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ritzy-dream-boy · 3 months

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hello gay people in my phone here is 6061 words of nimona analysis i made over the course of about 4 hours (the film itself is 1hr 42mins i was pausing and rewinding a A LOT)

my other nimona posts are here, here, and here

i will be referring to nimona throughout this analysis/commentary with she/he/they/it

i am also happy to take asks about it

•the obvious classism - ballister being mistreated by the other knights, having to put his armour on by himself while the others have squires to help and only ambrosius helping him, being the first normal person to make it as a knight. and the fact his armour is both a different, darker colour to the rest and clearly of a lower quality.

•the fact ballister INSTANTLY notices that there is something off with his sword because it’s not HIS sword, but he doesn’t mention it (i’m assuming he’s putting it down to nerves)

•the director saying ‘today the people will see you for who you truly are’ is such a good double meaning - to ballister and ambrosius (hearing bc he’s stood right next to him) it’s praise for ballister being able to prove he’s worth the chance and that he’s not what people think, but for the director orchestrating the whole thing it’s got the darker meaning, bc she has never wanted him there and agrees with the knights (pretty much) that he doesn’t deserve anything, and she means that the people will see him as the ‘monster’ he is

•the way ambrosius reacts to the queen’s death/ballister’s apparent actions - instead of disarming him or even just removing his hand, he goes for the whole arm. it’s a testament to his training and the way he’s been raised, despite his relationship with ballister it was instinct/memory to remove the threat, with as much force as possible honestly. as well as it reflecting the knights training, it reflects the overarching message of the kingdom and how they react to threats/perceived monsters with intent to destroy/attack rather than nullify peacefully.

•nimona’s teeth being the first thing we clearly see about their appearance, the fact their teeth are clearly drawn to have sharper canines/fangs to instantly show us that he’s not human. the teeth aren’t actually drawn any sharper in this brief moment, but if you look closely they’re a brighter shade of white than the rest and to me that shows the same thing.

•the very first instance of nimona meeting a human is being called a freak just because they’re THERE - it’s based solely on her appearance because at this point in time no one knows what it is, it instantly shows the message of ‘different = bad’ and in this case rather than classism like with ballister and the knights (though if we were to put them in a class it would be working/peasantry however you wanna put it) it’s just because of his appearance. this also shows her defence mechanism, and how used to it they are, he doesn’t even LOOK at the guy when she sprays him with paint, because it’s a practised motion. some people will probably put that down to ‘oh it’s because she’s focused on the news’ when in reality it’s because they have had so much experience with hate over the many years it’s lived that he doesn’t even need to look anymore.

•the news announcement. yes, nimona’s plan is to dismantle the kingdom and chooses ballister as a boss because of what he supposedly did, all these things being said about how he’s a murderer who should never be trusted, everyone is scared of him and he’s not one of them. that he’s a monster at which point nimona says ‘he’s perfect’. because yes, they chose ballister for the fact he’s an outcast who hates the kingdom like nimona does. but also, nimona chooses him because it sees itself in ballister. they have been called all of those things (the news even name dropped him as ‘the most hated thing since gloreth’s monster’) and more, and that reflection is what matters most.

•THE FACT NIMONA IS ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY REFERRED TO AS ‘THE MONSTER’ OR ‘GLORETH’S MONSTER’. THE LEVEL OF POSSESSION THE REVERED HERO AND BY EXTENSION ALL HUMANS HAVE OVER SOMETHING/SOMEONE THEY DEEM LESSER THAN THEMSELVES. TO THE POINT THEY NEVER EVEN GIVE NIMONA/THEIR MONSTER A NAME OF ITS OWN.

