how does that verse end? The Corinthians were undoubtedly filthy themselves and were not representing Christ well. Some of them were probably still engaging in these behaviors, which is why Paul was writing them the letter, but he still says, “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

He reminds them of how they’ve been bought. He reminds them that their sins aren’t their identities. He reminds them they are different now and can walk away from their sins.

That is a scandalous statement!

If you are a Christian and are going to talk about 1 Corinthians 6:9–10, then you better include verse 11. It’s only when we understand that in Jesus we are cleansed, washed, and renewed that we see our sin fall by the wayside. We are greedy, filthy, idolatry-loving, glory-hungry thieves. And when we trust Jesus, He washes us. He redeems us — all of us.

And when we’re sitting across the table from someone whom we’ve been told to hate, the least we can do is listen and love her as Jesus loves us.

Regarding homosexuality specifically, I can’t begin to tell you the internal wrestling I’ve had with this issue. I have a personal stake in it. It’s part of one of the closest people to me. So if I can be honest, I’ve gone back and forth a ton on this issue. Is it okay? Is it wrong? Why or why not?

Everything in me wanted to be convinced it was okay. Everything in me looked for verses to see it sanctioned by God. But through years of wrestling, hours of Bible study, and tons of prayer, I didn’t come to that conclusion.

When I open the Scriptures, I see homosexuality getting no prominence among sins, but it is still a distortion of God’s creative order nonetheless. But here’s the thing: my mom and I disagree on it, and we still love each other. Did you catch that? We still love each other.

We have open, honest, and sometimes very difficult conversations about it. And neither of us walks away calling the other a bigot. Neither of us walks away furious or upset.

Because that’s what love is. It stays. It pursues. It pushes in.

In order for our society to continue to flourish, it is imperative that we learn how to have healthy, honoring, and engaging discussions on this issue. Everything outside of His creative order is a distortion, and when we follow that fractured path, we are implying we are our own gods and know better than He does. The issue isn’t primarily homosexuality, idolatry, drunkenness, greed, or right or wrong.

The issue is, are we going to trust that God knows best or that our thoughts, wills, and emotions know best?

The truth is we are all going to limp across the finish line to some degree. Of course there is victory in Jesus, and of course we are more than conquerors through Christ as the apostle Paul says; but even Paul had a thorn in the flesh. (Romans 8:37, 2 Corinthians 12:7)

Most of us have a spiritual Achilles’ heel. We all will have spiritual bruises, cuts, and sores. Some will limp across the finish line still fighting their addiction to porn. Some will limp across the finish line with their addiction to food. And some will limp across the finish line with their attraction to the same sex.

The issue isn’t whether someone is good or bad, but whether he is repentant or unrepentant.

Who is God of her life? Who’s in control? What or who are they pursuing? Are they looking to Him or trusting in self? Because I trust that if Jesus’ grace has radically collided with a heart, I believe that person will begin to align themselves with Jesus’ image, looking more like Him every day.

But let’s also realize that we do have hope and victory and are called to take sin very seriously, doing anything and everything to run from it and to Jesus.

The writer of Hebrews makes it clear by saying we should “also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and… run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Even he admits there are things that weigh us down. Our sin sticks to us. But still… He says run with endurance. Keep our eyes on Him, and we will make it because it depends on Him, not us. But let us never get prideful. Let us never think this race is reserved for the elite, or the “good,” or the well qualified. It’s reserved for the lowly, the rejected, the marginalized.

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is the story of the woman at the well (John 4:1-24). She is the first person to whom Jesus reveals himself to be the Messiah. Jesus doesn’t choose to share this information first with a politician or a king or anyone of seeming importance, but with a Samaritan woman.

Samaritans were seen as half-breed Jews. They were looked down upon by the Jews. On top of this she was a woman, which in that culture meant she was a second-class citizen. Even worse, Jesus highlights her promiscuity. Jesus doesn’t condemn this woman, but rather graciously shows how He is the “living water” that can quench her insatiable thirst.

So Jesus, God himself, showed immense grace and gave great privilege to a half-breed, second-class, adulterous, and promiscuous woman. God is always a fan of going to the marginalized so His saving power isn’t credited to human wisdom but to His grace. Jesus completely shattered the social, gender, and economic paradigms. New Testament Christians were most known by their love for their neighbors, but today we are most known for our segregation of the lowly.

