#zane wants lloyd to hate him. to be afraid of him. to resent him

[destinysbounty]

One thing that kinda chaps me about how the Ice Emperor is typically characterized by a lot of the fandom is that if you really pay attention to how he behaves in the Ice Chapter, he isn't the aggressive, confrontational villain he's often made out to be. In s11, most scenes we see of the Ice Emperor actually depict him as a very passive and sedate character, preferring to rest on his throne and contemplate rather than taking action. He never acts unless Vex implores him to do so, and even then he usually defaults to the less ruthless choice until Vex cajoles him into opting for something more brutal. The first time we see the IE defy Vex in any capacity is when he chooses to spare Lloyd rather than killing him instantly. Judging by Vex's surprise at this, and IE's unabashed trust in his advisor, I would hazard to guess this is the first time Zane has ever pushed back against one of Vex's suggestions.

This is not to say the Ice Emperor is without cruelty or brutality. He is still a very menacing presence in his own right, and he absolutely has gallons of blood on his hands. That cannot be understated. But on his own, without a wormtongue whispering in his ear, I personally think the Ice Emperor would have been...well, not necessarily a kind person, but significantly less ruthless. He's a passive and dare I say tired person who prefers to sit on his throne and wait for orders rather than taking any form of initiative on his own. He's barely even a leader or a tyrant in any true sense of the term, really -- he's just a glorified weapon Vex keeps stored on a shelf until he's needed.

This actually makes sense when you consider Zane's element. Ice is in its very nature a slow and sedate thing. Temperature is shaped by the speed and movement of particulates -- the faster molecules move, the hotter things are. Whereas when things get colder, molecules move much more slowly. (That's perhaps a bit of an oversimplification, but I'm not going to give a lecture on thermodynamics in a post about silly lego people). And the Ice Emperor...well, he's very much encased in ice. He has to physically pry himself off his throne, and the staff has long been frozen to his hand. The whole world is in a similar state as well. Entire swathes of the population have been cryogenically frozen, and the world is so cold that it's exceedingly difficult for fire to thrive. And many other fans have speculated that the reason Akita is able to look the same age despite decades passing is because Zane's corrupted ice has overwhelmed the land so profoundly that everyone is more or less frozen in time.

Ice is a slow, sedate, passive thing. It does not demand anything of you except that you cease movement. Likewise, the Ice Emperor in his truest state is a sedate, passive character, only stirred out of his meditations when Vex compels him into action.

True, he's often depicted as a generically ruthless tyrant in most iterations after s11, but those can usually be chalked up to Zane's unreliable self-perception. This is how Zane interprets his behavior as the Ice Emperor, rather than the actual reality of how he truly behaved. Zane resents that part of himself, and that resentment has warped his understanding of who the Ice Emperor truly was. Which in itself is rather tragic considering Zane's identity issues. That is to say, Zane is so terribly blinded by his trauma and self-loathing that not even he can see himself for who he truly is.

(Cough cough that one quote in Dragons Rising: "Zane had such impressive shoes to fill. No one could ever live up to him, perhaps not even Zane himself.")

Anyway, even if people disagree with this interpretation of the Ice Emperor's character, I personally find it much more compelling to view him not as a generic murderous tyrant...but as an old, tired machine who cannot conceive of his personhood outside of his own weaponization.

By extension, this actually makes Zane's post-s11 coping process a lot more complex as well. The popular narrative is that Zane needs to learn to accept that what happens wasn't his fault, that he had a whole chorus of extenuating circumstances working against him, and that it's actually quite impressive just how many things had to go wrong all at once for him to become evil. And that's fair, but I also think the truth of the matter is more complicated than that.

Zane knows, deep down, that the Ice Emperor's actions weren't his fault -- and that's exactly what terrifies him. Because if he accepts that he was little more than Vex's mindless weapon, then he has to admit that his greatest fear has come true. He spent decades as a mindless, soulless machine, only ever acting on the will of another person, all while being endlessly manipulated by a cursed artifact, rather than having any true agency of his own. When his friends tell him it wasn't his fault, it's not a comfort but rather a painful reminder of how long he spent as someone else's drone. When the people of the Never Realm forgive him and let him return home unobstructed, a part of Zane resents it because it means they, too, acknowledge his absence of free will.

