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sokkagatekeeper · 4 years

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[parallel originally pointed out here]

it goes back to book one the way aang, katara, and zuko are set up to be the main thematic triad of the show, all three of them sharing the qualities of being idealists at heart, generally guided by a strict moral code they impose upon themselves, impulsively heroic at times to the point of naivety, and the belief that they have a great destiny to fulfill, for better or for worse. all of them have a certain legacy, a certain chosen one-ness to them, whether they are aware of the fact the entire time — aang as the avatar and the last airbender; katara as the last southern waterbender — or they have an idea, but aren't aware of the full picture until later on — zuko's legacy from both sozin and roku.

a triad is, of course, not made out of the dynamic of three characters together, but rather the individual pairs, then the function them three manage to balance out. in other words, it does not work like a/b/c but rather a&b / a&c / b&c. aang and zuko share, among many others, the weight of a crucial mistake they made in the past and are desperately trying to fix — mistake that, eventually, leads them to fully become the person they were meant to be; the meaning of identity as what you choose to be every day. zuko and katara share the most intense part of the triad — the rage and grief and anger, as well as the faith, hope, willingness and passion that comes with being a hero; they are the emotional fuel, the drive. aang and katara share the most intimate part of the story; of being a child, and a victim, and standing up despite and maybe because of this — both child survivors of genocide, finding solace in each other as each other's first and best friend, and as a grounding prescence in the midset of the cruel reality of war. when all three different dynamics are combined, you finally get the thematic triad — the three characters that embody the themes and values the show intends to portray and represent. the three of them are indoubtedly the heart of the show, and this is made clear throughout the entire first season. katara as the narrator of the story, aang as the protagonist, zuko as the deuteragonist (as well as antagonist, but in terms of primary titles the deuteragonist always comes first.) they are the most important characters, the basis for every other character that comes after, etc etc.

then there's sokka.

i like to think of sokka as the fourth part of the thematic triangle. he is not essential in the way aang, katara, and zuko are in theory, but he is still immediately established as a main character throughout the first book and accordingly developed in later books 2 and 3. and it works wonders, because while sokka's designated role of the comedic relief character would generally be considered enough to make him a main character, sokka is everything aang, katara, and zuko are not. i'd go as far as to say his entire character is contructed this way.

where aang and katara and zuko are idealists at heart, sokka's pessimism/skepticism is able to protect them from a possible threat their story-structured minds might have not been able to predict, for it might not fit the narrative they construct as it fits the reality of disaster that sokka is very much aware of — which is not to say that aang, katara, and zuko do not know the harsh realities of war, two of them being genocide victims and one of them being pretty much a war veteran, but merely to point out that they believe that somehow, everything will turn out exactly as it has to be above all, while sokka... doesn't, and he approaches every situation as such.

where aang, katara, and zuko are all some sort of chosen one and often act and think according to it, sokka does not have a great destiny to fulfill nor he believes in destiny as a concept. sokka is — self-admittedly — just some guy. the avatar's friend, the last southern waterbender's brother, the son of the chief, etc etc. his strength comes from his unique way of approaching things, his creativity and intelligence and most of all his identity as fundamentally, no one. sokka grew up to believe he was disposable in comparison and he actively worked — possibly even unconsciously — to be important, to be valuable, to be necessary. he was not born great, but achieved greatness, as one might say. the weight of being no one and having to work to become somebody contrasts beautifully with aang's and katara's and zuko's and even toph's inherent specialness, especially mixing up with aang's and zuko's concept of becoming who you are meant to be because of your choices.

where aang and zuko value human life above all else, and katara will never turn her back on people who need her, sokka is never afraid to get a little dirty when he wants things to go his way, or when there's simply more important things for him to worry about. sokka has what i like to call the practical murder syndrome, not necessarily as murder — though he does quite a lot of those and is willing to let zuko, ultimate deuteragonist extraordinarie, die in a blizzard, simply because it's convenient for them at the moment — but also as the way he's not willing to go out of his way to help every wretched village they come into contact with (see: the painted lady). sokka has his moral code, surely, and he has his limits, but while aang's morals, katara's morals, zuko's morals persist through war, pain, and punishment, sokka's morals are shaped by these concepts. this brings a certain balance to the text, to the group dynamic of the gaang, to the main cast in general, and it helps broadening the audience's perception and objectiveness as well. (see: katara is the narrator, and we mostly perceive the first part of the show and most of her relationship with sokka solely through her lens, but in reality sokka was more right than wrong, and that doesn't mean katara was wrong, either. once you watch the show twice, thrice, and you begin watching it objectively, sokka's motivations and general characterization becomes clearer, and makes more sense, despite opposing katara's point of view in so many ways.)

finally, where aang and katara and zuko are impulsively heroic, sokka is a chronic planner and organizer — while katara and aang are focused on fighting the firelord as an idea, sokka worries about how they will fight the firelord, and plans an entire invasion to give aang the window of opportunity to strike the final blow. while aang wants to fight off the fire nation as his duty as the avatar asks of him, sokka knows he's in no condition to fight, and in any case, there's still no need for him to waste his energies in a fight just yet. while katara wants to help people and fight for what's right, sokka needs to remain focused on the big picture, and when this doesn't do anything for katara's heroic nature, sokka offers an elaborate plan to make katara's bringing-of-justice as doable and safe as possible, for everyone involved. while zuko wants to defend his people against the injustices he knows he could have committed in another time, as his first instinct is always help them out, it's always this isn't fair, they deserve better than this, exactly the way he did it when he spoke against the massacre of the 41st division, sokka has to physically restrain him from making the same mistake zuko made at thirteen. because it's not that sokka cares less, but he knows when to care, and the way to do so as safe as possible — sokka is always planning things ahead, one might even say he overthinks, because albeit with a good reason, sokka is, at heart, kind of a coward. he's always tiptoeing between logic and reason, and outright paranoia. he is right to be a coward most of the time, because he knows bravery is a privilege, bravery comes with a price. he is right to be a coward because aang, katara, and zuko are not, and they are right, too.

sokka manages to perfectly balance the thematic triad of the show and its individual double dynamics possibly accidentally and on his own, giving the show its own taste of sokka's arc of broadening perspectives about the world and the people in it. the same way sokka is able to offer the logic and reason heroism often lacks when needed, aang and katara and zuko's idealism and heroism affects sokka in its own way, helping him to let go of this self-critical overthinker who often commits self-sabotage, to become some sort of unconventional hero himself — achieving this balance, undoubtedly makes sokka the fourth part of the thematic triangle.

#iv #i've has this concept in my mind for so long #literally years. sokka was just Something Else you know #sokka #sokka&thegaang #aang&sokka #sokka&katara #sokka&zuko #i am NOT biased enough to tag this beautiful analysis of mine in a shippy way but. just know that i could. i could!!!#atla #n #aang&katara&zuko #< i KNOWW i said aang katara sokka was my favorite triad but i was lying to myself. i was lying!!!#so i'm finding an excuse to use this tag and the excuse is [checks notes] the entire analysis i just made about them. i just keep winning #Yes sokka is my favorite character Yes i would love to hear hours and hours of the interactions between a triad that does not involve him!!#in my defense it was meant this way!!! i am simply. not doing the death of the author today #analysis #01 #long post

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moviemunchies · 3 years

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Alright I love this movie so I don’t know how objective of a review I can write. I have fond memories of this movie--we went and saw it as a class trip in middle school, and ever since it’s been one of my favorite fantasy films. I mean, yes, it totally came out when it did and padded its battle scenes out more because it was cashing in on the crowd of kids what like Lord of the Rings but that doesn’t make it bad, does it?

