#he decided to finally cast his childhood fears and self centeredness behind and explore who he can be when he isn't holding himself back

[puzzledemigod]

Gawain isn't a typical good and moral hero we associate with classical Knights, but he also isn't the vile, horrible character that's prevalent in grimdark adaptations. He's just a guy, doing his best, who doesn't always get it right and is more self preservating and cowardly than he should, whose reaction to most situations isn't to fight or flight, but to not act.

He wants the easy way out and he sees the Knights from an outsider perspective, so he doesn't actually understand what knighthood is really about and is just going through the motions without internalising any of the principles of what make them who they are

It's almost a childlike quality about him, that idealism that's not backed up by experience, that selfishness and immediatism, and also in the way he's almost always being coddled and helped by most of the people who encounter him, and is repeatedly surprised when he isn't. He always has a way out, he can always turn back, but that's not what brings the conflict to the story; and if at first he goes on the quest because he's expected to, then continues out of stubbornness and fear of ridicule, by the end he seems to actually be curious about the man he could become, and starts considering the consequences of his actions, and finally starts to grow up and want to be better

#and that's important: the ending isn't the end of his arc but the begining #that's why we aren't shown if the green knight stops the axe or not that's not important that's not supposed to be a reward/punishment for #Gawain's behaviour #he decided to finally cast his childhood fears and self centeredness behind and explore who he can be when he isn't holding himself back #like that #and in doing so starts to become a real knight regardless of if he lives or dies #it isn't the actual beheading that's the 'single honourable deed that would make him into a newer and better man' #it's the acception of his fate #it's facing who he was and submitting himself to whatever came from his past actions head on #be it death or the opportunity to continue changing and growing #anyways i told you i had Thoughts #green knight #the green knight #green knight spoilers #sir gawain #(is he called sir in the movie?) #gawain #please feel free to reblog it and add your thoughts (even in the tags if you want) i would love to discuss this movie! #my post #mine