In my eyes, Zane post-s11 is someone who feels that he needs to be blamed, needs to be hated and despised and shunned -- because if people hate him for what he did, then that means it really was his fault. And if it was his fault, then that means he didn't lose his free will after all. It means he didn't spend 50 years as someone else's empty plaything. It means he didn't spend more of his life as a mindless weapon than as a true person.

Yes, Zane needs to learn to stop blaming himself for the Ice Emperor's actions...but how can he let go of the blame when it's the only thing keeping him sane?

[embretheworld]

Cole is pissed off at Wu, but honestly? He should be

Words: 4022 

Takes place after season 13

It had been a day or so since they left the Kingdom of Shintaro and the atmosphere was fun, not a care in the world and everyone's happy since they're going on another adventure, or it's supposed to be if it weren't for what happened. There's an unnormal veil of tension on the Bounty, no one knows why it's there but it just is and no one addresses it either. That's until someone finds the source of where it's coming from, why everyone's walking on eggshells for seemingly no reasons. Jay spots it, but he isn't afraid to point it out.

"You're angry for no reason, that's the problem, Cole! We just got back from a Kingdom most people don't get the chance to go to which you just so happened to save! How the hell are you mad?" Jay snaps at him, he's angry, and rightfully, or at least he thinks he is.

And Cole laughs, he fucking laughs and Jay isn't sure what to think about that. "I have every right to be angry right now Jay, I went to that Kingdom expecting a chance to relax but instead I come out only to know that I was lied to from day one. But of course, my feelings don't matter because we're ninja's we can't go soft, so I guess the fact that I'm angry that I've been lied to really doesn't matter to you, does it, Jay?" His voice is laced with venom, so much venom, and anger that Jay can't form a reply, he didn't mean for this to happen.

And this time, the boy sharply turns towards Lloyd, a fire never seen before in his eyes. "I'm soft, aren't I? Letting my emotions take over my reason of sense is wrong isn't, it Lloyd?" And Lloyd backed up, stretching his hands out in a defensive way shaking his head, Cole was feral at best right now. "Cole, you know that's not what I meant-"

"Bullshit, and you know that Lloyd, we all let you have your time to process your emotions so why can't I have mine? Or is it the fact that I'm not the Green Ninja? Is that the reason why I don't get time to process anything because I'm not the Green Ninja and just some ordinary ninja?!" With that, it starts a back and forth between him and Kai, along with some other ninja's joining in. Zane stands by watching, along with Nya while Lloyd is just shell shocked since the accusation hit him like a slap to the face, Cole wasn't wrong but at the same time he wasn't right either, he just had to ask for help.

Kai and Jay team up and yell at Cole who yells back in response, a fight like this wouldn't be unusual if it weren't for who was fighting it and why they were. It's like a hurricane, it's small at first, building up over time when the temperature is right until a huge storm arises from it, lightning stricks and burns everything in its path leaving disaster in its wake. It destroys anything it can reach until nothing's left in its path but there's a last attempt to survive the wreckage, but of course it's rare that you'll survive it.

"THE SENSEI I LOOKED UP TO LIED TO ME!" With that, the room went eerily quiet. Cole let out a deep, tired sigh, uncurling his fists only to curl them again, shaking like a leaf with anger. "Yeah," He said to no one in particular. "That's what I thought," Turning sharply on his heels he goes to exit but the door to Sensei Wu's room has opened, he's down the hall and now in the room.

"What is going on here?!" Sensei Wu practically yells and the room falls to silence. It's all peaceful for once in the storm since they're all at the end of it, the storm is gone but now that’s all left is the wreckage of it.

Everyone looks at each other, who's gonna say what happened first, they wonder, who's gonna snap back at him and who will defend him. The person who breaks the quietness, that tension, who brings the vicousness of storms raging onto the man is none other than the man who started brewing up the storm himself. Cole turns on his heels and a wave of destruction follows in his path.

