#and ras' shadow disappears for no reason lol | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mnemo-li · 11 months

Text

Gosh, I have so many thoughts about Gromph Baenre. Maybe I’m reading too much into things lol, but here we go. Spoilers below for Starlight & Shadows, War of the Spider Queen, Companions Codex, Homecoming, Generations, and parts of The Way of the Drow.

Imagine literally being the most powerful man in a city, potentially the oldest (non-undead) man of a race, and still being limited in what you can do just because you’re born male. You have so much power, and yet in the end you are not free. People may fear you and perhaps even respect you, but no one cares for you. You, no matter all you have done, are replaceable and will be discarded the moment you are deemed a liability.

There’s this quote in Tangled Webs:

But no matter what powers he might command, what information he possessed, Gromph needed someone like Shakti. The archmage was tied to Menzoberranzan by the task of enchanting Narbondel—an honor that was also a chain with links forged anew with the coming of each midnight hour.

The so-called honor of being the only one allowed to enchant Narbondel is a double-edged sword. It’s a symbol of his status yet, because he has to do it daily, it means he can’t be away from Menzoberranzan for more than a day. It’s a chain that binds him to the city, to the control of the Matron Mother. It’s a leash.

I also find the mention of Narbondel in Extinction to be interesting:

Despite the toehold the enemy had gained—and lost—in Tier Breche, Menzoberranzan seemed untouched by war. The stalactites and stalagmites of the noble manors still sparkled, and a ring of magical fire was creeping up the great spire of Narbondel. Gromph frowned, wondering which of the wizards of House Baenre had been keeping it going in his absence. It seemed that he was not quite as irreplaceable as he would have liked. He’d have to speak to Triel about that.

That’s what I was referring to. The lighting of Narbondel — something that is meant to be performed only by the Archmage of the city — is in actuality a role that anyone could do, really. Logically, I’d agree with Triel too. The city needs Narnondel to tell time and if Gromph was missing, it was more pragmatic to have someone perform his duty in his stead. And yet, all of this goes to show how if someone else could do what Gromph does, then that means he isn’t irreplaceable.

I also find this exchange between Guldor and Gromph to be intruiging (and funny— I always love when Gromph is his good old surly and sarcastic self).

“Archmage!” cried Guldor Melarn. He was supposedly without peer in the realm of elemental magic, though it couldn’t be proved by his performance thus far that night. “We were worried about you!”

“I’m sure,” said Gromph, striding closer. “I noticed all the search parties you sent out looking for me.”

Guldor hesitated. “Sir, the mistress of the Academy commanded—“

“Shut up,” said Gromph.

The small interaction is also very telling. None of the other mages seemed to care about Gromph enough to go look for him, or it could be that what Guldor said was true, that Triel forbid them from doing so. It’s either that Triel believes Gromph is capable enough to get out of whatever trouble he’d gotten himself into by himself, or she too couldn’t be bothered (or has other pressing matters to deal with— and considering the state of Menzoberranzan, that’s understandable).

Whatever the reason, it still must be harrowing for Gromph deep down. To learn that he is replaceable, and to not have anyone he concerned about his disappearance enough to look for him. Of course, the concept of caring for someone is arguable something alien to the drow in the first place. Still, it would be interesting to see how Gromph would react should he realize that his position as Archmage isn’t secure.

As much as I sometimes joke about RA Salvatore being a shit writer — at least compared to the likes of Elaine Cunningham and Paul S. Kemp (whose Star Wars books I’m a huuuge fan of, whose contribution to the War of the Spider Queen series I absolutely adore) — Salvatore did manage to sprinkle bits and pieces to make Gromph a sympathetic villain or at least a villain whom we can partially sympathize with and feel pathos towards.

Take for instance, this excerpt from Vengeance of the Iron Dwarfs:

It is about embarrassing Matron Mother Quenthel, Kimmuriel said in Jarlaxle’s thoughts, and he looked from the psionicist to the archmage, trying to sort it out. Or perhaps it goes even higher than her. Jarlaxle snorted at that, for who could be higher than Quenthel, who served as the Matron Mother of Menzoberranzan? Then he figured it out, and he stopped snorting.

He looked at Gromph, only then beginning to appreciate how wounded his brother had been by the betrayal of the Spider Queen. Lolth had gone to the realm of arcane magic, had tried to dominate the Weave itself—and indeed, by all reports, she had made the magical strands encompassing Toril take on the aspect of a gigantic spider web. Gromph had dared to hope that Lolth’s move would elevate his standing, that he, as the greatest drow wizard of the age, as the greatest drow practitioner of the Art, would become more than a mere male in the matriarchal City of Spiders.That was Gromph’s error, Jarlaxle realized, and he nodded knowingly as he considered his brother.

Poor Gromph had dared to hope.

I feel pity for Gromph reading that. As an aside though, I really love the dynamics between Gromph and Jarlaxle throughout the series. I wonder too if Gromph is secretly jealous of or resentful towards Jarlaxle for his relative freedom.

Also, there’s this bit from Archmage that really makes me feel for Gromph:

His sly taunting of his sister did little to improve Gromph’s bitter mood. Even if he toppled her, even if he destroyed every matron mother and high priestess in the city, what would he accomplish?

He was a male, nothing more, and even when Lady Lolth had turned to the Weave, to a domain he had come to dominate more than any dark elf in centuries—in millennia, in perhaps the entire history of the race—Lolth’s gratitude had not reached to him, nor his fellow male wizards.

Sorcere, the drow school of arcane magic, the academy under the control of Gromph, had counted among its students almost exclusively male drow, with only a few notable exceptions of priestesses looking to enhance their magical repertoire by adding arcane spells to their divinely inspired magic. Yet as soon as the Weave had become a web, as soon as it appeared that Lady Lolth would steal the domain of the goddess Mystra, the noble Houses had flooded Sorcere with their daughters as students.

