#not kidding this has been the bane of my life for like two months now

[beigetiger]

Ok, LISTEN. I’ve been putting off talking about China in phase 2 for ages now because the words weren’t finding a good way to fit together, but I swear I can do it now.

I’ve seen a few people talking about how they didn’t like the development at the end of phase 2 that China got artificially aged up, and while I kinda agree with that, I also understand the reason why that would’ve been written in.

At the very start of the series, two things are immediately established about China. One, she’s beautiful and has a magical charm that she uses to convince people to give her what she wants. And two, she’s incredibly selfish and will throw those around her under the bus if it benefits her. And these repeated themes stick around throughout the series, it is always hammered down on us that China is magically beautiful but also incredibly manipulative and self-serving. It should also probably be noted as well that there are points in the series where China almost seems to resent her status as selfish, even if she feels that it’s an accurate label. It more reflects a sort of dislike about herself more than anything.

But another thing that gets established as the series goes on is that Valkyrie has a tendency to inspire those around her to be better, the most notable example of this being Skulduggery. But this also applies to China, as shown in places such as Mortal Coil when China allows a man to escape with one of her books because Valkyrie is watching her.

And so when China gives Cadaver the bomb that he eventually aims at a group of innocent people, China has the opportunity to stand by and let it happen, at no real cost to her. But instead, she demonstrates fifteen books worth of character development and goes to save those people, with the process taking away her youth and, by extension, the magic charm that she uses to manipulate people. Her unnatural beauty represented her selfishness, and so committing a selfless act then removed that beauty. This is also reflected in Seasons of War in a way, where Valkyrie talks about how Ghastly was born with bizarre scarring and was an incredibly sweet and loving person, while China, the most beautiful person in the world, was selfish and made Valkyrie want to throttle her on a semi-regular basis. It’s the whole “beauty on the inside versus beauty on the outside” trope.

And again, being selfless stripped that beauty away from China even as she, on the inside, became a better person for it. Valkyrie was a force of good in her life who taught her that sacrifice was worth it. Her whole arc is learning to face the consequences of her many, many mistakes and learning how to overcome her reputation to save innocent people from yet another one of her mistakes. One that she still has the power to fix.

Another thing I want to point out is that future China (the one who’s head is ripped off by Malice) also has scarring that she’s learned to love, but her scars represent something slightly different. Future China’s scars are a mark to forever remind her that she tried and failed to save Valkyrie, whereas current China’s aging is a physical representation of a selfless act.

I know that this is probably a relatively skin-deep analysis and there’s much more to talk about regarding China, but this has been bouncing around my head for a frankly ridiculous amount of time and I wanted to get it out. Phase 2 is honestly when China’s character took off for me as well. I liked her before (albeit with mixed feelings), but phase 2 is when she actually became an appealing character that I had significant emotional investment in because seeing her relationship with Valkyrie and seeing Valkyrie eventually inspire her to give up something that has defined her life for centuries hit hard.