#And rules

[andreal831]

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve watched anything TVDU related, so I’ve probably forgotten all the lore, but if resurrection is so freaking easy in this universe, why didn’t Esther just resurrect Henrik?

(I know he’s basically TVD version of Uncle Ben, but still.)

Plot.

Same reason Kol came back like three times but Klaus, Hayley, and Elijah couldn't be brought back.

Resurrection is such a difficult plot devise to introduce to supernatural world because it lessens the stakes. If anyone can be brought back at anytime, there is no fear of dying.

TVDU attempted to circumvent these issues by changing the rules of resurrection as they went. It allowed them to "explain" why certain characters had to stay dead and then when they wanted to bring someone back, they would add another way.

TVDU introduced resurrections with the idea of the Other Side. Since Qetsiyah created the Other Side, it allowed witches to bring back any supernatural back from the Other Side but it takes an immense amount of power. We see this happen with Jeremy several times.

Esther's strength has always confused me because she is not a first in her generation. We know Dahlia is considerably stronger than her, but we never really got to see Esther's raw power. I would even argue that she probably shouldn't have had enough power to create vampires based on what we do see. But since she canonically did, she should have easily had enough power to bring back Henrik. She was already dealing with dark forces. Also, considering how desperately Ayana was to prevent the plague of vampires, you would think she would have been willing to help bring Henrik back to stop Esther. I think it's safe to say a Bennett witch would have that type of power.

So potentially we could say Esther just didn't know this type of magic existed, but that just feels unlikely. I've heard the argument that he couldn't be brought back since he was human, but again, Jeremy was human and brought back multiple times before he became a Hunter.

In order to create stakes once more, in Season 5, the writers "collapsed" the Other Side. But before they did, Esther was able to just bring herself back by possessing a witch, along with Kol, Finn, and Ansel. Again, we are assuming Henrik was not on the Other Side with them since he died "human." There are arguments that he would be as an untapped witch and could have been on the other side. I used to not really buy into that because an "untapped witch" is just a human, but then when Freya had Finn in the talisman, she was able to channel his magic. So maybe untapped witches really do exist in TVDU.

Freya was able to keep Finn's soul in a talisman and resurrect him that way. I don't remember and I won't even ask where she got his body from. And then again with Elijah. But of course, the talisman broke and Freya never even attempted to create a new one to save her brothers again. Davina was able to resurrect Esther even after the other side fell with a gift of power from the Ancestors and her ashes. Who knows where Esther's soul was at that time. Kol was in the Ancestral Plane when he died the second time (I guess we assume they consecrated him in New Orleans). I don't remember what she tapped into to resurrect him, but she did and brought Kol back.

In TO, New Orleans makes it fairly easy to bring back witches with the Ancestral Plane. Look at how easily Celeste brought back three witches. So they got rid of that when they wanted to kill Davina off for good. But then somehow Inadu still brought her back. But also why wouldn't they have brought back their powerful witches. Also why didn't they use that protection spell more often? You know the one the witches used when Klaus killed them in Season 1 so they all just didn't die? And since it was so easy to bring them back, why was the Harvest that scary? They were just on the Ancestral Plane.

Resurrection is just so messy and the show really needed to create bigger consequences of bringing people back from the dead. They started off so good with showing it literally cost Bonnie her life. This creates stakes to doing so. But then that was the only time that it drew so much power it killed the witch casting it.

But seriously, why was Alaric brought back multiple times, but like Enzo, Lexi, Jenna, Jackson, Henrik, etc. couldn't be? It also makes the characters seem problematic. You're telling me that Josh wouldn't have begged Davina to bring Aiden back? She wouldn't rest until Kol was brought back but never even mentioned trying to help Aiden. There are so many instances where characters fight like hell to bring back one person but just accepted the death of another.

It was just all for the plot and honestly whatever contracts the actors had. But it makes for poor writing and unrealistic stakes.

Thanks for the ask! As always, let me know if I got anything wrong <3

[shipsandtea]

My boat stuff isn’t even that fun… people say to me “oh, so you like pirates!” And I have to respond with, “well… I prefer the guys whose job it is to… stop… the pirates.”

[lockedtowers]

old

new, and i cant tell if i actually like it or not

[skippyisntfunny]

[ohitspurple2]

[inyourmindfuzzz]

a collection

[creepymutelilbugger]

everything else migjt suck but at least we have a perfectly shaped february to anticipate halfheartedly

[redavexat]

[valtsv]

been thinking about fantasy/scifi rule systems and free will

[stuff-for-your-scroll]

In a better world, we would be getting animated remakes of live-action movies

Since we keep getting "live action" CGI remakes of already perfectly adequate animated movies, and because people need to understand that animation is a medium and not a genre, I have prepared this primer about the importance of Visual Language for Conveying Information.

Can you tell what the personalities of these two mice are?

Can you tell now?

Which of these two tigers feels safer to be around?

Which of these three dogs is the funniest one?

If you can answer these questions, then you already have experience with the idea of visual language and stylistic choices being used to impart narrative meaning. If you can understand why these choices were made to impart meaning, then you can understand why animation is a medium for telling stories that has its own inherent value, and is not merely a "placeholder" for the eventual implementation of photorealistic presentation (aka "Live Action" CGI). Animation does not need to be "corrected" or "legitimized" by remaking it into the most representational simulation of observable reality.

[modernbutch]

[thankstothe]

big if true