The matron mothers, with Lolth’s blessing, would not suffer the males of Menzoberranzan their position atop the ranks of Lolth’s arcane disciples. Would Gromph’s ultimate title of archmage have proven secure? But Lolth had lost her bid for the Weave, so Gromph had learned, though the details were not yet known to him. The Weave was no longer in her spidery claws and the city and school would return to normal, perhaps. Gromph would remain the archmage, and, he now even more poignantly understood, would remain a “mere male” in Menzoberranzan.

I’d like to argue that it isn’t Gromph’s ego or arrogance that is the reason behind his hunger for power. But rather, it’s Gromph deep rooted desire for security— not just in his position as Archmage, but security in the sense that he is quite insecure deep down. After all, excessive arrogance is often a mask for hollow confidence. Look at the scene here leading up to Gromph’s accidental summoning of Demogorgon.

“Your demon led the defense,” the matron mother spat. “This failure falls upon your shoulders. Be cautious, wizard, for Tsabrak Xorlarrin will surely survive this, and he remains in the graces of the Spider Queen.”

She spun and swept out of the room and Gromph fell back in his seat, his fingers tap-tapping once more. He tried to dismiss Quenthel’s overt threat, but he began to see some troubling possibilities. Would his sister cut a deal with Matron Mother Zeerith to absorb House Xorlarrin into House Baenre? Where might the Xorlarrins go if the dwarves gained an unshakable foothold? They would not be welcomed back into Menzoberranzan as a rival House, particularly not now with so many backroom alliances being formed among the ruling matron mothers.

And perhaps Quenthel would spread the whispers that Gromph had failed, that the archmage had, in fact, been the cause of the loss of Q’Xorlarrin. In that event, would Quenthel be in a stronger position to offer Zeerith one of her most coveted trophies: a Xorlarrin as Archmage of Menzoberranzan? Nay, this was not a threat Gromph could easily dismiss, and in that realization, so came his outrage.

His “outrage” was a reaction to being “threatened”. Sure, it was his anger and ego that overruled his common sense, the sense of caution that he should’ve had when summoning a powerful demon… but the root of it all was the fact that Quenthel threatened his position as archmage.

This all harkens back to the fact that Gromph is replaceable and will be replaced should he no longer be useful. Hence, his insecurity and the constant need to prove himself.

Additionally, I also find Gromph's interaction with Catti-brie in Maestro to be incredibly fascinating from a character perspective.

First though, I should put a disclaimer saying that I think their relationship is weird as fuck, and Salvatore's way of writing Gromph thinking of Catti-brie in a horny way is just... ew. The whole 'mind-rape' thing is not something I condone, the bit where Gromph uses his psionic abilities to impart a vision of him and Catti together into Catti-brie's mind. However, it does hint a lot at the way men are treated in Drow society and how Gromph's sexual relationship with women usually go.

In Daughter of the Drow, there is this quote:

Perhaps even more than his obvious wealth and famed magical power, Gromph's ability to select his consorts was a testament to his status. In this matriarchal city, males had a decidedly subservient role, and most answered to the whims of females.

I might be reading into it too much, but if men are suggested to be unable to choose their wives, then it is implied that they wouldn't have any experience in romantic courtship either. It's like their entire notion of what a relationship is for men, is that they are meant to be pickedby women and forced to marry or have children with women without any say in it. Men getting to get to know someone, to flirt with them and court them, before making the mutual decision to enter into a relationship doesn't seem to be a thing in drow society. Starlight & Shadows goes to explain more about how male drows don't even get to be a part of their children's lives either, which is why Gromph's decision to murder Sosdrielle Vandree and "adopt" Liriel Baenre to be such a major powermove and a violation of societal norm.

Anyhow, the point I am trying to make about Gromph and Catti is that, of course Gromph would "flirt" with Catti in such a fucked up manner. He doesn't know anything about courtship, doesn't have any other frame of reference for what a healthy courtship or relationship between males and females is like.

“I forgive you,” she repeated. “For your telepathic intrusions. I understand now that you were not even there in my thoughts, and that it was only a suggestion placed for me to find.”

“And to enjoy.”

Catti-brie’s expression went cold.

“Then I am no rapist,” Gromph smugly replied to that look.

“You are a scoundrel and a fraud,” the woman said. “But I expected as much from the outset. I forgive you because now I trust that you will not hold me in lust, in body, in mind, or in hatred.”

Gromph wanted Catti to "enjoy" the image of him and her together. In other words, that really is his way of initiating a sexual relationship, that is what he thinks flirting or courtship is. In real life modern day terms, Gromph's telepathic intrusion would definitely be a form of sexual assault... but Catti-brie is right in the sense that Gromph hadn't meant to rape her. Let me be clear though, I am not justifying any of his actions. I just find Gromph to be so fascinating from a narrative perspective. If the Drizzt series wasn't what is was, if it was more like A Song of Ice and Fire for example, then I'm sure the author would explore more about how Gromph's actions and attitudes probably stems (at least partially) from his women-related trauma.

Look at this scene in Archmage here for example:

She dared look up, to find Gromph glaring at her.

“You know nothing of what I know or do not know, Minolin of House Fey-Branche.” His reference to her lesser House, instead of naming her as a Baenre, was a clear and sharp reminder.

“You are not a woman,” Minolin Fey said quietly. “There is nothing more … personal.”

“I am not a woman,” Gromph echoed. “A fact of which I am reminded every day of my life.”

Gromph definitely has a sore spot about not being a woman, and thus being beneath a woman in terms of societal status. This resentment and emotional wound of his shows up again in Maestro, in this interaction of Catti-brie.

“You have no power over my free will, and that is the measure of intimacy,” Catti-brie pressed on against his sheer awfulness. “You’ll not get back into my thoughts, nor will you ever get beneath my robes.”

