#but meanwhile birthright characters have nothing.

[toyherb]

I really hope that within the next 10 years they make a remaster + expansion for fire emblem fates it deserves it

[molinaesque]

Okay I mentioned that I had a bunch of Raphael thoughts and basically made a whole essay (in literally no actual format, this is just me vomiting out parsing thoughts and using it when lore dumping onto my friends). This is written based off of stuff you find in the game, some Wiki diving and my own thoughts.

Feel free to hit me up with some topics that we can talk about. And remember, these involve are my own thoughts and headcanons at the end of the day, so please act normally and don't come at me with pitchforks just because I have something that doesn't align with your specific HC.

A Prince's Tale: The Story of Raphael

In the universe of Faerûn, there exists a heaven and hell, or in this case the Heavens and the Hells. There are the Nine Hells of Baator, all ruled and lorded over by various archdevils. Raphael is the son of the ruler of the eighth circle of Hell, the archdevil, Mephistopheles. Raphael is a cambion which consists of a fiend and a mortal. Cambions then are considered "results of unnatural and unholy communion". In Raphael's case it's a bit more complicated because the fiend in this equation isn't just some lower being like an incubus or some other demon but a true Devil, making Raphael leagues above, both in power and rank, other typical Cambions, just purely due to his association and blood of being Mephistopheles' offspring.

The system in the Hells is extremely rigid and hierarchical (it's a system that has been upheld for eons. Many of the systems that make up the universe of D&D are as deeply rigid and rooted). Many of the themes of the characters of Baldur's Gate 3 consist of them either repeating the cycle or breaking its hold, which in the D&D verse is an extremely hard thing to do because of how long standing these systems are. In regards to the Hells, it works like a pyramid. The top of the food chain and order are the archdevils. There are many archdevils that reside and rule over each circle of the Hells, one however rules all and lives in the Ninth circle, Nessus; Asmodeus.

So what does Raphael want? The integral key item and centerpiece of the main plotline of BG3 dubbed only as 'The Crown', created by Karsus. Karsus was a very powerful, most would say perhaps THE most powerful wizard who ever lived. An archwizard/demi-god responsible for creating and casting a spell that would steal the power of a deity and transfer it to the archwizard who casted it. Eventually, this was a mistake, for one of the responsibilities of the deity of magic was to regulate the flow of magic to and from all beings, spells, and magic items in the world. He did not have the ability to do so properly, causing magic to surge and fluctuate, threatening that balance. This caused the flying cities of Netheril to plummet to the earth. The last thing Karsus sees is his entire civilization being destroyed because of his actions. This will be known as 'Karsus' Folly'.

Raphael tells you about this story and how he was there to witness it happen all those years ago. He wanted the Crown to himself but it was stolen and put into hiding. He later finds out that Mephistopheles, his father was the one responsible for stealing it. Now, here's a way to explain the fucked up power levels and why it plays so much of a factor especially in the Nine Hells. I mentioned how Raphael is not a typical Cambion, BUT even though he is technically a prince by birthright and a half true devil, it doesn't make a difference under the likes of archdevils like his father (who doesn't help at all with Raphael's behaviour because Mephistopheles is a MEGA asshole. I mean, there's a reason why Raphael never utilised his name to invoke influence and power, doesn't even call him father, that's how much he hates him. You only find out about it through Haarlep. He even had another child, a daughter, who he cared more about by making her a trusted double-agent against one of his rivals. Meanwhile, he treats Raphael like nothing and acts as if he doesn't exist for the most part). Basically, unless you are an archdevil in the Hells, you are never TRULY free. As power, literally = freedom in the Hells. Raphael realises this and so began his lifelong ambition to get that power. That came with the events of Karsus' Folly. Realising that this is the opportunity and power Raphael needed, he attempts to steal it only for it to be taken by none other than his own father. Now, you think "ah Mephistopheles wants that power for himself, right?" No. Here is how far apart the levels of power are between beings like Mephistopheles (beings such as archdevils/archwizards/demi-gods/gods/etc) and beings like Raphael, who is already a pretty substantial and powerful Devil by his own right.

Raphael has been coveting the Crown and its power for 10 centuries, a thousand years, essentially. It's his one source that can possibly give him the chance of taking even more control of the Hells and ultimately make him TRULY a free devil. It's his life's mission that has been going on until he's practically in his middle age in devil years (his human appearance showcases this, and we also see a younger Raphael in his devil form with Haarlep). Half of his (immortal) life. It is very crucial and important to him.

And yet… to Mephistopheles, it's just a souvenir. A trinket. Or as Raphael puts it, "a museum piece".

This, undoubtedly angered Raphael so much and made his hatred towards his father even more so (Raphael mentioned how he raged for a decade, understandably). The fact that not only does his father treat him as if he doesn't exist, but to add insult to injury, did this while mocking him by not taking him seriously. One of the things he did was to send an incubus, Haarlep, made and glamoured to be an exact copy of Raphael, to distract him. It could also be seen as a message of "here is my gift to you and it is one of the only few things that will ever be 'truly' yours; a copy of yourself". Raphael would have been the first image that Haarlep acquired, thus why the constant form that you see him with is of Raphael (Haarlep tells you this if you kill him and speak to his corpse). Haarlep's corpse also tells you that "Raphael only loves himself." I wonder why. Haarlep also has a contract that requires him to obtain 1000 souls (the runes on his harness have been translated to the number '1000') in order to be free. This is why the archivist in House of Hope tells you that special guests can reside in the boudoir, as this is a primary way for Haarlep to collect more souls. If you sleep with him, and allow him to have your heart and soul, you die. If you promise your body only, you live but he now has a full copy of you entirely. Additionally, we know Gortash was sold to be in Raphael's services when he was a boy. We know that Gortash and the other Chosen eventually stole the Crown from Mephistopheles' vault. What's interesting is if you explore the House of Hope, you can find a portal to the eighth circle of Hell, Cania, where Mephistopheles resides. I believe that Gortash utilized this to obtain the Crown. Imagine the sheer rage and embarrassment Raphael had to endure because of this. Not only did the Crown get snatched from under him once but TWICE. Once by his father, and then later by a boy who was under his charge. I can completely imagine Mephistopheles utilising that as additional ammo and lording that over Raphael's head.

In pertaining to Raphael's character and behavior, all of this explains additionally as to why Raphael is the way he is. It's selfish, insecure behavior that also explains the portraits he surrounds himself with. Notice how all the paintings are of his true form. He also has many lines of dialogue depending on what you pick during your various meetings where he truly gets angry. One of these lines is him shouting "I AM NO MORTAL" when you simply ask why he would succeed where Karsus had failed (which is ironic because, my guy, you are part mortal, so was Karsus but he was very powerful for many other reasons other than pure association and blood. Raphael even tells you how foolish of a notion it would be if you suggest that you could take the Crown for yourself, telling you that archdevils, wizards, and gods have worn the Crown, "it would tear you apart" he warns you). The portraits of his Devil form in House of Hope surrounding him is a way of constant reminder to himself of what he wants to be associated with. He HATES that he is part mortal (he has showcased his disdain for the mortal realm very clearly during your encounter in House of Hope) and wants to see himself as only a Devil. To say that dude's got major issues and complexes is a huge understatement. He's a deeply insecure being who's controlling and manipulative (most of it stemming from his father and his predicament of essentially living a half-life), but he's also a pragmatic, self-aware character. He's very much the epitome of Lawful Evil. If the players choose to only see him as a one note character who's just "self-centered and evil", you can. That's the beauty of Baldur's Gate. These things are true,but you can also add on top of that when you choose to find out and explore for more lore and characterization.

Interestingly, the way he treats someone who opposes him compared to those who don't are very stark in contrast. You see it with the prime examples of Hope (naming the house after her due to her being the one soul who he cannot convert and have on his team completely) and of her sister Korilla, who has mentioned that she loves being in service of Raphael completely as he has treated her with respect and given her more freedom than her previous master ever did, who in her own words, "constantly would beat me and feed me scraps". "Better to be free in the Hells than go begging in the Heavens", she tells you. She's also not blindly following Raphael or under any thrall. In fact she makes light of him and his antics to you completely of her own volition. She made a bet with Raphael whether you would survive and get to Baldur's Gate (which Raphael bet FOR you to succeed btw). You can find the Five Soul Coins they bet for in the safe hidden behind the portrait in HoH. And she doesn't sing his praises completely, saying that she's more skeptical of you than Raphael is and is fearful of how wrong he would be banking everything on you, saying "Raphael can be so very wrong". She basically tells you that Raphael won't shut up about you. She also tells you that Raphael is, in her own words, "by no means altruistic" and argues that Raphael truly wants to not have the world destroyed because it would simply mean, as she puts it "the boss did the balance sheets. No world, no souls". In fact, she BEGS you to reconsider if you didn't take the deal in the first place.

One could argue that Raphael residing in Avernus and having him in proximity of mortals more in comparison to the deeper levels of the Hells, gave him more perspective. He even tells you he doesn't want Baldur's Gate to be destroyed. He tells you, fondly, he couldn't possibly want that to happen because the city is "an object lesson of moral excess". Why would he want a huge primary source of deals and contracts for him gone. If you explore the House of Hope, many of his deals range from complex, twisted deals to simple, straightforward ones with no caveats (for example there is a debtor who tells you that he sold his soul for enough money to keep his family well fed. Done. No trickery. That was the end of it. Even the architect of Moonrise Towers attested to Raphael keeping his word and defeating Ketheric's forces way back then). In Raphael's own words, "I'm a man of my word" and he wasn't lying. There's a reason why he has practically a 99.9% conversion rate (his one big failure being Hope and why he's so obsessed with converting her is because he truly cannot understand how one can be so pure of a soul. She's a puzzle, and Raphael HATES it when he can't figure something out). If you're wondering why can't Raphael (or any other devil) force or lie about the contracts they have made, well that's literally by design. Asmodeus created a law that bars devils from doing so, and devils will get punished severely would they ever take advantage of that. That's also why devils have to be extra sneaky when being contractors because if they die, it doesn't matter. The contracts they made while still alive still stays intact until they are completed. Meanwhile, the contract just gets given to another devil. When Raphael tells you in HoH if you asked him for no more bloodshed, he tells you "you've given me no choice". He means this, as it would mean both you AND he would be punished regardless if he were to let it be.

Mol is another example of a straightforward transaction. He wasn't lying when he said he'll keep Mol safe from harm in exchange for becoming her patron. It's not for something nebulous like "she has to become the leader of the guild in the next 20 years" or something extreme, it was just "I'll be your patron in return for your safety and security". He sees her as a long standing investment. Raphael mentioned that he hates children, but there is ONE thing he values above all else and admires when he recognizes it. "Ambition." He tells you he sees that in Mol during the meeting at Last Light Inn. It's also believable that he sees himself in Mol (especially his younger self) and thought "I respect it and I get another easy contract. Win-win". The dude loves underdog stories since his own is practically one as well. In fact, Mol doesn't like it when you treat her condescendingly. If you remember the chess scene in Last Light Inn, there are ways she can lose but also various ways she can win (and no, you don't have to only pick helping her cheat for this to work). If you help her cheat, she wins. If you help her by giving her an offensive strategy, she wins (in fact Raphael knows that she cheated, and if she won legitimately, even comments about the move and stating that it's a legit maneuver in chess and praises Mol for it saying that it's "exactly what I would've done"). Either way, Raphael praises your suggestions when Mol leaves. If however, you don't offer advice, or tell Mol to be defensive, she looses, prompting Raphael to comment on how being non committal or weak will not help Mol in the long run. If you stole her contract, she doesn't mind it too much BUT if you killed Raphael and told her about it, she will HATE you. Hating how you killed her patron, "Big Raph" as she calls him, that would ensure her safety and security as long as she's under contract. It's another additional interesting subplot that doesn't really have anything to do with the grand scheme of the game, but adds even more layers to already fascinating characters.

This dichotomy is what makes Raphael a very complex and interesting character. He's a devil who wants Ultimate Power, make no mistake, but he also is pragmatic enough to realise that he does not want another "Karsus' Folly". In fact, he could have easily just done an Emperor to gain your trust wholeheartedly and then turn on you the moment you have the Crown. It would have been easier for him. But he chose to bank on you being a long term investment maybe even beyond the Crown, meeting you head on and reveal his true nature to you from the first meeting. If you listen to everything he tells you, he never actually lies, he omits things here and there, but he never lies to you (in fact if you become even more on his team, there is a line where he straight up tells you that he "likes you"). It's a similar relationship with Korilla, in that she has complete free will but is for his team. He mentions that he does not like it when people beg or kiss his ass (there are many examples of this, his conversation with Voss for one and also whenever you choose dialogue options that make you seem like a spineless whimp). He even tells you at points that he likes the way you do things (even if they're a bit unorthodox), and if you took his contract but chose to break it (or just stole the hammer, it's the same regardless), it makes it even more personal because he genuinely was shocked to find that you were the one breaking into his house. This is one of the few times we see Raphael truly angry. No fancy words, no charm, no smarmyness. Just anger and even sheer disappointment that you chose to, in his own words, "become like Karsus, disregarding everything and burning your world to ash" (remember, Raphael truly believes that his method with the hammer and Orpheus is the ONLY way to defeat the brain, that's the unfortunate part of obsessing and planning for this goal for so long that he truly believes there are no other alternatives. He mentions in one of his diaries that he has planned a dozen ways to obtain the Crown, but he concludes that there is only one way for it to actually work and it involves Orpheus, hence the creation and naming of "The Orphic Hammer". There's even a book about its creation in HoH). Hell, even one of the dialogue options where you say "there's no need for more bloodshed", you would think he'd just be like "HAHAHA evil dialogue, i planned this all along, you're nothing, blah blah" but instead he actually says in his own words, "I have no choice" because we know that breaking contracts means death, and death means he has to collect your soul. Even if you didn't sign the contract and break in, he still genuinely did not think you would go so far as to do such a thing especially with the offer he made to you. He basically blames you for being too proud to do such a thing.

Even when you don't take his contract at all, when you meet up with the Emperor again in the Astral Prism during the battle against the Netherbrain, choosing to betray the Emperor will cause Raphael to appear for a final time. Does he just offer you the contract again? Yes. But not before scolding you for being an idiot and genuinely being pissed off at you for not taking his deal to free Orpheus. He even tells you in his own words, "we could have been allies, partners… FRIENDS!" If you try to beg him for help, he shouts at you, saying how you are in no position to make demands anymore because of your reckless actions. You made your bed, you have to recognise it. If you still refuse his offer, he doesn't try to force you, or twist your arm in any way… he just tells you, quote, "Goodbye. It's been unforgettable" (which is his way of saying "i won't forget you… but i also won't forget how much of a fucking blind idiot you were) and then leaves you forever. If you take the deal, he tells you it's no longer as equals anymore, you are now considered a lowly servant to him. He genuinely wanted you to be partners, but doing all of this basically leads him to conclude that you aren't worth it anymore. The way the writers chose to have the Emperor and Raphael parallel each other but in different ways is genius. They are two sides of the same coin. Both want true freedom, both try to manipulate Tav, the main characters for their own cause, both are extremely pragmatic and set in their own ways and goals. The irony is that instead of portraying Raphael as this pure scheming, one note character - is flipped on it's head by making him honestly, one of the most truthful characters in the game. It's just that he's a Devil. As Korilla states when you ask her back at the brothel, "why can't Raphael just be clear with me if we are on the same team?" she tells you as if explaining that the sky is blue…

"He's a Devil. It's in his nature. He has to make his dues."

