#the originals 3x03

[greghatecrimes]

rewatched "informed consent" yesterday

[haltandcatchfiretothemax]

"Oh, I don't know, I feel like you're already spread pretty thin...."

-Halt and Catch Fire (2014-2017) season 3, episode 3: "Flipping the Switch"

[tormentedfeelings]

Artwork of Rebekah. She is my Queen !

[skullglaze]

I'm sorry... GOB BLUTH

AND STEVEN TOAST

HAVE THE SAME BISEXUAL ARC????????

// @sorenkingsley, @ me i had to whip that up real quick in a frenzy

[winnie-the-monster]

[nco05]

Another detail I like about Drew's acting: Rafe's head tilts & pattern of speech

You can clearly tell in S3 his head tilts are from (over)thinking, concentration & working out a plan. He speaks clearly whenever he speaks. He goes on a ramble from time to time when nervous or breaking down - to Kie & Ward - but he will get his point across loud & clear. Kie & Ward are both the most difficult characters together with the Maybanks to get you to listen to them. He managed to make Ward listen & he managed to get Kie to work with him. Which is almost impossible as the "morally dark gray antagonist" (or whatever the fuck he falls in morality/character role) to get her to do. Yet he did it

Rafe is clean, he is - as far as episode 3 - not using cocaine for at least a few months now & it shows. He does drink but only on occassion

In the previous seasons - the second in particular - his head tilts would show irritation, delusion & aggression. He spoke unclearly. He went on rambles a lot when aggitated & breaking down. His speech would slur also. The more & more wound up & high-strung he became

Rafe was usually high in that time - which probably resulted the disillusioned delusion. He was also a very heavy drinking - which probably resulted in the aggression he felt

I'm not saying he is redeemed. I'm sure as hell not saying he is mentally stable. I don't believe that man will ever be completely stable until he gets the therapy needed for everything Ward did to him, what happened with Peterkin & what happened with Sarah...

But he seems more sane & stable. So I am looking forward to the rest of his development

[chaneajoyyy]

Now why hurt him?

[unfiltered-webcomic]

[suggesting what to put in a time capsule]

Irwen: Look, we don’t know what the world is going to be like in 50 years. We could all have been wiped out from disease or the flu

Lucio: So, what’s your suggestion?

Irwen: I don’t know. [starts tearing up] I’m just scared

[thebluemallet]

Eros/Psyche Parallels in Bridgerton Season 3

The show was not subtle with the Eros/Psyche parallels this season. So I attempted to go through episode by episode and find the connections. If I miss any obvious ones, let me know and I'll edit the post.

3x01- Out of the Shadows

Starting off strong with the opening credits! You briefly see a butterfly. Not only do the Featheringtons use butterflies as often as the Bridgertons use bees, but the butterfly is a symbol of Psyche.

When Penelope opens her wardrobe to that sea of YELLOW, her butterfly dress from the first ball of season 1 is visible.

Penelope talks with Genevieve about needing to find a husband this season and then we cut directly to Gregory with a bow (sans arrow) and he's pointing it directly at Colin. The bow and arrow is a symbol of Eros/Cupid.

Penelope sheds her cloak at that ball like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon.

The original Eros/Psyche myth has some jealous sisters and Prudence and Philippa, while maybe not jealous per se, are not happy to see their baby sister shining so brightly when she arrives.

And for more connection to the sisters--Psyche is the youngest of three daughters and her two older sisters are married before she is.

This one is, admittedly, a bit of a stretch but in the original myth there's some ire from Aphrodite because of all the attention Psyche is getting. And Cressida rips Penelope's dress once she is getting all the attention at the ball, specifically from Lord Debling.

Eros is sent by Aphrodite in the original story to marry Psyche off to marry someone/thing horrible (or just making sure no man wants to marry her) but Eros ends up falling for Psyche himself. Colin offers to help Penelope find a husband as a way to make up for what he said about her last year and, well, we all know where this is going!

3x02- How Bright The Moon

Edited to add (credit to @bridgertonblue)- Colin cuts his hand on the glass in the study. They flashback to this scene a few episodes later when Colin finally decides to take action with Penelope and his feelings for her. This can be a parallel to Eros getting struck with his own arrows and falling for Psyche.

Eros only visits Psyche at night. Colin comes to see Penelope at night in the garden after their scheme is exposed.

Eros accidentally struck himself with his own arrows and that's how he came to fall in love with Psyche. Colin kissed Penelope because he thought he was doing it for a friend, and he ended up awakening feelings he didn't even realize he had for her.

