#jaded hero who was forced to kill his own brother and watched his father die

[bugfable]

realizing no way back is (probably) from light's pov has driven me insane. everything about that song is so haunting... and thinking about it being set right before light dies makes it hit so much harder. "i know who you are / i've seen what you've done / from up in your tower / the only difference / between you and me is / i'm on the ground / you're playing it cool / your hand on the trigger / i think we both know how this turns out" god DAMN

[girlobsessed21]

The 100 6x08 analysis - The old man is not an anomaly, only a prime

This episode was a step down from the previous one but hey, I guess they can’t all be brilliant. The pacing was too fast and a lot of stories happened at once. Still good though. Many reflections on the past which is indeed concurring with the Face Your Demons Theme. Okay, onto the recap.

Xavier, I mean Gabriel and the anomaly

I’ve heard the Xavier is Gabriel theory many times before and I mentioned it in last week’s analysis as well. I did not want it to be true and thus condemned it. As the episode started, a lot of things pointed to this fact and I kept wishing it away. At least there’s a good explanation for it since Gabriel being something which he’s completely against would have been hypocritical, to say the least.

Octavia and Diyoza are very much the same, they would make a great married couple. Just kidding. But they do have a lot of similarities, Diyoza is just the older sister with quite a bit more life experience. They’re both strong physically and mentally, enjoys power, willing to fight to the death for what they believe in and come from traumatic pasts. Absolutely the reason they make such a great team.

We learn that radio signals get sucked up by the anomaly and picked up in endless repeating waves. I guess that’s how Xavier knew about the earthlings’ actions. I’ve seen some tweets about Clarke’s radio calls being broadcasted but I doubt it, her calls were made from earth. They are now in a distant galaxy. It seems unlikely, yet I’m no astrophysicist or engineer, so I guess the possibility exists. Don’t get your hopes up, though.

Diyoza notes that Gabriel loved Josephine from the picture and that she was just looking to get laid. Either she listened to Blink182′s song one too many times or she knows exactly how to read people from one look. She also figured out that Xavier is Gabriel and referred to Bellamy and Clarke as the hostage taker and his girlfriend. I think it’s worth a mention.

It seems like the sociopath has quite a gift to make men fall head-over-heels for her. First the guy in the coffee shop, then Gabriel. Gabriel calls her his deepest desire and darkest fear. She’s going to use these tactics on Bellamy too. More on this later.

Gabriel explaining to Octavia that he was dedicated to destroying false gods while he was one himself must have hit a nerve since Bloodreina was worshipped like one too. Bringing about her tormenting vision of throwing her own brother in the fighting pit to remain in power. We’ve witnessed her journey back to Octavia but there are things she has to answer for. Bloodreina did terrible things and redemption can only be granted for someone who feels remorse. Octavia was willing to die to save the former terrorist from the anomaly and the red queen would never have considered such a sacrifice. She’s come a long way.

Diyoza’s weakness is her daughter and of course she follows Hope’s sweet little face into the crazy green light from where no-one has ever returned. If she does not come back, I’m sending Jason and the writers my alcohol bill. She’s one of my favorites and I do not want to lose her. At least she’s smart and capable, I have faith! 

When Octavia returns, she looks years younger, revitalized and healed. Did the girl under the floor, the grounder or Skairippa come back? Also, I spotted a slight connection between her and Xavier. Am I crazy? Maybe Gabriel was just awed by the phenomenon. What does this anomaly do?

Hello Kane II, goodbye Kabby

I still can’t figure out why the primes are worshipped. Is it merely because of the safety and flourishment of Sanctum or is there more to this story? The nulls (those who do not carry any genetics to produce a nightblood) even deem themselves worthless and consider it an honor to become a host.

At first, I thought Abby was being selfish in her fight to save Kane and then I considered that she might have another plan but unfortunately she disapproved my faith in her. Never trusting her again.

This was the first episode this whole season where I was on board with Raven - minus the spacewalk. She lost her moral-high-ground attitude in the speech to Abby which made all the difference in the world. But she still looks like she just stepped out of the salon. Obviously, she gave in to save Abby, the woman who has been like a mother to her until the addiction. On some difficult level, she still loves her and doesn’t want her to die. I have empathy, still think it was the wrong choice.

“Abby, what have you done?” My question exactly. In what world will Kane accept murdering someone to save his own life? There’s no way he’ll forgive her for this. Is there still a chance to save his real body and bring him back?

On a sidenote, Simone does not seem much better than her daughter.

Hickory Dickory Dock, Clarke’s life is on the clock

Many have said that Russel will turn to the side of our heroes. Although his regret and conscience are constantly shown, nothing can trump the love for a child. Just ask Clarke, she went to the same lengths to save hers. 

We all know by now that Josephine is a master manipulator and she does not disappoint. She is so complex and good at being bad that you cannot but love her and her hair-twirling. And I cannot compliment Eliza’s acting enough. When her father refuses to help, she blackmails Riker into building her an EMP.

Poor Jordan thinking that Dellah is still alive. The only reason Clarke survived is because of the neural mesh from ALIE’s chip that still resides in her brain. Josephine said a mind-wipe hasn’t failed in centuries. Sorry, but I have no hope for Delilah. Unfortunately, Jordan does. He cares so much he even risks his life for her. Which is now in the balance. Well done on calling Bellamy out once again though. “You only care about Clarke.”