This issue really comes down to idolatry, which is the act of placing anything or anyone above Jesus as the ultimate source of worth, satisfaction, and identity.

The problem with idolatry, though, is that whatever you idolize, you then demonize the opposite.

Want to know what you probably idolize? Ask what you demonize.

But when you idolize Jesus, then you demonize demons — which makes a lot of sense to me. When Jesus and His righteousness are ultimate, then you actually see evil as the source of evil, rather than politics, money, or gender. Sure, you can disagree. Sure, you can have dialogue; but when something is your god, you’ll go to great lengths to defend it.

While I don’t agree with most of his viewpoints, Bill Maher said something that completely makes sense.

“New rule: If you’re a Christian who supports killing your enemies and torture, you have to come up with a new name for yourself…”

If we say we love Jesus, let’s start acting like followers. The world is waiting, and they can tell the difference.

Excerpted with permission from Jesus > Religion by Jefferson Bethke, copyright Thomas Nelson.

* * *

Your Turn

Why is it so hard to love “them”? If idolatry is “the act of placing anything or anyone above Jesus as the ultimate source of worth, satisfaction, and identity”, ask yourself this question: Where do you find your worth, satisfaction, and identity? If you were truly to follow Jesus, what would be different in your life? Join the conversation on our blog! We would love to hear from you!

[neverwatchedonepiece]

638-639: "A Deadly Blow! The Astonishing King Punch!" and "The Fighting Fish Strike! Across the Deadly Iron Bridge!"

Franky offers to wipe Sol’s internet history.

I knew there was something up with that toy.

Never thought he’d be part of the Resistance, though. (May the force be with you, Sol.)

Once Block B’s Battle Royale concluded (more on that later), the action cut to Franky and Sol the Toy. Sol was suspicious and alarmed by Franky’s willingness to ask any random person he met about destroying a top secret local weapons factory. But Franky was unmoved. He needed intel. He followed Sol out into the stairwell.

At first, it seemed Sol wouldn’t talk. Franky threatened to leave and find someone else. “I said I need to beat up a Donquixote Family member and find out how to destroy the Smile factory!”

But Sol’s caginess stemmed from the fact that he was already involved in a similar plot! (Very cool.) “You keep talking about this radical plan, but why do you want to do such a thing? It seems like you know things ordinary people don’t. What is your true purpose?”

Franky kept his mouth shut. He’s streetwise enough to know not to let any old random in on the Strawheart Alliance’s Yonkou Stompin Plan.

But he was also smart enough to spot a potential ally. “Then you too!” he said. “Where is the factory? Tell me right now and I’ll destroy it.”

Sol refused. He was not against destroying the factory but first, “we want to save the workers.” The use of ‘we’ was a definite giveaway. Sol is not acting alone. He mentioned Rebecca earlier. Maybe she’s part of the Resistance too? I am also suspicious about this Ricky character. He also hates Doflamingo. I have a funny feeling he might be connected to Kyros too (maybe he is Kyros). After all, no one remembers seeing him fight, he just disappeared and it was only twenty years ago this happened.

Another issue Sol raised was that the fall of the factory could lead to the downfall of Dressrosa itself. (Hence Franky shouting about the factory in public not being a good idea.) Okay, I thought. That makes sense. It’d trash the local economy and bring upon the island the wrath of Kaidou. But in that case, why would Sol want that to happen? Well, maybe not *want* it to happen. It’s more like, why would Sol rather have Kaidou wreck the place rather than let the status quo run its course?

I felt like Sol almost gave it away when he said to Franky, “If you have the nerve and are determined to go against Doflamingo, I’m going to tell you everything about this tragic kingdom of Dressrosa!”

Yes, please! Please do tell us all about the tragic kingdom of Dressrosa!

But I was blueballed. The credits rolled and the plot hasn’t circled back to Sol and Franky.

I’ll make a mad prediction while I wait. I’m thinking all these invisible fairies hanging about might be the original inhabitants of Dressrosa and the Donquixote Family have enslaved them or are forcing them to work in the factory for practically nothing. 