•ballister building himself a fully functional prosthetic arm with one hand in a broken tower outside of the kingdom with (presumably) limited supplies (while also listening to banger music)

•the fact that his immediate weapon is a broken bottle, showing the massive downgrade of his circumstances, but also showing how he is still the same man with the same training because his response to a threat is to arm himself and he has that bottle within immediate reach. plus his reflexes to grab the falling tin/can without even looking because that would give away his position. but also, showing that softness we see more clearer later in the film because he is BLASTING that music through (what looks to me like) a speaker system he also presumably built one handed (or stole but i don’t think his morals would allow that)

•nimona’s instant beloved weirdness (and the now clearer sharper than average canines) with the ‘did they let you keep the old one’ and their whole demeanour throughout this meeting scene shows their distinct inhuman-ness while still allowed him to maintain its cover - the casual dismissal of a bottle in their face, the ‘little girls? how old do you think i am?’ with a tone of offence and the sense that the second question is an inside joke with themself, the complete disregard of dangerous objects (grabbing a flamethrower, leaning on a spinning table saw and stopping it with their arm because they know it won’t cause much damage, grabbing a knife by the blade)

•in the same scene, nimona’s childish nature. while they may be centuries old, the spinning on the chair, the wheeling about instead of walking, the drawing style is all so incredibly childlike and it’s a testament to the fact nimona IS still a child despite being older than a human can truly comprehend. for all we know, since nimona is the last/only of his kind, this is how it works, maybe adulthood doesn’t come for centuries more. and that childishness (said positively), the fact it IS a child, is also reflected much later on with the way they react.

•also the fact the drawings are what happen later on (specifically the rhino one)

•the way nimona moves faster than ballister can comprehend - this is what made me realise the first time i watched this film that nimona isn’t human. (i have a talent for predicting twists/outcomes in films very early on with 100% accuracy)

•the way nimona reacts to ballister saying he’s not a villain - initially (to me) their tone when asking if ballister isn’t a villain has a tiny smudge of hope (that someone it sees itself in isn’t like them) but that then moves to disappointment when he confirms. because despite that initial hope, nimona truly believes at this point that it is a monster and is a villain and has leant into it this entire time because if people call you something enough you’ll choose to give them what they want and/or you’ll believe it. (this is then also shown briefly with nimona’s comment to ballister in the cell with ‘once everyone sees you as a villain that’s what you are, no matter how hard you try’, and that vulnerability before the instant click back to her regular way of acting)

•the director’s entire demeanour. cold, calculating, presenting herself as the victim who was done wrong, ignoring the way ballister pleads his innocence knowing full well that he is. it’s chilling.

•’break stuff.’ ‘that’s a hard no.’ followed by ballister sneaking and nimona’s casual destruction of property

•additional comment, i truly believe nimona’s weirdness/gory comments are because they don’t really know what humans consider weird/against norms so they say whatever comes to mind

•’ambrosius.’ ‘gesundheit.’ but also the way that trust between ballister and ambrosius is broken, even though ambrosius still calls him ‘bal’ (show that he doesn’t truly believe it’s true, or at least doesn’t want to) ballister can not trust the man who cut off his arm.

•LIGHT SYMBOLISM - it’s first shown in the armour, but also in that face off. ambrosius is fully in the light, ballister (and nimona) is not. i feel like i shouldn’t have to explain exactly what this means with their place in society and the way they’re perceived.

•nimona trusting ballister enough to show their true nature and making him promise to not freak out, ballister instantly freaking out because nimona is a ‘monster’ - but also the rhino scene from the drawing

•’what are you?’ ‘i’m nimona!’ + ‘i’m a lot of things’ - their identity is very simply nimona, that’s who he is. nothing that can be simplified to what ballister tries to label it as.

•nimona’s eye shines being rounded, ballister’s being squares when at the start they were diamonds, ambrosius’ being diamonds until over halfway through. - it’s about the connection to the kingdom and institute. ambrosius is fully in there under their control, ballister is separated after the queen’s death but still has faith in the people who raised him and took him in, nimona is far from both humans and trust in the rulers.

•similar to the above point, overall character design. nimona is rounded in general, their design is softer despite the way they present themself as a threat, someone to be feared, someone with jagged hair and piercings. it’s the truth of who he is. something soft, something scared, something that is not a threat. the director is smoothed, polished, but it’s not the same. she is still sharp, she is still a threat despite everything about her being clean and poised and someone to be trusted. the knights have rounded armour, to make them appear safe to citizens, to be seen as trustworthy too because they are defenders and monster killers. ambrosius has the same armour but specifically his hair is rounded, and that difference is everything because despite him being the literal golden boy, descendant of gloreth, he is genuinely someone to trust who wants what is right and the only reason he is on the institute’s side is because until later that is what he truly believes is right. ballister is in the same armour (just with the colour theory in play) but at the same time his armour is more jagged, it’s not as smooth as the others. it’s a deliberate choice to make him seem less trustworthy than the others because of his status and where he comes from.