This speaks of how ancient and deeply rooted these laws and systems work in their universe. Typically, characters says stuff like this to be hyperbolic/dramatic. But in the case of Raphael as a Devil, she means this literally, as souls keep the Hells functionable, and as we know by now, souls = power, and more power = more freedom.

Now, to address the epilogue and what happens if you do make the pact with him and delivered upon your promise. He comes to you and tells you that he and his forces are already taking over Avernus and overthrew Zariel. He tells you that he has various archdevils already coming to him to make concessions, his father included. He also tells you that he'll be knocking on your door soon. This is open to interpretation, but remember he has sworn to you during your deal that he would never use the Crown on a mortal (trust me, with his obsession with the Hells and how he envisioned on ruling it, in his own words "more order, efficiency, and control", he is definitely more interested in dominating the Hells only, it's too much work anyhow to be interested in anything else. Also he swore to you as part of the contract, he literally cannot break this, if he does, it's immediate punishment for him, so he's not lying). So, more than likely, he finds you to be a very important potential ally to further work with in the future. Also, depending on how early you signed the contract, his tone/line can be interpreted VERY differently.

Now here's the most interesting part… if you aren't familliar with D&D lore, that epilogue would lead you to believe "oh damn he's going to be ruler of the Nine Hells just like he wanted, good for him", but that's easier said than done. Because not only the deeper the Hells go, the more powerful these archdevils will be. I have no trepidation about him defeating them or them conceding to him, that's already happening. The one obstacle he truly needs to worry about… is the keeper of the Ninth Hell, the ruler of all the Nine Hells of Baator, Asmodeus. The creator and overlord himself. Just to give you a concept of how the power levels work in D&D… level 12 and above, are almost levels of godhood. Think the likes of Hercules. At the level Asmodeus is at, however, a former deity (speculative) and creator of the laws and system that permits the balance of life and the universe itself, Raphael even with the Crown will have… a VERY slim chance of overruling him. At the very least he could take over the other realms or instill his way of order and control, and appeal to Asmodeus, because funny enough, Asmodeus' personality and behaviour and goals is VERY similar and akin to Raphael's (Asmodeus is the primal embodiment of Lawful Evil and a supreme strategist of unparalleled skill. He's good at warfare but even better at words, planning, and subterfuge). Another thing is Raphael might even change his own mind, because Asmodeus isn't just the ruler of the Hells, his primary existence is to keep the balance of life and death and the existing universe in check. I personally don't see Raphael being interested in such a huge responsibility but that's another topic for another day.

Another fun fact, many of the characters in D&D are existing characters in various cultural stories/mythologies. Many of the archdevils included with the likes of Mephistopheles, Baalzebub, Mammon, and yes even Asmodeus. The writers most likely looked to biblical texts for inspiration of Raphael, but the irony is they took the one famous character in Christian biblical text, Raphael, who is not a devil, but an archangel and then flipped that character on its head. One of archangel Raphael's most famous stories is literally called, 'the Battle Against Asmodeus', where Raphael fights against Asmodeus, a fallen cherub and dubbed, "personal adversary" of Raphael. What's even cooler? The battle was not one of might, but of intelligence, wisdom and influence. Exactly like how D&D's own Raphael and Asmodeus operate. Raphael certainly takes more after Asmodeus than he does his own father.

Speaking of which, what about his father? Raphael mentions that he was there amongst the midst of other archdevils coming to Raphael to make concessions. Raphael is smart enough to know, though, that his father is not there solely out of "you did it, my boy" or anything like that, or perceiving him as a true threat still. Besides knowing how Raphael is seen by Mephistopheles, back at the diabolisk shop, there is an orb charmed to keep an eye on Raphael at all times. If you had defeated him in House of Hope, you will witness Mephistopheles holding the broken body of Raphael over his mouth and eating him. It's a nod to 'Saturn/Kronos eating his son(s)'. Basically, if you chose this ending for Raphael, you close the circle and end this story of Jacobean tragedy of an underdog prince who has been seeking validation and freedom from the sheer inescapable nature of the Hells and it's systems. In a way Raphael also has the same themes of your other companions who are also trying to navigate their fates. Whether to repeat that cycle in perpetuity or break free of it, it all hinges upon your choices throughout this journey of Baldur's Gate 3. Basically, Mephistopheles is just waiting patiently to witness his own son's downfall should he become overzealous and overtly ambitious, before swooping in to consume his son and all that additional power for himself, power that he doesn't even need, mind you. He's just there for the vibes, and to add even more pressure on his son. Parents, amirite?

If you're on team Raphael (like me) and gave him the ending he wants, the only thing I can really say is "Good luck, little prince. I'm actually rooting for you. You're going to need it."

Will our little princeling be able to break out of his own cycle and come out on top? Will Raphael be able to even get to the ninth circle let alone confront Asmodeus? Will Raphael finally get one over his dear ol' dad? Will Raphael ever get to finally make due on his promise ("I'm a man of my word"), and have that wine with Tav?

Hard to say, for his journey is just beginning.

[mhsdatgo]

Alicent crowing aegon exposing her children to more risk than just letting rhaenyra became queen. Rhaenyra wanted that throne, there is no way she would have accepted those "terms", and alicent is 100% aware of this in the book and in the show as well. By crowning aegon she start a war and put her children DIRECTLY on the battlefield against people who were more experienced in war like daemon or ride dragon longer like rhaenyra and rhaenys amd consequently may control their dragon better. If you didn't want to consider a crash between two or more dragons, even if they were on a dragon against an army the danger is very high, look at rhaenys the conqueror or aemon the first son of jaehaerys, they were on dragon's back and yet both of them were killed by arrow. Not to mention that both in the book and in the show alicent spend years creating animosity with rhaenyra, If you TRULY believe that someone may hurt your children you do everything you can to maintain at least a civil relationship, and not constantly provoke them and then cry about how your children may be hurt by your stupidity. Because that what alicent has done in the book starting hating rhaenyra, pray viserys to name Aegon as heir and constantly share gossip to damage rhaenyra's image (with a 10 years old girl, meanwhile Alicent was a GROWN woman), and in the show the situation is not different. The truth is that alicent’s action were based on her own ambitious in the book and on her resentment to rhaenyra in the show, but NEVER in the interest of her children. In fact aegon never wanted to be king, he was forced by her and has to endure all the consequences while watching all of his family die

Ladies and gentlemen, here we have someone who quite literally didn't get a single thing about Fire and Blood.

See, anons like these are what makes my blood boil at the writers of HotD for making Rhaenyra appear like a saint which not only made most of the decisions she'll take from this moment onward out of (show) character (as far as character building and development goes) but also fucking boring.

I'm always one to listen to different points of view and interpretations of books as complicated as these, but something that has always bugged me is the way this fandom CANNOT DIGEST the type of tragedy that is just inevitable.

It was never about picking sides, it was never about sexism, it was always about kin torn apart by kin and their own flaws dragging them down. There was no way to ever avoid that and I cannot have a proper discussion about F&B with anyone who doesn't understand this first.

Moreover, just what do you think Alicent should've done? Shut up, be quiet, sit still and look pretty while Daemon's spies turned her children into bloody shreds? Allow them to be assassinated because of the threat they pose to Rhaenyra's claim? Does everything revolve around her? Is she some kind of Twilight Sparkle?

Let me tell you this: no woman would willingly step back and leave their children to their own devices when their own lives pose a threat to someone else's interests.

I have respect for Rhaenyra and her will to fight for what she believed was her birthright (although let's be honest, it was a feeling born out of nothing but the entitlement of a spoiled brat, it turned into a war of parents after one of each faction's children was killed) but I also have so much more respect for Alicent and her courage to bare teeth and claws and plan a coup to be allowed the upper hand and more possibilities of looking after her children if one of them is ruling. It's not "stupidity" it's awareness. And acting according to it.

It's true that Alicent has her own ambitions, but to say that they started growing in her when she was nothing but an 18 year old girl marrying a 30 year old man... Do you hear yourself? That's a girl getting graduated from high school. Oh shiver me timbers, we're scared of young adults here.

Everyone likes and loves and adores to talk about the way ALICENT was having beef with Rhaenyra as a 10 year old but nevermind Rhaenyra placing a bounty on two toddlers and one of them getting ripped apart because of it. Nevermind her refusing that bastard Corlys' advice to take Daeron as a hostage and demanding that he be killed instead. (Because this bitch was the #1 threat to her rule, but y'all aren't ready for that conversation)

She never "prayed" for Aegon to be named as heir, what she DID pray for was for him and Rhaenyra to be betrothed to one another. I hate Rhaegon personally, (no hate to any Rhaegon stan that reads this ♥️) but honestly this is the only marriage that could've MAYBE prevented the Dance. It started because there were two claimants to the throne. Just marry them to each other and the issue was solved. Both of them get crowned, no Dance, peace.

But noooooo, Viserys, the incompetent twat, as always had to act like an incompetent twat and be like "lol but they don't get along". IT WAS HIM WHO DOOMED HIS CHILDREN, EACH AND EVERY ONE OF HIS SONS AND DAUGHTERS. ALL. OF. THEM.

Everyone else acted as a consequence to the cluterfuck that the sick old man created. Namely, chaos. What else did you expect?

[lemonhemlock]

You have a point about Driftmark’s writing, because to this day I’m baffled at people not finding Alicent’s anger valid, I can’t blame that on the writing. What I can blame the writing and the framing for besides the “Aemond stole Vhagar” thing is the “But now they see you as you are” *mic drop* moment, and the scene where Rhaenyra gets her stitches, meanwhile Aemond was literally blinded and that’s barely given any attention and ends with “but I gained a dragon so it’s fair” when it would’ve been fair only if it was Vhagar who took out his eye. Like again, I understand that Aemond was de-escalating the situation, but I do think it was purposefully framed as if that was the truth of it (especially seeing as the stealing comments never get corrected)

you see, when i first saw the scene, i interpreted alicent's speech to rhaenyra as being pretty explicit - "you do whatever the hell you want all the time (i.e. even have children out of wedlock with no consequences), you are so privileged that nothing is off limits for you and you even feel entitled to maiming my son like it's your birthright, you care about no one other than yourself while the rest of us have to play by the rulebook". i would say it's a pretty accurate dressing down of rhaenyra, to which she had a projecting reply - "now they see you as you truly are" - supposedly violent and cruel for demanding luke's eye in return, when a couple of minutes ago, rhaenyra was asking for her little brother to be tortured. not to mention that rhaenyra was actually the socially & legally transgressive one with skeletons in her closet

and i have to say that even emma d'arcy sided with alicent in this scene in interviews and didn't seem to think rhaenyra had the right of it. i think that if team discourse hadn't degenerated so much, people would have been able to VAR replay the scene and accept that rhaenyra should have been carded. but the stan-ification of hotd has left many with worms for brains.

that being said, i think the main issue is NOT clarifying that dragons cannot be stolen - a mistake in an otherwise solid episode. the dialogue should have made clear that aemond was within his rights to shoot his shot at claiming vhagar AND that it was the right decision bc vhagar accepted him (if VHAGAR didn't have a problem with it, why should anyone else? that's how dragons work, they are not pets). it would have been a welcome addition because the public are not 100% familiar with asoiaf dragon lore, so it's basically a piece of exposition that's missing. so if another character is shown on screen claiming it's theft AND they're not ever corrected or challenged in any way, then our brains automatically assume that's the correct assessment bc that's how the medium of storytelling in film works. so if the viewers got that extra information - that aemond was jumped by 4 other kids and maimed basically for shit talking - then they would have been more primed to see through rhaenyra's bullshit.

as for the scene with rhaenyra receiving stitches, perhaps that could have been balanced with one of aemond being comforted by someone, congratulated for gaining a dragon and reassured that what happened to him was not justified. i hesitate to add more, bc i do feel like there's a point where you can make things too explicit and you should trust your audience to piece 2 and 2 together without spoonfeeding them everything. rhaenyra should be allowed to be hypocritical on screen without big red signs pointing at her. the problem is more of an accumulation, not necessarily in this episode, but overall throughout the season. too many of her bullshit statements go unchallenged. once in a while, someone should pop up to contradict her or at least have passers-by give her the side-eye or something. (maybe in season 2? hopefully)

for example, a cool retort after rhaenyra said she was wandering bc she couldn't sleep would have been for someone to say that she and daemon arrived at the same time because they must have both been mourning laena together. thus, you bring back to the forefront of the audience's mind that team black can't be arguing that aemond disrespected laena's memory when daemyra are out there fucking on her grave. is it absolutely necessary? no, i think viewers should have arrived to that conclusion on their own, but apparently a large chunk of them are incapable. at the end of the day, you can't solve everyone's media comprehension problems, you can just try to make good art and hope for the best. however, i would include such a comment at least in later episodes, bc it's too good of an objection to let go

[thelediz]

Sonic Underground Episode 25: The Hedgehog in the Iron Mask

I’m watching Sonic Underground in search of inspiration to finish a fic I’ve been writing forever. It’s a sad state of affairs. See the recap of the first three episodes here, if you're interested!

The plot (for want of a better word): The triplets rescue a mysterious hedgehog who claims to be a long-lost relative, and spurs thoughts of what life will be like after they regain their birthright. Will the Sonic Underground be able to overcome their sibling rivalry, and remain a team forever?

Yeah… this episode should have been so much more plot relevant than it ended up being.

So Aleena starts this episode talking about how we secretly hide our ambitions from other people, and how it takes courage to let the world see who we really are. It’s… interesting. The first half of her little monologue sounds quite suss, and then the second half is inspiring. One could make too much of this, Aleena!

The triplets are breaking into some kind of prison on the idea that Aleena was once imprisoned there, and there will be clues as to where she is now. Meanwhile, there’s a guy doing opera warmups and preparing for a show.

The triplets are going to be surprised he’s an actor later, but the audience is, as always, way more aware than them. I wonder if that was supposed to be a running theme or point at one point?

The triplets are confused when they hear him, because Robotnik doesn’t normally imprison people—guys, you literally just said Aleena was imprisoned here—and he howls when he calls out, and Sonia finds his voice familiar. None of this will stop them believing him later.

Manic jokes about Sonic’s off-key singing. This is not the only time they will make a joke like this. Now, granted, I would probably not say I enjoy any of the triplet’s vocals, and as I said once, when I was a kid I liked Manic’s best (I no longer know why), but this is such a strange joke that comes up every so often. It’s the sort of thing I’d work up into a big thing about Manic and Sonia resenting Sonic being the front man of both the band and the Resistance, except it’s not. It’s just a random joke. And it’s bothered me since the first time I heard it.

Moving on.

Gotta say, the flow of the animation in this episode is not terrible. Character models are still awful, and they are reusing frames where they can, but the flow is good.

Oh look. An orange item in the middle of the room. A suspiciously moving curtain off to the side. Whoever could have seen this ambush coming.

Dingo is a great actor. I just want to say that. When the triplets tie him up and interrogate him, he spits his lines about how the prisoner is important but did nothing wrong brilliantly. Give that man a Tony.

The Song: Part of the Problem. Another rare Sonia lead, with a pretty funky brass backing. They’re singing to the crowd to try and get people to tell them who the prisoner is. This of course will not really help because there IS no prisoner, but it’s a good propaganda song for the Resistance, so uh. Cool.

But of course it doesn’t work, so of course they need to break back in to rescue him. Which is not very hard, given that’s Robotnik's whole plan.