And the Winner Is...?

Meanwhile, in the Colosseum, Block B’s battle was about to conclude.

The twists and turns here were great. I guessed Bartolomeo would emerge the victor (laws of shounen: the fighter who is totally relaxed and barely lifts a finger always ends up winning (this only applies to battles that aren’t vital to the plot)). But how the fight played out was really entertaining and I never imagined it ending that way.

The mystery of Bartolomeo’s Devil Fruit power was kept until the very end of the fight. Even Bellamy’s speed and power couldn’t break Bartolomeo’s strange, deflective powers. At first I thought it was a rebound power. This was only because Bartolomeo seemed surprised by one of Bellamy’s attacks (like the power seemed to happen automatically - not controlled by Bartolomeo). Now I know Bartolomeo must have had his fingers crossed while Bellamy was attacking. The only thing that planted a seed of doubt? Bellamy did manage to grab Bartolomeo. How had that worked?

The scene of multiple betrayals was fun. Dagama urged the fodder fighters to regroup, muster their strength and focus attacks on Blue Gilly - only for Dagama to cut them down when their backs were turned and reveal he had really teamed up with Blue Gilly all along! That was a fun twist in itself. Then, when Gilly double-crossed Dagama.... ooooh, the intrigue! The fact the fodders were probably coerced into fighting because Dagama had poisoned them only upped the scumbag stakes.

I love that Dagama had the cheek to complain Blue Gilly double-crossed him. It’s like Gilly said, “Can’t believe people would trust a dubious guy like him in the first place!”

While everyone was double-crossing each other, Elizabello shadow-boxed and sweat-dropped. A bunch of chuckling, vengeful thugs surrounded him. Gilly decided to gloat. Called him a “helpless king without a court” who couldn’t do anything without Dagama.

When Liz ceased so shadow box... that should have been everyone’s clue to take him out. Instead, the other idiots in the ring let Liz power up. The guy stood there red-faced, yelling and popping veins like he was locked in the bathroom suffering through a difficult poop.

Even the audience knew something was wrong before they did. A group of worried randoms figured out their section of the Colosseum would be wrecked if they didn’t scarper.

By the time Gilly and the other fighters noticed something was seriously wrong, Gilly’s attempt to take Liz out was too late. KABOOM! Liz threw the King Punch. It was pretty spectacular. A golden-tinged impact that would have done Caesar proud. It took out almost everyone. Bellamy, Gilly, everyone who had been knocked out, was blown away into the moat.

Only a single-person remained in the ring.

IT WAS ME, DIO BARTOLOMEO!

Yes, it was Bartolomeo! And the trick he had been using to job the entire fight was revealed by Liz’s King Punch. 

Bellamy was right: Bartolomeo was a Devil Fruit user. He has eaten the Barrier Barrier Fruit, which enables him to protect himself from (any?) attacks if he crosses his fingers. He also unwittingly used his powers to save a large section of the Colosseum and the crowd who would have been obliterated by the blast. Not sure if he’d like that. But a win was a win, right?

Interestingly, Bartolomeo also has a reason for fighting. After he told the audience to go to hell, he declared he would win the Mera Mera Fruit and dedicate it to “That Person.”

As yet, I have absolutely no clue who it could be. 

But Bartolomeo’s reaction to finding out Strawhat Luffy was in the mix was intriguing. Was that fear I saw on his face? I’m trying to remember if I’ve ever seen Bartolomeo before but am drawing a complete blank. The weirdest thing was that there was no confrontation between Luffy and Bartolomeo. Looking forward to seeing what is up with this guy later on.

Luffy cheering on Bellamy was a good twist too. Actually, it’s not really a twist. When it comes to most people Luffy doesn’t care much about the past (Teach and Akainu are probably on the shit list for good). If he can forgive you, then all is forgotten. Of course, Bellamy felt embarrassed being cheered on by the old enemy who gave him a pasting. Doubly so, since he has failed again and Luffy has become so much stronger (able to use Conqueror’s haki - like Doflamingo, I guess).