"Do you know what it's like Sensei, huh? To have to figure out that your own father and Sensei lied to since day one lied to you about your own mother, and not even be able to process it because you have to save your own friends? And not to mention that the fact you still don't get to process any of it until even on the Bounty because no one will leave you alone about what happened? Yeah, I didn't think so,"

"Cole, your mother, Lilly-" Cole finds out that his mother's name sounds simply wrong coming out of his sensei's mouth now, it's wrong and he hates it, he hates it and someone like him shouldn't be saying her name after what he did.

"Your mother wanted the best for you, your mother wanted to hide things from you, your MOTHER wanted your own Sensei and dad to lie to you thinking that wouldn't mess you up. It's too late for that excuse Sensei- if that's what you even are at this point! Maybe Wu isn't even your real name!" Cole snaps, bitterness and anger building up in his minds. His fists are shaking along with him, he's red face a furious and no one wants to know what's going to happen next.

"Cole this is unacceptable behavior on-" Before Master Wu could finish his sentence Cole cut him off with a scream.

"IT'S UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR THAT I WAS LIED TO BY YOU AND MY OWN FATHER!"

And with that, Cole does a sharp one-eighty and storms off towards he door, loudly slamming it out behind him leaving the room deafeningly quiet. And no one dared to move from their spots but instead starred towards the door with the same expression, shock, and confusion. But Sensei Wu breaks it by letting out an exasperated sigh and shakes his head. "I fear that this is the worst possible outcome that could have happened,"

And Lloyd slowly turned towards Wu, slack-mouthed and all-out surprised. "Sensei Wu?..." The Green Ninja's voice is quiet, faltering, and unsure; Sensei Wu responds by looking towards him. "What just happened?..."

"I fear the worst, I did not mean for this to happen, you can continue with whatever you were previously doing I will deal with this situation myself."

"But Sensei Wu! Was Cole really right, did you really lie to him like that because if he was I-" Sensei holds up a hand that instance shushes him. "I did it because I was told to, not because I wanted to,"

"So, what about Cole? Are we gonna ignore how he walked out and no one's gonna address that or will it just be me? Is no one gonna go after him?" Jay states with a bewildered expression still confused like the rest of them are. "That will not be needed, he needs time to clear his mind or else the reaction will be just the same if not worse,"

"But what if-" But Sensei Wu cuts him off before he can finish his sentence, Jay isn't surprised, he tends to rabble a lot when it comes to the safety of his friends. "He's not going to do that, continue with whatever you were previously doing, I will be in my room if you need me,"

Sensei Wu waves everyone off with a simple command and they continue to do with whatever they were doing before this whole situation started, and no one looks for Cole out of fear of setting him off even more.

-

When Cole enters the main room of the Bounty again no one in the Bounty bothers to approach him, but instead, avoid him. He looks different from what he looked like when he came back, more ruffed up- his hair is messier than usual, his clothes are slightly scuffed up and his knuckles are red- and less angry, but even with the fact he's less angry still deters the ninja. No one wants to talk about it, so no one talks about it and leaves Cole to his own devices. Or at least they were planning to until Lloyd decided not to.

Upon returning from where ever he was in the Bounty the first room he goes to is his room- or the room they all shared- and no one goes into the room for an hour, the first one to go into the room is Lloyd. He looks around the room and spots Cole who sitting on his bed with crossed arm, letting out a huff when he hears the door open. His bed is messy, sheets splayed unruly across the bed, his pillows pushed into corner of the bed; and Lloyd immediately knows that this will be harder than he thinks it will be.

In one swift motion he makes he's way to Cole's bed, sitting down beside the other ninja with a small awkward smile, he was never the best when it came to these kind of things, no one really was.

"Are you doing okay now?" And Lloyd immediately regrets saying that because after an outburst like that? There's no way you can be fine.

"What do you think?" Clipped and short. He's still mad.

"You're still mad, and for good reason, no one deserves to be lied to like that; not even you."

With that Cole goes silent, fists curled in on themselves and Lloyd knows that look of his, devastation and resentment, lips curled into a frown as his eyebrows are knitted together. "I'm gonna hug you, okay? If you don't want a hug just tell me."

