#and the original had its issues | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

strawberryicemoon · 6 months

Text

Why I can't watch the Ducktales Finale

I'm not the kind of person who struggles to watch the last episode of something. I love to finish a show, and let it sit in my brain. I'm the kind of person who often enjoys spoilers because it adds to my understanding of the media. I love to view the media in their entirety just as much as I love a journey to get there.

But I can't get past the first few minutes of Ducktales 2017, The Last Adventure. And it's because of spoilers that I couldn't deal with. I don't like them, and even years later after I've had time to digest, and have seen so many finale clips, that I still can't just sit down and watch it. And I've made attempts. I've looked through the summary of the episode to prepare. But I can't.

And there's... a couple of things that rub me the wrong way about the Finale that keep me from being able to just watch it.

1. Webby is Scrooge's Clone Daughter

2. Webby is April, of April May and June

3. Donald and Daisy are going on vacation.

Now, I don't actually hate any of these... conceptually. And I'm well aware that Frank Angones has stated the Webby twist was planned from very early on. And usually I am completely down for whatever a finale is, as long as I can tell that this was something the creator really believed in.

I'm a fan of such "controversial" endings as, Amphibia and Digimon Adventure 02, because I know exactly why they ended like that. It's written in the themes. Even if it took me time to understand Adventure's ending, I've grown to understand it and love it once I learned more about the original Japanese version and the shows production (and also grew up myself). Amphibia ended exactly as I expected based on one of the very earliest things I heard about the show from Matt Braly: "an ode to past friendships". Even if I think there are things they messed up I GET IT. I wouldn't want them ending any other way.

So I understand WHY the decision is made. Conceptually it does make sense. Webby exists as a composite character of April May and June, and I believe shares the same name as April in one language. Webby being Scrooge's clone daughter is an effective way of full-circling her relationship with him. Strangers in each other's home to father and daughter. She's family not BECAUSE of Blood, but because of Love. She still loves her Granny, it's just the non blood relationship wasn't the one she thought it was. And Donald deserves a vacation, and to have the more down to earth life experiences he wanted, especially after raising his sisters kids alone for 10 years.

But they still twist me up inside.

And I think it comes down to three reasons: 1. Lack of Continuity between episodes 2. An over-focusing on Scrooge 3. Handling of Word of God

1. Lack of Continuity between episodes Part of what got me to fall in love with Ducktales was S1 and the continuity of the Spear of Selene subplot. We got hints at a semi-regular pace, but it successfully overhung the entire series. It was what separated Scrooge and Donald. It was why Della was gone. The subject matter was of course not something that needed to be overstated, as most of it was being kept hush hush. Sure it was a mystery, but not an urgent one. Dewey had never had his mom, so it wasn't like he couldn't focus on anything else for a while

But in S2 I started noticing that the show stopped explaining or foreshadowing things. Maybe it always did, I haven't re watched it properly. But I definitely noticed something off about the storytelling then. But it was definitely a problem throughout the show.

Webby never brought up Lena after her sacrifice until the relevant episode.

Lena living with the Sabrewings was something never brought up until episodes later we saw her with them.

We had Della talking about the boys with their "Uncles" setting up the pain of not knowing how things fell apart after her departure, only to get no payoff.

We didn't get ANYTHING about Webby's parentage until the final episode, and barely a hint in 1 season 3 episode.

Almost every finale episode changes the status quo in some way. The question is how much. Lots of final episodes kind of have things going back to the way they were before plot kicked off but better (like with new friends or a new government). Sometimes someone dies.

Webby being Scrooge's clone is paradigm shifting. And that kind of thing needs to be set up. You CANNOT catch your audience off guard with something like that.

In Digimon Adventure 02 the series ends with everyone on earth with a digimon partner which is controversial but at least built up throughout the series at hints of other digidestined until an arc near the end showcased many international digidestined. Hilda ends with the reveal that Hilda's mother is half-fairy, and despite not being present throughout the first two seasons, it was hinted at through the third season, and contextualized some of the few things we did know before about Johanna's childhood. The Hollow's first season ends with you finding out it was all a game, but it had been hinted at before with the video game nature of the world. Sure Avatar didn't hint at Aang getting the power to take away bending, but we knew he was a pacifist who didn't want to kill so was looking for a solution, getting the power to remove bending (ie power over others) works thematically, in the same way Anne using the power of the stones and getting brought back to life by a god like being worked. Sure, Scratch turning out to be a wraith at the end of The Ghost and Molly McGee was rather sudden, but people had been theorizing that Todd was Scratch's body for a long time, so it wasn't like there weren't any hints, and while the show was cut short and had to rush to end, the build up of Scratch's memories at least gave some sort of foreshadowing link to what was going on.