So, first things first-- no, The Chronicles of Narnia is NOT an allegory. Stop saying that.

Anyhow I imagine most people who read this blog know the story, but if you don’t: during World War II the four Pevensie children, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy are sent to the countryside manor of Professor Kirk. While exploring the house, Lucy comes across a wardrobe, and within the wardrobe she enters another world called Narnia. Soon enough, they all make it there, but it turns out that there’s a prophecy about them, and the tyrant that’s taken hold of Narnia and cursed it with eternal winter, the White Witch, wants to kill them.

Also, one of them betrays them to the White Witch for the promise of supremacy over the lot of them. To be fair to poor Edmund, he was magically drugged, and he didn’t know she wanted to murder anyone.

So our siblings must seek out Aslan, the Great Lion and true king of Narnia (who is totes Jesus, still not an allegory) and end the reign of the White Witch!

Like I said, I have seen accusations that this was Disney’s cynical attempt to cash in on Lord of the Rings but aimed at children. And I don’t know that it’s wrong to say that, but it’s also short-selling this movie. I mean yes, a lot of this movie was filmed in New Zealand, and WETA Workshop did the effects for this movie.

But you guys know that WETA will work the shiz out of the effects and props, right? The level of detail on the design in this movie (and the sequels) is INSANE and look, I didn’t think that they’d go this hard on designing a story that many people think of as a souped-up children’s fairy tale, but they did and it is GLORIOUS. There are plenty of little details that you may have missed the first time watching that you pick up if you’re paying attention. Like you know that in the final battle Jadis is wearing Aslan’s mane on her collar?

[I have some of the concept art saved on my computer, btw.]

The character arcs are also great developments/additions? They’re not all true to the books, and I do kind of miss that. But I do understand WHY those changes were made. For example, in the novel Edmund’s dickishness is mentioned to be a result of the terrible school experiences he had (Lewis didn’t much like the English education system). Here, to tie it into the other characters his acting out is in large part because his father’s been absent during the war, and butting heads with Peter.

Skandar Keyes is a fantastic Edmund. He gets better in the next movie, but in this one he conveys a lot of the conflict within Edmund, so that he’s sympathetic as the movie goes on, even if he does a lot of things that are pretty terrible (for a child, for the record--it’s not that he really gets into a lot of grade-A evil).

Peter’s characterization is made much more explicit as the older brother who is sometimes a little too hard on his siblings. I think William Mosely does a fairly good job. He gets annoying as an older brother sometimes, but that’s the point, and it makes sense how he and Edmund would be butting heads.

Probably to act as foreshadowing for what happens to her later in the series, Susan is the skeptical one, the logical one, the one asking questions about what the heck is going on and trying to make sense of it all. I think they lean a little too hard into this at times--she starts telling Peter to put down his sword when they’re surrounded by wolves. Otherwise I like that she has a much stronger character arc than in the novel, and Anna Popplewell does well with it. I mean, she’s still pretty likable, and you can see that she is someone trying to achieve the best for her family.

Georgia Henley’s a great Lucy. It would be very easy for this role to be annoying and it’s not, it’s quite lovable. Lucy’s very young and innocent, and in some stories this would play against her, but in this story (both book and movie) it’s kind of her strength? She’s endearing, she’s lovable, and that’s what you need in Lucy Pevensie.

Also we should probably talk about how the child characters are aged up a bit. Of course, this being Hollywood and trying to do action scenes with a twelve-year-old would be… unwise, I get it. But it is a bit weird that Peter and Susan are being sent off to the countryside when, even allowing for Dawson Casting, they’re old enough to stick around their family. They’re not really children. I don’t mind, but it is a case against it as an adaptation, and it works a bit against the logic of the film.

Also Tilda Swinton is having a ball as Jadis, the White Witch. She doesn’t really look like the character description, but she’s fantastic as a cruel and haughty queen, and really, no one does weird ethereal and near inhuman beauty like Tilda Swinton. She apparently had so much fun with the role and the people at Walden Media liked her so much that they put her in the next two movies with whatever scrap of justification they could grab.

Liam Neeson voices Aslan and does a good job. Don’t know if there’s that much that makes him stand out other than needing a serious actor to do the voice. It’s good, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t know if there’s anything in this film that makes Neeson a better choice than any other particularly famous actor.

[Apparently for one of these movies, Neeson took his family on safari to “prepare for the role” which is silly but hey if you can take your family on safari and excuse it as a work trip, why not?]

Final word before the sendoff: the CGI in this movie is still pretty good? It’s not perfect--watching it this past time made me think how something about the Beavers still looks noticeably artificial. But they still look fairly realistic. And I know it’s been said before, but the animal characters in this movie are incredibly expressive despite also looking like real animals, a trick that seemed impressive then, but after _The Lion King_ remake came out a couple years back, one of the defenses of the lack of expressive characters in that film was “Well we wanted them to look realistic!”

And DISNEY, the studio that released both movies, did THIS one FIFTEEN YEARS EARLIER, and also WITH A LION, and managed to make Aslan convey facial expressions and emotions through impressive CGI! WHAT THE FUDGE!

If you like the fantasy works of C.S. Lewis, I imagine you will like this film, unless you’re very strict about adaptations being close to the works they’re inspired by. Even then, I think it’s a pretty good adaptation, and that the changes made are those that make for a better cinematic viewing experience. If you’re not as familiar with the source material but you like fantasy, and children’s stories, you’ll probably like this movie.

Like I said, I have seen some people accuse this movie of being a lower-tier Lord of the Rings cash-in. I don’t think that’s the case, but if you’re very interested in serious fantasy and war stories, this movie’s not going to work for you. I don’t think there’s any blood at all in the film; if there is, it’s very little. Which considering the amount of action and the battle sequence in the climax is maybe a bit egregious.

I think it’s a good movie and a pretty solid adaptation of one of the foundational texts of the modern fantasy genre. Take a watch.

#Chronicles of Narnia #Movie Munchies #The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe #Walden Media #Disney

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tfw-no-tennis · 4 years

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mtmte liveblog issue 22

oooh man, its time to feel some EMOTIONS!

I'm BACK after a hiatus, which was due in part to me getting my 1st dose of the covid vaccine! woohoo!

anyways, starting here w/issue 22....we have a great cover w/thunderclash, the legend himself

oof. the covers made me forget how much I don't like the art this issue...I hate to be mean to the artists but this art style just isn't doin it for me chief

god I love this issue though. the framing device of rewind’s movie is so so fantastic

tailgate listing off all his fake awards/accomplishments....ily

rodimus my boy, you're a prime in my heart

the ‘not a decepticon’ label for cyclonus is so much hvbhkjfbskjf

I literally wanna comment on every single panel bc I love all the characters so much but then id be here forever...that being said whirl ily sm

hvbjdfbhsfjhdfshja BRAINSTORM ‘according to perceptor - ships genius’ hvhdkjhbfhjs ily dumb gay idiot

and then the cut to perceptor after brainstorm like, blew up his lab vjbkdsfnbksjf dude

GODDDDDD drift ‘your name...defines you. it’s your soul expressed in syllables. hm? oh, yes, sorry. it’s drift.’ GOD he’s so fucking funny. I love early story hippy drift

god I cant stop thinking about how good this whole issue would be as an animated show...like, specifically rewinds film, it would be SO FUCKING GOOOOOOD mtmte show WHEN

rewiiiiind ;_; I fuckgin love rewind god. fellow video editing enthusiast....

