#but also their first and last scenes together in s7 being so similar in some ways

[raayllum]

I can't lose you like this. You mean too much to me. Callum, I—I... You know what I love about you? Everything.

2x09 / 6x09 / 7x01 / 7x09

[kallurances]

s1e1 the rise of voltron (pt 2) liveblog

cont. from my pt 1 post!

aww shiro thinking that altea must have been an incredible place

this moment btwn allura and coran was so sweet :( i rlly did love their relationship and im glad they gave allura a little time to grieve, bc i rmbr they rlly never gave her the space to do so afterwards even though she was continually losing so much . . . gah

allura and the mice awww

im sorry this 'rivalry' btwn keith and lance is too funny like pls

allura is connected to the lions' life forces! how though? maybe this gets explained in s8 idk

but it is a cute idea that alfor was building this giant mecha cat warrior and he was like ‘my daughter absolutely needs to be in on this’ LOL

coran calling pidge primitive LOL

the lions choose their pilot; it is 'a mystical bond that can't be forced' LOL @ s3

god the og lineup was too good im trying to savor it while it lasts

goes crazy over the fact that we literally never found out abt the blue paladin's qualities. but yes i agree, the blue paladins are def the best looking and coolest of the bunch ^_^

lance being 'skeptic' over keith being assigned the red lion oooh foreshadowing?

only allura can open wormholes . . . again im left wondering what are the scope of allura’s abilities. is this bc she’s altean or bc she’s allura? or is this bc this is her ship, and other alteans can open wormholes on their own ship? maybe this gets answered later in the series i don’t rmbr

god she looks so serious my bb :(

sloth creature on green lion planet!!! loved these dudes they're just funky guys

shiro's gallows-esque humor was so funny to me, “i've been locked up by aliens for over a year, this is nothing” i love him T-T

the cut to hunk and lance LMAO

cool contrast of hunk overthinking and lance getting right to the point! hunk def has a lot of anxieties which give him a lot of hesitance, lance is v intuitive and usually pretty sure of himself

i love hunk's snark and sarcasm!!! he can be so petty lmao king

oh man yellow has lion carvings next to him too, who put them there? the blue lion had some too, are we supposed to infer that local natives did it (in the same sense how we found out later the arusians think of voltron as a divine being and they had carvings of the ‘lion goddess’ around the castle)?

“oooh pretty” hunk u r adorable

yes blue!!!

lance being distressed over hunk!!! my boys ahhh you can tell they def were pretty close before the whole team came together

pidge also overthinking lol but shiro being a reassuring presence . . . is this supposed to be a contrast to the earlier hunk and lance scene?

awww he used her dad's advice to calm her down, pidge’s soft smile T-T

“go. be great.” I LOVE U SM SHIRO the way this scene always used to make me so emotional pls . . . pidge's yelps of joy T-T literally crying real tears.

shiro and pidge were my first favs when i initially watched this show and im pretty sure this was the scene that hooked me onto them? ahh i really love them and the dynamic they built up over the course of s1 T-T *tries not to think abt later seasons*

lance bracing to get hit by the galra - smth similar happens in s7 i rmbr! was this an intentional parallel?

yay hunk to the rescue!!! oh also sven in s3 and hunk here both jumped in front of fired shots to save lance's life

how many times are they gonna do this hunk throwing up joke it got old after the first two times

pidge and shiro's knowing smiles they’re so cute :( <3

the galra have a hold on the red lion! man i rmbr someone pointing out after s1 it was bc it was probably alfor’s lion that zarkon got a hold of after he killed him and i was like :0 also why does zarkon have the red lion stowed away on a random warship - granted it's one of his best generals, but you think he would keep it somewhere more secure

not another lance pickup line sighing so loud rn

lance calling coran the old guy is so funny cause we all know he ends up sacrificing himself for him like 2x later on this season CTFU

l/h are team running away, k/p are team fighting back . . . the legs are all about stability and making sure they don’t get knocked down and the arms are all about offense and assertiveness . . . god i love how the anatomy of voltron translates into the character’s (initial) positions and characterizations it’s so *chef’s kiss*

and shiro is the perfect balance btwn the opposing parts here, the head who will direct their actions yup yup yup

HERE’S AN OPTION: SHUT YOUR QUIZNAK

I DONT THINK YOU'RE USING THAT WORD CORRECTLY

iconique

god s1 k/l dynamic was so funny i loved these dudes

i love that shiro defers to allura!!! those are her lions! and allura is unsure of what to do - she’s just a teen thrust into this leadership position for this war she never signed up for

the music when allura meets alfor's ai T-T

bb girl is so scared and unsure :( my babyyy

alfor admitting that allura was right and that he made a mistake!!! god i wonder what would have happened if he had listened to her

oh wait that was a s3 episode wasn't it

'you must be willing to sacrifice everything' goddd did they rlly know the series would end in her death this line is so bittersweet i hate u bitches

BOYS ITS TIME TO SUIT UP

god i missed this

the bayards!!! takes a distinct shape for each paladin! this was a rlly good way to add more characterization to them . . . l/h are more long range (perfect for support), while k/p are more offensive weapons (great for getting all up in someone’s face)

also side note, cool how keith gets a sword and a shield, rlly filling in the knight archetype here

shirooo u r my angel <333 i wonder what his bayard form would’ve been after he gained it from zarkon . . . Big Sigh

you have to earn red's respect! where was this energy in s3 lol

lance taking the lead in the absence of the natural leaders!!! cool

shiro having flashbacks T-T i rmbr thinking how great the depiction of shiro’s trauma and PTSD were when i first watched the show, but i think they pretty much dropped it after while . . . Sighs

shiro thinking of the greater good and pidge thinking more selfishly (valid), it’s nice to see shiro deciding to support pidge . . . he will always have his team’s backs

patience yields focus lol

keith being transfixed by the galra symbol 0.o

ohh he’s sensing red like how he sensed blue in the desert!!! did they ever explain how he was able to do that?

who designed the inner workings of this castle that only mice can fix

coran trying to communicate with the mice LOLLLL

frustrated keith lol

shiro is known as the champion!!!! i am so fascinated by his time in galra captivity but they never rlly built off it after s1 . . .

i love how lance loves piloting T-T my boy

KEITH TRYING TO BOND WITH RED LMAOOO

IM BONDING WITH YOU!!!! these moments are big thing to him huh

keith opening the hangar doors so they all get sucked into space SCREAM this bitch is CRAZY

ngl ever since ~s6, i have kinda been a keith hater on the occasions that i recalled vld but . . . i may be growing fonder of him on this rewatch

this shot of red coming for keith is so pretty and awe-inspiring like wow look at the scale of these lions T-T THEY HAD A BOND

GOOD KITTY

shiro's hand activating!!! u r so cool

kitty rose has left the stage! cute

allura pressing her joined hands to her mouth in nervous anticipation at the black lion meeting shiro IM GONNA CRY T-T god she must have been feeling so much pressure and responsibility to do all that she could to bring an end to that evil empire

her sigh of relief when the black lion accepted shiro :(((

the team attempts to form voltron!!!

hunk slamming into red and yelling COMBINE LOL

1 2 3 VOLTRON

THE THING THEY FEEL IS JUST THEM BEING PULLED INTO THE WARSHIP SCREAM

shiro’s speech!!! idc what the showrunners were thinking he was always meant to be the leader of voltron!!!

HUNK IS A LEG!!!

their joy is so pure my kidsss

the split screens as they yell in unison ahhh i missed this

shiro slapping keith on the shoulder lolll they’re brothers <333

allura is so cute <3

they're in the lion formation! i miss this lineup soooo bad crying shaking screaming throwing up rn

shiro likes being a defender of the universe :( and then they took that away from him IM GONNA CHEW ON GLASS

THE EPISODE STARTING AND ENDING WITH SHIRO KILL ME HOW DID THEY EVER THINK HE WOULD BE PERCEIVED AS ANYTHING BUT THE LIKABLE LEAD CHARACTER 

this ending song slaps

overall impresison: this was one of my favs back in the day, and it was easy to recall why! great setup of the characters and dynamics, overall good pacing, some rlly funny moments . . . we were all so happy that day . . . it’s hard to imagine how bad things were abt to become :(

[faith-thee-slayer]

Ask game: Faith/Gunn or Wesley/Lilah or Willow/Fred! (You're awesome, BTW.)

thank you so much, i really appreciate it! :)

faith/gunn: nah

i don't see them as any more than a fling, max. i think they're too similar as people -- not similar in a way that works, but more so in that i think they'd be good friends.

gunn is definitely a macho protective-type, which is why his relationship with fred works so well. but because faith is not a soft damsel-in-distress type, because she enjoys being in control and "on top," i think that's why they wouldn't work long-term. i could maybe see it working out if either one of them wasn't as self-assured as they are

they should've had more scenes together. considering their similar rough upbringings, i could easily see them as former foster home besties, or having lived together with a group of ppl on the streets. they had a really good camaraderie for the two seconds they interacted

wes/lilah: i like them but i don't think it could've lasted

i enjoy them mainly for narrative purposes. both are unlikely to be each other's true love, so i see them primarily as working to grow each other's storyline. their relationship is compelling, but i don't care much for it offscreen. also why do i feel like we saw more of how the relationship affected wes than it did lilah...

i'd like it more if there was greater buildup of their tension. i know the whole point is to show how wes became a different person almost overnight, and how he's been going through drastic changes, looking for comfort in unlikely places. but maybe that's why i couldn't get super invested, because i always knew it was temporary

i really like the illicit nature of their relationship, the whole "sleeping with the enemy" dynamic. but of course the lines between the good guys and the bad guys have blurred, and they realize just how similar they are, and things become much more complicated when they realize they care about each other so much. wes having to kill lilah, and then lilah coming back to essentially haunt him in the s4 ending... it's tragic

willow/fred: i could be convinced, but i'm currently at nah

this is like faith/gunn, they're way too similar. fred is, in some ways, a carbon copy of willow, except less cool (i don't mean this in a bad way, i mean that willow essentially earns her stripes through experience, and becomes more confident, while fred remains a bit "quirky" (granted, we see her for a much shorter time than willow)). the scene in ats s4 where they meet and fred fangirls over willow made me think it was (btvs s7) willow meeting her btvs s1 self and seeing how much she's changed since.

they need to match squirrel-liness levels, kind of like how willow and tara were on the same wavelength when they first met. for example i could totally see potential for btvs s1 willow and ats s2-early s3 fred, or btvs s7 willow with ats s5 fred (um... pre-illyria of course)

i do think that out of everyone, fred would be a good fit for willow post-tara. both are super-smart, have overlapping academic interests, both slightly awkward yet endearing, and they want to stop being underestimated by everyone around them. also i really like the implication from their interaction that fred was openly flirting with willow, since she doesn't deny it lol

[dontbipanicjonsa]

Did Kit suddenly lose his ability to heart-eye or is Pol!Jon actually a thing.

I'm late to the fandom but I just finished S7 and I'm having thoughts.

I'm a reader of the books, and I hadn't watched the show till now because... I suck at watching shows with hour long episodes and more than three seasons.

What made me decide to watch it was the Pol!Jon discourse I found on the Internet.

I know enough about the show to understand how unlikely and out of character this theory would seem to show watchers. At the same time, I fully believe that book!Jon would be fully capable of something like this. But also, even though I do ship Jonsa in the books, I can't deny that Jonerys is.....a big deal. Everyone expects it to happen. It's a highly anticipated pairing and....I just couldn't honestly believe Pol!Jon because it is just so against the general expectation.

So I decided to watch the show. And now I've finished season 7 and I am astounded.

Let me preface this by saying that I went into S7 already disliking Jonerys (sue me) but I still fully expected to have some serious doubts about the validity of Jonsa. I fully expected to be at least somewhat convinced of Jonerys. Even hating the idea of Jon and Danaerys together, I still expected more.

There are a number of things I would like to note here.

First, Jonerys is a romance that is told, not shown. Davos talks about Jon watching Dany's "good heart" (hehe) to tell us Jon is attracted to Dany. But then Jon immediately dismisses it- and not in a way that looks like he's deflecting. He's not only dismissing it, he's dismissive of it. His mind is not in the conversation, it is beyond the Wall.

Similarly, Tyrion says (not in those words), "yeah right, and Jon only looks at you longingly coz he wants a military alliance with you". Not sure what I'm supposed to think about that....? First, Jon doesn't look at Dany longingly at all???? Not once. Second, is this line supposed to suggest that Jon is looking at her longingly for a reason that is not desperately wanting a military alliance....? Because we already know that that's exactly what he does want. Wtf do I make of this statement?????

There are other examples, but the point remains. People keep talking about Jon and Dany being into each other, and that is what is supposed to convince us that they are into each other (well yea Dany is) but Jon gives no indication of looking at her longingly, of falling in love with her, of being intrigued by her even. He's a brick wall.

Alright, I'll concede one (1) scene where I saw legitimate attraction on his face for a second- that is the cave scene. Even there tho, it's hard to tell if he's just watching her reaction carefully or if he wants to bang her.

On the other hand, Dany shows that she is into him. Even so, when I say she's into him, I mean she's attracted to him and intrigued by him. I cannot believe she loves him.

Next, I think it's interesting that in the episode before (or was it the same episode?) Jon bends the knee, we have a number of people (Tormund, Beric) talk about stuff like- kings not bending the knee leading to people dying, knowing what's important (the fight against the dead), being the shield that guards the realm of men blah blah I don't remember the exact words. Then he sees the WW and the Army of the Dead (again) and sees a dragon die. And then, the first opportunity he gets, he bends the knee. I want to point out here that the scenes really emphasise on Jon's thinking face after every conversation he has during their little gay party beyond the Wall. They focus on the look on his face again while he's watching the Army. Multiple times. And there's clearly something going on in his head, gears are turning.

One other scene that struck me is the scene where Jon and Dany are saying goodbye to each other (the Eastwatch episode). In the same episode (if I remember correctly) Jon calls them strangers, and then the goodbye scene comes and Dany says to Jon's little morbid joke, "I've grown used to him". Him being Jon. Two things to note here-

One, Jon considers them strangers but Dany has gotten "used to him". Maybe it's nothing, or maybe it's an indication of how the two of them are absolutely not on the same page (about anything).

Second, Jon's face after she says that. It shuts down. Like a door slamming. And then he says that "wish you good fortune in the wars to come" line, which has ZERO romance, or longing, but a whole lot of bad precedent (does that make sense?). Ouch. The thought that occured to me here is that Dany is being somewhat obvious about her feelings, and maybe, just maybe Jon has picked up on it. And that is why he reacts the way he does.

I wasn't sure so I compared the scene with the Jonsa forehead kiss scene in S6, and Jon's expressions after that kiss.