•the similarity between ballister and nimona just in the fact they both blast music when they’re in their element (though nimona’s is through his headphones because to me it is linked to having to be under the radar)

•’i made it more evil lair-y’ but there is clearly fairy lights in the background and l art over the walls. the combination of both nimona’s act and the truth.

•ballister’s instant training response (much like ambrosius’ arm removal service) being to go for a weapon as he remembers nimona isn’t human because they are perceived as a threat, but also backing away when he remembers he doesn’t have a sword because despite everything nimona has done (breaking him out, decorating the lair, cooking him breakfast tacos) he STILL sees her as a threat. - additionally, nimona’s instant defensive nature and clocking that ballister is going for the offence he doesn’t have, but it presents as aggression because that is how they know to defend themself. the only actual aggression is when ballister calls him a monster because who wouldn’t react that way at hearing something that has haunted them their whole life (nimona is traumatised by the way they have been treated by humans, i don’t think y’all are ready for that discussion but i’ll make it happen)

•’what are you?’ ‘i’m. nimona.’ but with massively different undertones this time round. which then shifts into ballister’s first attempt at genuinely trying to understand, the way his posture shifts and his expression changes when nimona backs off and looks defeated and says ‘everyone hates you too’ because he actually understands that feeling. but he still doesn’t get it, with ‘that THING you do, it’s too much’ ‘can you just be YOU please’. but he sees something there and that is the first instance of change in him.

•’can you just be YOU please? girl you.’ ‘but i’m not a girl.’ - ballister still does not get it, but he’s not aggressive anymore. it’s progress.

•the pure joy that is the carless whisper subway saxophone player. this whole subway scene was so joy-sparking to me. the saxophone, ‘was it a sea otter or a river otter?’, nimona shifting into ballister and going all out crazy with the performance and the accent saying anything cartoonishly evil, ‘i hope you like freestyle jazz!’ ‘he hates freestyle jazz.’

•the return to ballister’s acceptance journey with ‘can you just be normal’ ‘it would be easier if you were a girl’ ‘easier for you, a lot of people aren’t as accepting as me’ - we ALL know that while yes, ballister’s very slow and incomplete acceptance of nimona is leagues better than the rest of the people, he is not entirely meaning it’ll be easier for nimona. HE is still uncomfortable with nimona’s existence and would prefer it for his own sake if they were presenting in a way he’s familiar and comfortable with despite knowing the truth. and then directly after comes nimona’s half-truth backstory when ballister asks about where they came from. we see the truth about nimona’s life in the animals, but they are sanitising their story and making it more pleasant for him to hear only to force him to accept that he’s small minded by telling him outright that he isn’t as great as he thinks.

•the whole car thing spliced with demon baby nimona is incredible and comedic genius.

•nimona not knowing how to deal ballister being worried about him and his injury because to her, that not how it works. on both the front of never having someone care about them AND the fact that they don’t experience things the way humans do (see later in the film when acting as ambrosius, in which nimona gets stabbed through and walks it off) and ballister still not getting that. but the clear progress and development of their relationship in the fact ballister DOES care and openly shows concern

•then learning more about how to not ask about how the shifting works because it’s small minded, but nimona answering anyway (in a sense) because they know he’s genuinely curious now and wants to learn rather than suppress them.

•’how would it feel if you didn’t shapeshift?’ ‘i feel worse when i don’t do it. when i shapeshift i’m free. i’d die. i sure wouldn’t be living.’ - this entire dialogue is so obviously trans-coded. it’s essentially a (very accurate) metaphor for dysphoria, and that is only proven true, not even amplified but it’s just TRUE, by the trans flag in the background.

•nimona as a whole is just an extended metaphor for being trans. trans specifically in a way that is more complicated than being binary trans or even agender. those things are what the majority can understand easy enough, like 1 2 3. this is more complex. it’s possible i’m projecting my own life and experiences here but that’s what media is for isn’t it.

