#kppar

[thrandilf]

now with the context. its like he went at his arm like a corn on the cob in the straight line style. how was this so fresh when he told Viren no. ig he quit Recently but Hello. it took a unicorn map for him to be like maybe this is Bad

you should have just given Viren the staff man you are JUDGY considering your habits

[self-spaghettification]

me when s6 gives me everything i want and more

[amber-in-the-rough]

so, as far as I understood, Rayla's parents chose to... go? I think they don't need to be freed, at least. Runaan is out, Aaravos is out. Two out of three quasar diamonds are used. Which leaves us with one. And we just so happen to have one more person in need of de-coining.

... If Rayla hasn't forgotten about him and if the underground laboratory is still holding.

[rainwalker-dragonblade29]

I started reading puzzle house, and I noticed something. There seems to be an age mismatch... In S6, soren looks about 6 ish. Claudia about 4... in the flashback that Lissa leaves. Which is preceded by kppar's disappearance. Soren is shown that young when Viren saved him. (Image credits : @raayllum and @stuck-in-jelly ) look how young soren is! And claudia is teeny weeny!

BUT IN PUZZLE HOUSE.... there's a scene between King Atticus (What a lovely man) and Viren.... he asks Viren how he is doing out of genuine concern!

(Pardon the picture quality my camera is not so great)

THE FOLOW UP OF THE SAME INCIDENT THAT IS IN VIREN'S FLASHBACKS!!!! BUT SOREN LOOKS ABOUT 10ISH AND CLAUDIA ABOUT 8ISH!

Now it is very much possible that the puzzle house happens very much later. Like after a time skip.

Also to note: claudia was given kppar's spellbook. Tge kids had been to his house multiple times atleast to mention "he never let us enter his tower". Also Atticus asks the question as if it all happened fairly recently. Means tge flashback of s6 happened pretty close to the time of puzzle house no? But soren and claudia look older to me...

Wouldn't it make more sense if soren and claudia were a little older than how they are shown in s6 flashbacks to have known kppar! If soren is saved at an older age it would still work.

I don't know if it was a mismatch between the two departments handling the production of the season and the graphic novel. But their ages don't line up... like if all of those flashbacks of s6 happened with a little older claudia and soren, they would remember that incident much more strongly, and that is fitting for character!

I see three possibilities...

A) This is truly a mistake and there was a mismatch between the teams that made the season and the novel.

B) This is deliberate! They showed the flashbacks through Viren's POV. And maybe its the "to parents their children are always young" or this is just how he is seeing them in the memory of that incident now. Memories become distorted over time... we don't remember details and when we recall, we fill their place with details of how we felt that incident to be like, which is sometimes not what it actually was.... Viren's guilt makes him look at himself like the terrible man who hurt his two innocent children. And what better way to make a child look innocent than to literally age them down! Look at this image of claudia from one of the short stories... here she looks about her puzzle house age, seeing Lissa leave.

So it is true that the puzzle house ages are reality and the flashback ages are Viren's projections of his children as how innocent they were when he hurt their family. I AM ONTO SOMETHING HERE, I REALLY WANT THIS TO BE TRUE!

C) I could be wrong at judging character ages too (in that case it would be a bummer cuz what sort of animation student am I then?)

But what do you guys think? I am leaning towards the ages being shown that way is deliberate...

[ac0531]

So Benbo recently had a TikTok live and he said some things about season 6 👀

- He said he really likes Kppar as a character, doesn’t really know a lot about him though

- S6 angst is level 1000 out of 100

- for him, s6 is way better than s3

- 603 is his favourite!

- He also said that 601 is NOT the worst of the angst

- an out of context spoiler is “oh”

- also random but mentioned that viren is his favourite

[madou-dilou]

Harrow and Viren : analysis

Viren, since he resurrected in season 4, is constantly paralleled with Harrow.

"It's been a long time. Our kingdom is prospering. There is peace. My boys, they are growing up. Perhaps it's wiser to stay focused on these blessings."

"My whole life, I have been chasing after things I did not have. Now that I'm here and may have only thirty days left, do I really want to spent those days ... chasing ? Maybe I should stop and appreciate what I do have. A whole month, enjoying every moment with my daughter. Maybe it's time for me to accept that I am who I am. And when I reach the end, I'll be at peace. And it will just be the time to let me go."

Both reevaluate their lives, questioning the crimes they left in their wake. They feel like they have escaped justice. Their loved ones do their best, encourage them to continue living, of course, but they have come to the conclusion that if their life has left such a trail of blood, prolonging it will only spread more.

That at this point, the only right thing they could do for the world was leaving it.

For said loved ones, this attitude makes no sense and feels straight-up ungrateful. ("You are acting stubborn and ungrateful!"/"Please, dad, don't. Don't do this. Don't leave. It's a mistake. You can't. I saved you! You me your life! You have to stay...")

Especially since Harrow and Viren are both incapable of explaining themselves clearly. Viren straight-up tells Harrow he doesnt understand where he is coming from, and Harrow only answers "I know you don't. Leave me." Viren, meanwhile, talks about "a path of truth of freedom" that he needs to face.

In short, to quote Kaamelott's queen Guinevere "You slit your wrists in a bath I had myself prepared just for you."

Two kings caught in blood feuds, pushed by the devils on their shoulders to prolong an existence they no longer want, even at the cost of two being supposed to be sacrifices: a soldier, who signed for that (unlike the High Mage, side-eye Harrow), and this homunculus.

Both thus renounce dark magic by, as Harrow says, "calling it what it is" for the first time; and no longer “a creative solution to solve this” as Viren used to say.

And just as Harrow wrote a letter to his son Callum to free him from the wrongs of the previous generation, Viren attempts to do the same.

To Callum, Harrow tried to explain that the past, which we must nevertheless seek to understand, should not define the future; that his death must close the cycle of revenge that he initiated with the assassination of the Titan and for which he takes full responsibility; and that his sons must ensure a new era of peace. As he prepares to face death, he also makes sure his last conversation with Ezran is completely mundane, so the boy does not grow up thinking he abandonned him.

However, Harrow did not think to officially appoint a regent (Viren, Amaya or Opeli), which forces poor Ezran to assume a horrible role for which, at eight years old, he is obviously absolutely not prepared.

Which obviously puts the kingdom in a dangerous situation.

