I'm actually quite proud of Armand right now. Openly admitting to Amalia the reason their relationship was always strained was because he'd always been jealous of her and her relationship with their father is such a great character moment for him.
One thing season 4 is definitely delivering is some much needed depth and exploration of the Sadida Royal family. And I find myself fascinated (not only because Amalia is my favourite character and I have a soft spot for her people).
Personally, Armand is a character I have a lot of trouble having a clear stance on. I don't hate him, and it's true his motives become clear and even understandable once you give them some thought, it's just that Ankama does a wonderful job at making him both outwardly dislikable given his abrasive personality and some of his most questionable actions.
For example, season 3 Armand and season 4 Armand are almost like night and day. Maybe it is indeed that his new role as king has forced him to be more responsible and emotionally mature, but the vibes between L'assamblée and Falling Down are completely different.
In season 3 he just oozed contempt for his sister, and his actions towards her reeked of ulterior motives. The fact that Aurora has been described as manipulative (even her hairstyle is meant to hint at her true nature) and was purposely placed in between the two siblings as a visual nod to how she's keeping them apart doesn't help matters.
Which is another factor to take into account: Aurora's character and the role she plays in the siblings' deteriorating bond.
Even if so far she seems to genuinely love Armand, I really can't bring myself to trust Aurora. Not only because of all the behind-the-scenes facts I already mentioned, but because her actions are just sketchy and clearly veered to the betterment of the Osamodas rather than the Sadida.
First of all, her contempt for Amalia is genuine and she legitimately seems to be planning to send her away to keep her from interfering with her plans. After all, this is literally what she had to say about her sister-in-law:
"Ne vous en faîtes pas mon prince, nous finirons bien par redresser cette mauvaise herbe."
Translation: "Don't worry, my prince, we'll get this weed straightened out in the end."
(I haven't watched the English dub, so my apologies if the translation doesn't match the official version).
There's also the fact that, despite being the new Sadida Queen, her intentions in season 3 clearly laid in the benefit of her own kingdom, the Osamodas. Such is reflected in her choice of suitors for Amalia:
She intended for Amalia to marry Ashdur, her own cousin, thus, strengthening the Osamodas' hold over Sadida politics. In fact, it becomes quite clear Aurora's choice in suitors, only supported by Amalia implying back then her sister-in-law had already tried the same thing with her brothers, was much less about the future of the Sadida Kingdom and more about the Osamodas' sake.
After all, while arranged marriages between royal families isn't anything new, usually the sensible and even most strategic thing to do is for rulers to"spread" their children and marry them into different families around the world. That is exactly what Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabela of Castile did with their own children, they married them off to the royal families of England, Portugal, and Austria.
With that in mind, having both Sheran Sharm children marry Osamodas royalty just seems dumb, doesn't it? It all comes to show Aurora is more concerned over solidifying her power over the Sadida Kingdom than its actual well-being.
Which is why I'm still going to keep my guard up regarding her character until the season ends. After all, we still have 9 more episodes where everything can go up in flames.
But going back to Armand, even though he is in love with his wife, his treatment of Amalia in L'assamblée is leagues better than it was in season 3. Unlike most of his appearances and his interactions with his sister, where he kept treating her like a child who didn't know any better (what she just so happened to accuse him of when presented with Ashtur, as a matter of fact), here not only does he finally open up to his sister about his insecurities and his reasoning for his behaviour towards her, but he offers her support in the wake of their father's passing and even invites her to attend the assembly with him.
He is entrusting her with responsibilities befitting a queen, not a child.
Their relationship is finally healing.
As I said earlier, despite the undeniable depth behind his character, it's difficult to really side with Armand in plenty of occasions. Not only because of his difficult personality and flaws, but because it is so much easier to sympathise with Amalia.
And I'm not talking exclusively about the fact that, as one of the main characters, we've been by her side throughout everything, witnessing her true selfless, responsible, and brave self, but the fact that her position within her own family certainly tugs at our heartstrings.
Amalia is the youngest sibling, the princess. For all the sheltering and privileges that can get her, it also became her gilded cage. And for the most part, not even her family was a safe haven.
Queen Sheran Sharm died when Amalia was probably still a kid, whereas Armand was most likely already a teenager. As King Oakheart revealed back when he explained to Amalia it had been Armand who insisted they let her go, the queen's death shook their entire family, making the king and prince unintentionally turn their backs on Amalia during a time she needed as much affection as possible. And so, her royal duties became stifling, her royal upbringing unbearable. Thus is the reason for her wanderlust.
And then we have Armand's reason for not always being fair to her: jealousy. He resented her for being Oakheart's favourite, despite constantly going off to adventures while he remained in the kingdom by his side. Now, as I said, this was a great character moment for Armand, one that also belies his character development. However, it doesn't change the fact that, while easier to relate and sympathise with him, we still sympathise with Amalia more or have been doing so for far longer because we knew the effect this had had on her.