So Lloyd pulls him into a hug and the effect is immediate, as a tsunami of emotions crash down onto the other ninja and he hugs him back, tightly. And Cole sobs into Lloyd's shoulder, not the 'I'm just kinda sad kind of sobs', the 'I'm frustrated with everything and I'm so tired of pretending that I'm okay kind of sobs'. As Lloyd holds his friend- no, big brother- in a hug, he notices that Cole is shaking like a leaf, muttering incoherent words under his breath which Lloyd can conclude to being 'sorry'; Lloyd just hugs him even tighter than before.

"It's fine Cole, you didn't do anything wrong," And the Black Ninja just shakes his head and continues to cry. But Lloyd doesn't hold it against him for denying that, he had done that before, he had been in this situation before, he had gone through so many things that he knows that this adventure- that going to that castle and finding out what they found out- was just the straw that broke the camel's back. But Lloyd silently promises Cole that he'll help him through it just like he helped him back then, he promises.

Soon enough, Cole's sob's quiet down until there's nothing left for him to cry, he swiftly pulls away from the hug, turning his body away from Lloyd and looks down at the ground. "'M sorry Lloyd,"

"It's fine Cole, nothing to be sorry about, I'm the Green Ninja, I'm sure I can afford to replace my shirt," Lloyd isn't sure if that's what Cole meant but it gets a laugh out of him and he's happy that he even managed that.

"I'm talking about what I said earlier," A small ache finds it's way in Lloyd's heart, he knows his brother didn't mean it, he knows that but it sill hurts.

"That's fine too, I don't mind," It's a lie, Cole knows that, he knows that damn well and wants to apologize if only Lloyd would let him- "B... But I-"

"Shush, I don't care, you were mad, you said something you regret we've all been there," And Lloyd isn't sure where he got all this knowledge in the first place but he doesn't question in the slightest, it's more helpful than he can ever express it to be.

"I doubt that..."

"Look," And finally Cole looks at him. "I don't care if you need to cry, I've cried in front of you before so there's no reason for me to judge you. You've helped me get through things I needed to get through so I'm going to help you, whether you want to talk about it or not I'll still be there."

"I... Thanks, I'm not good with," He motioned his hands as if to convey his words in thin air. "this, emotions aren't a thing I'm good at."

"Yeah... Emotions are like, really hard to express..." A pregnant pause follows what Lloyd said while the green ninja wracks hims mind around a solution to the problem, a thing he can say to make it all better, but he can't. The pause grows longer but so does the tension, and Cole goes to stand up but is stopped by a hand on his shoulder pulling him back down onto the bed. He gives the black ninja sheepish smile, which Cole returns back, he knows Lloyd is trying and he's glad that he is.

"You like drawing right?" Cole raises an eyebrow at him. "Yeah... And?" He trails off the end part of the word 'and' with a quirked brow.

"Can you teach me how to?" The way he say's it takes him back to when he was learning how to even do spinjitsu and would be so nervous to ask how to learn to do small tedious task out of fear that he might be rejected for it, his school teachers always used to criticize him for asking the simplest of questions like what the directions were again. He considers it for a moment, and for a moment Lloyd thinks he might say no but he doesn't.

With a shrug Cole say's "Sure," and jumps off the bed in which Lloyd follows in suite. No one bats an eye when Cole goes in the storage room to get out some paper's- since he isn't using his sketchbook especially when he's upset, he learned from past experience- and color pencils and goes back to their room. Neither does anyone bat an eyes when there's two new drawings on the fridge but if they did notice they didn't say a word.

-

That night Cole wakes up with his heart beat pounding in his ears and in a cold sweat. A nightmare, it wasn't like it was an infrequent thing for them to have especially after what happened to them in the past. But for him it was a thing he hated, he hated nightmares with the entirety of his being, they always poked something wrong with him and he despised it with the entirety of his being.

He wipes his sodden cheeks and quietly gets up out of bed  pads his way to the bathroom to wash off his face. The cold water splashing on his face makes him shiver if this was a year or so back he'd hate the feeling of water and cold and he'd probably flinch away from it, but he didn't, water was fine now, he wasn't a ghost anymore and it couldn't kill him any longer. Though sometimes he'd still have those dreams they were few and far between now thankfully.