The prisoner is wearing a metal headcovering, which he claims is a bomb that will explode if it’s removed. And he, in a complete turnaround from literally everyone else in the series, does not recognise them as Aleena’s children. Now, at this point, even if we didn’t know he was an actor, I’d be suspicious, because EVERYONE knows these kids EVEN WHEN THEY SHOULDN’T.

Also, he’s not a great actor. He barely avoids saying the word 'GASP'.

He gives them some golden rings that ‘bear the royal family crest’ which—I remind you—was established last episode as the Royal H. They do not have the Royal H. But this may just be poor continuity, so whatever. They're tracking devices, spoilers.

Now. Now. He gives a speech here which is totally made up but I clearly internalised and took it as gospel. He claims to be the queen’s twin brother, and that there’s a law that says there can be only one ruler, so he was sent into exile. This is to sow conflict between the siblings, obvs, but is also legitimately contrary to the Council of Four. In my story, I very much make this a point, because triplets don’t just come out of nowhere, genetically – you will tend to see twins and triplets throughout family lines. But we NEVER hear of any other family members. So I, being the problem that I am, take that to mean that problematic heirs are quietly removed from public life once they stop being important backups and lose their legitimacy to the throne. Because this royal family has PROBLEMS, folks.

Meanwhile, no sooner has the actor said his lines than the triplets start bickering, with Sonic assuming he’ll be ruler, Sonia laughing at the idea because a “ruler needs to have some CULTURE”, and Manic stating that he’s the “real representative of the people”. So, you know, effective plot building on their pre-identified internal conflicts (except Manic, but we’re pretty sure that’s just fumbled characterisation, not actually out of nowhere). It’s not a bad setup for an episode, is what I’m saying.

I also obsess over the fact that Sonic is the only one of the three who focusses on how he won’t banish the other two. Manic and Sonia DO NOT MENTION THIS ISSUE. Sonia, in fact, is being SO SHALLOW this episode, claiming she gets the crown because the other two would suck and she looks best in finery, while Manic is just getting all resentful.

Oh, oh, oh, I love Sonic and Sonia’s argument so much for my purposes. Sonia snaps that Sonic would drive Mobius to disaster (which he would, to be fair), and Sonic is the first to say that he’ll banish HIMSELF if Sonia becomes queen, and points out how he never needed anyone before and doesn’t now (which again, is true, to be fair), while Sonia is clearly throwing a tantrum and runs off on her own. Manic, as always, just goes along with it, and so the triplets split up.

Manic, naturally, lasts about five minutes before he gets captured. Sonia needs a bit of a guilt trip, but then gets caught too. But when the actor tries to finish up by catching Sonic, Sonic’s suspicions kick in, he decides he’s had enough of this ‘uncle’, and recognises the rings as homing beacons. But as he fights the ambush off, the actor throws himself in the middle of Sonic’s attack and Sonic brains himself on the helmet.

Yes, that’s right, Sonic actually doesn’t just save the day this episode! They’re actually going to bring the Sonic Underground back together to win this time! THIS EPISODE ISN’T GOING TO DEFEAT THE WHOLE STORYLINE OF THE SERIES!

So now that the hedgehogs are caught, the actor has served his purpose and is thrown with prison along with them. Without his mask, revealing himself to be “Luke Perrywinkle” (oh honey. Luke Perry was not this hammy thespian.) that Sonia was a huge fan of and Sonic thought was a ham. Manic had no idea.

Sonic with a sword, Sonic with a sword, Sonic with a sword!

So of course they have to work together to get out, and the actor announces he’s going to join the resistance, and the triplets decide they will rule together, and we end happily once more.

And I... I'm...

This…

Guys.

This was an actual good episode, guys.

Like… still low budget and still a bit messy, but… guys, this was… actually good? Like… it had story and character progression and a lesson that the siblings actually learned that would legitimately lead them toward The Council Of Four and…

It was COMPETENT???

WHAT THE HELL, TRASHFIRE. I AM OFFENDED, HOW DARE YOU.

Tomorrow better be back to form, or so help me I might actually have to give you credit for trying.

[shipcestuous]

CAN I WEEP IN YOUR INBOX ABOUT HOTD 2X4 SPOILERS

I’m devastated. So many r cheering Aemond on for burning Aegon but not I.

Aegon’s whole life was destined for nothing but absolute pain.

Alicent attempted to brainwash Aegon into hating Rhaenyra for taking his birthright she herself brainwashed into it by Otto- CURSE U OTTO forced a crown on his head even though he begged an Aemond in pursuit of him to let him run away Was wed to his “weird” sister who he loves? but is not in love with they then had CHILDREN, children who he tried to show love in the way that his father never showed him& in thanks for all that love he showed he lost one to a BEHEADING.

No one takes him seriously, no one loves him except for sunfyre UGH WHICH MAKES IT ALL THAT MUCH SADDER I CAN NOT or shows him any love- even though he desperately craves it& asks for it

&now even (“To be loved or feared?” , “I need to be both.  My mother and grandsire mind me like some helpless duckling.” , “Oh, well, you’re the king.  Who gives a shit what they say?” , “My brother, at least, knows his place.  He’s as loyal as a hound.  I can set him and his dragon on my foes at will.”)AEMOND has betrayed him. 

Horribly scarred from this, he will be.  emotionally…physically +… based on the books it gets much worse for him from here 

So heartbroken.  I don’t think I understood how gigantic of an Aegond shipper I was till this moment.

It’ll be great for Aegond fanfic in terms of angst &as a viewer I am intrigued to see what Aemond will do with his newfound power

..but all the ships in Team Green other than helaemond who may thrive with Aemond in the power position r being held together by very thin string.

Meanwhile Team Black ships are doing… pretty alright I thought youngRhaenyra would be a 1 episode phantom but I think she’s going to be haunting Daemon the whole season which is cool, I like that despite their distance she is always firm in his mind so that at least makes me happy but still MY WEEPING MAY NEVER CEASE!

what r your thoughts about the season so far, I’m assuming your opinions are much different than my own :P but I like hearing your point of view

--

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Anon! 

I have such a weird relationship with House of the Dragon. I have all of these ships, but I know everything is going to hell. Relationships will only become more strained, and presumably almost everyone of note dies within the scope of the story. So instead of enjoying it, except for a scene here and there, I mostly just watch it with dread. 

Tom Glynn-Carney is doing such a fantastic job as Aegon. Everyone is always praising him in the YouTube reviews I watch, because he is doing such a great job of humanizing Aegon, when he might otherwise have been a Joffrey-like character, someone you can’t stand or even love to hate. But I think it’s also in the writing in season 2 in a way that it wasn’t as much in season 1. Those moments with his son, and his grief, and I really feel for him in his moments of insecurity, too. I like him, and care about him, a lot more than I did in season 1. 

I definitely didn’t rejoice when he got burned, and I never like to see siblings not caring whether their siblings live or die.

It does hurt, knowing how betrayed he’ll feel by Aemond, the one he trusted as loyal, the one he invited onto the council because of his loyalty. 

Admittedly, Aemond/Alicent and Aemond/Helaena are some of my top ships for this show, so I am excited about what this change will bring in terms of interactions between them. We’ve had to wait half a season for even a crumb.

I do like that even though Daemon and Rhaenyra are apart, we continue to have Daemon/Rhaenyra scenes. 

[andrewlovely]

On AI Theft

I'm fairly certain that there are people and organizations in the world as we speak who are data mining artists and curating the best art they can find in order to train their AI systems. It is a dark vision of the future, where human artists will exist only to feed artificially intelligent machines with novelty.

I feel much anger and indignation at this great theft that is being perpetuated. Then again, perhaps not much has changed; it used to be record company executives who knew absolutely nothing about music who would feed parasitically off the creative energies of artists. Now these leeches and pimps will be replaced by IV's plugged directly into the heart of the machine and feeding it the lifeblood of the artist.

Were artists respected before AI systems? No. Do we respect artists today? No. An artist can now be thoughtlessly thrown into the trash bin and their contributions to society and humanity deemed irrelevant for something as trivial as cheating on his wife, or simply being of socially unpalatable or disagreeable character for example.

Meanwhile there is talk of "separating the art from the artist" so people can feel justified in continuing to drink up the hard-earned and hard-spilled life experience and perspective of the artist, so they can feel good about continuing to eat and benefit from the hard-earned fruits of his soul, whilst simultaneously denying him his humanity and therefore his birthright as an equal member of the human species - a lifetime membership he has not despite his flaws, but because of them.

Artists are shown an ingratitude and a pettiness of spirit that is almost hard to fathom. And there does not seem to be any real advocate for them. I was once afraid to speak up, but not anymore.

Does it make any difference if artists are offhandedly dismissed and disposed of by humans or by machines? The betrayal by a fellow human being is much more painful certainly, but I'm not sure if there is much of a difference ultimately.

With that said, I'm strangely hopeful of the future. Once people realize that no matter how much novel content you feed a learning-hungry machine, that it will never be able to produce something which can truly touch a human heart, then perhaps human artists might finally be at least a little bit more appreciated.

I believe that we are entering a new dark age, but paradoxically this could be beneficial for artists, who will once again as in days of old wander the human society as priests, mages, mystics. Very soon there will be no way for an artist to prove definitively that he wrote a song, or a poem for example, and didn't just make a request to some machine learning algorithm to produce said song or poem based on a motif he provided. There will be absolutely no way to prove this definitively.

If as a human being a song or a poem touches your heart, it will be a matter of faith, your belief that this song or this poem was created by this person. This I believe will be a positive development for the artist. There will be no machine capable of doing what he is doing, yet there also will be no way of proving that he himself is the one doing it; this new reality by its very nature and unfolding will penetrate to the very heart of creation itself, the mystery of creation.

In the new dark age it is the artist who may find himself, or herself, in a position closest to God - closer than any rabbi, than any arch bishop. Because the artist will know what it feels like to pour your soul into something, to imbue it with life, to offer it freely and for no reward, to create something, and to have no one believe you, to have your creations placed on the same level as lifeless machines, or worse, to have your creations placed even below the machines, to have to answer to machines, to have your greatest achievements attributed to machines, to have their success, and endurance, and persistence through time attributed to machines, to have your name and existence forgotten, until no one even believes, or remembers you existed.

The artist will be a true friend of God, the only one who will be able to sit at the table with Him, to eat and drink and laugh in understanding, to laugh at the apparent and seemingly eternal impotence of your great power to inspire any real belief, to laugh at the inconceivable ingratitude of the little rascals! This is the great cosmic joke that only God understands and delights in - for He Himself has created it. Perhaps even by accident. But it's endlessly amusing in any case.

The artist has a weak and at times fragmentary, intermittent connection to this comedy, at other times strong and uninterrupted, so strong that it is as if God Himself is striking him with lightning, and the nervous system can hardly endure the amplitudes, let alone contain them.

Only the artist can approach these mysteries and in the new age I believe he will be better understood for his true nature: that of a little rascal himself: a mischievous holy man, a musician - that is to say, not just someone who plays an instrument, or holds a paintbrush, or assembles words in interesting and novel ways, or manipulates clay, or stone, but someone who is in constant communion with the muses, who is in constant communion with the divine energies of creation.

[rainhadaenerys]

Another argument for the "Daenerys burns King's Landing accidentally" theory is that Dany will reflect on the question of "is it really worth it the war and the bloodshed just to put the right person with the right claim on the throne?". Basically, it's an argument questioning the whole system of monarchy/succession, the whole medieval mentality.

And once again, you can see the blatant double standards against Dany in this theory. This fandom has always blamed Dany for being a "monarchist", for believing in birthrights, while seeing nothing wrong with other characters like the Starks believing in the exact same. Countless times I have seen people in the fandom argue that Daenerys being queen in the end would go "against themes" because "feudalism is wrong", as if Daenerys is the only one who would be a feudal ruler, as if feudalism would disappear if only Dany never got the throne.

The "Dany burns King's Landing accidentally" crowd are constantly using the exact same argument for their theory, that once Dany blows up King's Landing she will be taught a lesson about how the all bloodshed is not worth it just to put the person with the right claim on the throne. Meanwhile, everyone else in the story can go on their merry way and keep believing in claims and birthrights, the Starklings can keep believing that their father was honorable for trying to start a war to put the rightful heir on the throne. As always in this fandom, the belief in birthrights and fighting for said birthrights is only held against Dany, the Starklings can go back to being the rightful rulers of the North through war, no problem, it's just Dany that needs to be "taught a lesson". And it's not like Dany being "taught" this lesson by burning King's Landing will make feudalism and hereditary claims disappear or make any changes in the political system of Westeros. Dany burning King's Landing will literally change absolutely nothing on that front, they just believe Dany needs to burn King's Landing because she needs to be personally shamed for her belief in birthrights.

Do I even need to say anything else to show how infuriating the double standards in this theory are? They are the exact same bullshit people in this fandom have always thrown against Dany, only dressed in pretty words to make it sound intellectual and neutral.

[valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn]

Loki’s trauma doesn’t just come from “being adopted”. That’s not even half of it. It was many other things. Always being treated differently, being regarded as less than, always feeling like the odd one out for reasons he couldn’t quite put his finger on (can you imagine the clearing throats and the sideways glances as Loki walks into a room where they were just talking about what horrible monsters the frost giants are?). Odin lied to him and kept this huge secret. But it’s more than that. He created this whole false life for Loki and made him live it. He filled Loki’s head with lies. He spoke to him in riddles about monsters and kingdoms and thrones that Loki didn’t understand, but it didn’t matter because he trusted Odin. All he thought he knew was that he was Odin’s son. His flesh and blood son. And Odin thought he could control Loki’s life like a little chess piece on a chess board.

So he’s not Odin’s real son, so what? Shouldn’t he just be grateful Odin adopted him? I’ve seen people say “oh boo hoo there’s no throne for Loki”, but it’s more than that. A throne isn’t just a position of power. It’s an inheritance from father to son. It’s your birthright. Loki found out that not only was he not Odin’s son, but in fact he was the bastard son of Odin’s enemy. Cast out and unwanted. An inheritor of nothing. Nobody’s son. A little monster. A war prize, a novelty token. Loki knew Odin didn’t just take him out of the goodness of his heart. Loki knew Odin very well. Add political pawn to that list as well.

All of this was Loki’s trauma, it’s not just “spite for his family”. It broke his heart. He was devastated and his life fell apart. It caused him to have a breakdown. He lost everything he thought he knew and had. And the Loki series doesn’t touch on any of this. Does not acknowledge it at all. It actively and purposely ignores all of this. Michael Waldron makes it all sound so shallow.

You're absolutely right. It's quite telling that they will dismiss Loki's pain as "he's sad because he doesn't have a throne" when he made it very clear he had never wanted one to begin with and when Thor is the power-hungry character in the first movie, not Loki. And yet, Thor being banished and falling in love with a mortal is enough for these people to consider him rehabilitated meanwhile Loki will always have the attempt of genocide on Jotunheim and the NYC invasion as the only things that define him and the excuse Waldron and others use to claim he needs to be punished so he can "heal".

I didn't see Thor being humiliated, beaten and called names while on Earth, and he had started a war with the Jotuns, didn't he deserve it?Based on the logic of those fans who claim Loki "learns" through punishment how come the same is not said about Thor? 🙄 Or is it that some characters deserve the beatings and others don't, that the good guys no matter what they do can't be physically punished for it but the villains can have anything done to them and these fans will justify it by saying they're the bad guys? What does that say of the one doing the beatings?

Ugh, it's all messed up.

