#heehooheeehehehehehooohhoehe

[falsementor]

a character study thing, but it contains spoilers for the special!

what's really making me insane is the juxtaposition of macaque in season 4 / the s4special and his previous appearances in the show, where he was batshit crazy.

like. okay. as far as we know, THIS is the youngest we've seen macaque, right? he's much different than the first introduction we had to him. attentive, soft spoken, introverted for sure (he's all by himself here, until wukong finds him - which makes me think he has the tendency to run off and hide from others as it's reference multiple times)

wukong of course, has an infectious like energy and brings out the playfulness in macaque. he gets him to loosen up and helps him not worry so much, to just relax and enjoy himself, and their life. macaque is always a little uptight, because he has such incredible hearing. he's the one with the braincell the majority of the time. wukong is the impulsive troublemaker, but macaque is always there to bail him out and get him out of that trouble.

wukong is usually the instigator of their shenanigans, as he mentioned in this scene 'correction: WE'RE really going through with this, like always!'

and macaque, he tried expressing his uncertainty about challenging the jade emperor to wukong, who either wasn't listening or likely waved it off because the others were hyping him up so much.

he quieted those concerned when wukong reassured him that they would return home and live out the rest of their days in peace together.

when peng gave him shit for not commenting on sun wukong's apparent 'betrayal' and he tried to tell them to consider other options, he was silenced immediately. and now, with the reveal of what was likely the catalyst for his falling out with swk revealed, the argument they had under the mountain, it's clear that NOBODY ever took him seriously, nor appreciated him and what he did. if anything, he became a scapegoat. for daring to speak up and protest against his peers.

macaque is wise, he's wiser than what people give him credit for. he HAS to be, he's the one with omnipresent hearing! he's called the six-eared macaque for a reason! his ability to even hear into the future grant him enough insight to know when shit isn't a good idea, to know when things are going BAD and he needs to do something. he's a planner, and he KNOWS this. he's incredibly observant, able to recognize the monkey king's flaws and fears even when wukong himself cannot. and even despite that, he never gave swk shit for his impulses until wukong decided it was MACAQUE'S fault swk was trapped under the mountain. he was fed up with taking all this bullshit from the people he cared about. from people who were suppose to care about him.

and when sun wukong was finally freed, what happened? macaque, probably was still bitter, but clearly he still cared. he probably still had hope, maybe wukong would have come to his senses and they could finally live out their dream together. but... no. wukong had a new destiny to follow. a destiny that didn't involve macaque like he promised.

he was abandoned. and it's very clear as the show has expressed multiple times that this was GUTTING for macaque. he was alone, and had no remaining support system left. what happens when someone is left by themself with no one to help them through such heartbreak? they become extremely vulnerable and can spiral into this pain and darkness, but even worse than that, they can miss the warning signs for when something evil takes advantage of them. macaque eludes to this in shadowplay, when he gives MK shit for not noticing his friends were missing and in trouble.

i'm still following the theory that macaque was possessed/influenced by the lady bone demon during jttw. she saw his crumbling friendship with swk, and realized that she could use it to her advantage. it would explain why macaque talks like something really bad happened to him that wasn't just being left behind by swk, but something else that ultimately lead to him being killed, forcing him into a debt to LBD he never wanted part of. it's already shown that LBD's influence pulls out the darkest thoughts from people to the forefront, and macaque? he was not in any stable state of mind! not like before, where he wasn't letting his anger and pain and bitterness cloud his judgement. before he had his heart broken. he was suffering, and she took advantage of this.

and that's where we get this motherfucker. outcast by his sworn brothers, turned on by his best friend and later suffered the ultimate betrayal through death, taken advantage of by evil demons, now full of vengeful anger and hatred for the monkey king and everyone who worships the guy. after everything he did for those he loved, he got left in the dust. never championed for his goodness and light he once had, just forgotten.

macaque went from a soft, quiet, rational soul to a chaotic madness ridden bastard, reflecting sun wukong's worst qualities as he accepted by this point, he really was just the monkey king's shadow.

and i just think that's neat.