There's a reason people rarely throw in new characters at the very end of a show. It can absolutely work. Amphibia and The Owl House threw in "God" at the end, but that gets a pass for being the kind of figure they meet once and then move on with their lives. On the other side, you can sometimes have secret big bads that were pulling the strings the whole time too. I can't speak for the finale of Ducktales (because again, can't bring myself to watch it), but adding two new characters on top of changing the entire dynamic of how the family is set up at the very end of the show does not sit well with me. We won't get to see how this change in status quo effects the characters. We saw how learning about their mom affected the boys relationship with Scrooge, her return and having to build a relationship with her and her presence conflicting with Launchpad's. But we don't get that with Scrooge and Webby? Basically too many status quo shifts in the finale all at once.

All we got was Beakley was a spy, was overprotective of Webby, and a few episodes before the end it was revealed Beakley was lying to her. Webby didn't seem to care about her parents. And this was a girl who was very dedicated to unraveling the secrets of clan mcduck. Couldn't they have had one hint at some point in the show where it was unclear if it was the boys or Webby who were recognized as a McDuck? Some offhand mention where the boys ask her about HER parents, because she helped them with her mom?

You couldn't tell what was or was not going be important in the way they dropped. It's very hard to set your expectations when you had no clue what to expect. And while there is something to be said for unexpected surprises and twists in a story, an audience really needs to know what is or is important or they're going to go on wild goose chases and get disappointed when they build up hype for something the show then refuses to address.

In HINDSIGHT, I find it extremely odd that Huey and Louie, prior to finding out about Dewey's investigations, did not pry at ALL into the fact that hey: if Donald was an adventurer with Scrooge, then he had to know their mom. Like that’s weird right?

2. An over-focusing on Scrooge Scrooge is the Center of the Universe.

I'm not a Disney Ducks fan. Aside from 2017, and pop culture osmosis, I know very little. But the thing is I am someone whose first inclination once I become a fan of something is to check out the wiki pages for information. Find about what longstanding fan mysteries there are. I understand the importance of cross continuity callbacks. I'm a fan of other longstanding series and have rubbed elbows with several others. I get really long franchises with several iterations.

Which is to say that I, despite not having a horse in this race, understand how this works and how it should work.

Now a bit of this is the fact Ducktales is ABOUT Scrooge. But Scrooge isn't the center of the Duck universe. Something I find pretty interesting is the fact that Donald has reasonably fleshed out family trees on both sides of his family. That's cool. That's how real people work, a meeting point of the stories of those who came before. But Ducktales doesn't care, the only adult the show cares about is him. I get that to a certain extent it was the show execs insisting on focusing on the kids. And again, he's kind of the main character. But you brought back Donald, and Della. There are other characters here with rich lives, he doesn't need to take over everything.

It's especially egregious ANY time the McDuck clan gets involved. Could Matilda be the youngest child now? Sure. But that's a really arbitrary change, that they don't use for anything. And even if that was purposeful, the fact is that the first thing they established is Donald's mom is still Scrooge's sister, so Donald is the grandson of Fergus and Downy McDuck. Not nephew? Surely they could recognize him? But where is Hortense and Quackmore? They brought them up in the first episode, and then they never made any appearances aside from references. Why were Donald and Della staying with Scrooge for Christmas? Never clarified. Fans (reasonably) assumed they were dead. Scrooge called Donald his ward (admittedly when he also called him Fergus and Downy’s nephew rather than grandson). I mean where else would they be when their DAUGHTER DISAPPEARED. Would they not want to meet their grandchildren? But that was never clarified. And I've seen some fans alternatively interpret them as bad parents, which I think is just really unfair. Scrooge gets to be the good parent? It's once again Scrooge to the rescue. The CAPITALIST? I mean it's also a little bit just a family issue in general: It's Uncle Gladstone and Cousin Fethry when they are theoretically the same: technically cousins but old enough to be honorary uncles. It's fair enough. But really that brings us to the Duck family in general.

Grandma Duck? What about Gladstone and Fethry's parents? Gus Goose? Are they all dead? Does Fethry have any siblings? Do the boys not know or not care about the Duck side of the family? They know Gladstone but no one else? I mean Scrooge's parents, who should be dead, were magically kept alive but nothing for the duck family. Speaking of which, they constantly bring up how old Scrooge and occasionally refer to the causes of his supernatural age, but that does not explain how young Donald and Della are compared to him. Overall, we get nothing on the Duck family except for its existence at least, so even removed from the context of Disney Ducks legacy its weird to introduce a side of the family and just gloss over it.