3x03- Forces of Nature

In the Architectural Digest Bridgerton Set Tour video, you'll see butterflies on the staircase in the entrance hall of Featherington House. It's not exclusive to this episode, I just thought I'd highlight it here since it's when we have the Eloise apology scene.

THIS ONE IS A HUGE STRETCH BUT I'LL PUT IT IN HERE ANYWAY--remember how windy it was with the balloon and Colin's arms that Penelope couldn't stop drooling over? Psyche was carried by Zephyrus-the West Wind-to her fancy new home and the godly husband she never sees.

3x04- Old Friends

Eros is tasked with marrying Psyche off, falls in love with her, and marries her instead. Colin offers to help Penelope find a husband earlier in the season, realizes he's been in love with her this whole time, and we get the iconic line, "For God's sake, Penelope Featherington! Are you going to marry me or not?"

3x05- Tick Tock

This one is another stretch, but Psyche has some jealous sisters who are not permitted to visit her at her new home (until Psyche convinces her husband to let them visit many months later). Prudence and Phillipa are being mean to Penelope over her engagement and Portia doesn't allow them to attend the engagement party. A Bridgerton engagement party, so you know that stings.

And another stretch! Psyche gets pressured by her sisters to find out her husband's true identity. Penelope gets pressured by Eloise to reveal her secret identity to Colin.

3x06- Romancing Mr. Bridgerton

Eros tells Psyche that she can never know what she looks like, which is why he only visits at night. If Psyche knows who her husband is, then eventually Aphrodite will find out and she'll be pissed. But Psyche, filled with doubt thanks to her jealous sisters, lights a candle while Eros is asleep, revealing his identity and betraying Eros.

Penelope writes/delivers her Whistledown column at night. Colin follows after her, discovers her secret identity, and feels betrayed.

3x07- The Joining of Hands

Eros leaves Psyche, feeling betrayed even though he still loves her deeply. Colin is cold and distant to Penelope in the fresh sting of his betrayal. But he still loves her and goes through with the wedding.

3x08- "Into the Light"

Eros refuses to see Psyche because he's been so hurt by her betrayal. Colin sleeps ten feet away from his wife's bedroom door (they must have had other bedrooms!) and leaves soon after she wakes up in episode 8.

Psyche has to go through some trials put forth by Aphrodite to get a chance to see her husband again. Penelope is confronted and blackmailed by Cressida when the latter learns that she is Lady Whistledown.

Psyche approaches two different goddesses to help her find Eros. Sometimes they refuse to help. Sometimes one of them points her in the direction of Aphrodite's place. Those two goddesses are Hera and Demeter. Two members of the most unlikely dream team in this episode are Portia and Eloise.

Hera is the goddess of marriage, women, and family, and she doesn't have the reputation of being an upstanding mother in mythology. She parallels Portia, mother to three ladies who she wants to see in secure marriages.

Demeter is the goddess of the harvest and agriculture. This is more of a reach, but she can parallel Eloise. In her book, her love interest Sir Phillip is experimenting in his greenhouse with peas(?) (I should probably read that book again) to increase their yield. Eloise also initially refused to get in between Penelope and Colin in the previous episode.

When Psyche goes through these trials, she's pregnant with Eros's baby. The showrunners confirmed that Colin knocked up Penelope in that mirror scene so she's in the very early stages of pregnancy here.

Psyche is indirectly helped by Eros (Zeus's eagle helps her out when they remember they owe Eros a favor). This angers Aphrodite and makes things worse for Psyche. Colin tries to save his wife by appealing to Cressida and ends up making things worse for Penelope.

Psyche's final trial involves going to the underworld. She deems this an impossible task and intends to sacrifice herself before she finds another way. Penelope decides to reveal her identity to the Queen and the ton, effectively sacrificing her reputation and potentially her marriage.

Zeus listens to Eros's pleas and grants Psyche immortality. The Queen is merciful to Penelope and doesn't punish her for Whistledown, allowing her to keep writing.

Psyche is often depicted either with butterfly wings or with a butterfly near/around her in art. Mrs. Varley releases the bugs (butterflies) directly after the Whistledown reveal.

Eros and Psyche are reunited and live a rare Happily Ever After in mythology. Penelope and Colin reconcile and go on to their own Happily Ever After.

[gayofthefae]

I'll say it. Mike's opportunity expired. "Hey, don't worry about it, okay? He'll come crawling back to you in no time, begging for forgiveness."