ohhhh rodimus being embarrassed about his big speech at the beginning of mtmte....my boy I love u so much

gjhnbgehjsrkfbjksf magnus being suspicious of rewind oh my god. magnus ily but please, look at the lil guy, he’s a good boy, most of the time

the fuckgin footage that magnus removed hbvhakjbfhskf god. wasn't that intended to be footage of magnus dancing? I love him

minibot squad.....

and here it begins, the mystery stick rung question...

poor rung oh my god he’s just trying to polish his lil spaceship and people r throwing shit at him. taking Ls as per usual it seems

hand grenade tag hvbfjksdnfbkjdf love that callback

noooo rungs ship :(

magnus’s censorship vhbhadkjfhdbhjsakjhfn

oh man I forgot about how they met that race of Transformers But More

the one-upsmanship hbvkajsbehfjks

whirrrrrl lmao I love whirl sm

goddddd whirl just killing that other alien and ending the 16 million yr long civil war bvkjsdbfhjjkafs so fucking much

oh god oh god the ‘are you happy’ page, I'm not emotionally equipped to handle this like, ever

but I will say I feel like it would be EVEN MORE oof if it were milne or someone drawing it bc I feel like this art style takes away from some of the impact bc the expressions aren't really that...expressive? idk how to put it

anyways. every single answer destroys me!!! like even the happy ones, like chromedome and rewind and tailgate - well, in present time, none of those three are doing so hot, so that makes this just hurt

and rung....that is so fucking depressing. jesus. this guy is so fuckng sad, somebody get him a friend stat

and swerve...ouch. this readthru I've really noticed how much early-mtmte swerve is not-so-subtly like, crying out for help bc he’s so alone and shit. jesus

also brainstorms response is just plain ole sad w/context, but at this point in the story without context, it just seems very foreboding lmao. I'm realizing this readthru that brainstorm is very sketchy and ominous in a particular ‘is he evil?’ mad scientist sorta way in early mtmte

and then everyone else is also just so OOF in their own unique sad ways, but I think the worst out of everyone is drift....GODDDDDD. especially considering that at this point in the story, drift is this kinda goofy hippy guy, so seeing him just sit there with his face in his hand, not even answering the question...AND knowing that shortly after this he’ll end up banished...IT FUCKING HURTS M8!

meanwhile, the more upbeat ‘quest to see rungs alt mode’ continues...with an ‘alt mode party’ vhbadkjsdfnabskjf it looks so silly with a bunch of cars just sitting around a table lmao

I cant even tell who everyone is bc they so rarely turn into cars n shit lmaoooooo

rodimus with the bucket on his head hbvhakjbfskjf I CANT

everyone’s reactions to thunderclash...i fucking love it

the fact that TAILGATE doesn't hate him, even though we’ve seen that tailgate tends to dislike people who are universally liked/who have achieved a lot of impressive things

rodimus you petty thot vbdkjbfdjhsakjdf ily

RODIMUS IS SO FUNNYYYYYY ‘I'm not making all these sacrifices and leading these guys into battle and being inspirational - I'm not doing that because it makes me look good’ RODIMUS VBHSKJDFNBKSJF

thunderclash talking about magnus’s article on typefaces....hdbksjfsdbkjgfb bro

AND THEN MAGNUS HUGS HIM....HGBSKJFDSHFKD I CANT

POOR DRIFT bvhajkdfbhjkjsfd rodimus saying he ‘rehabilitated him’ oh my god

the whole spectralism thing...im sorry I cant get over how funny all this is vbakdjfbksjf thunderclash rlly b out here charming rodimus’s entire crew

and then ratchet comes in, calling tc ‘thunders,’ and tc immediately notices ratchets new hands (somehow) hvbkjfhbskjf truly amazing

it cracks me up that rodimus is all 😒😒 at thunderclash, even though as we come to find out, tc really IS That Perfect, and him complimenting rodimus isn't sarcasm at all lmao

AND THEYRE LOOKING FOR THE KNIGHTS OF CYBERTRON TOO HVSDHFJBSHKHDFJS OF COURSE

the vis vitalis being a life support machine spaceship is a really cool concept tho

‘rescuing some orphans from an exploding sun’ I fucking cant

evil guy: [holds a gun to thunderclash’s head]

rodimus: :D finally something doesn't go his way!

he’s so petty I’m..........dkdjhfdabhduifadijgl

and its the aliens from earlier! oooh

GODDD I forgot that swerve used rung in mystery stick mode to SCHWACK the guy

rung casually dropping the fact that the functionists like, experimented on him...there's a lot of implications there, and that'll certainly be explored more later...

the fact that his ID card says ‘rong’ hvbhjakhdsbfakhsjfn

oughufadkfujbsfk the circle of light throwing wrenches n shit at skids...guys cmon vbhsdjkfnslfd

the circle of light is like ‘wtf you all have trauma and a bunch of weird unhealthy coping mechanisms this is wack byeeeee’ lmao

skids calling the lost light his home is rlly sweet tho

cant believe the religious space hippy cult is being so rude about a film made by a guy who died like a week ago. unreal

cd finally figured out how to make the pffft sound, good for him

AUGHHHHH the fact that rewind used ‘little victories’ as the title of the film and that's something that chromedome said in the video ;_; I'm fucking inconsolable

rodimus, despite his obvious posturing for the camera during the whole issue, comes off as surprisingly genuine when he says that he hasn't thought about his own future much, but wants the crew to have a happy ending....im gonna cry

‘who knows what's around the corner?’ tailgate, PLEASE don't say that, oh my god,

OUGHHHH GROUP SHOT

OHHH mannnnNNNNN i love this issue SO MUCH. what a good fun emotional rollercoaster wrap-up to mtmte s1. god.

like, this issue has it all - humor, drama, crippling sadness, intrigue, worldbuilding...it’s so excellent

and getting to see rewind again hurts so bad but also I love him

ok quick mtmte s1 retrospective...god s1 is so fucking good. I'm gonna have to read more to say which chunk of mtmte I liked best but s1 is so fucking excellent that it might be my favorite. though its hard to pick bc there's so much good stuff later on too...whatever, the point is s1 is so so good

the plotlines and characters are fucking stellar. like I cant even believe how well Everything works, its very impressive. I cant really think of anything major that made me go ‘yeah could've done without that plotline/character’

I love how dedicated jro is to connecting everything. I've mentioned it before but basically every single moment in the series has payoff - what you initially think is just a funny moment, or a fluffy character establishment bit, ends up ALSO being an important plot point later, in some way

an example would be here w/rung and his alt mode - it just seems like a fun little B-plot for this issue, and seems to pretty neatly conclude with the reveal that rung was eventually classified as an ‘ornament’ (lmao)...but we later on get to see a lot more about this, both here and in the functionist universe

and like, stuff like tailgate’s autobot lessons w/magnus - at first that can be seen as purely character establishment stuff, showing that magnus is a strict rule-lover and tg is a loveable try-hard good boy - but that becomes plot relevant in remain in light, with tailgate saving the day due to his knowledge of the autobot code (and its also character relevant, with magnus’s arc in remain in light).

and I know this is like. a normal regular thing in writing, but I'm just very impressed about how cleanly jro pulls it off, and how many things he’s juggling at once, especially in early mtmte - it’s very ambitious!

and we gotta remember, this is a comic book. I've read a lot of comic books, and the quality is all over the place. a lot of writers bite off more than they can chew, and the story ends up kinda scattered as a result.

