#goodtimeswithscar analysis

[allay-uxini]

YOU PEOPLE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THIS

One is the champion of the stars and the other the champion of the moon

One dances at the top of the world and the other used to reside there

One who had to accept a sacrifice and the other who refused it

One surrounded by friends and companions, revered and respected by all and the other alone, forgotten and underestimated

One who's feared by all during secret life and the other who was feared during 3rd life yet deep down they're both kind souls who just want to have fun and be free

Scar was once like Gem, bold and adventurous, didn't care for the rules placed upon him, viewing the world as nothing but a silly game, always taking everything for granted..... That is, until he couldn't anymore

Until he had to learn what it's like to be alone, unable to escape the rules of the game forcing him to fall into solitude

Perhaps he sees his past self in Gem, bold, naive, not a single care in the world

Perhaps that's why he can spot Gem's trap, because he too was once unafraid of taking risks and overconfident, willing to take his chances even if they don't work out

Perhaps that's why he had to kill her, to finally kill a version of himself long gone, a version who would choose to create a sand monopoly rather than mine for resources that would actually help him, a version who isn't afraid to step on the toes of the members of the server with the strongest enchantments, a version who was willing to start an entire war for the sake of a llama, a version who took his only companion for granted

save me sl!gem and sl!scar as character foils save me

[nerdyenby]

Sorry, your boyfriend got reincarnated. Yeah, he doesn’t remember that time you murdered him with your bare hands. He doesn’t know how much you love him. He doesn’t know that you’ve killed for him. He doesn’t know that you’ve killed him. He doesn’t know it’ll happen again. As he takes your hand and your heart, and you laugh from atop an animal the two of you ride together, he doesn’t know you’ve been here before. He doesn’t know it’ll happen again.

[theminecraftbee]

Scar does Grian the favor of waiting until he's alone. They aren't teamed this season, after all, and it sounds like Grian's been in and out of hot water with Mumbo already. Really, just really typical of Grian, Scar has to say. The general apparent disregard for his teammates--

--The fact that the session ended just before Scar could die again. The fact Scar's heard through the grapevine that Grian bent the rules of being unable to tell anyone the wild card because Mumbo had been about to die. Annoyingly, frustratingly typical. Honestly, Scar can't say he's sorry they aren't teamed, but when he'd seen Grian at the end of the session, something almost shell-shocked beneath the glee at the chaos the snails had caused, well.

Scar waits until they're alone, Grian with his knees against his chest, staring at the sky, and says: "I know what you're doing, Grian."

"Huh? Oh, hey Scar. Doing? Me? I mean, sure, I thought the evil snails were funny, but I'm hardly doing anything once I make a twist, right?"

Scar gives Grian a look.

Grian sighs. "I mean, it solves the problem Secret Life had. The twists are really impactful now. They're the main thing this whole game is about."

"Yeah, they are! We basically haven't had to kill each other at all, have we?" Scar says. "I mean, we've barely had any time to get paranoid, to start to mistrust each other, to decide there's nothing else to be done... In fact, there's really only one person anyone would mistrust for this one."

Grian falls silent.

"I'm just saying, I know what you're doing. It's a good try," Scar says.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Grian says. "I just think snails that kill people are funny. So funny I'm willing to kill my friends about it. Everyone knows, right? That's just the kind of guy I am."

"You weren't willing to kill--"

"It was time," Grian says, and before Scar can try to point out the ways that making the world want to kill them is so, so much kinder than waiting for them to kill each other, Grian leaves.

Typical.

What an infuriating man.

Scar shakes his head and starts the walk back to his base. He feels for Mumbo and Skizz, he really does.

[rose-tries-to-write]

Thinking about how, when Scar turns red in Third Life, his first actions are collecting flowers to beg to stay with Grian.

That, when faced with being a red life—the first and only red life—his first actions aren’t bloodthirst and anger but desperation to keep the relationship he’s made.