El is sad. That is an emotion you want to fix. She wonders if Mike is on his way back to her, we assume he is to - so did Max. That's why her sadness was good news: when Mike inevitably, obviously, shows up to apologize, she'll be open to it. But she checked. He wasn't on his way to her. In fact, he stated that he would not be because he did not think it was on him to fix. But it's not on El to either, and she knows this. So now she knows three things:

She's sad 2. Mike isn't going to fix it 3. If he isn't fixing it, her going back will just put her in the same situation she ended for a reason.

When typically, when we're sad like this, we don't just sit in it. We want to do something to solve it. There's only one remaining actionable solution to this feeling: move. on.

The writers included her IMMEDIATELY having reason to (giving us one too) which was a...choice to say the least.

El is bummed because she is reminded of her breakup's permanence. Max comforts her by saying "it's probably temporary anyways". She checks. Mike seems to say it isn't so long as she doesn't go back to him. We know that she doesn't owe him that and that the only way to get them back together is for him to apologize. So now we've established that their breakup is permanent, conceptually. For both us and, more importantly, for El.

Now El sees her breakup as permanent. She immediately starts playing games with Max and taking actions to, you guessed it, move on. She's laughing again. Notice how she didn't fix her sadness over Mike but she's happy anyways. Because she's caring less now that MIKE has given her permission to let go.

The next episode Mike DOES come "crawling back". He apologizes while they're prepping the sauna. It's ALREADY too late. She does not accept his apology. But she does miss him, so there's an olive branch. He accepts it but doesn't build on it towards getting back together. They just have a sort of truce again now.

A new spark - I love her - is ignited. Know why? I would argue argue the outcome would not be the same without it. What I'm saying is I would argue, and I kinda thought this on my first watch too, that they would have stayed broken up without that. I remember thinking "phew! Another actionable thing to get them together". There was one obstacle in their path before: him. That one didn't budge. I mean it kinda did to the point where they were both happy but establish "happy as friends" is kinda worse, so then you have to create a new obstacle and hope people don't notice it's not the same one and just go with the idea of "once he tells her he loves her, they'll get back together" to cover for the fact that when he fulfills/fulfilled the original goal, apologizing, they don't get back together.

"I love her". It's romanticized and she watches a lot of movies, but the truth is, it still doesn't solve the problems she had with him (as we see in season 4). They would have stayed broken up.

Because she still made no action to get back together with him. This was still on Mike. And he apologized in episode 7 but he missed his window because they didn't get back together until the stakes were now or never with the move.

Her telling him she loved him was her giving up on him saying it to her. That was not cute. Even in the scene itself, he does not take the opportunity and is avoidant. She almost leaves then stops herself. He makes a face, shaming himself for not saying it, but she - the one walking out the door - stops him. She calls out to him. This not "I wanted to tell you before I go". That would have been Mike's. This is "fine, I'll do it myself".

Mike missed his window. She started moving on as soon as she got that confirmation in the first scene of 3x03. 3x04's apology was disingenuous. 3x07's wasn't. That's a week he's taken to get to the original goal Max set in 3x03's first scene.

And the funny thing is, it wasn't a goal. That is a terrible end goal. It was an immediate solution to El's sadness that she employed. That is a smoothing things over thing to say. That is a quick band aid. She wanted a band aid. If Mike followed her onto the bus, she would have kicked him off. Instead, he waited a week to apologize, it was too late. He had a window in episode 3, and what was he doing for the entire episode? Spending time with Will. Waiting for El to call, yes, but still putting it on her and still, as usual, prioritizing Will as soon as it was asked of him. Not just when he was sad, honestly, the fact that he played in the first place should be reason enough. At least before they were brainstorming solutions. That's something.

While El was waiting for Mike, he was chasing after Will, so she stopped waiting. He came too late a day later and she didn't forgive him. She extended an olive branch because she missed him but he still hadn't apologized so they had a friendship now but were not back together. She romanticized him loving her and gave him another chance because she liked the idea of it. He finally apologized but did not yet tell her he loved her and more notably did not ask to get back together, fulfilling Max's impression of "please take us back". She still knew this wasn't on her so she waited for him to say it/ask her to get back together with him. Honestly, the latter would have been enough and he could build the courage on his own time (by 8 months she lost patience, though). But he didn't do either. And she was grieving. And she was moving. And she wanted comfort and constancy. She had lost Hopper and she was losing Max, the two people who supplement Mike. Once, she had been willing to make the choice that if he didn't say it, she simply wouldn't get back together with him, but she was no longer willing to make that choice (see show theme: love is about choices. hers to get back together with him was made reluctantly out of his inaction and her unwillingness to make any other choice). He still did not say it. She gave up on him and said it herself.