•nimona actually saying outright that the institute brainwashed ballister - he defends ambrosius and their training in general saying he ‘disarmed a weapon’ in which he inadvertently refers to himself as a whole, as a person, as being a weapon. nimona is distant enough that he can recognise the institute is wrong.

•nimona knows the truth about the wall, even saying earlier on ‘so there’s nothing behind the wall’ (that needs protecting from) yet still allows ballister to come to that realisation on his own time. despite the fact it would massively speed up their plan, they let him work it out because that’s what he needs to do. nimona helps, but he knows that this kind of acceptance and essentially the shifting of your worldview is something individual

•’when things go south, i’m breaking stuff.’ ‘that won’t be necessary.’ - another step forward. instead of outright shutting down nimona’s behaviour/instincts, he redirects and somewhat reassured himself more than them that it won’t be needed because he has faith in his boyfriend.

•the painting over of the ‘new era of heroes poster’ - return of classism. the institute, the higher classes, only needed one bad example of a commoner to prove that they’re exactly what they’ve always thought - scum. instead of giving anyone else a chance, they remove any connection to people they consider beneath them at all. if you look at the poster closer, you can see that it’s not even actual commoner children, it’s younger versions of the knights that exist now, most notably ballister at the front and ambrosius directly behind him on the left. it’s false advertising in its most blatant form, they didn’t want to get actual commoner children to pose for a new poster to show the real change, because they don’t want a real change. they wanted to be proven right.

•the director’s very subtle manipulation of ‘you can talk to me.’ - it’s near impossible to see it as manipulation because, despite the reveal she planted the fake sword, she is still within the institute and to ambrosius specifically, a person to trust despite his internal conflict. the director undoubtedly knows he’s torn between ballister and the ‘right thing’ and she wants him firmly on her side. the offhand comment of ‘the blood of gloreth runs through your veins’ solidifies this, it’s a subconscious reminder that he has loyalty to the institute, to her, because of this legacy he didn’t ask for and that if he is going to uphold that it’ll be obvious what he should do.

•ambrosius’ internal breakdown - the buildup to yelling along with everything he says shows the depth of his character. he’s so clearly torn between how he was raised to fill the role of a legacy he never wanted and the institute he’s loyal to and the man he loves, who he chose to love, but ultimately betrayed because of the way he was trained. and to him there is no right option, he either betrays the ones he’s been raised to think are the heroes, or he betrays the one person who sees him as just another person. there’s also that similarity to nimona here. ambrosius recognises in this moment that the institute isn’t quite as perfect as it should be because of how he acted based on the training they gave him, and uses the exact same words of ‘arm-chopping is not a love language’ that nimona uses. because nimona has been aware of the flaws of the institute and the trained behaviour of the humans as a whole, while ambrosius is having a much deeper and more dramatic revelation of this because it’s something personal, he hurt the person he cares about most because of the institute. he can’t see a way out of this without anyone getting hurt, he’s trapped.

•the director literally whispering in ambrosius’ ear like the ‘evil advisor’ trope and then turning that back on nimona with ‘says the miscreant whispering in his ear’ because she is doing everything she can to make sure ambrosius listens to HER, while remaining composed, rather than doing what he feels is right because she knows he’ll turn on her if he knows the full truth. proven further by the way she panicked at the mention of proof.

•additional point about the eye shines - the diamonds are the shape of the pattern all over the director’s outfit . is this a stretch? possibly. but anything goes in media analysis, particularly animation because you gotta be deliberate with that. and with a film this personal to me, anything i say is true.

•ballister’s eye shines in this confrontation are circles btw. just saying. i think ambrosius’ are more rounded rather than full diamonds too in this moment but i won’t lie, it’s too small for me to fully see.

•’who is she, bal? what is she?’ - the breaking point for both of them. ballister refuses to answer because he is defending nimona from people he knows hate them, and that gives ambrosius’ suspicions all the proof he needs to pull his sword on a threat again. any trust ballister still had for him is gone, and he is defeated.