That, in a game where alliances are kept through deeds, debts, and doubt—he offered flowers. He didn’t sell the idea of staying teammates, he didn’t even try. He offered the flowers and begged to stay by Grians side, but was fully prepared to walk away without another word. Was prepared to forget his scamming nature, to lay down flowers and nothing more.

Also, in the image of the flowers being a bouquet, imagine him being gone for hours after his death.

Grian is waiting and Scar is holed up in the forest somewhere meticulously crafting this arrangement despite having no idea what he’s doing. He could only find two flowers, and the mess he puts together isn’t anything anyone would ever sell, but he made it from scratch. He put in the effort, spent hours on it until he deemed it perfect and only then did he bring it to Grian.

It’s ugly, and there is no twine holding it together nor a sheet, but the flowers aren’t wilted. All of them are the most vibrant, healthy flowers he could find and not one is missing a petal due to his hands.

His hands—used to scam, maim, and betray—made gentle for the effort of making something worthy of someone like Grian.

[ladidatt]

This session was something for sure! I was constantly bobbing between ecstasy and depression. (I was left in depression as mumbo died😢). What with the almost pointed questions (why did the bot have to do scar like that) and the mace alliance (is it even an alliance?) it all seemed a bit specific to desert duo. Can all that really be a coincidence? Here's my headcannon.

The watchers made this series to mainly feed off the emotions of the players. Out of all the emotions they have had, grief was their favorite one (they generally preferred negative emotions). So, they put them in a game that one could not really win.

The first season was Grian's win. To the watchers this was almost perfect (the only thing they were unhappy about was that Grian had won). After killing Scar he was a sea of grief, and the watchers could feast.

The second season, they considered a failure. This time Scott won. They would have preferred almost anyone else. Even after winning the death game he did not have much negative emotions. In fact, he had a sense of victory. The watchers out of anger and shame killed him on the spot.

Double life was much more successful in their eyes. Pearl had given them a constant stream of negative emotions. Upon her death she left behind a huge amount of rage and not enough greif. She even left behind relif. This was far from perfect.

In limited life Martyn gave them a huge mocktail of negative emotions, but his cons overweighed his pros. He was aligned with the listeners. He asked much too many questions. Upon his win they sped up the clock and waited him to die. He left behind grief but it wasnt nearly enough.

Scar constantly radiated greif and lonliness in this season. They decided to keep him and feed off him until the next games. But they still longed for the huge amount of grief that had cured their hunger for weeks during the first game.

I think real life was not something the watchers had control over. It was a regular minigame conducted by the players which they subconsciously built to resemble the watchers games.

In wild life, I feel the watchers are chasing that perfect formula they had in third life. Renchanting is back, and they are trying to bring desert duo back through the bots and stuff. They had tried the same in double life but that had failed. They hope for better results this season so they can once again make them kill each other.

[yourlazykitkat]

Hey thanks for checking in, I’m just going crazy on how Scott always resorts to killing himself as a way to level the playing field, give one final advantage to his teammates (double life final with pearl, limited life finale, losing yellow and red life to gem). How his sacrifice is never truly honoured or reciprocated, sometimes becoming an emotional burden for the person he does it for.

VS

Pearl who internalises Scott’s final act of love from double life, coming into this series with the mindset that she will die for her allies. Her fear of being the only one alive and surrounded with the blood of her allies she worked so hard to support. Being denied this chance to be a martyr and then being forced in that final fight to the death once again. Understanding like every other winner, the victory in these death games is not worth it to the point that they would do anything to avoid it. Something scar will realise soon.

VS

Gem, the newest player- one with so much promise. Her eagerness to kill, we all remember that from every player in third life. And the risk-taking, the greed and desperation. Throughout the season, Scott has gifted her hearts and his lives (reluctantly with yellow) with not as much in return (in terms of hearts). Tell me, why did gem have to kill both Scott and impulse? Why not kill one and then let them kill the other? Distribute the hearts properly? It’s because of the instinctual greed of a red life- one that she couldn’t understand the scope of until Scott had only 2 and half hearts. When all he could do was give, and she could only take. Her outrage at the 2v1- god as an audience member who knew that one side agreed to sacrifice because of the odds and the other side didn’t, it felt like a battle deciding which was the better way to love. Gem loses here and moves onto the dead without the consolation that Scott’s sacrifice changed anything.