“Truly?” Gromph asked slyly. “Dear human, you will be amazed by the things I can accomplish, particularly when a woman tells me that I cannot.”

I find the latter half of the sentence to be poignant. It's as if he's taking Catti's resistance as a challenge, or an insult. Mind you, Gromph is still a monster for many of the things he does. But he has such a potential to be a multifaceted villain (who then becomes something of an anti-villain), something I believe Salvatore is working towards. I believe Salvatore’s attempt at a pseudo redemption arc for Gromph is very... lacking. The scene at the end of Maestro where he bows down to Catti also gives me weird vibes too ngl.

Yet, I still wouldn’t dismiss his attempts to soften Gromph recently. Take this scene in Boundless for example:

“And your friend in Ship Kurth?”

“Any who should concern us are in no danger,” the archmage assured her. Caecilia gave a little snort, but tried to cover it when she saw the scowl on Gromph’s face and realized he knew she was mocking him.

“Such a drow thing to say,” she admitted. “If all of Luskan other than those you deem valuable to you were to be slaughtered, would you even care, Archmage?”

“Should I?”

Caecilia blew a long sigh and let it go. Curiously, though, as she walked through the door leading to her extradimensional mansion, she realized that she actually didn’t believe Gromph. Had he been so battered by the distorted culture of Menzoberranzan that he thought it a sign of great weakness to admit compassion? How many others? the cloud giantess wondered. How many other dark elves had been similarly broken?

Gromph has spend pretty much the majority of his long, long life in the Underdark. Menzoberranzan is all he knows. Which makes me curious about the direction Salvatore plans to take Gromph’s character in the The Way of the Drow. Take this scene for example:

“To the Nine Hells with that ugly spider,” said Gromph from the tunnel.

Drizzt turned to watch the sour archmage come forth, and took great pleasure and great hope in seeing the man verily transform at the sight, as if the tension and anger were suddenly simply falling away from him as he looked upon the wonder of Callidae.

“It was worth the journey, yes?” Jarlaxle asked him, and Gromph couldn’t respond, and he didn’t have to.”

Callidae, a place where drow may live in peace upon the surface, is a symbol of hope-- a hope so strong to the point where Gromph is willing to throw away his allegiance to Lolth. I know Cunningham is unlikely to come and write for the Drizzt series, but damn... I wish Gromph could meet up with Liriel again. I wonder what she’d think of her father now. I wish we could one day see Gromph fully embody his role as the Archmage of the Hosttower, shedding the former identity of Archmage of Menzoberranzan, both in name and in heart. Speaking of Liriel, a part of me wonders too how much Gromph actually cares to her (yes--- she is a tool to him, but Liriel seems to be capable of activating a strange sort of fatherly instinct in him, something very vulnerable and pure and hopefully enduring). We have this scene of their first proper meeting, in Daughter of the Drow:

"Look down," advised a lilting, melodic voice, a voice that rang with mischief and childish delight.

Incredulous, Gromph shifted his gaze downward. There stood a tiny, smiling female about five years of age, easily the most beautiful child he had ever seen.She was a tiny duplicate of her mother, whom Gromph had recently left sleeping in a nearby suite of rooms. The child's face was angular, and her elven features delicate and sharp. A mop of silky white curls tumbled about her shoulders, contrasting with baby skin that had the sheen and texture of black satin. But most striking were the wide amber eyes, so like his own, that regarded him with intelligence and without fear. Those eyes stole Gromph's annoyance and stirred his curiosity.

This, then, must be his daughter. For some reason that thought struck a faint chord in the heart of the solitary, evil old drow.

(Of course, I won’t disregard how he then goes on to murder her mother / his wife in the next scene... so lol. Gromph is still a ruthless drow, after all. But even monsters can love, or so I wish to believe.)

There’s also certain tiny details that stuck out to me:

"So, drowling. I don't suppose you can read?"

It was a ridiculous question, for the child was little more than a babe. Yet her brow furrowed as she considered the matter.

"I'm not sure," she said thoughtfully. "You see, I've never tried."

She darted toward the open spellbook and peered down at the page. Too late, Gromph slapped a hand over her golden eyes, cursing under his breath as he did so. Even simple spells could be deadly, for magic runes attacked the untrained eye with a stab of searing light. Attempting to read an unlearned spell could cause terrible pain, blindness, even insanity.

See what I mean about fatherly instincts? His immediate instinct was to protect her eyes, her sanity etc.

As Liriel grows up, her relationship with Gromph also seems almost... cordial. She seems relaxed with him, not holding back her tongue too much. At times, Gromph is seen chuckling and seemingly enjoying her presence too (unless he’s in a bad mood or she crosses a line somehow). Gromph is more lenient with her than one would expect, but also knows how to be strict when necessary, as befitting his station.

"Have a good time," Liriel mimicked bitterly as she and the archmage strode down the hall. "This, from someone whose idea of fun involves whipping people with snakes!"

Her blasphemous remark drew a shocked chuckle from Gromph.

"You must learn to guard your tongue," he admonished. "Few of the Academy's mistresses are burdened with a sense of humor."

"Don't I know it! Father, do I really have to become a priestess?" she demanded. "Can't you do anything to stop this?”

Liriel knew the words were a mistake the moment she spoke them. No one stayed healthy for long by pointing out to proud, frustrated Gromph that there were limits to his power. The expected rage did not come.

"It is my will you become a priestess," the archmage said coldly.

The scene continues with Gromph granting Liriel the means to go wherever she wish.

The archmage reached into a hidden pocket of his cloak and drew out a small book.

"This is yours. Learn it well, for you would surely go mad in Arach-Tinilith without the escape this book offers you." He paused for a grim smile. "I had this compiled for you—a task that spanned several years and cost the lives of a number of wizards—knowing this day would come."

That was quite a pitch, even for melodramatic Gromph, Liriel thought with a touch of wry humor. She took the book and opened it to the first spell. She skimmed the page, and the meaning of the symbols came to her with a rush of excitement and disbelief.