In his letter to Soren, Viren is very literal. He wants Soren to judge him, but for him to have all the necessary elements to do so; he wants Soren to understands why he made all these mistakes. Viren tells Soren that all the suffering he felt was never his fault, but his own.

It was Viren and Viren alone who chose to become a monster by violating Kppar then Lissa, thus causing her departure, then making Soren pay for it throughout his childhood.

The letter was intended to free Soren of all guilt. Because, when you get given the cold shoulder by your father throughout your whole childhood, you believe it has to be your fault. All divorce children think it's their fault.

The problem is, reading the truth might as well make Soren feel worse. Because this letter confirms that it was to save him that Viren destroyed the family, even if it was a choice that Viren made. According to Puzzle House, Soren remembers that he was sick, that his grandfather disappeared, that his father saved him, and that his mother left, but he could never connect the dots between all these events.

This letter means that the simple fact that Soren was alive was indeed the first crack that eventually caused the whole house to collapse.

Viren therefore chose to burn the letter, hoping to spare his son such a burden.

Both Viren's and Harrow's deaths have something of a suicide to them, and not just in the letters they leave behind.

Remember my post comparing their actions to the quote from the Kaamelott show ? "What is someone who suffers and spills his blood on the floor so that everyone is guilty? All suicides are Christ. All bathtubs are the Grail."

In short, I was trying to explain how their masochism made others suffer.

Harrow claims to consider himself a servant, and he certainly means it. He is humble, is aware monarchy is an unfair system and has a great sense of honor, not hesitating to defy certain traditions - by sharing his official portrait with Viren - and to put his own life at stake. But when, for example, he finds nothing better to do than deprive his people of food simply to honor a promise, his claims sound particularly hollow. He is out-of-touch enough not to know the state his kingdom is in, so he will certainly not have to see his own family starve. But he set out to restore some justice to the world, however stupid this justice is. He seems to consider that by sacrificing the kingdom, he is sacrificing himself. And during his heroic death, that by sacrificing himself, he will save the kingdom instead of plunging it into chaos.

Viren, most probably partly because of his social origins that he keeps getting reminded of (and a fun childhood too, the guy insults himself in front of the mirror until he breaks down crying and constantly devalues his son) is haunted by an inferiority complex. To be useless. He has a morbid need for gratitude. Hoping to matter, to serve a purpose, he spent years self-destructing through dark magic, constantly putting himself in danger, ruining his health, wiping behind the king's decisions, or letting Aaravos exploit his body in increasingly abject ways. In short, to see himself only as a means to an end.

This feeling of ungratefulness is not unfounded: not only is the king actually incompetent enough not to have the slightest idea of ​​the state of his kingdom's resources, but in addition, where any swordsman would display with pride the scars of his craft, Viren is forced to hide his swollen face - it is even part of the reason why his wife left him.

The problem is that his own self-sacrificing tendancies made him think he had the right to exploit others: his wife, Sarai, Harrow, the princes, Soren, and a few thousand others, and I'm probably forgetting some.

That since sacrificing others was difficult for him, it made him the hero.

Viren probably suffers from a huge martyr syndrome: being able to exist only through the gratitude of others, he begins to take charge of all their problems, even unsollicited, and even if it means creating others in the process. It doesnt make him evil. It's an unconcious strategy to simply survive.

Since he is competent, no-nonesense, pragmatic and literally magical, he ends up making himself absolutely indispensable. No one but him could save two kingdoms from famine. Even more so, Sarai, Harrow's wife, sacrificed herself to save him because he was a mage. This survivor's guilt may have made this problem worse.

His mentality, which he summed up as "get a grip" to a traumatized Terry, also likely played a role in the deterioration of his relationship with Harrow. After Sarai's death, Viren probably felt that he ought to be the immovable and unshakable pillar on which Harrow should be able to rely. That if he ever showed the slightest doubt, the slightest weakness, Harrow, and with him, the kingdom, would collapse. Whereas if Viren had been less constipated, Harrow would undoubtedly have felt less lonely, and would have been less likely to take his own life as he did.

Viren is the brain of the heart. He provides a safeguard to Harrow, whose sense of justice blinds him. Harrow has, after all, indeed chosen the Blindfold in his dream, to push him to imagine a system aimed at protecting everyone equally. An ideal, unrealistic and inconsiderate. Viren is the Scales, in my opinion: he compares the costs of his actions to the positive consequences that will result from them. He is a result-oriented person, measuring his self-worth by his productivity.

Now, it's time for me to talk about the Drama Triangle, theorized by psychiatrist Stephen Karpman in his article Fairy Tales and script drama analysis.

Karpmann first applies this schema to fairy tales: for example, the Piper of Hamelin saves the villagers, victims of the rats who persecute them; but instead of thanking him, the villagers throw stones at him and banish him without paying their dues; which pushes the Piper to take revenge, becoming a persecutor, by making all the children of the village disappear.

But this Triangle, as Karpman explains, is also an unconscious psychological game, a relational pattern between victim, persecutor and savior that cannot be applied to an emergency situation. It is not necessary for all three instances of the triangle to be present, but it is often enough for one person to play the game for the others to get involved. Stephen Karpman adds that the more roles are reversed in a single scene, the more intense it is in emotion and conflict.

The victim is isolated, passive and unable to make decisions to resolve their problems. The persecutor belittles them, minimizes their suffering and mocks them in the hope of making them react. The savior defends them, feels obliged to solve the victim's problems for him even unsollicited, which is very gratifying for them but maintains the victim in a state of dependence.

None of these roles are positive because they create unbalanced relationships.

The problem, you can see it coming, is that over the years, Harrow has become completely dependent on Viren to put his grand ideas into practice, and therefore on the "necessary" crimes that Viren lined up like pearls on a necklace. It's not just dirty, it's also infantilising. Viren constantly acts as a savior, which places Harrow in a victim role, unaccustomed to questioning Viren's decisions even when he is wrong.

Harrow couldn't take it anymore.

He became so fed up with his own dependence on Viren that he concluded the only way to get rid of him was to die.

Harrow could have hidden with the princes, or fired his entire guard and faced the consequences of his actions alone, but he just seized the opportunity to sell his skin dearly and die a hero.