Now the focus is on Block C. The competitors here seem a bit fodderish, with the exception of Don Chinjao. We have Sai, Boo, Brutal Bull (lmao), Hajrudin a Giant pirate mercenary from Elbaf, some fighting champ called Ideo, the Funk Brothers (lmao) and some guy called Jean the Bandit. Rebecca should clean up here. Then, when Block D comes around, it’ll be Luffy vs Cabbage.

Unpopular Opinion Time

I am beginning to like Caesar.

There must be something wrong with me.

Oda, I can’t believe you’ve done this. It is entirely your fault.

The action cut from Bartolomeo’s horrified Luffy realisation to the Caesar Handover Team out on the bridge.

My prediction that it would take them ages to cross the bridge was shot down in glorious flames. Thanks to Caesar, it didn’t even take them half an episode! Thank you, Oda.

It turned out the solid-looking iron bridge praised by Usopp was not especially robust. I think Caesar jinxed it, though. He was the one who said, “We’ll be fine if the fish don’t strike.”

Then a bubbling rumble in the depths announced itself. I lol’d heartily when a Vast Horned Abomination slammed itself into the barrier and stared at them with a grin stretched across its face and a look of murder in its mad, red eyes that said, “There will not be a second smash.” (I liked their design, by the way. The fighting fish look awesome.)

As Law wanted to reserve most of his strength for the return journey, he left Robin and Usopp to smack down the fighting fish (literally in Robin’s case). They were doing a fine job, but when Law asked Usopp to uncuff Caesar so he could fight...

Holy moly, Caesar is actually pretty strong. I keep forgetting, since he acts like such a highly-strung goofball diva a lot of the time, but damn... those Gastille beams fried those fish like it was cookout season!

Still, there were a lot of fish. And the bridge had collapsed in the middle. With nowhere to run, Law almost used Room, but the offending fish was speared, netted and dragged away along the other half of the bridge by freaked out, invisible people. (Interesting.)

Once Caesar was convinced to fly them all over the broken bridge (Caesar is basically Law’s bitch now his heart’s in a box. He is hilariously bitter about it,) they discovered the netted fish drag marks led straight to Green Bit.

It’s a strange place, is Green Bit. It is supposedly deserted and is therefore overgrown, wild, full of animal life. Ships lie wrecked all round the coast. A single, huge rose towers over everything else (hence the name Dressrosa?) Usopp should be fine here. He’s used to hostile wilderness terrain. Unless the invisible fairy people attack them. Then all bets are off.

KNEW IT.

I totally knew Sanji was being played.

Still, I’m glad the dumb charade has finally run its course. At least it only lasted for a couple of minutes each episode. I was getting tired of Sanji dropping all his Strawhat responsibilities for a random.

Got to admit, though, the brief skirmish with the thugs in the warehouse was cool. Sanji was so fast, the guy never knew what hit him. Sanji is always so stylish when he fights.

And look at what it’s got him into. Cuffed and likely hauled off to who-knows-what fate. Sanji’s reaction to Violet was interesting. It was almost like he recognised her face. (Either that or realisation hit that he was being played the entire time.) Whatever the case, this plot line has just become ten times more interesting and I’m looking forward to seeing where it leads.

If I can make another mad prediction? Violet is a member of CP0. Absolutely no basis for this other than she looks pretty dead behind the eyes, is kinda scary and her working with CP0 would tie them into the main plot nicely.

“Excuse me, do you have a moment to talk about our lord and saviour, Donquixote Doflamingo?”

[neverwatchedonepiece]

479-480: “The Scaffold at Last! the Way to Ace Has Opened!” and “Each On Different Paths! Luffy Vs. Garp!”

Right there with you, Luffy! Never thought I’d be so glad to see a scaffold. xD

Another two solid episodes, with a daring rescue courtesy of Mr 3 at the end! @supramp9000 asked me for a prediction to what he was doing, sneaking away and I GOT IT!

Sort of. I mentioned Mr 3 moulding wax inside a lock to create a key copy. I thought he was going to open a gate somewhere and let all the escaping pirates out (because who would guess Hancock’s key would snap?). Never thought he’d mould a skeleton key while falling. Oda and those damned curve balls. Always ruining my predictions.