I knew Madi was taking the wrong path. And I loved Dad!Bellamy in this scene. Asking whether killing the primes is her idea or Sheidheda’s like a father would ask his teenager whose idea it was to smoke. And she acts superior to both Jordan and Echo yet keeps quiet when Bellamy defies her. Why would no-one watch her while they know what she’s up to?

Anyway, she fails in her plan, leading to two fatalities and all of them captured except for Echo. Jade has orders to bring Josephine back at any cost. She’s a null, worthless to the primes and now knows what they’re capable of. Her face at the end tells me she’s doing the complete opposite. Echo saved her, I think they’ll join forces in saving everyone but the primes.

Memori Forever?

If I wasn’t so mad at Murphy, that “sort-of” proposal would have been beautiful. One of them is dying. When a relationship on this show heads in the direction of happily-ever-after, it’s doomed. Linctavia. Marper. Kabby. And I don’t think it’s Murphy because what fun would a post-apocalyptic world be without the cockroach. Then again, there has been a lot of things in this season pointing to his death.

He points out that he’s never been perfect, not even close. Damn right. But Emori lived the survivor’s life back on earth too and understands him better than most people. Although he’s still willing to help Josephine, it’s not without guilt. It’s written all over his face. While he thought Clarke was already dead, going along with Josie’s plan was easy but now it’s more complicated. Which is why he ultimately tells Bellamy about Gabriel. At least he paid attention.

Who would Bellamy have chosen? Murphy or Clarke? My money’s on his soulmate for sure. Josephine cuts him anyway and his life is hanging by a thread for the third time in a short while.

Are we going daytrip 2.0?

Bellamy and Josephine are heading to Gabriel. I knew they would be the ones to ultimately rescue Clarke. Nothing else matters to Bellamy but bringing her back. Even Echo notices when she tells him, “Save Clarke.” She’s a spy, she can see what’s going on.

Clarke ultimately gave up her fight against Josephine when she was manipulated into thinking Bellamy deemed her expendable. For the one, it’s always the other and for the other, it’s always the one. They are soulmates, incomplete without one another. 

Bellamy’s willing to leave everyone, including his girlfriend, behind to save her. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is. I’m pretty certain their little journey to the anomaly will be filled with Josephine taunting him in her effort to escape. And I  think we might get a confession out of this. Now, the million dollar question, will Gabriel be able to kill Josephine in order to save Clarke?

Diyoza or Murphy or Jordan?

All three of their lives are on the brink but who will die? My guess, none of them. Murphy’s chips exist for a reason. Kane will certainly reject this new life, will Murphy gain Gavin’s body? 

The anomaly called Diyoza, I think she had a ticket to enter. Octavia looks younger when she returns, maybe Diyoza comes back with her little girl. It is called the temporal anomaly after all. 

Russel assured Priya that they’ll do everything they can to save Jordan. So, he’ll probably survive too.

Since there’s no episode next week, I’ll probably do another predictions post. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

[cat-at-dawn]

IN DEFENSE OF THE DEATH OF  ████████ , AND AN ARGUMENT AGAINST SUICIDE

This one’s for the manga readers! Post-volume 19 meta, spoilers aplenty! read at your own risk

Though the literal iteration of the death of Ash Lynx can be viewed as a purposeful shuffle from this mortal coil, a specific decision made with weight to return to the New york Public Library to live out his last moments dwelling on Eiji’s letter only to intentionally fade away, here stands a lonely argument; out of the entire cast, no one person deserves death in the same capacity more than Ash Lynx does, and his death is not a suicide. Let’s break it down.

Out of all of the MANY problematic elements of Banana Fish, not even trying to hazard which offense is worse than the next, we can all simultaneously agree that one of the most heartbreaking twists of the series comes at the end of volume 19, when after receiving Eiji’s goodbye letter, which essentially amounts to an incredibly pure love declaration, Ash allows himself to be mentally distracted long enough for Sing’s brother Lao to deliver a killing stab to his intestines. Though Lao dies shortly after Ash’s retaliation, Ash continues to linger in a liminal place. The question hangs in the mind of the reader, if Ash approached a happy ending, why would he not seek hospitalization? Why would he allow himself to bleed out? The manga strikes back hard at the reader with a quite prolonged death sequence, in which Ash retreats to his favorite place to be alone, the New York Public Library, where, with a smile on his face, he falls into a peaceful sleep and dies at a reading table while clutching Eiji’s now bloody love letter. What is the nature of his mindset which dictates this course of action? Why, with Eiji hale and hearty, would Ash choose death instead of medical treatment and a possibly much happier ending to this tale of woe? At this point, I can only wonder if we, the readership, have read the same story. The ending of Banana Fish is hotly debated, and even though as a queer storyteller myself I fundamentally have trouble with gay death as a narrative element, I can’t help but question why people can’t empathize more with Ash’s decision. When judging the manga as a standing piece, I can’t think of a more satisfying, or simply more correct turn of events.