I would even go so far as to say that for Harrow, his own death served three purposes:

Reunite with Sarai without whom his life no longer has meaning

Finally receive his rightful punishment and put an end to his own feelings of guilt

Make Viren finally feel guilty about something, even if it was his suicide. He wants him to see his blood spilled on the floor.

In short, to finally regain control by placing Viren in the role of victim, while becoming the persecutor.

"I have tolerated your arrogance for to long. But if this is my last day as king, I will make sure you will know your place."

Viren, throughout seasons 1 and 2, paying for Harrow's mistakes as he always did, tried to position himself as the savior of the human kingdoms, that were then facing a crisis situation: as a result, he is rejected at every turn, completely isolated, sentenced to death for treason and completely unable to resolve his problems. In short, a victim.

And who is it that "saves" him ?

Aaravos, by presenting himself as Viren's "servant", flatters his ego and points out persecutors to blame. However, Viren is not a fool: he is aware of being manipulated. He knows that Aaravos is deliberately withholding a lot of information from him. But he throws himself into it of his own free will. He's more stressed than everyone else as well as grieving, he back to the wall and isn't thinking like the rest of the world: as far as he is concerned, he has only made a series of unavoidable decisions, which had doors and doors shutting in his face over and over, plunging him further and further into sheer darkness.

Until he has "nothing left to lose". Until the man who he has chained to a wall is freer than him. Until the knife eventually becomes the border between two worlds, separating him from the only source of light, pale, artificial, unforgiving, coming from "worse than death": Aaravos.

Yeah, it's clearly suicide-coded.

Viren (believing he was doing the right thing) got the worst out of Harrow, just as Aaravos (wanting to cause chaos for fun) got the worst out of Viren.

And just like Harrow, the only way Viren had to get rid of the devil on his shoulder was to die.

And as for Viren's third death in the sixth season, heroic if ever there was one (on the very balcony where he looked at his wrist in season 2), it is also no coincidence that he repeats Harrow's last words to him, told to humiliate him : "I am a servant."

This term carries an ambivalence: the nobility of abnegation and the humiliation of submission.

Although Harrow saw himself as a servant of the kingdom and promoted equality in his reforms and symbols, he eventually grew tired of it. He does sacrifice his own life to end the cycle of revenge, but since he does not take the trouble to prepare for his succession, even if only by ensuring that the princes are safe, the result is a total disaster. He also devotes the last minutes of his existence to being completely unjustified cruelty towards Viren. His death was a way for him to finally regain control.

Viren, hurt that Harrow lowered him to the ground by mistaking his self-sacrifice for arrogance and once again leaving him to pay the price for his decisions, has made this term the justification for his crimes... confusing, in his good intentions, “serving the people” for “using the people”.

Viren was completely willing to sacrifice himself to save Harrow in Season 1, but Harrow, determined to regain control, didn't even listen to him; and Viren immediately recanted when Harrow refused to recognize him as an equal. Although it could not have been more sincere, the sacrifice of his own life was then rejected by the plot because it was done without humility.

(or maybe Harrow immediately understood what Viren was going to do and scolded him to dissuade him)

Viren was then reduced to his greatest weakness : his existential need for gratitude.

And more than ever, he was the only one with common sense in the room, on top of being belittled for his absence of royal blood. He still thinks he knows better than everyone else, just as he always actually did. Anyone who crosses his vision ought to be killed. No matter how much he has to harm others and himself (burning his own eyes, committing high treason and sentencing himself to death, giving in body and soul to "worse than death", letting Aaravos manipulate his body in absolutely gross ways, risking being burned at the stake) in the process. Aaravos sees straight through, exploits this, because it's what dark magic is: it's dehumanising yourself as well as others; seeing no longer people but components and obstacles. Viren harms himself to be seen as a hero, not a servant. He needs gratitude, admiration. To be seen as above. A servant is beneath, only ever doing what he is told.

But today, Viren, haunted by the vision of Harrow's blood on the floor, chooses to sacrifice himself, thus saving the population of Katolis in the face of dragon fire, to sacrifice himself alone and no one else, reviled, hated, and misunderstood. The official portrait of him and Harrow, symbolizing his noble deeds and the good they were able to do together, burned in the castle fire.

He dies not in court clothes but in rags, not as an official hero showered with praise, but as a traitor. Soren will never know what he did for him as a child, Viren doesn't want his death to haunt him.

Even though he dies as the Lord Protector of the Realm Ezran could not be, in the eyes of history, Viren will remain the traitor. The Evil Chancellor, Jafar, Richard III, Iago, Scar.

No one will see his blood as he spills it on the floor of Harrow's room.

Servants of the realm indeed.

[dragon-prince-6-3]

Good and bad things about season 7 of the dragon prince

Good:

- I like terry as a character a lot more now

- the kppar info about calibalism and the implications are interesting and good for theorizing

- zim power boost

- ezran actually getting angry at Runan and having trouble forgiving someone but still try’s to do what he tells others to do

- Claudia and Aaravos relationship

- Aaravos characterization ( enjoying the ride, taking advice from terry, killing Karim, talking to ezra )

- king harrow ( if he is actually captured somewhere, should it turn out he was free the whole time it is bad again )

- Larissa is not the good parent who comes back after years of neglect and gets an excuse because the other parent was evil. I hate those plots since a child is supposed to forgive bad treatment simply because the other parent has to be replaced.

- Karim death was understandable ( Aaravos hates elves ) and gruesome surprising

- Soren and Corvus

- callum coin idea

Bad:

- while aaravos character on his own makes sense. His plans are imperfect because he is no mastermind even though he is smart. He gets controlled by his emotions and protects ( Claudia, Viren ) or destroys people ( Karim, Viren ) based on them. His only destruction plan makes sense for a guy who just wants the world to burn for his pain. The problem is that the first seasons all hinted at a different kind of character. Someone who has a great plan for humanity but is still evil. It feels a little like his characterization got rewritten

- Aaravos is also to weak for the major threath he was supposed to be.

- the world itself and the conflict also feels rewritten. Like the humans got gifted magic and only Leola payed the price. They started to learn from aaravos dark magic and get banned to a Luxus live on the other side. They destroyed the land themselves because of their greed and than tried to get Back into zedia. The elves are not the monsters we make them out to be ( only sol regem and the sun elv queen and Karim are racist ) but the humans are the actuall grey characters we see them as. Karim whole excuse is that the human fears are bed time storys while his are based on real live and it is laid out as beeing a true Statement the writers want use to acnolage.