"This is a spell for summoning a gate!"

"And so is every other spell in the book," he agreed. "With this knowledge, you can travel where no priestess can follow."

Liriel leafed through the spellbook, her excitement growing by the moment. Magical travel was extremely difficult in the Underdark, and those who tried it often ended up as a permanent part of the landscape. This gift would give her greater freedom than she had ever enjoyed. Best of all, her father had foreseen this day, and prepared for it! Liriel hugged the precious book to her chest.

"I can't begin to thank you!" she cried joyfully.

Gromph Baenre smiled down at her, but his amber eyes remained cold. "Not yet, perhaps, but when the time comes I will tell you how you can properly express your gratitude. Become a priestess and seize what power you can. But never forget you are a wizard first and foremost. Your loyalty belongs to me."

The warmth fled from Liriel's heart. She held the arch-mage's hard gaze, and her golden eyes mirrored his. "Don't worry, Father," she said softly. "Lloth forbid I should ever forget what I am to you."

Gosh, this is why I love Cunningham sooo much. Much like Gromph’s scene with baby Liriel where the two have somewhat of a cute father-daughter moment, throwing faerie fire at each other etc.. the heatwarming scenes are always proceeded by an emotional whiplash, reminding the readers that this is Gromph Baenre we’re dealing with. In the first scene, Gromph murders Liriel’s mother right after having a cute moment with Liriel. Here, Gromph grants her what is one of the most valuable grimoires she’ll ever own, right before reminding her that she belongs to him as his tool.

A part of me could not help but wonder too though... does Gromph see himself in Liriel? The natural aptitude for magic, the fact that by their gender they are being forced into a role they did not want (Gromph being subservient to females as a male, Liriel being forced to become a cleric as a female despite wanting to be a wizard etc). The parallels are definitely there. I wonder if, through Liriel, Gromph may be unconsciously wishing to give her the opportunities he never had: freedom.

True freedom.

A part of me would like to think that Gromph, deep down, secretly wants Liriel to one day flee Menzoberranzan--- just as Jarlaxle did, to an extent at least.

I could go on and on about this forever, but I’ll stop here. If anyone is reading my rant this far, thanks! Feel free to hmu if you want to talk to.

#legend of drizzt #gromph baenre #war of the spider queen #Starlight & Shadows #the way of the drow

86 notes · View notes

horde-princess · 4 years

Text

i’m gonna preface this meta by saying that if you read this and find yourself wanting to leave a boring comment about how hordak deserves redemption.. please dont aklsjdf listen i’m not anti hordak or pro hordak or whatever else but he is the most divisive character in the fandom, and i guess i feel invested in his fate for that reason, so this is just an idea i had about his role in the story.

i’m seeing a lot of similarities between hordak and light hope. especially now that hordak is being “reconditioned.” they were both artificially created by an evil power to carry out destruction. light hope had a computer code, hordak had a genetic code. but light hope was able to break out of her programming for mara, so i’m wondering if hordak will follow a similar path and break out of his conditioning for entrapta.

here’s the thing though... light hope disappeared after adora broke the sword so it seems like she understood she had to sacrifice herself to help adora save the universe. if it’s true hordak and light hope are serving similar roles in the narrative then it lends credit to the theory that hordak will also end up sacrificing himself, since like light hope he met someone in etheria worth protecting.. worth dying for.

“but wait!” you say. “hordak doesn’t deserve that, he was a victim of abuse!”

ive thought about this for a long time, about how hordak being a clone might limit his free will as well as how an abusive environment can limit the perception of free will. BUT look at what horde prime says when he apparently reads hordak’s mind in 4x12:

“I see, now. You have given yourself a name. You tried to create an empire of your own. There was even a time you wished I would not come for you.”

also there was that time in season 3 when hordak appeared tempted to put off the portal project to hang out with entrapta (it’s possible that’s what horde prime was talking about, actually). so i’d conclude that hordak did have at least some ability to make his own decisions separate from his association with horde prime. maybe that was even part of his “defect?”

anyways, if light hope--a character with almost no free will who didn’t actually hurt anyone--was held accountable for her actions, then certainly hordak will be, because he has more free will than light hope did, and he has indisputably hurt many characters that the audience cares about, so his transgressions are more personal to us.

we can also consider other villains relationship with free will. catra, for instance, feels controlled by her trauma and a lot of her struggle so far has been her trying (in various misguided ways) to take back that control and decide her own fate. shadow weaver is probably the villain with the most free will since her selfishness and hunger for power have not been influenced by a history of abuse as far as we know. so you could think about it like this--we have four villains with four different levels of free will:

1. Light Hope - almost no free will - broke free of her evil programming, did the right thing, but had to sacrifice her “life” to do so

2. Hordak - little free will - will likely break free of his evil conditioning and may potentially do the right thing in the end but like light hope it might result in a sacrifice

3. Catra - some free will - already in her redemption arc to overcome her trauma. obviously not gonna die

4. Shadow Weaver - the most free will - wins the award for most likely to die with no redemption lol

so in the end hordak has 3 possible fates. he could be framed as an irredeemable villain (like shadow weaver), a lesson about how love can allow anyone to come back from even the darkest places (like catra), or--what i believe will happen--a lesson about how sometimes it’s too late to make up for all the damage you’ve caused, and you must be held responsible for your actions but it’s never too late to change your heart and there’s still be meaning in that (like light hope). in this scenario he would join shadow weaver in acting as a foil for catra (all 3 of them are intimately connected) and just providing another angle in she-ra’s exploration of morality.

#id love to read thoughts/criticism as always but dont expect a response bc.. i just dont care about hordak very much lolll #meta

102 notes · View notes

technoskittles · 5 years

Text

“Adora is one of the First Ones” Theory

Okay this is a tad later than I meant to make this post but I got busy (finals week is upon us and I am....dying).