El missed Mike. El moved on from Mike because he wasn't coming back to her. El romanticized Mike loving her. El gave up on Mike coming back to her but this time instead of moving on, she did it herself.

It is not romantic for her to have done it herself. He should have done it. So many romantic milestones for them are not romantic and are full of "should"s for the characters. The Snow Ball was perfect, romantic, how they dreamed. But getting back together should have been on Mike. Her doing it is reluctant and disappointing and starts with the thought "oh, fine". Mike saying El he loves should have been quiet and sweet and intimate and alone. Him doing it while she's dying surrounded by people is stressful and the love is overshadowed by fear.

The most in love version of these characters wish every milestone in their relationship went differently. El wishes Mike asked her to come back. Mike wishes he could have told her he loved her in an intentional, romantic way that was allowed to be happy and allowed to be together. Nothing goes the way they want it to, even in especially in the version where they are deeply in love.

The ideal version of their love story is two people who are just okay with their relationship enough to stay in it. They want to hit the milestones for the sake of it because they hear it's good and it feels nice and validating to their self worth. They care more that they get back together than feeling wanted in the actual event and that the I love you was said than whether it felt nice. They will either get married at 18 and divorce by 24 or be the elderly couple who "stuck it out" who tell their love story as resenting each other for entire decades on and off.

Their love story is only happy if they are using it to boost their self worth.

And oh, look. Look what it failed to do for El in season 4 when she needed most, prompting her to- what did you say? Move on because Mike couldn't fix it before Mike got around to apologizing, making his apology mean less? You don't say. And being with El what? Makes Mike feel inferior unless he can hit these milestones, erasing stress as opposed to granting joy? Hm. Got it. Good to know.

Mike and El's ideal fit for this love story is kinda-passively-love-each-other but most of their highs come from self esteem and external validation. And the plot of season 4 is that Mike is unable to help El's horrible self esteem and does not provide validation when she needs it most. And just because Mike isn't crying doesn't mean it isn't of note that she has not told him he is enough in narrative response to us knowing he doesn't feel like he is.

Mike moving on when El was too late

Edit: Just remembered! After Mike attempts his first apology, El has even gotten to the point where she has gone from bummed at the reminder that he's her ex to giggling when Max says their breakup is permanent.

(^immediate response)

[erikiara80]

March 22nd and all the birthday references in ST

Will's birthday has always been important.

A birthday mug in episode 1

Same mug in Mike's basement. We see it in scenes with El in S1 and Will in S2. Yeah, I think birthdaygate could be about her, too. Will is the only character whose birthday was used to literally save him and the whole town. And we've seen El's birth and birth certificate, but we still don't know when she was born? Strange

The I forgot your birthday card in Will's room in S1

But in S2 we only see it when Joyce looks at the Will the Wise drawing. In all the other shots the card is not there, and the drawing is on another wall. This could be a hint at different timelines (of a timeloop?) More screenshots here

Basically, I have two theories about Will's birthday: either people really forgot it in S4, or the Will who was born on March 22 is the brown-eyed Will in the Missing poster, in the timeline we see in the shed scene, and not the hazel-eyed Will we see in the rest of the show. Maybe they hid the truth in plain sight, they let people believe that his eyes were different because he was possessed. But then in S3 they show that Billy's eye color never changes (here) Can't wait to see what this means

No birthday card in these shots

Lesbianmindflayer found a video posted on the official IG account in August 2017. At the time, they had already filmed S2, they knew there was an important scene about Will's birthday, so why posting the wrong date? Is it actually a mistake, or that's really his birthday in another timeline? We'll see!

The amazing shed scene. One of my favorite! Joyce talks about Will's 8th birthday. That was in 1979, the year of the massacre. She also mentions his rainbowship, a hint at his queerness, but also a reference to the lab. And I think there's a connection to the "rainbow rocket" near Creel House, and the ship of Brenner's father, who was involved with Project Rainbow, and the first man to wind up in Dimension X. This scene is so important!

Will drawing a spaceship could also be a parallel to Olivia Dunham (Fringe), who drew what she saw in another universe. A Zeppelin

Olivia's drawing (Byler-Polivia parallel and Subject 13)

3x03. Happy Birthday and '76 on the poster. The lifeguard is talking to El and Max here. My theory about what this could mean and what might have happened in 1976 here and here

The original title of episode 3x06 was The Birthday. There is no birthday in that episode, but after the intro, the song that plays is Stand up and Meet your brother, and then El meets the Mind Flayer/Vecna (as a lab kid, Henry is kinda her brother), who is possessing a boy named William. A surfer boy.