- why is rayla not understanding that Ezran is angry. He didn’t want to kill runan but only lock him away ( which he would have gotten over with after some healing ). But honestly he killed his dad ( and a lot of guards ) and now the murderer gets to go home to enjoy live. Runan didn’t even speak for himself until the end. She just gone there with runan and thought everything will be okay since Ezran has to forgive everyone and runan was locked up already. This is getting your only parent killed and than being told that the killer is out because he was imprisoned already beforehand. That makes it not better. Rayla would not have forgiven Viren so fast if she had meet the redeemed version so why should Ezran. That he forgave the dragons so fast was the unbelievable part, not that he will not do the same again.

- for the battle at the end: why were no death guys fighting ? You have hunderts of tiny dragons to help thunder win or attack the humans but you let them fly around you. They were right there.

- why do the good guys tell aaravos their plan

- Viren was underused from 4 to 6 and I just hoped for more ( meet rayla, speak to Claudia, callum, Ezran )

- why is Claudia helping aaravos. This will kill everyone she loves since a world without sun will die.

- where is kppar now

[beautifulterriblequeen]

In the puzzle house why was kppar obsessed with unicorns?

I'm assuming he knows more about them than we do. He's already located a map and kidnapped its guardian, Kruha. when the plot begins. I believe that the unicorn decorations and lantern in the Puzzle House itself were all part of his scheme to trick Claudia into finding and reading the hidden map without darkening her heart with the knowledge of what had been done to possess it nor what it was intended for - which worked perfectly, by the way.

Great job manipulating a kid, guys! 👍Dark magic is so fun and wholesome!

But it seems that the map itself leads to an actual unicorn, or something unicorn-adjacent, which is what Kpp'Ar was after all along. And Puzzle House is set before Sarai is killed - she's in the early part of the story, pregnant with Ezran - so Viren isn't trying to get it for vengeance reasons. Either Viren or Kpp'Ar wants that unicorn item really badly, and we're never given enough information to determine why that is.

But Kpp'Ar's unicorn puzzle is really complicated. I don't think it's a super recent development - he'd been planning it for some while, which means he probably held Kruha prisoner for even longer, and had been searching for clues to the unicorn knowledge he wanted for longer still. This could easily have been a years-long plan on his part, and for all we know, Viren could've introduced Claudia to dark magic specifically for the purpose of reading that map.

Dark magic! Fun for the whole family!

tldr: we don't know what Kpp'Ar wanted with the unicorn map yet. We might never know, but it could also turn out to be some really important plot point somehow.

Maybe we'll learn more about what he knows in S6. I do hope we get some interactions with him, whether they're about opening coins, or unicorns, or freeing Aaravos, or dark magic, or Viren's past, or anything, really. He could have so much to share, if someone could find a way to communicate with him or free him.

[pixelqueen666]

I completely agree.also,I hate the fact that Kppar was doing self-eating, which is disturbing, but then just because he feels bad about it, he isn't gonna help Soren for his morality.Which is WORSE, cause that means when it's about keeping YOU alive, you'll use it. But when it's about keeping the cutest child in the world alive?! Ah, no... it... it's bad.

AGH!😤

I had a whole post written up and tumblr ate it so I'll just sum it up with

the supposed distinction between dark and primal magic is blurrier than ever, while the narrative is insisting harder than ever that dark magic is evil, and the only reasoning given remains "Why? Just trust us, it's bad!"

[mirarre]

new guy 😳

[thrandilf]

so Kpp'ar has got to be 300+ years old/from before Aaravos was imprisoned because he 1. has that self eating thing to be able to extend his life for an indefinite amount of time and 2. Aaravos knew that name. he KNEW it

[self-spaghettification]

Hypothetically Viewing Viren as Unsympathetically as Possible

he not only coined 3 elves just for? sadistic reasons?

there’s that too

he also coined his own old dark magic mentor for unknown reasons which is kinda fuckin insane —like at least for the others he has the excuse of not knowing them or gaining empathy for them

that points to viren actually having carried out the soul serpent plan against harrow’s will and turned him into a bird which is!! yk!! INSANE!! he couldn’t just let him die he had to turn him into a bird and then fake mourn him so he could take the throne

and if that theory is true then im sensing a pattern for this mf —killing someone to take power

in viren’s dream, perhaps a flashback, kppar tells him he knew he’d go far but he didn’t know he’d go that far for power, implying viren has also done other horrible things to gain power-become part of the royal court and get the position of high mage perhaps?

even his kids he doesnt rlly care abt them, he just views them in terms of himself, people to pass on his knowledge or self onto, legacy

which is part of the reason why he praises claudia so much and dislikes soren

he doesnt see them as individuals with their own merit

it’s so fucked😭

concession: of course there’s those 2 ways to interpret viren- morally grey or evil and its possible to want to romanticize what he’s done, romanticize his connection with harrow or his kids as a tragic character doing what’s necessary, or blame aaravos.

and theres always other possibilities—like maybe he coined kppar in self defense or because k'ppar was gonna do something terrible

and maybe he didnt bird harrow??

but like

the latter, the unsympathetic viren, makes more sense- especially since when viren has fever dreams it goes over these past choices, his interaction with kppar, dream harrow putting viren’s soul into the bird (probably the opposite of what harrow did to viren) and how viren talks abt his regret ie: “i’m tired of taking power/trying to be someone important”

he doesnt say “im tired of trying to change things for the better” so it just seems to reinforce the idea that all the choices he made up to that point were well.. to take power? to gain recognition? or in more grey cases to selfishly save what he cared about, like soren?

sooo yeah

2. since he’s terrible, he doesn’t deserve a simple death of being killed off, he actually deserves to suffer on his redemption arc

he deserves feeling very awkward trying to apologize to the elves after rayllum uncoins them

and he deserves having to struggle to be on good terms with soren again

he doesnt deserve to just die

and that’s what tdpo has plans for

link to post on why he’s getting redeemed!!!

is this a bump on his inner journey?