Directly out of the gate, Ash’s death is foreshadowed in the title of the series. A Perfect Day For Banana Fish is a short story by J.D. Salinger which follows the last day in the life of mentally ill World War 2 veteran Seymour Glass, who befriends a little girl while on vacation at the beach. He invites her to catch bananafish with him, and explains that the greedy fish enter holes to gorge themselves on bananas, but become too large to escape again and instead perish in the hole. Later, Seymour returns to his room where his wife is sleeping, and he kills himself. Salinger relates this as a metaphor for his own personal experience in the war, specifically to his time at the Battle of the Bulge and in Nazi concentration camps. He is quoted saying Seymour is an iteration of himself, and has gone so far as to say that he “found it impossible to fit into a society that ignored the truth that he now knew.”  The point of the story has always been to examine the irreversible damage done to the human psyche by war. The Perfect Day referenced in the title is exactly that; the quest of a broken man lacking the power to overcome his trauma to find exactly the perfect day to die. So it also is with Ash, we understand from the very beginning that making this direct analogy to Salinger means the manga will be the slow disclosure of someone who is irrevocably damaged by their circumstance as they come to terms with the moment of their own death. From the very first panel you see him, Ash’s death is already fated, and truly the most heart-rending struggle of the series is watching him grapple with this identity, up to nearly the very last second. As a reader, we continuously keep hoping and praying that he might, against all odds, find salvation despite literally every piece of contrary evidence suggesting otherwise. We have violent affection for Ash as a hero, and we want him so badly to live on, to make it to the other side. He both finds salvation and doesn’t find it, because like everything else about this manga, Ash operates thematically on contradictory levels all the way through the story and on to the bitter end. Let’s break it down even further, by considering exactly just how fucked Ash really is.

Ash is born Aslan Jade Callenrese, and then quickly discarded. He briefly experiences a short period of normalcy with the love of his brother and distant father before Griffin is drafted. Almost immediately after, Ash is raped by the Bluebeard of Cape Cod and then blamed for it, and from then on, his life is a progression of non-stop horror. He is kidnapped by Marvin who repeatedly rapes him over a period of years. He is sold into sexual servitude at Club Cod. He somehow  manages to avoid getting addicted to the opioids that all the child prostitutes were fed to keep them tame, and when Ash escapes, it is only because he is instead personally taken under Papa Dino’s wing, who specifically sexually abuses him while simultaneously not knowing or caring that Marvin continues to rape Ash, among presumably a handful of other people. Blanca is a small, bright focal point for Ash at age 13 when Ash lets himself briefly believe he has autonomy, and he is released to start his own gang. Ash’s fundamental humanity and inherent leadership magnetically draw people to him, and for the first time in his life, Ash briefly entertains the idea of having a private romantic relationship of his own. He is attracted to a girl he likes very much, but she is murdered almost immediately due to her association with him. He afterward throws himself into the business of his gang without ever fully extracting himself from Papa Dino’s hold. It is only with the discovery of the capsule containing Banana Fish that Ash for the first time in his short life discovers a bit of real leverage he can actually use against Dino. The subsequent drug war sees him beaten, sent to jail, raped many more times, and sent on a cross-country mission on the lam from the law, as well as from Dino’s goons, both Corsican and Chinese. Yut-Lung proves to be a worthy adversary in LA, and his teaming up with Arthur sees Ash murdering his best friend Shorter in cold blood who is forcibly high on banana fish in order to save Eiji from an especially savage disembowelment. Ash is later declared legally dead, sent to a private insane asylum to be experimented on, tortured with the mangled bits of Shorter’s brain, and then after escaping yet again, still forced into a corner when Dino tricks and threatens him into becoming officially adopted, once more in order to prevent Eiji’s death. Ash is drugged, literally blinded, beaten, and emotionally and physically torn down. He nearly dies from intentionally wasting away, and is hospitalized. When he eventually once again manages to escape, it is only to regroup long enough to prepare to engage with his men in actual guerrilla warfare. The mercenary Foxx kills nearly all of Ash’s remaining gang, and once AGAIN, Ash is raped.  Ash is ultimately deprived of his revenge when he then has to witness Papa Dino’s death by the hand of someone other than himself. These are the major plot points, and don’t even touch on the myriad of lesser cruelties Ash has dealt with over the course of his short life, of which there are many, many more.  (See: The death of most of his friends, that fucklord Arthur, everything about Cape Cod, the pain of using his sexual wiles as a weapon, the pain of knowing if he opens up to others that the lives of his friends will be in danger, the pain of being unable to give his loved ones proper burials, his one hundred issues with classism, his complete inability to trust others with important tasks, the list goes on.)

Around volume 10, I started, in a serious way, feeling like Ash deserved death. Not in the way that a dog is put out of it’s misery when it is sick, but more in the way that when the path is this hard, the reward at the end should be equivalent to the struggle. Being a CSA survivor all on its own demands a certain level of understanding, especially when approaching volatile, sensitive subjects like suicide. The act of taking one’s own life is so deeply personal and hotly debated that there is no true narrative argument legitimate enough to address it’s purpose. All of it is too subjective. However, in the case of Ash Lynx as the thematic hero, the case stands that he never, except for perhaps the small corridor between the ages of 0-7, lived a life anywhere remotely near average, so his many brushes with near-suicide are chillingly understandable. At one point, when forced to either shoot himself in the head or watch Eiji die, Ash even goes so far as to grab the gun and immediately try to blow his brains out. When the gun is proven empty, instead of breathing a secret sigh of relief, Ash only demands that Yut Lung give him a bullet. 