Episode 3x08, posters of Firestarter and Sixteen Candles. Will is associated with fire, and in Sixteen Candles a girl hopeful thar her 16th birthday is the beginning of a great year, is shocked when her family forgets it because her sister is getting married the next day.

Sixteen Candles and a boy's 16th birthday are also mentioned in S4, and it is likely that S5 is set in 1987, after the time-jump, when Will is 16.

S4. There are so many mentions of birthdays in this season, it's crazy to think that the writers forgot Will's birthday.

Mentions of birthday and stolen thoughts in the opening scene.

Birthday party at Rink-o-mania. I could be wrong, but it looks like a party for two people, to me. And there's a hidden reference to the massacre. The game Asteroids was released in 1979 (here)

The scene that made many people believe that the writers forgot Will's birthday.

March 22. The Rink-o-mania scene is a parallel to the lab scenes, Asteroids was released in 1979, and the day of the massacre El remembered her birth. Maybe a hint that her birthday is also on March 22?

They call her little baby, and two of the bullies are twins.

Murray says that a one-year-old won't remember their birthday

Also, the wallpaper reminds me of these birds we see in his house, when Alexei explains how the two keys open a gate

Murray says that his "son" is almost 16

Mention of Sixteen Candles

Mike's Happy Birthday mug

At Suzie's, Will mentions Dustin's birthday

Yeah, I think something will happen to Will in 1987, when he's 16. And it won't be funny, lol. But he'll get his happy ending.

Happy birthday, Will!

[haltandcatchfiretothemax]

tfw you’re trapped in a staff meeting watching your work-husband and your husband-husband argue and bicker, and you’ve just realized that inviting the latter was a terrible mistake

[wyrdsistergoldenhair]

How to Rewatch 9-1-1 Before September 26th

Okay, so if you're like me, you want to rewatch 9-1-1 before season 8 premieres on September 26th - but maybe you don't have the time to sit down and binge-watch. I've come up with a schedule where you can watch at least two episodes a day (starting on August 4th) and finish just in time for season 8.

Aug. 4

1x01 Pilot

1x02 Let Go

Aug. 5

1x03 Next of Kin

1x04 Worst Day Ever

Aug. 6

1x05 Point of Origin

1x06 Heartbreaker

Aug. 7

1x07 Full Moon (Creepy AF)

1x08 Karma’s a Bitch

Aug. 8

1x09 Trapped

1x10 A Whole New You

Aug. 9

2x01 Under Pressure

2x02 7.1

Aug. 10

2x03 Help Is Not Coming

2x04 Stuck

Aug. 11

2x05 Awful People

2x06 Dosed

Aug. 12

2x07 Haunted

2x08 Buck, Actually

Aug. 13

2x09 Hen Begins

2x10 Merry Ex-Mas

Aug. 14

2x11 New Beginnings

2x12 Chimney Begins

Aug. 15

2x13 Fight or Flight

2x14 Broken

Aug. 16

2x15 Ocean’s 9-1-1

2x16 Bobby Begins Again

Aug. 17

2x17 Careful What You Wish For

2x18 This Life We Choose

Aug. 18

3x01 Kids Today

3x02 Sink or Swim

Aug. 19

3x03 The Searchers

3x04 Triggers

Aug. 20

3x05 Rage

3x06 Monsters

Aug. 21

3x07 Athena Begins

3x08 Malfunction

Aug. 22

3x09 Fallout

3x10 Christmas Spirit

Aug. 23

3x11 Seize the Day

3x12 Fools

Aug. 24

3x13 Pinned

3x14 The Taking of Dispatch 9-1-1

Aug. 25

3x15 Eddie Begins

3x16 The One That Got Away

Aug. 26

3x17 Powerless

3x18 What’s Next?

Aug. 27

4x01 The New Abnormal

4x02 Alone Together

Aug. 28

4x03 Future Tense

4x04 9-1-1, What’s Your Grievance?

Aug. 29

4x05 Buck Begins

4x06 Jinx

Aug. 30

4x07 There Goes the Neighborhood

4x08 Breaking Point

Aug. 31

4x09 Blindsided

4x10 Parenthood

Sept. 1

4x11 First Responders

4x12 Treasure Hunt

Sept. 2

4x13 Suspicion

4x14 Survivors

Sept. 3

5x01 Panic

5x02 Desperate Times

Sept. 4

5x03 Desperate Measures

5x04 Home and Away

Sept. 5

5x05 Peer Pressure

5x06 Brawl in Cell Block 9-1-1

Sept. 6

5x07 Ghost Stories

5x08 Defend in Place

Sept. 7

5x09 Past Is Prologue

5x10 Wrapped in Red

Sept. 8

5x11 Outside Looking In

5x12 Boston

Sept. 9

5x13 Fear-O-Phobia

5x14 Dumb Luck

Sept. 10

5x15 FOMO

5x16 May Day

Sept. 11

5x17 Hero Complex

5x18 Starting Over

Sept. 12

6x01 Let the Games Begin

6x02 Crash & Learn

Sept. 13

6x03 The Devil You Know

6x04 Animal Instincts

Sept. 14

6x05 Home Invasion

6x06 Tomorrow

Sept. 15

6x07 Cursed

6x08 What’s Your Fantasy?