•‘let’s break stuff.’ - the final fucking step let’s GO, it’s the full proof that ballister has accepted nimona as both nimona and her behaviours, he’s gone from denial to preventative to encouraging it. and he takes pride in it now, you can tell from his tone that he wants this as much as nimona does. the entire ‘lets break stuff’ fight scene is again such a joy-sparker. from the music, to the confusion of the knights, to nimona’s manic joy at finally being able to fully express itself with all the freedom he expressed to ballister earlier. the return of the otter question.

•’if it isn’t the golden boy’ - THIS. the one-on-one fight between the boyfriends. ballister using the title he knows ambrosius doesn’t like because ambrosius broke the last bit of faith he had in him. questioning whether he ever meant anything to ambrosius and openly defending nimona being called a monster even when they’re not around to hear it because he truly likes her and wants her to feel safe now. throwing the sword down beside ambrosius’ head with the declaration that ambrosius never knew him, and the knowledge that he genuinely believed ballister was the queen killer despite the fact he was ballister’s biggest supporter.

•also ambrosius’ eye shines are triangles. it’s literally a display of the internal conflict. his loyalty to the director/institute/kingdom is literally cut in half by his conflict in who his alignment is to.

•nimona’s shift into bigger and bigger creatures and even breaking through their restrains - and their conscious choice to both breath cereal rather than fire to prevent destruction and the harm of innocents, and the fact they stop a child being crushed by a car without even thinking because they have NEVER been about attacking people. they have always acted out of defence and self preservation.

•the fact nimona turns into her first child form to comfort the girl she saved. - it’s heartbreaking to me. the form he chose as the one to make her first and only friend being the one they come back to in order to comfort the girl they just saved while the ‘monster attack’ alarm blares in the background. he chose the most defenceless unassuming HUMAN form possible, and the girl still picks up a sword. points it at him, and calls her a monster just like the first time. it’s heartbreaking.

•nimona’s breakdown. - the way they sound so helpless after flipping the table because the anger they felt is truly only heartbreak. the way they’re so angry about how even children are being raised to hate anything different yet they’re the one considered a monster for being inhuman, for wanting a friend. the fact they have suicidal thoughts. because that’s what that is. ‘i don’t know what’s scarier. the fact that everyone wants to run a sword through my heart or that sometimes i just wanna let them.’ that is suicidal thoughts. the lighting of this scene with nimona being under a spotlight in their most vulnerable moment and ballister in the background being shown in that same stream of light because they are both not who people think they are. the way ballister looks at nimona’s confession and his immediate declaration upon hearing they want to let people kill them that they should leave together. and nimona’s hope just upon the word ‘together’ because they have not been anywhere with someone.

•the director openly confessing that she hates and that she framed him because of her own beliefs and systems only to kill ‘ambrosius’ because no one can know the truth. - also the dead giveaway for this not being the real ambrosius is his ‘death’ because we know by now that nimona LOVES overdramatic acting.

•this scene being the first (well second actually, the first being the demon baby) proof that nimona’s pink is a choice. - he shifts to be ambrosius for the plan, and there is no streak of pink in his hair like when nimona was playing ballister in the subway. the pink is entirely a choice on nimona’s part because it’s *fun*, it adds character, its basically a styling thing. and i love that.

•’may gloreth forgive you’ is so COLD. how are you gonna say to gloreth’s direct descendant that you hope she forgives him for his actions and his turning away from the institute knowing the truth about things. knowing exactly why the system that you love is in place. what a bitch.

•the way ballister and nimona have lighthearted banter in the director’s face, which then follows into ballister stepping off the balcony first - nimona follows him after the steps off, but ballister stepped off first and that shows just how much faith he has in him now. i love it.

•the fact that it becomes clear when ambrosius sees ballister’s real sword that the one the director planted is fake. - you can see when the queen hands the sword back, the letter above the hilt is a G (presumably for gloreth, it’s another dig that ballister doesn’t have his own sword, it’s just one the institute handed him because he fights for them). when it lingers on ambrosius looking at the sword and realising the truth, you can see very clearly that the G has been scratched into a B for ballister because he wanted the sword to be his own. i love things like this.