But here it is: my “Adora is one of the First Ones” theory

There’s been a lot of speculation on what exactly Adora is (including one really interesting theory that she’s not even human) and personally, I think she’s one of the First Ones.

Disclaimer: I don’t think she’s over 1000 years old. That’d be kind of cool, but would involve a lot of time travel nonsense that I doubt Noelle and the rest of the She-Ra crew want to make that convoluted

(I’m looking at you Fairy Tail)

But I do have reasons that I believe she is a descendant/part of the group of people that the rest of Etheria calls the “First Ones”.

We’ll start off with something simple. During Adora’s interactions with Razz, one thing in particular stood out to me: their conversation about the stars.

Notice here how Adora is the first one to point out and name the stars. Quickly following, Razz mentions how her and Mara (the previous She-Ra from 1000 years ago) used to look at the stars together, but that they’ve disappeared.

I’ll go ahead and add a disclaimer that this one is based on a lot of loose theorizing and assumptions because we’re not actually sure how long the stars have been missing or whether or not the rest of the Etherians are even familiar with stars. For this theory, I’m going to go ahead and assume that the stars have been gone quite awhile - for a thousand years in fact. The rest of the Etherians likely don’t even know what stars are, hence Adora’s slight confusion upon being able to recognize them at all.

Clearly, Razz is able to identify them because she’s clearly over a thousand years old (as evidenced by the fact that she was alive during Mara’s time and was familiar with her enough that they would often hang out it seems). Razz is this sort of connection between the mysterious past and present-time. However, Adora, not only someone who is young and been sheltered by the Horde all of her life, knows about stars.

Granted, this one has some leeway in the sense that you can argue that maybe Etherians, even if they don’t have stars in their sky currently, may have some sort of written history or text on stars somewhere. A completely plausible argument, except that this comes next:

Adora’s seen the stars. She remembers them. She just can’t place how or where. Probably because she was too young to remember them. We’ll get back to this just a little more later, but first, a bit more on a possible theory of when and how the stars disappeared.

So as we all know, Mara, in a brash decision, stranded Etheria in the closed-off dimension of Despandos about a thousand years ago (as told by Light Hope).

Notice how all the stars disappeared around Etheria? (Please ignore the single star in the third screenshot I did my best to capture this screenshots as fast as possible lol.) A direct result of Mara stranding them in Despandos. This is also what resulted in her breaking the She-Ra line (as you can see from the screenshot above). It’s also safe to assume that large planet is Etheria (which will come up in just a minute).

But first, let’s move on to something else real quick: Adora can read the First Ones’ writing. As far as we’re aware, no one else can. Because, as Glimmer states:

No one has spoken that language in a thousand years (approx. the time that the First Ones supposedly “vanished” and also around the time Mara stranded Etheria in Despandos). There might have been some people who’ve attempted to translate the language surely, but it’s not a language that is commonly used or known. Certainly no random person can read this dead language.

Now, one of the arguments that could easily be made is that Adora magically learned how to read the language once she made her connection with the Sword of Protection, which would just be the easy way out (and not applicable at all to this theory).

But where else would Adora have learned a language that’s been dead for over a thousand years?

Maybe in a place where it’s still commonly used.

Which....we’ll get to in a minute (gotta keep that suspenseful build-up haha).

For now, let’s move on to another point.

This one has to deal with the planet itself. Glimmer and Bow mention at the beginning that Etheria was settled by a civilization that they call the “First Ones” over a thousand years ago before the “suddenly vanished”. Supposedly without a trace. The only thing left behind were the ruins filled with what they call “First Ones’ tech”.

Entrapta even theorizes (correctly) that the entire planet is made up of First Ones’ tech. However, during Adora’s conversation with Light Hope, it’s revealed that it’s not quite “tech” but more of a “life force”. (Not in exact words but that’s kind of the gist that I was getting.)

The princesses are connected to their runestones which stabilizes the planet so-to-speak. Disrupting the runestones throws the planet into chaos and as we saw in Glimmer’s case, if a princess’s connection to their runestones is disrupted, it affects them personally as well.

But Glimmer isn’t the only one we’ve seen whose connection to her runestone become disrupted.

It’s important to note here that while Glimmer’s disruption was caused by power from another runestone (Shadow Weaver and the Black Garnet), She-Ra’s was caused directly by First Ones’ tech.

Another important thing to note is that when the robot was screaming or, as Entrapta endearly put it “trying to talk”, She-Ra was the only one noticeably affected by this.

This leads me to believe that Adora has some sort of special connection with First Ones’ tech that the other princesses (or anyone for that matter) do not. What exactly that connection is is a little harder to pin down and I admittedly don’t have a solid answer to it, but I think it’s an interesting thing to consider regardless.

For my last point, we’re going to also briefly consider the original 80s cartoon in relation to the Netflix reboot.

Both iterations of this universe start with Adora being taken in by the Horde when she was very young. In the original, she was specifically kidnapped by Hordak from her original dimension to be raised into a Horde soldier.

However, in the reboot, Shadow Weaver states that she found Adora as an orphan and took her in.

What isn’t mentioned is how or where Shadow Weaver came across Adora. That part of her history is still a mystery - both to us and Adora herself. Given what we know of the Horde and Shadow Weaver however, it’s a safe assumption that Shadow Weaver didn’t just “find” Adora.

Now, this might be me getting nitpicky, but also notice how Shadow Weaver says she found Adora as a child, not a baby like she was in the original. This could mean that Adora was young enough to not remember much of her actual past, but still older than an infant (and even if she did remember where she was from, we’re all now well aware that SW has the capability to erase memories).

So what does this mean?

Glad ya asked because the moment is finally here:

Adora is from another dimension where the “First Ones” still exist. In fact, she’s part of the group of settlers who travels the universe settling on uninhabited planets.