Sept. 16

6x09 Red Flag

6x10 In a Flash

Sept. 17

6x11 In Another Life

6x12 Recovery

Sept. 18

6x13 Mixed Feelings

6x14 Performance Anxiety

Sept. 19

6x15 Death and Taxes

6x16 Lost and Found

Sept. 20

6x17 Love Is in the Air

6x18 Pay It Forward

Sept. 21

7x01 Abandon Ships

7x02 Rock the Boat

Sept. 22

7x03 Capsized

7x04 Buck, Bothered and Bewildered

Sept. 23

7x05 You Don’t Know Me

7x06 There Goes the Groom

Sept. 24

7x07 Ghost of a Second Chance

7x08 Step Nine

Sept. 25

7x09 Ashes, Ashes

7x10 All Fall Down

[raayllum]

I've been thinking about the two-headed snake from the beginning of the show, and the Law of Chekhov's Gun is telling me that it's going to be coming back and causing problems sooner or later. Thought/theories?

The soul switching spell is definitely one of the most interesting plot and thematic elements the show has introduced and it looms over most of the fandom's thoughts regularly, I think. So let's go over it:

Plot

Obviously the biggest question here is "did Viren use the soul fang serpent to successfully switch Harrow's soul with Pip?", which people have speculated for years with about the same information (s1-s2) until s5 recently kicked things up a notch in terms of like having something new to turn over. @kradogsrats has a great meta here in regards to what exactly we can glean from 5x02 and how it may re-contextualize what we already 'know'. I highly recommend giving it a read.

That said, two things are true to me regarding the "is Harrow in Pip" theory:

Something happened in that room

Harrow is not going to come back

With these in mind, it's important to note that we know that TDP develops its seasons in batches simultaneously. The team didn't go from s1 to s2 to s3, but instead developed all three around the same time. Obviously production and some stuff was going around in order, but the only decisions that have been noted as changing was 1) Callum and Rayla were decided upon being a couple when storyboarding 2x04 as it wasn't originally in the cards and 2) Ezran going back to Katolis at the end of S2 was a surprise.

I make note of this because season two is absolutely the last point in show where you could angle things so that a Harrow who survived in Pip could come back and it wouldn't be Fucking Weird, basically. This is for two reasons:

1) We spend a good chunk of the season worrying about what the boys will do when they find out and actively mourning Harrow, with only one episode (2x07) not touching on it at all. That is a lot of time to spend on a character death you're going to ultimately undo. Conversely, we get less episodes dedicated to Rayla's relationship with her parents (1x05, 3x03, 3x08) in the first arc because it is widely implied that she's going to get them back; no point seeing her heavily mourn them when that's going to get reneged.

2) Harrow coming back wouldn't have much of a plot or character standpoint on the bulk of the trio — Callum largely received his dad/family related closure back in S2 and it'd let Runaan off the hook, so his and Rayla's relationship would be easier, not harder — but it'd nuke Ezran from both an emotional and a plot standpoint. His main arc is intrinsic to being royalty of a prince-turned-king, pushing him to make more decisions and figure out how to manage the difficult road to peace.

If Harrow comes back, he'd either stay on as an advisor (but that'd still kinda take weight off Ezran's shoulders that's currently there and arguably should be) or step away, leaving his young son to shoulder it alone. The first lessens Ezran's emotional poignancy within the theme(s)/show, and the second makes Harrow like, a bad father in ways he absolutely never was in life.

As pointed out in Krads' meta, Viren is likewise surprised when he sees Harrow alive and well in his 5x02 dream, and we get this exchange:

While we could read Harrow's initial "Surprised to see me" (because if the show points something out in dialogue, they really want you to Know) as "surprised to see me [out of the bird]" the show itself quickly does away with that reading. Viren is surprised that Harrow's survived, period. That doesn't bode well for "Viren is 110% sure that he, himself, put Harrow 100% into that damn bird". But like I said, something had to have happened, and Viren's behaviour with Pip is real fucking weird otherwise if he didn't at least try for something.