another thing I see a lot in franchise writing like this is a lack of strong early character establishing due to the author assuming the readers are at least somewhat familiar with the characters already - which can be totally fair depending on where it is in the continuity, but other times it can come off as lazy

in mtmte, the cast is extremely well fleshed out, and not only that, the cast itself is unique in that there are a lot of relative unknowns (franchise-wise) - which I think was an absolutely brilliant move, because then jro was able to essentially create The Definitive Version of these characters - characters like swerve, brainstorm, chromedome, rewind, tailgate...mtmte is their baseline characterization, because they haven't really appeared in much else

this also allows for deviation from the franchise norms - again, a comic book classic is good writing being stifled by a need to stick to a certain status quo regard the characters, the world, the powers, relationships, etc

(I've mostly read DC comics, and some marvel, so I'm thinking superheroes w/all these comic comparisons)

so mtmte had a good recipe for genuine creativity in that the characters were relative unknowns, the plot was basically ‘space road trip,’ the status quo of ‘autobot vs decepticon war’ had been demolished throughout the entire franchise...so jro was able to take all that and run, and it turned out so fantastic

and luckily it isn't over yet! so many comics suffer from premature cancellation...and sadly mtmte/ll isn't exempt from this, as we’ll see later, but I've seen some awful ones, where comics are forced to wrap up in like 2 issues while in the middle of an arc. yikes.

but another comic staple...one of my least favorite things about comics books in general...something that was basically responsible for driving me away from comics after reading a bunch...the dreaded crossover event

yep, even mtmte isn't immune to this unfortunate plague on the comic industry. crossover events are the absolute worst, and I'm saying this as somebody who adores crossovers (in concept more than execution usually). they SHOULD be my favorite, but unfortunately they p much always completely suck

they're essentially a ploy to get you to read the other ongoing titles, but they usually only serve to bog down whatever story you're reading to the point where you don't even wanna read that one anymore, let alone read all the other ongoings. at least, that’s been my experience

it doesn't help that reading orders tend to be hard to find/keep track of, and that you need to go read the other series to know what's going on. I just hate it, like, I came here to read THIS series, I don't want a bunch of other series showing up too - even if I was reading two series, I wouldn't want them crossed over, because they're separate stories! augh!

I'm totally losing my focus here but my point is...crossover events suck, and mtmte unfortunately is involved in one. I have not read dark cybertron, and I'm not about to. I've heard nothing but bad things so I have no desire to inflict that upon myself

soooo ill be reading through the tfwiki articles for those issues to give myself a better understanding of what went on - which is more than I've ever done in the past - and maybe ill even make a single post summarizing my thoughts on what I read in the wiki, lmao

but yea ill be skipping to the mtmte s2 stuff next

phew ok I'm super tired, my vision keeps blurring out and stuff lmao. its time for bed, I probably have more thoughts but ill save them for later. for now...peace out!

#lj rereads mtmte

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chatterbox-meta · 6 years

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Katsuki Bakugou and The Five Stages of Grief

Or, the essay in which I argue Bakugou was a great character way before S3 rolled around. The title will become relevant eventually. Speaking of, the following contains spoilers for the entirety of the My Hero Academia anime (S1-S3) and some mild spoilers for the manga. I repeat, this is an in-depth analysis of Bakugou’s entire journey.

(Originally submitted anonymously to @heroes-never-discourse over here.)

When we first meet Bakugou, he seems completely secure in his place in the world. He’s loud, brash and at his most arrogant. But when the teacher reveals that Deku wants to go to U.A. just like him, he doesn’t laugh along with the rest of the class, he’s shocked for a moment and then he flips his shit, to the point of telling Deku he has a better chance of getting a Quirk and being a hero in his next life. The first time, it’s just meant to make us hate him. In hindsight, with context, it’s the first crack in Bakugou’s facade. I’m not saying Bakugou’s arrogance is fake. He wouldn’t care so much about being the best if he wasn’t prideful, but let’s put it this way: Deku’s confidence is a foundation being built brick by brick, while Bakugou’s is a tower of cards. And all because when they were kids Deku cast doubt on that security in his place in the world, making him doubt whether the things he was praised for all his life meant anything at all, if he was weak despite being strong. However, Bakugou is still in denial of these doubts and fears when the series begins. The Sludge Villain incident and Deku rescuing him bring them to the surface, but he quickly pushes them down again by pretending he totally could have handled it himself (though he knows he couldn’t, which is why he doesn’t accept the praise from the pro-heroes on the scene) and avoiding Deku. But then Deku suddenly gets a Quirk and Bakugou is furious. He accuses Deku of hiding his Quirk all this time and laughing behind his back. Again, on a first viewing, this just sounds like Insane Troll Logic, but knowing that Bakugou always feared Deku had some hidden strength, it makes sense he’d connect that with One For All’s sudden appearance. (Though it’s still not a reasonable conclusion since it’s based on a false premise lmao.) During Deku vs Kacchan Part 1, Bakugou can no longer deny what he thinks is the truth about Deku, so he lashes out. It’s his last chance to make Deku give up on being a hero. He’s not just looking to beat up Deku, though, he wants Deku to fight back, to show him that power so Bakugou can snuff it out. After all, a victory over an opponent who’s holding back isn’t a victory at all. But Deku does hold back, focusing on his mission, and in doing so, defeats Bakugou. And it’s here that Bakugou’s security in his place in the world is completely shattered, not just by Deku, but also by seeing other students, especially Todoroki, whom he doesn’t think he can beat. He can no longer deny it and his anger has only blinded him to the path of true victory, as Yaoyorozu points out. And Bakugou, despite all appearances, can take criticism and learn from his mistakes. In the aftermath, both Deku and Bakugou basically declare war on each other, but despite Deku saying he’ll surpass him, Bakugou feels that their situation is flipped. That Deku is the one who’s ahead and Bakugou’s the one scrambling to catch up. (I don’t think he realises that during the time spent chasing Deku, he’ll work harder and grow more than he has in a decade.) And he wants to catch up. Despite his sense of self as a winner being taken from him, Bakugou is not willing to let it go. And the Sports Festival is Bakugou’s attempt to regain it. It’s a bargain. He has a pretty detailed and strict set of rules for that, too. First, he’ll announce that he’ll take the number one spot to the entire stadium. As Deku points out, he’s not bragging, he’s pushing himself, knowing he’ll look like a complete tool if he loses after a declaration like that. Secondly, he has to defeat Deku or Todoroki (or both), the people he perceives as the greatest threats. Finally, he has to win against all of his opponents at their best. If he fails at any of those things, if he doesn’t prove himself to be the indisputable strongest, he will have failed, completely. This period of the story also showcases a subtle shift in his personality, one that was already somewhat visible during the USJ arc. Bakugou was never stupid, but asides from designing his weapons and costume for maximum efficiency (seriously, despite looking exactly like what happens when you give an edgy 15-year-old free reign to design a costume, his is the most utilitarian, mitigating recoil and absorbing sweat and all that), he used to rely solely on his admittedly above-average combat skills. But the fight against Deku proved that it wouldn’t be enough, so he (probably subconsciously) takes a page out of his book and starts carefully analysing his opponents’ moves to find their weaknesses. He’s also rather less nasty. He isn’t kinder or more polite, but he doesn’t go out of his way to be cruel. And he’s starting to look around himself and see other people, recognizing their strengths, if only so he knows how to beat them (he doesn’t underestimate any of his opponents) or use them to his advantage (Cavalry Battle). This is also when his friendship with Kirishima officially starts, since Kiri approached him as an ally. Unfortunately, he’s still a disrespectful tyrant in an environment where people aren’t willing to follow him just because, and he doesn’t deal with that well, exposing himself to be a huge antisocial weirdo when he’s not in control. For me, this was when I started to like Bakugou as a character. He still didn’t seem great without the context provided later, but his personality wasn’t just “Deku’s bully,” as he interacted with people other than him. Back on track, all of this is particularly emphasized during his fight with Uraraka. Just like in his fight with Deku, he’s giving it his all not because he enjoys beating up the weak, but because he knows his opponent is stronger than she looks.* Unlike the fight with Deku though, he has no grudge that makes him act like a rabid animal and isn’t letting his guard down for a second. And when it’s over, he’s disappointed because he’s gained respect for Uraraka and was excited to fight her. (*Though maybe that is an overly charitable interpretation of DvK1 lmao.)