The one episode about the Duck family legacy is a Webby episode. Which, fine, she's not a Duck, but she's part of the family. Except wait. She's Scrooge's daughter/clone, and you gave her the focus on the one episode about the Duck family not the McDuck's? You couldn't leave Scrooge out of anything?

So for Webby's great twist in the finale, was taking not just one, but two characters NOT related to Scrooge (April and Webby), and tying them to Scrooge. I think I could deal with Webby being April, and (HUGE MAYBE) Webby being Scrooge’s clone or April being Scrooge’s clone but not both. Not to mention April, May and June are DAISY's nieces... not random three girls who are her boyfriends uncles clone and and boyfriends uncles clones clone? It doesn't sit right with me that a character who I thought was supposed to be learning that he was sometimes in the wrong, and not the center of morality (see how he made Glomgold a villain through his own ego), continue to be made the center of the universe in ways he simply shouldn't be.

He's literally an old rich guy. Like there is historical context for why this character is like this, but why does the world revolve around him in this show.

3. Word of God Word of God is useful. As are interviews and statements made by the creator. It helps to provide insight into the themes. I love seeing the person behind the art.

But here's the thing. Word of God is clarification, insight into how you should look at the work to set expectations. It's supplementary. It doesn't replace text.

This is a little bit difficult to really talk about now that I'm several years removed from the experience, so grain of salt and all, but I really think the way Word of God was handled did the show a disservice.

Back to Lena becoming a Sabrewing, we didn't get that in show. Lena just dropped off the face of the earth, not until S3’s premier we got a clarification on that in show.

We never got Della's reaction to learning that Donald and Scrooge were estranged, she just suddenly stopped speaking under that assumption.

So Word of God became an essential part of understanding the text, because a lot of necessary information was left unexplained by the canon its a huge problem. And Word of God is often fluid. It can be changed later if during the writing process something changes. (We should probably cover this topic in show and want to do it a bit differently, I have a great Idea of what we can do to turn that error into foreshadowing, I was lying to the fans to keep a secret).

But when word of god is necessary, word of god becomes essential for tempering expectations about the show.

This is probably going to be less of an issue for people who come and watch the show later. Sure, things are still unexplained, but when you can binge the show Lena's unexplained absence is less obvious, you're so busy moving on to other things that Della's change in understanding about the situation is clearly unimportant and you can move on.

But what ended up happening is that Frank Angones struggled to balance clarifications, keeping show secrets, and a sometimes changing story. Which sometimes left characters completely sure on where the story was sitting, only for it to be ripped out from under them. Also, tying back to the first point, of plot points being dropped until the episode where they where they were relevant made it VERY difficult to tell what was or wasn’t going to be relevant, and what emotional beats to get emotionally invested in.

Prior to the finale there was a bit of a community of Webby/Triplet shippers. Personally, I see that as a complete dismissal of the themes of the show and a bit heteronormative. I avoided all such content. But at the same time, shipping doesn't hurt anyone. At the end of the day, the boys and Webby were not related by blood, and hadn't even met until age 10. There wasn't... really a reason you couldn't ship them. There are TONS of shows out there with 10 year old characters and love interests. Just off the top of my head: Any Ship with Ash Ketchum, Sprigivy, Phinabella, Kenyako, Sorato. Even if they don't get together at 10, (or at all) the fact of the matter is 10 year olds getting shipped is old news. I'm still attached to Pokeshipping and Takari to this day, even if I tend to see them more as platonic relationships these days. So I avoided all shipping with them, but I understood why people (particularly younger people) were shipping them. Until the finale hit, and the ships that people thought never going to be canon, but were safe, weren't. To a certain extent, that's the game you play with shipping clearly noncanonical ships. But I feel that the way questions about shipping were answered didn't help, because iirc he tended to say the show wouldn't focus on that more than he explicitly stated the kids were family. He called Webby/Triplet shipping highly unlikely for example, giving it more legitimacy than a no, which leant to it being taken as a solid fact prior to the finale that Webby was definitely not related to the boys, because a lot of what else was said was solid fact.

