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goldenheartstudios · 1 year ago

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I wanna talk about Xiaolin Showdown's iconic betrayal scene

Disclaimer: I would have said that this post has spoilers for the show.. but does it still count if this is a cartoon from 2003? I dunno

Anyway, time to indulge into my hyperfixation once again

You see, there are shows that do something which can be seen as an interesting twist for that era. It can be seen as something special, iconic, recognizable, because of the way it was presented and the idea that it brought up

Even if there were shows who did that idea before, the show can still make it into something special that can bring a twist to its episodic structure it showed from the start

For me, Xiaolin Showdown brought that special twist with its introduction with Mala Mala Jong

For a show that seemed like an episodic lesson-of-the-week kind of cartoon, it showed its attention and care for continuity by telling us that they kept track of which Shen Gong Wu belonged to which, and by providing us a cool looking villain that was defeated in an interesting way

And, well, what made this thing even more special was the introduction to the first arc of the series that brought a full-on twist to its episodic style, being also the first arc that needed a short recap at the start of the episodes

The betrayal arc

Which is something that I want to analyze

First of all, what makes it interesting is the fact that Raimundo, a protagonist, willingly sided with the bad guys. No mind control, no corruption, and not even possession

It was his choice to join Wuya, which made it on more impactful when he chose to do the right thing in the end

Secondly, his betrayal is also interesting because it seems that what led to it was something simple, but you can actually go deeper into it

If you think about it, its possibility was hinted from episode 5, and what led to the betrayal is a series of circumstances and motives

Let me explain

At the beginning of the show, each monk got their special episode, where they get to fight their own showdown and show more about themselves. Omi got episode 1, Clay got episode 2, Kimiko got episode 3, and Rai got episode 5 (episode 4 showed a Shen Gong Wu that was useful in defeating Mala Mala Jong)

In his episode, Raimundo showed a desire to be active, ingenuity, arrogance, bravery, and most importantly, his reaction to failure: irritation, frustration, crossing his arms, deflective/defensive behavior, and closing himself off from others

He’s the kind of person who avoids showing vulnerability by keeping a lot of his emotions inside and showing tendencies of self-isolation, especially when he’s experiencing failure. One thing to keep in mind is that he later on showed determination of proving himself only after Fung went to talk to him, who he helped him redirect his frustration and energy to something productive

In episode 8 we get to see more of his bravery, heroism and even self-sacrificial tendencies, by facing the Sapphire Dragon on his own in order for his friends to have a chance to escape

And aside from hints of his kindness and care throughout every episode (up till episode 11 at least), episode 9 clearly showed his care & brotherly behavior from his worry that he had towards Omi being lost in New York

Although, episode 11 showed him being annoyed at both Kimiko & Clay, and how his frustration can lead to him wanting to distance himself from others

All of these are important elements for the season finale

Now let’s go to episode 12. The monks having to run away with their Shen Gong Wu is a direct conflict with Raimundo’s traits & beliefs: he hates staying still, he has a tendency to be heroic, he doesn’t like to feel defeat from the enemy and most importantly, he has a strong desire to protect others

So him staying away from an enemy that he only heard how strong he is, an enemy that was endangering Fung & the other people from the temple, was not an option in his mind

And just like in episode 8, he went to face the enemy alone in a desire to protect

And naturally, he was punished by this

Honestly, I really like this moment. In other shows, the character could have been appreciated, praised or even rewarded for this act of bravery (My Hero Academia being an example of that), because this is an heroic act, right? Because the character went to face an enemy, when others were running away and trying to think of a way to defeat it while people were in danger

Here, this was not rewarded. It was rightfully seen as reckless, because being a hero is not just about acting. It’s about doing the right thing, it’s about knowing when it’s the best to act on instinct, and when it’s the best to take a moment and think on how you can help

Intention is not enough, as you can have the best intentions and still endanger the ones close to you

Master Fung was right not to reward him for this

And naturally, Rai doesn’t understand the reason at this moment of time. Because in his perspective, having the heart of a hero is enough, having the bravery to act in times of crisis and help others is enough. He still has yet to learn that you have to first think of a plan before acting, that a hero needs to be brave and wise

This situation is understandable on both sides. Master Fung sees the flaw in Raimundo’s act and doesn’t reward him for it in order to prevent it to become a habit, and Rai doesn’t yet understand what he was missing in his action and sees this as being unappreciated, as being a failure

And just like episode 5, he reacts to this failure like the last time: deflection, frustration, and isolating himself from others

As he walks off, Omi tells the others to leave him be, as this is Rai’s journey for self-reflection

Which frankly, was a mistake on the other’s (particularly Omi’s) part

And we know this because of episode 5. Because, Rai only worked on learning and bettering himself after Fung went to talk to him, otherwise he would have still been closed off from others. This showed that Raimundo needs someone to talk to him about the situation in this state, to provide him direction or to give him support. The fact that no one went to talk to him probably led to his thoughts and frustration intensify, which was a factor to his betrayal

Honestly, if the other monks went to him and had a conversation like Fung did in episode 5, maybe he would have striven to become better and prove himself