Soon afterwards, Deku loses to Todoroki, but not before making him use his fire side. So all Bakugou has to do to complete his mission is defeat Todoroki. Bakugou isn’t upset that Deku lost, after all, he didn’t believe he himself could win against Todoroki’s ice alone before.

But he does. And he’s not satisfied. Because he didn’t beat Todoroki at his full power since he, due to personal issues, couldn’t bring himself to use his fire side, which he did against Deku. Yes, Deku lost after Todoroki used it, but he forced Todoroki to give him all he’s got, something Bakugou couldn’t do. To him, it’s like losing to Deku by proxy.

(He probably thinks Todoroki didn’t use his fire because he didn’t see Bakugou as worth it, unlike with Deku, but the actual reason is that Bakugou couldn’t reach out to him the way Deku could. That’s what he’s missing, he just doesn’t know it yet.)

Okay, so, Bakugou wins the Sports Festival, but fails to accomplish what he set out to do. He feels desperate and lashes out again. Though I actually doubt he would have kept beating Todoroki’s corpse (so to speak), he’s put to sleep just in case and chained up for the ceremony like a wild beast. Certain people take notice.

Before, that, though, it’s time for some work experience! He’s still behind Deku, but maybe working for the number three hero will help him! Wait, what do you mean, Deku is out there improving his fighting style by copying Bakugou’s moves (and Gran Torino’s, and also fighting a literal serial killer, but Bakugou doesn’t know that), while Bakugou is - what, modeling jeans?!

In fairness, Best Jeanist’s intent was to teach him to be respectable, but, like, he came up to a delinquent teenager and told him he should overhaul his entire look and personality, what did he expect was going to happen? XD

Ooooh, but this next part is super interesting. The End of Term Exam. Deku and Kacchan vs All Might.

The in-universe reason for having these two team up is something like “Bakugou needs to learn to work with someone he doesn’t like and Deku needs to assert himself and force an uncooperative teammate to work with him.” Both of those are likely scenarios in their future careers. The narrative reason, however, is twofold.

Firstly, before this point, Deku and Bakugou have grown mostly separately from each other. This means that while they’ve changed individually, their relationship didn’t. And it has to. Bakugou’s issues with Deku were actually only made worse due to how far behind he thinks he’s fallen, so he attempts to prove he can defeat All Might on his own. When Deku objects, Bakugou even relapses into his cruel personality and pretty much bitchslaps him. Deku can fight back now, but he doesn’t want to, he wants to talk.

Secondly, the fact that they’re teamed up against All Might is vital. Because while there were hints of it beforehand, this is the first time we learn about the two sides of All Might that Deku and Bakugou admire - saving and winning. Deku wants to save people, but hesitates to take on All Might, even though escaping him would be impossible. But he doesn’t run, because Bakugou doesn’t. That is our first glimpse into what Deku admires in Bakugou and what he can learn from him.

However, Bakugou charges at All Might alone and predictably gets the crap kicked out of him. Even though he’s beaten to the point of vomiting, Bakugou refuses Deku’s help (saving), saying that he would rather lose. This is when Deku punches him, and not just to get him away from All Might or because Bakugou hit him earlier, but because he doesn’t want Bakugou to give up on the one thing Deku’s always admired about him.

Bakugou seems to remember himself then. He remembers that he’s the guy who wins, at all costs. Even if it means accepting Deku’s help. Oh, but not just that - he starts emulating Deku in turn. He sacrifices his protection from pain by giving his gauntlet to Deku and making bigger and bigger explosions. When Deku uses the gauntlet, he hurts his shoulder from the recoil, but Bakugou should already be used to the strain, so how far is he going for his arms to hurt?

…Yeah, okay maybe the whole “break all your bones to achieve your goal” isn’t the part of Deku he should be emulating, but the saving part? Absolutely. And he does emulate it, when he jumps in front of a blow meant for Deku and gets smashed into the ground so Deku can get to the gate. Deku being Deku decides to attack All Might so he can carry Bakugou to safety with him. They win by saving and save by winning.

This fight was a pivotal moment for both characters as it shows what their relationship has the potential to become. Though Bakugou probably doesn’t realise it because he’s too busy thinking he failed by accepting Deku’s help. Yet it’s his greatest victory yet.

Speaking of pivotal moments, summer arrives and Bakugou gets kidnapped by the League of Villains. Deku tries to save him, but he tells him to stay away. The others take this to mean Bakugou is too prideful to be saved by Deku yet again, but while that might be partially true, I think it has more to do with the guy whose name literally means “cremation” holding him by the neck and Deku having two broken arms, fucking moron, stay away.

Anyway, in the villains’ hideout, Bakugou is offered a chance to join the League. He refuses immediately and attacks Shigaraki despite being outnumbered, even refusing to lie to get out of trouble. He then explains that he’ll never join the villains, not just because of Shigaraki’s less-than stellar persuasion skills (seriously, Bakugou’s the last person to believe he’s “wronged” by society), but because he wants to win like All Might, like a hero.

This is supposed to be a big twist on a first viewing, but if you pay attention to everything beforehand, it really shouldn’t be. Bakugou has many flaws, but his ambition was never portrayed as a bad thing and now, it’s what’s keeping him from throwing in the towel and becoming a villain.

(Also, I don’t know how anyone thought he’d pull a Sasuke, it would make no narrative sense. Like, the reason Sasuke joining the villains had any impact was because him and Naruto were friends, Bakugou joining Deku’s enemies would have changed what exactly? Lmao.)

So the heroes arrive to the rescue, but All For One appears and they’re all in even deeper shit now. All Might can’t go all out because he’s busy protecting Bakugou, who’s busy holding off the League who presumably want to make him into a Noumu now. Luckily, the Rescue Squad comes blasting through the sky with Kirishima’s outstretched hand. Bakugou takes it. I shouldn’t have to explain why that’s important.

Despite being free to go all out, All Might can’t defeat All For One and his true form is revealed. This is Bakugou’s first time seeing the greatest hero be vulnerable and things look bad. The crowd is desperately cheering All Might on and both Bakugou and Deku are screaming for All Might to win. Which he does. But he’s spent and he points to the cameras saying “you’re next.” Everyone starts cheering, except for Deku, who bursts into tears, and Bakugou, who looks pensive.

When they get back, Bakugou is nicer than normal. He cheers up the class using Kaminari and gives Kirishima money for a new camera as a way to thank them for risking their lives and careers to save him. He respects All Might’s decision not to tell him about Deku and OFA and verbally thanks him for saving him.

This is because Bakugou ended up taking this entire fiasco as his greatest failure yet. DvK1, the Sports Festival, the End of Term Exam - all of it pales in comparison. If he didn’t get himself kidnapped, his idol wouldn’t have lost his powers in order to save him and society would still have its Symbol of Peace. That’s right, society is in disarray and they must all think that it’s his fault. Whether or not it actually is his fault is besides the point, what matters is that he thinks it is.