Though this emphasizes Ash’s near fanatical devotion to protecting Eiji, whose innocence he both disdains and canonizes, it also represents his constant readiness to die. This flirtation with the reaper is emphasized over and over in the official art, where a sexual element is often present in his interactions with death. Ash wishes for death to embrace him, he literally desires it. This is mostly on a subtextual level, but other times his desire is stiflingly surface-level.

 The extent of Ash’s damage is so severe and was inflicted on him so early that his ability to live a normal life was only ever subject to his situation. An argument can be made that his unusually high IQ kept him from the brink of emotional destruction for the majority of his life, but in spite of his incredible virility and strength of character, Ash’s prospects as he aged were always bleak at best. Ash the adult is almost unfathomable. He was literally never allowed to be a child during a key developmental period, and even the manga infers that Eiji’s presence as a romantic element is strongly tied to Ash’s desire to return to a time of innocence. Ash is permanently trapped in a never-neverland of sorts, sexually defiled to the point where his own sexual awakening has been completely obscured beyond his own recognition. His relationship with Eiji is painfully asexual, one, because literally everything about Banana Fish is painful, but also because it is unclear if Ash may have been naturally asexual in the first place or if he was made into an asexual as the result of his childhood trauma. Either way, he certainly doesn’t have a lot of choice about the way that he is, and that way is, fundamentally, morally, and spiritually exhausted. It is only his tenacious spark, his survivors grip to life, and his affection for others in his life whom he loves that are weaker than him, that keeps him stubbornly clung to his own mortal vessel until the very end.

Eiji’s presence as a guiding light is, in THE definitively heartbreaking turn, the permission Ash needs to allow himself to finally die. He has always known that he would die, probably even thought that he should have already died, many, many times over. He is permanently and irreversibly damaged by the course of his life, and though we scream and cry and pray in the hope that Ash can make it, that he can still pull through and come out on the other side living and thriving in love, he was ultimately just never meant to make it that far. Even when Eiji tries to convince Ash that he is not the leopard, that he can come back down from the mountain, we are distantly still aware that this is not true, despite how difficult it is to accept. This difference of character is most clearly seen in Ash’s foil with Yut-Lung; both boys are the savant products of rape-and-murder-riddled childhoods. However, where Yut-Lung lacked anyone to give him acceptance and affection as he grew, Ash ended his time knowing love. Where Yut-Lung survives to the end and goes on to an even higher position of strength, he still has an emotional arc to complete. Yut Lung must discover for himself the value of human life. Ash already knew this value from the beginning, because his moral compass, which sometimes admittedly became scrambled, more or less always pointed true by the end of things.

The argument can be made that as the embodiment of the concept of Salinger’s short story, Ash is fated to die. Eiji, who in many ways is the window through which we experience this world, refuses to bend to fate. He insists in innocence again and again that Ash can change his fate, and for a moment, when Ash finds the plane ticket to Japan in Eiji’s letter, we really, really want to believe him. So, of course, because this manga is singularly cruel, it is here that Ash is stabbed. Of ffffucking course, after everything, death comes for Ash in a fashion which is completely mundane against the grandiose, bombastic scale of the story. An old grudge settled by someone Ash didn’t even have the time to hate in the first place. Ash let himself believe in a real life with Eiji for a single moment, and that proved to be his downfall. When he let his guard down, he let death in. He realizes his destiny immediately, because he is not stupid. His death is not a suicide, it is an understanding. 

 According to Akimi Yoshida, fate always wins out, but what the manga adds to this sad experience is this; despite everything, unlike Salinger’s broken Seymour, Ash’s heart in the end is full of love. His perfect day to die is the day he reads Eiji’s letter, the letter that declares them permanently bonded. Falling in love allows Ash to let go of himself gently, instead of the infinitely more brutal end he would have met at a villain’s hand otherwise, if he hadn’t fought tooth and nail for his very last scrap of autonomy up until that moment. Eiji’s love as an act of compassion is most perfectly realized; because Ash’s Perfect Day is one of is own making. All the circumstances together form a perfect conclusion. He didn’t see the knife coming, and he didn’t need to. After Papa Dino’s death, after Eiji is gone, Ash can finally stop. He can accept that his trauma is greater than even him. In a life spent being forced back and forth according to the violent winds of his circumstance, he chooses to, (and that’s important, he chooses to,) retreat like a cat to a quiet place of safety to live out his last moments. In this way, Ash’s death is merely a setting down of something unbearably heavy. Because he is loved, because Eiji is safe and far away, Ash is at last released from the prison of his life.

Other Banana Fish Meta: CAPE COD AS PURGATORY AND ASH’S BREAK FROM INNOCENCE

[silver-wedding]

Jon and Dany’s fates are tied together.

Jaime and Cersei seem to be the narrative foils of Jon and Dany.

They were together since childhood, forming a relationship that had been more about lust than love. They went incredibly far to conceal their affair from the realm, or otherwise see their children executed by Robert Baratheon. Throughout the entire relationship, Cersei would bring out the worst aspects of Jaime’s personality, and cause him to forsake any morality he may have held.

Many believe that just as they entered the world together, they will exit the world in a very violent end.

Jon and Dany only recently met within the narrative. They had held prejudices against one another before ever meeting due to the horrors inflicted between the Starks and Targaryens during Robert’s Rebellion. Upon meeting one another, they became frustrated with each other’s stubbornness and yet developed a level of respect for one another. Although there was a mutual attraction between them, Jon and Daenerys only accepted their love for one another after suffering through tragedy together.