Leaving the bathroom he swiftly and quickly made his way out onto the Bounty and sat on the back of it. Some people would say the silence of the night is eerie, no birds chirping, no sounds of the highway and cars passing by in the late of the night, just pure silence, but Cole would call this a gift after everything he had been through in the past week.

His breath is caught in his throat when he hears the door open behind him, blood running cold he wishes that some of them weren't light sleepers. The wooden floorboards don't creak under whoever's stepping on it like it used to with the old Bounty, it's not like he isn't thankful for it, he just isn't used to it still. Said person finds themselves sitting next to him, long lanky legs hanging over the Bounty's edge and he recognizes that person as Zane; what a surprise that he'd be the one to wake up right after he does.

A once peaceful silence is filled with thick tension, a tension thicker than the heat on a normal summer day and Cole once again hates it. He doesn't want to be tense, he wants to relax but Zane's presence won't allow it. Don't get him wrong, he doesn't hate his friend, he enjoy's his company just like he does with the other but right now he doesn't want to deal with it, and he's pretty sure Zane doesn't catch onto it when he turns his body away from him with folded arms.  

"Cole, are you... Okay? Ever since you came back from that trip of your's you've been unusually quiet," He leans slightly trying to get Cole to look at him but fails, cocking his head to the side with creased brows and crestfallen lips.  "I just... I don't know what to say,"

"That's fine," Zane nods in understanding. "Thanks,"

"...Would it be okay if I sit here and be quiet with you for a while?" Cole smiles, "That sounds nice,"

For once, the silence isn't deafening, for once the quiet is peaceful and welcomed, and for once, once in his life he's happy that it's quiet and not scared. There had been too many instances where the quiet scared him, whether it be in the middle of a battle or at the end of a fight, he was so used to someone cheering or shouting that they won, silence is deafening and it scares him. So used to hearing the sound of Jay playing video games in the background, or Zane cooking and most likely talking with Pixal about something, Kai training, Lloyd training or talking with Nya that he's used to the noise. This time he doesn't want noise, he wants silence and he's thankfully being given it.

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you up this late?" But sadly, Zane cuts through that silence he so desperately wanted to cling to. "I thought we agreed to being quiet?" He bitterly asks, he doesn't mean for it to come off as bitter but it does. He apologizes in his mind.

"Right, my apologizes," Goddamnit don't apologize. "Nah, it's fine Zane I understand,"

"Then if we agreed on not being silent anymore can you tell me why you are up this late?" Good point good point.

"Promise not to judge me or tell anyone else?"

"You have my sincerity," Cole knows that Zane doesn't break his promises but he still hesitates slightly."You know how I had to save the Kingdom of Shintaro?"

"How could I forget? The Geckles and Munce spoke very highly of you along with your mother, when it was all over." And that brings up memories.

The memories of him telling the others he's going to go nap and one Geckle and Munce hearing him saying that and offering a place to stay in their caves, he politely declined them. Or how surprised they were to realize that his mother was gone, and he was her son, and so many other things they wanted to offer him since he was his mother's son. Sure, he loved the attention, he didn't revel in it like Kai but he liked it but he just wanted to go to sleep like right now but he probably wouldn't be able to due to the nightmares he was having.

"Yeah, well they wanted me to stay there too help rebuild their kingdom and solve any future problems too," Which was terrifying for him, he wasn't his mom, he couldn't do that, just like he couldn't rule over the Geckles in Munce at once. He just couldn't stay, he had his friends, they needed him, and he needed them; he also needed some answers. "But you didn't,"

"Yeah, my mom did a lot and I'm not really sure if I can live up to it, after all, she did... A lot,"

"I don't understand?..." Thinking back on it, the only people who know of what happened in that cave are him, Sensei Wu, Vania, and the Upply group. The other's didn't know what he knew, they didn't know what he was lied about, they didn't know about his mother's story. Worst of all they have to be crushed by the fact that they had been lied to by they're own father and sensei, he had to, and he would always be.

"My mom made a mech, crafted two weapons, befriended both the Geckle and Munce, brought down the Griefbringer, found that place before anyone knew it existed and did who knows what else! I probably did half of that. Maybe not even half!" Yes, Zane knows that everyone knows the Geckles and Munce wouldn't shut up about it, and practically raved about her to anyone they could.