What’s worse is that he knows Deku now has that power. His worst fear has come true. But he can’t talk to anyone about it, so he tries to bury it. He’s been in denial before, he can do it again, right?

No. It’s always on his mind. And I think this was the reason why he was so harsh on the pretend hostages during the Provisional Hero License Exam. It wasn’t (just) his usual jackassery, he screamed at them to save themselves because that’s what he thinks he should have done. Unfortunately, it’s what caused him to fail the exam.

Now, he’s failed plenty of times, just recently caused the end of All Might, surely that’s nothing? But Deku passed the exam and Bakugou has never been more aware of Deku’s back, getting further and further away. That was the last nail in the coffin.

He goes to confront Deku at Ground Beta, the site of DvK1, to get some answers about him and All Might. And so Deku vs Kacchan Part 2 begins.

I won’t repeat what I’ve already said about what’s revealed in this fight, but I’ll elaborate on what Bakugou wants from it. First of all, he didn’t go into it expecting to win. He’s already lost - he ended All Might and Deku was chosen as his protégé. What Bakugou wants is to know why. He’s always feared that Deku was worthy somehow, but he could never put his finger on what made him worthy.

Why did Deku lose? If he’s the true hero, he should have won. Surely that idea is not wrong. Bakugou won, but he’s not satisfied, he knows he’s missing something.

Why did the kid he spent ten years trying to put far behind him overtake him? Why did Deku become the prodigy and Bakugou the failure? Yes, after spending most of the series fighting tooth and nail to hold onto his image as the strong one, he’s accepted that he’s weak, he’s despairing, but why?

All Might provides the answer that was blindingly obvious to anyone but Bakugou. Deku had the heart of a true hero, even though he lacked the power to win and that made him worthy. but Bakugou’s view of a hero that always wins wasn’t wrong either. It was just incomplete, just as Deku’s was. But together, learning from each other, they can be the greatest heroes the world has ever seen.

And with all of their complicated emotions that have been festering for years out of the way, they can finally move forward. Bakugou can finally accept his weaknesses to make himself stronger, he can finally accept Deku as a rival who pushes him forward instead of a threat. And he can support Deku in turn, he does need to make up for years of pushing him down.

…

I think this is as good a time as any to go back to the title of this meta. The five stages of grief are, well, exactly as it sounds, the five steps of the grieving process: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Despair and Acceptance. Not necessarily in that order. Bakugou spends most of his time pinballing between the first three, actually. Yet his overall character arc, spanning the time between chapter one and DvK2, still follows roughly that formula.

But what is he grieving? Well, grief is a general feeling of loss and Bakugou is grieving the slow loss of his identity. Ever since he was a child, he’d put so much stock into his strength and abilities to the point that he didn’t know who he’d be without being the best. Bakugou has no Freudian Excuse, he’s pretty much had it all, yet when I was watching DvK2, I didn’t see a spoiled brat throwing a tantrum because he didn’t get an honor he didn’t deserve. I saw a lost kid who doesn’t even know who he is anymore.

But as painful as all that was, it was ultimately for his own good. His fragile ego needed to be broken in order for Bakugou to rebuild himself into a stronger, kinder, better person. He needed to pick up the pieces that were still useful and fill in the gaps with things he learned from All Might. From Deku.

And the manga is already delivering on that. Bakugou does take a backseat for the next few arcs, but when he appears, he’s always seen making a concentrated effort to be better. I think that’s when his “redemption” truly starts, previously him becoming a better person was more of a side effect of everything else going on and he was dragged into it kicking and screaming.

Bakugou gives comfort and encouragement to Kirishima prior to his internship. He waits up for the interns with the others.

He listens to Todoroki when he suggests a better way to deal with children than physical discipline. He warns a child that reminds him of his past self that if he’s always looking down on people, he’ll be blind to his own weakness.

He integrates himself into the class during the Culture Festival, getting offended on their behalf - because they’re not extras, he’s one of them, now - when the other classes blame them for villain attacks. He listens to Jirou when she tells him to stop improvising because, as a drummer, he’s the support, not the lead.

Finally, he looks out for anyone in danger and jumps in to save them and lets himself be saved in turn. He keeps an eye on Deku and tries to aid his progress, like he promised.

Of course, he’s still got a long way to go. He’s still rough around the edges and he does have a literal decade to make up for, but I believe he will. With him being in on the secret and getting his license, it’s about time he and Deku get into hot water with the League again.

But everything that’s happened so far has been built up from Day One. This is Katsuki Bakugou. In hindsight.

#my hero academia #bnha #bnha meta #katsuki bakugou #chatterbox meta #long post #extremely long post you were warned #almost 4 fucking k #i know bakugou metas are a dime a dozen at this point #but i tried to do it with a different lens!

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heroes-never-discourse · 6 years

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Katsuki Bakugou and The Five Stages of Grief

