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uniiiquehecrt · 6 years ago

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Varian and Rapunzel Parallels

what’s most interesting to me about rapunzel and varian is the fact that they are direct mirrors of one another. ( and later , inverses , but we’ll get to that. ) they have similar personalities, similar outlooks, similar responses, &. similar upbringings in relation to and with the world, and once varian falls from grace , they STILL share similarities within their differences. by looking closely at one , you can easily learn more about the inner workings of the other.

so let’s start small and work our way up.

CHARACTER DESIGN.

character design is a deliberate , carefully thought out process , often times with the goal in mind to show a character’s personality within the first few glances. ( ie: varian’s goggles and apron showcasing that he’s a scientist of some caliber , or cassandra’s pale , gothic features giving off the impression of the stereotypical “bad girl” )

so the parallels between varian and rapunzel?

RAPUNZEL VARIAN - golden hair - dark hair / blue streak - green eyes - blue eyes - freckles* - freckles*

* freckles are even shown to be a RARE TRAIT in corona. rapunzel writes about it in her journal.

PERSONALITY

just like rapunzel is known for her free spirit , varian is known for his ambition &. his drive to prove himself. the two both sport bubbly , eccentric personalities , always moving quickly and fluidly , and jumping about in bouts of excitement. everything about varian and rapunzel is dramatic. they are both the type of person to GO BIG or GO HOME ; they are ALL IN or NOT AT ALL.

to that end , they are both awful liars ( “i’m brushing my teeth” - rapunzel , s1e0 / “i didn’t hear any tremors.” - varian ; s1e1 ) , and hide their negative feelings from people that they care about. ( rapunzel hiding her feelings about settling down in “before ever after” / varian hiding his feelings when cassandra reveals she chose to be a personal security detail in “great expotations”. ) both of them also tend to be clingy and expect immediate friendship out of people ( rapunzel with uncle monty in “rapunzel’s enemy” / varian with cassandra in “great expotations” ) , and are slow to anger unless pressed to their last nerve. ( rapunzel letting down her hair in “the quest for varian” / varian turning villain in his last few minutes of “the alchemist returns” )

other notes are that they both have animal companions ( pascal / ruddiger ) , both are inventive , and both are artistic.

I HAVE A DREAM

throughout the course of “tangled” , we watch as rapunzel explores and pursues her dream of wanting to see the floating lanterns. it’s been her lifelong dream , and she has to FIGHT &. go against the confines of her bubble &. the wishes of her “mother” in order to see it through.

likewise , in TTS we see that now , rapunzel’s dream is to travel the world. she wants to see what life has to offer now that she has the freedom to actually go out and see it , and YET AGAIN she has to fight for her freedom and her ability to roam as she pleases.

varian , on the other hand , dreams of becoming a well-renowned ALCHEMIST. he wants to prove to the world that his inventions and experiments are valid , trustworthy , and safe. he yearns for the chance to prove that he is far more than what his reputation says he is. pursuing the science of alchemy is his lifelong dream , and he has to constantly fight &. go against the confines of his society ( corona , his village ) in order to see it through.

UPBRINGING

this one has to be split up into TWO PARTS , because there is a LOT to go off of here. so let’s start with:

RAPUNZEL &. VARIAN VS. THE WORLD

i’ve briefly mentioned it here: (x.) but varian and rapunzel both have mirrored upbringings. while true , varian was not at ALL raised in an abusive household ( FAR from it , mind! ) , there are enough similarities between the two characters that ought to be mentioned.

in “tangled” , rapunzel experiences a multitude of things , but namely:

rapunzel was isolated in a tower for 18 years of her life

gothel implies that she’s aliability &. takes up A LOT of gothel’s time ( complaining to rapunzel about the shell paints a few days before rapunzel’s birthday )

gothel tells her that the world is full of scary , dangerous people ( ruffians , thugs , men with pointy teeth )

gothel tells her that people will only want to use rapunzel for her hair , and once she HAS been used for her hair’s healing properties , they’ll toss her aside and she’ll be left alone.

varian has a take on life that is almost the complete inverse of rapunzel. that being in the sense that everything false that gothel tells , or puts rapunzel through is actually TRUE to some respect in varian’s walk of life.

eugene was only interested in being around varian once he realized that varian could tell him a secret, something he wanted in order to spite cassandra. it’s actually the ONE TIME eugene is nice to varian , and even then he is impatient and short with him. ( s1e1, “what the hair” )

cassandra brokered a deal with varian in order to get all of her lady-in-waiting chores done. needless to say , not only did she NOT hold up her end of the deal , but she actively chose not to honor it EVEN WITH rapunzel’s prompting. ( s1e8 ��great expotations” )

rapunzel automatically assumes that varian will want to help her uncover the mystery of the rocks at the end of “great expotations” , explaining to him that it is a SECRET and that he can’t speak to anybody about it.she never asks him if he wants to join her in keeping her secret, regardless of whether he agrees or not. later this backfires on them both , as neither one of them can openly speak about the rocks during the blizzard , and varian is left to deal with the loss of his father alone. she also never goes to find varian until he reaches out to HER to find his bronze graphtyc. ( s1e16, “queen for a day” , s1e19 “the quest for varian” )