This alliance will be one of the few hopes Westeros really has against the White Walkers, and for a future beyond the multiple wars the entire continent has suffered through.

I have little reason to doubt that Daenerys is the younger, more beautiful queen of Cersei’s nightmares. Keeping that in mind, Jon seems likely to obtain the reputation of a hero that Jaime pursued in his youth.

Jon and Jaime - Hero and Oathbreaker

In the single scene that Jon shares with Jaime, we see a jaded knight mock the fresh faced recruit that is about to sign his life away into a brotherhood that is long past its days of honor. Although in the beginning of the story the viewer might believe that Jaime is simply being pompous about Jon’s decision, we later learn that he only felt this way after facing nothing but disappointment in his career.

The Kingsguard was modeled after the Night’s Watch, and Jaime could not help but see a little of his younger self in Jon. He was once selected personally by King Aerys II, which was unheard of considering Jaime’s young age. Of course, the Mad King only did this out of spite towards Tywin Lannister and not because he saw Jaime as talented.

 Despite saving half a million lives by stopping the Mad King’s wildfire plot during the sack of King’s Landing, the realm would only see him as nothing more than a Kingslayer. He was not treated as a hero, but as a criminal that only escaped justice due to having a rich and powerful father.

Once Barristan Selmy was forced to leave, Jaime’s brothers no longer included men of renown but instead allowed scum like Meryn Trant to stand by the King.

Although Jon would face similar disappointments in the Night’s Watch and even death, his reputation grew far beyond anyone’s expectations. These events earned him the respect of the Freefolk, his brothers in black, and many Northerners as he fought to free his home from the Boltons.

They named a supposed bastard as a King, and practically revered him after all was said and done. Jon lost the woman he loved and was denied any romantic connection, and yet gained the the admiration of a kingdom. Jaime only had more to lose after his service to a mad man, a drunk, and now an insane former lover. He almost always had what he believed to be love, but could never find true happiness within his relationship.

On the other hand, Jon’s relationship with Dany has given him many opportunities that he once thought unlikely. Despite hearing of her infertility, Jon wants to build a home with Dany. Formalities aside, their relationship is a balanced one rather the clash based on morality that has often occurred between Jaime and Cersei.

In Season 8, there’s a good chance that Jon will be one of the main factors in saving Westeros and achieve renown that far exceeds Jaime’s wildest dreams.

Jaime’s reputation will possibly be redeemed in the eyes of the realm, but it seems clear to me that Jon’s journey runs parallel to the Lannister who had the look of a knight in shining armor.

Dany and Cersei - Strength, despite tragedy.

The two remaining queens of the series have been more directly compared, to the point of Dany’s Invasion aiming to remove Cersei from the Iron Throne. To truly realize just how much their characters contrast however, one must look at their journeys from the beginning to current events.

Cersei often had no control over the events of her life, or the unfortunate tragedies that faced her family. Despite how cruel and truly evil she is, there are many reasons as to why Cersei transformed into such a malicious person. She placed nearly all blame of her mother’s death on Tyrion, and from that point only saw him as a monster with little to no redeeming qualities.

Death may be the most common occurrence around Cersei, as the loss of all of her children seemed inevitable after she heard Maggy the Frog’s prophecy. She wanted to marry Rhaegar Targaryen, but he was instead married off to Elia Martell and later chose Lyanna Stark above all else. This extended to Robert Baratheon, who killed Rhaegar because he wanted to be with Lyanna.

Cersei had never been the first choice in anyone’s life, from childhood to adulthood.

Daenerys’ beginnings are similar in that she had no control over her own mother’s death, and was made someone’s queen not out of love but for power. One major difference is that Dany had to love her chains as a means of survival, and eventually managed to adopt a different culture as her own. Cersei’s time in King’s Landing pushed her survival instincts towards navigating around subtle political enemies rather than the vicious killers of Essos.

Dany’s relationship with Khal Drogo was terrifying for her at first, as he was not the loving husband that she truly deserved. However, this dynamic changed as they began to understand one another’s culture, language, and desires. This could not be said of Cersei and Robert, as Robert truly wanted Lyanna long after her death. He would often publicly humiliate Cersei by placing his lust towards whores.

Even with the deaths of Joffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella, Cersei still had the chance to raise them as their mother. Which is more than Dany can say about her stillborn baby, and the deep seeded emotional pain that followed her since then. If the situation were completely different, these two women might have found common ground and understanding in being forcibly separated from their children.

Once these queens see the end of the series, their fates will reflect the choices they made, and how they treated everyone around them.

Love, Lust, Balance, and Conflict

The connections between all four characters is far deeper than the superficial aspects that can be seen on the surface. Each one of them has faced the worst the world has had to offer, and yet became stronger emotionally and politically. This power has been used to either lash out at enemies in horrifying ways, or to unify people towards a far greater threat.

For Jon and Dany, despite being separated across the world and being ignorant of Jon’s true heritage, they found one another and fell in love. Against all odds, the last Targaryens came together as the White Walkers destroyed the Wall. At the same time, Jaime finally left Cersei as she threatened to have him executed by the Mountain.

When Jaime turned his back on her, it was not only a result of her refusal to commit to a cause that was bigger than the throne but because of Cersei’s constant hold of power over him. The relationship was not balanced, but instead a source of conflict that proved dangerous towards Westeros itself. This runs contrary to the dynamic that Jon and Dany have towards one another, and will likely be seen in Season 8.