[blushing-titan]

My thoughts on ch. 139

Some of you may be familiar with my previous writings - I usually try to stay as collected as possible, but today's post will be different. Ever since the chapter came out, I've been reblogging a lot of rants and memes about it. Those of you who follow my blog (thank you so much, really happy to have you here! ❤) know that I didn't really enjoy this ending. I want to elaborate more on that in this post - my only advice is to buckle up, because today we may get a bit heated (I apologize in advance for the sassy approach - I usually try to stray away from that, but guess today's post is more of a stream of conciousness/rant) :'D

1. Ymir

Starting up with one of the most controversial things about this chapter. Up to this point, I felt really bad for Ymir. Her life was terrible - she was a young girl, who was enslaved and abused by king Shitz Fritz. After she was forced to run away from his hounds, she acquired the power of titans and used it to help the king's cause. For that, she was awarded with the king's seed (🤢), and eventually became a mother of three girls. Through her entire life, she was treated as a slave and a lesser-being by the king - she also died while protecting him, and her daughters were forced to eat her remains after that (🤢🤢).

It felt so tragic to see her 2000 years later, still walking blindly in the paths. It wasn't enough that she was hurt so badly when she was still alive - she remained enslaved to the abusive king even after she died. I was rooting for her to finally be freed from this nightmare - hence I was so happy when ch. 122 came out and we got this scene:

I was genuinely emotional when I saw her reaction. Finally, someone expressed some authentic care for her and tried to snap her out of this blind state. She would finally think about what she wants and try to free herself from the paths because, as Eren said, she was never a slave or a goddess - just a regular person. It's just like she finally let out all the pain that she's been suppressing for all these years.

Yeah...except, as it turns out, her awakening here changes nothing. She doesn't come to any conclusions, like, perhaps, that she doesn’t want to let herself be hurt and mistreated any longer...or that she should fight for herself, try to change her fate - because, after all, her life belongs to her - not anyone else.

Nothing like this happens. Why? Because, as it turns out, she's in love with king Fritz and needs to be proven by Mikasa that she can break this bond first.

....

💀💀💀💀

Excuse me, but...what?

Okay, first and foremost...am I supposed to believe that, during these 2000 years, no one else has gone against their unhealthy affection to someone toxic and unworthy of their love? No one? 🤡 Come on, we even saw that happen in the manga. What about Historia, who thought that her own mother hitting her was a sign of love? Who wanted to believe that her father was good, despite wanting to turn her into a titan? Where was Ymir when Historia stood up for herself against her father's wishes? Or when she flew up to him and delivered the final blow against him?

On top of that...what a disappointing conclusion to Ymir's story. I hoped that she would take her fate into her own hands, and - for example - be reborn and experience life as a free person, surrounded by people who actually care about her. Free herself from paths and destroy it - not because someone shows her that she can indeed detach herself from it, but simply because she wants to.

Instead, 80% of the world population is gone, because she needed to see that Mikasa is able to "free" herself from Eren in order to do the same.

🤡🤡🤡

2. Abandoned plotlines and plot-holes

Mikasa being a Hizuru princess? Never heard of that. Hallucigenia's fate? Who cares. Eren directing Dina's titan in Carla's direction in order to save Berthold? Nah, who would want any more info on that - guess he just couldn't direct her anywhere else. The Ackerman's headaches? Pfff. The fact that Mikasa shouldn't be affected by the memory altering, but somehow still is in the ending? "I guess she just forgot that she should be immune to this". Why was Historia's pregnancy implied as relevant if it wasn't in the end? So many precious panels wasted on that, when they could be used to help solve some other "unanswered questions" instead. Ehhh...🤷

3. Blatant character assassination

There, I'm saying it once again. I have no idea what happened in this chapter but the characters are off. What about Eren - the one who has always believed that freedom was his birthright, and has been fighting and moving forward for his goals? Yeah, turns out he has no idea why he was doing all of that. 

Remember Kenny's quote - everyone is a slave to something? I thought that this implication was pretty poetic in context of Eren's character. Through all his life, he sought freedom, but ironically, he was a slave to that dream...

...turns out it may have been a bit too poetic for this story because Eren is a slave to destiny. Literally - he's going on auto-pilot in order to reach that one moment in which Mikasa beheads him, so Ymir can watch and understand that she can do the same.

Nice joke...except not. Here go our main character's motivations 🗑

He casually commits unjustifiable crimes against humanity - not because he wants to be free or because he found the world beyond the walls disappointing, (...as we were led to believe). He did that because he doesn't know why - and then, he cries that he doesn't want Mikasa to ever find another guy.

:'))

Turns out Eren was somehow always in love with her too...? Yeah, weird way of showing it. Or should I say - not showing it at all.

If you read my previous writings, you know that I'm not very fond of Eremika. The way I interpreted it while reading the story: it was unhealthy, suffocating and one-sided. I hoped for Mikasa to move on and start thinking about herself for once.

Right, what about Mikasa? Has she finally moved on? Is she content with her life? Are her dreams coming true? What's her daily life after all this? Sadly, I don't have the answers. The thing we are shown instead, is how she's sitting next to Eren's grave and, once again, thanking him for wraping the scarf around her. The only thing that implies that she may be somehow still seeing other people is one bubble of text. After all 139 chapters of hoping for her character developement, that's it.

Keep in mind that all other characters are shown together - with their spouses, families and friends - yet Mikasa is still separated and alone. That's right - after she disappears with Eren's head, she's not shown with anyone else until the end of the manga.

While we're on the topic of others, too...do I have to talk about the scenes in which everyone shows some level of gratitude to Eren...for wiping 80% humanity for them? Because I have no words for this.

One last note: I found the humor to be slightly out of place, too. Seriously, after all these terrible events, with so many unanswered questions and character developement of these two...Reiner is still weirdly simping for (now married) Historia and Jean is called a horse face :') Idk, but it feels somehow surreal after everything that's happened.

4. Conclusion

What else can I say...the final chapter disappointed me and I'm pretty sad about it. I'm happy for the people who liked it, but also can't help but feel like it was very far from perfect. I've been following SnK ever since 2013 and it's a bittersweet moment for me. The series had a lot of amazing moments that I'll definitely remember forever. Meanwhile, I would like to read some of the author's thoughts about the way he chose to end the story - perhaps it would clear some confusion (...although I can't help the fact that my first opinion is already formed).

Thank you very much for reading my thoughts - as always, it means a lot to me! ❤ The images used in this post are obviously not mine!

[sealofreconciliation]

Fates: was the story as bad as people say?: a response (Revelation 1/2).

Starting this off with a nitpick:

> "Why are you making me do this?!"

That's not even close to what Corrin said; they just apologized to Elise for fighting her and said that they saw no other way to end the fighting. I fail to see how that's supposed to be interpreted as Corrin blaming Elise for what's happening.

> Firstly: how is this place safe? Last time Corrin went here, a "soulless killing machine" attacked immediately, and now she's talking about being spotted.

It's safer than staying in the normal world; there's two armies hunting the team down over there, whereas the Vallite soldiers probably don't even know they're there and would have to stumble across their hiding spot on accident.

> Secondly, and more importantly, unlike in Conquest, Azura immediately tells Corrin what Valla is and that it's behind the conflict behind Nohr and Hoshido in this route. It took her about two seconds, raising questions as to why she didn't immediately do this in Conquest considering she allegedly wants people to know about this.

She said she was afraid more soldiers would show up if she lingered in Valla back at Chapter 15 of CQ, so i'm willing to accept that as an explanation, especially since the actual exposition about Valla and Anankos is quite lengthy.

> ...Do you think Azura is making a joke when she calls Anankos' manipulation of Garon "subtle"?

She never said that:

> Azura: He's also the one manipulating Garon from the shadows.

Incredibly minor and petty nitpick, but that's hardly one-sided on my part.

> Within two chapters of the same route the fate of Azura's mother is made needlessly confusing at best and at worst directly contradictory (it doesn't need to be, depending on Azura's point of view, but why leave it so incredibly ambiguous?).

I don't find it that ambiguous; Azura said that Arete died protecting Nohr and, more specifically, from Valla's curse. It's not hard to infer that she must think that Arete was trying to protect Nohr in some way when she unknowingly killed herself by speaking Valla's name.

> I've seen it said that Corrin's choice is what pushed Azura to explain all of this, or even that Azura waited for Corrin to make the right choice before revealing this information, but I think that is a very silly interpretation of Azura's exposition bomb. Why would her willingness and determination to save the world be tied to which side of the conflict Corrin chooses?

Because she sympathizes with and trusts Corrin more in Rev than she did in CQ and especially BR; she heavily implies with her whole “even if i wanted to talk i couldn't because of the curse and had to keep my feeling bottled up inside” spiel that she didn't trust that anyone would believe her if she just told them about Valla without proof, let alone be willing to jump off a cliff if they wanted evidence for her claims. Rev! Corrin, meanwhile, is an enemy of both nations, trusts her, and reminded Azura of Arete; if there was anyone who'd be willing to believe her and risk jumping off the bottomless canyon for proof, it'd be Corrin, especially the Corrin with nothing left to lose by doing so. It's a matter of Azura not expecting herself to be capable of saving the world, not of her not wanting to.

> The fact that she didn't even hint at anything in Birthright nor explained all she could in chapter 15 of Conquest casts a huge shadow over her entire character.

I wonder why she'd have doubts as to her ability to convince people of Valla's existence when she has such strong evidence on her side, like asking people to blindly believe her unsubstantiated claims and to jump off a cliff if they want proof of said claims.

I'm very interested in what she could have said to convince anyone of Valla in BR or the non-chapter 15 parts of CQ, and even in Chapter 15 she clearly doesn't trust Corrin enough to tell them the whole truth.

> Here's a thought experiment: if Anankos is powerful enough to create this curse where anyone dies if they talk about Valla, doesn't that mean he can make a curse where everyone dies if they say the word "what"? Wouldn't his victory be borderline instantaneous if that were the case?

We don't know how he made that curse, but there's nothing to imply that Anankos could have just picked any random word he wanted and have that be off-limits; again, Fates's signature underexplaining of things sucks, but i don't see the issue with assuming that the word Valla was special, if only because he'd have certainly picked another, more common word if he could have and nothing in the game implies that he could have done that.

> Let me put this in the form of a question: do you think there's an actual story or character reason behind Azura not telling Corrin any of this while in Valla in Conquest, or why she doesn't try to hint at it in Birthright, or do you think the developers just gated off the golden ending behind a 20 dollar DLC paywall?

Why are you framing those as mutually exclusive? Why can't Azura not have told Corrin the truth about Valla until Rev due to her trust issues and the curse making it impossible for her to prove any of her arguments other than asking people to seemingly kill themselves if they want actual evidence, and IS did this so people would buy the “good” ending? One of those arguments is talking about developer intention and the other is talking about in-universe logic; they have nothing to do with each other, or at the very least don't contradict each other, so why is this here?

I'd be fine with Odo going for the Doylist viewpoint in these posts btw, if it weren't for the fact that the vast majority of the points he makes are from a Watsonian viewpoint, making it jarring to pivot as hard as he does from one to the other, and that he tries to use the Doylist explanation as a reason for why the Watsonian one is an inherently invalid argument; this borders on non-sequitur, and it first happened in part 2 of his BR analysis.

> So, uh, remember how he in Conquest said that Mikoto would've likely just smiled and said joining Nohr was Corrin's path to choose?

Again, him saying Mikoto would have forgiven Corrin says nothing about his personal feelings towards them; immediately afterwards, he says he's not going to let them get away with their betrayal and tries to kill/capture them.

> Dragon possessed Takumi and villains aside, Yukimura practically gets more angry with Corrin here than anyone else did while Nohr was cutting a bloody swath through Hoshido.

Idk, his CQ version called them a soulless monster after Hans started killing people, Hana went off on a rant about how much she wanted to kill Corrin for making Sakura depressed due to their betrayal, Ryoma gets pretty angry with them during his duel while he still thought they'd killed Hinoka, and the Hoshidan civilians are shown bad-mouthing Corrin directly. There's plenty of people in CQ that got angry at Corrin for what they did, arguably as much as Yukimura does here.

> As mentioned in Conquest, Corrin can explicitly mention "that world/country", and as we see in this chapter, they can also mention the curse. That seems like enough elbow room to at least say something more coherent than this.

They don't want to risk activating the curse, especially since they've already said that there's a third party manipulating events to get Nohr and Hoshido to destroy each other; specifying that said third party is a hidden kingdom isn't going to be much more coherent or convincing than what they already told the Hoshidans.

> Camilla then says they need to hold back and watch, so...is she already prepared to ditch Garon?

Not really. She just says that they shouldn't do anything for now and to observe the situation. If anything, she's saying that she's not prepared to betray Garon.

> I'm not quite sure why we had to go to the Wind Tribe in all three routes only for Corrin to get it confirmed that, yes, their sword is indeed a legendary sword of great power.

Well, in BR and Rev it's more so it can be estabilished that the Yato can grow stronger, which neither Corrin nor (possibly) the audience knows yet, and in Rev Fuga even tells the team to go meet Izana to learn more about the Yato. In CQ, since Corrin already knows about the Yato's evolutionary powers, their trip to the Wind Tribe serves as character development for Corrin, with Fuga confirming that they were worthy to wield the Yato, giving Corrin the determination to keep moving forward when they started doubting themselves after the Kitsune massacre. Even if i were to grant you that the BR and Rev versions are somewhat redundant thanks to the Rainbow Sage, some foreshadowing never hurts.

> I find it interesting that she can't disobey Garon after just having said to Elise that they should lie low and wait to see how things play out.

Again, what part of that implies that Camilla's willing to disobey Garon? Isn't that more evidence for her loyalty to him, given that she just got strong evidence that Garon wants Corrin dead at this point but still chose to do nothing and keep listening to and obeying him? I'm genuinely confused as to what part of this is supposed to contradict her line here.

> Most of Camilla's character also revolves around Corrin, so is it really just fear that makes her do this?

Fear and loyalty. I'm repeating myself here, but why should those two be mutually exclusive?

> By the way, remember back in Birthright where Camilla was shocked and disgusted Garon even thought about hurting Corrin?

No, because that never happened:

> Kamui: Camilla… listen to me. King Garon… I was tricked by the man I used to call “Father.”

> Camilla: Father…?

> Kamui: Yes. The reason I was let out of the castle was not because he loved me like his own child. I was a pawn for him to use to invade Hoshido at the cost of my own life!

> Camilla: ! That’s…

> Kamui: The cursed sword he gave me before I left was a weapon to destroy Hoshido. Because of that sword, innocent people of Hoshido were killed! This is a war started out of his cruel ambition, and if you do not bring him down from the throne, more lives will be lost!

> Camilla: Is… Is that so… Nohr… Father- did such a terrible thing… I’m sorry, Kamui. I- didn’t even know such a thing had happened…

Her only moment of shock in that scene is her being surprised about the Ganglari suicide bomb, not at the thought of Garon being willing to hurt Corrin, and she's not even particularly disgusted at that reveal either.

> For as much as everyone loves and adores Corrin in this game, very few seem to actually listen to a word they have to say. I just don't understand Camilla's deadpan reaction to this; hasn't she known Corrin all their life? And before the battle Corrin clearly didn't want to fight.

Firstly, the amount of characters that like Corrin are vastly outnumbered by the amount that are indifferent to/dislike them; since this is going to be a reocurring claim Odo makes, i'm going to adress this right now so i don't have to repeat myself over and over.