As Light Hope mentions, the First Ones are a group of settlers who journeyed to Etheria to settle there.

Explorers.

Translation: They traveled from place-to-place. From the wording here, they were probably nomadic. Of course, there are groups who completely stay together and explore different uninhabited places to settle, using up the resources before moving on (like the Native Americans).

However, some nomadic peoples would settle in an area before a newer generation would set off to settle another place, leaving behind the people who’d originally settled that location (think Moana...except I don’t have screencaps for that).

The First Ones probably settled a bunch of different planets, Etheria included, leaving behind a group of people in one settlement to go and explore more places to start up a settlement there.

So....what does that have to do with Adora?

Adora was a part of one of the settlements on a different planet. Let’s list how and why:

-She remembers the stars. Personally. But where would she have seen stars when she currently lives in a dimension where they don’t exist?

Perhaps when she was younger.

Shortly after her conversation with Mara, Adora seems to have a series of flashbacks of a world with different scenery, including something that should seem familiar.

The Crystal Castle, before it became a ruin, complete with a sky full of stars

The stranding of Etheria

A portal that’s in a very...familiar field

And it all ends with what looks like a window looking out onto a landscape, the planet of Etheria in sight and a baby giggling.

Baby Adora giggling.

-Adora can read First Ones’ writing when no one else can.

This could probably be because, once again, she grew up in a place and a society where it’s still commonly known and used. As a child, it’s something she would’ve grown up learning to read. And after being transported to a dimension where it’s been out of use for a thousand years, it’s odd that she somehow knows a dead language....unless it’s something she’s encountered before.

So, tl;dr Adora is a part of one of what might be many colonies of First Ones settlers and is from another planet in another dimension where she was born and raised, learned the language, was able to see stars, and has a special connection to the technology from being around it firsthand (rather than being an indirect descendant over the period of a thousand years) but was somehow taken by the Horde to Etheria that’s stranded in the empty dimension of Despandos.

#she ra #adora #first ones #spop #she ra and the princesses of power #whew!#that was a mouthful #long post #sorry it got lengthy #I tried to keep it as concise as possible #I also know this isn't a super elaborate theory #and as most theories go probably has a lot of holes #but this is what I'm sticking to until I'm proven wrong

643 notes · View notes

fireeaglespirit · 5 years

Text

beyond-far-horizons

more-oc-questions: Which OC claims they’re tough...

OOOH Sindra and Aquila come close? That is so cool or rather warm given the trope.

YESS. This is literally the central theme and the heart of the story...

Among Aquila’s main relationships Sindra is the most substantial because its at the heart of the story and conflict and its resolution means a change in the world itself (think Madara and Hashirama and the clan conflict in Naruto).

They are the ‘lead characters’ of the main sides of the story and they’re at the center of this and eventually they reach for each other.

Hence the opposite color scheme, theme, personality, etc.. i.e. Aquila is warm and somewhat careless, Sindra is cold and strict, etc... they have a lot to gain from each other and evolve together.

They’re supposed to be the friends to enemies to friends trope we all love so much, plus red oni/blue oni, fire/ice, light/darkness, chaos/order, etc...

Of course, as years pass by I have created many other important relationship for these two characters, but they were sort of the initial spark and still central to the theme. In fact, Aquila is much older in my head, but she was supposed to have a frienemy from the start and that took the shape of Sindra... so they’re both old AF (at least 14 years old as I've started drawing the outlines during school).

The story was initially just birds vs dragons and very simple, but now I added a third element in the form of humans and its becoming more complicated. Still, basically in the initial we have both axis like this...

Aquila has more or less...

1: Her own phoenix related issues to work with (what means to be a phoenix, dealing with the deity, etc..),

2: Her parents stuff (her father’s disappearance and her mother’s sorrow), Aquila goes on an Horus-like quest to find her dad (they mirror the Egyptian family of deities quite perfectly as in, Aquila: Horus, Damaris: Isis and Suzaku: Osiris/Ra, from there on you guess...

3: Her own quest understanding her ancestor, the Raven Queen and uncovering ancient avian secrets (which eventually leads her to Eltanin and draconians)...

4: Aquila & Altair’s quest involving the true nature of flight (a self discovery quest which messes up with the avian’s own nature, etc.. which will lead eventually to the origin of avians and their ancestors) and also to...

5: The transformation of the avian society and her relationship with the other phoenixes,

6: Her personal quest is one of gaining freedom initially and them sharing it with the world, she’s a catalyst of change. Aquila starts the story as a very naive and even childish person due to her complicated childhood (she basically died and duh) she was kept on a ‘golden cage’ for a long time after becoming a phoenix... because she was in great danger. After she goes out of it we have the start of her arc of self discovery and traveling around the world uncovering its secrets, basically.

Sindra has more or less...

1: Her own issues about being a draconian and her dragon ancestors (Polaris & Ishanur and how she relate to them and her evolving relationship with them, what influences they have on her, etc...), basically Sindra feels conflicted about her nature and rejects her human side due to dragon slayers having killed her parents which leads to... she needs to build a balance and understand it all,

2: Her revenge quest for said parents. They were friends with Aquila’s parents and trying t build a bridge to peace between all races, and they were murdered due to it... so here is a point they get close (Aquila & Sindra, early on)

3: Her sister Nix which she is very protective about, basically she need to learn how to deal with this all and also Nix leads to the next one:

4: Her issues with the human kingdom of Novencia enhances after Nix gets enamored with Procyon,

5: Lyra and the dragonslayers (they want to kill each other) lmao, basically her primary antagonists early on,

6: And least but one of the more important: her relationship with her aunt, Kigaly which is due to explode as soon as she finds out she had a hand on her parents demise....