My logic was this- I assume that either Jon has become aware of Dany's feelings in the Eastwatch goodbye scene, or his own feelings for her. One of these assumptions is true. Which one?

If Jon has feelings for Sansa, then his confusion/awareness/discomfort regarding that are seen in that forehead kiss scene. So if Jon has become aware of his feelings for Dany, let's see how these two scenes compare?

My dudes. There is no comparison. Go watch it.

I watched both scenes with sound off, and the difference is insane. Jon looks at Sansa's lips. There's a moment's pause that's full of tension, and then his face shuts in a way, but it's a bit confused, a bit thoughtful.

Jon does not look at Dany's lips. He does not look confused, or thoughtful. This is not a romance.

Side observation- speaking of showing and telling, it's funny how we're shown Jon looking at Sansa's wolf bits, and told that Jon looks at Dany's good heart. Yes I'm talking about boobs but wolf bits and good heart is funnier. We literally see Jon look at the wolf bits twice, talk about it himself, in a completely unnecessary conversation...as opposed to being entirely dismissive of the good heart, even when someone else brings it up.

Back to the main point, one last thing I'd like to talk about is the scene where Jon actually bends the knee (not really). First, there are still no heart-eyes. Definitely not from Jon. Second, it's funny how Jon uses the exact hand-grabbing move that Sansa used on him last season, when she was trying to convince him to do something he didn't particularly wanna do (like he's now trying to do with Dany). This means that

1) he learnt that move from Sansa. He knows how effective it is XD

2) if the Jonerys hand-grab is romance, it stands to reason that the Jonsa hand-grab is romance too. I mean both the grabs are suspiciously similar.

Then, even after Dany "promises" that she'll help the North fight the WW, Jon still bends the knee. I felt both an odd sense of urgency coming from him, and an understandable hesitation. Or maybe that's just me.

Now suddenly, he becomes complimentary of her. But there's something weird about his compliments. They are completely generic. "They'll see you for what you are" and in the later episode, "you're not like the others". Wtf does that MEAN ??

Here's the thing...Jon could have paid Dany a way more specific, genuine sounding compliment after bending the knee (complete with heart eyes). I mean she did just fly over the Wall to rescue him and his men. He could have said more, something meaningful, but he didn't. He bent the knee like a house on fire (that doesn't make sense but you get what I mean I hope) and paid generic compliments. Then he pretended to sleep until she left and then sighed very loudly.

??? Romance??? WHERE????

Then the dragon pit. Heart-eyes still missing.

Then the sex scene. What do I say? Lol.

No really. There are no heart eyes even during the sex scene. Honestly, idk what that face was. Not in love for sure.

Another side note- Arya and Sansa have talks while standing in the same place where the forehead kiss scene happened (wtf do you call that place again, the bridge.??) But no heart eyes. No lingering looks. There is no incestuous gay love between them, I can say for sure. All it does is prop up the odd incestuous vibes of the Jon Sansa scene in that same place.

ANOTHER side note- goddamn but does Sansa talk about Jon a lot.

Edit: I'm sure most of this stuff has already been discussed in other metas. My purpose here is only to put down my first thoughts after watching the season.

[kimburgess-ruzek]

okay but like, hear me out,

kim survives. she does. and the team is there for her and all of that lovely jazz. she is expected to eventually fully recover. meanwhile, while everyone is in her hospital room checking up on her, she asks about roy walton. she asks voight if they caught him. voight says no, they didn’t. that once she was found, everyone rushed to med and forgot about the case at hand. kim sighs, but voight says it’s okay. that the case is over and that all that matters is that she’s safe. kim tries to stay strong, stay brave. she thinks everyone for working together in order to bring her home; little does she know of all of the tension, but everyone temporarily puts all aside in order to be there for kim.

hailey is extremely distraught. shes shaking, can’t even form words. jay notices and later asks her about it, but hailey says she’s okay, just exhausted and is overwhelmed with everything. right now she doesn’t tell anyone of what happened. she’s trying to put the pieces together, and she is traumatized by pulling the trigger on roy. later, she asks voight what happened after she left, but he shuts her down. saying he took care of it and not to worry. hailey is such an emotional wreck that she doesn’t stand up to him. not yet.

later, kim passes the physical portion of being all cleared to rejoin the field. she doesn’t however pass the psychological part. voight calls kim into his office with dr. charles who is already in there. voight explains her results and says can’t rejoin the field. surprisingly kim is okay with this, which is different than in s7. she says she needs more time to recover. dr. charles recommends therapy, but kim shoots him down. she says she’s fine but just needs more time. voight decides not to press her, for fear she might just fall apart then and there. dr. charles tells voight that kim is broken, distressed. voight agrees but doesn’t know what to do. that therapy would help but if kim doesn’t want to do it then he wasn’t going to push her.

she rides the desk for a while but everyone is scared she won’t ever return to the field. as much as adam wants kim to stay out of danger, he also knows how much she loved being on the scene and how good of a cop she is. adam tries to get her to share her trauma, but kim doesn’t want to show her fear to adam. she wants to be strong for him. she shuts him down, saying she’s perfectly fine at the desks and just wants to get back to him and her being happy, not thinking about anything bad. their relationship becomes stagnant. she can’t tell adam what she feels. she just can’t find it in her. he’s too close to her, she’s scared he’ll break if she shares her story.

kim still rides the desk, helping out the team as much as she can. voight calls her in and says that she is able to take the psych portion of the test again. kim reluctantly says she’ll take it again, but she is okay with still riding the desk. she feels comfortable at the desk. voight tells her that it’s okay to talk it out. that he’s always here for her. kim just thanks him but goes back to her desk.

dr. charles reaches out to kim and again offers therapy to which kim again shoots down. she doesn’t want to rehash her emotions to some stranger who doesn’t know her or what she’s been through in the past. dr. charles then suggests she talk it out with someone she’s close to, someone who does know her. he suggests talking to someone in intelligence. kim says she’ll think about it and proceeds with her comfortable life. she does consider his idea, but she doesn’t know who to talk to. adam is too close to her. he’s trying to be strong for her and makayla, and she feels that talking to him would break him. kevin is so gentle with kim, so fragile. after finding her and seeing her in such a state, kevin has felt guilty himself. he can’t seem to shake the image of his sister being so helpless in that car. he is there for kim, and kim has to be there for him. she has to boost his morale by not bringing him into all of her mess. kim notices hailey’s sudden anxious ways. she doesn’t know what happened, but she feels as though she can’t put that burden on her. and jay, kim isn’t close to jay, so she doesn’t feel necessarily comfortable talking to him. even if dr. charles’ idea was good, she has no one to talk to.

jay, who has been through a similar situation before, picks up on this. although he and kim aren’t the closest, he saved kim and saw the extent of her injuries. he knows what it feels like to be dying. he goes to kim as a last resort hail mary to see if she’ll talk one day when it’s just him and her in the room. at first she denies any trauma or ptsd. she says that everyone just needs to stop worrying about her. jay sees right through kim’s lies. instead of pushing her like everyone else has done, he instead decides to open up and share his experience. he shares stories of him even before intelligence, all of his past trauma. he shares his experience of being shot, thinking he was going to die. she hears him out and starts to open up ever so slightly. he tells her that it’s okay to be scared, but it’s also okay for her to shoulder the burden on others in order for her to get past this. he tells her to not give the enemy power. to not give roy walton the power. she begins to share what happened to her. how she felt, what she did to survive, who she thought of in order to survive.

she then confesses something to jay: she’s scared of the idea of roy walton still being on the street. she can’t push herself to be on the scene for fear he’s still out there. even if roy fled, he’s still out there, and that threat alone scares kim. she also is scared that roy will eventually pick back up to his bad behavior and start sex trafficking minors again. as much as kim fears for her life, she is even more angry that someone like roy walton, who shot kent darby like it was nothing, is still out there and could potentially start abusing young girls. she sees makayla as one of those young girls. she fears for makayla, that there’s always going to be someone out there and she’s scared she’s not going to be able to protect makayla.

jay’s heartbroken. he hates seeing kim so scared. so vulnerable. to him, he would’ve thought she was the most emotionally strong. after everything she’s been through, she has been able to pick herself back up and keep going. keep fighting. but this, this time it’s different. she has a daughter in the equation. she has makayla to think about. he thanks her for sharing. he tells her that admittance is okay, admitting that you’re scared is good. that being raw and honest and human is good. jay tells her that even if roy got away, he won’t ever step foot in chicago again. jay vows to kim that he won’t let anything happen to her. or to makayla.

back at home, hailey asks jay about kim and how the talk went. jay doesn’t go into detail for kim’s sake but says he thinks there was a breakthrough. hailey is seemingly happy, happy that kim can take the next step towards healing. however after some conversation, jay slips up and mentions how roy walton is still out there. hailey freezes and asks jay where that cane from. jay caves and says that kim is scared of roy being out there and that she doesn’t want to rejoin the field while roy’s on the loose. hailey internally panics, not knowing what to do. jay sees the fear in hailey’s eyes and asks if she’s okay. to which hailey shakes it out and says she’s just sad and scared for kim.

bam. then hailey goes to voight and demands she know what happened to roy. that she’s on the other side, he took her there. that she’s in this mess and she deserves a right to know what happened. voight again shuts her down, saying eh took care of it and that it won’t trace back to her. then hailey has a breakdown. she yells at voight that he needs to tell her. that he had no right not telling her and putting her in this position within the team. that he ambushed her and lied to the team, making her feel as though she couldn’t tell the truth. that she doesn’t know if she can handle the other side. that she eventually will cave and tell someone. that the truth will eventually come out. because it’s the right thing. voight tells her to calm down and that the less people know about the better. that no one will find out and that it’s not tied to her. it’s all on him so let it go. hailey tells him she can’t. she can’t take it.

hailey then confesses to jay what happened. she completely breaks down. she tell him everything. and that voight won’t tell her what he did.

once the truth comes out whenever and however it does, then shit really hits the fan.

jay is furious. hailey is broken. kevin is distraught that he was lied to. kim feels guilty for all of this happening. adam is worried for kim. and voight feels trapped.

intelligence is shattered.

wow. seriously wow. i didn’t not expect that to be so long. also can i just say, i know this will not happen. it’s too dramatic and not focused on policing. just a snowflake turned into a snowball. but damn.

[rupertgayesarchive]

That ask and your answer about what if Sam was out of hunting and never left Stanford because Gabriel wanted to stop the apocalypse and threw him into a pocket dimension and I’m like. Obsessed. primarily with gabriel and how Sam would go.

I think he would stick Sam in a like… you remember when Zachariah stuck sam and dean in the office job and it was a parallel universe but also it was real life? like coplanar planes, I think Gabriel would elect to do that instead of his you’re going in my alternate universe, because it’s less detail consuming and I think Sam would notice small things that were off like how he figured out it was him in mystery spot.

You said Sam deserves to have the apple pie life but if he was comfortable with that it wouldn’t like.. work he wouldn’t be ready to ever confront Lucifer or anyone. i agree but also I don’t think he would stick with his normal life. like in the zachariah episode he had a normal life and fake memories of that but he still wanted to hunt and help people and also figure out wtf was happening. I think in this scenario Sam would still be psychic because I love that but Gabriel would probably try like… suppressing his visions and such, because they would lead him back into possible angel business. I think he’d still get little snippets because that’s fun and having reminders in that that the supernatural like.. exists and ppl are getting hurt, I think that would overrule his want of complete normalcy and even his spite toward John.

I don’t think he’d go back into hunting like, completely because I want him to have something good and also be semi well adjusted. but like we saw in the terrible life episode I think he’d like.. if he got bored and started looking up strange deaths well now he has to go help them!!

also it is sooo fun to me if he starts realizing something is wrong but he doesn’t know what. like in mystery spot I love that trope sooo fucking much also in s1 sam gets back into hunting through John Winchester style revenge quest and I want to give him a reason to start poking around that is like.. for himself and not anybody else. he can have a little obsession over it as a treat because i like seeing him be a bitch <3

i think initially when Gabriel found out the apocalypse was like in motion and Sam was at Stanford he’d have an opportunity there to do something without revealing to other players that he is alive because he was pretending to be a trickster. like he’s very much in this for self preservation and if he did some time traveling shenanigans, or disappearing both Winchesters and maybe even Adam out of nowhere, I think he’d worry that the angels would take notice. Randy your vessels!! But Stanford gives him a natural window to hide a key player. he needs to do away with Adam too so Lucifer can’t possibly have a true vessel to fight.. maybe he can kill him in a freak accident because I find that funny. sorry this is long and it will be getting longer

anyway I think as time went on Gabriel would pay like less meticulous attention. he’d still keep away like key players but as other people also started trying to stop the apocalypse he would become more relaxed also he’d be overconfident in himself like in changing channels. I think this would lead sam to notice more stuff that just doesn’t make any sense and maybe start looking for dean or even his dad, or going out of his way to look for hunts. maybe get involved in magic because i think he deserves to be a witch. wait actually that’s how he should find Dean. i think Gabriel would hide Dean from Sam and vice versa, and he didn’t foresee Sam using magic or anything. Also at this point it’s been years and I think Sam is more invested in this than his like… normal life. he’s more well adjusted but I can definitely see him just impulsively quitting his job to figure out what the fucks happening. Also I think he’d feel animosity at dean during this for not being there and not helping him, even though that anger doesn’t make complete sense. sorry i like the early seasons salmon dean reconciling and learning to like each other and sam realizing Your Parents Are People and I would like to see it with them having like, completely different lives and also some fun miscommunication bc of Gabriel. also sam having to reconcile dean having cas OHRHDHJ also dean and cas trying horribly to cover cas being not human is so fucking fun to me. unless this happens during a cas is dead time period which is fun in a different evil way.

I also think dean would only stop looking if he though Sam was dead, but I think… Gabriel might have hidden him but other people ARE still meeting him even with like altered memories. so I think angels or something can sense that Sam is alive but they don’t know where and I think they’d gloat and use it to taunt dean that he is like.. suffering while his brother is living a perfect normal life. Also because this adds another miscommunication that can be discussed and end in reconciliation in a way I don’t think would feel contrived and is in line with it the characters. it’d be Amelia s8 but Sam would be like (Sam voice) I did look for you!!! where were you when I needed you! also I want Sam to find out John died and he’s in absolute despair while cas is standing there like oh yes that’s so awful your father was an. absolutely a man😔😐🏳️‍🌈

idk when this would occur and i think every season offers like… different flavors of enjoyment for an audience of just me. like s7 proto widower arc?? Sam reconnecting with Dean during TMWWBK when he is not familiar with the dean and cas dynamic and has to be witness to Trying So Hard To Be Loyal. additionally that would be fun because bobby is there and dean is like, covering his ears and back talking bobby regarding cas. and if they’ve taken pains to hide cas being an angel Sam being like .who is this to Dean. is suchhh a fun concept.