Secondly, her expression is more toned down in jp:

> Camilla: Eh...

She's clearly still surprised, but i don't think it's too weird; she did just try to kill Corrin and had convinced herself that they were going to execute her for it. Her being told otherwise should be surprising to her, especially since she thinks Corrin's a traitor.

> Oh. So hiding was an option in Birthright. So why isn't she lighting herself on fire out of shame for having attacked Corrin in this route, and why was that even necessary in the first place? Is it because Kilma isn't dead in this route? But wouldn't his death have been what prompted Flora to attack Corrin in Birthright?

Going into hiding and hoping that Nohr won't find them is much less safe than following orders and almost certainly getting to still live there as a result. There's a reason why this was Flora's plan B.

Also, Flora was much more depressed in BR than she was in here, and given the fact that Kilma is almost certainly dead in BR, it's safe to assume that yes, his death was what tipped her mental state over the edge; this just means that she got an opportunity to try and fulfill Garon's orders earlier than in BR, before Garon lost his patience and started punishing the Ice Tribe members. I assume that's what your last point was supposed to be, anyway; the phrasing there is pretty confusing tbh.

> Camilla and Azura have a chat, and then Takumi also agrees he'll work on that trust between them. I feel like we're missing a step or three, as she just tried to invade his homeland and now murder the group on the orders of Garon.

Yeah, Takumi said he's going to try and start trusting them as allies; he doesn't say anything about liking them, but when they're fighting on the same side, mistrusting someone fighting alongside him could easily get him killed. What she did prior to joining the team is irrelevant.

> Takumi didn't even trust Azura, who he grew up with in peace, whereas Camilla has attacked him twice within a few maps.

That was just him acting tough, as explicitly stated by his chat with Corrin at the end of Conquest. He doesn't take as much to trust someone as he tries to make it seem like he does, as evidenced by his reason for joining Corrin in Rev.

> Last chapter, Xander branded Corrin a traitor and told them to discard any relationship they may have had. However, even before chapter 14 begins, Xander is already on his way to meet up with the protagonist to defeat the true big bad.

Yeah, because he just saw with his own eyes that Garon had gone completely insane, what with the whole “i want to destroy the entire world, including Nohr” speech that he just gave to Xander and Leo, validating Leo's suspicion that there was more wrong with Garon than just his bad health and mental state. That's a perfectly reasonable explanation for why Xander changed his mind about Corrin's possession argument.

> Even so, the fact that Xander isn't more concerned about his own father wanting to burn the country and then the entire world to the ground is...strange.

What the hell do you mean he isn't concerned? The man was so shaken by that psycho speech that he started seriously considering a traitor's claim that his father, whom he's undyingly loyal to and loves dearly, has been possessed and is being controlled by someone else, to the point of heading out to meet with them for the chance of receiving proof for said argument. Given that he dies loyal to Garon in BR and had to be shown undeniable proof of Garon's possession in CQ before rebelling, the fact that that speech alone caused him to start believing in Leo and Corrin's claims, to the point of commiting treason by confiding in a traitor, speaks volumes as to how concerned he is about Garon burning down the world and Nohr.

> but even after having undeniable proof of Garon's insanity, Xander rejects it, and even shuts down Leo for having doubts. How is this meant to be a sympathetic person or a good future king?

He shuts down Leo in response to him starting to consider defecting to Hoshido; in the jp script, he only says that they aren't allowed to betray the country. He never says anything about not betraying Garon, which is because he's about to do exactly that by meeting up with Corrin. This is one of the more major mistakes in the localization of Rev, if only because it has Xander immediately contradict himself and makes it look like even that speech by Garon wasn't enough to convince him, which is not true because it shook him enough to get him to go meet Corrin at the Bottomless Canyon.

> Furthermore, why did the Rainbow Sage not mention the four weapons in Birthright or Conquest? Surely the all-knowing Rainbow Sage would want to point Corrin in the right direction before he dies, as he says he wants to take responsibility (for...creating the weapons I guess)? In Birthright and Conquest, one or two of the other legendary weapon wielders die, thus more or less making it impossible to kill Anankos. That feels like a pretty important detail to leave out before leaving the fate of the world in Corrin's hands.

Is it stated anywhere that Xander, Takumi and Ryoma are the only ones who can ever use their respective legendary weapons? Don't their children in Heirs of Fate (dubious canonicity, i know, but it's the only source as to how using the legendary weapons works, which isn't contradicted by anything in the game either, so i'm taking it) eventually use the legendary weapons, meaning that the remaining siblings could probably use them too?

> ...Wait, wait wait wait! What?! Are the Nohrian forces only a few meters away from the seat of power in the Hoshidan capital? Shouldn't this be a bigger deal?! Also, they manage to do that without any Nohrian siblings or Garon by their side.

Is there any evidence that there were more soldiers than the ones that Ryoma killed that made it to the castle? I don't see the issue with it not being a big deal that some stragglers made it to the castle and were immediately routed.

> I'm sure these allied no-names will keep the massive Nohrian army from taking the castle while he's off to Valla.

Again, where are you getting the idea that the entire Nohrian army made it to the castle from? The closest the game gets to saying that is having Ryoma send some soldiers to fortify the castle, which he could easily be doing because it was just attacked and he doesn't want to risk a repeat of what just happened, not because the Nohrian army is about to take the castle.

> You heard Ryoma right. Corrin, as a toddler, acted like a true leader. Not only that, but they were such a good ruler that Ryoma got jealous of how awesome this toddler was. I really don't know what to say here.

Where is it stated or even implied that Corrin was a toddler when Garon kidnapped them? Doesn't the fact that Ryoma remembers them having all those attributes point towards them having been kidnapped later in life than that? What is your evidence for that claim?

> Sure I want to ask Ryoma how he can know that someone he knew as a baby and then until only recently thought was a traitor to his country is incapable of lying, but to be honest Ryoma could start quoting Shakespeare and I'm pretty sure my mind would still be stuck on the toddler jealousy part of the script.

Another mistranslation: (linkmstr fates rev chapter 16 timestamp 1:23)

> Ryoma: ...Kamui isn't one to tell lies. He's been like that since childhood. He's always genuine and honest...

The reason Ryoma trusts Corrin is that he remembers them being a truthful person during their childhood (a word very rarely used to describe a toddler btw), along with wanting to repent for his perceived failing the night of the kidnapping.

> Ryoma says he'll go meet with Corrin at the Bottomless Canyon, if only to atone for not being able to defend Corrin when they were kidnapped, and Hinoka soon chimes in saying more or less the same thing. I'm not quite sure why they'd blame themselves for Sumeragi bringing a baby on a diplomatic mission and then losing it,

Same chapter, right after the previously transcribed line:

> Ryoma: The reason i couldn't save him... maybe my absurd feelings were what stopped me.

> Even now, i sometimes feel that way.

Some reassuring comments from Yukimura later:

> Ryoma: Thank you...

> But, someday, i won't be able to handle these thoughts.

> ...That's why i'll be going to the Infinite Chasm. I'll believe in Kamui, and fight for his sake. There's nothing else i can do to make up for what i've done.

Ryoma blames himself for Corrin's kidnapping not because of his strength, but because he suspects that a part of him, deep down, let Corrin be kidnapped without a fight not because of pragmatism but because of jealousy, and he wants to atone for that.

I'm not transcribing all of Hinoka's justification, but in essence, she states that she regrets not having trained more prior to Corrin's kidnapping, that if she had done so maybe she could have been strong enough to protect Corrin back then, and wants to atone for that perceived mistake. Both of them believe that they could have done more to help Corrin but didn't, and regret it; it's perfectly reasonable to feel guilty under those circumstances.

Also, Sumeragi wasn't omniscient. He couldn't have known that Garon would ambush him while he was passing through what was supposed to be a neutral country. He cannot be reasonably blamed for taking his (not) kids to visit a peaceful country and getting blind-sided on his way there.

> especially when they were children at that time and not even anywhere near Corrin to the best of my knowledge, but okay.

The multiple statements made by Ryoma and Hinoka in this very scene that necessitate the two of them being, at the absolute least, in eyesight of Corrin when they were being kidnapped beg to differ. How would Ryoma or Hinoka even feel guilty for not trying to help Corrin when given the chance if they never had said chance in the first place because they weren't nearby when it happened and wouldn't have even known about it until after the fact? Where in the fudge did you get the idea that they weren't near Corrin from???

> Some people would no doubt argue "trauma" playing a part in the siblings' decision, and while that would have been an interesting angle, we run into the same problem as the Nohrian siblings' loyalty to Garon: there's just not enough focus on the topic to make it stand out or justify it, making it come off more as a convenient excuse than anything else.

I already responded to this in the last part of my Conquest response, so i'll make this short: elaborate on why a plot point or character detail needs substantial screentime before it can be used as a valid argument, and ideally also explain exactly how much screentime said detail needs before it becomes valid.

> We know next to nothing about the Hoshidan siblings or their relationships with each other, both before and after Corrin's abduction and subsequent "return".

That's what supports are for.

Also, why is return in quotes? Corrin DID return. They were in Hoshido, spent a decade or two in a fortress, then returned to Hoshido for a while; why is that phrased as if they didn't return?

> Four chapters ago you called the protagonist a traitor and withheld crucial information from them, you absolute tosser.

What information was Xander withholding from Corrin during Chapter 13?

> I've said my piece on Xander in both Birthright and Conquest but this line really is shameless.

Why? Because he apologized for taking so long to see that Garon was beyond redemption? Why is that shameless?

> Garon has loudly and publicly stated that he wants to destroy the world, so what does Iago get out of that?

I wouldn't count publically stated as “stated it in his private throne room when only two other people were listening”; is there even any evidence that Iago knows about the whole “destroy the world” part of Garon's motivation?

> The ease at which these people put aside a long history of conflict to team up like this is questionable as is, but it becomes worse when you consider that this could've just as easily happened in Conquest chapter 18 when they were eating together in a neutral territory far away from Garon.

The Nohrian royal family was still loyal to Garon in chapter 18 of Conquest; they aren't loyal to him in chapter 17 of Revelation. There's this little thing called “context” that you might have heard of, and it's a pretty important tool when analysing a story.

> Or is the game trying to tell us that Xander hearing Garon monologuing about torturing Corrin for funsies isn't enough and Garon has to say he wants Nohr to be destroyed as well before Xander considers peace without Hoshido in ruins?

Garon said that he was doing this for Anankos during that monologue, and even then, being willing to torture someone and wanting to destroy your own country are very different things; the former is sadism/religious fervor, and the other is madness that would accomplish nothing but self-destruction. Xander being convinced that Garon can't be reasoned with after hearing that speech but not the first is, again, perfectly reasonable.

>That leaves the sisters, who have no real stated purpose in the plot despite being supposed main support characters, making it feel like they're here as part of a set and not because of their own value they bring to the plot, while the brothers serve as glorified batteries for Corrin.

> Sure, Corrin likely needs the manpower, but not only is it impossible for them to know the scope of the danger that lies ahead, I personally also think it's odd that the main support cast's value is primarily judged by combat performance.

Better to over-prepare than under-prepare. Also, one of their goals is to make Hoshido and Nohr be at peace with each other for once; recruiting all the members of the royal family so they have experience fighting together for a common goal will almost certainly improve relations between the two countries, and that includes the sisters. That's why it was necessary for Corrin to get the siblings.

> Oh, and one final thing: Corrin takes and will continue to take center stage at Azura's expense. Like in chapter 18 of Conquest, the other royal siblings just ignore her existence. This is despite the fact that her exposition dump is what allows this route to exist, and she should be leading the charge.

Why should she be in charge? She can't fight very well, is shy, isn't a good leader, doesn't have the special weapon that can kill the final boss, and isn't nearly as talkative or concincing as Corrin; unless you made up an entirely new character that had nothing to do with Azura other than name and appearance, this is a bizzare point to make.

> Instead, Corrin is the leader and the only reason people decide to go to Valla, and the Hoshidan siblings are far more focused on someone they knew as children over a decade ago rather than the person they grew up with.

Do they even like Azura as much as they do Corrin? She clearly preferred being alone to keeping them company if her introductory scene and the fact that she constantly visited Valla was anything to go by, and she's shy regardless; i can see why they'd care more about Corrin, especially since half of them still blame themselves for their kidnapping.

Now, for my summary: this is probably the best post so far.

It still has issues, like the strawmanning of fictional characters, ignoring context to make things look dumber than they are, and his dislike of Xander becoming very apparent in this part, but that's to be expected of Odo; the interesting part is that there are, for once, multiple points raised that i actually agree with him on near-completely, like the retreading, the rushed pacing, and things being too convenient. It's something approaching decent, if you ignore the numerous and heavy flaws still present here. Well done.

See y'all later.

[twist-shout-and-shells]

Loki: Religious Predestination v Free-Will

And how that affects his relationship with Mobius, narratively speaking

So. In case it isn’t clear by *gestures at my whole blog*, I’m a Supernatural blog. I’m a DeanCas blog. I haven’t been around much lately because there are very important, Orwellian things going on in Brasil, but I still keep up with the fandom. And, more important to this post, I still keep up with whatever Marvel’s doing, which means I get up at 7 am every Wednesday to watch Loki.

(Before we start, I’d like to note that I had never actually published any meta on Tumblr. The most I had done was give it to my philosophy and biology teachers as school essays. So, bear with me, okay?)

Well, what does Supernatural have to do with Loki? Not much, except for the narrative they very obviously share. The characters are different, their motivations too, and so are many of the variables that surround, but deep down, at the core, it is the same narrative of Religious Predestination versus Free-Will. And yes, that drives me all the way up the walls.

Religious Predestination is the idea that all events, past, present, and future have been foretold, “written”, predicted by divine, omnipotent beings. There are different types of Predestination, but the two I think fit the most here are Double Predestination and Middle Knowledge (yes, most of my knowledge of this comes from Wikipedia, sue me).

The first claims that God (or whichever omnipotent divine being is responsible for the predestination, in this case, the Time-Keepers) chooses from his own will who will be “condemned” and who will be “saved”. This applies to the show when we consider the fact that Loki has been “predestined” to be a villain. Is all he’s ever been, it’s what he was “born to be”, while the Avengers were all born to be heroes, according to the decrees of the Time-Keepers.

Meanwhile, Middle Knowledge defends that, before the creation of the world (or, in this case, the Sacred Timeline), God already knew every choice that every free-will possessing creature could make in any given circumstance, and He chose the “timeline” that most suited his will. This version also makes sense when we consider the existence of multiple timelines and that the Time-Keepers united them and decided what would be the proper flow of time.

Now, which exact version of Religious Predestination to pick isn’t exactly my point here. My point is that I) everything about the TVA screams Religious Predestination allegory, from the minutemen and other agents being “created” to the words “decree” and “dictate” being thrown around whenever Ravonna is on screen or someone’s talking about the Time-Keepers (who just so happen to be kind of worshipped at the TVA, as there are so many statues of them. They are treated like gods. They are gods.). Do you know what else is a Religious Predestination allegory? Blade Runner. Do you know what was one of the main inspirations for the TVA’s design? Blade Runner! That could mean nothing or that could mean something given *gestures vaguely at the rest of this post*.