PARENTS ( FRED &. QUIRIN. )

even besides the iconic “you are not ready” quote , even FREDRICK and QUIRIN have parallels* to one another in terms of parenting.

both parents are overprotective of their only child due to past experiences tied to the rocks. ( the sun drop flower / the destruction of the dark kingdom ) they both lie , and hide their motives from their child ( fred hiding the truth about plucking the flower / quirin hiding his mark ) , even knowing that rapunzel and varian respectively are looking for answers.

likewise they both try to contain the threat ( fred hiding the markers for the rocks on the map / quirin moving the village away from the rocks once he has obtained new land ) &. keep their child away from said threat ( “i don’t want you near those rocks” - fred / “stay away from those rocks” - quirin ) , never realizing that both children have already started to dabble in it anyways.

*the two parents also have parallels when it comes to the family portraits , which you can find my analysis on here: this ties in to the bigger theory that quirin and varian are direct parallels to the royal family and kingdom of corona.

INVERSES

my last point has to do with all of the above accumulated.

rapunzel is constantly praised &. rewarded for her free spirit , even to her own detriment. she is always able to lift others up without fail. she is constantly shown to be the one who helps bring light into the worlds of those who have lost their way. she is the one to put a smile onto faces who never thought they could smile again , and she’s helped multiple people find &. pursue their dreams. in the case of eugene she has even given some people a reason to find a new dream.

even when her methods &. exuberant personality can grate on the nerves of others , or push boundaries that oughtn’t be pushed , 9/10 times , rapunzel still gets some kind of reward for it. the only time she’s been called out on her free spirit resulting in selfishness is by cassandra in the recent episode “freebird”.

varian , on the other hand , is often punished for his pursuit of alchemy. sometimes not explicitly , but rather in the fact that they oftentimes go completely wrong.although his intentions and aspirations are usually innocent &. well-meaning , he tends to get the short end of the stick anyways. either people assume he’s bad news because of his “dangerous” reputation , or his inventions cause a calamity that he has to clean up. in the end it’s this stigma against varian , and being ostracized for it that drives varian over the edge. ( and then only after a long period of isolation and grieving over the loss of his sole parent. )

of course that isn’t to say that varian is entirely scott-free. just as rapunzel’s free spirit can result in selfishness , an “all-about-me” attitude , and some vein of self-righteousness , varian’s hubris in his mastery of alchemy , &. over-eagerness to prove his reputation wrong can and DID result in pride , a tendency to over-attach , and a knack for denial when it comes to admitting when he’s wrong.

CONCLUSION

all of that to say: rapunzel and varian have a LOT of similarities. from physical appearance to personality to their experiences with the world , and the world’s experiences with them. ( chris even confirmed this here (x.) )

the varian at the end of season one is what rapunzel could have been had she become jaded and isolated in mother gothel’s care at the end of “tangled”. the irony in that? rapunzel and her friends are all equally small parts of what prompted varian to become a villain in the first place.

#varian #varian tangled #rapunzel #tangled #tangled the series #analysis #character analysis #tts #rapunzel's tangled adventure #rta #&&. | tangled the series. |#&&. | disney. |#&&. varian #&&. meta #&&. my meta #the dark heir theory #dkh theory #i figured i'd take the original post and put it on my personal #it's easier to read on this blog anyways + this is where my discussion stuff is gonna go in the future

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uniiiquehecrt · 6 years ago

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The Dark Kingdom Heir Theory

Dreams &. Realities

Many people have briefly mentioned Rapunzel’s prophetic dreams from season one, but I’ve rarely ever seen people dissect them and the characters that they are actually about: The family of Corona, and the family of the Dark Kingdom.

I’ve discussed in depth that Varian and Rapunzel were written, directed and drawn in a way to parallel one another. They are direct mirrors, and it doesn’t stop with their personalities and physical similarities. It continues on with Rapunzel’s dreams.

Jumping straight into the lion’s den, in “A Quest for Varian”, Rapunzel has a dream about Varian and the moon rocks. In it, Rapunzel dreams that her father is in danger: specifically when it comes to finding her father being threatened by the black rocks.

Soon enough, she finds that Fred has been encased by the black rocks, and immediately a connection is drawn between Fred and Quirin.