I suppose that some will believe it unfair that Dany will be pregnant with a child, and the speculation that Cersei will suffer through a miscarriage. Jon will likely be known as a King, and it remains to be seen if Jaime will remain branded as a Kingslayer. To a certain degree, fairness is not something that is taken into consideration when it comes to the fate of characters within this series.

After all, Ned Stark was a wonderful father who did not deserve to be beheaded in King’s Landing, and Tywin Lannister remained powerful for a time despite being ruthless and cruel. Even with this consideration, one should see how the choices a character makes reflects the conclusion of their story.

During these conclusions will Jaime kill Cersei, and later die with her not long after? Will Jon give Dany the family she has always desired, and rule Westeros alongside her? No matter what the answers to these questions are, Jon and Dany’s fates have become tied together just as Cersei and Jaime’s were.

After everything is said and done, I believe their stories will reflect one another just as they had from the beginning.

[corellian-smuggler]

I just love Princess Leia. I just love her so much.

Her story. Her character. I LOVE her.

She’s this little baby born right as the Republic falls and the Jedi Order is decimated and a Sith lord is taking control of the galaxy. And she doesn’t know that her mother died giving her life or that her father was the Chosen One, the man everyone thought would be their greatest champion and instead through his own warped, tragic love and desperate fears and stark ambitions he became the vehicle of their downfall. And this little baby born under these dire and extraordinary circumstances is whisked away, separated from the twin brother she doesn’t even know she has, and hidden and protected

And this man who saw the darkness and despair and tragedy of her origins doesn’t just vow to take her in but to love her, and this little baby who’s literally only hours old but who already has this incredible destiny baring down upon her becomes the crown princess of Alderaan??????? 

And she grows up and she’s only a teenager but she’s already representing her people on the galactic stage as an imperial senator and this girl has such fire in her that she’s going toe to toe with the most corrupt men in the galaxy and taking up the mantles of justice and righteousness and hope and you’d think that’d be enough, but no, because that same man who promised to love her, who became her father, was also the father of the rebellion, and so at the tender age of nineteen this girl is a traitor to the empire and a rebel spy???? Like, no mere informant but a freaking imperial senator working from within the government to feed information to the rebellion I just??????? This girl that was born in secrecy and whisked into hiding is hiding IN PLAIN SIGHT right there under the Emperor’s nose, and she’s not even HIDING she’s a thorn in his side and she’s WORKING FOR THE ENEMY RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIS FACE!!!!!!!!!!!!

And then they build the Death Star and they’re killing billions of people and a brave group of rebels manage to infiltrate an imperial database and steal its plans in a desperate final stand while rebel troops are falling left and right and the rebel fleet is being taken out and Darth Vader himself is killing everyone in his path and who ends up with the transmission????? Who ends up with the stolen plans and literally and physically is holding the fate of the galaxy in her hands?????? Who jumps to light speed just in time to make her escape?????

The Princess of Alderaan, the Imperial Senator, the rebel spy, the daughter of the rebellion, Leia Organa. And she rushes across the galaxy on a top secret mission of utter importance to not only save those plans but to beg for the aid of the one man who might be able to help them–it is their most desperate hour, and it’s Leia there–Leia in the middle of it all–Leia with the plans and Leia sent to get Obi-Wan Kenobi.

And when Darth Vader boards the Tantive IV and the crew are dying left and right and Leia herself is taken prisoner, she smuggles the plans out of the empire’s hands AGAIN and then has the nerve to look Darth Vader in the eyes and LIE THROUGH HER BALLSY TEETH and tell him that she has no idea what he’s talking about. He KNOWS she’s a spy, he KNOWS she’s a traitor, HE JUST WATCHED HER ZOOM OFF WITH THE PLANS.

And this nineteen-year-old princess is at the mercy of a Sith Lord, the Chosen One, the most powerful Force user the galaxy has known, and he probes her mind and tortures her and HE CAN’T BREAK HER. And this Princess can’t know for sure that the little droid she sent off with the most important information in the galaxy will succeed, but she doesn’t talk when they schedule her for execution or when they destroy her planet before her eyes or even after that.

And this fierce political spy princess suddenly becomes the last princess, and it turns out that the mission bestowed upon her by her father–on her alone, because he trusted her with his life–is the last request he’ll ever make of her, and it seems like everything is lost and she’ll just have to keep her silence as her last act of defiance and her last act of honor and her last pledge to her father and her mother and her people.

And then????? AND THEN

This bright-eyed idealistic farm boy and this jaded cynical smuggler and his hairy partner burst in and they have no idea what the fuck they’re doing and they have no idea that they have just kicked down the door and entered Leia’s life at its absolute darkest moment, at the lowest point of her existence when it seemed that there would be no hope and no light and no chance, and they don’t know and she doesn’t know that they’ve all just found their destiny. She has no idea that this over-exuberant farm boy is her long-lost twin brother, that the little droid she sent off with the plans found its way to her TWIN of all people, that he was hidden away on the very planet she had raced to, and she has no idea that this cocky insufferable mercenary is her true love, and it’s just, it’s JUST. 

