#and daniel sharman's actin is chef's kiss

[capsiclesteebrogers]

Redemption Arc Done Right

Okay, here is the post that nobody asked for, but I decided to make it either way. I already made a short post about how I think The Weeping Monk’s arc is similar to Jaime Lannister’s but now I will elaborate because it bogs my mind still.

SPOILERS FOR CURSED BELOW!

If you haven’t finished watching the show I recommend you don;t read it because I will give spoilers. So read it on your own risks.

So as I previously stated, The Weeping Monk reminded me heavily of Jaime Lannister from GOT and the similarities poped up episode after episode which made me think that his arc may be similar to Jaime and that it would make a lot of sense to be like that. Let me present to you my arguments.

1) Looking alike

What striked me first was how similar Lancelot (that’s The Weeping Monk’s real name) is to Jaime in terms of appereance. This may be personal, but I doubt I am the only who looked at both of them and saw how alike in features they are. They both have dirty blonde hair (Lancelot keeps his in a man bun but the writers were cowards and didn’t let Jaime have a man bun as well), a sharp jawline, a beard (although Lancelot’s is not as long as Jaime’s) and a slim but muscular figure. I will insert two pictures here so you can see for yourself (I have taken them from Google Images and don’t know who originally posted them).

SEE WHAT I MEAN? The resemblence is right here! I especially thought they looked similar when Lancelot fought the evil paladins and he got a bit bloody and it reminded me of when Jaime was Robb’s prisoner.

2) The Red Paladins aka Lannister Army

This may not be very obvious, but if you rewatch the last episode of Cursed (Season 1, Episode 10: The Sacrifice) and look at the Red Paladins’ tents you’ll see what I’m talking about. Now, their tents are white and the Lannister’s are red but the Paladins have red associated with them throughout the show. Look at this and tell me it doesn’t resemble the Paladins’ army.

Maybe it’s just me but it’s oddly familiar. I also say the Paladins’ resemble the Lannister army because Father Cardan’s relationship with Lancelot is somewhat similar to Tywin’s relationship with Jaime. They both expect their “sons” to live up to their expectations and be perfect soldiers. And yet both Jaime and Lancelot stand out and don’t fit in the crowd. Jaime because he cares about the innocent people and wishes to no longer be seen as Kingslayer and Lancelot because he’s actually fey and “damned”. They try to please the people who are above them but don’t seem to be enough. 

Jaime eventually escapes his abusive family (don’t try to tell me they weren’t) much like Lancelot escaped the Paladins and is set on a different path.

3) Reveal of name

This was the moment that clicked for me and I saw clearly how the two characters are similar. When Lancelot reveals his name to Squirrel (”Lancelot. A long time ago my name was Lancelot”) it reminded me of the moment when Jaime told Brienne his name. They are both with people who don’t really like them and in a moment of weakness they reveal something personal to them. When Jaime told Brienne his name after she called him Kingslayer (”Jaime. My name’s Jaime.”, btw Nikolaj Coster-Waldau’s acting in this scene is superb) he wanted to finally escaped the nickname that was given to him and I think this is the moment where Lancelot shows his humanity and perhaps wishes to no longer be seen as The Weeping Monk.

4) Resented by their own people

Yet another similarity is the fact that both characters are resented by their people. Jaime is resented by the people of Westeros because he killed Aerys “The Mad King” Targaryen by driving a sword through his back and gained the nickname Kingslayer and Lancelot is resented and hated by the fey because he associates himself with the Red Paladins and wants to exterminate them and in return he gained the name, The Weeping Monk. 

We know that Jaime wants to get rid of his title as Kinglsayer because it doesn’t represent what he stand for and even though we did not see it yet, I do believe that Lancelot will want to escape his given name. I would even say (as stated above) that him revealing his true name is a step towards that path.

Now that I have presented you with a few similarities between the two I can tell you that I think Lancelot’s arc will be similar to Jaime’s. He will go to serve a good queen who cares about her people (Jaime went to Sansa and Lancelot is going to Nimue) and atone for his mistakes (Jaime utlimately fought for the living and Lancelot will fight for the fey) and ultimately become an honorable man.

Him going to find Nimue resembles Jaime’s wish to go North, find and protect Sansa. Nimue also resembles Sansa to me because she is a queen chosen by her people, didn’t fit very well at the beggining, is concerned with the well-being of her people (the scene where Nimue discuses food and how to feed the fey reminded me of when Sansa talked to the lords about securing food for the North), so it would make sense for Lancelot to serve her and pledge to her cause.

I think it would make a lot more sense for his character to be a Knight for Nimue and a protector rather than a love interest. A good redemption arc takes time and developement and I don’t think a romance is necessary, especially not with Nimue. To me, it doesn’t make sense. I am also a bit tired of the “enemies turned lovers” trope and it bugs me the wrong way that people completely disregard Arthur and his importance in the plot (and how convenient that the fandom ignores the black love interest, hmm). So many people jumped onto this ship and I can’t for the life of me understand why.

I don’t deny the connections and similarities between Nimue and Lancelot but that doesn’t mean that they have to be romantically involved and “endgame”. I also think they may be siblings, mainly because of what Merlin said at one point about “his kin” to Nimue. I can’t remember from the top of my head what he said exactly, but he didn’t refer to her as “my daughter” or even “my child”, but “my kin” and it made me think that it implies that Nimue is not his only child. 

This was such a long post, but I had to make it because it has been on my mind for a couple of days. Let me know what you think about Lancelot’s arc and what are your theories because I am curious about what other people think.