This is my fault I haven’t given any sensible way for people to guess what the story is about. In fact, I have avoided some central subjects and branched out to more and more concepts, etc... I need to sit down and write what this is all about but I don’t know if I’ll live long enough, at this rate (lmao)

Anyway, this is just the very beginning and the premises I want to work about for these two, but they meet somewhere in the middle. Also, many characters such as Eltanin were designed to have ties to both of them:

1: Eltanin, the main antagonist... loved Raven (Gienah), which was Aquila’s most infamous ancestor (due to being perceived as a traitor by her kind since she joined the draconians eventually and whose story parallels Aquila in her struggles with the phoenix deity and her desire to change the avian society, etc...)

Eltanin is an ancestral figure to Sindra and supposed to be like Madara is to Sasuke (a shadow both in the past and future of their kin). Sindra follow his footsteps somewhat and almost falls to the same themes, so they are mirrored also by their relationship with the dragon Ishanur (a fatherly figure to both of them).

Sindra later on joins Aquila in order to stop him, etc..

2: Kigaly mainly serves as an antagonist for most part of the story as she behaves quite madly and puts everything in danger in order to get her heart’s desire... her story ties closely to Sindra as I mentioned, they have a lot of beef to solve, etc.. but Kigaly also is interested in the phoenix power since she perceives it as a chance to bring her beloved sister back from the dead, so she is destined to be an antagonist to both Aquila and Sindra and this can grow more personal later on.

3: Aquila and Sindra are supposed to join forces later on and travel a bit together on a quest they eventually wind up on a place called Gaea, which is basically a forest with meso/south america theme where they meet an ancient culture which has potential to teach them their kinds can evolve together, etc... among other things they have to work this out.

4: Later on Sindra deals with Erebus, which is the dark parallel of Aithnë (the fire spirit) so they both have mirrored themes in having to deal with dangerous and complicated other-worldly beings, etc... (lulz).

By the end of the story they’ll be great friends and much more than that, soul mates in a way... and they’re supposed to lift each other and complement each other, etc... initially it might appear impossible and that’s exactly the premise of the story. Aquila opens up sooner as she noticed Sindra’s inner turmoil and despair as a silent scream for help... (she’s very perceptive and empathetic), but it takes a while for Sindra to accept any help from the outside, but eventually she does... she will have to rethink her life as she starts defrosting and focusing on what really matters, so eventually she repays the kindness in due and both are supposed to grow and evolve becoming much better than their initial versions, while keeping the structure and theme.

I hope I haven’t forgotten any important aspects of the story, LMAO. I’m quite sleepy right now but wanted to write you this quick guide to their relationship...

To sum it up, Aquila & Sindra are destined to some big things, they are the opposite forces that need to work together to make the world better, etc.. they are the central focus of the whole ‘bird vs dragon’ thing, of course I have many other characters which have become perhaps just as vital but they were the root of this all in my mind and everything has branched from it.

They’ll clash a lot before that, and there’s a reason it looks like they’re not very connected. A: I’m dumb and don’t write down things and B: you always see the base characters on my posts as I’m developing this...

And yes, I love the theme and I agree its rather warm, lol. But I have to make sure not only Aquila takes action on it, lol as she’s more prone to it.

#aquila #sindra #avians #draconians

7 notes · View notes

abberryyang · 7 years

Note

Heya of you were to give Arrow a do over what would you do differently and what would you keep the same? Also would you rewrite Sara because lord knows I would.

Well, it’s the cliché, I loved Arrow S1, otherwise, I only liked parts of S2 - everything else was: “…shit, I could’ve done better.”.

Big thing’s I’d change right off the bat:

Sara’s existence: The only redeeming quality she has about her is Laurel’s love for her and the kindness she brings out from Nyssa - but, of course, even without Sara, Nyssa still would’ve met Laurel and they would’ve bonded over their fathers. Honestly, if Laurel never forgave Sara and Sara never showed she was sorry in Arrow100, I would never care for Sara - ever. There are two things I would do with Sara: 1) Erase her entire existence.2) Have her completely resent Oliver and profusely apologize to Laurel.The character we see of Sara on “Legends of Tomorrow” (S1) is completely different from the Sara we saw on “Arrow”, and one can argue the pit changed many things about her. Of course, that’s for a different post.

Felicity’s role on Arrow: Felicity honestly deserves better than to be Oliver’s sexcretary, eye candy for the male gaze, or a self-insert character for teen-girls/middle-aged-women. I would have her work with Lyla in ARGUS, where she is mentored by Wendy/Barbra, and she is only with Arrow as a “side-hobby”. I loved Felicity’s one-sided affection for Oliver, and I want her to find herself and realize she doesn’t need Oliver - instead, when Ray’s accident happens, she is consumed by grief and looks desperately for him. When Oliver and Laurel return from Ivy Town, Felicity seeks Oliver’s help, as ARGUS refuses to help her with her vendetta. Waller says Felicity’s too “emotional”, but Felicity argues her emotions will help her find Ray. I want more for her than Arrow has offered Felicity.

Oliver’s “darkness”: Honestly, this should’ve stopped the moment Oliver beat Slade, lbrh. Even in most recent episodes, Oliver’s greatest fear is Laurel, the person who has always saw the best in him, would see him as a monster, along with the rest of the women in his life: Moira and Thea. It’s in S2 that Oliver discovers the women in his life still love him: >Laurel still does not see him as a monster, instead she praises him, thanks him, and runs to him to comfort him. >Moira even shakes her head and says she always knew, and that she is so proud of him. >When Oliver tells Thea in S3, Thea accepts him whole-heartedly and gives him a hug. Oliver’s darkness shouldn’t be darkness, just bad habits that any human being would have as a natural response to trauma and about undoing those habits - Green Arrow’s focus should be where it was in S1: Humanity.