In the early parts of My Hero Academia, Katsuki Bakugou was defined almost completely by his role in Deku’s underdog story - as an obstacle in Deku’s path to becoming a hero, an arrogant bully and therefore an antagonist you really want to see go down. And he served that role really well, but there wasn't much more to him. And what little insight we got into his character didn’t make a lot of sense. Why would he think Deku was hiding his Quirk all this time? He hates Deku for wanting to help him up, fucking really? And he doesn't even have a tragic backstory! Etc. etc. The audience was left with the impression that he’s just a cruel spoiled brat lashing out because the kid he hates for being Quirkless won’t let him do what he wants. That he wants the number one spot because he believes he deserves it. That impression slowly started to change when Bakugou defied expectations by refusing to join the League of Villains just to get more power. Then, it was completely flipped on its head when Deku vs Kacchan revealed that Bakugou never hated Deku for being Quirkless, but that he was always afraid that Deku, despite being Quirkless and clumsy and a crybaby, had whatever it takes to overtake him, knew it, and looked down on Bakugou for it. Of course, Deku’s reply is “I wanted to surpass you because I thought you were amazing, not weak, you fucking asshole” (paraphrased, obviously lol), but that’s not the point. The point is that the audience finally has what was missing from Bakugou’s early characterization - context. With that context, the underlying setup for his character arc becomes visible. Let’s go back to the beginning and take a closer look! When we first meet Bakugou, he seems completely secure in his place in the world. He’s loud, brash and at his most arrogant. But when the teacher reveals that Deku wants to go to U.A. just like him, he doesn’t laugh along with the rest of the class, he’s shocked for a moment and then he flips his shit, to the point of telling Deku he has a better chance of getting a Quirk and being a hero in his next life. The first time, it’s just meant to make us hate him. In hindsight, with context, it’s the first crack in Bakugou’s facade. I’m not saying Bakugou’s arrogance is fake. He wouldn’t care so much about being the best if he wasn’t prideful, but let’s put it this way: Deku’s confidence is a foundation being built brick by brick, while Bakugou’s is a tower of cards. And all because when they were kids Deku cast doubt on that security in his place in the world, making him doubt whether the things he was praised for all his life meant anything at all, if he was weak despite being strong. However, Bakugou is still in denial of these doubts and fears when the series begins. The Sludge Villain incident and Deku rescuing him bring them to the surface, but he quickly pushes them down again by pretending he totally could have handled it himself (though he knows he couldn’t, which is why he doesn’t accept the praise from the pro-heroes on the scene) and avoiding Deku. But then Deku suddenly gets a Quirk and Bakugou is furious. He accuses Deku of hiding his Quirk all this time and laughing behind his back. Again, on a first viewing, this just sounds like Insane Troll Logic, but knowing that Bakugou always feared Deku had some hidden strength, it makes sense he’d connect that with One For All’s sudden appearance. (Though it’s still not a reasonable conclusion since it’s based on a false premise lmao.) During Deku vs Kacchan Part 1, Bakugou can no longer deny what he thinks is the truth about Deku, so he lashes out. It’s his last chance to make Deku give up on being a hero. He’s not just looking to beat up Deku, though, he wants Deku to fight back, to show him that power so Bakugou can snuff it out. After all, a victory over an opponent who’s holding back isn’t a victory at all. But Deku does hold back, focusing on his mission, and in doing so, defeats Bakugou. And it’s here that Bakugou’s security in his place in the world is completely shattered, not just by Deku, but also by seeing other students, especially Todoroki, whom he doesn’t think he can beat. He can no longer deny it and his anger has only blinded him to the path of true victory, as Yaoyorozu points out. And Bakugou, despite all appearances, can take criticism and learn from his mistakes. In the aftermath, both Deku and Bakugou basically declare war on each other, but despite Deku saying he’ll surpass him, Bakugou feels that their situation is flipped. That Deku is the one who’s ahead and Bakugou’s the one scrambling to catch up. (I don’t think he realises that during the time spent chasing Deku, he’ll work harder and grow more than he has in a decade.) And he wants to catch up. Despite his sense of self as a winner being taken from him, Bakugou is not willing to let it go. And the Sports Festival is Bakugou’s attempt to regain it. It’s a bargain. He has a pretty detailed and strict set of rules for that, too. First, he’ll announce that he’ll take the number one spot to the entire stadium. As Deku points out, he’s not bragging, he’s pushing himself, knowing he’ll look like a complete tool if he loses after a declaration like that. Secondly, he has to defeat Deku or Todoroki (or both), the people he perceives as the greatest threats. Finally, he has to win against all of his opponents at their best. If he fails at any of those things, if he doesn’t prove himself to be the indisputable strongest, he will have failed, completely. This period of the story also showcases a subtle shift in his personality, one that was already somewhat visible during the USJ arc. Bakugou was never stupid, but asides from designing his weapons and costume for maximum efficiency (seriously, despite looking exactly like what happens when you give an edgy 15-year-old free reign to design a costume, his is the most utilitarian, mitigating recoil and absorbing sweat and all that), he used to rely solely on his admittedly above-average combat skills. But the fight against Deku proved that it wouldn’t be enough, so he (probably subconsciously) takes a page out of his book and starts carefully analysing his opponents’ moves to find their weaknesses. He’s also rather less nasty. He isn’t kinder or more polite, but he doesn’t go out of his way to be cruel. And he’s starting to look around himself and see other people, recognizing their strengths, if only so he knows how to beat them (he doesn’t underestimate any of his opponents) or use them to his advantage (Cavalry Battle). This is also when his friendship with Kirishima officially starts, since Kiri approached him as an ally. Unfortunately, he’s still a disrespectful tyrant in an environment where people aren’t willing to follow him just because, and he doesn’t deal with that well, exposing himself to be a huge antisocial weirdo when he’s not in control. For me, this was when I started to like Bakugou as a character. He still didn’t seem great without the context provided later, but his personality wasn’t just “Deku’s bully,” as he interacted with people other than him. Back on track, all of this is particularly emphasized during his fight with Uraraka. Just like in his fight with Deku, he’s giving it his all not because he enjoys beating up the weak, but because he knows his opponent is stronger than she looks.* Unlike the fight with Deku though, he has no grudge that makes him act like a rabid animal and isn’t letting his guard down for a second. And when it’s over, he’s disappointed because he’s gained respect for Uraraka and was excited to fight her. (*Though maybe that is an overly charitable interpretation of DvK1 lmao.)

Ooooh, but this next part is super interesting. The End of Term Exam. Deku and Kacchan vs All Might.

This is because Bakugou ended up taking this entire fiasco as his greatest failure yet. DvK1, the Sports Festival, the End of Term Exam - all of it pales in comparison. If he didn’t get himself kidnapped, his idol wouldn’t have lost his powers in order to save him and society would still have its Symbol of Piece. That’s right, society is in disarray and they must all think that it’s his fault. Whether or not it actually is his fault or not is besides the point, what matters is that he thinks it is.

He goes to confront Deku at Ground Beta, the site of DvK1, to get some answers about him and All Might. And so Deku vs Kacchan Part 2 begins.

Why did Deku lose? If he’s the true hero, he should have won. Surely that idea is not wrong. Bakugou won, but he’s not satisfied, he knows he’s missing something.

…

Bakugou gives comfort and encouragement to Kirishima prior to his internship. He waits up for the interns with the others.

Finally, he looks out for anyone in danger and jumps in to save them and lets himself be saved in turn. He keeps an eye on Deku and tries to aid his progress, like he promised.

But everything that’s happened so far has been built up from Day One. This is Katsuki Bakugou. In hindsight.

(This meta is dedicated to Celcius-senpai and Kali. Also, I’ll put in a treat in the fake email name every time from now on. ;))

This is fucking amazing, B-non, like no joke, the best character dive I’ve read, maybe ever

also

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#bnha meta #bakugou katsuki #meta #katsuki bakugou #bnha kacchan #bnha #bnha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #anonymous online #submission #b-non metas #~B-non #this is so fucking good dude #god i love meta #b-non you're a fucking star okay #long post #very long post

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olympicreads · 6 years

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king of scars by Leigh Bardugo rating: ★★★ 1/2 warning: this review contains spoilers. the paragraphs containing them will be marked accordingly.

I’ll find a way. All his life, Nikolai had believed that. His will had been enough to shape not only his fate but his own identity.

I was on the fence about giving this book 3 or 4 stars... Because this is a 4-stars novel, but I know that Leigh Bardugo can do much better, so I thought I’d be more strict in this case. I wish I was giving it the 5 stars it should’ve had, though. However, I can't do that in good conscience, because in more than one way this book was a regression to the bad aspects of The Grisha Trilogy.

I’m not going to say that this book was terrible, because it wasn’t. Leigh Bardugo is an incredibly talented author. The prose was great. The book as a whole was great... If you consider it a stand-alone.

King of Scars, as we know, presents us three main perspectives: Nina’s, Zoya’s, and Nikolai’s, with a fourth in the second part of the book: that of a new character called Isaak. I will be dividing this review into sections for each character, highlighting my likes and dislikes for each of them.

Nina Zenik

She is the only one that’s had a POV before this book. Incidentally, she’s the one who’s characterization jumped out the most at me, especially in the first half of the book.

[spoilers] When we first see her, she’s in Fjerda as a spy, working along with a familiar face, Adrik, and a new one, Leoni Hillis. She’s been on a mission for over two months, and for over two months she’s been dragging Matthias’ body along, refusing to bury him, hallucinating his voice in her head. That was my first indication that there was something “funny” going on: Nina had already let him go in Crooked Kingdom:

“In the next life then,” she whispered. “Go.” She watched his eyes close once more. “Farvell,” she said in Fjerdan. “May Djel watch over you until I can once more.” - Crooked Kingdom, Chapter 39.

And yet, despite having already accepted Matthias’ death, she drags his corpse along with her. I’m not going to lie: when she finally does bury him, I teared up. Her eulogy was beautiful. That doesn’t mean that it should’ve happened when it did. The importance he is given to Nina is far greater than that he had in Six of Crows. She loved him, but she loved Ravka too. She also loved her friends, and she missed her life at the Little Palace.