4. (Bonus): of course, I do also feel it kind of isn't enough to justify breaking the found family. So much of Webby's arc was being accepted into the family. Becoming the 4th triplet. So for her to have been blood all along is a little cheap. Sure it doesn't break the becoming family despite blood before. But, having meta-knowledge of Launchpad probably finding family with Gosalyn and Drake Mallard, it's just Beakley whose left as not blood related (and she's technically the help...). And yeah, there's the Granny/Grandaughter adopted relationship. But....

Webby is one of four kids. Again, she became one of the kids. So yeah. I'm happy that she became one of the kids. Able to call him uncle scrooge. But it feels weird to me that she, the kid who already lived in the manor with Scrooge even if they kept their distance, displaced the triplets as Scrooge's natural heirs. The uncle relationships in this show being parental/grandparental was already good. Not all families look the same, some people parent their siblings' kids for one reason or another. Scrooge's presumed "heirs' ' was his sister's descendants, not his, but he loved them like his own. That's good. So to not only break the "not blood related at all" to "actually daughter", kind of ALSO meant a "my niblings are my legacy" got overtaken with "my daughter is my legacy".

And maybe I'd feel less sour about it if we had more time after the show. But on a fundamental level it didn't just alter Webby's place in the family, but her grandmother's, and the Duck Twins and Triplets. Again, especially with the triplets. I wanted the four of them to become functional equals. The 4th triplet. But for her to have a secret Scrooge connection that overtakes the one she was jealous of the triplets of having doesn't sit right to say the least.

I feel I could get over this one, especially maybe if they gave us more time. But it just didn't make it worth it to me.

5. (Bonus Bonus): Now I don't use the term Mary Sue lightly. But what I do think of canon Mary Sueism is a tendency to make female characters on predominately male casts "special" in some way to justify their presence. They have to be the level headed smart ones and the ones with . They have to be likable so they're robbed of character. I wouldn't say Webby is a particularly bad example of this, and it's not like Ducktales lacks other flawed female characters (Della my beloved).

But the way Webby is treated reminds me of April from TMNT 2012, and Allura from Voltron Legendary Defender (and kinda Larmina from Voltron Force). All are 80s characters in shows that had a predominately male cast of characters, and who were both an outsider, and defined by being a girl. And then the reboot both doubled down on making them special, integrating them into the group more, but also making them generally tougher the boys in some way, and also sometimes more in the know about things. Webby is aged up to match the boys age rather than aged down to match the boys age like April but the effect is still the same.

The girl is now a peer to the boys, 4th triplet, rather than a little sister. Webby is more capable and well-read than any of the boys. And at the start of the series she's socially awkward enough it feels like it will work. And I'm not saying Webby isn't flawed, she is. But when it comes to the things the family finds important: adventuring, she doesn't have any obvious shortcomings. Louie quits easily and isn't as coordinated, Dewey is reckless and generally uneducated, and Huey isn't flexible. And Webby... used to be socially awkward???

It’s kinda trading 1 sexist trope for another. And yeah, all shows do have OTHER female characters who kind of avert this. But it doesn’t change the fact the leading lady is more “special” than the boys. Like being a girl has to be special.

In short, at the end of the day Webby being Scrooge's daughter doesn't help her character, her grandmothers, or the rest of the family. It kinda helps Scrooge’s character, but while I haven’t seen the episode myself, I’m not sure there would be enough time for it to be meaningful. And again, I think a lot of the characterization and worldbuilding of other characters were already sacrificed for Scrooge’s sake in the show already.

Oh and the Donald/Daisy thing.

The reason Daisy/Donald's trip doesn't sit right with me is we barely got any Donald and Della having to coparent. Get used to each other again. We barely got any of them and we're heading back into separation. It doesn’t feel cathartic when we still have unanswered questions from this stage in their life. And even if the trip is well, a trip. It feels weird.

It feels kind of unexpectedly "conventional family", even if it's still really unconventional. Donald is going to go be happy with his love interest, away from the boys he raised who aren't actually his sons (and yes, I know he takes May and June with him but still, knowing that May and June are by default Daisy's nieces kind of has "new kids with new wife" implications to me but that's neither here nor there). Adding this to "Webby being Scrooge's daughter is a good plot point for him" and it's just really weird, and kind of feels like the final nail in the nontraditional family dynamics coffin. If feel only way they could have buried it more is if Beakley died or something.

I was already kinda uncomfortable with the “Daisy being the only one to understand him” thing because like. That’s sweet. His soulmate is the only one who really hears him. But also that’s a fucking speech impediment Donald has. Are you telling me that no one in his family cared enough to effectively communicate with him despite his disability? Like if it is REALLY that much a problem he should have an effective communication method. Sign-language for example?