This confirms that Viren’s not getting killed off, because he never got the chance to interact with Soren before dying. so yeah

He’s been a Terrible Person and He Doesn’t Deserve a Quick Death (He Deserves to Struggle Through a Redemption Arc)

[raayllum]

Hi, saw your post about the Quasar crystals and you mention a chest. I couldn’t help but think about Aaravos’ chest we were shown during that scene with Viren. I remember the book novelization of that scene and how Viren talked about his mentor Kppar having an exact one.

I’m just curious to know what you think on this like why/how does Kpp’ar have a chest just like Aaravos’?

I’m tempted to say that Kpp’Ar over time collected / inherited various powerful dark magic objects. We know that whatever Viren did to heal Soren horrified Kpp’Ar enough to not only swear off dark magic but to actively destroy a lot of what he had (including the twin box). It would make sense to me if Kpp’Ar had the box and Ziard’s relic staff and either gave the latter to Viren before everything went wrong (possibly years before), or Viren found it after Kpp’Ar wrecked things but didn’t destroy it. Part of me wonders if “The Puzzle House” might end up with Claudia being the one to find it in Kpp’Ar’s abandoned home in the first place

[rainwalker-dragonblade29]

YOUR SOUL IS MY TREASURE

So, I can't remember whose post it was, but I think someone has hinted that Callum could trap Aaravos in that cursed coin, sealing him in that realm between and death forever to solve the "what to do with the unkillable immortal" problem. And I think that's a genius solution. Aaravos in a coin? Twisted irony but deliciously scrumptious.

But crazy part is this.

IT IS DARK MAGIC. THE SPELL ITSELF.

And there are three mages who can perform it:

1. Claudia: for this outcome she has to betray Aaravos. Something she is unlikely to do unless she sees her own path and STOPS IDOLIZING VIREN AND AARAVOS (she will idolize him, be let down more corrupted roads abd terry will steer her clear maybe #wishlist). She definitely can joi the good side and stab him in the back and save the world in a cruel sense of irony.... or she might not. But this is an outcome i truly deeply want. Claudia's realization of who aaravos truly is.

2. Callum: he gas shown to break his morals to do the right thing before. Thus he can do it again. As saving the world is very very important. And if he realises this solution? Well hurray for the world but not for him.

3. Kppar: he's in a coin, but Rayla found that coin. They have one quasar diamond, maybe they'll break him out just to ask of his help or smth related to the jailor etc. And rayllum will be a lil disappointed that he gave up dark magic at first maybe, but then he will do the spell anyway for them? But thematically this is not a strong option. The weight has to be either callum or claudia because if the choose to do this act this means two very important outcomes for their character arcs.

WHY CLAUDIA?

Firstly Claudia, the whole "I have to see my dad again", exactly stepping I'm viren footsteps in his dream, the "I will do anything for family, however dangerous, however vile" all speak of one fatal flaw. Her idolisation. As i mentioned before. She had only viren to look upto as a kid, thus he became the one whose words she religiously followed and believed in hum her whole life, for other than viren she knows no truth. It had been the only stable thing in her life, everyone else has abandoned her. Left for themselves. Viren? Never. But now he did. And now she questions her belief.

Her father was everything, so him choosing different path and changing his fate... messed with that core belief. She needs to follow him to know. She needs to get answers from him cuz he is what she looks upto, her only truthful eye. And now that I aaravos. Who will give her answers. And most importantly, direction. The one thing she needs. And that's why she will now plave him in Viren's place, and his every word. Will. Be. Followed.

So to break that. Would mean a change to good. To the right side. A negative spiral fixed.

Thus she could coin him.

WHY CALLUM?

He has had a lil touch of darkness. And now he has rid that. He is free because of Kosmo's inner truth ritual.

He has done dark magic for Rayla, both times. With aaravos back, there could and would most definitely be an all states high ultimate fight with him. And maybe then, he will again have to face this. Rayla's life, or dark magic and save all this time. And the thing is he will choose dark magic.

Rayla has extracted the promise to sacrifice her for the greater good yes. But will he stick to it? If no... . IF all that rayllum talk in the ship and then the whole Moment of truth episode is foreshadowing, then he will do dark magic again.

If yes? Well, I'm sure my boy will not see Rayla die. IF HE WILL THAT MEANS HIS CHARACTER ARC ENDS AT A NEGATIVE NOTE EITHER WAY. YES OR NO. THATS WHY KOSMO SAW DARKNESS DIDN'T HE? IF CALLUM KEEPS THE PROMISE, DARK CHOICE FOR LOVE. DOESN'T KEEP, DARK CHOICE FOR SELF, FOREVER CORRUPTED BY DARKNESS, OVERWHELMED BY THE MAGIC AND POSSIBLY INJURING HIMSELF. BOTH ARE BAD OUTCOMES IN CALLUM'S CASE.

A long conclusion.

Sorry for caps locking but this is crucial people! Callum's arc will have a low note, claudia's a high note. Dragon prince has very complex things that it explores, a show like that might choose to take Callum down the dark path because the tragedy creates beauty. Terrible beauty. Sometimes life is like that. Cruel. A half moon. Bright and dark. Both combined. A dark deed for the greater good screams it thematically that both coexist. How did this become Yin Yang?

I think the dragon prince always had this planned for callum that his journey to learn all primals will push him to question dark magic itself and see it not as an agent of evil but a tool that is helpful in certain times but comes with a heavy price. And besides, it could also be said that kimdael arguably does dark magic even as an elf, so this practice is not only for humans.

He will resolve the while dark magic conundrum forever. Perhaps. So it makes sense for his arc to end in acceptance of inner darkness and doing the spell that seal aaravos' fate. One could say he faced his inner darkness in Finnegrin's Wake but no, the act gave him more fear in S6 that peace that comes from acceptance.

It has to he callum if he has to become the game changer and break the laws of magic in a way that leaves the world shocked.

OR

Ir has to be claudia if she has to fully realize herself and break free of the darkness with one final act.

I may not be the best theorist like @raayllum but this show and its story roles me up every time I think about it!

GOD DAMMIT WHY IS THIS SHOW SO GOOD!!!

(Forgive my typos I wrote this at 1 am at lightning speed 😅)

[alenkorra]

Ok so I'm saying this as a Viravos shipper myself, I think you're using the term queerbaiting too lightly. Yes, the writers are aware of the ship but they have never once acknowledged it outside of a couple of very SFW fanarts. I don't know if I'd consider it queerbaiting when most of us ship them because of what we interpret as sexual tension. I mean, considering this is a show aimed at kids I sincerely doubt the writers sat down and said "ok, how can we give Viren and Aaravos sexual tension?". The people involved in the show have done nothing to make us believe Viravos will be canon.