But I don’t say this to imply that the other monks are at fault for this. They didn’t know that this is what Rai needed, they didn’t even know how to handle this situation (as Rai seemed to reject them when they tried to support him), and Omi genuinely thought that he needed to reflect on his actions alone

(And they did go to talk with Rain when he left frustrated in episode 18, possibly showing that they learned from this instance)

I would also like to think that Fung was aware of Rai’s isolation tendencies, which is part of the reason why he asked him to stay when the other monks were getting their new training. He probably didn’t want Rai to be alienated from the group, and this could have been an opportunity to get him motivated to become better, by reaching to his competitive nature

But to be honest, this was a mistake on Fung’s part. Raimundo saw this as mockery instead of encouragement, and Fung should have gone to him or intervened when Omi (unintentionally) insulted him

But I could also see that in Fung’s point of view, him trying to reach out or talk to Rai could have made things worse, because unlike episode 5, Fung was the reason why he felt like this. So Rai would have either not listened to whatever he said, or he would have taken it as negative

Only his friends could have done something in this situation, but Omi already butchered it up, so what was left for Fung to do was to give him space. After all, Raimundo was not obligated to stay if he didn’t want to

If you think about it, Fung is an interesting character, for being defined by action and inaction. The feeling that he gives me is that he’s someone who tries and wants to help, but he’s unable to, either because of circumstances or by personal beliefs

And we do see how Fung’s beliefs contribute to Rai’s betrayal. After Raimundo gets more annoyed because of Omi’s comment, he decides to leave this unpleasant situation and go to a familiar place that he sees as a positive one: Rio

We see how his tendency to close himself off causes distress in him. He doesn’t know what to do with his feelings, and his choice is to stay in a place all alone while searching for something to help him relax, in this case being Rio’s sight

And this is when Wuya comes in

I do want to comment that it’s possible for this place to be a recurrence for Raimundo, where he goes to relax or take his mind off of things. This could explain why Wuya was able to find him that fast, since she did go inside his mind

Now, this moment of temptation seems pretty straight forward: Wuya offers him stuff he likes, and he chooses to betray his friends for that stuff. But from all we’ve seen so far, I would say that there was more to this temptation for Rai

First of all, he’s all alone. His friends are not beside him, and he didn’t get any direction for his feelings. And as we’ve seen in episode 11, it is possible for him to emotionally distance himself from his friends when he’s frustrated or annoyed, so it would make sense that right now he’s at odds with them

Second, he’s in clear distress. At this moment, he’s in search of an escape, for something that will make him get away from this unpleasant situation. So the offer of getting things that make him happy is even more tempting for the kid’s mind

And third, which is the most important fact, he’s in search of appreciation. All of this was caused by the feeling of being unappreciated, so Wuya offering him this and talking to him likes she sees something in him seems like a glimpse of appreciation, of understanding

And because of circumstances, this was enough to make Raimundo side with her

But this was not an immediate decision, not at all. I actually think this decision was made after he got the Reversing Mirror

Now, I do want to comment on the fact that he didn’t change his outfit in the showdown, which could be interpreted that he sided with Wuya at that time. But I don’t think that’s the case

You see, the beauty of this show is that it has a lot of details and subtlety that can be interpreted however you want, or if you see them they come off as a nice reward. The outfit change in showdowns is one of them

My personal interpretation is that it depends on the person’s perspective. On some occasions, if the person thinks that they need a special outfit for the showdown (example being some showdowns that are related with cold weather), then they will change into something fitting with what they have in mind. But otherwise, they will change into Xiaolin robes if they think (or feel) they’re on Xiaolin’s side

In this case, Raimundo keeping his casual clothes shows that he was not on Xiaolin’s side. I would like to believe that he was unsure on whose side to be, and he decided that he will choose at the end of the showdown

And well, I think Omi’s comment after the showdown helped him make a choice. That choice being Wuya’s side

I don’t want to make it seem that Omi is the cause of this, because this was a matter of circumstances. With all of the other factors and conflicted emotions he’s been through, Omi’s remark made him realize that, at this moment, he doesn’t want to go through the trouble of proving himself to the others, while getting more annoyed and frustrated in the process

He wanted to take the easy route that offered him an easier life

And this route was Wuya’s side

So yeah, this betrayal may look simple, but it’s a cause of circumstances, mistakes and a kid’s unhealthy coping mechanism, that being his tendency to close himself off from others

Also, I want to make it clear that you can have other interpretations for this! You can see this moment however you want, and it can be different from the way I see it, which it’s valid and great! And honestly, I don’t think the show planned it to be something deep in the first place haha

The fact that I can personally interpret it as something like this is one of the reasons why I love this show so much, and it’s why I seem to get back to thinking about this cartoon from 2003 so often

So yeah, this was my ramble about Rai’s betrayal

#xiaolin showdown #gh rant #raimundo pedrosa #character analysis #I have too many thoughts about this cartoon in my silly little brain #And sometimes these thoughts need to go out somewhere which that somewhere is this blog #Also I’m always open to talk with other people about this show this is a fact

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