WAIT post goodbye stranger. or maybe Sam can show up pre goodbye stranger to watch dean go from clingy after cas gets back from purgatory to wrongfooted to like ANGRY. well not Angry… to dean having dean emotions. when cas is off with the tablet ignoring him and he feels betrayed. and this Sam isn’t as close to him so he doesn’t know ANY details until Dean stats divulging them as they reconcile. ALL GOOD OPTIONS..

also if this happens during s6 i think it would be nice if cas started collecting allies, and at the same time as Sam trying to figure out what was keeping him away from dean and the angel business Cas could figure it out FIRST and use Gabriel as an ally against Raphael but he’d feel like he has to hide it from dean and sam. like in this scenario. actually any time I talk about s6 hypotheticals Cas’ conflict IS the A Plot. the Winchester’s were on a side quest idc. s6 is a fun time for these reasons but i don’t like it as much because Cas is still in the process of like.. formative development.

okay one last thing I’m SOOO sorry for my essay. you said if Sam was dispossessed the apocalypse would just.. not happen. i agree to like, a certain degree, because I do think they could have found another way but all of them would have been dust compared to swan song. so maybe Gabriel semi succeeded but instead of stopping the apocalypse he just… prolonged it. this changes a lot but if either Michael or Lucifer didn’t have a viable vessel I think the angels would scramble to actually for real stop the apocalypse but others would still want it to happen even if it was like.. Perfect they just want it to be over. this provides angel politics which I am in love with and we can still have like TMWWBK development for cas. I don’t know where I’m going with this sorry

op this is a lot, this is so much. i love it, i hope you have a google doc open somewhere and are typing away furiously.

now i didn't rewatch a lot of spn past s3 (surprise) in part bc i can't handle the brain damage and some scenes are seared into my cerebral cortex in a way that induced a temporary bout of eidetic memory, meaning i'll never forget the crypt scene in Goodbye Stranger for as long as i live. that being SAID, my s6-s7 knowledge is not as firmly coalesced. so because of that i'm letting your thoughts roam free as i don't know how accurate my own takes would be? but i feel like without sam there, like... hm. would dean even be the same person... would the past however many seasons even OCCUR remotely similar with sam out of the picture for literal years? we might be looking at a completely different world at that point.

my other theory is that the s2 plot of special children - we know azazel was raising a new 'crop' of psychic kids. i think that was a plot thread that they ended up dropping anyway, but if they didn't i do wonder if we'd be dealing with a lot more shenanigans like in s1 and s2 except with kids? and dean and cas trying to figure out what to do with these young psychics that might be turned into a vessel for lucifer or - whatever they wanted to do with those kids. hm.

i also question if purgatory would be a thing. like it probably would come up and be on the table, but maybe the godstiel arc wouldn't, bc if like you're saying dean and cas are together at this point, like. cas might have grown to love humanity (not just dean but like 99% dean) to the point where he might not be doing this risky gambit for more souls. and if gabriel is still around, cas may start petitioning gabe to help throw his archangel weight around against raphael while he tries to do the actual strategizing.

i think sam would still have his visions, like you said, and then maybe those lead him to dean or to a case that dean is also on? or if angels are more well-known later on, he tracks one down, maybe cas, maybe not (if it's NOT and it's one that works on raphael's side. ohoho. the possibilities...)

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Eugene/Beth Entanglement, Part 2: S5-S8

Here’s the next installment of the Eugene and Beth similarities. Once more, @wdway​ dug most of this stuff up, so credits and kudos to her!

READ PART 1 HERE

5x05: Self-Help

I want to mention 5x05 briefly, as I neglected to that in part 1. We’ve long seen the short bus crashing as a parallel to Beth. They literally use dialogue about “killing” the bus at one point. Eugene said he put crushed glass in the fuel line.

Because of Rick’s broken windows theory, broken glass = the downfall of society in some way. Lack of fuel = not being able to get home. Because the cars won’t work. And they often then resort to bikes for travel. Bikes = how the harvest gets home, or just going to home to family. So you can see how all these symbols work together.

Furthermore, after the bus crashes, they exit the back door of the bus. (Something we also saw in 4x09 after the prison fell. Maggie went looking for Glenn in the yellow bus, and they let all the walkers out through the back door.) @wdway and @frangipanilove​ have been working on this since the Leah episode, because we see Daryl using the back door to her cabin in weird ways there, too. We believe escaping through the back door = an unexpected means of survival. Kind of a play on the  phrase “back door deal.” It’s not something obvious or expected. It can also be secret/unseen.

Anyway, we see the same license plate from coda on the white bus, and they live and escape via “back door” means, just as we believe Beth did.

Then they go to a bookstore. That’s a whole other theory as well. We saw the Librarians in S6 and Carol and Morgan went to a library. Books are always major clues for us. So this is another TD symbol.

So, I think you get the idea. That storyline in 5x05 leads directly to Eugene being hurt by Abraham, which I discussed last week is another parallel to Beth in Coda.

We also saw Eugene and Abraham meet in this episode, via flashback. In that scene, we see that they are in Texas (I’ll talk about that more later in the week). We see a BBQ sign (pig reference) train tracks signs, a star (cuz Texas), a water tower, and Eugene dressed in black and white.

Now, I’ve come to believe that the black and white them foreshadows the CRM war. But the point is that we’ve seen it heavily around Daryl and Beth, so it just shows that all these characters will be involved in that war.

Eugene at the Sanctuary (S7/S8)

First, let’s appreciate that for a time, Eugene was tasked with creating a single bullet by Rosita. Total Beth vibes. Plus, we saw some interesting parallels at the bullet factory with Abraham, not the least of which was him wanting to become stronger and kill walkers himself.

In 7x08 (chalk full of TD symbolism), Eugene was taken prisoner by Negan and spent the next season and a half at the Sanctuary.

There were SO many symbols around him while there, it got to be downright ridiculous.

This was where we first associated pickles with him (Pickle Theories). And clearly I need to do a whole forecasting post for his time at the Sanctuary (in time, my friends) but I’ve believed for a LONG time that pickles = resurrection because of the St. Nicholas story (see Pickle theories). So to me, this clearly makes him a proxy to Beth. So it’s super interesting that he’s hanging out with Negan here. And I do think the Saviors were often used as proxies for the future CRM.

Eugene’s room at the Sanctuary also had a ridiculous number of symbols in it. From the blue coolers on top of the green cabinets to the dartboard on the wall. Eugene listening to the song Easy Street nodding his head to the singer that sounded remarkably like Emily/Beth.

A refrigerator with lots of eggs on the inside of the door (I'm sure the writers chuckled over that one). Beer, water, green and red apples.

I could go on and on about the background symbols, but I won’t. Let’s get more into his arc at the Sanctuary.

First is the fact that he’s with a “bad” group, though not necessarily of his own free will. Yes, he ends up helping them because he thinks it will help TF, but he’s taken from Rosita and the rest of TF and held somewhere he isn’t allowed to leave. That screams Beth to me.

While trying to impress Negan’s wives, he puts together some chemistry experiments for them, and when he sets them off, the 1812 Overture plays.

Not only is that music, its music about a famous war. I’ve recently talked about how they’re using the American Revolutionary War as a template for the CRM war, right? I believe this is similar. Perhaps the template of this particular war will inform Eugene’s specific arc. I haven’t researched that overly much, yet. But either way, I think this ties him to Beth because it’s music and it’s a war template.

We also had the situation where he created a musical device, made it fly, and wanted to use it to lead walkers away from the Sanctuary. 

Those are all hugely related to Beth symbolism. Something that sings, obviously. Birds, helicopters, and planes are all huge symbolism for her. Things that fly. And of course then there’s the Pied Piper/Lead the Walkers Away symbolism. We believe a horde of walkers was responsible for Beth getting left behind. And let’s not forget that Glenn’s death fake out (which he survived) happened during S6 and Operation Lead the Walkers Away. Just saying.

When Daryl and Rosita went to rescue Eugene, we had a scene where he literally rose from the ashes. He actually hid there to get away from them, lol. But this was resurrection/phoenix symbolism at its finest. 

In terms of Eugene’s arc, it meant he would redeem himself to TF and turn the tide of the war. Which he did by making sure all the Saviors’ guns would jam and backfire. But it also ties him to Beth.

And of course, after that time away of imprisonment, he does make it safely back to TF.

I said this in Part 1 but I want to reiterate that his being much stronger after the time jump, and actually engaging in a romance (with Stephanie) only after that time jump, is also a parallel to Beth.

Okay, I’m gonna call it there for the day. I have at least two, if not three, more parts to this. Stay tuned.

[travllingbunny]

The 100 rewatch: 5x02 Red Queen

Note: I’m afraid that I’ll have to delay my review of 7x12 The Stranger a bit longer - maybe till Friday (because I’m busy with work, and I think that one may take a bit more time to finish), but in the meantime, here’s - finally - a continuation of my season 5 rewatch reviews. It happens to be the only seasons I haven’t covered yet - except for 5x01 Eden, which I rewatched a few months ago after 7x02 The Garden, because I wanted to compare the two. I was planned to do Red Queen right afterwards - it’s interesting to compare and contrast Octavia’s character transformations in season 5 and season 7 - but it didn’t pan out that way. But now, @jeanie205 and me have started another joint rewatch during the hiatus, this one of season 5. (She only saw it live, week to week, and hasn’t rewatched it yet, I binged it and this is my second rewatch.)

...............................

I’ve always thought of season 5 as a season with a really strong beginning - the first 3 or 4 episodes are fantastic - which drags a bit in the middle before ending a very strong two-part finale.. The 6-year jump, in terms of storytelling, had both good and bad results. These two opening episodes, Eden and Red Queen, really make the best out of the time jump, with flashbacks about Clarke surviving on her own on a desolated Earth and meeting Madi, and flashbacks of what happened to Wonkru in the bunker. It says a lot that we got half an episode of Clarke surviving on Earth, a full episode plus a bunch of flashbacks in 5x11 about the bunker... and nothing about the Ring (till that one flashback in season 7). It’s because the life on the Ring was so boring and uneventful that the show didn't care to show anything of those 6 years. Clarke’s peaceful life with Madi in Eden also happened off-screen - we only saw their first meeting and their later relationship in the present - but Clarke’s two months of terrible hardship got covered in amazing 20 minutes. But the bunker is where things were the most intense. 

If the Ring seems to be just boring everyday life of 7 people who can’t go anywhere for 6 years, and if Clarke got to live in Eden (paradise) with Madi after the purgatory of 40 50+ days in the desert, the bunker is clearly Hell. It is a claustrophobic underground world full of anger, conflict and violence that certainly looks like Hell by the end of the episode.

The last scene, with its horror imagery, reminded me of the current Sanctum storyline in season 7 (both Blodreina and Sheidheda like using skulls as decoration), and the comparison shows exactly why the bunker/Blodreina story worked so well, and why the S7 Sanctum story does not. It’s all about moral ambiguity and keeping the audience on its toes, pulling the rug from under us by making us unsure how to feel about characters and their actions, which Red Queen does so well (and which S7 Sanctum storyline completely fails to do, being very predictable and black and white). Red Queen is so well done and intense that I don’t even mind that Clarke and Bellamy and some of my other favorites aren’t in it.

Timeline: The episode starts 42 days after Praimfaya and ends 46 days after Praimfaya.

The opening scenes take place at the same time when Clarke arrived in Polis and tried to open the door. Clarke's only listed as appearing in this episode because of this repeated scene from Eden. (It’s weird that apparently not just the Temple, but the Tower also apparently fell on the entrance. The Tower is next to the Temple, but I’m not sure if that would really happen?) I’m not sure what exactly caused the rubble to fall down, but this is the moment where everyone loses hope, since they know they probably can’t get out, even though they have 5 years to try to think of the solution.

Niylah has found a bunch of books and some other stuff in the bunker, and one of the books was Ovid’s Metamorphoses, which we now know was Callie Cadogan’s book. (That was a nice Easter Egg in 7x08.) Niylah knows Bellamy used to read to Octavia about Ancient Rome - she must have heard it from her or from Clarke or someone else in Arkadia over the last month or so that she spent with them. It is still surprising she knows about Ovid, specifically. What she doesn’t know when she gives Octavia the book is how symbolic it is of what happens to Octavia throughout this episode - her metamorphosis into Blodreina. (We even see the opening line on screen: “ I intend to speak of forms changed into new entities..”).

Octavia Blake is a character who has undergone more dramatic transformations than any other character on The 100. I wasn’t a big fan of her in some of the early seasons, but now I think that, after what the show has done with her since season 4, she has probably had the best character arc of any character on the show. (Some would say it’s Murphy, but that’s because people like to think of character development as going from bad to good, a positive progression - which is a lot more predictable and done quite often. What the show did with Octavia is much more complex and unexpected.) Her turn to the dark side and subsequent redemption were really well done, and Marie Avgeropoulos is one of the best actors on the show (I’ve always thought so regardless of how I felt about her character at any given time) and pulled off her changes in season 5 so well.

What the episode does really well is maintain ambiguity about Octavia’s development as a leader. The first time you watch it, it’s not clear what is she developing into. Is this a story about a well-meaning but still inexperienced teenage girl becoming a great leader? Well, the cliffhanger of 5x01 showed the fighting pits and the new scary Blodreina look, so it’s already hinted it’s not quite like that. But the episode still makes you root for Octavia, who’s up against not just the difficult circumstances - trapped in the bunker, limited resources - but also tribalism of Skaikru and 11 Grounder clans and a lot short-sighted people who hate and keep fighting each other. You just can’t not root for her when she starts forcing them to obey, near the end of the episode (and it’ certainly comes off as a very badass scene - if a bit unrealistic, since Octavia has only been training in Grounder-style combat for about 7-8 months at that point) - but then things may start getting a little ominous as she repeats the mantra “You are Wonkru, or you are the enemy of Wonkru. Choose!” (“You’re either with us, or against us” statements by political leaders are always worrying), even before the ending, where both Octavia and the bunker look like something out of a horror movie. This entire storyline made the point that unity can’t be forced on people, especially not by a single all-powerful leader, without turning into tyranny and oppression.

