#there's so many characters who have traits that are obviously an outgrowth of abuse and the particular way they were abused

[sirsparklepants]

(tags from @aniseandspearmint)

Fandom Problem #4834:

I hate when a fandom looks at parents in fiction and decides there are only TWO kinds of parents:

Abusive Parents OR Perfect Parents.

It's rarely as narrow as that. Some are abusive, some are flawed yet still good, some won't admit their flaws, and the list goes on and on. Similar complexities carry over to parent characters in fiction.

[highladyluck]

Thoughts on WoT on Prime!Mat

I promised I would write it! Spoilers for episodes 1-3 but only the vaguest of spoilers for books 1-3, should probably be safe for show-only people.

So, the Mat backstory changes all made sense to me in terms of revealing up front what kind of person Mat is and what his motivations are. I think the writers have a really good grasp on what makes book!Mat tick, and are basically presenting us with their findings in these first few episodes, and working backwards from those to add motivations and backstory that make those character traits obvious and logical.

For one thing, Mat’s inner anxiety is a lot more obvious now, but you do not have the advantage of hearing his inner monologue (plus Mat lies to himself even in his head) so it kind of had to be more obvious. In the opening scene where Mat's playing dice you are essentially watching him have fun, and then you realize he lost with high stakes. Then you see him fail to shrug it off convincingly, be humiliated in front of his friends, and pragmatically switch to plan B (stealing with an implied side of attempted-seduction-as-method). It's such a great look into how Mat's mind works and his somewhat ruthless pursuit of self-interest (or really, the interest of others who are his responsibility). He shrugs aside the cost, either to him or to others he cares about less.

It also helps you see a clear picture of what kind of person he is and what his many-layered motivations are. Immediately, you see Mat identifying with and also protecting children, which is something he does in the books. His face when he realizes he's going to have to go through an active battlefield to get to his sisters is just "Oh boy, can't believe I'm gonna do this, but I'm definitely doing this." It clearly demonstrates his heroism and how it's just an outgrowth of his strong sense of responsibility, and also not a trait he particularly enjoys having.

His issues with his parents also set up his fear of unconsciously channeling the habits of his ancestry (although in the books it's a much earlier relative and/or past life that freaks him out, not a deadbeat dad or drunk mom.) The poverty also gives him an actual concrete reason to be chasing after shiny things and pricing everything in his head. Like, in the books he just spent a lot of time with traders and merchants' guards, and you see he's got a relationship with Padan Fain, but the poverty gives him a more obvious reason to be obsessed with money and also extremely defensive about his social status. Book!Mat grew up comfortably middle class and is just annoyed at abuses of power/non-egalitarian treatment, but I don't mind 'obviously has a chip on his shoulder about status and finances' Mat, it will make his later opinions about spoiled nobles more understandable.

Also, when Natti just straight-up savaged Mat with "you're just like your father, a prick", it's immediately providing groundwork for Mat's complicated feelings towards older and/or powerful women. In the books, one of Mat's whole shticks is that he does a lot of self-destructive things to prove to women in power that a) he doesn't care what they think about his choices and b) he will save them from themselves. The books have the leisure to do this slowly and subtly, but ultimately the root causes are the same: Mat chafes against other's expectations and yet also desperately wants their approval, and Mat has suffered trauma at the hands of women and those with power over him.

I do miss the boys' personal innocence, which was sacrificed in the ageing up (they are very naive 20-year-olds in the books!) and in the quest to make them more immediately identifiable. In the show, every one of them is carrying guilt when they leave the Two Rivers. Their home is not a safe haven for them even before the Trolloc attacks, which is a bit of a change from the books (not so much for Rand- he was already at the point of 'my life is not what I thought it would be' even in the books- but for everyone else.)

The closest thing to the boyishness they lack here is Mat's too-overt, too-desperate attempts to pretend nothing is wrong or to pursue a goal, which is better viewed as inexperience. (This also ties into the disconnect between how he thinks he's doing and how he's actually doing.) He makes more friends with sincerity, or at least a sort of 'we're all in this together' complaining. It's clear he has a gift for reading people and situations, and a lot of compassion, as well as generosity. He gave Perrin more than just a fancy knife; he gave him Leila's (very wise and thematic) words and memory. And Perrin recognizes the gift and gives Mat what he needs in turn- reassurance that he didn't abandon his sisters and that they'll be taken care of in his absence.

I also think I miss Mat’s playfulness; he's more sardonic in this iteration, and you only catch a glimpse of it at the very beginning, or when he's flirting easily with the barmaid in episode 3. In the show it’s always framed as something he assumes to achieve his goals, though, not really something intrinsic that bubbles up from him irrepressibly. Again, show Mat has mostly lost his innocence already, even pre-dagger.

But if we've lost the innocence and playfulness, Mat is now better at reading the room (at least where his friends are involved) and still great at getting people to feel better. In every episode, you see Mat trying to raise people's spirits and make them feel like they're all in this together. The stealing in episode 1 is to buy lanterns for his family so they don't get left out of the village celebration. In episode 2, he notices everyone is stressed out and sad and in their own little worlds (I think Rand is literally like wiping away tears?) and he starts singing a song all the Two Rivers kids will know, to help them feel better and remind them that they're not alone. He plays peacemaker with Rand to get him on board with taking Moiraine's orders. He supports Perrin in Shadar Logoth. In episode 3, he's clearly a little fucked up (for... reasons...) but knows when to cut the bullshit with Thom, and they end up having a nice bonding moment while they bury the corpse Mat just robbed. Basically, "nice social skills you got there, shame you got them from coping with childhood trauma."

I'm very excited to see where show!Mat goes- this all just feels like a speedrun to get to the Mat book readers know from his POVs, and I suspect that by the time we get to that point in the show, Mat will be having a much better time and be a bit less angsty. I think they've done a good job of softening how annoying book 1-2 Mat can be, and setting him up for success in future installations, which is when he really comes into his own. (Also, for personal reasons, I cannot *wait* for Mat's childhood trauma to meet a certain problematic fave's childhood trauma. It's gonna be a hot and entertaining mess and I mean that in all senses of the phrase.)

I love the original Cauthon fam (despite my jokes about used car salesman Abell) and I’m a bit sad that Bode got de-aged, but like Mat, I concede that sometimes the ends justify the means. I too would die for tiny Bode and Eldrin!