•the fact ballister and nimona are playing a very chaotic monopoly and that ballister lets nimona break the rules and have dramatic fun about it - the way his acceptance is fully shown in the way he just says ‘metal.’ when nimona fully expects him to freak out about the fire.

•CAN A SHARK DANCE. - easily on par with ‘let’s break stuff’ as my top joy-sparking scene, the fact ballister prompts the shift, the way they’re having a dance party, taking selfies, going all out with silly dancing and sunglasses, all while the video wreaks havoc on the status quo in the kingdom because they won

•the way nimona feels safe enough to sleep around ballister - the ‘you’re safe. we’re home’ comment that sends her back to sleep instantly because she genuinely trusts him and believes him when he says they’re safe. the fact that softness is sandwiched between the director holding off her arrest and ambrosius asking to meet up. (and the way ballister still cares enough to mention that there shouldn’t be any olives)

•the director’s defence - a dusty old half rotted scroll that has been in a secret room for A THOUSAND YEARS. something that has been long forgotten by pretty much everyone because it wasn’t necessary or relevant until the director needed it to save her own fucking skin. it’s only half about killing nimona, the other half is about maintaining her power.

•the way ballister is ready to make amends with ambrosius until he says they’re taking down nimona, and he still carries that rooted mistrust that came just before dropping the ‘i love you’ and it brings down all of the safety he built with nimona.

•in that same ‘i love you’ scene - the light again. ambrosius is once again in the single light while ballister stares at him from the darkness. they’re still not on the same side, but this time it’s because that’s how they’re both seeing the moment they’re in.

•ballister ripping down the safety because of one scroll from a thousand years ago. - he rips away the trust, he rips away the safety, he rips away his acceptance of them and he rips away home from nimona. because of a scroll from someone he trusted first that was made by the very people he was actively bringing down a few hours ago.

•the way nimona reacts - the way they egg him into finishing the word he started, that he doesn’t want to say but he almost did. the way they want him to say it because it’ll only confirm that they already believe he never fully accepted them. the way they stop, and ballister’s own face looks shocked, at the fact he started to draw his sword on someone he called a friend. the proof that he broke their trust just like ambrosius broke his because he is still under the institute’s control no matter how much he distances himself from it.

•nimona returning to the well - it’s subconscious, as is the way he reverts back to that entirely human child form. and it turns into the true backstory of how they ran with animals but never fit in, and found the wall and wanted to be with that girl. the way there’s no fear at all as they’re brought into the sunlight and even played with in the village - they’re watched fondly by an adult. because there is nothing monstrous about nimona. they’re a little girl, playing with another little girl. the way there’s no speech, it’s peaceful music and emotion and freedom because there is no need for speech. the fact gloreth’s initial response wasn’t fear but shock because she hadn’t seen something like nimona before. that turned into instant acceptance because it’s cool. the fact the first instance of speech is defence from gloreth, but the second is hate. and that one sentence is enough for gloreth to view nimona differently. the fact nimona only acts with any violence because they’re scared, and the fire in the village is because of the humans own actions. the fact that the famed line from gloreth isn’t a magnificent showdown between woman and monster, but a little girl pointing the sword she played with at her best friend and repeating the hate that the adults taught her.

•this scene is what truly shows that nimona is traumatised - the sight of the well on top of ballister, her friend, ready to draw his sword is what breaks him down. it’s even shown clearly on screen that what we see as a backstory is a genuine flashback to the root of her trauma. it shows us what has made nimona this way and drives the point home that nimona is not a monster.

•the way it fades into the statue of gloreth - the statue that depicts gloreth, pointing the sword at ‘gloreth’s monster’, as a grown woman representing what the people have built her and her story into, while nimona remains in that human child form and it shows exactly what is about to happen. nimona, gloreth’s sword pointing directly at them, vulnerable and broken down and determined to act on what they’ve thought about.

•the fact that nimona’s footsteps shaking the ground cause specifically the mini gloreth statue to fall. there’s symbolism here, figure it out yourselves, it’s obvious isn’t it.