Also, I want to watch more episodes a week (I haven’t done the math but if I don’t pick up the pace, Luffy will find the One Piece before I’m caught up). The last entry took me three hours to put together and, to be honest, it was way too long. Folk would have sprained fingers scrolling down on the app, so I’m going to try and shorten the entries a bit. I was too obsessed with trying to catch every little detail (so I could say, “Ha, I predicted it!”) but if I miss something, I miss something. That’s why you guys are here. :)

Conqueror’s Haki Fallout and Perceptions

Now I know Luffy didn’t execute a Shanks-scale mass fainting, the hype from 478 is not as strong. In a way, that’s better because it means Luffy has room to improve (which makes his development more interesting to watch, story-wise).

The reactions to it were interesting too.

Akainu and Ivankov both noticed Luffy’s use of it was unconscious. The law of shounen dictates he must train to now use it consciously. I’m in the middle of Boku no Hero Academia right now and it’s interesting that Luffy’s situation is the opposite to Midoriya’s. Luffy has all the natural talent and has to work to consciously use it, while Midoriya is very conscious of figuring out how to handle the unnatural power he’s been given and has to work to use it unconsciously. I’m guessing shounen heros fall into one of these two categories. But where would you place Gon from HxH? Is he both? (I’m a sucker for shounen anime. It’s an addiction. halp!)

Kizaru was surprised Luffy had so much power. As soon as he realised this, he ordered his soldiers to take out Strawhat nao, damn it! Does this show an increased level of respect? Will Kizaru stop shit-talking Luffy?

True to form, Aokiji didn’t say much at all (what is this man’s game?) Whitebeard didn’t say much either but you could tell he was surprised - and maybe pleased?

Whitebeard’s Legacy

It’s hard watching Whitebeard, who is the loveliest pirate ever to sail, suffering so much, though he would hate me for saying so because his Sea Dad Pride is strong.

Luffy’s haki seems to be a turning point. Once he saw that, he ordered his men to back up Luffy “with all your strength!” and said to himself, ”You have the middle initial D. Show me how the world will be in years to come.” Oda reinforced this by having Ivankov notice and say to Luffy, “The strongest pirate in the world his putting his hopes in you.”

After the haki, Whitebeard has faith in Luffy. I’d hesitate to say he’s passing the torch because if Ace does get out of this, Whitebeard cannot have placed his hopes in two people. He’d back Ace for Pirate King out of loyalty to his son. Luffy ain’t a son. But still... maybe this is a sign of Whitebeard’s respect for a new, Shanks-style rival who will take the Old Ways into the New Era.

Love how Jimbei disobeyed and defended Whitebeard. That fishman’s loyalty is unbreakable. Yes, he is there to defend Luffy, but his ultimate loyalty is to Ace and Whitebeard.

Help From Everyone

Now I’m neck deep in Boku no Hero Academia, I can make more parallels. Luffy does resemble Midoriya in a way. He accepts and is grateful for help if it gets him where he needs to go. I think Luffy, though, being on the grey side, would accept it from (almost) anyone. Maybe Midoriya is more honourable. Can’t make that judgement yet, as I’m only 29 episodes in.

The help list for 479 includes:

Crocodile and Daz Bones: cannot believe Daz Bones deflected Mihawk’s swipes. Even though he had to be bailed out by Crocodile, that was impressive. He’s stronger than I thought.

Boa Hancock: I love how cleverly she’s balancing helping out Luffy and retaining her status as a Shichibukai. More than any of the others, she has an entire nation relying on her, whom she has to protect. If she discards her status, a Buster Call might descend on her island. She’s found a way to protect Luffy and her people. Nice. Also, random observation: I know she can’t do this in battle because it would reveal her motives, but can Hancock turn the Kumas to stone?

Inazuma and Ivankov: Ivankov’s hair is like Mary Poppins’ bag except instead of hatstands, he pulls out revolutionaries. That moment when Inazuma cut a ribbon of concrete and made a path for Luffy was awesome. With Ivankov guarding the path below, Luffy had a clear run.

Grandpa Garp

Except Grandpa Garp stood in the way. Cannot lie, this was a tense moment. I wondered whether Garp would go full Lawful Good and actually fight his adorable, rubbery grandson. If he had, he would have lost character points from me. I mean, if he had, I would have understood why, but still... he’s Garp. Don’t think I’m hypocritical, though. If Luffy had killed Garp, he would have lost points too.