The triplets he raised don’t always understand him. His twin sister doesn’t always understand him? But this random woman does? I am all for Daisy and Donald being basically soulmates. But uh? This feels both ableist and allonormative in a show that really wasn’t those things before. (well okay it was kinda ableist about Donald but it felt less weird to me when there wasn’t one person who could magically understand Donald). And Daisy understanding him still could be a big thing? The first person who understood him without getting to know him first/wasn’t literally raising him/raised with/raised by him?

I want to like Daisy so much, but she just feels a bit like Webby does: a legacy female character they are trying to make too cool, who gets some of their coolness incidentally defined by a male character, rather than a full-fledged character on their own. (For instance if we saw Daisy with anyone other than Donald, her overbearing boss and… whatever Storkules is).

I feel some of these may have been resolved with more time. But some of these problems had their seeds planted as early as S1. That said I think if the quality of S1 was maintained they would have been fine. Overall, I think Ducktales is a good reboot, and a good show, but it really could have been better. Was so close to being better.

#ducktales 2017 #it's been years and I'm still thinking about this #for my part #I disregard the finale #Webby has dead parents that she knows about hence never needing to learn more #I disregard the family not understanding Donald #because Daisy being the first STRANGER who understands him right away is just as sweet #idk what I’m doing about Boyd or April May June yet though #I can do what I want its not like Ducktales was wholly original or anything #probably still better than vld's finale #but I started to have critiques in s3 #and all of s8 was a dumpster fire so I was emotionally checked out by the time it actually came to that point #again I haven't seen it so maybe I'd like it more if I did see it #but the fact that knowing this has put me so intensely off watching it really isn't a good thing either #and I have never had this issue with a show before even if it's bad #to be clear though I do overall like 2017 Webby and Daisy I just wish they were allowed to be a little MORE #to fuck up a little more #I really do want to finish my abandoned ducktales fics but also staring at the finale and trying to figure out what I should do with this #ah #ducktales

21 notes · View notes

trappedinafantasy37 · 4 days

Text

ACT 3 was one hell of a ride and I have finally completed the Shadowheart origin run! Now it is time to finalized this story. If you have missed the previous updates, check out Act 1 and Act 2.

WARNING: this gets pretty long. Again, it's a story. Some things are gonna be a little bit out of character and involve my own headcanons as I try to fill in the gaps of what isn't directly said in the game.

THE CITY AWAITS

After a long walk from the Shadowlands with Isobel and Dame Aylin, Shadowheart and Minthara finally made it to the city of Baldur's Gate! Shadow can feel that she is on the precipice of many conflicts and so many things are about to be resolved. Unfortunately, she can also feel that many of those resolutions may require violence. She has only recently turned from Shar and still doesn't really know what it means to be a Selunite. Sure, she's taken some guidance from Isobel and Aylin, but their journey with Selune is not the same as hers. They were not brainwashed to hate Selune and all that is good with the world, they did not have their minds wiped over and over so that they can be molded and shaped into the perfect hate machine, and they were not actively tortured by their goddess every time they had dirty and naughty thoughts like empathy and compassion.

Breaking decades of religious indoctrination and countering everything that you have ever known is a difficult and arduous process and not one that is done over night. It isn't easy and it takes an incredible amount of effort. But, no matter how hard she tries, there are some thoughts in Shadow's head that pop up on their own, even if she no longer wants to have those thoughts. Every action she takes from here forward is a deliberate and conscious effort that she makes to not be the same person that she used to be. Unfortunately, Shar and Mother Superior have left deep and lasting scars within her, things that she will never be able to rid herself of. Even though she has turned a new leaf, made an internal vow to do better and be better, she will always have blood on her hands.

It has only been a few weeks of Shadow putting in this effort within herself and Minthara can see the changes. Minthara may not care too much for Shadow having a bleeding heart and wanting to do the "right thing" all of a sudden, but she can appreciate that Shadow is no longer pretending to be something she isn't.

And for a moment, Minthara herself begins to reflect on her own upbringing and the things she has been indoctrinated with. She starts to deconstruct her relationship with the gods and the influence that they should have in their lives, her place in society and where she feels she truly belongs, the importance of trust, and the desire for power. Minthara starts her own process of challenging all the things she's ever known, but unlike Shadow, she is not a blank slate. She does remember everything she's been through these past 200+ years and undoing all that experience isn't going to be so easy for her. Like Shadow, there are just some things even she cannot undo. And there are many things that she would prefer to hang on to.