The big bad of S3: It should’ve been China White. Honestly, you got Katanna, Maseo, the flashbacks in China - it should’ve been China White, about disbanding the Triads on the docks. Hell, you could still introduce Emiko if you want, who gets close to Speedy and they are BFF’s. Emiko, Sin, and Roy are all vigilantes and Thea runs the night club who employs the three part time (total omg this belongs as a comment of it’s own)

The big bad of S4: Now this should be the Bratva, not Prometheus, and another gang - some say it’s a race war. The focus of this season would be gang violence.The Bratva hire a bunch of small time villains to take out their competitors, but to no avail because Oliver is constantly thwarting their attempts. It’s then that the head of Bratva comes in for a “visit”. Who is this guy? I don’t know, you tell me. I would love to have a present day Anatoly who was like, “Why the fuck did you kill your own brothers, Oliver, my men? You must pay up for your actions.” Shit like that, don’t just throw it under the rug, no matter what ‘mafia’ you are in. It’s a big focus on certain characters

The big bad of S5: The Dark Archer and HIVE. Of course, since Colin is on another show, Malcolm, being called The Magician, asks Ra’s to find a way to switch out his son’s body (wayy early on) to another’s. Ra’s connects Malcolm to people who practice dark arts (such as Vandal Savage), who helps Malcolm achieve this thought-to-be-impossible feat. In another person’s body, Tommy swoons Laurel again, asks Oliver questions that only Tommy has asked him, and tries to be Thea’s brother (well technically he is, but…). Tommy fucks up Oliver’s entire life as revenge for what he took from him. “It should’ve been you who died in that building.”

League of Assassins:A constant threat to the world, but they mind their own business and stay in the shadows.

Nitpicky things I would change on Arrow:

Shado’s sister Mei: I really wish they would’ve used her more effectively, I feel like it’s strange that they are from the same family, but she isn’t a complete badass like her sister and dad? I mean, come on, would love the total Ghost Fox Killer thing happening for her.

ARGUS: Honestly, they deserve a show of their own, with Amanda Waller, Lyla, Digg, and Felicity. They all deserve better than the romcom the show has become and destroyed their characters in the process.

Never have Carly and Diggle together.

Dyla: Would drag out Digg and Lyla’s reunion, have them take time to getting married, give them a season or two and stay with the whole “reason why they decided to get back together is baby Sara”. Maybe even baby Sara wasn’t enough, it was the return of Andy Diggle.

Baby Sara: Also, I wouldn’t be a stupid fucking idiot and erase baby Sara, I would’ve just had it where Digg and Lyla never divorced because they had a baby boy who isn’t Oliver’s son in comicverse.

Andy Diggle: Give him a good reason to join Darhk’s side and remain there, give them an episode of flashbacks between just the two of them, another episode of flashbacks for their families, and another episode of just Andy and why he decides to be on Darhk’s side. John never knows or understands Andy, but we do - because even we agree with Andy that this world isn’t good. Have Andy be confronted by Carly, who finds herself in danger and Andy coming to her rescue, her saying, “It’s always been you, you’ve always been here.” Him saying, “I never left.” AJ never meeting his dad. I need angsty shit, all right.

Deadshot: I just need more of him since he survived the accident, alright, I need a lot more than just one scene.

Sin: I want more of her, I want her to be there for Thea, I want her to be in on everything and not needing to be the center of attention like another person.

Quentin Lance: I am so sad that they are putting him through his alcoholism again. Of course, I know that Laurel is his rock, but if you aren’t going to give him his rock back, throw him a fucking life raft.

Dinah Drake: I would love for Laurel’s mother to know of Laurel’s ‘potential’. Dinah is a scientist, who knew that Laurel has a special meta-human gene because they’ve been doing research for so long now. The reason Dinah left wasn’t because of guilt, but because she didn’t have the energy or time to deal with a breaking family when she was on the breakthrough of science. Dinah works alongside Caitlin Snow’s mom and on the side with Harrison Wells.

Wildcat:Retired vigilante who comes back after seeing Laurel’s fire, and protects his side of town. Is his own agency and continues to spar and train Laurel - also coaches the team of misfits with Laurel (Roy, Thea, Emiko and Sin).

Evelyn Sharp:Inspired by Black Canary, is friends with Sin from college, and joins the team of misfits in protecting the city in S3. Reckless, she leads the criminals back to her house and they kill her parents and siblings, leading her to a life of crime and anger. Mentions her friend Artemis as another person who “taught her a fair amount” of fighting skills.

Wild Dog:Trained by Wildcat after losing both his sons to gang violence in S3, René is so angry with what the world has taken from him. The mystery is solved when René finds out his son was in the gang and was trying to initiate his little brother into the gang. René is completely in shock, because he spent all his life telling his sons not to make the mistakes he did (joining a gang, selling drugs, and “living a bad life”). When René tells his ex-wife what happened to their sons, she blames him and leaves him. René hangs up his mask, completely ridden with guilt and despair.

Curtis Holt:Recruited by Ray Palmer for his amazing abilities in S3, they team up to be their own ‘super-heroes’. Curtis was a very serious guy until he met Ray who helped him to ‘lighten up’. Curtis says without Ray, he would’ve joined HIVE, and is thankful for him. When Ray disappears, Curtis teams up with Felicity to find Ray, and is the one keeping Palmer Tech alive in both their absences. HIVE wanted to make Curtis suffer for rejecting their invitation and had Curtis’s husband and the child they had just adopted that day tortured and killed, recorded it, and sent it to Curtis. Consumed with vengeance, Curtis dawns the name Mr. Terrific, what his adopted child would call him when they visited.

Rory Regan:Joins Curtis in his endeavors to avenge his family as HIVE is responsible for the death of his city, also hates Felicity to death and refuses to work with her, speak to her, or acknowledge her presence in the room.

Tina Boland: A secret agent trying to figure out what HIVE is up to, joins their team to track them down.

etc.

There’s a lot more nitpicky things, but those are just the more bigger ones lol

#arrow cw #keeloves #abberry answers #bleh

16 notes · View notes