At it was, Garp did put on the show. He did try to steel his resolve. “I’ve been fighting pirates since before you were born! If you wanna pass through here, you’re gonna have to kill me first - because of the path you have chosen to live!”

That was the cliffhanger point, so I was left in suspense for a while. Must have killed manga readers who were caught up at that point. I can only imagine the mess of speculation on the forums.

Then, in 480, came the flashbacks. It was basically Garp’s Monkey Training Camp and Garp’s Gorilla Training Camp, wherein Garp worried if Luffy hated him because he was an intimidating Grandpa. Nah, Garp. Luffy has never hated you. You could see the fear in his eyes at the thought of having to kill or hurt you to reach Ace. Plus, you swiped food from the Marines to give him a post-training feast and carried him on your back when he was too sleepy to walk. Luffy knows you love him.

And he’ll definitely know now that you looked him in the eye and could not go through with your threat, choosing to take that punch rather than harm a hair on Luffy’s head. Sengoku noticed too. I hope he doesn’t blame Garp for it. (But in a way, I kind of hope he does. I’m holding out for a Monkey D. Family Revolutionary Reunion!)

And then... finally...

Luffy reached the scaffold and Sengoku lifted a finger! There was a point when Luffy grabbed onto the platform where I thought, Sengoku, if you kick him off I will flip a fucking table... But no! He actually revealed his power. Or a bit of it, anyway. I have no clue how it works. He stole rivets from the scaffold to aid his transformation into a bonafide massive gold Buddha. Enel would have been very interested in Sengoku, haha.

Funnily enough, Kizaru was the one who really hampered Luffy’s rescue effort. He sniped the key from a distance (that guy is hyper competent) and Luffy was left floundering for a moment.

Then Mr 3 stepped up. That was a masterpiece twist. I was not expecting him to appear, so I legit cheered. I liked how Oda gave him a motivation to help Luffy. Mr 3 is doing it for Bon-chan, whose friendship with Luffy never wavered and who never ran in the face of adversity. Now I come to think of it, Mr 3 and Bon-chan must have been pretty good friends, as Luffy and Mr 3 were the ones who were really left mourning on the ship post-Impel Down. Good for you, Galdino. Be inspired by Bon-chan. He’d love it if he knew.

There was a large KABOOM at the very moment of rescue. Then a moment of tension, obscured by fire and a smoke.

That moment when Ace, Luffy and Mr 3 emerged from a pillar of fire was worth the watch. Will Ace cut loose and fight his way out? How will the Whitebeards escape? I don’t think for one minute that Sengoku will let them walk away.

I KNOW, RIGHT?? ^_^

[neverwatchedonepiece]

476-478: “Luffy at the End of his Tether! An All-Out Battle at the Oris Plaza”, “The Power That Will Shorten One's Life! Energy Hormone, Redux!” and “To Live up to a Promise! Luffy and Coby Collide!”

You know, Whitebeard, with your massive ham hands, you could stretch Luffy, aim for the scaffold and ping him onto it like a rubber band. Just a thought.

Had time today, so burned through three episodes in a row. Glad I did because 478 was worth the watch with Luffy unconsciously using Conqueror’s Haki (Shanks will be so proud).

Can’t lie, I’m getting fed up with the “charge/knocked back”, “oh the blades are coming down, no... wait” repetition. I joked about the obstacle course a while back but come on...This is getting ridiculous.

It’s hard to split everything that happened into themes, so I’ll have to go through this write-up by episode. That way, I won’t lose my mind keeping track of everything.

476

This episode finally addressed the elephant in the room: Garp. Prior to 476, he had been hanging out with Ace and Sengoku on the scaffold, biting his nails, agonising, torn between duty and familial affection for Ace.

White Whitebeard ordered his crew to clear the way forward for him and briefly turned Aokiji into an Admiral Kebab (ha), Luffy charged the scaffold. Closer than ever, Garp watched his grandson’s advance, watched Vice Admiral Momonga slash up a tired Luffy who had reached his limit, then witnessed Kizaru take advantage and strike. Sengoku watched Garp’s reaction closely, noticed the tell-tale sweatdropping and sensed the conflict in Garp. Being a clever general, he knew he had to nip that in the bud. Having a powerhouse and famous Marine hero like Garp turn against you would be the worst for his meticulous image management strategy. “Garp, remember that you are one of us.”