The process of breaking their own indoctrination is a slow start for both of them. Even though they both recognize the toxicity of their upbringings and the marks it has left on them, neither of them is afraid or ashamed to leverage their teachings in a way that benefits them both. They are also not afraid to continue with their morally dubious actions if it means getting them closer to their goals. So, the two elves travel all around Baldur's Gate doing good while being evil. Some of the shenaninanigans they have been up to:

Settled a squabble between a rich guy and some squatters (they both "died under mysterious circumstances")

Went to the circus and got jumped scared by Orin.

Accidentally stumbled upon a murder mystery that turned into a much deeper conspiracy

Found some gnomes and got a bomb

Started a fight at the checkpoint in which those very gnomes came and saved them

Met Gortash. It would appear that shoddy inaugurations and spilling his evil bad guy plan in front of the entire city constitutes as amongst that minutia of death cult office politics that he's so busy with.

Saved Counsellor Florrick

Continued on their investigation into Bhaal and visited the murder tribunal, killed a sacrifice to get some wicked gear, and then killed Sarevok anyway cause, why not, they were already there.

Beat up a wizard and let Dame Aylin break his back so she can break her oath

Got involved with the Thieves Guild and the Stone Lord

Did a dirty deed for Ethel, but made a crucial ally

Blew up a foundry of slaves

TEAM MOMMY ISSUES

While on this journey of self healing and self reflection, Shadow has spent the entire time just trying to forget the cause of all her worries. But the ever-present wound on her hand that exists just to torment her serves as a reminder that she cannot forget, and she shouldn't. No, Shadow is tired of forgetting. She knows her parents are in the city somewhere and she needs to save them! She can still have the life that has been denied to her. And so, she returns to the House of Grief.

Everyone at the House has been expecting her, but they are not too pleased with her arrival. They are very well aware of her turning her back on Shar and retribution is upon her. Shadow has been through so much on her long journey and has grown incredibly power. But sitting on this bench across from her mother, she is reduced to nothing more than a scared child who knows she has disappointed her mother.

Minthara stands against the wall and watches this entire interaction unfold and for just a brief moment, she sees a reflection of herself within the half-elf. She too has learned plenty of hard lessons at the hands of her mother and she holds plenty of those lessons close to her heart. But there were some days in which she did not see any lesson in the scars her mother left on her, and it felt like nothing but torment for torments sake.

Traveling through the cloister, Shadow is reminded of all the things that she had to do. She learned how to be a good liar and how to pretend to be someone else. She also learned how to torture when it was necessary, how to force information out of people and make them embrace the pain. She does not recall the days in which she learned these lessons, but she has all the skills.

Confronting her mother and the cloister isn't an easy task, but it has to be done. Obviously, Mother Superior wants Shadow to hand over the Prism and she may be "forgiven". But Shadow has learned the hard way that Shar does not forgive and her mother is full of it. Standing on her own two feet, she defies the Mother Superior and the entire cloister turns against her. She does not want to kill anyone here, but she does not feel any sorrow for people that she does not remember. Fighting them all is incredibly difficult as there is twenty of them, and only two of the elves. But with the power granted to her by Selune, Shadow and Minthara are able to burn away the darkness.

Once in her life, Minthara admired Viconia for her rebellion against authority. But she was so naive back then. As she furthered into her career as a paladin of Lolth, she realized just how much of a coward Viconia was. If the former Priestess of Lolth was still in the Underdark while she was, it would have been Minthara's duty to hunt her down and kill her in Lolth's name. Right now, all she sees is a coward who has done nothing but wipe Shadow's mind, torment her and give her lessons in which she can't remember, and rob Shadow of the ability to form her own identity. Minthara takes it upon herself to end Viconia, not in Lolth's name, but Shadowheart's.

But, of course, things are not that easy. Nothing is ever easy. There is an even darker secret hidden in the cloister. The pain that Shadow has felt since the day she started her mission, is the curse that connects her to her parents. And Shar reminds Shadow that there is no escaping her, at least not without making a great sacrifice. There is great meaning to be found in pain, and Shar decides to leave Shadow with what she would prefer to find meaning with.

Her parents want her to let them go. They have seen their daughter once more, she is alive and healthy, in Selune's embrace, and has someone who adores her more than the world itself. Shadow does not want to let them go, she did not come all this way to let them go. If Shar is to damn them all, then they can get through it together. But the Hallowleafs do not want their daughter to suffer needlessly, and neither does Minthara.

