#heartbroken kit tanthalos

[minettas-ploy]

[daikini]

hoping we never have to see the day kit has to choose between saving elora or jade cause i rlly don’t wanna know what the answer will be…

[oliveoomph]

We split up. Cover more ground.

Kit & Jade

Willow (2022) - s01e03 - "The Battle of the Slaughtered Lamb"

[gotylocks]

Why Willow is my favorite show of all time (and why I'll miss it)

When I was a kid, I watched a lot of Disney princess movies. As a deeply closeted trans girl, it was one of the few things I could reliably watch that could technically be considered "girl stuff", but didn't carry the same bullying as other "girl stuff". Those movies made me fall in love with fairy tales, but they weren't really what I wanted from those stories.

It frustrated me to see the damsel, always waiting for a man to come save her. It frustrated me that they couldn't be the hero of their own story, sidelined and uninvolved, rarely the focus of any character development. This was worsened by the fact that I was also a closeted lesbian, as the overwhelming straightness of the romances on display never connected with me.

When I was a kid, I loved fantasy stories. Swords and sorcery and dragons and elves, it was all so exciting to me. But it fell into a similar trap as the fairy tales. It was rare to have a girl in the lead who I connected to. I read the Lord of the Rings books, but I didn't have the same connection to them as most people.

Something like Xena, which was very interesting to me, was tough to get into because being in the closet made me feel like I wasn't allowed to watch it, which is something I still regret. But I always wanted a fantasy story about a princess I connected to, that was more interested in swords and adventure than boys and ballgowns.

When I was a kid, I loved Star Wars. I was enraptured by this combination of fantasy and Sci-fi, filled to the brim with mythology and lore, with relatable characters at the heart of it. A story that showed love and compassion was just as, if not more, powerful than brute force violence. But it was also a story largely centered around men, as Leia (strong as she was) often sidelined from the action.

When the sequel trilogy started, I saw Rey as a chance to get the Star Wars story I had always wanted. But it soon became apparent that was not the case, as everything was made to be about the men of the story, be it Kylo Ren, Luke Skywalker, or Emperor Palpatine. She was never allowed to be the driving force, to become her own character, and by the time the trilogy ends, she is right back to square one on her journey.

You might be thinking, what is the point of all this preamble? What are you going on about? This is about Willow. Specifically, the Willow show. I bring up all of that background to impress upon you why Willow means so much to me and why I am so heartbroken its story has been cut short.

From the opening scene after the prologue that explains the events of the 1988 movie, we are introduced to Kit Tanthalos, a brash and cocky princess, and her long suffering best friend/sparring partner, Jade Claymore. From the moment they remove their masks at the end of their sparring session, you can see the romantic tension between them, barely contained. At this point, I knew better than to get my hopes up about anything happening with that, but it was still nice to think about.

Then we learn more about Kit and Jade. Kit is being forced into a loveless marriage with a prince from a neighboring area, purely for political reasons. She isn't happy about this, but is willing to do it for the good of the people, as long as Jade is there with her. But then, it's revealed Jade will be leaving to train with the Shining Legion (a prestigious group of Knights) the day after Kit's wedding. While Kit's outburst at this reveal is described as childish, it's also completely understandable, as she is having her world ripped from under her while she's attempting to do the selfless thing by going through with the wedding.

So she gets selfish, she lashes out, she makes a big scene about it. It's the classic "queer coded princess rejects the marriage" story, but that is only where we start things. After things cool down, Kit realizes she can't go through with it, because now she would be losing everything she cares about, with nothing to gain for herself. Again, she makes a selfish decision to run away, but before she does, there's one thing she has to do before it's too late.

She sneaks into Jade's room in the cover of night, straddles her in her bed, and gives her goodbye speech. Jade knows she can't talk Kit out of running, but still makes a half hearted attempt at it. Before she leaves, Kit does the one thing she knows she wants to do while she can, and kisses Jade. You can tell this is done with years of stifled love bursting through at last. More than that, it is a mission statement from the show in episode 1, that Kit and Jade are in love and it will not be something that is cut around.