We all have been someone's scapegoat to their frustrations with a third person, we have all been treated unfairly by someone who, for whatever reason, couldn't solve their own issues with the person they had problems with in the first place and took it out on us. This is the crux of Armand and Amalia's strained relationship: for years, Armand took his frustrations and insecurities out on Amalia instead of having an honest conversation with their father.
That's why it's easier to sympathise with Amalia, because we know that, deep down, for all her flaws, she was never at fault for how their relationship turned out. Because we can understand her frustration and pain when, even with their dying father, Armand still chose to listen to his wife over her and try to marry her off instead of being there for each other when they both needed most. As Amalia called him out for before leaving with Yugo, he still chose politics over family. Everything involving Armand and Aurora is about politics.
But now that they are at least beginning to rebuild their relationship, I sincerely hope things get better for them. Unless their original intentions back in 2017 have changed, I seriously fear Ankama will still use Aurora to complicate things further between these two.
Please, Ankama, I'm literally begging you. They're all the family they each have left, don't let their relationship be ruined forever.
My prediction for the next episodes.
People are yelling on Armand in the Wakfu tags while my boi is going through it.
Real talk tho, it's a fucking miracle this guy hasn't turned in a full blown villain yet. I suspect it's a matter of time.
Ok but I am SO ready for the Amalia vs Aurora battle. Two queens throwing hands? Sign me up
I wish Aurora had more backbone to her character (the impression I get from her is that she does everything her father says, regardless of the situation (ie. abandoning her kingdom in its time of need bc he told her to)) so that I’d feel compelled to root for them both to at least to some degree but I know it’ll still be awesome
Wakfu - The Great Wave webtoon preview thumbnail screenshot from Ankama launcher and ho boi I do not like where this thing going and I am genuinely scared jamshjdbdhd oh hey Aurora is back :D
Also we got lil Yugo again hhhhhhh this is Yugo… right? R i g h t ? ? ?
Me watching Aurora get the Adamai treatment (it’s a never ending cycle)
Like no shade because obviously from Amalia and our perspective her storming back into the kingdom to “reclaim the throne” after the end of s4 seems crazy BUT LIKE there is probably a reason. (Srry for incoming rant)
Yeah we root for Amalia because from her perspective Aurora coming back to steal the throne from her after she abandoned them does not look good! And yeah we want Amalia to win and get a happy ending with Yugo BUT we can’t just overlook why Aurora might do this and immediately hate on her
My theory is she is probably being forced too due to political pressure from her father and the other leaders.
Like, Toross comes in and destroys brakmar, causes a ton of havoc?? The blame is going to fall onto Yugo who is already disliked with his people PLUS having all these powerful weapons while being newly married to the only surviving bloodline of the royal sadida throne who completely trusts him and won’t listen to the leaders over him?? A kingdom that could rise in power with these two “dumb kids” in charge the leaders probably won’t take seriously *gestures to how everyone discounted Amalia over Armand because she’s a “kid” and not the queen.*
I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a much bigger coup then Aurora, for all we know it could be mutliple twlevian leaders involved to overthrow the Sadida’s/Eliatrope’s so they can’t rise even more in power.
I’m sure it’s more complicated then what we know, and while Aurora isn’t an innocent angel either she did genuinely love Armand. Giving the fact she probably stayed there because of her love for him, once he died the heartbreak consumed her, she had no purpose there (and listening to her fathers words she abandoned them) Considering S4’s theme of parents controlling their kids/being overbearing etc I wouldn’t be surprised if she has issues going on with the King of the Osa’s aswell.
Anyway I’m gonna go draw them and Yumalia having an akward family dinner together (my shrek 2 family dinner scene WILL be real)
We start with when we last finished off in episode 6.
Eva properly gets to speak with her father Madagaskan while the others are right behind her, listening intently to them.
AND MY GOD THE EXPOSITION WAS SO GOOD.
(Good for us, not for Eva tho lol)
The fact that she and Cleophee come from the most infamous assassin’s guild is WILD. You’re telling me that its members are so good at what they do that the rulers of the world buy their offers as fast as possible cuz they’re scared that the guild could ruin them if they go to the opposite team?? That just SCREAMS how important and secretive they are!! (plus we also saw a glimpse of what one of them, freaking Madagaskan, was able to do with just rocks). But it does explain why Eva has such a good eye for combat. I can also see where Cleophee takes her hair from too. From what Madagaskan has said about Eva personally, she looks identical to her mother. (I already headcanon that Cleophee took her looks from her dad instead 🥰).