What’s also morally ambiguous is advice from the mortally wounded Jaha, which ends up influencing Octavia’s decisions and development as a leader. Jaha was always one of the most morally grey characters - he’s not evil, always had good intentions, but his ruthlessness and willingness to disregard individual lives in the name of the Big Picture of saving “his (collective) people” and his complete confidence that this is the right leadership style, were always very disturbing, and made him the villain in the eyes of - and the lives of - all the young protagonists of the show. In season 4, some of them started seeing his perspective. faced with the similar difficult choices. After Clarke in season 4, Octavia also starts seeing his perspective - which is particularly disturbing because it is the same man who executed her mother for just having a child, and locked her up for a year as a criminal just for being born. But Jaha’s actions in Red Queen are some of his most heroic ever in the show, and he gets a heroic death and a moving death scene... while still being kind of a real d1ck, someone who justifies Aurora’s execution to Octavia by saying her mother made herself “the enemy” and bringing them “closer to death”. In the context, Jaha as an unexpected mentor to Octavia can be seen as something good or at least a necessary for her to develop into a capable leader... Or is it? The line between hero and villain can be very thin. Sure, it helps Octavia resolve the situation, save hundreds of people in the bunker, and apparently unite everyone into Wonkru - but as we see by the end of the episode and the rest of the season, it also ends up making her a tyrant who ends up getting hundreds of her people killed in the name of saving “her people” and delivering them to paradise as a messiah. She becomes the same thing she hated, an oppressor like those who forced her to hide under the floor and killed her mother.  

(This dialogue from season 4 is pretty relevant here:  

Clarke: You know, he used to be everything that I hated. Maybe he was keeping us together.

Jasper: When Jaha's looking reasonable, it's time to reassess.)

I have to say, however, in spite of all the moral greyness... I can’t stand Kara Cooper. She’s one of the few characters on the show that just piss me off to no end and I can’t find any sympathy for her. I know that it’s different for others, I’ve seen people say they see her perspective, and yes, the show  gives her a tragic backstory (losing her father in the Culling on the Ark and her husband in the Second Culling in 4x12)... but this time I can’t bring myself to care, because: 

She wants to leave some 1100+ people to die, even though she should be well aware that, even if there is a problem of overpopulation in the bunker*, she really doesn’t have to kill that many people, 

She’s a scientist and gives a speech about how the lack of diversity would lead to a massive die-off for plants... Surely she should know that the same would happen to the humans, and that a human race can’t survive with just around 80 people?! which leads me to

She doesn’t care about the survival of the human race and is ready to condemn it to extinction, just so she and a few others would live more comfortably and wouldn’t be in danger of immediate death, 

She says she wants to save “her people” - but it’s all about tribalism (Skaikru or not Skaikru?) and not love, and she is a hypocrite, because she is ready to leave a bunch of Skaikru outside the door to die, too, 

She is a hypocrite when she acts like Abby did something terrible by opening the bunker door to save Kane (which also saved hundreds of people more than would have otherwise been saved) - basically, she’s like “ Abby, how dare you not prioritize my husband, a guy you didn't even know, over your boyfriend? You're so terrible!" Sure. That makes sense. 

Her arguments about why the bunker “belongs” to Skaikru are rubbish: “ "Jaha found it. It belonged to us" - even if we accept the finders-keepers idea, actually, multiple people helped find the bunker. Yes, Jaha was the driving force, but Bellamy found the coin, and Kane, Monty and Gaia all massively contributed to finding it - without Gaia's info they wouldn't have ever found it - as did Indra, and the fighters from Trikru and their allies who guarded the temple so they could do it. She just ignored all these facts. If they had kept the bunker in 4x11, they would have left most of these people out (including Kane and Monty). Oh, and she is now trying to take the bunker back... and she’s ready to leave Jaha himself outside! 

And after all of that, she saves her own skin by being the most ruthless one of everyone Octavia sent to the fighting pit and killing them all - and then becomes Octavia’s right hand and sycophant. What integrity! 

While many people seem to think that Octavia’s downfall started with the cannibalism during the Dark Year, I think it’s the decision at the end of Red Queen to open the fighting pits and start punishing every crime by throwing people in them. This is her first really bad decision. In practice, this form of “justice” means that you can commit any crime you want if you're good at killing people once you’re in the pit. it fosters a culture of violence - even more so when death matches are entertainment. So, in the end, the guy from Delphi clan who just stole blankets (the Sangedakru delegate Brell demanded death for that - their laws are pretty draconian, makes me wonder in retrospect if Sheidheda was the one who first imposed them) died, while Kara effing Cooper got to live because she was the most ruthless person there. What I think Octavia should have done is - she should have executed the murderers and the leaders of the rebellion and given minor punishments to people who did things like steal blankets. (it's been argued they needed Cooper for the farm - but that was not the reasoning, Octavia left her with everyone else to fight.) 

This was Octavia, sadly, combining not the best, but the worst of the Ark system (death as the punishment for every crime or minor misdemeanor), Grounder tradition (death matches as the solution to everything) and her childhood stories of the Ancient Rome. If you're using Ancient Rome gladiator fights as your role model...you've probably stopped being a good guy.

The last scene, fighting pits 6 years later, is similar to the cliffhanger end of the previous episode, only now we get the cliffhanger of Kane being one of the fighters. Octavia is in her full Blodreina mode now. Not just her outward look has changed, but her facial expressions, too - this is the first time we see that cold, sinister Blodreina smile. Indra doesn’t look too happy, Gaia and Ethan are there. Miller- even after that much time - doesn’t look too happy with Cooper being there, by Octavia's side.

This is straight up horror imagery. There is even some sort of structure made of skulls next to where she's sitting!  Not exactly a throne of skulls like Sheidheda has in season 7 but something similar.

But here’s why this works so differently than Sheidheda and his throne of skulls in season 7 and why people are bored by the latter. There is no ambiguity in the S7 Sanctum story. Sheiheda is completely, cartoonishly evil, there is nothing complex about it, Murphy is now definitely a good guy, as are Emori and Indra, and none of them are in conflict about how to deal with him (except for a short moment in 7x09, which was OOC for Indra). The only characters that we may still wonder 'what are they gonna do? which side will they take?" are minor, underdeveloped characters like Nikki, or Knight (you're in trouble when your main question is "will Knight change sides?"). It's a very simple black and white story, the kind t100 normally doesn't do and Shady’s throne of . But when Octavia has her face painted in blood, has skulls next to her, and a creepy smile while she’s deciding the fate of the winner, that is genuinely disturbing because it's Octavia. You’ve followed her for seasons, and you’ve spent the whole episode rooting for her to solve the problems and deal with those really awful and annoying people... and then she does, and oh my god, suddenly she turns into a villain, and that’s chilling. 

Other observations:

I love the Kabby scene where they're talking while chained up in the farm, while a guy is playing guitar in the background. I think Abby was pretty unfair to Kane when she said he took away her choice to kill herself - because she didn’t try to kill herself, she tried to make Kane kill her, and then she expected him to be able to do it, even though she never could: not only did she open the bunker door to save Kane, she destroyed the radiation chamber (possibly dooming thousands of people) because she couldn’t allow Clarke to risk her life (in 4x08). Kane may be more of a “Head” than “Heart” of the two of them, but Abby should have realized he wouldn’t be able to carry her unconscious body (or even let someone else do it) and let her die of radiation. He loves her and he doesn’t really have anyone else. Abby really seemed to be taking out her own self-loathing out on him. It was still a sweet moment when he finally dropped the pretense that he saved her for being a doctor and admitted it was a Heart decision, and she finally admitted she would do the same and never regretted opening the bunker door to save him. 

But we get a hint about that Abby has already developed a pill addiction, which will strain and almost destroy their relationship. Kabby was a really well written relationship - we saw them falling in love over 4 seasons (which rarely happens with romantic relationships on this show) - but then we also saw that being together and loving each other is not enough to be “happy ever after”, not when you live in f*cked up circumstances and when you both have to deal with all sorts of problems. Love can’t conquer everything, which is more realistic way to depict romance.

Mackson actually have some screentime in this episode. This is actually the first time we see that they are together (after a brief flirting scene in season 4). I had forgotten that Miller says the L word in this episode: "You're a healer, nor a fighter. That's why I love you.” I thought “This was pretty fast” - but when you take into account they’ve been together for a couple of months, it’s actually not that fast compared to most of the romances on the show... It’ just that most of their relationships happens off-screen.

So Level C (which Cooper and her people took over) was where Cadogan planned to be with his family if the rest of the bunker goes to hell. Makes sense he’d do something like that.

Indra was already not a fan of the Commanders at this point, telling Gaia: "Your real Commanders would have left you to burn", "the spirits of the Commanders have abandoned us"

We got two Wells mentions in this episode! One when Jaha was reading a children’s book (apparently The Giving Tree - thanks @jeanie205​) to Ethan, and says it was his son's favorite bedtime story, and another one when Jaha is dying and says “Take me to my wife. Take me to Wells”.

ALIE would be proud of these people: they all keep repeating “There are too many people in this bunker” throughout the episode. Thanos would be proud of them, too. Why not instead say: “There aren’t enough resources in this bunker”? No worries then, they will manage to get 1/3 of those people killed - 814 will remain instead of 1200 by the time they get out of the bunker... What few characters in the show ever seem to realize are too few people for the human race to survive. That is, if they weren't lucky to always be running into more humans, and then everyone blows it away by killing each other, again.

A few lines in this episode feel like dark foreshadowing:

Abby makes the first mention of cannibalism, a dark period in Ark’s history called the “Blight"

"It won't be that easy", says Octavia to Cooper when Cooper wanted to kill herself. One could say the same when Octavia tried to sacrifice herself and die in 5x12

"I'll take care of the boy” - Octavia promises to Jaha to take care of little Ethan, just as Jaha promised to Ethan’s father. That didn't turn out so well in the end...

Rating: 9/10

[sometimesrosy]

Did you ever see the B/E relationship coming, or did you find it a big surprise? I know we can only speculate, but in your opinion, what has been Bellamy’s mindset about E and C since finding out Clarke was alive? What do you think his mindset is about the situation/them throughout season 6, going into season 7? I feel like he will be very focused on O since the anomaly took her, but what’s a way you think the love triangle could be resolved? Or if it will be?

I’ll be honest, I saw the B/E relationship coming from the cages. Not that it WOULD happen, but that it could. I wrote fics where she was cast in a romantic capability. When s4 happened and she went to space with spacekru leaving Clarke behind, I thought yes b/e would probably happen, but it didn’t bother me because that was one way to tell a love story an the end result would still be bellarke endgame. THAT is why I put a moratorium on b/e questions for the whole hiatus, because I wasn’t freaking out about b/e possibilities and I didn’t care to freak out about it and fandom was FREAKING OUT ABOUT IT. And it’s healthy boundaries to not take on other people’s freak outs. 

You have to start with season 5 to understand this love triangle I think. Because the 6 years apart created a new relationship for Bellarke that was based not on reality, but on memory and fantasy. Clarke created Bellamy as a fantasy boyfriend that she could talk to and kept her sane. He was a hero who could do no wrong and would always be there for her.  Bellamy created something similar, but because he thought she was dead, she was more like a ghost haunting him, he was the widower and she was the dead wife that lived in his head with him and guided his actions. He never thought he could have her again, because she was dead, while SHE thought that when he came back, he would be hers for real. They both took about all of season 5a to reconcile to the fact that the other was real, and then that their fantasy of the other had to make room for the real person. 

I’m not gonna say I know how Bellamy felt about having clarke and echo alive, but I’m gonna say, since this is how the story and scenes shook out, that he couldn’t *mentally* embrace having both echo and clarke in the same place. He couldn’t think about them TOGETHER, because that was not something he had dealt with yet. That these two women he loved were now both in his life. His old life of the ring was the real one, but suddenly Clarke was there, too, and everything changed. This is how the scenes were shot. He focused on Clarke OR Echo, and when he was with Clarke and brought up Echo or his “family,” tensions arose as Clarke and he circled around each other with their new alliances. Octavia made him face it. And then we saw with him choosing the sword over the earth, he was thinking about it. The smart thing to do was choose Echo. Then why does Clarke keep coming back into his heart? Why does he even want to choose Clarke when he’s committed to Echo? And yet he does. And he’s not able to process that when Echo is around. (which might be why she all but disappears once he gets to the ship where Clarke is.)

Season 6 is different. Clarke and Bellamy have become real to each other again. She is part of Spacekru-- although not easily. Clarke, Echo and Bellamy are all in the same shots, constantly, same scenes, Clarke watches b/e together. Echo watches Bellamy give all his attention to Clarke. Bellamy is “together” with Echo, but his primary emotional attachment seems to be Clarke. And as s6A progresses, he is more and more drawn emotionally (and physically!) to Clarke, to the point where, after an intimate conversation with Clarke about forgiveness and family, he sees her with Cillian and is JEALOUS, and then picks a fight with Echo about how she isn’t open or intimate enough and basically calls her not human. Really rotten, Bellamy. And it hurts Echo because she’s dealing with her own issues he knows nothing about... which means Bellamy is right. She isn’t open or intimate enough with him. She is getting ready to face it, finally, starting with the eclipse psychosis which correctly identified her relationship with Bellamy to be king/spy. This is a theme for Echo. This is her storyline in s6. How to face her past and identity as a spy CREATED by her relationship with the ruler, and reconcile that with her relationship with Bellamy. For Bellamy, his storyline is facing his feelings for Clarke and understanding what they mean. The season starts with B/E as an acknowledged relationship, but as Clarke and Bellamy try to rebuild their relationship as “platonic” partners, their damn feelings for each other keep getting in the way of the platonic part. When he is jealous of Cillian and takes it out on Echo, who didn’t deserve it, and Echo bares her soul (part way) to him, and he commits to moving forward with her and forgetting about the past, which clearly means Clarke, that is Bellamy making the ‘logical’ decision, the head decisions. 

But when Clarke is discovered to be bodysnatched, all his intentions of being committed to intimacy with Echo are forgotten. He doesn’t turn to her. He pays no attention to her. All his attention is on Clarke, who he feels he’s lost. He cannot reconcile losing her with moving forward. And when he finds out she is alive, HE is alive again, focused only on getting her back, canonically caring more about saving Clarke than what is happening to Jordan, Madi, Echo or spacekru. His focus is, again, on Clarke. And heading into the woods with Clarke’s body/Josephine, as she digs and digs at him about his feelings for Clarke. OMG what a romantic narrative. Your enemy in the body of your great unacknowledged love forcing you to recognize how much you love this body she has stolen and this mind she is trying to erase. AND THEN YOU SAVE HER. Bellamy has FACED how much he cares for and needs Clarke. He is SOFT for her in a way that he has been soft with Echo, only moreso. He is ROMANTIC with her. 

