#defiance spoilers

[sovpologist]

the heavy narrative focus on crow confuses me because i feel like he isn't a fan favorite. he’s a very polarizing character, people either hate him or love him. and even people who really like him admit that he began to overstay his welcome in the seasonal narrative (i would say around lost, but definitely after haunted) and were glad when the writers seemed to recognize this and move on to other characters and plotlines.

the sudden heel turn not only to focus on him again but also to focus on old arcs that have already been explored and concluded (amanda didn't forgive him; he didn't want to talk to mara but was tentatively open to doing so in the future).... to ultimately come to the SAME conclusions (amanda still didn't forgive crow; mara is still interested in reconnecting but crow is still not) feels not only misguided but also completely unasked for. if crow is going to the “main character” no matter what the audience thinks of him then at least do something interesting and new with him instead of just rehashing the same couple of storylines!

[night-dark-woods]

ID. Side by side, a screenshot of Mara reaching towards the player on the Farm and a lore screenshot (Cosmogyre IV). In the game screenshot, Mara says, "Detach. Fall forward. Number among the first." The lore screenshot reads:

"A singularity is forming around her. A kugelblitz: a black hole created by the concentration of raw energy.

"Mara!" Uldwyn shouts. "Mara, you're too far out!"

Mara thinks of her mother's face. She hears Osana say: I can't watch over you like a mother would. I have to make my own choices now.

She fires the detach command into the tether.

Gravity seizes her. She falls forward in space and time, into the future, into the mystery. Yang Liwei is behind her. Uldwyn is behind her. She wants to be the first."

End ID.

i literally feel so insane about this right now

[im-smart-i-swear]

coming back home.

@barrenclan

[mollysunder]

Jinx NEEDS to read Silco's diary! When Jinx went into Silco's safe, she didn't actually read his diary.

That means Jinx never read what Silco said about Felicis's pregnancy.

Jinx never learned that to Silco, before things went by the wayside, living and caring was an inherent act of transgression. That to bring a child into their world took bravery because there was no guarantee for their safety, there was just hope that they could make things better.

After Act 2, I can't imagine Silco's diary alone would help completely Jinx, but I think it could offer a piece of insight Jinx never had about Silco or the rest of her family. For the longest time Jinx has convinced herself she's been a curse on her family that she doesn't realize every person who's ever loved her chose to love her. Nothing in Zaun is guaranteed, not food, clean water, health, safety, or even light and but Felicia, Connol, Silco, Vander, Vi, Mylo, Claggor, and Isha all chose to love her, because that's the only risk worth taking.

In Arcane love is treated as something that inherently exposes someone, makes them "weaker". The only way love isn't a weakness, is when the world isn't a place that punishes it. Jinx was loved and still is loved because her family believed she deserved to be in a world like that and fought for it. They fought for her.

I have some hope that when Jinx returns she might learn this because the bandages in her trunk resembles her new top for her endgame outfit.

[smile-files]

mommy let you use her ipad, you were barely two

and it did all the things we designed it to do

now look at you, look at you!

(objectober 2024 day 10: internet)

[incorrect-tbosas]

“he tore down the flag.”

[olessan]

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power | 2x06 Where is He

"And the only traitor here is you!"

[thefirstknife]

I like the fact that we're not telling Mithrax anything about Asher becuse this is much funnier.

[frangipanilove]

This is not a drill; the kissy episode is the most Bethyl episode ever😱😱😱

And Greenland = Green(e)land CONFIRMED

(Massive spoilers for TBOC 2X2 below, proceed with caution)

Guys! As we all know by now, Paramount+ France accidentally released all the episodes at once, and naturally the internet did what it does best, meaning it preserved them for eternity. They’re floating around out there, and I’ve watched 2x2. That’s the dreaded episode with the D@rabelle kiss, and guys! It’s literally the most Bethyl episode I’ve ever seen. I’ve written in other posts how I expect season 2 to be full of Beth callbacks and dialogue parallels, and boy howdy did 2x2 ever deliver!

First, for some context, I wrote a speculation-post a few days ago about Carol and Ash making a stopover in Greenland, or Green(e)land as I’ll demand it be called from now on. Read that for full context, because I can’t be bothered repeating myself. Let's just say my speculation was rather precise on this particular occasion.

I expected to hear Beth dialogue parallels and see Beth callbacks, and that’s exactly what we got. The Greenland stopover was nothing but a long series of dialogue callbacks to 4x12 Still and 4x13 Alone! In one of the reviews that came out before the premiere, it was described as "bizarre", and that caught my attention, because that normally means it does nothing to drive the narrative forward, which usually means it is included purely for symbolism purposes. And that's exactly what we got. A truly bizarre story, with crazy amounts of symbolism.

So, in episode 1, we saw Carol and Ash plan on making a stopover in Greenland, to switch out the ethanol tanks.

Ethanol/alcohol is a metaphor for a cure/resurrection in TWDU, and I’ve written countless posts on it, here's my latest. One of the reasons I refuse to leave it alone is because Beth is right in the center of this symbolism due to episode 4x12 Still, in which “Still” is a reference to “distillery” a place for the production of ethanol/alcohol.