•ambrosius saving a citizen and prioritising their safety over attacking a threat and then being mocked for not being a ‘real knight’ - in reality he is doing what a real knight should do, he is protecting the people from actual danger rather than antagonising something they don’t understand and causing more damage in the process.

•i’ve talked about nimona’s ‘true form’ (as i call it) before (first link). the fact it appears as a hulking creature, something conventionally ‘monstrous’, shadowy and dark. it snarls and growls and roars, it has 10 eyes and is taller than the buildings themselves, it is everything that should be feared. if you call something a monster enough, that’s what it’ll become. but the fires in the city aren’t because of nimona. they’re the city’s own attacks. nimona hasn’t attacked once. there’s damage done, but it isn’t deliberate. even when there’s a knight directly in its face, it only roars because that isn’t why it’s here.

•ballister’s guilt at seeing nimona, both in their true form and being attacked, and recognising that it’s his own fault for driving them away.

•nimona’s first and only direct attack on the city is ripping down a billboard that promotes children killing monsters. because that’s personal.

•ambrosius once again questioning his allegiance and finally proving his true loyalty - the forced acknowledgment that the director knows the damage she will cause at the expense of killing the ‘monster’ but doesn’t care, because she doesn’t care about the people, or the true meaning of protecting the city and it’s people. she cares about killing monsters.

•returning to nimona’s true form as being a huge shadowy creature - it’s clear in the transformation and in these scenes of her walking, the darkness is protecting her. all of the shadows are wrapped around a pure bright light. his heart. it comes back to my earlier point about character design, how nimona’s humanoid form is rounded and soft, despite additional spiky parts and the off-putting demeanour because that’s the truth about them. they’ve only ever been protecting themself. that’s all it’s ever been.

•the repeat of nimona’s ‘sword through my heart’ line from the breakdown. - the fact this whole time they entered the city this way specifically to reach gloreth’s sword and finish what the humans started, what they want. the fact the loss of their only friend in the same way they lost their first drove them to suicide. the way she wails as she bares her heart to the sword before it even touches, because that scream isn’t about a sword through the heart. it’s about the emotional pain. it’s about the way they have no one. the way they have nothing left. the way their friend, their safety, their home, was ruined. it’s the way this is their only way out.

•ballister on the sword - he touches nimona’s heart with his prosthetic hand. the hand he lost to the institute like nimona lost everything. the deepest level of connection built by a shared pain and loss. the fact he looks up at nimona in their true form and doesn’t flinch away, doesn’t fear them, but apologises. says he sees them. that they’re not alone. and he means it. and that nimona comes back to humanoid form, body taking on the injuries the shadows didn’t show, and collapses. not into ballister’s arms, but he catches her anyway. because he’s there for nimona.

•the director’s refusal to listen to reason. the way she growls ‘go back to the shadows from whence you came.’ the director’s whole performance is chilling.

•nimona’s return to their ‘normal’ state upon the truest acceptance from ballister, and the fact they specifically became a phoenix (just like he said at the beginning when ‘planning’ with ballister) to end the director’s plan, and in the process breaks the wall to show that the outside is magnificent.

•the way nimona’s sparkle after dying fade out before it can reach ballister’s hand. that in particular is really special to me. something about how ballister feels guilty still even after nimona has forgiven him and now he can’t reach them. almost a ‘too little too late’ thing, except that’s not true in this case. but ballistae’s chance to truly make things right after it’s all over is gone.

•ballister keeping his original, self made arm after the kingdom’s reconstruction and improvement despite the fact he could definitely have a new one.

•the way the city honours nimona’s sacrifice - the huge wall of tributes and gifts, the art, the flowers, the mural. compared to ballister’s quiet grief in how he’s shown returning to their home and seeing the monopoly game, putting the dog piece back in place, hanging the weapons back up and pulling the curtains down because they don’t need to hide in their home. the way he lights up when he hears the banging on the door because even though nimona only knocked once when they first met, he knows that’s how they knock. and the fact it has a happy ending, even if we probably don’t get a sequel, it’s still so comforting to know that nimona’s choice of a phoenix was for a reason. because they rise from the ashes.

#nimona #nimona thoughts #nimona 2023 #nimona the movie #nimona analysis #v rambles #ritz thoughts

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