But for the first half of King of Scars, all she thinks about, all she cares about, is Matthias. I thought, “ok, maybe she’s rationalizing all the things that happened during her time at Ketterdam, her obsession with him is just a way to cope with PTSD”... but this all goes to hell when, despite her feelings, she willingly moves in with Brum at the end of her arc. She deserts Ravka and infiltrates Brum’s home instead of, oh, shooting his ugly face? When she’s got him defenseless, she chooses to keep him alive and not take him to Ravka for trial, despite the fact that she’s learned from him that they are planning something that relates to a Lantsov that’s not Nikolai, and that her country is at the brink of a war. She neglects to tell this to her allies as soon as she finds out and deserts the Second Army. [end of spoilers]

All of this plus the fact that almost nothing that happens during her arc is connected to the other POVs makes for an overall confusing portion, the poorest of the novel, that’d have been so much better if Nina hadn’t had a perspective in Six of Crows. She was wildly OOC, in my opinion. But again, that doesn’t mean that everything about her parts were bad. I loved Hanne, one of the newly introduced characters, and I love her chemistry with Nina. I really hope they get together in the second book.

Nikolai Lantsov

I love him. His inner dialogue is one of the wittiest I’ve read, and we can finally see that he’s as sharp on the inside as he is on the outside, despite his insecurities (or maybe because of them). The first half of his story was the easiest, most interesting to read. Learning about his trauma, his struggles, his (literal) inner demon, and how he puts on a smart-ass brave face in spite of everything he has on his plate, plus seeing his wit first-hand, was great. One of my favorite parts of the book, along with Zoya’s, but that’s for later.

[vague spoilers]

The second part, though... I don’t know how much the Grisha Saints are based on Orthodox ones, but I’m not a fan of their storyline. While I’m not entirely familiar with Orthodox tradition, I am (or, well, I was brought up as) Catholic, and unless I’m severely mistaken, there are many similarities in the way Saints are depicted by both. However, the way that they were showed in King of Scars left a lot to be desired, in my honest opinion. Saints are not “edgy” and “inhuman”. Alina was a more accurate representation of the “older” or more primitive versions of Saints than Lizabeta and Grigori were in King of Scars. While the idea of powerful Grisha who helped people in a way that made them be seen as miracle-workers or holy people is alright, them being “beasts” or animals doesn’t follow any traditional lore that I am aware of.

The idea of them being “wickedly evil”, or of someone like the Darkling being considered for Sainthood is not feasible I think, if not for anything else than the facts that he wasn’t a man of faith, he didn’t perform any miracles, he wasn’t a martyr, and he wasn’t particularly heroic or loved by the people, so I don’t see how he could be proclaimed a Saint or get such a large cult following that is not, let’s say, “Satanist” or heretic (to be fair, neither do most of the characters who have at least a pair of working braincells, but I digress). Hell, one of the Darkling’s own nicknames was “the Black Heretic”, so why the U-turn?

I suppose, though, that we could be given an explanation for this last part in the following book, so I’m going to be open about it.

[end spoilers]

Zoya Nazyalensky

I. Love. This. Woman... So much. She’s amazing. She’s one of the strongest, as of now most fleshed-out characters Leigh Bardugo has written, on par with Inej Ghafa, my overall favorite. Her POV was the one I enjoyed the most, her inner dialogue as sharp as her tongue, her story heartbreaking, and her personality as unapologetic but lovable (for those of us not under her glare, at least) as ever. I loved reading about her thoughts, her opinions, her likes and dislikes (though mostly her dislikes), and she’s 100% the type of female character we need more: women who don’t take no shit, but who are still human. Those who are strong but have feelings other than “murder”, that are not defined by what other expect of them, but still bask in the benefits their reputations as heartless give them.

[slight spoilers]

The only problem I had with her POV, one that is extremely easy to fix, is related to her backstory. It’s established that her father was a Suli man, meaning that Zoya is now canonically a biracial woman. This is amazing! The most beautiful, powerful Grisha in all of Ravka (or, dare I say, the Grishaverse) is a woman of color. However, the way that this was established left something to be desired: there was absolutely no indication other than that of her mentioning it that she’s in any way Suli. Compared to Inej, whose culture is shown in absolutely every part of her character, the difference left me a little bit disappointed.

I’d be completely fine with it if she hadn’t known her father, or if she had been taken to the Little Palace when she was too little to remember anything about her family, but she lived 9 years with her parents, and she never makes absolutely any mention of any cultural aspect that she likes or misses about her heritage. This could be done in different ways: a throwaway comment about liking a particular type of Suli food, an art piece that reminds her of Suli art she liked/hated as a kid, a cultural tradition that she still participates in privately, a type of cloth, anything. None of that is there, though, so I was left with the impression that Zoya was whitewashed. Not in the “common” way, of for example a white person playing a black character, but in the characterization sense.

A little bit more on that: when you’re writing characters of color, you have to be careful of many things. To name a few: not falling into stereotypes, making sure colorism has no bearing in the story, not oversimplifying issues faced by people of color, especially if you’re not part of that group, and that you’re not putting a “poc” label on a character that is otherwise white. The last one is in my opinion what has happened with Zoya. This can be avoided (and resolved) easily by including nods towards her culture. An acknowledgment that she’s not a monoracial white Ravkan through anything other than just one comment about how her father was Suli would resolve this issue and give us the most badass WoC in the Grishaverse.

[end slight spoilers]

Isaak

[major spoilers]

As for Isaak, I don’t have a lot to say about him, because overall I think he didn’t need to have a PoV in the story. He wasn’t a character we knew from before, so we didn’t care about him. He dies at the end of the story, his only purpose is to look like Nikolai and have the shortest almost-romance ever. All of this could have been shown through the eyes of either Tolya or Tamar, who always followed him around, so they could’ve shown the same story with no problem. All in all, his part wasn’t bad, but I didn’t care about it, which could maybe be a problem on itself.

Lastly, my biggest problem, left for last: it doesn’t make any sense to me that Nikolai and Zoya would willingly align themselves with the Darkling. Zero. They were extremely and personally affected during the Civil War, the book does an amazing job of showing their trauma as a result of it, but by the end they willingly accept to work with him? No. I don’t want to believe that. It’s a disservice to the sacrifices the characters made in The Grisha Trilogy. Are you telling me Alina lost her power, her friends, faked her death and married Mal for that? For the Darkling to be back? This ending is a disservice to her sacrifice. I didn’t like that plot-twist at all, and I really look forward to the next book, to know how this is all going to play out, because I’m extremely unsure about how good this development will be, story-wise, for the duology.

[end spoilers]

However, and to wrap my longest review yet, I want to say that this isn’t a bad book. The writing is fantastic. The characters, whether I agree with their characterization or not, are fleshed-out and sympathetic. The pacing is great, I read the whole novel in less than two days. While the world was already established in previous books, we got a lot more of depth and information about Ravkan and, mostly, Fjerdan and Shu culture. Bardugo remains one of my favorite writers in the YA and Fantasy genres, but because she is capable of so much, I wanted to give her work a review that reflects what I think of her talent, and of how much more I think she can do as a writer.

"Yet now that the time had come to speak, Nikolai did not want to tell this story. He did not want it to be his story. He’d thought the war was in the past, but it refused to remain there.”

#lbardugo #review #book review #kos spoilers #my review #king of scars spoilers #leigh bardugo #my diverse recs #3 stars #king of scars

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