VS

Scar, who denies Pearl’s offer of sacrifice. Refusing any less than a true fight to the death just like with Grian in the cactus ring. Not having friends this entire season and understanding that he was not the one pearl wanted to give up her life for. As soon as gem dies, he wastes no time attacking pearl despite their alliance because he understands the rules of the game better than anyone- there can only be one winner, the secret keeper demands it. Him, breaking the rules in episode 1, then suffering the consequences for four sessions straight, becoming more isolated and dangerous and eager to please the secret-keeper. Grian, from the dead, telling him that he won as he stands alone. The complete opposite of third life where he wouldn’t have made it to the end without his partner. All he can do now is press succeed.

[minecraftrelatedrandomness]

scar gets accused by etho of burning down someone's base, after scar previously burnt down a base in an earlier session

scar denies any involvement and did not burn down the base this time

it's actually scott who burnt down the base after the base's occupant just killed him

all of this happens on the same day as the first permadeath of the season

is this 3rd life day 7 or wild life day 5?

[fountainpenguin]

Etho and Scar's interactions in LimLife are golden to me... that painful inhale Etho does before whispering "I'm about to go out of roleplay" when Scar flipped his ender porter and Etho wanted to strangle him... The way that Etho attempts to improv by pulling the "Has your mom told you you're adopted?" card and Scar just says "Oh I know that's not true because we've got something in common: failed traps <3" and a longsuffering and exhausted Etho just sighs and leaves... Love that for them.

+ The dichotomy of Cleo ''You are definitely Etho's child'' @ Scar vs ''Please please don't be my kid'' Etho SDLKFJSDKFL

[allay-uxini]

I feel like we should talk about this clip more.

Transcript

(From chat) “is there any lore between Scar and Grian always being put together.” They’re not put together they just find one another. Like I said the way that I’m similar in Pirates (smp) as I am in Rats (smp) as I am in the life series and how Scott is the same in each season every season he’s defiant of the wider rule set. It’s just that people are kinda hard coded in the way that Joel finds Lizzie and stuff like that, it all just kinda goes.

[safeturnip]

thinking about how when Grian says "BigB treated me right" Scar's immediate counter to that is to say how he built the Jellie panda sanctuary. because he says it like it's something Grian should care about, when Grian never once thought the pandas were important, and it's just. desert duo at certain points in time manage to have the most fundamental misunderstanding of each other's thought processes. and it's not all the time, because sometimes they'll be on the exact same wavelength, and it's absolutely incredible to see, but a solid chunk of time, their trains of thought are running in complete opposite directions of each other. it's like they have different ideas of what's important, and automatically expect the other person to think that way too.

like Grian-wise, he's always thought the life series itself is the most important, especially during 3rd life where he keeps reminding Scar that he's red, that he needs to kill people, that killing people is his end and final goal. he sets up elaborate traps and plans all for Scar's sake, so that Scar can kill people, but it never was for Scar's sake, was it? he's never bothered to ask if this is what Scar wants, just assumes that Scar has the same priorities as him, is willing to go through the same methods as him to achieve those priorities. Grian's main goal has always been to survive, to win, to play the game correctly, and when Scar wasn't giving him that in double life, he went to go find a partner who would.

and on Scar's end, he goes and focuses on his sand monopoly, his llama, his bee, his Jellies. he plays the long social game, promises allyship to everyone he encounters, and although murder is always there in the back of his mind, it's never in the forefront, it's not the first action that he selects. in double life, he ignores the soulmates mechanic and chases after an allay, calls it his soulmate while Grian is literally right there, when Grian has been spending his entire episode looking for his soulmate and keeping the two of them alive. and even after Grian drags Scar off to the side and drops a stalactite on his head, Scar is still so focused on the Jellie pandas, wants to build something for them no matter how many times Grian shoots his ideas down.

and it's so crazy to me how Scar brings up the pandas in wild life like he thinks it's a winning counter argument! what is he going on about!! the two of them just completely misinterpreting each other is such a fun concept to me.