But as Kit is making her escape, the castle is attacked and her brother is kidnapped, thus setting into motion the quest. Face untold danger, go beyond the known world, rescue the prince. At last, a story where the princess is the one that has to save the prince.

This would be fine as is. A totally acceptable fantasy story with these character archetypes in place. But it doesn't stop there, as it adds in the rest of the quest party, all with their own baggage and background. But nobody stays the same as they are in the first episode. Everyone has their own growth through this quest.

Kit learns that Jade has been letting her win in their sparring sessions, so her confidence in her talent is misplaced and she needs to learn both humility and how to fight if she's going to save her brother. And humility comes at Kit at a constant clip, starting with the reveal that the ditzy lovesick kitchen maid that insists on going on the quest is actually Elora Danan, the fabled chosen one, and this makes Kit jealous as hell.

Kit is brought down from her overinflated sense of self from the first episode over and over until she hits rock bottom and has to rebuild herself into the hero she's intended to be. She has to work for it! This makes her both flawed and layered, and she's a much more interesting character because of it.

But it's not just about Kit. Jade learns the truth of her family and that everything she's been training for is a lie. Elora learns the truth about who she is and has to grapple with the weight of the world and a destiny she might not live to see the end of. Boorman has to contend with his selfish nature and atone for his past mistakes. Graydon has to overcome childhood trauma to become the sorcerer he dreamed of being. And the title character Willow, as well, is not the one note mentor he could have been, instead fulfilling his own arc as he grows into the great sorcerer nobody thought he could be (while also overcoming his guilt for past mistakes).

That is a cast of six who are all incredibly important to the overarching story at hand, but also experience incredible personal growth across all 8 episodes. Nobody is sidelined. This is especially important when you look at the diversity of the cast, predominantly filled with people who have not been given the opportunity to be the heroes of their own story.

That's why Willow is important to me. It's a fantasy fairy tale with tinges of Star Wars sprinkled throughout, with a grumpy, cocky, gay, tomboy of a Princess at its core. It's a beautiful lesbian romance that isn't always cheery, but feels honest. It's a show with a gay romance in which the fact that they're gay is never a source of drama, is fully accepted by the rest of the questing party (before Kit and Jade, in true lesbian fashion), and is treated the same as any straight romance would be in its place.

It's a story that loves love and loves women. It's a story that tells you it believes that "Love is the most powerful force in the world" and actually shows that's true. It's a story about compassion and care instead of brute force violence and hatred. It's a story about actual found families, and not what the internet has told you found families are over recent years. It's a story about how fun it is to go on a quest.

While I know I could go on and on about this forever, I will have years ahead of me to pontificate about this show. But for now, I hope you understand just why I say Willow is my favorite show of all time, the show I have dreamt of since I was little, and why I'm heartbroken to see it end so abruptly.

[kindsofnerd]

So yeah I’m heartbroken as everyone else is.

Not only for how amazing Willow and its cast was, and not even just for the beautiful queer story. But mostly at the thought of never seeing Kit again.

I think I never related more to a character. I was watching this tv show with a friend and he said “they wrote Kit like they would write a male character”. And you know what? That’s absolutely true. But it felt like that not because those traits do not belong to a woman but because they are rarely portray on a female character, fearing it would make them unlikable. But Kit is a little shit and I love her for it.

Willow authors had the courage to do this and I’m so very grateful for it to them and to Ruby Cruz.

I’m so very happy to have met Kit Tanthalos, to have had the chance to see me on screen. (even though I wanted her to be bi I’m sorry it’s not fair I want every character I like to be bi don hate me, actually we don’t know if she isn’t so in my mind she will be)

I do have a message of hope.

I think this is only the beginning. Some day we’ll think about these days, like now we think about the past queer baiting or bury your gays. Someday we’ll get to experience seasons and seasons of our f/f ship. I know that.