Funny how Sengoku actually considered Garp might turn against the Marines. (I have a secret hope he might one day. Maybe one atrocity will push him too far and he’ll finally rebel).

Further to my shock-horror discovery that Kizaru is actually cold as ice and an accomplished shit-talker (Aokiji at least expresses regret, you know), he went Full Justice and approached a weakened Luffy through a dust cloud. I liked the shot where he looked down at Luffy and said...

“But, Strawhat, if you’re not strong enough, you can’t save him, no matter how hard you try. Now why don’t you just get lost.”

Luffy, unable to dodge because his vision was blurring and his legs wouldn’t hold him up, took Kizaru’s kick straight to the face. Ouch.

See, though, Kizaru... Luffy having courage is important. Even if he’s not strong enough to take you on now, courage is the starting point. Strength can be built. One day, Luffy will turn around and be fast enough to smack you right back. Rules of shounen, Kizaru. I don’t make them. Unless Oda breaks them, then everything’s out the window.

Luffy’s luck was with him, though. Whitebeard caught him in one massive hand and told his crew to treat him because he’d done enough. Luckier still, Ivankov and Jimbei scaled the wall (via Ivan’s giant face, ha) so Luffy could be treated properly.

I like that Whitebeard defended Luffy and reassured Ace at the same time (@meaheartonepiece has good point about everyone being able to hear everything on the battlefield. Dat manga physics). “He’s nothing but a bundle of energy who bluffs. Young and clumsy. But I like fools like him,” he said, while looking at Ace. Aw, Whitebeard.

But the Sea Dad feels were not to last. For he then stood up, called out the Marines, “Any of you who want to die, come forward!” Only Akainu stepped up to the challenge. Banter was exchanged. They clashed.

Oda (or Toei) love those contrasting colours. Reminds me of DBZ with Frieza vs Goku (and Goku vs anyone, really). The last time they used it to good effect like that was Ace vs Blackbeard (which still wins but this was great too).

It all went off for a while. Kizaru was firing out lasers like he was handing out candy (”one for you, one for you”), Jimbei swore to lay down his life (please don’t, Jimbei. I’d like you to survive this one) and the Shichibukai were still going at it outside the walls.

Marco realised this and saw an opportunity to sweep in and take Ace. Unfortunately, Garp chose that moment to make his Decision. He falcon punched Marco, sat on a vacant Admiral throne and roared, “If you wanna go any further, you’ll have to kill me first.” (Don’t say that, Garp. All these death flags are making me paranoid).

477

The Fodder hacking at each other with swords were quivering that the Legendary Garp had finally entered the battle. They gave us a handy-dandy rundown of Garp’s C.V. Twenty years ago, he fought Gol D. Roger, which we knew about, but he also fought some guy called Shinki the Golden Lion. (Is this filler? I vaguely remember someone mentioning this name a while back).

Gotta say, even if it is, I loved that shot of 70s cop duo Sengoku and Garp. Look at those Pulp Fiction-esque suits. Splendid.

Whitebeard was annoyed. “Don’t get tripped up by Garp’s name” He’s just an old soldier.” You know, I call out Kizaru for his sass but Whitebeard is up there with the best of them. He has top banter with Akainu too, who complained, “I told you not to destroy the city!” to which Whitebeard countered, “I told you to protect it.” 

Ha. Check and mate. Your move, Akainu! 

While this chaos was unfolding, Sengoku ordered the execution. Now, I’ve just had a thought, but could he just... do it himself if it’s that important? I know he probably won’t want to be personally responsible for Ace’s death because of Garp but really he is the one ordering it, so he is already pretty damn responsible.

Cue a close up of Ace’s sad, tired face which faded into a flashback. This was interesting because it revealed that Ace didn’t always hate Roger. At his adopted island, he’d wander around town, asking groups of unfortunate randoms what they knew about Roger. Most people hated him and gave Ace viciously negative responses, which earned them an ass-whooping and Ace a reputation for being out of control. 

I wonder when Ace started to hate Roger? Maybe he’s never really hated Roger. Or maybe it’s complicated.