When Bellamy and Echo reunite in Sanctum, after not knowing whether or not he had left her for dead, their reunion is relieved and loving, but not intimate or passionate-- as Bellarke’s reunion was when she was brought back from the dead. Clarke watches them hug, and actually interrupts their hug (which she’s never done before. in s5 when she saw them hugging she stepped back and mentally let him go, but this time she interrupts “platonically.” maybe jealously idk.) Bellamy, meanwhile, looks at Clarke over Echo’s shoulder. The way he’s dealing with Echo and Clarke in the same place has changed. And when Clarke and Bellamy reunite after the battle is all over, Echo, who is right there (we see her in some of the background shots) essentially disappears from Bellamy’s attention. Echo gets a pat on the back, while Clarke and he run to each other, fall into each other’s arms, he rocks her while she nuzzles him, they have direct eye contact and talk about deep feelings of self worth and intention and then hug again while the light is buttery and romantic. *sunflare* And this ends the season. 

When we get Octavia disappearing, Echo is back. Yes. And there is no intimacy. And when Bellamy loses Octavia, Echo is not there for emotional support, she is, as usual, the spy, taking care of capturing Hope while Bellamy’s world changes.

Going into s7, we have the final season, which means we’ll have to see a conclusion to all the loose narratives. There is, of course, the saving humanity storyline, from the apocalypse and from themselves, which would be a redemption. Salvation and Redemption are offered. That’s the larger over all story. BUT that story HANGS on the backbone of the story, which is, both evident in the narrative and STATED by JR, Bellarke and their relationship to each other. There is finding Octavia (which no doubt will lead to the major plot of the anomaly/salvation/redemption) There is Raven and her self worth. Murphy and his fear of dying alone. Echo and her identity as Ash, Clarke and her needing to be the good guy and Bellamy with his...

Ah. What’s Bellamy’s main struggle? It’s about saving the person he loves. (first O, then Clarke) No wait. It’s developed. I think it’s about LIVING with the person he loves. After saving comes living. As Murphy said, “We get everything we want. We get to live.” “Not Clarke,” Bellamy responds. “Not Clarke seems to be an answer to both ‘everything we want’ and ‘we get to live.’ although, no the right way to answer that last one is ‘clarke doesn’t.’ Bellamy is CHOOSING Clarke. It’s still an active storyline, he hasn’t chosen her yet, but he is actively doing so. Also, when seen in the light of Monty’s orders to not only be the good guys, but to live a good life as happy as he was, Bellamy’s Book 2 goal is the heart part of Monty’s statement. Live a life that is happy. He needs Clarke for that.

When I take these narrative threads, the knowledge that Bellarke is the center of the story, the understanding that their relationship MUST be resolved in order to offer a satisfying conclusion, and then I consider all the related character arcs, the only way it can fall out is like this: Clarke (who is in love with Bellamy) saves humanity and is willing to sacrifice her happiness to do it. Bellamy (who has accepted that he loves Clarke) saves Clarke and won’t let her sacrifice her happiness.  Screw that. He won’t let her leave him again. 

They’ll redeem humanity by being the good guys (Clarke’s goal) do it together (because unity is the only way it gets done, also head and heart have to be together,) and they will live the rest of their lives from a place of love (Bellamy’s goal.) Raven and Murphy I’m not 100% sure on, but Echo needs to face Ash, to BE Ash, and that means she has to reject the king/spy dynamic and therefore NOT be with Bellamy. It’s not about Clarke at all, it’s about her. Which means that Bellamy will be able to stop sacrificing his love for his commitment to be the good guy with Echo. And Clarke and Bellamy will be the winning angle of the love triangle. 

HOW? IDK. Yes. They’ll deal with missing Octavia, but he’s let her go. She doesn’t run his life anymore. And besides, Clarke has ALWAYS been the person who understands the blakes the best. He will go to her for help on that, emotionally, even if Echo is the lieutenant in battle. Also, my guess is they’ll get O back either in 7a, or in the first few eps of s7. The real battle is going to be what happens after. 

The love triangle will DEFINITELY be resolved. This story REQUIRES Clarke and Bellamy to be together. It’s their “thing.” But also the head and the heart is part of a system that doesn’t work without each other. During their time apart, they each found a way to carry the other with them, Clarke with her fantasies and Bellamy with his internalizing her voice. But now they get to BE together, and choose each other, and work and live and love TOGETHER. 

After hakeldama, I realized that this story HAD to have them getting together. And they held off on the romantic togetherness for most of the show, but as we get closer to the end, s5 and s6 have brought the romantic nature of Bellarke out of hiding. So yes. The culmination of the Bellarke story will, finally, be romantic. Not just together “platonically” but as true loves. In all the ways.

[inkandcamcorder]

Okidoki! This is my little theory post after watching the S7 trailer for The 100, I’ll probably add as I go and cancel or confirm as we watch.

As a little disclaimer, of course I know nothing for sure. If you see something that doesn’t make sense with the facts please let me know. Some of these may be completely wrong and probably most are. I’ve started this list from the fact that I believe the wormhole will let the mains go back in time, stopping te nuclear war or earth from going ka-boom or whatever it did at the time or during Praimfaya, and therefore they will erase themselves from existence. I don’t expect a happy ending but I’d still be happy if it were the case. Some of these are also repetitive or completely contradictory. Anyways, we’ll see! I’m also quite lazy so I often use initials to shorten the character’s names, I hope it’s clear enough! Obviously you’ll have seen many of these around, and some were inspired by what I’ve read on Twitter and over here of course!

I refer to the guys in the weird suits with the electric batons as the Big Human Menace, a.k.a BHM.

PS: I often mention “teams”. I don’t mean allegiance, I mean which plot line they’ll be allocated too as that many characters get split over different plot lines. Also sorry this is so long! I’m using it as a self tracker.

Here’s what I think we know from the trailer:

Jordan is going slightly creepy or cult-ish (not from the trailer but that weird look from S6),

Dyoza is in the Anomaly but alive.

Bellamy will cry & B & O will try to save one another through sacrifice.

Echo will cut her hair.

Madi will be threatened (by Russell I think).

Clarke will grieve her mom.

There’s a wormhole.

Raven and Clarke will team up and be close (and go on a mission to Nakara, the ice planet, with Jordan, Nate, Nylah, Gaia and Jackson I think? Hard to tell from the shots).

There will be skeletons.

Murphy and Emori will kick ass.

Murphy and Raven will team up.

Hope’s hair changes and she too is part of the team against the BHM.

Some guy bleeds.

Some girl screams. (I’ve seen people think it’s Raven, but that seemed unlikely to me).

Murphy get a gun put to his head.

Sheidheda (sorry about the spelling of it’s wrong!) is free. (S6)

Clarke points a fun to someone’s head (Russell I believe).

Hope screams behind a window, held by O next to C.

Echo screams.

There will be a sort of lab or torture chamber.

There seems to be a scene of Finn tied to the pole.

There’s some sort of flashback with Hope and Octavia.

There’s an icy planet, Nakara.

Bellamy should show up clean shaven at some point.

Gabriel is on the Echo plot team.

“I say live and let die.” - Murphy

There’s a change of plans for Echo and Gabriel.

O is on a white room, strapped down to a chair.

“If you fail, all our people are dead too.” (Bellamy to Clarke)

Echo is running after someone unconscious being taken (from the butt/cardigan it’s Bellamy).

Dyoza is seen holding O back.

A man is playing chess.

Russell says “we want peace”.

Here are the theories :

Jordan is going to lead a sort of rebellion for peace, similar to a cult, perhaps with him as a sort of priest.

Dyoza will be back in “The Garden” and try to get back to H and O, and will help with the Anomaly. She will eventually die - probably to save O (and/or H). They’ll be a recurring theme of “found family” between D, O and H. Probably in the hope to keep O & Bellamy from sacrificing themselves for each other or something similar.

Bellamy and Clarke will be separated for a third to half of the season.

Bellamy and Echo will be mainly on different plot lines (once she’s rescued him) - they will be apart. They will separate amicably and “always be family” or Echo will let him go (possibly before dying).

Echo will infiltrate the BHM.

Bellamy will be kidnapped and he and Madi will be used as bait for Clarke in different ways by different ennemies.

If any concrete Bellarke happens, it will be in the last two episodes, most likely only the finale. There might be some intense gazing or brushed aside lean-ins beforehand.

If they change the past, they’ll all die. If not, Clarke, Bellamy and possibly Murphy (and/or Raven) will die. Most of the mains really.

The wormhole will connect to Earth in the last allowing for revisits if plot points (perhaps Ton DC with the skeletons).

Raven and Co. will forgive Clarke (and who knows, maybe apologise? Crazy stuff).

Clarke will deal with Russel trying to rebel. She’ll threaten to burn him but as Jordan “cult” or whatnot rises, that will take a backseat. They’ll ally and Gaia will serve as an advisor. Jordan will say that he wants peace. Clarke will answer that “this is not the way” and “sacrifices must be made”. It will get out of hand (and perhaps made worse by Sheidheda interfering) and Jordan will realise the errors of his way. This will serve as a side plot while the Anomaly stretches out along the season and becomes the main plot towards the last third of the season as they search for a way to ensure humanity survives.

Sheidheda will finally be destroyed (by Clarke, with help from Gaia, Murphy and Raven).

Octavia’s death would supposedly unlock some sort of solution for the Anomaly, B will try to swap places. O sees it as her chance for redemption once more. D takes her place or something similar.

Clarke threatens Russel with a gun but doesn’t follow through.

Octavia and Gabriel will sleep together and develop *feelings* but D and H will always come first for O. Gabriel will die and say something along the lines of “as he should have a long time ago”.

Echo will go rogue to save the the day.

Jordan will rebel when Clarke decides to burn Russell.

Possibly, the BHM will come through the wormhole (hence the need for C & Co to go through it too - they’ll take a ship, which is where the scene with Hope flinging herself against the door screaming next to O and C will take place, though that could also be in the torture chamber area).

Echo will get caught and be tortured.

Murphy will get to convince Clarke not to choose violence.

Murphy and Emori will be quickly forgiven, but also reminded of their mistakes in a heated argument. They’ll use their newfound positions to lead in Sanctum.

If it’s not a time fix-up, Maddie will survive, along with Gaia.

Indra will die for Gaia and tell her she’s proud of her.

There will be some sort of human experiment.

One of the revisited part of time will be Finn’s death (perhaps leading to some Lexa archive footage being used).

During her time in the Anomaly, O will have basically raised and protected Hope, along with Dyoza, while never giving up hope to get back to Bellamy in any way possible. They’ll have been hunted by the BHM there too.

The wormhole will also lead to several other planets (which I believe is actually confirmed) - one of them might be a lot of water.

The bloodied guy will be an enemy of sort, possibly coming through the Anomaly, maybe tortured by Clarke and Co or Jordan’s follower though that’s unlikely. Probably by radiation/

While the others are on Nakara, Emori and Murphy deal with Sanctum and Jordan.

Murphy will take Jordan under his way in honour of Monty and Harper.

Echo will cut her hair for her mission as a way to be more incognito, the mission being likely the rescue mission to get Bellamy back, who was kidnapped by BHM.

They’ll explore the other planets, maybe in hopes of finding more human survivors or a safe heaven.

There’ll be parallel between Clarke in S7 and Bellamy in S6.

People will try to go in the Anomaly (Echo/Raven) but not all will be allowed in, or they’ll get split up.

Bellamy will probably be mentally tortured (possibly with a lonely/erased virtual reality).

Murphy will not want to go on the suicide mission (there might be a vote about it) but will go anyway for everybody’s sake in they want him to/need him.

The change of plans for Echo will be due to something linked to Bellamy - realising he’s about to get hurt, tortured, moved, is somewhere close, etc.

O will probably be part of the human experiment thing, probably during in the Anomaly, which is linked to the wormhole (possibly through its code that was on her back).

There will be, of course, some sort of apocalypse.

And a war.

There’ll be tons of S1 callback (maybe that underwater with the jellyfish is used as a callback for O in S1 in the lake?)

I think Jordan’s the person in the water with the jellyfish, and I don’t think he’s chilling because he probably can’t swim. So he fell by accident by using the wormhole or slipped or whatnot.

Octavia will act older as she has lived an extra 17-19 years in the Anomaly (which is part of her argument why she should die instead of Bellamy) and act rather weary as a result.

Possibly some sort of radiation issue? On Sanctum and/or back in past earth or a new planet.

They’re being hunted by the BHM who are coming through the Anomaly.

Russel has followers taking part in the Sanctum war.

The war will have to stop to unify against BHM and/or apocalypse.

There’s six symbols on the screen for the wormhole: 5 for Eligius as someone else very rightly pointed out (let me know if you recognise yourself, I remember reading it somewhere) the sixth one might be the BHM or something to unlock the wormhole?

Is the Anomaly absorbing or killing people and being used as a weapon, most likely by BHM? (Someone else remarked a skull in the green smoke).

Raven will get her red jacket back from a time travel. They’ll probably go back to Allie’s lab from S4 and get it back then.

Clarke is going to go a bit “dark” but will be brought back by her love for the Délinquents.

!Darke Clarke will be triggered by Bellamy’s disappearance.

If Sanctum survives, Russell will not die. He will not be murdered by Clarke.

There you go!

[harry-leroy]

Endeavour VII just finished here in the U.S. last night and I’m !!! - I’ve got some thoughts + reactions from when I was watching these past few weeks. I’m just happy to finally be up to speed with the rest of the Endeavour crew (I can finally take the Endeavour VII tags off of my blacklist hehehe - I was trying to avoid spoilers). Overall, a very nice series! 

Okay so my ranking of these episodes would have to be Zenana as my favorite, Oracle in the middle, and Raga on the bottom. I think this has to do more with the overall arc of s7 rather than individual things in the episodes themselves. 

I was able to guess most things about the arc of s7 in advance. The only thing I didn’t really see coming was the whole thing with Sturgis (which was so yikes!!! ahhhh). I had pinned the towpath killings on Ludo + Violetta. Ludo seemed to know too many things about it from the first episode and was that Violetta with the sword at the end of Oracle? 

Ludo and Morse were FLIRTING idk what could be said to refute it like... ‘you can have it’ (my incredibly rare Callas Butterfly recording) - I DIED. In a perfect world, the whole thing has to be an ot3. (*Rewrites the scene in Zenana so Violetta takes both of their hands at that dining table, like GOD*). 

I thought the culprit in Oracle was Blish’s wife, rather than Blish himself. I was too focused on the Molly Andrews case and the whole thing being a robbery where the motive was money (when it actually turned out to be something quite different entirely). But I also told my dad at the end of Oracle that ‘Blish didn’t kill Molly Andrews’. He had more of his hopes on pinning Violetta as the towpath killer, while I had my bets on Ludo. (Again, we were both kinda wrong - although we’ve yet to talk about Zenana (because we live in two different states now because I’m back at school). I guess Ludo was slightly more guilty in the end than Violetta, but still... (Additionally, Morse said at the end of Oracle that “sometimes you can’t see what’s right in front of you” aka Ludo and Violetta). 