It gets especially interesting when you consider the original storyboards (drawn by the lovely kirtterart) that were done for the scene where Varian finds his father. In it, we see that Quirin’s positioning is VASTLY different from the iconic image above. Instead, he looks a fair amount like how we find Fred in Rapunzel’s dream.

The mirroring only becomes more blatant from there in both canon and storyboard framing and positioning.

Varian and Rapunzel reach out towards their fathers, distraught and in shock. In the storyboards, both fathers faces are angled towards his child, eyes closed, and virtually lifeless.

The camera zooms out to show the children in front of their fathers. One stands in shock as her hair stops glowing, and the other crumples in tears at his father’s feet.

It only ever gets more symbolic when you consider that this situation happens to children who are both respectively heirs to a kingdom of the sun, and a kingdom of the moon.

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uniiiquehecrt · 6 years ago

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TTS THEORY: The Dark Kingdom Heir.

So a lot of people have been speculating that there might be someone in the main cast of the show Tangled the Series who is a direct relation to King Edmund.

Some have suggested Eugene, others have suggested Cassandra, and so I’d like to put my hat in the ring by suggesting someone nobody else seems to have thought of: Quirin.

Now you may be thinking to yourself, “But Vi, Quirin isn’t in the main cast and we saw him expressly calling King Edmund ‘Your Majesty!’”, to which I say, “Yes fellow viewer, you’re right that Quirin isn’t part of the core 3 main characters and he DID call King Edmund ‘Your Majesty’, but have you considered this:

Varian and Lance, Pascal and Max are all considered to be part of the “main cast”. Varian especially for being the FIRST and arguably MAIN villain of the series. They’re both constant, reoccurring characters who hold some weight in the show’s plot. Quirin is ESPECIALLY tied to the main story.

Real Princes and Princesses still called their mothers and fathers “your majesty” in medieval times. It was actually more likely that they call their parents by his/her formal title rather than “mother” and “father”. It was customary, and it was especially required in formal situations.”

Tangled the Series has presented a character in a way OPPOSITE of their intended purpose in the show. (Varian.) It’s a similar technique most notably called a red herring.

With Quirin being specifically cast alongside Adira (who we KNOW is plot relevant) and King Edmund (who we also know is plot relevant and likely a returning cast member for s2, be it real time or flashbacks), why HAVEN’T we given Quirin a chance at the Dark Kingdom crown? We know little to nothing about Quirin except for his mark &. that, clearly, he comes from the dark kingdom (DK). so let’s start with the mark.

Not only is this mark (the alchemical symbol for comet, btw) on both Adira (right hand = ‘right-hand man / support &. loyalty. ) and Quirin’s hand ( left hand = commitment. ) , but it’s featured as the clasp of Quirin and Edmund’s cloaks. It’s framed as a centerpiece of their outfit - with both men wearing similar armor, mind you, whereas Adira’s symbol is worn on her waist. (keep this in mind for later.)

Then there are facial features shared between Quirin, Edmund, and even Varian.

Noses.

A common and dominant trait commonly shared when it comes to genetic + noses is a broad , roman , “eagle-like” nose. This trait is especially seen in King Edmund and mirrored closely in Quirin’s nose as well. Varian, too, emulates the “hooked nose” that King Edmund has, only Varian’s nose points up like his mother’s (from the portrait.)

Ears.

Ears are another physical feature greatly reliant on genetics. Mostly when it comes to detached and attached earlobes. DETACHED earlobes are a COMMON trait, meaning that the gene is a dominant one. ATTACHED earlobes are, thus, a recessive trait, and harder to find.

Admittedly, in the show’s arty style it is hard to say whether or not Quirin, Edmund and Varian have detached or attached earlobes, but their ear shapes are incredibly similar. Quirin and Edmund both have small, angular ears, and while Varian’s are similar to Edmund’s in shape at the bottom (suggesting a similar earlobe), his are more rounded, again taking physical features from his mother.

Eyes.

Eyes are ESPECIALLY important in a person’s physical features and this especially holds true in an animated show. Quirin is most notably drawn with squinted eyes,but they are the same shade of brown as Edmund’s. Varian and Edmund also have EXTREMELY similar eye shapes, being round and wide, and similar eyebrows (thin, angular, and more defined than Quirin’s.)

It’s also important to note that in the flashback, Quirin’s eyes were animated to look EXACTLY like King Edmund’s, brown, round, and wide eyes. Not only does this further draw physical similarities but also draws more similarities between Quirin and his son Varian, who - again - has wide, round blue eyes. (something that, at the very least, Varian VERY likely could have gotten from his mother.)

Face Shape.

Quirin and Edmund also have nearly identical face shapes: long, with high, prominent cheekbones, small ears, brown eyes, a hooked and/or roman nose, and a large, rectangular jaw.