Also, Beth is known to enjoy a drink or two, and she made getting drunk her entire purpose for living in Still. The girl is pretty much the queen of alcohol/ethanol at this point, and remember in TWDU, that’s a good thing, as it is directly tied to a cure/resurrection. It represents surviving.

Ok, back to Carol and Ash. They land on Greenland/Green(e)land, having some issues with a fuel leak. It needs to be fixed. They immediately run into two survivors, climate scientists, who have been stuck there since the fall of civilization, and one can safely say the isolation hasn’t done them any good. A bit on the crazy side, both of them.

Ash and Carol return with them to their research station, and from there on out it’s absolutely MAYHEM in terms of Beth callbacks and dialogue parallels. The French subtitles are in white, the red is my English translation as the dialogue was spoken in the episode:

Right off the bat; "home sweet home".

In 4x12 Still, which is a reference to a "distillery", meaning a place for the production of alcohol/ethanol, Daryl explained that his father used to have his own moonshine distillery. And interestingly, so did the crazy scientists on Green(e)land:

The Greenland scientist explain that they distill their own Aquavite (and for anyone who is still undecided on the hypothesis that alcohol represents a cure/resurrection, "Aquavite" is a Norwegian/Scandinavian liqueur, the name translates to "water of life"):

Then we immediately turn to drinking, as you do:

...they pour drinks...

Carol likes Aquavite about as much as Beth likes moonshine, meaning not at all...

They start off amicable, and say "skål" which means "cheers" in Norwegian...

There are references to games...

...then things start to go slightly sideways...

Meanwhile, Ash is on his way back to the plane with Crazy Scientist #2. There's a reference to something or someone "nuts"...

...and something or someone beautiful:

In the beginning of the episode we see Laurent gift Daryl a hand carved dog he has made. Dogs are Sirius symbolism and represent resurrection/return/coming back (I've written tons of posts on why it is so, but long story short; it refers to Sirius the Dog Star that disappears from the nightsky only to return some time later):

Later, we hear this:

Carol insists on going looking for Sophia (meaning Daryl) alone, and demands Ash stay in place to watch the plane. If she's not back in two weeks he should leave without her, she says. Ash's response:

Guys! I know we aren’t thrilled about the kiss. I’ll briefly give you my interpretation of it, perhaps it can be of help, although of course this is just my subjective meaning.

The kiss makes a little more sense in its full context of the episode actually, at least to me. My interpretation is that this is very much also about Laurent. Daryl is shown to be seriously bonding with Laurent, and I’m not saying he doesn��t also like Isabelle, but it’s definitely a package deal for him. Daryl is drawn to the three of them as a family unit, more than just to Isabelle as an individual, in my opinion.

I think he’s just desperate for companionship and a healthy relationship with a decent kind adult. And I’m not saying that to minimize Isabelle in any way, but that’s the vibe I’m getting. They’re not star crossed lovers, they’re two lonely adults who desperately seek some kind of meaningful connection. And I don’t want to ridicule or minimize that, that’s a perfectly valid motivation for a relationship, and I believe it can work out wonderfully. But yeah, it’s not primarily about love and lust, imho.

And think about it! This is Daryl’s first onscreen kiss! TPTB absolutely knew it was going to break the internet as well as people’s hearts. They knew this episode would be scrutinized under a microscope! Why in gods name would they throw in all these super specific Beth callbacks and dialogue parallels in such a massively important episode for Daryl, the episode they knew EVERYONE was always going to absolutely ruthlessly dissect?

It’s because Beth’s the real story here. And I keep saying, that whatever happens between Daryl and Isabelle, it is always on some level commentary on Bethyl. I wrote about it here, and we see it more than ever in this episode. I wrote that I expect the Beth-proxyness (which I maintain is totally a word) of Isabelle is going to be turned up a couple of notches this season, and that is truly what we're seeing.

I’ve only talked about Green(e)land and the Carol/Ash storyline in this post, but I could easily do a similar one where I point out all of Daryl and Isabelle’s Beth callbacks and dialogue parallels, because there were tons of them.

Cheer up, friends, I think this season is going to be fun for us!

[krakrac]

finally beat this fucker. ignore the damage he just scratched me

[doomedyuri]

QUEEN MARA SOV in DESTINY 2: SEASON OF DEFIANCE.

Awaken... as Queensguard!

[sovpologist]

caught up with the seasonal quest and i'm just absolutely baffled that mara didn't bring up sjur in her radio message with crow. not only is it a missed opportunity but it seems like such an obvious and fitting choice? why would she not bring up her dead wife when crow is struggling with grieving someone he loved? especially since crow has his memories of his life as uldren back and presumably remembers sjur... there was even a perfect opening when mara is like "i know what it's like to lose someone you love" and crow goes "are you talking about me?" she could've then talked about losing sjur and how hard it was and how she dealt with it etc. it really did feel like they meant to bring sjur back at some point but tbh at this point i don't even think they remember she exists :(

[tacticalgrandma]

OHHHHH MY GOD

[violet-919]

Someone get Saint outta the fucking death trap we call a ‘Hangar’

[thelvadams]

Amanda Holliday and Crow in DESTINY 2: LIGHTFALL

[warmind-ra-ra-rasputin]

Obsessed with the fact that Asher gives his friends cute nicknames 🥺