The boys were FIGHTING this series like ahhh! The way Morse handles snark with Thursday is how I snark with people who are older than me on occasion - which either means that I have a very similar personality to Morse or Morse has the personality of a surly 20 year old (it’s probably both and I think that’s honestly iconic of us). Especially in Zenana, when Morse was like “I’m leaving. It’s about time anyway.” like sis, same. 

MAX DEBRYN A HERO FOR OUR TIME AND ALL TIME - and when Morse said “Max, I’m sorry” in Zenana I screamed. 

JIM STRANGE A HERO FOR OUR TIME AND ALL TIME - I was not expecting him to be impaled with a cane but here we are. At least he’s going to be okay *relieved sigh*. Also the way that Morse and Strange bonded at the end was *chef’s kiss* like Morse is finally relying on friends... 

I guessed the killer in Raga as soon as he said “I’m the first one in every morning and the last to leave” like fifteen minutes into the episode, but I don’t think I was overly confident about it. Raga threw a lot of information our way and some of it clouded my judgement. Also I didn’t want him to be the killer! I think that’s where some of my conflicting feelings came in about it. I wanted it to be that awful politician... hmm... (he did get slapped at the end, which is at least something). 

You can tell that Raga distracted me because I can’t remember ANYONE’s names from that episode... 

Also shout out to Jim Strange and his apron *chef’s kiss* 

Poor Bright... I even saw it coming too... not in that way though. When he and his wife were having that conversation about coming home and spending time together after Bright got back home from work, I was like... she’s gonna die. And she did! Because of Ludo! Ahhhhhhh 

Dorothea Frazil A QUEEN 

“Misanthrope” - a fitting word for you and that crossword in Zenana, Morse. 

All of those girls storming the towpath in Zenana like YESSSS - a mood. 

Sturgis may have done some awful things, but him saying essentially ‘fuck the police’ in Zenana was a mood :) 

Finally, the finale in Venice and the note Morse wrote to Joan/Thursday, like all of that was *chef’s kiss*. I just love Morse and his little found family so much. Also getting dressed up for an opera just so you can confront your lover for murder and other crimes behind the box curtains... like... the glamour. 

Anyway, my lunch hour is up so that’s all I’ve got for now. Great season! I’m going to unblock the s7 tag now so I can see and like all of your lovely s7 posts! :) 

[nightqueendany]

Original Final Season 7 - Episode 4: Dragonglass

It’s Tuesday again...

ON DRAGONSTONE:

Jon/Dany visit the caves - now having been cleared out of the dragonglass, Jon wants to show Dany the COTF markings, their attraction for each other becomes more clear in this scene and Dany is more sure of Jon telling the truth about the Night King and Army of the Dead

Dany asks Missandei if any of the 19 languages she speaks use a symbol-system for their written language, Missandei replies yes, a few, so Dany then tasks her with copying down some of the symbols from the dragonglass cave, perhaps she can decipher some of the ruin symbols

Sometime while alone in the cave, Missandei and Grey Worm have sex, AKA Greyssandei cavesex

Team Stark/Targaryen discuss the dragonglass, that while the amount of it is much needed, they have no weapon smith skilled enough to work it

Dany agrees to have Yara and Theon ferry all they’ve mined to White Harbor/the North (This is Theon’s idea but Jon supports it - secretly, Theon is anxious to see Sansa again so this is his excuse)

- In exchange for sending the Greyjoys North with the dragonglass, Jon agrees to send the Northern forces (Northmen, Knights of the Vale, Riverlands) south to assist with the blockade of King’s Landing - no formal alliance has been made yet, but they want to show a united front against Cersei, the sooner they take out Cersei, the sooner everyone can face the threat of the White Walkers

Davos says he knows of a weapon smith who might be able to work the dragonglass, but he’ll need to go to King’s Landing, knows how to smuggle himself in

Tyrion opts to go with Davos to King’s Landing as representative of the Queen

As Yara and Theon are about to leave, Yara basically encourages Dany to “tap that” (Jon) while Davos and Tyrion are away in King’s Landing, Dany needs to secure the North formally, and seducing Jon into marriage is the most efficient way to do it but Dany isn’t so sure (as she’s secretly falling for him anyway)

Ellaria and Olenna depart Dragonstone as well, to prepare for the siege of King’s Landing

Melisandre begins to finally push her agenda on Dany, to convert many in Westeros to the religion of R’hllor, Dany is open to the idea of erecting a center where the Sept once stood that is open to those of all religions and inviting more red priests to Westeros to practice their faith

Varys is none too pleased with this and his irritation with Dany/Mel puts him into a gossipy mood

When Baelish inquires after the fact that Dany has no children from her previous relationships, Varys confirms she’s barren, and this is music to Baelish’s ears - even married, Jon and Dany would have to name a successor because Dany can’t birth one and the most prominent name on the list of potentials would be Sansa, who is already Jon’s heir for the Northern crown

Varys quickly guesses Baelish’s scheme but for once, isn’t opposed to his former friend’s plot to get Sansa on the throne (he’s more intrigued than anything), he fears Melisandre and her magic, that her influence over Dany and Jon will lead to much trouble later on

To push Varys finally over to his side permanently, Baelish points out Dany’s house words will always be “Fire and Blood” and that if it were between her and Baelish, she would be the real “Queen of the Ashes” - a tip off to Varys that Baelish knew of his/Olenna’s S3 conversation when Varys first said Baelish would “see the country burn to be King of the Ashes”

At Varys’ slightly troubled/embarrassed look, Baelish reminds Varys he had eyes and ears all over King’s Landing, and still does...

At Jon and Dany’s urging (they both hate him and don’t entirely trust him) Baelish reluctantly leaves Dragonstone also, he’s to meet the KOTV and other northern forces when they reach the capital, Varys accompanies him

IN WINTERFELL:

Bran and Arya have formed a deep bond in their short time together, Bran sharing with Arya all he knows of his powers and he mentions his powers aren’t exclusive to his being the 3ER - that some of them are because he is a Stark, and that Arya is a Stark as well - Arya scoffs at what Bran is implying but Bran just utters something mysterious and vague that Arya can’t argue with

At Jon’s news and Bran’s urging, Arya is to go to the Riverlands to deliver the message personally to Edmure about sending troops to King’s Landing

Arya is hesitant to leave Winterfell, but Bran tells her something that makes her want to go - the things she asked Bran to look into, she’ll find in King’s Landing/her journey to, and Bran knows just where she needs to look...

Sansa doesn’t want Arya to leave, all her family is leaving Winterfell again (like Season 1), she worries none of them will come back, they’re “the last of the Starks”, but Arya insists they will all be back, there’s just a few things she’s left behind, Brienne will train Sansa in Arya’s stead and Arya quips that Sansa will be better than her by the time she gets back

Northern forces leave Winterfell

Arya leaves Winterfell

IN KING’S LANDING:

Davos and Tyrion come across Gendry and Davos gives him a sample of the dragonglass, Gendry says the material is tricky, but he should be able to work with it

The trio prepare to leave King’s Landing but Davos senses a storm coming in, they’ll have to wait in the city a few days and lay low in Gendry’s shop - Davos/Tyrion send a raven to Dragonstone saying where they are and that they’ve succeeded in finding the weapon smith

Title is simply for the substance driving the plot this entire episode - the Dragonglass. It’s what takes Theon North (toward Sansa), what urges Davos to find Gendry, and what brings Jon and Dany closer together/what makes Dany more sure of Jon’s telling the truth about the AOTD.

Episode 4 Inside the Episode: Dragonglass

1) Baelish and Varys:

Inarguably, the second-worst subplot of the entirety of Season 7 was the Winterfell plot (the first being the Wight Hunt).  It was unnecessary and ridiculous. This is when the mischaracterization of the Starks began. Arya and Sansa would not be at odds with each other upon reuniting and we all know it, even with Baelish in the picture. Sansa tells Jon in 6x10, “only a fool would trust Littlefinger” and yet she does so throughout most of S7, being the fool she had already warned Jon against. Remember what I said in the preface post about things being easily “undone” or forgotten entirely? Seems Sansa forgot to be wary of Baelish in show canon.

Also, I most definitely think we were owed one more encounter between Varys and Baelish. By killing Baelish off when the show did, it significantly simplified both their potential plots for Season 7 (and 8) because neither had anyone to spar with, as they had in previous seasons. Baelish’s “sparring partners” became Sansa and Arya and Varys’ became Tyrion, both unsuccessfully.

Further proof that Baelish and Varys were supposed to “get the band back together” so to speak, is two of Varys’s lines/conversations with/about Baelish are echoed in each of the final two seasons. First, in 7x02 when Tyrion tells Dany she’s “not here to be Queen of the ashes”. As mentioned above, Varys told Olenna Tyrell that “[Littlefinger] would see this country burn if he could be King of the Ashes,” (3x04) - it’s the exact same phrase and Varys is present when Tyrion says this to Dany in 7x02.

Next, in 8x04, Varys and Tyrion talk about “the realm”. Varys reminds Tyrion he “serves the realm” and Tyrion asks “what is the realm.” Varys has a very similar conversation with Baelish in 3x06 (Baelish’s infamous “Chaos is a ladder” speech).

These two lines/conversations, I think, are absolutely not a coincidence and further point to a previous plot/script whose lines and scenes are hidden just beneath the ones we watched. Baelish’s presence is felt in these scenes with Varys, but he’s not actually there. Having Baelish around this time gives the audience fulfillment that canon did not.

And as we’ve never seen them on the same side before, it would make for interesting conflict to see them team up against Dany.  

Varys is uncomfortable with Melisandre and her magic and this needs to be paid off. As I stated last episode, it was set up and then never done anything with. It makes way more sense for Varys to part ways with Dany over this and have a payoff for it, than him turning on Dany for Jon when he doesn’t even know Jon.

Baelish pushing Varys into this is also the natural progression of things as Baelish will manipulate anyone in order to get what he wants: he and Sansa on the Iron Throne, ruling Westeros. Varys knew Sansa from when she was a little girl in King’s Landing and admits he admired her father. Varys supporting Sansa over say Jon, would make more sense.

2) Missandei attempting to translate the COTF cave markings:

I know it seems weird guys. But hear me out. It gives Missandei a PURPOSE this season, gives her a job, an important one, and it uses her skillsets in regards to the endgame of the series: defeating the Army of the Dead. These ruins were heavily emphasized in 7x04 and the symbols even made it all the way into 8x01 with the Night King’s lovely art installation piece of Ned Umber on the wall with a bunch of body parts. These symbols NEED to be figured out. And I’m all for my girl Missandei getting to flex a little.

Plus, Missandei went to the cave with Jon, Dany, and Davos in show canon. Why not, uhh, idk, have her take a look and give her opinion on what they could possibly mean?? You know, just stating the obvious here, don’t mind me!

3) Gendry

Doy, another no-brainer. Aside from fucking and getting rejected by Arya, Gendry’s S8 story was about fashioning dragonglass weapons, but he was pulled into the 7x06 “Suicide Squad” for idiotic reasons.

Having Davos seek him out to work the dragonglass solves two problems: a) It explains how and why Gendry becomes the head weapon maker with the dragonglass at Winterfell in show canon, and b) gives Davos a REAL reason to seek him out, rather than, oh yeah, I liked this kid, gonna go see if he’s alive and around anywhere. Cuz that was just dumb and nonsensical.

4) Lastly Arya leaving Winterfell after arriving so soon...?

I know this may seem strange as well. But in this context, Arya isn’t leaving Winterfell permanently. Which was just dumb after she fought so hard to get back home and fought so hard for her home. It also gives her her own journey, not just sitting around Winterfell waiting for Jon to get back with Daenerys and waiting for the dead to come. As to what Arya’s going to find in King’s Landing/on her journey there, you’ve probably already guessed. And as for Bran’s hints that Arya’s got similar powers to him...you’ve also probably already guessed what these might be. 

Aaaaand that’s it for Episode 4. As always, you guys can comment on these and tell me what you think, ask questions etc. It’s allowed. Don’t be shy. Especially since this is the episode that probably is the greatest divergence from canon yet, I’d love to hear your guys opinions.

Original Final Season 7: Preface Post

Season 7 Episode 1: Family, Duty, Honor

Season 7 Episode 2: Greywater Watch

Season 7 Episode 3: The Last of the Dragons 

Season 7 Episode 4: Dragonglass (Current Episode)

Season 7 Episode 5: The Storm

Season 7 Episode 6: Summerhall 

Season 7 Episode 7: A City Fit For A King

Season 7 Episode 8: Protectors of the Realm

Season 7 Episode 9: The Battle For The Dawn

Season 7 Episode 10: ?

[nyangibun]

GoT S08E03 Thoughts

The fuck??? 

I actually have no idea how to feel about this episode or what was really even happening because jfc, the lighting was so dark and everything was moving so fast. At one point, I was wondering who the f I was even watching. 

I feel with retrospect, I’ll have a lot more to say, but as these posts are my immediate thoughts, here we go. 

We got another shot of Alys Karstark for apparently no reason. It’s weird that we were introduced to her in S7 so we know what she looks like and we keep seeing her in S8 without any payoff. Most characters we recognise that appear on screen serve a purpose. Ned Umber showed up because he needed to die for the Night King’s Cool Abstract Art. But seriously, I know non-Jonsa’s think the kidnap plot is ‘delusional’ but tell me, what purpose does Alys serve? Maybe it’s not a kidnap plot but I believe there will be some kind of mistaken identity or switch. I don’t know. I really don’t know why else she would keep reappearing in every episode thus far -- not to mention Sophie Turner’s behind-the-scenes photo where she is wearing a similar dress to what Alys was wearing in Ep 1.

I have a gripe with this episode (amongst others). Why the hell is Ghost out there? Why is he running with Jorah and the Dothrakis? Even if he is going to fight in this battle, it doesn’t make sense he’d choose to do so alongside people he doesn’t even know. Also, we didn’t get a death scene so is he alive? Did they seriously CGI Ghost in 2 episodes to do absolutely fuck all and then die? I will riot in the streets, D&D. 

Speaking of the Dothraki, what was the damn point of them? They literally died in 0.5 seconds. That was it. I know people had to die and hordes of ‘em but it felt like a complete waste of the Dothraki plotline. Also, didn’t Dani take all of the fighting men to Westeros to fight in her damn war? So now the entire Dothraki civilisation is basically massacred and there’s only the women and children left? Like damn, talk about a bad time. The Dothraki randomly charging like that was dumb AF as well. Why would you charge into an army that you know is 3-4 times the size of yours? I’m no battle strategist but I feel like that was a dumb idea.  