Then despite and because of her TREMENDOUS LOSS, this princess gets those plans to the rebellion–the rebellion that is still standing because of her strength of will and of mind and of heart, and it turns out that the galaxy works in mysterious ways, because that naive but pure of heart farm boy is a HERO and that cynical mercenary smuggler can’t help it now, either, because he’s been pulled in, too, because he doesn’t know it but fate has taken hold of him and now he can’t turn away, he can’t, and he goes back on everything he’s said and claimed to stand for just in the nick of time and they do it????? Leia gets those plans where they needed to be and she got her father’s message to the person who needed to hear it–the call had been raised, the time had come–and EVERYTHING WAS SET IN MOTION AND THEY TRIUMPHED AGAINST THE EMPIRE, YES, THEY SAVED TRILLIONS OF LIVES, BUT MORE THAN THAT, SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT, TOO

And then whether it was ever her plan or not, that young princess has no planet any longer, and that imperial senator has no more senate, and the rebel spy is exposed, and Leia’s there just, floating in the dust, standing in the ashes, a symbol of hope for the galaxy but grieving and orphaned and alone (she’s not alone, but she doesn’t know it yet) and it would be so easy to give in to despair, but what does she do? SHE JUMPS INTO THE TRENCHES and she FIGHTS not just with her knowledge, anymore, not just with political daring and aiding and abetting, no, but with her flesh and blood she becomes a soldier.

And maybe the grief is overwhelming, and maybe she pushes too hard and maybe the fight consumes her because it’s suddenly all she has and maybe she’s terrified of feeling again or losing again or hurting again so she builds a wall around her heart, and maybe she seems just a little too cold, but that farm boy-turned hero and that giant walking carpet of a being and that infuriating scoundrel of a man are chipping away at her, and of all the things, of all the damn things that could happen, of all the cursed things that fate has in store, against her will and despite her best efforts, Princess Leia is falling in love

And it’s just. It’s THAT man. The man who only saved her for a cash reward, but saved her nonetheless (and maybe they both know, deep down, that it wasn’t for the cash reward). The man who claimed to oppose every belief she’d ever held, the man who infuriated her, that man is breaking down her walls, that man is making her feel, and she could’ve resisted him if he actually was the selfish mercenary he pretended to be, but he’s NOT, he’s not, at the end of the day he’s stayed with them and with their cause and he’s risking his life to help them and it turns out he’s LOYAL and he’s BRAVE and he’s CUNNING and GOOD and he’s not afraid to call her out, not afraid to challenge her, not afraid to treat her like a woman instead of a princess or a leader

But she can’t do it, she can’t, not only because she should be devoting herself to the rebellion or because sometimes she’s so consumed by guilt that she doesn’t think she deserves it, no not only because of that but because he’s leaving. Leaving them. Leaving her.

She’d thought that maybe it wouldn’t hurt as much if she kept him at arm’s length, but she was wrong, because it aches. But she’s still strong, isn’t she? Isn’t she supposed to be forged from steal? The survivor, the warrior, the avenging princess??? She can’t let herself fall apart over a man that was never even hers to begin with (she doesn’t know that he was hers from the moment they met, and maybe even before).

So she keeps up the fight, and when the Empire is at their doorstep and Vader himself is storming their base, she stays at her post even while it’s crumbling around her, even when she should have cleared out long before–but then, hadn’t she always figured she’d die for the cause?

She doesn’t die though, because he’s there. He’s come back for her. He hadn’t left, and he won’t let her resign herself to the end. Somehow, on that dilapidated piece-of-junk ship that had been her salvation on that fateful day that they met (that day he’d claimed not to care if she lived or died, and here he is running into the danger to save her), they make it out, and Darth Vader watches her make her escape (their paths keep crossing, she doesn’t yet know why), and that scoundrel pilots them through asteroid fields with the enemy on their tail and scrapes them through by the skin of his teeth, but he does it. He keeps her safe, and so that’s the second time he’s rescued her. The tensions are so high though, so high, because damn it all to hell, he’s still probably leaving after it’s over, but he just risked his own life for hers AGAIN and it’s so hard to resist. It’s probably even appropriate that their first kiss is in the blackness of space, caught between a rock and an imperial cruiser, following immediately after a run for their lives and several harsh insults that they both know are just for show. And when he kisses her it’s the sweetest reprieve, it’s everything they both knew it would be, and more, and yet tainted, too–a glimpse of what could have been, because he has a debt to pay and a reason to go, and she can’t give him her heart when she knows he’d have to break it.

Still, she’s stuck with him, our fierce princess, that strong, passionate, lonely girl who’d lost her entire world, trapped on his ship. And when they limp to Bespin, her feelings are brimming over, too true to keep at bay. The safe haven they think they’ve found is all a trap, their escape gone all wrong, and it’s all built up and built up and built up, so powerful that it was inevitable, so powerful that she was doomed from the start, and when they hurt him and torture him and hand him over at last and he spends his final moment before they turn him into a living statue–to die or be sent to his death–on one last desperate kiss, she can’t keep it in. This girl who resisted tooth and nail confesses it at last, when they’re at their most vulnerable, at the mercy of their greatest enemies, set to be parted forever. That’s when she tells Han Solo that she loves him, because she couldn’t bear it if she never told him–couldn’t bear it if he never knew.

He did.