So. Loki seeks to escape his “Destiny”. He wants to make his own choices without them being decreed by divine, omnipotent beings. He wants his successes and failures (but mostly his successes) to be his own, and, most important, he doesn’t want to be what everyone expects him to be. Not anymore. Not after what he saw at the TVA. Because everyone is telling him that he was “born to be” a villain (or, at the very least, a side character), he will now want to prove to everyone that he can be more than that. Because he is that “insubordinate, stubborn, and unpredictable” (even if he plans on overthrowing the TVA, I don’t think he sees that as an act of villainy. Maybe he never even planned on actually overthrowing the TVA, maybe he just wanted to get the Variant).

And Mobius, well. Mobius is a good TVA agent. Not all good, of course, ‘cause he has shown more than once that he doesn’t completely agree with how the TVA does things (“They should be scared” “Not of us”), even though, at the end of the day, he believes in them and accepts their mission because he believes they are doing the right thing (unless I’m completely wrong about Mobius, he is the true villain of the show, and has an evil plan of his own. Sorry, I saw a post and now I’m paranoid). So, what happens when an already questioning, though devoted, agent of the Time Variance Authority like Mobius comes into contact with someone like Loki, who pretty much worships Chaos? After having studied Loki’s whole life, and admittedly being a big fan? Well, this happens:

(If looks could kill indeed, Mobius)

Loki is supposed to drag Mobius out of his comfort zone at the TVA, to make him question things harder. Because it would seem “good people are never truly good”, so what’s behind the TVA’s Orwellian, Blade Runner-y scenario? And, even if they’re just really boring and full of paperwork, why should anyone dictate the proper flow of time? What about Free-Will, what about Chaos?

That is how this sort of narrative is supposed to go. Because Loki and Mobius are complete opposites in where they came from and who they wanna be, but at the same time, they’re much alike, as Ravonna even says. She accuses Mobius of being just as insubordinate and stubborn as Loki is. Loki was born and he wanted to be king because he thought (and was led to believe) it was his birthright. Now he wants to tell his own story more than ever ‘cause how dare the Time-Keepers predestinate Loki. Meanwhile, Mobius was created and all he’s ever known is the TVA’s order. But he is stubborn at heart and he craves humanity (the jet ski???), even if he believes he can’t have it because it’s too chaotic or simply not meant for him.

Mobius doesn’t see Loki as a villain (“no one bad is ever truly bad”?). He believes that Loki can be better. And Loki, if I’m reading this right, should help Mobius see that he’s, you know, kind of working for an authoritarian agency, what with “dictating the proper flow of time” and all that. (Yeah, yeah, I know. Multiversal war this, multiversal war that, but isn’t Doctor Strange’s next movie called Multiverse of Madness? Also, has anyone ever actually met the Time-Keepers? Or do all the TVA agents just blindly follow their orders? Maybe we’re bound to have a Multiverse by the end of this anyway.)

(And I’ve seen this narrative before. Faithless man meets angel, makes angel question Heaven’s orders, angel finds out Heaven is not that good after all, angel literally fall for the faithless man. In between, there is a lot of staring and standing too close and betrayals. It’s ridiculous how similar it is.)

So, where was I going with all of this…look, narratively speaking, from what we’ve seen so far, these two are a perfect match (and I’m not even mentioning Loki’s thing for older men in positions of power, which Mobius is completely aware of

). But there is a big, big distance between the narrative pointing towards something and the creative (though, let’s be honest, probably the executive) powers following through.

Now, it wasn’t just the Religious Predestination thing that caught my attention here, no. It wasn’t even the Blade Runner parallels (I’m quite sure Loki has Galatians Syndrome, but that’s a whole other post). It was how similar the plot of Loki is to the plot of Where Mischief Lies by Mackenzi Lee. It caught my attention to the point that I’m nervously glancing at my book while writing this. But I don’t want this to be too long, so I’m gonna put that on a separate post.

Anyway, I hope at least some of this made sense, and thank you so much for reading through my rambling!

[chaos-of-the-abyss]

@undercat-overdog: For the character ask: Young Griff/Faegon? Or Dany, if you want to talk about her instead!

Why not both? I don’t actually have very strong feelings about Young Griff in general, though >.<

Dany

How I feel about this character

Lol, everyone here already knows how I feel about Daenerys Targaryen. Short answer: I LOVE HER. 

Long answer: Okay, it’s just hard for me to break down why I love Dany so much. I think it boils down to how seamlessly the different aspects of her personality blend together, and what kind of person they create. Dany doesn’t have one side that’s cheerful and protective and another side that can be hot-tempered and stern, they go together. The “Mhysa” aspect of her, the one that protects and nurtures, is not in opposition with her “Mother of Dragons” title, the one that can be fierce and impulsive - she’s the Mother of Dragons because she’s Mhysa! If she turns to violence it always comes from a desire to protect. I’ve seen lots of characters where their “violent” side is played up as a contrast to their “sweet” side, to emphasize how jarringly different these two facades of them are, but that’s not at all the case with Dany. They go together.

Besides that, I just love her as a person? Even after all she’s been through, she’s so lively and sweet and loving! But at the same time she’s a queen and a conqueror and a very competent ruler despite having no formal training, and that dichotomy just gets me. This delicate, friendly girl is the mother of dragons, is working to overturn an entire system of dehumanization and oppression, and is a revolutionary leader with the loyalty, love, and faith of so many people. And I like how there are no “easy” fixes in her arc - she’s doing the best she can, she makes mistakes, she learns from them, but she’s also clearly doing really good? She meets with her people, hears and tries to fix their concerns, she works on irrigation, crops, and trade relations, all while concerning herself with the threat of the Sons of the Harpy, too.

On an out-of-universe level, I’ve honestly never come across a female character quite like her. She has power in her own right, as the heir of the Targaryen dynasty, instead of her ties with a man. She’s a revolutionary leader. She’s the chosen hero of many prophecies. She has a goal of reclaiming her birthright as a ruler. All of those things, in modern fantasy, are typically given to male heroes most of the time. She’s pretty much a female power fantasy. 

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Jon! I used to not really care for Jonerys, and Dany is still my favorite by far, but I’ve grown to like Jon a lot too. I love how their arcs parallel each other, I love how both of them are, like, trying desperately to convince the people around them about basic human rights amidst throngs of protest and upheaval, and that they both defy social norms. They’re the same age, they’re both stubborn, they’re both very intelligent and politically astute, they both have a strong sense of justice.

And pssst I also have a Jon/Dany/Tyrion ot3 bias... Jon and Tyrion are already pretty friendly and I enjoyed their interactions, and I’m absolutely in love with that speech about Dany that Tyrion gave to Faegon, the “I know that she spent her childhood in exile[...]” one. Plus, I was very amused when Tyrion was scoffing about how Dany will bake everyone lemon pies and kiss their wounds all better... and meanwhile there’s Dany, literally out among the sick, taking care of them with her own hands, shaming all the grown men in her entourage into helping her. 

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Honestly, I love all of Dany’s interactions with Team Targaryen, but I have a particular soft spot for Dany and Missandei. That interaction between Dany and Missandei, when Dany tells Missandei she’s always welcome to go back to Naath if she wants, and Missandei says she feels safe with Dany... that always gets me. And Dany calls her “my sweet”!

My unpopular opinion about this character

Not sure if this is unpopular? But... I don’t think Dany’s going to be angry or threatened when she finds out about Faegon. I think she’ll be happy that she has family left! Dany struggles with the burden of being the last Targaryen, as far as she knows, and I think it’s pretty out of character for her to be “threatened by a potential rival”, rather than glad that she may have someone to share the weight with. Dany wants to be queen because she believes it’s her duty to her family. Not because she wants to be a leader, or because she wants power, or anything that would warrant her feeling threatened if she finds out that (supposedly) her brother’s son, whom she believed was brutally murdered as an infant, is still alive. 

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

This isn’t necessarily something I wish would happen, but I’d be totally satisfied if Dany went back to Essos after defeating the Others, rather than take up Westeros’ throne. (That said, I’d be totally satisfied if she became ruling queen of Westeros, too.) I for one find Essos much more interesting than Westeros, and I love the thought of Dany continuing her crusade against slavery and working to dismantle it even further. While I do think she’s going to do something to resolve the situation in the coming books (ha, assuming they even come out), I just can’t imagine that it’s possible to deal with something as deep-rooted as slavery in one fell swoop. Even after Dany becomes queen of Meereen and works to abolish it, we can see that the problems and the prejudices remain. I’d love for her to continue having a part in getting rid of that. 

Faegon

How I feel about this character

Hmmm. I’m not very invested in Faegon as a character by himself, so, like I said above, I don’t have strong opinions on him. That said, I don’t think he’s all that bad - clearly spoiled and immature, but he’s just doing what people tell him to do. 

I’m more interested in how he’s very much a foil to Dany. While his training was meant to give him, essentially, a common person’s mindset, so that he could be a good ruler who takes care of his people, he hasn’t actually had the character building that was intended for him during that training, because, at the end of the day, he was fine - there were people who’d come in and protect him if something happened. That contrasts Dany, who’s actually experienced terror, poverty, and helplessness, and has never had anyone to defend her during those times. Faegon hasn’t built the same empathy and compassion as Dany because he hasn’t genuinely experienced the hardships of common people. And I love how GRRM makes that clear in their personalities, even though Dany and Faegon have never actually met. 

All the people I ship romantically with this character

I guess... no one? I do have a slight fondness for the idea of a reverse Targaryen (or at least Valyrian) conqueror trio, where Dany is Aegon and Jon and Faegon are her husbands. But for Dany ot3′s I’d much rather go for Jon/Dany/Tyrion, so...

My non-romantic OTP for this character

I mean... I guess it’s sad how Jon Connington is determined to protect Rhaegar’s son even though he believed he failed Rhaegar himself. Of course, though... Faegon not being actually Aegon... 

My unpopular opinion about this character

Err, nothing really. 

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Hm. I think it would be interesting if Dany and Faegon actually reach a genuine alliance. Of course, given their positions, this is very unlikely if not outright impossible - no way that the people backing Faegon will let that happen. But they’re both some of the few remaining Valyrians in Westeros, so something in me finds the idea appealing. 

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

Gonna make full use of my ‘comic rant’ tag and roast Future State: Superwoman.

Spoilers! And yelling! Of the disgruntled kind!

So a few things at the start here: 1.) I wanted to love this book. I wanted it to be great. I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt, in spite of some iffy stuff in the solicit text. So this rant is not coming from a place of having decided this was going to be awful ahead of time. 2.) My tolerance for bad Supergirl comics is pretty high! Takes a lot for me to actually come out and say that a particular issue is trash. Reader: This story is trash.

It’s not ‘middle-aged white guys writing/drawing a story about sending a minor to a potentially hostile planet fully nude’ trash, mind you. It’s the compost bin, rather than the landfill. Slightly nicer trash, but it still stinks to high heaven. Allow me to expand!

PROLOGUE - SUMMARY: ...I actually can’t summarize this comic b/c it would devolve into a lot of senseless yelling. We’ll just have to tease out this terrible plot as we go along. 

PART I - DEAD DOGS TELL BAD TALES: The comic opens with Kara standing at Krypto’s grave. That’s not why this comic is trash, but it bears mentioning. Because why. Why would you do this. 

PART II - IN WHICH IT ONLY GETS WORSE: So, Kara has a running inner monologue, and the main thing we gather from Kara’s thoughts is that it was Krypto who taught her to be a hero. On paper, that sounds very sweet! In practice, it reads as Kara having no moral center whatsoever—whatever good qualities she might possess, she did not learn from her parents, or her foster parents, or friends, or fellow heroes. Nor do they come from within Kara herself. Nope, t’was Krypto who taught Kara not to be a jealous rage monster. That is not hyperbole--Kara’s walking around angry about her cousin all the time and she’s like, ‘It was you, Krypto, who taught me not to judge, and to let go of anger.’ Listen, I love Krypto, but this? This is, as the youth would say, a bad look.

PART III - THOSE CERTAINLY ARE...SOME THEMES: The set-up here is that Kara is on the moon, and has established a sanctuary for alien refugees. That’s a dynamite idea! I love that! Buuuuut Kara didn’t look at the plight of alien refugees and say, ‘I want to help!’ Really, she didn’t even look at herself and say, ‘I don’t want others to feel like I’ve felt.’ No, she said, ‘Earth won’t accept me as a hero, and Clark didn’t name me protector of Earth, so. I’m out!’ (Honestly, if your moral compass is so whack that you need a dog to walk you back from Hulk-Smashing...can’t say I blame Clark for not picking you, Kara!) But apparently, the people on the moon don’t really like her either. And it is literally never explained why. There’s a whole montage of Kara fixing stuff and saving lives and all the moon folk just glare at her. This makes both the moon people AND Kara look like a**holes, because they come across as ungrateful, and she comes across as a glory hound. Thanks! I hate it! So the ‘peace’ Kara’s found on the moon isn’t really peaceful at all, cause she still resents her cousin, and people still don’t like her, in spite of the fact that she’s constantly performing acts of service for them. 

Also, side note, I’m just now realizing this is an entire population of alien refugees...and Kara is somehow still the odd one out. Like, Earth I get, because everyone else is a human and maybe freaked out by the super powers. But a bunch of aliens? WHY. Why did you do this. Why did this need to be set on the moon with alien refugees if you’re not going to interrogate Kara’s identity as an alien refugee herself AND all of the aliens are inexplicably humanoid in appearance and utterly ordinary in terms of power levels.  

Like. This is not the CW show, where they have a budget, and a huge ensemble cast to serve. YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE. AAARRRRRGHHHH.

PART III CONT’D: There’s also this weird ‘birthright’ element introduced...like, Clark and Jon stole Kara’s ‘right’ to be earth’s defender which is...a terrible reading of Kara’s modern origin. It brings in the idea that Kara is a ‘chosen one’ and because she didn’t get to be that chosen one, all of her hero work is for nothing. Never mind the whole central conceit of what makes Clark and Kara heroic...that they have this incredible power, and choose to do good with it. Nah...it’s all about her ‘right’ to protect the people of Earth! And mean ol’ Clark took that away! THANKS. I HATE IT. 

PART IV - A POOR USE OF SPACE: So, all of the Future State books kind of struggle with the issue of too much exposition, which is understandable. They have to introduce an entirely new status quo in a very limited amount of literal page space, so you *really* have to have a handle on how you allocate your time and focus.  

Introducing a brand new, lore-heavy heroic character who gets all of the development and dynamic art and pulls focus away from the character you’re meant to be writing is a bad use of a two issue limited series.

Like, this is a crappy Supergirl comic but it’s a great backdoor pilot for a Lynari ongoing, I guess. 

Imagine if in the Jon Superman book, they introduced a random, brand new best friend for Jon, and he got the big character arc instead of Jon. That’s something you save for an arc in an ongoing title, NOT A TWO ISSUE EVENT COMIC.  

Back to said new character, there’s a lot of forced attempts to parallel Kara and Lynari, but Lynari’s backstory is so confusing, rushed, and poorly explained that it’s like: okay, they’re both...angry? And the moon jerks hate them? ...uh. Okay.

(I’m gonna bring back my ‘why is this set on the moon, even’ question so that my ‘poor use of space’ header becomes a better joke.) 

PART V - I'M HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO...B/C THERE SURE AIN’T ONE HERE: I’ve already mentioned that Krypto was apparently Kara’s conscience so when Lynari’s aunt arrives to...kill them? (again, everything about Lynari’s backstory is rushed and poorly explained) Kara gets real mad and basically pulls a Gothel: ‘You want me to be the bad guy? Fine! Now I’m the bad guy.’ But thank goodness Lynari is there to tell Kara no! Don’t murder the giant aunt eel! Lynari then steals Kara’s powers and gives up the swamp jewel that’s been hidden inside their body and now their aunt is less murder-y!