It’s also interesting to note that all three men in question share very similar expressions when it comes to something pertaining to the rocks, and leaving (or in quirin’s case, not leaving) the rocks alone.

“Alright Vi,” you might be saying, “you’ve got me on Quirin and Edmund looking alike, but I’m still not buying it. What other evidence do you have?”

HOH BOY do I have a plethora.

So let’s start with ATTIRE.

these are a few examples, but here we can observe and deduce a few things:

only King Edmund, King Fredrick, Queen Arianna, and Princess Rapunzel have been shown to wear furs in their attire. But then the outliers are Adira, Quirin and Varian.

all three of these outliers are of some great importance, not only to the plot but the universe of the story.

Furs are INCREDIBLY rare to be seen in common attire in the middle ages. It was incredibly expensive, and worth more to common folk if the furs they poached were then SOLD to make a profit.

YET we not only see Quirin wearing furs in his normal attire, but VARIAN wearing furs on his cloak. Adira, too, can be deduced to be of some high rank (again, keep this in mind) , so this fits in theme.

ONLY ROYALS HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO WEAR PRINCELY CAPES.

King Trevor is shown to wear a cape, King Edmund is also shown to wear a cape, and yet so is Quirin. This automatically puts him above the others, and for good reason.

Now, you COULD argue that people like Quaid have been shown to wear capes, but Quaid has a very informal cape. It slings across his shoulder, isn’t especially long, and has a strange neck adornment. (x.)

Quirin’s cape is especially similar to stereotypical princely capes (x) / (x) / (x) / (x) / (x) , something that Quaid’s cape does NOT resemble. (Quaid’s cape actually makes me think more of paladin!shiro’s cape but w/e not the point.)

Quirin and Varian both wear RED

This is especially important because in medieval times, true red the likes of Quirin’s tunic, Varian’s scarf, and Quirin’s cape weren’t common dyes for common folk. There is a REASON why little to no commoners in the background are wearing anything true, bright reds. True, deep, rich red was mostly worn by more wealthy people, including royals like King Trevor shown above.

Again, Quirin wears deep red in his normal everyday attire.

This deep red is also the EXACT same shade of red as King Trevor’s attire and cape.

So let’s get back to ADIRA.

Adira is especially interesting, because she’s - as my friend and co-creator of a majority of this theory @shadowweirdo has stated - a “fully-realized Cassandra”. Adira is everything that Cassandra wants to be: calm, cool-under-fire, strong, confident...

And their clothes even match.

Both sport clothes that primarily have the colours Red, Yellow, Grey and Black. The difference is that Cassandra - in matching of her personality - wears colours that are muted versions of Adira’s. In a way visually showcasing that Cassandra has the potential to become very much like Adira, she just hasn’t learned how to be.

And if Adira is in fact Cassandra’s DK!parallel, then she fits perfectly.

The framing and positioning of this shot and each character is incredibly similar. We have a royal on the right side of a servant whose hands are clasped, and whose face is angled down. she’s looking up at the highest ranking royal in respect.

and it’s something Cassandra is shown to do often. Because she’s a lady-in-waiting to the crown princess, Rapunzel.

Adira sports many of the personality traits and skill sets necessary to be a considered bonafide bodyguard to Rapunzel and co. If the crown Princess of Corona has her own personal bodyguard in Cassandra, why wouldn’t the Crown Prince of the DK?

It’s even further implied by how Quirin and Adira interact with one another. Adira is constantly behind him, and so far, the two never outright speak to or look at each other either.

This idea of Adira being a servant or bodyguard to the crown (or a specific member of the crown) is further supported by the placement of the DK!Comet symbol on her sash. It’s further down her torso than that of Quirin and Edmund, suggesting that, while her mark is to be noticed, it’s not front and center. You are not supposed to look at her mark first, which is an exact opposite of a symbol resting directly over your chest.

So now you may be saying to yourself “Well, Vi, for all your points, I’m still not convinced.”

To which i would like to conclude with one question: have you ever noticed that Varian’s household is the ONLY family in TTS shown to have a family portrait besides the royal family of Corona?

Have you ever noticed that the portraits are MIRROR IMAGES of one another? Don’t believe me? Have a look:

The framing, the hand positioning, the two parents smiling down at their newborn child; these portraits are meant to be mirrors of one another. There was a REASON why the show-runners of TTS made it a point to linger on Varian’s family portrait.

And I believe that that reason is because Varian and Quirin are the living (or at least currently canonically present) heirs to the throne of the Dark Kingdom.

#tts #quirin #varian #dark kingdom #dark kingdom quirin #tangled the series #tangled the series theory #theory #king edmund #corona #&&. whispers.#&&. theories.#&&. | tangled the series. | theories.#&&. | tangled the series. |#dkh theory

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