I honestly think it's more likely we'll get Viren x Kppar or just a little confirmation that Viren is queer. Especially because they're villains and TDP already faced backlash for the Queens of Duren, so they seem to be focusing more on positive rep now with Janaya and Ruthari.

If this wasn't a kids show then I would be more inclined to call it baiting, but they haven't given us much reason to think they'll make it canon.

Just realized something about what they will do with Viravos: No matter what the writers chose, they can’t win.

If they completely let it stay subtext and not confirm it they queerbait.

If they put in a small confirmation only adults will catch aka both of them leaving the tent where one of them sleeps to different times, subtly adjusting their clothes its not open enough and hiding queer representation.

And if they do confirm it and have them kiss on screen or something it is bad queer rep because they are both villains and their relationship is not healthy. Now, I personally don’t think it should be forbidden to show unhealthy queer relationships between bad people, as long as there are healthy, good relationships in the series too and its not portrayed as them being evil because they are queer, and there was indeed a very prominent very abusive queer ship confirmed in another show, though there neither the writers nor most of the fandom acknowledged how abusive it was, while here the writers seem to be aware of it. I just don’t think the purity kiddos will be able to grasp the difference and will whine about queer people being portrayed as evil or something.

I honestly wonder why the writers manovered themselves in such a dangerous sitation. I love Virens and Aaravos sexually charged interactions, but why would they put something like this in there when they can’t win with it?

[madou-dilou]

Harrow et Viren : analyse

Viren, depuis sa résurrection en saison 4, est mis en parallèle avec Harrow.

"Beaucoup de temps a passé. Le royaume est prospère. Mes garçons grandissent sereinement. Nous vivons en paix. Il vaut mieux peut-être se concentrer sur le bonheur que nous avons" (Harrow).

"Toute ma vie, j'ai couru après ce que je n'avais pas. Maintenant que je suis ici et qu'il ne me reste que trente jours à vivre, ai-je vraiment envie de passer ce temps à poursuivre cette quête ? Peut-être est-il temps pour moi de profiter de ce que j'ai, un mois entier avec ma fille. D'accepter que je suis simplement qui je suis. Et quand le moment sera venu, je serai en paix, et il sera temps de me laisser partir." (Viren)

Tous deux réévaluent leurs vies, remettent en question les crimes qu'ils ont laissé dans leur sillage. Ils ont le sentiment d'avoir échappé à la justice. Leurs proches les encouragent à continuer de vivre, bien sûr, mais ils en sont venus à la conclusion que si leur vie a laissé une telle traînée de sang, la prolonger ne ferait qu'en répandre encore davantage.

Qu'à ce stade, la seule chose juste qu'ils pouvaient faire pour le monde, c'était de le quitter.

Pour leur proches, qui se sont décarcassés pour eux, ce revirement est incompréhensible et même... franchement ingrat. "Vous -vous faites preuve d'obstination et... d'ingratitude !"/"Non. Non, papa, tu -tu n'as pas le droit. C'est moi qui t'ai sauvé ! Tu me dois la vie ! Il faut que tu restes !"

Pour citer Guenièvre, "vous vous êtes ouvert les veines dans un bain que j'avais moi-même fait couler."

Surtout qu'Harrow et Viren sont tous deux incapables de formuler leur point de vue plus clairement que "Non, évidemment, vous ne comprenez pas. Veuillez me laisser" et "je dois trouver le chemin de la vérité et de la liberté."

Regardez-moi ça. Deux rois pris dans des vendettas de lignage, poussés par leurs âmes damnées à prolonger une existence dont ils ne veulent plus, même au prix de deux être créés pour être des sacrifices : un soldat, payé pour ça (contrairement au Haut Mage, hein Harrow), et... cet homonculus.

D'ailleurs, tous deux renoncent ainsi à la magie noire en, comme le dit Harrow, "appelant un chat un chat" pour la première fois; et non plus "une solution créative pour régler ça" comme dit Viren.

Et tout comme Harrow avait écrit une lettre à son fils Callum pour le libérer des torts de la génération précédente, Viren tente de faire la même chose.

A Callum, Harrow a tenté d'expliquer que le passé, que l'on doit cependant chercher à comprendre, ne devrait pas définir l'avenir; que sa mort doit clôturer le cycle de vengeance qu'il a initié par l'assassinat du Titan et pour lequel il assume toute la responsabilité; et que ses fils doivent assurer une nouvelle ère de paix.

Il ne s'est cependant pas avisé de nommer officiellement un régent (Viren, Amaya ou Opélie), ce qui oblige le pauvre Ezran à assumer un rôle pour lequel, à huit ans, il n'est évidemment absolument pas préparé, et met du même coup son royaume dans le caca.

A Soren, Viren fait moins de belles phrases. Il est très litéral. Il veut que Soren le juge, mais qu'il ait pour cela tous les éléments nécessaires; que Soren comprenne pourquoi il a commis toutes ces erreurs. Viren dit à Soren que toute la souffrance qu'il a ressentie n'a jamais été de sa faute, mais de la sienne à lui (c'est là qu'on regrette que le français n'ait pas de système de cas/déclinaisons).

C'est Viren et Viren seul qui a choisi de devenir un monstre en violentant Kppar puis Lissa, provoquant ainsi son départ, puis en le faisant payer à Soren tout au long de son enfance. La lettre avait pour but de libérer Soren de toute culpabilité. Parce que, quand tu te fais battre froid par ton père pendant toute ton enfance, tu te dis confusément que c'est de ta faute. Et de toutes façons, c'est bien connu, tous les enfants d'un divorce pensent que c'est de leur faute.

Le problème, c'est que lire la vérité pourrait tout aussi bien faire sentir Soren encore plus mal. Parce que cette lettre confirme que c'est bien pour le sauver lui que Viren a détruit la famille, même si c'était un choix que Viren a fait. Si on se fie à Puzzle House, Soren se souvient qu'il était malade, que son grand-père a disparu, que son père l'a sauvé et que sa mère est partie, mais il n'a jamais pu faire le rapprochement entre tous ces événements.