(idk this is just me taking a two-line exchange and running with it in a completely different direction than it was intended. desert duo make me insane they make me so so ill)

[ty-bayonet-betteridge]

theres no indication that Secret Life C!Scar is disabled, that said, if we go with the headcanon that winners help create the next season, i do think its interesting to point out that Real Life is a season where all of the players had to relearn the basic facts of how to control their bodies and still ended up substantially less coordinated and confident with their movements than they had been prior

[nerdyenby]

People who sang back to Grian (SL4 spoilers)

🟩 Scar- yes, no hesitation, no questions asked

🟩 Cleo- yes, instinctively matched his tone and then asked how long he had to sing for

🟥 Mumbo- no, he was just along for the ride

🟩 Bdubs- yes, after running into Grian and Mumbo and having caught onto what’s happening

🟥 Etho- no, he’s just clueless, good for him

🟥 Joel- no, he’s a tryhard and a loser /aff

[give-grian-rights]

i'll be honest, if we stick with the whole space and etc theme for the winners. I really wanna save Earth for if Cleo ever wins (decomposition ofc) . Scar... as... as The Big Bang. all of his explosions and chaos from the season. and. and he was part of what started it all. 3rd Life causing the games to explode outwards at the speed of light. his death being the catalyst for The First, the first "true" winner. creation and death and life

I FEEL SO MANY THINGS

[mcytlin]

rotating the finalists around in my head.

Scott and Pearl. past Victors. one winning in a life of friendship and loyalty between them, one winning in a life of solitude and betrayal between them.

They both help one of the two other finalists. Scott helps Gem, who he's been loyal to for the entire season. Pearl helps Scar, who has been alone for the entire season.

Scott has sacrificed himself for Pearl once, making her win. Scott sacrifices himself for Gem, hoping it will be enough for her to win.

Scar offered to sacrifice himself for Grian once, to let him win, but Grian refused. Pearl offers to sacrifice herself for Scar, to help him win, but he refuses. (The offered sacrificé dies in the end, to a bloodied fist, to a swift arrow.)

and now Pearl and Scar are both Victors, born out of lonliness and isolation.

once upon a time, Scar showed Pearl kinship in a bucket of powdered snow to hurt their soulmates with. now, Pearl helps him to victory. out of gratitude? a debt finally paid? or out of understanding, having been in the other's shoes before?

(pearl had been in lizzie's shoes, as well. and lizzie has been in pearl's shoes once, literally. hasn't lizzie been the closest thing to an ally scar has had, before a scroll drove a wedge between them? the first to fall and the last one standing, lonely and sad and covered in the flowers of their home.)

[headfulloftrouble]

Anyone got any good goodtimeswithscar analysis posts? I'm desperate

[simple-seranade]

i find scar and jimmy in general to be pretty interesting parallels, especially in limited life

Scar is constantly being isolated from those he’s surrounded by, especially when there’s every reason for them to be dedicated to him. Third Life he had a constant ally, but it’s been rocky travels the entire rest of the games until limited life. Alone is Last Life. Cheated on in Double Life, by the only one who had ever shown him loyalty, no less. Maybe it died in the desert. What he needed was stability, people who would be around him consistently, who wouldn’t leave him. Someone to accept him as one of their own.

Jimmy, on the other hand, gets isolated in the after. He too had a reliable relationship in Third Life- one that left his partner shattered on his departure. Any bonds he made during the games fell apart, leaving him alone. Scott grieved, Grian regretted the final push, and Tango and him died far, far apart. He needed people to fight tooth and nail for him, with feral ferocity that would show they cared, cared about his success, cared even still after he was gone.

Scar got a family. Jimmy got a ride or die group of friends. it’s just. so interesting to me that that’s exactly what both of them needed, especially in regards to the similar paths they walked