There was a nice moment with Garp, though, which is a damn good quote for lie, really, now that I think about it. Ace, racked with guilt even at his young age, said to Garp, “Did I deserve to be born?” What a question for a kid to ask. Garp thought about it, then said, “That’s something you’ll see as you live.”

Excellent answer, Garp. It made me tear a bit, to be honest. That’s a quote I’d take away from One Piece and use in real life, no question.

The memory of that conversation triggered something in Ace. He looked out over the battlefield, over the carnage and chaos and wept because, even though that guilt was still chasing him, he was so happy because his family and friends had come to rescue him.

The boy wants to live, damn it. ;_;

I am certain those words hurt Garp more than any physical blow.

Now, this is where I have to disclose something. I have been avoiding talking about Ace and where I think this execution is going to go because way back when I first started this thing, a random, weapons-grade walnut sent me a PM with three “spoilers” in it. I say “spoilers” because one of the three turned out to be fake. Some of you might know this because I think I mentioned it in the early posts. One was that Roger was Luffy’s father, the other was that “Ace dies” and the third was “they have another brother.” The first is fake, so I’m holding out hope that the random was just trolling because now that Ace wants to live and has come to terms with his guilt, it would be cruel to take Luffy’s only brother from him.

Maybe Whitebeard will sacrifice himself for Ace because THOSE WOUNDS.

While fighting Magma Brat, Whitebeard had an attack of Old Age. Akainu struck and blew a goddamned hole in Whitebeard’s chest. (Oda likes that angle, doesn’t he? It reminds me of Luffy vs Magellan). At the same time, Marco was sniped by Kizaru, Diamond Jozu was Diamond Frozu by Aokiji, and Luffy was down.

But not for long. He has traded a portion of his life for a boost of Ivankov’s Regenerating Hormones. I like how Ivankov refused him at first, saying he could never face Dragon if he let his son die. But Luffy, as always, has that hellish charisma. “If I knew I'd done everything I could, I'd be happy to die. If I can't rescue Ace, I'd rather take my own life afterwards. Let me have the strength to fight now!"

That is some iron conviction you have there, Luffy. Ivankov, even though he was conflicted, said, “UGH, FINE STRAW BOY, HERE. DO WAT U WANT, SMH.” And it was business as usual. Another charge!

478

Meanwhile, Coby spent most of 476-477 feeling terrified, inspired and conflicted by Luffy’s strength and conviction.

It’s nice that he found his courage to fight and stand up to Luffy, but the encounter was laughably short. He saw Luffy through the dust cloud, built up an attack (does Coby have a fruit?) aaaaaaaaaaand... he got his face caved in.

At least he’s not dead, eh?  Coby, son, you need to level up! Go join Kizaru’s crew. He’ll teach you how to be a cold, hardass MF WHO IS ALSO CUNNING.

Realising his beams wouldn’t work on Marco because Marco regenerates, like the phoenix rising from the ashes, Kizaru cuffed him with seastone, negating his powers, and then sniped him.

What a magnificent bastard he is. I hate that I like Kizaru. I am as conflicted as Coby, haha.

At this point, things were not looking good for the Whitebeard Pirates and Allies. Sengoku gave the order to kill Whitebeard and a bunch of fodder leapt at him with swords to the point he looked like an angry, roided porcupine. He even took a bazooka to the face. But that didn’t matter. "They think they can beat me so easily? I don't need any help. BECAUSE I’M WHITEBEARD.”

That was awesome.

“Did he call me wounded? Ridiculous. I won't die from such a small wound.” (He said with a fucking hole in his chest). “I know.. what will happen.. if i die. Then, you know, I can't allow myself to die until... I see a bright future ahead for my sons. Right, Ace?”

I wasn’t crying. Nope. Not at all.

Sengoku did not like this. He ordered the swords to be brought down. Whitebeard tried to stop it from happening, but his vision blurred. Luffy was too far away. He fought and fought, got punched in the face, knocked back... there were too many Marines. Ace was going to die. And he couldn’t reach him. It all became too much...

And then this happened.

Conqeror’s Haki. Absolutely golden. Shanks would be proud, Luffy. You are now worthy of wearing that hat.