"But you're not your mother, you never will be," He knows that, and reminding will only make him feel worse than he already is. "Exactly! Tell me something I don't know!"

"That's not what I meant Cole,"

"Then what did you mean?"

"I meant that no one will ever be able to live up to a legacy, Morro tried that but failed to, no one will ever be able to do the same thing as someone else did since it's impossible to do exactly that." Touche, touche. But that still didn't help his situation, the situation that he'd never live up to his mother's legacy, they legacy he had to uphold that he might never be able to uphold. He probably wouldn't be able to hold a candle to her when it came to what she did. "Is it, really?"

"Unless you wish to go back in time and do those things yourself, then no, it is impossible, but yet again that didn't turn out well for anyone involved in it when it happened."

"You aren't that good with comforting people are you Zane?" The white ninja looks down at his feet and shakes his head, biting the inside of his metal cheek. "No," He answers.

"Comfort is not one of the things I'm particularly good at,"

"Alright," Cole suddenly gets up with a slight bounce in his step and Zane stares at him with his brow's nearing his hairline. "what'd you say I make some hot chocolate you reheat some cookie or something and we watch a movie because right now I just..." He sighs, he doesn't want to talk about his nightmares. "Want to watch some movies to get my mind off of everything that happened,"

Zane simply nods and gets up ignoring the other's ninja hand that was held out, with the roll of his eye's Cole goes to make hot chocolate and Zane goes to make cookies- even though he probably shouldn't. He puts on a random movie and waits for Zane to come and sit on the couch with cookies and they watch to movie, cookies, and hot chocolate to snack on and drink while they watch it.

Cole ends up falling asleep in the middle of the movie and when he wakes up the next morning in his bed even though he can swear he fell asleep one the couch. Did Zane really just-

He shakes his head and doesn't question the logistics of what happened that night and goes to eat breakfast feeling better than he did yesterday, that heavy feeling on his chest lifted slightly. It'll get better soon, he knows that, he just has to work on it.

[oracleofdiscord]

#i also disagree with the popular narrative that lloyd would be afraid of zane post s11 -- imo his feelings would be way more complicated

#lloyd is no stranger to having loved ones be magically corrupted and try to kill him

#yet despite his efforts to talk each of those loved ones back into their right mind

#he never succeeds

#kai was able to help him snap out of morros control but lloyd himself cant seem to do the same

#the only time lloyd has ever been able to snap someone else out of their control is when he cleansed his father of evil in s2

#and every time thereafter he failed

#kai let go of the staff of elements not bc of lloyds insistence but it got knocked out of his hand

#garmadon didnt snap out of his determination to kill lloyd despite lloyds desperate attempts to reawaken the goodness in his father

#and zane didnt even regain his memories because of lloyds efforts. he only remembered because vex happened to say the right thing

#(true zane wouldnt have started thinking for himself and disobeying vex if lloyd hadnt showed up but lloyd wouldnt see it like that)

#heck even appealing to harumis 'true' self didnt work either

#so i dont think lloyd would be afraid of zane just like he wouldnt be afraid of kai post-staff of elements

#if anything i think hed be racked with a lot of guilt

#zane wants lloyd to hate him. to be afraid of him. to resent him

#but lloyd cant. all lloyd can see is the loving nindroid who raised him. the nindroid he thinks he failed

#both fuelled by equal and opposite guilt. such that it threatens to drive them apart

#and the only way to restore their friendship is to learn how to forgive themselves

#woah someone should write a fic about that <- said by a fic writer who will probably never do that

#anyway i hope everyones having a good day <3

(op's tags)

One thing that kinda chaps me about how the Ice Emperor is typically characterized by a lot of the fandom is that if you really pay attention to how he behaves in the Ice Chapter, he isn't the aggressive, confrontational villain he's often made out to be. In s11, most scenes we see of the Ice Emperor actually depict him as a very passive and sedate character, preferring to rest on his throne and contemplate rather than taking action. He never acts unless Vex implores him to do so, and even then he usually defaults to the less ruthless choice until Vex cajoles him into opting for something more brutal. The first time we see the IE defy Vex in any capacity is when he chooses to spare Lloyd rather than killing him instantly. Judging by Vex's surprise at this, and IE's unabashed trust in his advisor, I would hazard to guess this is the first time Zane has ever pushed back against one of Vex's suggestions.