[ Side note: I also think it's worth noting what, exactly, is happening in the initial stages of Viren's dream with Harrow. This is decidedly not real Harrow, but the Harrow Viren wished for: someone who would not only forgive him, but embrace his dark magic use (aka him) rather than reject it. Not only is Harrow here alive because of Viren, but this Harrow loves Viren for what he did, and accepts Viren's act of devotion not only as one of family, but reciprocates it: "You're not just a servant. You're my family. You're a brother."

And Viren, for his part, is giving the reasonings behind Harrow's refusal ("I was frightened" / "They were coming to kill you") on both ends, without actually addressing the dark magic elephant sized rift in the room, still citing that it was about circumstance rather than principle or perspective. Moving on. ]

Remember how I said S2 was the last possible point things could've been shifted to accommodate a "Harrow comes back in full" plotline (most likely)? Yeah, well the other side of that is that S2 is the last time the show could've accommodated a retcon of "Viren didn't do anything to Harrow, actually, at all" the way that fans have often implied, and it's largely because of this otherwise very unnecessary scene all the way in 2x09 (in which other changes, like Ezran turning to go home, and Rayllum's romantic route, had been more than well decided):

This to me is the singular biggest sign that something did happen, and it's something we will uncover in the future, because otherwise, there is literally No Reason to not have Pip in Katolis upon Ezran's return. If the writing team truly intended to fully nullify Viren and 'retcon' the Harrow-bird situation, keeping Pip in Katolis and having him interact visibly and non-life alteringly with Ezran was the way to do it. But Pip has been MIA since 2x09 and has not interacted with anyone other than Viren since 1x04, and so it remains a Mystery that, likewise, the 5x02 Harrow dream went to completely unnecessary stakes to remind you of Pip's existence in the first place.

Moreover, you simply do not have a main character who can Talk to Animals (a power that outside his connection with Zym has not been incredibly plot relevant in ways that couldn't otherwise be achieved since like... 1x08-1x09 itself) and then Remove an animal he could talk to unless you decidedly Do Not (or cannot) have that conversation happen yet.

Which reaffirms what I said earlier: we can be 100% sure that something happened, and we can be at least 95% sure that Harrow is not being fully brought back in order to not lose narrative weight to Viren and Runaan's responsibility in his death and in Ezran's series' long arc.

So what did happen?

One possible answer (that I've posited, of course there are many) is that Harrow's soul got split in two.

We've seen people be separated from what would let them 'go on' before (Sarai's last breath yelling no as her spear sinks into Avizandum's chest; the Moonshadow assassin troupe in TTM). This would allow for a part of Harrow to exist in his own body (since there's a hot second between the spell being over and when Runaan's binding falls, though that might just be linked to bodies > souls, but the Lotus flowers are clearly linked to souls, so...?) and for part to exist in Pip. Pip could offer a solace and goodbye, that part of Harrow ultimately needs to be freed (literally) and left to be at peace, which could be effective and tie in both Ezran and Callum's emotional needs about their father.

Of course, this is all speculation. Harrow could be brought back as an advisor after everything, helping but not telling Ezran how to rule because the new generation should pave the way; something else could've been put into Pip entirely that we just don't have the Star or Deep magic context for.

Thematically and symbolically though, I think a lot of the actual concept of "switch souls with somebody else" > actual Pip-Harrow plot line has been brought back somewhat in full already, so let's talk about it.

Theme / Symbolism

The switching spell is, textually, a warped collision of Callum and Claudia's brains, and we see it repeatedly echo throughout both their arcs from S1-S5:

Some of this is quick-paced and obvious, such as when Callum literally switches places later just this episode and says he's Ezran, preparing to die in Ezran's place. (This is one of the reasons Callum, Claudia, and Viren circle each other so closely in the series; not only are they our three primary mages; Viren and Harrow's rift happens indirectly on Viren's end, after all, because of Callum and Claudia's collision here.)

Some of this is more of a slowburn — Claudia, collapsing on the floor and clearly having done a number on herself to spare her brother; Rayla with Callum's scarf to make Sol Regem chase her instead; Callum, taking Finnegrin's deal that was originally to set himself free in hopes he'll let Rayla go — or taken onto the shoulders of other characters (Ezran and Viren's literal king exchange in 3x04) simply because the idea of Exchange is so intrinsic to the series and to dark magic use in particular. Sometimes transactional, sometimes selfless, occasionally necessary in the eye of the beholder.