In terms of the battle, I really don’t know what to say. There were cool moments (ie. Arya being a badass and killing wights left and right) and then there were just wtf moments. My issue with the battle sequence was mostly just the sensory overload. There was so much going on everywhere at the same time and it was hard to keep track of what was actually going on. I also felt a little underwhelmed by the usefulness of the dragons. I suppose it was to say that the dragons can be defeated and are not the tide-changing weapons they have been in the past, which doesn’t bode well for them in the future. Btw, did Rhaegal die? Like... he fell out of the sky? And then disappeared? Are we down to just Drogon? 

And now, a moment of silence for our fallen brethren: Edd (thank you for saving Sam), Lyanna (my badass child, thank you for so cooly killing that giant), Beric (thank you for saving Arya) and Theon (wtf Bran?! you really knew our boy was gonna die and you were all ‘you’re a good man’ and then that’s it?!). 

Okay, that’s not fair. I guess Bran saying that to Theon allowed him to reach full circle with his redemption arc. He has fully atoned for his sins against House Stark. But I still think his death was bullshit. Although I loved the moment between Bran and Theon when Bran tells him that all of his decisions had led him here: home. That was definitely what Theon needed to hear and I am glad he got that before he died.

I just want to talk about Jonerice. The scene before the battle starts, they are standing overlooking the battlegrounds together, but there is a considerable amount of distance between them physically. The framing is definitely still pitting them at odds with each other since last episode’s reveal. And their conversation is also heavy with tension. It’s a good reminder that Dance of Dragons 2.0 is very much still on the table despite them working together in this episode, though that isn’t going to last long.

Jorah’s unwavering love and loyalty to Dani serves as the perfect foil to Jonerice’s weak and unconvincing romance. Time and time again, he has proven the depth of his feelings for Dani and it is him that comes to her rescue, not Jon (though ofc Jon has bigger fish to fry). And despite her not reciprocating her feelings for him, Jorah is someone she cared about and I think his death will be something she holds against the North. What I mean by that is she will think that because she has fought for the North and lost half of her army and someone she loves, they must bend the knee or else. I mean I get where she’s coming from 100%. Dani risked a lot to fight, whether her reason was altruistic or not, she has. But the problem is the North can’t afford to fight in her war with Cersei. And yes, she fought for them but they have also been through hell serving foreign rulers. This is going to be a huge point of conflict going forward but we already knew that. Now there’s just this added element. 

Also, wait... Both Lyanna and Jorah are dead. What happens to House Mormont now? Is there even another Mormont left? 

I know there weren’t any Jon x Sansa interactions and that sucks, I admit, but it’s also okay. I was happy with Tyrion and Sansa’s interactions there. Sansa has effectively said goodbye to all of her potential suitors. When Tyrion says ‘maybe they should’ve stayed married’ and Sansa responds with ‘it wouldn’t work between us; we have divided loyalties’, that ends all of the speculations that Tyrion and Sansa would re-marry or legitimize their marriage. And Sansa’s right. After the battle is over, the politics begin and their loyalties are divided. Tyrion is loyal to Dani who wants the Iron Throne and the Seven Kingdoms, and Sansa is loyal to House Stark and Northern Independence. Like I said, this is going to be a huge focus in the upcoming episodes for all of the characters. They came together despite differences to fight for the living but now they will have to choose sides on the future of the living. Tyrion and Sansa will be on opposite sides but I do maintain that Tyrion will eventually lose faith in Dani and betray her. 

In any case, Sansa basically points out that in order for a marriage to work, their loyalties and thus their goals for the future would have to be the same. Now, whose loyalties and goals coincide with Sansa’s? Jon. They are both loyal to House Stark first and foremost and then to the North. At this point, let’s be honest, there are no more eligible bachelors that we know of in Westeros. I mean technically, there’s Jaime, but as if that would happen with all of the Braime scenes this season and the lack of any interaction between Sansa and Jaime. I also don’t think Jaime will survive the season. I hope he does but I just don’t have a lot of faith he will. Redemption arcs and all that. Jon still remains her most viable option to further the House Stark line. Unless everyone dies in the end, succession is an important aspect of the story. 

I also remember someone mentioning that Tyrion could be a possible reason why Sansa gets kidnapped, as in he’ll betray her to save his skin when Bronn comes to kill him. I don’t know how much I believe this tbh but he does say that Sansa underestimates the lengths he’ll go to in order to avoid being apart of the Army of the Dead. While he is talking presently and maybe only about dying and becoming one of them, he might mean death itself. Take what you will. I’m not sure how much I believe in this theory. 

As for Arya, well, what is there to say? She is the best and I love her. I really didn’t expect it at the start of this episode she’d be the one to kill the Night King but after Melissandre’s comment to her, it was pretty obvious. I don’t really have anything to say about that just that I love her and want to protect her. I also like Melissandre a lot and Beric and hers are the only deaths in this episode that gave me a sense of closure. Their story had come to an end and it made sense. For everyone else, I am still very wtf about it. 

Anyway, so let’s do a head count of the survivors: all the Starks (Jon, Arya, Bran, Sansa), Tormund, Brienne, Jaime, Sam, The Hound, Dani, Drogon, Missandei, Tyrion, Varys, Gendry, Davos... 

People I have no idea if they survived: Podrick? Gilly and lil Sam? Ghost? Rhaegal? Grey Worm? Alys? 

Am I missing anyone? 

[storiesbeyondthestars]

I remember watching S4 & 5 and realizing ‘oh, Lance is going to end up having a huge part in Shiro’s arc’, though at the same time, as anyone who has read my story Ignite the Stars knows, I predicted the shit out of the Keith and Shiro fight (which, to this day, remains one of my favourite moments in Voltron). I always knew that a Keith and Shiro showdown was the only way for that to go, I just thought Lance would be involved somehow.

But he wasn’t. It was one of those little moments that had me stumped. A lot of people just got mad  and accused the creators of hating Lance, getting rid of his arc, being racist, all kinds of bull like that.

It got me thinking though. Why set up Lance being the one to notice something was wrong with Shiro? Yes, a few others noticed that he was a bit off, but not in the same way. 

It was one of those things, in retrospect, that Lance pieced together and realized ‘oh fuck it was staring me right in the face’. Some fans like to claim that Lance is the most observant one attuned to others feelings but…no, he’s really not. I can now confidently say that that wasn’t the point of the entire thing at all, because I think I know what it was, and I think we’re about to see this play out in S8. (Heads up, this gets super long.)

Lance isn’t the most observant of the Paladins. He’s not the most sensitive. He’s not the most intelligent. He can think of good plans, but he’s also an impulsive little shit too and isn’t the most patient.  Lance’s greatest strength is the fact that he’s adaptable. Lance, from episode one, has been shown to learn from his mistakes. We see this when he crashes a simulation but learns from it and adapts, and is able to better fly Blue later.

We saw this when he went from claiming he would never follow Keith’s lead to being the first one to vocally support him. We saw this when his gun turned into a sword and he rolled with it.

Lance learns and adapts like no one else, especially when he makes a mistake. And we know a part of him feels guilty about what happened with Shiro.

That’s so important with Lance, because he’s not going to make the same mistake again.

I want to talk about Keith for a second now.

I’ve been one of the ones with the on-going theories that something is going to go down with Keith, that Honerva wants to get her hands on him for some reason that likely has to do with his connection to quintessence (and the fact that he was soaked in an entire vat of it). It’s very likely that she’s going to try to corrupt him in some form.

As we know now, in moments of extreme emotional distress, Keith does seem to get access to more Galra characteristics. The sclera of his eyes turn yellow, his irises become slits, it looks like he gets fangs, and, from those two moments during his fight with Shiro, he seems to become stronger.

While fighting with Shiro, those two moments were there for a reason. Keith was thinking about his actions, he was entirely on the defensive, but Shiro pushed him once and he lashed out, and that’s when we saw the Galra eyes and Shiro saying “There’s the Keith I remember”. It’s not because of Keith’s eyes, it’s because that’s literally the Keith he remembers, the one who would run full-tilt into a fight rather than play defensive.

The second time, Keith’s life is in danger, and Shiro says that the others are dead and Keith once again acts on instinct.

That part of him that shows up isn’t necessarily ‘feral’ or bad by any means, but when Keith’s in whatever frame of mind he gets in to prompt the physical changes, he moves by pure instinct.

A lot of people who don’t like the theory that Keith’s going to be corrupted or something argue that it’s playing into the ‘Galra are animals’, ‘Galra are all bad’ and stuff like that, but no, in this case, it’s not. Galra have never one been shown to react the same way Keith did. Not once. Galra have never once been shown to be able to shift their forms without quintessence. And that’s why I bring it up in this at all.

And Haggar/Honerva never showed any interest in Keith prior to this, where she would have been watching from Kuron’s eyes. We know this, because she wants Kuron to kill him. Keith’s eyes changing is the only thing that really would have caught her interest. She saw something there, something that made Keith stand out, and I doubt it was just the fact that he defeated Shiro.

I think that Honerva’s been targeting Keith ever since. The last thing she told her druids to do was to target the Blade of Marmora. Pidge assumes that the destruction came about because everyone in the Blade was exposed after Lotor fell, but what if that wasn’t the case? That was just Pidge’s assumption and we do face unreliable narrators all the time in this show. 

Honerva doesn’t know what happened to them, but she was watching through the clone’s eyes when Keith introduced his mother to Shiro and called her ‘a member of the Blade of Marmora’. Not hard to extrapolate that Keith was one too.

She’s a puppet master. She doesn’t need to do everything herself. So she sends her Druids after Keith – taking out the Blade of Marmora in the process, but keeping Kolivan alive to draw others in.

The fact that the druid doesn’t target Krolia immediately in The Ruins tells me something was up with that. She admitted to training a ton of Blades. She’s a high ranking member. She should have been target #1. But she wasn’t. Keith was. Yes, Kosmo separated Keith from the others, and the druid threatened to kill him – but I don’t think that would have ended up being the case.

I think that a part of him maybe hoped to hold Keith (like Kolivan) until he could find ‘Haggar’ again.

Except, she was gone doing her own thing with the Alteans, growing her own Empire. And she didn’t leave it at that. I think that Acxa too is working for her (in a show of loyalty towards Lotor most likely…to try and help him), and has been trying to track Keith specifically. She literally tells us this.

Unlike the Druid, Acxa helps them. Acxa puts herself in a position where it seems like Keith and everyone else can trust her. She plays on Allura’s feelings for Lotor too – relating to her over the entire thing. It works.

Now, why am I talking about all of this? Because something’s up with Keith.

1.He doesn’t appear much in the trailer. Two scenes (get to your lions and when he’s fighting). The last time they pulled that with Keith, it was because he left Voltron. Now, I also think they only showed us footage from maybe 3-4 episodes, so that’s still a lot, and there was plenty of Voltron shown so Keith has to be there (not to mention stuff from NYCC), but the point still stands.

2. In this first pic of the group, he’s up front and center. Keith doesn’t shy away from being the leader now. His posture is open, confident, and he’s ready for anything.

Then we got the picture from what’s likely the filler episode, and it was pointed out that something looks terribly wrong with Keith’s eyes. 

There’s no shine to them, which is a pretty good indicator that you should be wary of a person, that something’s wrong with them. At first I thought it was just an error, cause budget, but they’ve added in that detail in smaller scenes before.

 It’s not there on purpose. (This series of pics came from this post here on twitter!)

It’s very likely that something or someone is working to ‘corrupt’ Keith in a sense. Probably his quintessence. Who does he currently trust that was shown looking for him specifically at the end of S7? Oh, right. Acxa.

It wouldn’t be hard to isolate Keith. Get Pidge and Hunk doing their own thing, Shiro busy being the Captain of the Atlas, and Lance and Allura off with one another? Not to mention the hurt Keith probably feels about that whole thing? Yeah, he’s going to be spending time with Acxa, likely being more isolated from the others and slowly corrupted.

The newest picture tells me this too. 

His eyes already seem dull there, and he’s physically very separated from the rest of the Paladins (outside of Shiro, but that makes sense given the layout of the ship). Pidge, Lance, and Hunk look ready to throw down with whatever they’re looking at, Shiro too, and Allura looks super concerned, but Keith doesn’t even look like he’s looking in the same direction.

He’s Voltron’s leader. He should be front and center if there’s a threat there (plus that’s the Keith-thing to do). He’s not. This is the second image where he looks off. Something is wrong.

In the trailer, we see him alone. He has nothing but his Marmora Blade with him. He looks cornered and desperate. That’s not a good thing. Something is wrong.

Now this started as a Lance post and turned into a Keith one. Why?

Well, if Keith’s subtly being corrupted, subtly starting to change and act differently, no one’s going to catch onto this, right?

Unless, of course, there’s someone around who almost caught onto a very similar scenario, but ended up just shrugging it off and felt terribly guilty over that. Someone who just happens to be defined by being adaptable and learning from his mistakes. Someone who seemed to lose part of his own story arc out of nowhere.

Lance was never going to be the one to save Shiro, because he’s going to be the one to save Keith. THAT is what the entire thing is building to. I mean, you can take it from a platonic standpoint if you wish though I don’t see it that way.

Keith being ‘corrupted’ is super similar to what happened with the clone, and that’s the entire point. Lance wasn’t able to help Shiro and sees it as a personal failure. We know he does because he was in tears about it. It’s especially important that Shiro tried to reach out to Lance in the Astral Plane – because that moment turned into a failure, and ultimately, that’s the place that Lance is going to actually save Keith.

I still think that we’re very likely to see a fight between the two of them – and no, I’m not romanticizing violence between a pairing. Jesus. The assumption that the fight in and of itself is the exciting part is disgusting. Keith won’t be in his right mind at all, and in the end, it won’t be Lance defeating Keith the way Keith defeated the clone that decides the ‘winner’. Keith outclasses Lance as a swordsman by a long shot, and Lance isn’t going to be able to defeat him.

Keith tried to reason with Shiro, tried to talk to him, but it didn’t work. In this case, Lance is going to try to do the same. He’s going to try and reach Keith because he doesn’t want to fight him. They’re not enemies. At the very least, they’re friends. And it’s going to work. He’s going to get through to him, because no, violence isn’t the answer to this at all.

That’s what makes it so powerful.

So, to summarize: Lance’s storyline with Shiro appeared to be dropped, but it really wasn’t. It was set up for his upcoming storyline instead.

[jaimetheexplorer]

I brought down by niks latest interview.Saying "J never needed redemp.He was a guy who certain circumstances in his life e.g. Kingslayer so then he needed to redeem himself bc he did this horrible thing when killing the Mad King. Then N said the redemp arc where he had to be good guy, stay with Bri etc that's not GOT.You cant erase ur prev life.Jaime bel that redeem urself meant redeeming his past and he couldnt. He can't cut off who he was.The idea of leaving C alone is impossible to him" Wtf?