This is not to say the Ice Emperor is without cruelty or brutality. He is still a very menacing presence in his own right, and he absolutely has gallons of blood on his hands. That cannot be understated. But on his own, without a wormtongue whispering in his ear, I personally think the Ice Emperor would have been...well, not necessarily a kind person, but significantly less ruthless. He's a passive and dare I say tired person who prefers to sit on his throne and wait for orders rather than taking any form of initiative on his own. He's barely even a leader or a tyrant in any true sense of the term, really -- he's just a glorified weapon Vex keeps stored on a shelf until he's needed.

This actually makes sense when you consider Zane's element. Ice is in its very nature a slow and sedate thing. Temperature is shaped by the speed and movement of particulates -- the faster molecules move, the hotter things are. Whereas when things get colder, molecules move much more slowly. (That's perhaps a bit of an oversimplification, but I'm not going to give a lecture on thermodynamics in a post about silly lego people). And the Ice Emperor...well, he's very much encased in ice. He has to physically pry himself off his throne, and the staff has long been frozen to his hand. The whole world is in a similar state as well. Entire swathes of the population have been cryogenically frozen, and the world is so cold that it's exceedingly difficult for fire to thrive. And many other fans have speculated that the reason Akita is able to look the same age despite decades passing is because Zane's corrupted ice has overwhelmed the land so profoundly that everyone is more or less frozen in time.

Ice is a slow, sedate, passive thing. It does not demand anything of you except that you cease movement. Likewise, the Ice Emperor in his truest state is a sedate, passive character, only stirred out of his meditations when Vex compels him into action.

True, he's often depicted as a generically ruthless tyrant in most iterations after s11, but those can usually be chalked up to Zane's unreliable self-perception. This is how Zane interprets his behavior as the Ice Emperor, rather than the actual reality of how he truly behaved. Zane resents that part of himself, and that resentment has warped his understanding of who the Ice Emperor truly was. Which in itself is rather tragic considering Zane's identity issues. That is to say, Zane is so terribly blinded by his trauma and self-loathing that not even he can see himself for who he truly is.

(Cough cough that one quote in Dragons Rising: "Zane had such impressive shoes to fill. No one could ever live up to him, perhaps not even Zane himself.")

Anyway, even if people disagree with this interpretation of the Ice Emperor's character, I personally find it much more compelling to view him not as a generic murderous tyrant...but as an old, tired machine who cannot conceive of his personhood outside of his own weaponization.

By extension, this actually makes Zane's post-s11 coping process a lot more complex as well. The popular narrative is that Zane needs to learn to accept that what happens wasn't his fault, that he had a whole chorus of extenuating circumstances working against him, and that it's actually quite impressive just how many things had to go wrong all at once for him to become evil. And that's fair, but I also think the truth of the matter is more complicated than that.

Zane knows, deep down, that the Ice Emperor's actions weren't his fault -- and that's exactly what terrifies him. Because if he accepts that he was little more than Vex's mindless weapon, then he has to admit that his greatest fear has come true. He spent decades as a mindless, soulless machine, only ever acting on the will of another person, all while being endlessly manipulated by a cursed artifact, rather than having any true agency of his own. When his friends tell him it wasn't his fault, it's not a comfort but rather a painful reminder of how long he spent as someone else's drone. When the people of the Never Realm forgive him and let him return home unobstructed, a part of Zane resents it because it means they, too, acknowledge his absence of free will.

In my eyes, Zane post-s11 is someone who feels that he needs to be blamed, needs to be hated and despised and shunned -- because if people hate him for what he did, then that means it really was his fault. And if it was his fault, then that means he didn't lose his free will after all. It means he didn't spend 50 years as someone else's empty plaything. It means he didn't spend more of his life as a mindless weapon than as a true person.

Yes, Zane needs to learn to stop blaming himself for the Ice Emperor's actions...but how can he let go of the blame when it's the only thing keeping him sane?