To the drow, killing ones parents is an important rite of passage. A perfect method to usurp their place in society, and gain power and status. If Shadow had made a different choice with the Nightsong and not angered Shar, perhaps that would be true. But the option presented to the half-elf is eternal suffering, or freedom from Shar's poison. And Minthara does not want to watch Shadow suffer for the rest of their lives together, not when there is a real possibility for Shadow to be free.

Minthara encourages Shadow to kill her parents. Not because she wishes to see them dead, but because their death means that Shadow will be free to live as herself and without unnecessary suffering. Taking the advice of both her parents and her love, Shadow uses the power of Selune and sets them free. Their souls are no longer bound to the Lady of Loss and they return to Selune's embrace where they were meant to be. Shadow will never know who she was before the cloister, she will never know who Jenevelle Hallowleaf was or who she could have been. And she will have to live with the guilt of having tortured them, and the grief of having to kill them.

BLOODY VENGEANCE

Every night since meeting her at that circus, Minthara's mind has been swirling with the paranoia and terror that Orin was always close by. Walking down the streets of the city, her eyes would watch every single person around, trying to determine which of them was an impostor who is only there to trick her or hurt her or worse.

Walking down into the sewers, inching closer and closer to Orin, Minthara is filled with incredible doubts on whether or not she will survive the ordeal. This is the woman who "indoctrinated" her into the Cult of the Absolute, filling her mind with what are clearly lies. To make it worse, the shroud has been lifted and the memories she once believed to be pleasant dreams were nothing but nightmares in which she was robbed of all choice in the matter.

But right now, she has a choice. She has Shadow, someone she cares for deeply. Someone who has never hurt her, or lie to her, and made a promise to protect her, even from Orin. This time, she knows that what she feels for her cleric is real and nothing is compelling her to feel the way she does. Under normal circumstances, she would feel incredible pressure and terror at admitting this level of vulnerability. Especially when admitting love and affection has always awarded her with a new scar. Or worse, a dead lover. But it is either now or never and she tells Shadow that if they are to survive this fight with Orin, she wishes to remain by her side for the rest of their lives, because the bond they share is unbreakable one.

To make it all worse, Orin did not even speak to her, didn't even address her, pretended like she wasn't even there! She had held Minthara down in a cocoon of flesh, cutting her and torturing her for days. And she doesn't even get the honor of an acknowledgement? This iblith's mind games never end and she wants to further the torment by focusing on Shadow, making it clear that if Minthara doesn't act quickly and with decisiveness, her precious cleric will be turned into a sacrifice before Bhaal. And what then? What is Minthara going to do then? She will have lost her only reason for fighting and she will succumb to her fears and become susceptible to Orin's knives once more. She cannot let that happen. Not again. She's had enough of Orin's games.

And of course, the fight with Orin wasn't easy, it was never going to be easy. All of Minthara's greatest fears are culminated into one: the Slayer. In another life, Minthara would admire this type of power. No, she would revel in it! She would open her arms wide and embrace the incredible and exquisite creature that it is! Hells, she would have willingly embraced Orin if she had been given the choice.

Too bad this isn't that life and Orin, the Slayer, is nothing but another monstrosity that needs to be exterminated. Minthara cannot and does not care about how removed a crazed Bhaalspawn will be of great benefit to the living world. She does not care that Orin needs to die so that they may nab her Netherstone and get one step closer to the Absolute. No, Minthara wants to kill Orin solely out of vengeance. To right the wrongs that Orin had brought upon her. She is well past the point of mercy.

Even though Minthara herself personally delivered the killing blow and watched the Bhaalspawn dissolve into a puddle of viscera, she still has difficulty believing Orin is dead. But right now, she can't focus on that. Shadow does her best to try to comfort her through all this, but greater problems need to be addressed. Shadow has spent too much of her life repressing how she feels and running away from her true emotions and pretending she doesn't feel what she does. She is not oblivious to the fact that Minthara has an annoying habit of doing the same exact thing, and Shadow understands exactly why.

Later at camp, when they are both in a safe and secure place, Shadow asks Minthara to open up, tell her how she feels about Orin's death. Of course Minthara is glad Orin is dead, but she is not as satisfied as she thought she would be. There was never going to be a smite that would have been powerful enough to remove the scars that had been left on her. Shadow can sympathize. As much as she does not wish to see her paladin in pain, she knows that this is something Minthara will carry with her for the rest of her life. But in time, she will overcome it.