2/2 Downhearted anon. Just that interview makes no sense. In prev season interviews, wasnt Nik wanting Jaime to escape Cersei for good and be with Braime forever, like he was the biggest Braime shipper??? I dont understand. Does he think ppl don’t remember stuff? Its a shame theres no way to ask him about this.

Dear Downhearted anon,

I have to admit I read only a short excerpt from that interview, so I might have missed some of the other content, but, from what I read, this is what I can say.

There are different layers to his comments, IMO. One is the take on the story, and the other is the justification of the writing choices. And, as much as I might vehemently disagree with the former, what I take issue with is the latter.

When it comes to the take on the story, we have to remember that he has to talk about the actual content of the show. The show, unfortunately, did go with the idea that Jaime is essentially doomed to never escape his past. I do not believe that is his arc in the books for many reasons, and I think it was extremely underwhelming, nihlistic and unsatisfying even just taking the context of the show into account. But, unfortunately, nihilistic and unsatisfying is what we got. The show was aiming for romanticizing incest and abuse romantic tragedy with JC, in the end (I actually think there was a far more disastrous chain of events at play, which required multiple OOC developments for multiple major characters just to arrive to Jon killing Dany - but that’s a longer story), and it is what it is. He has to talk about the reality of the episodes, not the alternatives.

If you take most of Nik’s comments, and go back to read D&D’s and Cogman’s interviews from the past, you’ll notice that it’s mostly stuff that’s lifted straight from their quotes, even down to the language: “good guy/bad guy”, “he doesn’t have a redemption arc”, “it’s just life, and he has made some mistakes”. I don’t know whether this is because he had a “final season” briefing with them and came around to see things their way and agree, or because he was told this is what he was supposed to say about the story, or because even though he doesn’t agree with it, this is what was written in the end and so this is what he talks about. His reasoning for saying these things is anybody’s guess and kind of beyond the point. But, where before he used to have his own take on the character and his arc, he’s now basically regurgitating the party line.

For my part, I never completely disagreed with the idea that Jaime does not need redemption per se. Jaime doesn’t need atonement for slaying the Mad King, for sure. He needs recognition for that. He needs atonement for a other horrible things he’s done, but even those (e.g., pushing Bran, the incest) are more about moral gray areas areas than villainous behaviour per se, since he’s never committed atrocious acts just for his own selfish gain, or for power, or because he enjoyed hurting and killing. More importantly, I have always seen Jaime’s story as more of an identity arc, where redemption is just one component. In that sense, I can agree with the take that that he is a “complex character who, at times, has made some terrible mistakes”. Jaime is not, and never was, a straightforward villain who needs to atone for his sins. He’s a much more complex and layered mix of sins and honour, and goodness and idealism turned bitterness and cynicism, and a messy product of living most of his life in toxic and abusive environments who, in some situations, has committed some horrible mistakes that he needs to own up to and face the consequences of, and who is trying to redefine and reinvent himself in the aftermath of some life-changing events such as losing his hand, meeting Brienne and growing disillusioned with Cersei. 

The problem is that, while D&D preach about Jaime being a complex character who does not need a ‘cheesy’ linear redemption arc, they also, in the same breath, justify an ending that shoves him precisely into a clear, black-and-white, simplistic category (”he just accepts he is a hateful man”) or display the psychological depth of a 5th grader (go check out their take on the sept scene in their Oxford Union Q&A and their inability to think in any more complex terms than “good guy/bad guy” or to understand that not all “bad” actions are equal). They’re not deep writers, and that shows painfully in their execution. But I can understand the “no need for redemption” arc, from a theoretical/philosophical perspective.

What I take far more issue with is justifying writing choices by attempting to play the realism card, or the adult writing card, or the “this is GoT” card, basically implying that everyone who dislikes or criticize it is being unrealistic, immature or unsophisticated for not accepting the only inevitable outcome to a story (I wrote a twitter thread about it this week). Just because your story has decided to depict things in a certain way, it does not mean that that is the only realistic option for the story, and that people who expected/wanted/hoped for something different were fooling themselves, let alone that it had to be written that way because that is how life works.

Sure, there are people who fail to break away from their (abusive, traumatic, toxic, what have you) past and move on, but there are also plenty of people who do, and who end up thriving. One outcome isn’t any more realistic or true to life than the others. And, while some might think this is a hyperbole, it is highly irresponsible, IMO, to say that being unable to escape toxicity and your past is “the way things are”, when there might be people out there who do struggle with trauma, toxic and abusive relationship (or know people who do).

On top of that, it is rather silly to imply that we were expecting some unrealistic, too-easy scenario, where Jaime flipped a switch and totally erased his past overnight. That implication is misguided, at best, and dishonest, at worst. We put up with four entire seasons of show-only “non-linear” storytelling when it comes to Jaime, and were incredibly patient with it. Wasn’t the point of those four seasons precisely to show that life is complicated and he couldn’t just let go of his past so easily? We watched that. It happened. Nothing about this was easy or unearned.

Had we been shown a Jaime who was 100%, stupidly and completely devoted to Cersei at every turn, cruel, evil, selfish and not caring about the innocents, of course expecting an outcome where he just leaves it all behind for a honourable wench or what have you would have been a ridiculous expectation to have. Indeed, back when Jaime did come across as that kind of character, nobody was expecting anything from him. He could have died with Cersei under those bricks and most wouldn’t have cared.

Instead, for years, we were shown a Jaime that did struggle between his toxic past/Cersei and his honour and, far more often than not, we saw his honour win out. While I can see an argument for saying that didn’t guarantee an outcome where he did break free of his past for good, it’s not like like there was no buildup or seeding for the more positive, less nihilistic alternative. So I don’t find it so far fetched to have expected the events of S7 to be the last straw that finally tipped the scales completely to the other side (especially considering how 8x02 was written very heavily to imply just that or, at the very least, did not seed any doubt).

By Nikolaj’s own admission in TONS of interviews, he had been fighting with D&D for years because he expected things to move in a certain direction and kept getting frustrated when they didn’t, or when they confused him. He wanted the exact same things we wanted for Jaime and in his relationships with Cersei and Brienne since SEASON 2. He might have resigned himself in the end to having lost the battle, but he behaved exactly like us for years. So, assuming he believes what he is saying, if I could talk to him, I’d ask him how is it that he got the same feeling of “expectation” for something that in the end never came? Maybe because the seeding for both options were there all along? Maybe because, if the seeding for both options were there all along, the alternative isn’t so far fetched and inconceivable after all? Maybe because if the alternative isn’t so far fetched and inconceivable after all, then what we got isn’t the only inevitable way this could go down? Food for thought.

Of course, I want to believe that he isn’t that tone-deaf and unsophisticated as an actor (and a writer) not to realize that the only problem with the way Jaime and JB were written in S8 was not the fact that they didn’t get a HEA. Ignoring the writing quality, for a moment, and just focusing on the writing choices, there were literally dozens of ways of writing a story that ended even in a similar tragedy (EVEN with Jaime dying with Cersei), that would have been far better and more satisfying than what we got. The problem isn’t that Jaime didn’t declare his everlasting love for Brienne or that he didn’t stay together with her. The problem is that we patiently waited through all the buildup and seeding mentioned above, for years, for a relationship that ended up being butchered within 30 minutes, destroying literally everything it ever stood for (first and foremost trust and respect - I am not going to list everything, but Jaime trying to sneak out without so much of a goodbye and being completely indifferent to her pain after she vouched for him and saved his life multiple times was not only OOC, but completely unnecessary to the plot, unless it aimed to destroy the foundations of their bond, way beyond the romance).

To conclude, I’ll leave you with GRRM’s own words, when asked about Jaime’s redemption arc that he, unlike the show, has explicitly stated he wishes to explore:

“I want there to be a possibility of redemption for us, because we all do terrible things. We should be able to be forgiven. Because if there’s no possibility of redemption, what’s the answer then?”

The show decided that the answer is that we don’t escape our past. We are doomed from the beginning and any attempt to change and move on is eventually futile (and that ended up being true of nearly every character in the show, not just Jaime). But that doesn’t seem to be at all the stance GRRM has on this whole thing, and I would dare anyone to tell me that GRRM’s vision and his writing are inferior, too easy, or less realistic than what we got from the show.

There’s no guarantee that Jaime will survive in the books, or that he and Brienne will get a HEA (although I do not rule it out at all).  But the fact that the man who invented these characters and this world has a different stance on Jaime and redemption automatically invalidates any nonsense show people can say about how this was the perfect and only way it could end, and that expecting anything different from this series was wishful thinking.

[prettygraceful]

ok, i’ve been telling my dad this for months and i thought i’d finally share here. here is my dream scenario for when shadowhunters comes back (since i still keep hope that it will). and by that i mean what should happen- within realistic parameters- that i think would bring the show more general positive reactions, a larger fanbase, and stable success to ensure many more wonderful seasons. so we pick up shortly after where the epilogue left off- with the mains divided into the new york group and the alicante group- and they stay split up. this allows for 2 “A” storylines to run concurrently to allow for a wider audience to stay invested and more character dynamics to be fully explored, instead of shoved into rushed, very limited screentime “B” and “C” storylines. i’m thinking similar to daenerys and jon snow (pre s7) in GOT, aka equally important main leads.

clary remains the hub of the NY squad, as she’s always been. she is the favored female of the fandom, and this still honors the spirit of the books. alec becomes the hub of the alicante squad. he is the favored male of the fandom (tv time’s recent poll had him at more votes than the next 2 guys combined. he had over 700,000 while jace and magnus only had over 300,000 apiece. clary was at over 200,000). ok, we’ve got the chosen by logic “hubs” so let’s talk the “spokes”. 

NY squad includes jace, obviously, and simon, izzy, maia. but instead of sizzy or saia, they slowly develop into a polyamorous throuple. this accomplishes many things: 1st, the shippers could make peace. 2nd, maia would have a solid link to who’s always been the center of SH: the lightwoods family. and 3rd, it could trim the fat, so to speak. instead of having supporting character wlw (heline, ollie, sam- all stereotypically characterized tv wlw, who only ate up screentime that should’ve gone to the downworlder mains imo) the wlw rep could be izzy and maia- already fleshed out mains. after spending time together resulting in unlocking some feelings, they could all get together since they both still care for simon too. now they’d have to be bi/ pan obviously- so no lesbian rep- but as a lesbian myself, i’m averse to the idea that every show has to “check every box”. quality over quantity. a trio of only POC is original vs just another wlw pair with 1 white person. as long as it was written properly, it could avoid bi stereotypes. 

now the NY squad has all the different dynamic options to explore that this fandom seems to love (clace, climon, clizzy, claia, sizzy, saia, jimon, and jaia. and the jace/ izzy dynamic can finally get it’s dues!) and with a 3 POC to 2 white ratio, it’s better diversity than when things always revolved around the squad of shadowhunters in s1 thru s3. meliorn can join the fun sometimes. clary gets her powers back, but hopefully without the “mary sue” aspect. when the solution for everything was often just being shown new runes and drawing them, where was the earned achievement? (versus like when valentine was defeated, she did that!) generally, self-made heroes- rather than “born special”- are more relatable and inspirational. like arya vs daenerys- who was born able to hatch dragons in fire. she achieved so much, but without the dragons- like clary’s angel powers- none of it would’ve been possible. then again, i know daenerys is very popular, so my preference in hero types obviously isn’t universal. so either way, i guess.

on to the alicante squad (my personal favs)! magnus and luke have obviously already joined alec here, and they’re rebuilding the shadowhunter homebase to be an accepting environment. there has to be an actual lengthy, difficult power struggle here- an extremely prejudiced regime like the clave wouldn’t just topple overnight. maryse is here too and should be bumped up to be a main. then it’d be 4 women to 5 men as our mains- much more balanced. then 1 or 2 new lady characters could be introduced. let’s get some new blood on the show! and to appropriately fit into the already existing dynamic here, it’d be best if they were 30+ in age. (and hopefully they cast taller ladies, cuz aside from the mother roles- jocelyn and maryse- all of them have been 5′2″ to 5′5″ and it’s time to mix it up). they can develop solid friendships with our squad. also the parabatri needs to finally get it’s dues, since we’ve been robbed long enough. ok, and so with 1 shadowhunter, 1 downworlder, 1 sh turned dw turned sh again, and 1 sh turned mundane, there’s a lot of different perspectives here. and the new ladies could have their own unique perspectives as well. so it’d be very interesting for there to be problems they all must solve, but they each have their own ideas on how to go about it. thru compromise at times- and deferring to the one who’s perspective lends a better insight other times- they’d have innovative solutions.

to address why mizzy instead of either with clary, why the new women would probably not be wlw, and why the “hubs” are both white- it’s cuz the point of this post is me throwing in my 2 cents on what changes could be made- in the hands of new showrunners and now that we’re free of the book material- but is still possible, realistic, and viable given the way the industry machine works, and the demographic of this fandom. i’d also like to note that i just really want raphael and catarina gone, since they refuse to let magnus interact with them! they each only had 4 eps with him, yet they’re his “family”? it became beyond absurd! raphael= none in s1. 1 in s3. catarina= none in s1/ s2. only 1 in 3b- 3x22 doesn’t count cuz they didn’t talk at all. and for those who’d balk at alec being separated from jace and izzy, i say- have you never met adult siblings? it’s healthy, normal, and encouraged in society, that when siblings grow up, they go their own separate ways and live independent lives. forge their own paths. it does not mean they love their siblings any less. i have a sister, i should know. 

in conclusion, the 2 separate squads would have their own adventures in the first 8 episodes of each half season. i think most everyone agrees that politically driven themes- dealt with symbolically thru this fantasy world- would make for better story arcs rather than just good vs evil (val, jonathan, lilith) all the time (esp since SH doesn’t have the budget to make fantasy elements very exciting). since there is a nice ratio of shadowhunters and downworlders in each squad, the set up for these themes would already be in place. and then much like any show that has divided storylines, at some point you’ve got to bring them all together. this could happen in the 9th episode. a wedding or holiday celebration or whatever. they could all sit around a giant table and have a feast and this ep could just be warm and fuzzy. lightwood family time- including magnus/ jace’s long overdue friendship- and a chance for them all to reconnect, until the last scene of the ep when some big bad guy dramatic problem could arise. then the final ep of the half season could be them all working together (as a whole or separately in smaller groups) to defeat the big bad (save the budget and the big fantastical sets/ creatures for the finales). end on an exciting cliffhanger. ta da!