Cette lettre veut dire que le simple fait que Soren soit vivant a bel et bien été la première fissure qui a fini par faire s'écrouler toute la maison.

Viren a donc choisi de brûler la lettre, espérant épargner à son fils un tel fardeau.

Les morts de Viren et d'Harrow ont toutes les deux quelque chose du suicide, et pas seulement par les lettres qu'ils laissent derrière eux.

Vous vous souvenez de mon post comparant leurs actes à la citation de Kaamelott ? "Qu'est-ce que c'est quelqu'un qui souffre et qui fait couler son sang par terre pour que tout le monde soit coupable ? Tous les suicidés sont le Christ. Toutes les baignoires sont le Graal."

En résumé, j'essayais d'expliquer que leur masochisme faisait aussi souffrir les autres.

Harrow prétend se considérer comme un serviteur, et il est certainement sincère. Il est humble et a un grand sens de l'honneur, n'hésitant pas à défier certaines traditions -en partageant son portrait officiel avec Viren, et à mettre en jeu sa propre vie. Mais quand, par exemple, il ne trouve rien de mieux à faire que de priver son peuple de nourriture simplement pour honorer une promesse, ça fait doucement rigoler. Lui-même, assez hors-sol pour ne pas connaître l'état de son royaume, n'aura certainement pas à voir sa propre famille mourir de faim. Mais il semble considérer qu'en sacrifiant le royaume, c'est lui-même qu'il sacrifie. Et lors de sa mort héroïque, qu'en se sacrifiant, il sauvera le royaume au lieu de le plonger dans le chaos.

Viren, très probablement en partie à cause de ses origines sociales qu'on ne cesse de lui rappeler (et d'une enfance pas très marrante, vu que le mec s'insulte devant le miroir jusqu'à craquer en pleurs et dévalorise sans cesse son fils) est hanté par le sentiment d'être inférieur aux autres. D'être inutile. Il a un besoin maladif de gratitude. Dans l'espoir de compter, de compter à leurs yeux, il a passé des années à s'auto-détruire par la magie noire, à se mettre constamment en danger, à se ruiner la santé, à payer les pots cassés du roi, puis à laisser Aaravos exploiter son corps de façon de plus en plus abjecte, bref, à ne se voir que comme un moyen en vue d'une fin.

Ce sentiment n'est d'ailleurs pas sans fondement : non seulement le roi est effectivement assez incompétent pour n'avoir pas la moindre idée de l'état des ressources de son royaume, mais en plus, là où n'importe quel épéiste arborerait avec fierté les cicatrices de son art, Viren est forcé de dissimuler son visage tuméfié -c'est même en partie la raison pour laquelle sa femme l'a quitté.

Le problème, c'est qu'il a cru que ça lui donnait le droit d'instrumentaliser les autres : sa femme, Sarai, Harrow, les princes, Soren, et quelques milliers d'autres, j'en oublie sûrement. Que puisque sacrifier les autres lui était difficile, cela faisait de lui le héros.

Viren souffre (comme Lancelot dans Kaamelott, ainsi parla Sy Play qui a inspiré genre 99% de la présente analyse) d'un énorme syndrome du sauveur : ne pouvant exister que par la gratitude des autres, il se met à prendre en charge tous leurs problèmes, même si on ne lui a rien demandé, et quitte à en crééer d'autres au passage. Comme il est compétent, vif, pragmatique, réaliste et ingénieux, et littéralement magique, il finit par se rendre absolument indispensable. Personne d'autre que lui ne pouvait sauver deux royaumes d'une famine. D'autant plus Sarai, l'épouse d'Harrow, s'est sacrifiée pour le sauver parce qu'il était un mage. Cette culpabilité du survivant peut avoir aggravé ce problème.

Sa mentalité, qu'il a résumée en un "ressaisis-toi, bon sang," à un Terry traumatisé, a aussi probablement joué un rôle dans la dégradation de sa relation avec Harrow. Après la mort de Sarai, Viren a probablement pensé qu'il devait être le pillier inamovible et inébranlable sur lequel Harrow devait pouvoir se reposer. Que s'il montrait le moindre doute, la moindre faiblesse, Harrow, et avec lui, le royaume, s'effondrerait. Alors que si Viren avait été moins constipé, Harrow se serait sans doute senti moins seul, et aurait été moins susceptible de mettre fin à ses jours comme il l'a fait.

Viren est le cerveau du coeur. Il fournit un garde-fou à Harrow, dont le sens de la justice l'aveugle. Harrow a, après tout, bel et bien choisi le Bandeau dans son rêve, bandeau qui devrait le pousser à imaginer un système visant à protéger tout le monde de la même façon. Un idéal, irréaliste et inconsidéré. Viren est plutôt la Balance, à mon avis : il compare les coûts de ses actions aux conséquences positives qui en découleront.

Là, il est temps que je parle du Triangle dramatique, théorisé par le psychiatre Stephen Karpman dans son article Fairy Tales and script drama analysis. Il applique d'abord ce schéma aux contes de fées : Le Joueur de Flûte de Hamelin sauve les villageois, victimes des rats qui les persécutent; mais au lieu de le remercier, les villageois lui jettent des pierres et le bannissent sans payer leur dû; ce qui pousse le joueur de flûte à se venger, devenant persécuteur, en faisant disparaître tous les enfants du village.

Mais ce Triangle, comme Karpman l'explique, est aussi un jeu psychologique inconscient, un schéma relationnel typique entre victime, persécuteur et sauveur qui ne peut être appliqué à une situation d'urgence. Il n'est pas nécessaire que les trois instances du triangle soient présentes, mais il suffit souvent à une personne de jouer le jeu pour que les autres embrayent. Stephen Karpman ajoute que plus les rôles s'inversent au cours d'une seule scène, plus elle est intense en émotions et en conflit.

La victime est isolée, passive et est incapable de prendre des décisions pour résoudre ses problèmes. Le persécuteur la rabaisse, minimise ses souffrances et se moque d'elle en espérant la faire réagir. Le sauveur prend sa défense, se sent obligé de résoudre les problèmes de la victime à sa place même si elle ne lui a rien demandé, ce qui est très valorisant pour lui mais maintient la victime dans un état de dépendance.