However, in a more literal sense, it sets up the series' long association of dark magic with snakes, and all that comes with it (poison, losing your soul, knowledge, chains, etc):

When Callum does dark magic, he's crushing a snake's rattle tail, a literal warning sign. Claudia for the entire first arc has a literal (snake) chain on her wrist that she uses for dark magic. The fact that the series routinely uses Christian symbolism for its villains (Aaravos eating an apple, Viren dying and being resurrected, sacrificing your "only beloved son" etc etc) only heightens this more negative association.

We also get mentions from the Book 2 novelization that the true sight serum Viren uses to try to see the mirror is 1) inherited from Kpp'Ar, which never bodes well and 2) made from the venom of eyeless vipers under moonless nights by the Oracles of Ophidia, just to double down on the "snake shit obscures your sight with dark magic and madness" angle.

But at the end of the day, thus far, snakes are just a symbol.

The more interesting way the soul-switching spell has come full circle though, already, through the possession plotline. Case in point:

Aaravos sets up his pawns to suffer and take the fall for him in the past (Ziard) and present (Claudia). He's hidden within Viren's body before (3x07 siege of Lux Aurea). He takes this to be a more literal, threatening embodiment through his possession of Callum. His soul and will overtakes Callum's body. Callum asks to die so Aaravos can't use him; in this lens, Callum will be dying for not just Aaravos' mistakes, but Aaravos' choices. Aaravos will 'hide' inside Callum's body and enact his will through it, and it'll lead to bloodshed either of Callum or of Rayla (or both) inevitably while Aaravos, in S6, will presumably get off scot free. (To be clear, Callum's not going to die, but this is the idea/risk of the concept and one of the reasons why it's so terrible.)

Which makes sense, honestly. The soul switch spell is the first real dark magic spell we get to see the context for, as Ziard's 1x01 spell takes time (3x01) as well as the moral reservations against. It just makes sense that Aaravos, the 'originator' of dark magic for lack of a better understanding, would then take said spell to its natural conclusion in which case even the consent of the vessel isn't just violated, but completely terminated and disregarded. Because, y'know — dark magic is awful, and it always has been.

[imminent-danger-came]

Uh, real quick. It's been confirmed by an LMK crew member that Wukong didn't leave MK with Pigsy. He didn't even know that MK out of the stone egg- he was just shooting through memories, trying to find MK, and kept coming back to the stone egg with no clue why.

Oh that's super interesting! I'd like to see the post/tweet you're talking about, because I'm curious about what exactly was said and how it was worded, but I'm super intrigued. If anyone could send it my way, that would be awesome!

However, I will say the whole show doesn't make sense if Wukong didn't know MK was a Monkey. All the way from the beginning, from the "A Hero is Born" special, Wukong said "Not just anyone can wield my staff", already implying he didn't give MK any power. And then AGAIN in 3x03 Smartie Kid he goes "The staff's just a big old stick bud! It takes someone special to wield it". Certain situations like fighting Macaque in 1x09 or even Wukong letting MK face a Samadhi fire powered Lady Bone Demon alone in 3x14 don't make sense unless Wukong knows MK can handle it—which, why would he if he was just a normal noodle delivery boy? Like, supposedly Macaque "stole" MK's power in 1x09. Why would Sun Wukong believe MK could lift the staff and do the "hero stuff" without the power he supposedly gave MK? This is what my friend and I have dubbed the "battery boy" phenomenon, where MK inexplicably gains his powers back for no real reason, and it's all tied to his origins.

All this to say Wukong knows something, and with him being at the stone and all I just assumed he was involved in MK's creation (which they kinda set up at the beginning of 4x05). So, MK is created, a beautiful baby boy pops out of the stone, and Sun Wukong "loses" that beautiful boy (if Wukong knew he was born to begin with) with MK finding his way to Pigsy's.

Then it's later Sun Wukong finds MK again, coming up with a plan to make MK his "successor" (still leaving MK with Pigsy, which I think was the right call lol). As Wukong says in 4x01, "You make ONE mistake, and no one ever let's you live it down! Looks like the ghosts of my past have finally caught up with me." That's what I think this parallel in particular is really trying to show off—in some way, MK is one of his past mistakes, just like Macaque was.

In 4x06, MK thinks back to his "childhood", and we see this:

This isn't a "Monkey King Vision" like before, this is a memory. Sun Wukong was there for MK's creation, or at least involved—the stone is at flower fruit moutnain after all.

Anyhow, those visions being Sun Wukong looking for MK definitely leads to more questions! How did he know MK was in the scroll? Why wasn't he trapped in a past version of himself? Where was that field we saw him in before he finally reached MK? I just think there's more at play here, you know?