Perhaps she doesn’t realize the implications then–that it’s the strength of their love and pain and fear for each other that has been used to lure Luke Skywalker–that farm boy who’d become the closest thing she had to family, that pilot striving to become a jedi that had his own precious place in her heart. She does know that she’ll do whatever it takes to warn him and to save Han, and although she does get free it’s still not in time, because Han is gone and she almost loses Luke, too–almost, and would have, if she hadn’t so suddenly known where he was. She doesn’t harp on how she knew. She doesn’t have it in her to be troubled over anything but the man she’d loved and lost. She’d lost EVERYTHING–literally everything–and she KNEW it would be a bad idea and she didn’t want to give in to her feelings–tried not to let him in, and in the end she STILL loved him and the universe was so cruel that it had to take him, too.

So then for the second time that poor princess is left to cope with profound loss and overwhelming heartache–but it’s different this time, because he’s not dead–not yet–and for once she’ll set aside duty and leadership and rebellion and leave the fight–leave the cause–to go and get him, because she has to, because he only got caught because he was keeping her alive, because he’d rescued her again and again and she couldn’t abandon him–because she loved him and she’d finally accepted that fact.

And so it’s suddenly all come full circle–back to that fateful planet of years past, where she’d sent a little droid to find Obi-Wan Kenobi, where the farm boy had been toiling in the sand, where her scoundrel had gotten caught up in it all. Back there on that barren planet she’ll walk into the monster’s den for him, degraded and chained (she’ll kill the beast that chained her, too) but it’s worth it, it’s so worth it, because by some miracle her new family is enough, and at the end of it all he’s back in her arms and everyone is safe and whole and together.

And there’s a new threat–her worst nightmare, perhaps–because the Death Star just wouldn’t stay dead. And our rebel leader could easily have relied on the rank and file to take it down, but no, she’s on the ground with her love and her friends–her mercenary man is a commissioned general, now–and she’s still fighting with all her tenacity to save lives and end oppression. She probably has a feeling that it’s a fateful mission–everything’s riding on it, after all: their lives, the fleet, the rebellion, everything–but she has no idea just how true that is–has no idea what she’s about to learn.

And then high up in the trees on the night before their attack, Luke Skywalker finally tells her the truth of her past. He’s her brother. She’s his sister. And that evil man who had haunted her in both dreams and in reality is father to them both. So much suddenly makes sense. So much. The immediate love she’d felt for that naive, over-exuberant farm boy. That power and intuition that she just couldn’t explain. And she realizes that it’s not a revelation, because she’d known.

And it’s not only that she knows her origins. It’s not only that she has the Force. It’s not only that she’s the last hope for the galaxy if Luke should fail–it’s her entire story at its climax, her destiny laid at her feet at last, her legacy finally fully revealed, her part in it all finally understood. That day on the Death Star was fate. The daughter of the Chosen One, face-to-face with him, the future of the galaxy resting on her young shoulders, her own twin brother arriving to save her. And we know, watching, that she is so deeply embedded in this story we love–at its heart, there from the beginning, destined to see it through to its end, the power of the Force in her very flesh and bones and the power of her convictions in her every word and every act, the unbelievable and undeniable truth of it all. There was no accident, no coincidence–it’s LEIA. 

It’s so much–both wonderful and terrible–to find her brother, to know the horror. To understand that the blood of the man who’s tortured them all runs hot and fierce through her own veins. And even worse, Luke has gone to him–gone to his death. She can’t tell Han when he asks her–she can’t, how could she? What if it ruins everything? What if she…?

But she keeps going, again. She keeps fighting AGAIN. Princess Leia didn’t come so far and do so much and fight so hard to let grief and fear overwhelm her when it matters most. So she’s there on the ground in the action fighting side-by-side with Han and Chewie and their brothers-in-arms all the while the battle rages in space and Luke faces the Emperor and their father.

Maybe he tells her after that it’s her in the middle of it all. That it’s fear for her that almost drives him to the Dark Side, his love for her used against him. Maybe he tells her that when it was all over, and their father was redeemed, that his last thoughts were of her, of the daughter he’d met and hurt but never known–of ensuring she knew the truth. 

And it’s just. If anyone in the galaxy had cause to give in to pain–it’s Leia who lost and lost and lost. She had every reason to give up, to succumb to grief, to give in to hate or despair or fear, but she didn’t. She kept going through it all. Kept fighting for what was right. She never let the heartache and the horrors she faced defeat her. She was so incredibly strong, but that strength was never at the cost of her humanity. Princess Leia is strong AND human–a character who feels and hurts, a character that’s vulnerable without it being held against her. A damsel in distress who takes control of her own rescue. A princess turned spy turned soldier. A female character who loves but who is not reduced to a love story. Leia who emerges at the end bruised but unbroken, Leia who learns to open her heart, Leia who finds her family, Leia who is brave, Leia who saved the galaxy, Leia the hero, Leia the VERY LAST HOPE FOR THEM ALL, Leia who hurts, Leia who feels, Leia who shouts and fights and takes no shit, Leia who’s complex and so REAL, Leia who TRIUMPHS AND COMES OUT THE OTHER SIDE WITH HER BROTHER AND HER LOVER AND ALL HER FRIENDS, LEIA WITH THE FORCE, LEIA WHO RESISTS TORTURE AND KILLS JABBA THE HUTT AND RIDES DOWN IMPERIALS ON STOLEN SPEEDERS, LEIA WHO INSPIRES AND LEIA WHO’S TRUE AND LEIA VICTORIOUS AT THE END.

I just really love Princess Leia.