A NEW BEGINNING

With all the Netherstones gathered, it is now time to face the elder brain and deal with the Absolute. The two of them fight valiantly and fearlessly through the city and up to High Hall. With a Mind Flayer on their side, and a few powerful allies, the elves push through the burning city and all the nightmares conjured by the elder brain. This is a fight, not just for their lives, but the world. With the brain just about ready to break, it pleads for mercy, offering itself as a tool to be used and abused just so that it may live.

Of course Minthara still wants to take control of it. Her and Shadow can stand side by side as gods and make the world a perfect place. They will be equal to the others and gods like Shar and Lolth can never touch them again. And if they tried, then the two elves will have a much easier time fighting back.

But this isn't what Shadow wants. She understands Minthara's reasoning. The drow says it's all for the power, the control, the glory! But deep down, it's nothing but fear. The fear of being abandoned, the fear of being betrayed, the fear of her devotion being thrown back in her face and being punished with death. Shadow has felt it all herself. But becoming the problem will never be a viable solution. Shadow stood before Shar, defied her, and paid the price. She knows it is possible to fight back and live. And she is not going to allow Minthara to fall into a death spiral because she is too scared to walk a different path.

What could have been their crowning achievement crashes down into the ocean as Shadow asks the Emperor to destroy the brain. Minthara stands on the pier, watching as it drowns in the ocean. All that power, all that potential, wasted. But she is free. There is no longer a tadpole in her head, threatening to turn her into a mind flayer or a thrall. The Absolute cannot break her and Lolth cannot touch her. The decision may not have been hers to make, but she will appreciate the freedom of it all. It's not as if the Absolute was the only path to world domination, just the fastest and most convenient.

The two elves take a moment to catch their breaths and get some rest after saving the world. Being a savior is... new for Minthara. It's weird and something she never thought she would be considered. The people adore her and thank her in the streets every day. Perfect! They are priming themselves up to be easily manipulated later! The drow will be sure to leverage this affection.

The city is saved thanks to Shadow's singular decision. Of course she was worried about the fate of the world. She understands more than most to have your strings pulled by a domineering god, and she did not want to subjugate others to that same torment and anguish. She does not know if she will ever fully embrace Selune yet, but she will appreciate the fact that Selune has given her the ability to forge her own path. And Shadow will give the same to others, as well as Minthara.

Minthara doesn't miss a beat, nor does she lose her breath. She has accepted the loss of the Absolute and immediately moves on to scheming about how to take over the city from the shadows. All Shadow can do is roll her eyes and laugh. Her ambition, although sometimes self destructive, is just one of the many reasons Shadow fell in love with her.

The two of them have been awarded a lifetime together and Minthara wants to spend every single second of it with Shadow. She may want to rule the city, but she wants more to do whatever her cleric wants to do. Baldur's Gate, although her home, is nothing but a fragment of a memory Shadow will never get back. She wants to know more about Selune, find out what would have driven her parents to worship the moon goddess, and maybe find some meaning in the new divinity she channels. She wants to see the world and find a new purpose and find out who she wants to be now that she has the freedom to.

Of all the gods, Selune is probably the only one Minthara has no quarrel with. She wants Shadow to be free, and Selune will give that to her. Selune is the one who won't kill or abandon or torture her followers for every tiny mistake. She will allow Shadow to make the choices she wants, and won't punish her for them. Unlike Lolth, unlike Shar, unlike Bhaal, unlike the Absolute, Selune won't force her followers to be who they don't want to be, or do what they don't want to do. All she will do is guide them through the dark whenever they feel lost.

And so, without protest, Minthara marches alongside Shadowheart out of Baldur's Gate as they continue on their new journey of self-discovery.

Thank you very much for reading all of this, I know it was a lot. And I want to give a most special thanks to those who have followed me through all of this. I'm actually kind of sad that this run came to an end. But, it's not entirely over as I got a whole fic to write about it now and I'm kinda excited about it!

< Act 2 |

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #shadowheart #shadowheart origin #minthara #minthara baenre #shadowheart x minthara #minthara x shadowheart #team mommy issues #what a ride this run has been! i think i actually had more fun with it than my trio run with daedra #and i highly recommend to everyone to try out a duo run at least once #the choices you have to make become more heavily influenced by the fact that there is just two of you #and your relationship with whatever companion you choose to have along with you #feels so much more intimate and personal because it is just you two against the world #i absolutely adore the dynamic between shadowheart and minthara #and im glad its starting to get some more traction in the fandom #this is a ship that literally sails itself because these two mesh together so perfectly

9 notes · View notes