Le problème, vous le sentez venir, c'est qu'au fil des années, Harrow est devenu complètement dépendant de Viren pour mettre ses trop grandes idées en pratique, et donc des crimes "nécessaires" que Viren alignait comme des perles sur un collier. Non seulement c'est sale, mais c'est en plus infantilisant. Viren agit constemment en sauveur, ce qui place Harrow dans un rôle de victime, peu habitué à remettre en cause les décisions de Viren même quand il se trompe.

Harrow n'en pouvait plus.

Il a eu tellement assez de sa dépendance à l'égard de Viren qu'il en a conclu que la seule façon de s'en débarrasser, c'était de mourir.

Harrow aurait pu se cacher avec les princes, ou virer toute sa garde et assumer seul les conséquences de ses actes, mais il juste a saisi l'occasion de vendre chèrement sa peau et de mourir en héros. J'irais même jusqu'à dire que pour Harrow, sa propre mort servait trois objectifs :

Retrouver Sarai sans qui sa vie n'a plus de sens

Recevoir enfin son juste châtiment et mettre fin à son propre sentiment de culpabilité ainsi qu'au cycle de vengeance

Faire en sorte que Viren se sente enfin coupable de quelque chose, fut-ce son suicide.

Bref, d'enfin reprendre le contrôle en plaçant Viren dans un rôle de victime, tout en devenant le persécuteur.

Viren, tout au long de la saison 1 et 2, payant les pots cassés d'Harrow et voyant inconsciemment une occasion de prouver sa valeur, a tenté de se placer en sauveur des royaumes humains faisant alors face à une situation de crise : il s'est retrouvé rejeté, complètement isolé, condamné à mort pour trahison et en totale incapacité de résoudre ses problèmes. Bref, une victime. Et qui c'est qui le "sauve" ?

Aaravos, en se présentant comme le "serviteur" de Viren, flatte son ego et lui désigne des persécuteurs à blâmer. Cependant, Viren n'est pas un imbécile : il est conscient d'être manipulé. Il sait qu'Aaravos lui dissimule délibérément de nombreuses informations. Mais il s'y jette de son plein gré. Il est au pied du mur : pour ce qu'il en sait, il n'a fait que prendre une série de décisions inévitables, qui lui ont fermé portes après portes, le plongeant de plus en plus dans les ténèbres. Jusqu'à ce que le couteau devienne la frontière entre deux mondes, le sépare de l'unique source de lumière, blafarde, venant de "pire que la mort" : Aaravos.

Oui, c'est fait pour avoir toutes les allures du suicide.

Viren (croyant bien faire) a tiré le pire d'Harrow, tout comme Aaravos (voulant foutre la merde) a tiré le pire de Viren.

Autrement dit, comme pour Harrow, la seule façon pour Viren de se débarasser de son âme damnée, c'était de mourir.

Et quant à la troisième mort de Viren dans la sixième saison, héroïque s'il en est (sur le balcon même où il a regardé son poignet dans la saison 2), ce n'est pas non plus un hasard s'il répète les derniers mots que lui a addressés Harrow afin de l'humilier : "Je suis un serviteur."

Ce terme porte une ambivalence : la noblesse de l'abnégation et l'humiliation de la soumission.

Harrow avait beau se considérer lui-même comme un serviteur du royaume et promouvoir l'égalité dans ses réformes et ses symboles, il en a fini par en avoir marre. Il sacrifie certes sa propre vie pour mettre fin au cycle de la vengeance, mais comme il ne se donne absolument pas la peine de préparer sa succession, ne serait-ce qu'en s'assurant que les princes sont en sécurité, le résultat une catastrophe. Il consacre également les dernières minutes de son existence à se montrer d'une cruauté parfaitement injustifiée envers Viren. Cependant, lors de sa seule interaction avec son héritier de la série qui ne soit pas une analepse, Harrow ne dit rien d'alarmant à Ezran. Harrow se prépare à enfin affronter la justice, il se prépare à mourir et fait tout pour qu'Ezran ait, pour dernier souvenir de son père, une conversation anodine. Afin d'éviter qu'Ezran croie qu'il l'a abandonné. Il est trop tard pour lui, mais il veut que ses enfants écrivent une nouvelle histoire, où les conflits millénaires laissent enfin place à la paix.

Viren, blessé qu'Harrow le rabaisse plus bas que terre, prenne son abnégation pour de l'arrogance et le laisse encore une fois payer les pots cassés de ses décisions, a fait de ce terme la justification pour ses crimes... confondant, dans ses bonnes intentions, "servir le peuple" et "se servir du peuple". Viren était tout à fait prêt à se sacrifier pour sauver Harrow dans la saison 1, mais Harrow, décidé à reprendre le contrôle, ne l'a même pas écouté; et Viren s'est immédiatement rétracté quand Harrow a refusé de le reconnaître en égal. Bien qu'on ne peut plus sincère, le sacrifice de sa vie a alors été rejeté par le scénario car fait sans humilité.

(ou alors, Harrow a immédiatement compris ce que Viren comptait faire et l'a pourri pour l'en dissuader)

Aujourd'hui, Viren, hanté par la vision du sang d'Harrow par terre, choisit donc de se sacrifier, sauvant ainsi la population de Katolis face au feu des dragons, de se sacrifier lui seul et personne d'autre; mais honni, haï et incompris. Le portrait officiel de lui et d'Harrow, symbolisant ses nobles actions et le bien qu'ils ont pu faire, a brûlé dans l'incendie du château. Aux yeux de l'histoire, Viren restera le traître. Le Méchant Conseiller, le Jafar, le Richard III, le Iago, le Scar.

Personne ne verra son sang qu'il fait couler sur le sol de la chambre d'Harrow.

"En tant que roi", dit Harrow, "j'ai essayé d'être altruiste. Mais en tant que père, j'ai un souhait très égoïste." Et il est mort de façon égoïste.

Viren a passé sa vie à être égoiste sans même le savoir. Pour la première fois, il est altruiste. Il meurt non en habits de cour mais en haillons, non en héros porté aux nues mais en traître. Soren ne saura jamais ce qu'il a fait pour lui enfant, il ne veut pas que sa mort le hante.

Servants of the realm indeed.

Pour conclure, une citation de Kaamelott :

"Je pars pas sans bandages ! Si on croise un gamin, j'veux pas qu'il tombe dessus. Je suis le Roi Arthur. Jamais je perds courage. Je suis un exemple pour les enfants."