#i may be flayed alive for this but im joining The Discourse

[poundingwaves]

Ok I know The Bad Kids are teenagers and I know the players are improvising and under a ridiculously tight schedule but idk the themes just weren't coming together for me. I think if we had like 1 more hour of narrative and 1 less hour of combat between ep 18-20, a lot could've been reckoned with before/during the final battle.

I know The Bad Kids did what needed to be done with the time and knowledge that they had but, knowing that The Rat Grinders (minus klck lol) were violently possessed by rage, I just wish there were other options. Maybe Fig's psychic meddling with Ruben could've triggered his sense of justice for Lucy. Maybe the shards of Cassandra could've been used to call to the old Ankarna. Maybe Fig's belief in the original Ankarna could've caused lapses in the rage crystals the way that Bakur flickered back and forth between his pit fiend and high elf forms. Like Justice can take so many forms and I just wish there was more of a throughline of rehabilitation over penalization.

And I feel like the stark contrast of Ankarna talking to The Bad Kids individually after the battle really underlines the issue. Yes, the hammer of justice falling on those who do harm is sometimes necessary, but it cannot be the only option. And the fact that Ankarna felt useless as the goddess of justice if she couldn't kill for her followers made me so fucking sad.

I loved the therapuetic scenes of The Bad Kids addressing their families and facing the ways they've been wronged and have maybe even caused harm. I just wish the Rat Grinders who were groomed, murdered, possessed, and murdered again had had the same chance instead of just being unceremoniously revivified as a narrative afterthought.