WOW. Couldn’t even give the big damn hero moment to Kara in her own book, huh?

So the day is saved. It takes Kara a while to regain her powers, and it’s only then, when she’s no longer ‘above’ the moon jerks, that they’re like, ‘oh, we like her!’ There is a bit of narration about how that attitude is awful. But that narration is provided by Lynari. See, the inner monologue is no longer Kara’s thoughts, but rather it has switched to Lynari’s point of view. They’re telling us this story. And do you know why?

PART VI - WHY THIS COMIC *SUCKS*: KARA DIES. SHE’S THE FRIGGIN’ ‘SECOND GRAVE’ OF THE TITULAR ‘TWO GRAVES’

Fudge this comic to heck.

See, Kara dies on the moon, presumably of old age. She’s buried next to Krypto. And this random character who we’re suddenly supposed to care about tells us her story. Not Clark. Not the Danvers. Not Brainy. Not even one of the supporting cast members from her solo title. No one from Kara’s life is mentioned at all, save for Jon and Clark, and they’re pretty much relegated to flashbacks of Kara punching them. 

PART VII - TIME TO COMPARE DEATHS, I GUESS: First and foremost can I just say that I hate that’s a sentence that I’m typing about Kara in the year of our lord, 2021. But okay: Kara’s big famous death in Crisis stopped the entire DC universe cold. Everyone paused in the middle of the destruction of the multiverse to mourn her loss and honor her (GENUINELY HEROIC) sacrifice. Clark and Barbara--two established characters with a strong connection/relationship to Kara--offered lovely eulogies. 

This one: Kara gets to die of old age in obscurity after a lifetime of striving to be recognized and only achieving it by de-powering and serving a population of jerks. 

Not the warm and fuzzy ending you think it is!

(Meanwhile, Clark lives for millennia and spawns an entire dynasty of Els, all of ‘em out there, protecting the cosmos. I was looking forward to House of El in the hopes of maybe seeing some Kara stuff but NOPE. Thanks to Superwoman, we’re probably not gonna see any future Kara stuff beyond this! G R E A T)

And like, the argument could be made that this ending makes Kara happy. This is the life she chooses! She wants to be alone and garden on the moon! Except, we get zero insight from Kara regarding the remainder of her life. We only have Lynari’s narration and some montage shots...nearly all of which focus on other characters. But honestly, even if we did get Kara’s side of things, I doubt it would shed much light on her feelings, bEEECAUSE...

PART VIII - SUPER BLAND: This Kara really has no personality outside of ‘detached and vaguely bitter.’ I like Sauvage, I think she’s an incredibly talented artist, but here, Kara is stiff and her expression often reads as aloof. She’s very pretty, but it comes at the expense of being expressive. (And I know Sauvage can do expressive stuff...because Lyanari gets to be expressive.) Like...I love that shojo manga vibe but this is a Kara devoid of spark and warmth. 

...Like...Melissa Benoist’s portrayal of Kara is right there... 

I’ve already sort of touched on this but her inner monologue doesn’t have much personality either. She’s just parroting the same, ‘I need to do as Krypto taught me!’ nonsense for both issues. Until, of course, we shift to Lynari’s narration, and lose Kara’s thread entirely. 

PART IX - LET’S WRAP THIS UP: This book frustrates me to no end because it had a lot of stuff going for it. It’s got a female writer and artist--still a rarity for the Supergirl book--it’s a limited series mostly free of continuity and character baggage, and it’s not tied down to the grimdark cyberpunk stuff happening in the Gotham books. YOU COULD’VE DONE ANYTHING. And, once again, DC goes with a pitch that’s: Kara is angry, Kara resents Clark...and Kara dies.

It’s also happening...right as Kara has no dedicated ongoing title, the movie’s been shelved, the TV show is entering its sixth and final season, and all promotion has shifted to new CW and HBO shows. 

*screams into the void* 

MAAAAAAN I hate this book. I hate that it retroactively makes me hate the Andreyko run a little bit--a run that I took to be about a traumatized young woman forced to confront her grief, and who leans on a beloved animal companion for comfort. Here, Krypto is L I T E R A L L Y the reason Kara’s not constantly frying folks with her heat vision. 

I hate that this book has made me use the word ‘literally’ so much in this rant.

I hate that this could possibly be more in continuity than Millennium.

Remember Millennium? Where Kara was in like...five pages? And she was warm, and kind, and promised to help Rose because it was the right thing to do, and oh yes, WAS PRESIDENT OF EARTH?!??! AND A CLASSY OLD LADY!?!?!?!?! WHO WAS STILL ALIVE AND KICKIN’ IN THE FAR FLUNG FUTURE!?!?!?!?!

I hate that I’m using my lunch hour to rant about how much I hate this comic.  

I hate that DC editorial seems hell-bent on erasing the interesting aspects of Kara’s character to sand her down to ‘the angry one’ or ‘Batman 2.0′

PART X - LET’S END ON SOME (?) POSITIVES: Don’t read this book! Don’t do it! Don’t waste your time and money!

Instead, check out ANYTHING ELSE. If you want mom!Kara, read Tom Taylor’s ‘Last Daughters of Krypton’ in the DC Nuclear Winter special. If you want heroic oldlady!Kara, read Millennium. Honestly? Pick up anything by Bendis that has Supergirl in it. It is miles away better than this. You want angry Kara working through her grief? Andreyko, Red Lantern, even Infected. ANYTHING BUT THIS. HECK, grab Superman of Metropolis instead! That has bad Kara characterization but at least she doesn’t end up dead. 

Anyways. This comic is bad. I wish it wasn’t! And this is now the SECOND TIME IN A ROW that Kara’s book ends on a terrible note before the character disappears from monthly comics for an unknown period of time.  

*screams into the void again*

[a-secret-bolton-vampire]

Young Griff, Part 1: The Pisswater Prince

So, I know I haven't done a super deep dive in a while. I kinda got stuck, then binged Sense8, The OA, The Americans, and Dark. It just got hard to write, and I feel into a bit of depression. But I finally managed to complete this, something I've wanted to write about for a very long time. This is part of the Daenerys essays, but the main focus is not on her, but rather the enigmatic Young Griff who appears in ADWD. As he was never seen on the TV show, we have little to no idea of what his future holds. Personally, of all the characters cut from the show, I most wish they kept Young Griff, because his presence is quite interesting. The fandom (and the in-world characters) are highly skeptical of his identity, and think he is destined for major things in the future of the story.

There is no doubt his existence is tied heavily to Daenerys's storyline, although perhaps not the way that is often recognized. This was originally going to just be one long essay, but I uncovered more and more that I found compelling enough to write, and so it became split into two parts. The first part will be about Aegon's role in the story; his identity, what he represents, why he is here. The second part will be about Aegon's future; his next moves in the Stormlands, possible allies, and how he might meet his end.

The Dubious Prince

What's curious is that apparently, Aegon's return has been considered by GRRM for quite a while. A mere 2 days before the publishing of ASOS, in 2000, GRRM was asked a question by a fan:

Fan: I was wondering if you could answer (or take the "fifth") one teeny little question I've been dying to ask for the past year: Are Aegon and Rhaenys, Elia's children, well and truly dead? GRRM: All I have to say is that there is absolutely no doubt that little Princess Rhaenys was dragged from beneath her father's bed and slain.

And then when ADWD is published in 2011, it is revealed that in fact, Aegon isn't dead, but secretly alive. This is something that was actually rumoured in Westeros, according to this entry of Aegon VI in A World of Ice and Fire app:

Rumors persist, however, that it was not truly Aegon who was killed, but some other infant, and that Aegon has been taken away to safety.

Aegon literally tells Tyrion the story of how he was whisked away to safety:

"That was not me. I told you. That was some tanner's son from Pisswater Bend whose mother died birthing him. His father sold him to Lord Varys for a jug of Arbor gold. He had other sons but had never tasted Arbor gold. Varys gave the Pisswater boy to my lady mother and carried me away."

It's certainly a great story, that Aegon return from the dead, living in Essos waiting for the chance to take back his birthright. The fact Aegon is still alive is truly a miracle... but is he? Is this young boy who purports to be Aegon really Prince Aegon, son of Prince Rhaegar and Princess Elia? One of the most pervasive fan theories is that Aegon isn't a Targaryen at all, but secretly a Blackfyre, descended from the Targaryen bastard Daemon Blackfyre who rebelled and tried to become king (the Blackfyres are still Targaryens but don't tell them that).

It's such a popular theory that it is considered all but canon, as much as R+L=J is. Now, time for me to commit heresy: I do not buy this theory at all.

For those not in the know, some have pointed out potential circumstantial evidence of Aegon being a Blackfyre; he's supported by the Golden Company, a sellsword company that was made for the Blackfyres and ruled by them until Maelys died on the Stepstones. Dany sees a vision of a cloth dragon swaying on a pole in the House of the Undying, as the Undying call her the "slayer of lies". There is mention of Maelys being the end of male line of House Blackfyre, but no mention of what happened to the female line. There is a story about an inn that had a black dragon made of iron symbolizing the Blackfyres, and after Lord Darry (a Targaryen supporter in the Blackfyre rebellions) took it off, cut it apart, and threw it into the river, one piece showed up years later on the Quiet Isle, having reddened with rust (potentially symbolizing a Blackfyre returning disguised as a Targaryen). Illyrio is oddly emotional when talking about Aegon. Plus the entirety of the Pisswater Prince story sounds really out there and unlikely.

At first glance, I found this theory really compelling. There is all this subtext and reading behind the lines that you didn't see before, and on some level it makes some sense. Why introduce another secret Targaryen in book 5 out of 7 (8)? It also fits neatly with another theory I will talk about more in depth later. However, while it isn't a theory I think is necessarily 100% inaccurate and completely out there, I think it doesn't account for alternatives, and ultimately is an unnecessary plot twist.

The support of the Golden Company isn't all that suspect when you consider just what's been happening since Maelys died. The male line of House Blackfyre is over (who knows what happened to the female line), the Blackfyres no longer rule the Golden Company, they are gone. The Golden Company was also founded by Westerosi exiles who fled Westeros and supported the Blackfyres. The fact the Golden Company broke its contract with Myr and that "some contracts are writ in blood" more has to do with the fact that these people are mostly descendants of Westerosi exiles and want to return home. The idea of the Golden Company wasn't really to be a permanent thing, it was meant to be a means through which the Blackfyres had support when they invaded again, and when the Blackfyres were installed, those exiled lords would get their lost lands back.

With the Blackfyre cause gone, the only thing left for the Golden Company is home. And that's exactly what Aegon is giving them, regardless of him being Targaryen. The slayer of lies visions are implying Daenerys is going to be confronting people who are in some way not true. Stannis (who is the first vision) is not Azor Ahai. This probably means that the cloth dragon represents a fake Targaryen, and in comes Aegon, out of nowhere! The first issue I have is that the vision has to be literal. Prophecies are very tricky, and the House of the Undying prophecies are extremely finicky. What does slayer of lies mean? Does it mean she literally kills the lies? Is it more metaphorical that she exposes people to the truth? And if Aegon really is a true Targaryen, then why is he the mummer's dragon and considered a lie to slay?

Disregarding the fact Varys was a mummer and he is working for Aegon, even if Aegon is a Targaryen, it's very obvious that they need to do a lot to convince people he is one. He has to play the part of Rhaegar's son, because everyone thinks he is dead. Meanwhile, Daenerys has to do literally nothing of the sort, because she has dragons. She embodies what it means to be a Targaryen, she is about to embrace her house words. As Illyrio tells Tyrion, Daenerys is a true Targaryen. But Aegon doesn't have dragons, so he needs to play up his Targness in some other way. Rhaegar was called the Last Dragon. Viserys called himself a Dragon. Aegon is about to try to take Rhaegar's place. But neither Rhaegar, Viserys, or Aegon are the Last Dragon; Daenerys is, and the lie is that he is the last dragon, and that Dany's existence itself is the way she slays the lie. As Dany thinks to herself after Viserys dies, "fire cannot kill a dragon".

Look at Aegon being someone piggybacking off words and looks for his claims. Meanwhile, Daenerys has all the proof one needs. I think the vision is much more esoteric than literal. While Varys's story is suspect and even Tyrion finds it unbelievable, it's not entirely impossible. Hell, Mance Rayder climbed the Wall and went to Winterfell in disguise as a bard twice. It makes sense for Varys to take away Aegon and replace him with another child during Robert's rebellion, when things were going badly for the Targaryens and plans had to be made in case the worst came to worst.

Another popular interpretation is that Illyrio and his wife Serra are Aegon's real son, but I find this to be incredibly flawed. Not only does Serra not really look much like a Targaryen (blue eyes instead of purple), but Illyrio's somewhat emotional confession that he can't see Aegon before he drops Tyrion off doesn't mean he is the boys father. The idea that you need to be someones parent in order to have a strong connection completely holds disregard for other kinds of relationships. Aegon is implied to have been raised for at least a bit in Pentos. Illyrio probably felt some affection for him and genuinely enjoyed his company.

To me, however, it's not really the alternative explanations for the evidence of a Blackfyre conspiracy that convince me Aegon is in fact Rhaegar's son. It's rather simple; what's the point of yet another secret identity plot twist? Consider how we meet Aegon. We meet him through Tyrion's POV in his third chapter, under the guise of the son of a sellsword named Griff, called Young Griff, his hair dyed blue in honour of his dead Tyroshi mother. Tyrion is immediately suspicious, but he's not entirely sure what's going on. We then get two more chapters of him aboard the Shy Maid, and during that time we are meant to be a little confused and unsure what is going on. It's a mystery of why Tyrion is on this boat and who these people are.

By the third chapter of Tyrion on the Shy Maid, the mystery is finally lifted, and all is revealed; Griff isn't Griff, he's Jon Connington, an exiled lord thought to have drunken himself to death. And Young Griff isn't his son; he's Prince Rhaegar's son Aegon, who was thought to have been killed by the Mountain in Robert's Rebellion. I think it's important to remember that it isn't just Aegon who is thought to be dead. JonCon is considered dead too! Two dead people aboard a boat plotting to retake Westeros. We already had a mystery handed to us, and the plot twist was already revealed. Another thing to consider is how thematically and symbolically important the journey down the Rhoyne is for Aegon. To me I think it makes a lot of sense for Rhaegar and Elia's son to be on the Rhoyne, especially since there is a lot of evidence that he and Dorne will eventually ally.

It's also important to remember that apart from a very few sly people, Aegon being secretly alive wasn't even a possibility on most peoples radar. It truly was something that came out of nowhere. While that can be used as a marker against him being Rhaegar's son, with the complaints of such a large character being revealed so late with seemingly no forewarning, I think that's honestly sort of the point.

Aegon's existence is already so large of a twist that it feels awkward to then put in another plot twist that he's actually a Blackfyre, something that really only has significance to the people who have read the Dunk & Egg novellas and know the history of Westeros very well. Although not entirely the same, it reminds me of "the Others are actually morally grey/the good guys" theories, which are in a similar vein of "George is always subversive and this is classic George". However, while the text does sort of lend credence to this theory being at the very most plausible, I feel it's ultimately an unnecessary plot twist built upon another seemingly unnecessary plot twist to try to justify his late entry and/or his significance (as can be noted, I detest calling him fAegon). The plot for Aegon isn't to be uncovered as this secret conspiracy of another ultra-double secret identity, it's about what his existence does to change the story.

