#everyone was like cassandra why are you listening to this and don't question any fucking thing

[spicylove4ever]

Why Tangled's Cassandra fall into the dark side makes sense but still doesn't feel right.

Now I was disscussing with a friend about why would Cassandra act the way he did and I was "man, I need a long speech to provide a good analysis on this". Here's the speech.

Also, I must say I'm not justifying Cassandra's actions, this is just an analysis.

First thing: if Cassandra takes something after her mother, is being ambitious and has a need of validation.

But unlike her mother, Cassandra wants to appreciated and validated as what she wants to be, which is a mighty warrior, instead of adored like Gothel wanted.

Her ambition/goal in life is not just being a mighty warrior, she wants to be considerated the best. Now, the reason why she wants to be that type of person is because she admires the figure of the royal guards, and that life-style was with her thanks to her father, and of course she wanted to stand out in that.

The problem is:

Nothing but obstacles and struggle to get what she wanted.

And that lead to nothing but to a constant frustration.

Second point: as lady in waiting of the Princess, she had to endure what at first sight seemed like a brat who had everything on a silver platter.

You might remember how Cassandra didn't like Rapunzel even one bit at first. And that was because they were complete oposites. Rapunzel was a ray of sweet sunshine and everyone loved her, and she had every privilege only a princess could have. Meanwhile, Cassandra struggled a lot to have her voice heard, worked hard but apparently going nowhere on her goal (mostly because her father was too protective of her to let her be a guard). So why Cassandra didn't like Rapunzel at all at first was a part of envy as well.

But they bonded because Rapunzel showed that she was struggling too, by having to learn about a whole new world, with dangers and stuff, and they both wanted more of life, Rapunzel wanted to explore, and not just a cuddled life, and Cassandra could relate to that.

But Cassandra became Rapunzel's guide and protector in life, which was a little fullfiling for her wishes.

So we have a friendship where Cassandra feels good being the big sister, being looked up to by her small sister, but at the same time, she was still struggling to get to be a knight, while Rapunzel still seemed to get everything she wished for easily.

Point 3: seems like no one told Cassandra that being a royal guard has its own small writing, and it's that they are there to serve and protect the royal ones.

What I mean to say about this, is that when Cassandra became Rapunzel's guard on the journey to find out about the rocks, Cassandra wasn't aware that Rapunzel was basically on charge, and that means Cassandra would end up being bossed by what was her younger sister, who she wanted to look after and protect.

A meaningful change of dinamic that made her feel more unheard and unapreciated, and this time by someone she is very close to.

And the thing is, Rapunzel had a heck of emotional journey and had to gain tons of experience and had to take resposabilities to evolve to what she is supposed to be (she is going to be queen someday). That means she no longer needs Cassandra's guidance, and she also developed a bit of Atlas complex, which means she wants to take charge of everything because she feels like she has to take care of everything, which is a little bit of true, but a royal still could make room for the voices of others.

And what did this lead to? A HUGE conflict between best friends. Cassandra also started to feel like Rapunzel was taking things from her by not listen to her advice, and as a guard, her purpose is to fight for her, and Rapunzel always jumped to protect and fight. She was eclipsed by Rapunzel.

And with all that she had in mind, then this came:

Cassandra interpreted that as another time Rapunzel took something from her Zhan Tirir made sure she did.

Point number four: Cassandra has the learned behaviour of keeping all her feelings and frustrations in. Not only because she doesn't feel heard, but because she doesn't want to show vulnerability.

People who keep everything in tend to snap when what they're holding becomes too much, and in Cassandra's case, when that reveal about her mother, that was the last strab.

All this makes no surprise when Cassandra decided to start getting things and turning her back from Rapunzel. It makes total sense she got the Moon Stone as a way to get spot-light and also left with such a big show. Heck, her solo on the song Crossing the Line had a cathartic feeling that was contagious.

Now, there's a flaw on her logic. I take everyone thinks "wait, seriously, Cassandra? Have you forgotten Gothel kidnapped Rapunzel? Are you seriously blaming her for being through such tragedy?" and all of you are right. But Cassandra's point of view is even her mother casted her aside for my so called friend who does nothing but to eclipse me.

But the whole thing here is: Cassandra was barely thinking. In fact, after take a view on how did Cassandra view Rapunzel on the beggining, it's clear she hasn't stop to think about what Rapunzel went through. But truth be told, she had no idea, since I very much doubt Eugene and Rapunzel told people anything beyond "this mad woman kidnapped me to use my power to keep herself beautiful and pretended to be my mother, and this dude here cut my hair to free me from her, which made her age and die" and that short explanation doesn't enlighten much how hard was Rapunzel's life. Probably only Rapunzel's parents knew any details.

In any case, what happened on that betrayal episode was Cassandra snapping at Rapunzel, and the beggining of her fall on the dark.

Until here, everything is pretty tied up. But the rest of her journey she wasn't exactly herself.

This chick here is the reason.

Cassandra basically dropped everything when she left Rapunzel. She in actually had no idea of what to do afterwards, so it was the perfect time for the person who showed that piece of her past and thus becoming a voice of truth, to voice what would she do after leaving her friend.

On the other hand, Zhan Tiri knew all the time that she had to keep Cassandra against Rapunzel, so she had to fuel her anger all the time, making Rapunzel's actions seem way worse and even ill intentioned and/or that Cassandra's new independence is in danger as long as Rapunzel is out there.

But Cassandra is still not thinking here, since Zhan Tiri wants Cassandra to just be a swirl of anger and negative emotion that does and acts the way she wants. So, if Cassandra seemed out of character, was because a good amount of her thinking wasn't hers.

And in case you wonder, yes, it is that easy to manipulate someone who is trapped in anger, when you know how. Step one: do the opposite of telling them to calm down.

And to make things worse:

To ensure that Cassandra would stay against Rapunzel, and knowing her anger can loose its fuel with time (as it happened a little multiple times), she had to make Rapunzel look totally ill intended. Best way to do that was what happened when they discovered Gothel's mirrors.

Rapunzel speaks facts that are in true not much of a surprise since they were explicit.

But that little sneaky thing had a plan:

Before this, Cassandra still knew deep down that she was the one who went too far and betrayed the other and her own frustration wasn't that much of a motive for all her actions, but after this, it looks like she has a justification.

And then things escalate AGAIN. To the point Cassandra decides to go berserker. We all know how it went.

So after all things considerated, why does Cassandra's evil arc still feel weird?

Well.... for one, when Varian is there to compare, with his completable understandable reaction to his trauma and how people failed him on his time of need, you gonna need something comparable to be sympathetic.

Meanwhile, Cassandra, all her motive goes to a simple envy, and how she dismisses all reason and believes to follow what a stranger tells her. The bad part is that she should have thought that she still had a very loving father and if she only had told Rapunzel to freaking let her do her job. I mean, yes, the frustration is bad and all that, but you don't betray your best friend and then leave everything just for that.

OVERALL, MY CONCLUSION IS: yes, her fall to dark makes sense, but it reveals she wasn't that good to begin with if that's all it toke for her to do that. And she won't ever be sympathetic considering how we all saw how she was clearly being played even if it wasn't for us, and consideration that she should know better after all she has seen.