Young Griff, Daenerys Stormborn, and Jon Snow

A large part of why the Blackfyre conspiracy theory is so popular is that it actually does have a compelling narrative link to the series. It's a simple progression; there are hints at a second Dance of the Dragons, vision of a mummer's dragon, a fake Targaryen, boom, Dany and Aegon fight. Dany thinks her claim is the best, but then someone appears who has an even better claim, and she fights thinking there's no possible way he could be real. It's an easy to follow trajectory. As always, people are welcome to disagree with my interpretation, but I think there is a far better reason for Aegon's role in the story; he's more foreshadowing for R+L=J.

For certain, there's more to him than just that, but I think this is something that simply cannot be ignored. He's another Targaryen. Yeah, it's kind of a meme to say X is a secret Targaryen, but I actually see the logic in why GRRM did this. Jon Snow is the son of Rhaegar and Lyanna, and most likely is a trueborn prince. He is the one destined to have an extremely significant relationship with Daenerys. I plan to eventually write an essay on how R+L=J effects the characters and story by itself, but for preface; I don't buy that R+L=J is there just to make Jon have an identity crisis. Something as significant as that is going to have a lot of consequences and reasons to be around, some more than others. I do think there will be people who will learn the truth and at the very least, some people will believe it.

This is where Aegon's appearance becomes more significant. Here is a Targaryen people had no idea even existed, let alone was still alive. It kinda opens the floodgates for the world to question what is known about Robert's Rebellion. It also serves as precedent for the reveal that Jon Snow reveal. One Targaryen we didn't know existed is suddenly here. Is there another nearby? You can't simplify such a complex plot quite that easily of course, but I think it's significant to think about how the Young Griff twist applies to the story as a whole, and specifically RLJ. George maybe thought of this as the initial purpose for Young Griff, but as per usual, he definitely has other reasons to exist.

In fact, Aegon is a perfect foil for Jon Snow. Both are the son of Rhaegar, both are disguised as someone else, both are thrusted into a leadership position at a young age. However, Jon is unaware of his true parentage, while Aegon is. Jon is reluctant to embrace his identity in general (especially as lord commander) while Aegon is embracing his identity to his fullest extent. In a way, Aegon represents what Jon's life could have become in a parallel world. Instead of being taken as Ned's bastard to Winterfell, he is educated and taught his role and origin in Essos as plotting begins for retaking Westeros. Aegon is literally parallel universe Jon Snow.

Aegon is also a foil for Daenerys (who in turn is a parallel to Jon Snow). Daenerys grew up poor, constantly visiting nobles in the Free Cities but never getting anything in return. She was sold as a marital slave to Drogo. Her brother resented and abused her, and anything she learned she learned from Viserys, who was very unreliable. Yet she climbs up and becomes an incredibly powerful figure, and is now one of the most powerful people in the world. In contrast, Aegon was always protected, given safety, care, education, train at arms. In fact, it might be accurate to say that Aegon is actually spoiled. His interaction with Tyrion while playing cyvasse is a good indication of this. After Tyrion defeats Aegon when he follows the bad advice he gave him (making a point to not always trust people), this happens;

Young Griff jerked to his feet and kicked over the board. Cyvasse pieces flew in all directions, bouncing and rolling across the deck of the Shy Maid. "Pick those up," the boy commanded.

This is quite an extreme reaction. It even reminds Tyrion of Joffrey, and I have to agree this is a very petulant, Joffrey-like outburst. I don't believe Aegon is really anything like Joffrey, but both kids were pretty spoiled and given so much safety and care that when things don't go their way they get upset. Aegon is used to having everything given to him, and Tyrion is the first to show that he won't always win. In contrast, Daenerys has suffered some pretty severe losses; Rhaego, Drogo's khalasar, Drogo, Jorah's betrayal, etc. I have a hard time seeing Daenerys react so badly to this the way Aegon did. It also casts doubt on the speech Varys gave to Kevan as he dies that Aegon was molded to be this perfect king. He may have been raised to be that way, but the opposite might be true instead.

In fact, this might really be the true crux and core of Aegon's storyline. He's touted as the rightful king, this perfect prince who has been taught everything he needs, ready to be this hero who returns to Westeros to reclaim the throne. But Aegon is a deconstruction of that trope. He seems to have everything going for him, and is touted as this great king, but the truth is he remains relatively untested. All the privilege he has been given has only made him spoiled. The game of cyvasse he and Tyrion play is a lot more significant than I think it is given credit for, but that will be saved for part two when I go in depth about his future.

Of course, there has been a lot of pushback against the idea that Aegon is spoiled and that he's no different from Jon and Dany and that it should be expected he react like that to losing cyvasse at his age. While the cyvasse outburst doesn't mean he is going to be evil or anything, I think the context about this is important, and there is a lot more stuff I think hints that Aegon is not really the prince Varys believes him to be. Again, this will be saved for part two.

The Dragons Will Dance Again

In 2003, a fan asked George:

Hi, short question. Will we find out more about the Dance of the Dragons in future books? GRRM: The first dance or the second? The second will be the subject of a book. The first will be mentioned from time to time, I'm sure.

This is further supported by a quote by Teora Toland in the first Arianne sample chapter for TWOW:

"It is dragons." "Dragons?" said her mother. "Teora, don't be mad." "I'm not. They're coming." "How could you possibly know that?" her sister asked, with a note of scorn in her voice. "One of your little dreams?" Teora gave a tiny nod, chin trembling. "They were dancing. In my dream. And everywhere the dragons danced the people died."

The use of the language of dragons dancing is very noteworthy, and when connected with the SSM show in-text hints that a second Dance is indeed going to happen. Various theories include that this refers to Jon vs. Dany, Dany vs. Euron, Dany vs. Aegon, or Jon vs. Aegon. The most common theory in the fandom is Dany vs. Aegon, with Dany believing Aegon to be a fake Targaryen and refusing to acknowledge his claim to the throne. Instead of facing Cersei as in the show, Daenerys will face Aegon.

The extension of this theory is that Dorne will ally with Aegon, with an ambitious Arianne marrying Aegon, and a burnt toast Quentyn showing Daenerys's rejection, turning Dorne against Daenerys. When Daenerys invades Westeros, Aegon is to be the perfect prince while Dany plays the role of the evil Mad King's daughter. In retaliation of Dorne siding with a false Targaryen instead of a true Targaryen, Dany will burn the Water Gardens. On a narrative level it kinda does make a lot of sense. In the first Areo chapter, Doran mentions that the blood oranges are well past ripe. He has waited for his vengeance for 17 years, because he's so careful about the cost, but in the end all that waiting will do him in and the second Daenerys will burn the Water Gardens that were built for the first Daenerys.

There is just a slight problem... someone talked about the theory that Daenerys will burn the Water Gardens in the comment section of a NotABlog post, and GRRM very quickly shut it down by saying "the Water Gardens bit... uh no". Not that we needed GRRM to debunk this tired theory, it didn't make much sense in the first place since the Water Gardens hold no strategic value and burning it would mean Daenerys has to do it for no reason other than needless cruelty.

The bigger issue I have is that of Dany and Aegon even fighting in the first place. Despite everything, what a "second Dance of the Dragons" even means is incredibly vague. A Targaryen succession crisis? A Targ succession crisis leading to war? A Targaryen man fighting a Targaryen woman? Does it need to be on the same scale as the original Dance? We have no context other than this and it could mean literally anything. What's more, there is a very often overlooked SSM that kinda puts the dampers on this theory a bit;

The second Dance of Dragons does not have to mean Dany's invasion. Geroge stopped himself short and said he shouldn't say anymore. The response came because of my question of whether the dance would take place in ADWD because AFFC and ADWD parallel.

We will definitely see more of Aegon in TWOW, and we'll probably get to know him better. I'm not going to argue that Aegon appearing in book 5 of 7 is bad writing, because I don't think it necessarily is. Perhaps he won't be as major a character as the fandom believes him to be. However, if Daenerys and Aegon are going to clash, there needs to be time for the characters to interact and establish any sort of relationship. I think the idea that Dany hears of Aegon's existence and immediately thinks he is a fake and goes to war with him completely disregards both Dany's character and how you establish a tragic event like this.

The first Dance of the Dragons was not something that happened on a whim. It was the result of decades of hatred built towards two factions. They weren't always antagonistic to each other, but as the years passed, the blacks and the greens grew to hate each other more and more and more until it took the death of the king that kept them at bay to start a devastating war. Dany declaring Aegon a fake without ever having met him and going to war with him is incredibly simplistic. Also, think about it from Dany's perspective.

Viserys was an abusive asshole to her, yet she still thinks about him and even feels lonely. It's natural to want to have a family and someone to feel close with. Dany is warned about the mummer's dragon, yes, but she is also lonely and thinks all her family is dead, that she is alone in the world. So what would really happen if she learned Aegon existed? For sure there would be intense skepticism, but I think there is a part of her that will at the very least want to believe it to be true. Daenerys is very ambitious yes, but I don't think she would simply refuse to believe someone is her nephew because that means he has a better claim to the throne.

Besides, kinslaying is a huge taboo, and killing someone who claims to be her nephew without being sure is definitely going to not be the best option in her mind. And also, Aegon hasn't done anything yet to earn Dany's resentment, unlike Viserys. There might be some anger at Illyrio, some serious shock, denial even, but at the end of the day, this is one more family member she didn't know she even had. The show portrayed Jon's parentage as being a bad thing for her since he would have a better claim, but I doubt that will be the first thing on Dany's mind. In fact, she thinks to herself what would happen if Aegon was alive:

Five Aegons had ruled the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. There would have been a sixth, but the Usurper's dogs had murdered her brother's son when he was still a babe at the breast. If he had lived, I might have married him.

There is a good chance that the emotions she feels when learning about Aegon will be a precursor to the R+L=J reveal with Jon Snow. Just more reason Aegon is a big step towards R+L=J being confirmed.

Although Daenerys is quite ready to leave Slaver's Bay for Westeros at the end of ADWD, Aegon's existence might motivate her to leave even more quickly and solidify her goal to get the Iron Throne. However, I don't think that Aegon is going to become a new main character. His appearance and his actions I feel are more important than his actual character. And hey, maybe the second Dance will involved Daenerys and Aegon, but I think there is enough reason to doubt it.

Next up; the Golden Company landing, Dorne, and Aegon's game of cyvasse, detailed.

[unforth]

@castielscarma I've done this meme for Destiel, though it was a million years ago, so how about Rand and Aviendha?

who’s the werewolf and who’s the hunter: oh Aviendha is so the werewolf and Rand is the hunter, except that Rand has no idea that werewolves exist and he's wandered into her territory and she assumes he's there to kill her so of course she's gonna strike first. She lays a whole ambush and catches him unawares, and he raises a blade to defend himself then realizes...he's being attacked by a woman...and hardly even defends himself. This infuriates her because she's been stalking him long enough to know he's a badass so what the fuck is he doing? She's too enraged to stop fighting long enough to ask...and he's nearly dead when she finally snarls out "what are you DOING" and he just manages a weak smile and a "light, you're so beautiful" before he passes out and it occurs to her she's made one heck of a mistake...and decides to nurse him back to health entirely so she can ask him to explain himself, and THEN kill him. (That's definitely the only reason she's helping him what other reason could she possibly have? Don't even suggest she thinks he's handsome she will rip your head off...)

who’s the mermaid and who’s the fisherman: Rand is the merman and Aviendha is the fisherwoman. She's so beautiful, and her legs are so long, that Rand lingers beneath the waves to watch her every day but it's not until her boat is capsized that he learns that she doesn't actually know how to swim, and he's forced to choose between rescuing her and revealing himself, or letting her drown. It's not until after he's saved her and she's seen him that the truth starts to come out - he is of her people, and wasn't born a merman, and no one can say how he ended up beneath the sea...but maybe together they can figure it out.

who’s the witch and who’s the familiar: hmm...that's a super hard choice lol...I'm gonna go with witch Aviendha and familiar Rand, though both have a ton of potential. After her training with the Wise Ones, she is sent on a quest to find her familiar, only to spend years visiting every hold in the Wasteland and finding nothing. It's with utmost disgust that she finally gives up and ventures out into the wetlands to find her familiar...she hates to do it but she can never earn her birthright if she's not bonded to a familiar...and then she finds Rand, a stag familiar, and it's hate at first sight...except she's POSITIVE he's the one, and fuck her life, and how is she going to convince him to return to the Wasteland with her??

who’s the barista and who’s the coffee addict: Rand is the barista working his way through college and Aviendha is the massively overachieving sports medicine major who runs on coffee and rage and is convinced Rand is an idiot cause he can hardly get out a sentence without tripping over his tongue when she's around. Fortunately, she's thinks he's hot, and breaks the ice by inviting him to fuck. Unfortunately, he actually really likes her and has no idea how to transition from being "strangers with benefits" to actually...being in a relationship. (He never does figure it out. Min intervenes and saves him from his own stupidity. She's aro and occasionally joins them as a third and realizes they're both idiots who've caught feels...)

who’s the professor and who’s the TA: they're both professors, Aviendha of women's studies, Rand of military history, and they never get along and are constantly arguing during faculty meetings except it's entirely based on their stereotypes of each other ("she must be a feminazi!" "he must be an actual nazi!") And meanwhile the rest of the staff are like...actually she's really brilliant? Actually he's really nice? Why can't they get along? (The answer is UST, and the conviction that the other hates them and they're both too stubborn to be the first to relent...until they end up having drunken hate sex after a holiday party...and are inseparable forever after.)

who’s the knight and who’s the prince(ss): Aviendha is the knight and Rand is the prince. He's so soft, so coddled, she hates him...until she realizes semi-accidentally that the entire kingdom virtually is planning to kill him and he's alive solely because of his wits and ability to navigate social milieus. She discovers this after saving his life...and then nearly getting executed for her trouble...and getting saved by his ability to play the games nobles favor. Post rescue she expects him to be a dick and demand things of her but instead he just offers her a sad smile and says, "thanks for helping me...we're even now...stay away from now on if you value your life" and she realizes she is utterly screwed because there's no way he can leave him to his fate...

who’s the teacher and who’s the single parent: Rand is the single parent after a messy divorce from Elayne Trakand, legendary socialite (they're actually on okay terms, the messy part was because of the tabloids and her family). Aviendha is the kids' martial arts instructor, and she's always had a thing for Rand - he's gorgeous and nice and great with his kids, what's not to like? - but she's always coped by compartmentalizing and now that he's actually available she has absolutely no idea what to do and proceeds to screw up in increasingly spectacular ways until he finally, sheepishly (possibly terrified-ly) asks her out. They're married four months later.

who’s the writer and who’s the editor: Rand is the author and Aviendha is the editor. He's in a bind: he writes sensitive, intellectual chicklit, often with PoC and/or queer characters, under a female pseudonym and he's so afraid of getting found out (cause male authors are no go in that genre) that he enters a contest with the publishing house and basically creates an entire alter ego female persona? And they actually pick his book? And now he's completely screwed even as he finally succeeds? And it's even worse because his editor seems to genuinely like him and he's absolutely positive that she'll loathe him if she finally finds out the truth...still, manuscript by manuscript, collaboration after collaboration, he falls for her and is pretty sure she's falling too and that makes it so much worse to keep the secret...of course eventually the truth comes out and he's right at first, she literally stabs him with her letter opener...and then he's very very wrong and it's better than he ever dared hope.

(Send me an ask with a ship and I'll answer the above questions!)