But what surprised me even more was Flopin’s decision to follow Madagaskan. Not only did he want to get taught by him, but he willingly SNEAKED OUT OF THE DAMN HOUSE to go to him!
Also, can I just say how nice it is to see what Elely and Flopin’s bedrooms looked like? I love how we got a good shot of each of their rooms, it completely encapsulates their personalities and how opposite they are to each other!
Just look at how Flopin’s room looks very organized, his books are properly in their places on the bookshelves, and the amount of papers he has. Even his bed was made and you can see how he has a map of the World of Twelve plastered on the wall just on top of his desk.
Whereas with Elely, her room is completely messy, pillows and clothes are lying around the floor on the left side of the room, her bed is not made, she has a giant tapestry on her wall, some boxing equipment like her gloves and a punching bag (which she drew Poo on it lol that’s a nice detail).
But Flopin did have a point when he talked to his grandpa. We all knew he was a loser cuz Elely and Pin were doing their own thing. I mean do you remember how exhausting it was to keep seeing Elely having so much spotlight back in season 3? My girl is awesome and all but let her breathe for a second damn.
I’m glad Flopin chose that route for himself even though it was a bit of a surprise to see him want to follow Madagaskan now.
Ngl he lists out very valid points that even we were thinking about. It just shows that Flopin is very much self-aware of his position in the family and how this makes him look. I had a feeling Flopin would have his own arc but I didn’t think he’d separate himself from his family to have one! Good for him tho but still…
This means he won’t see Elely for a long time and Pin wouldn’t get to know him as much as the rest of the Percedal family….
But at least he’ll have his grandpa 😭😭
*Meanwhile with Ruel*
“HELPING FOSTER CHILDREN IN NEED?!?? 😱😱😱 HELL NAH NOT ON MY WATCH 😡😡😡”
I can’t with this old ass man sometimes I swear 😭😭😭
I just really loved the exposition on Nora’s part where she revealed to Yugo, Adamaï, and Qilby why and how she came to rescue their mother. The colors and the style of it all were so gorgeous and mesmerizing to stare at and it made so much sense. I also noticed how in her explanation, Nora mentioned that it was Efrim who had a special connection to the Eliatrope goddess instead of her like how it was revealed to be the case in the Wakfu volume 4 manga and the Islands of wakfu game. I assumed that Ankama retconned that tiny detail too.
I just love how realistic all the rulers’ answers have been so far. They’re all skeptical of Yugo and his family and I don’t blame them for thinking like that. It doesn’t matter how kind and helpful Yugo can be to them. As Aurora said, everything about this is too coincidental which is how Armand concluded that there could be a traitor in Yugo’s group. Again, I don’t blame him for saying that since he just got told by Yugo that the portals from the Sadida kingdom and Albuera have a portal, leading to the necrome world, that looks a lot like an eliatrope one.
And of course, Yugo doesn’t hesitate to blame Qilby and already jumps to conclusions way too fast, immediately thinking he’s the traitor since he knows he’s the type to hop from planet to planet, not caring what happens to the places he went to just as long as he got to study them.
I love this man so much 💕💕✨
But if Yugo actually took a second to process the information, he would know that there was clearly something wrong with his accusation. Because how and where would Qilby have the energy and especially the time for all that? Yugo is completely aware that Qilby got freed by their mother and Nora not a very long time ago. If I had to assume when he was freed, I’d have to say just a bit earlier when Yugo and the others were still in Oropo’s dimension.
Not only that, but since he got freed not too long ago AND was being carefully monitored by Nora, then there was no chance he could have been the traitor. He just got out of the White Dimension (again) so he’d be drained of energy and didn’t have the eliatrope dofus and the Eliacube.
But a very important thing to note here is that Qilby was also joining Nora and the small eliatropes on the missions his mother would send them in which clearly implies that he’s not done with this world yet (he could have been participating only because he was looking for the eliatrope dofus at the time when Adamaï didn’t find them first but if that was the case, then he wouldn’t have stayed and help to fend off against the necromes since he doesn’t like it when other beings pursue him and his people without, ironically, knowing where they are).
With all these in mind, it's safe to say that Yugo’s anger towards Qilby is based on personal issues.
Their fight in the sky was so well choreographed that I just loved every single second of it and how none of their poses were recycled 💖
If I see this shit in the streets you bet ur ass I’m shitting myself.
Also,
Ankama left us with a cute little gift so unexpectedly that it made me bash my keyboard at the wall. 🥰🥰
This shot was pulled out of nowhere that it made my heart drop to my feet.
This is the living embodiment of what Yugo’s sleep paralysis demon looks like 💀
One thing’s for sure though.
I’m not ready for the next episode my stomach keeps giving me constipation symptoms just thinking about it.
I'm sorry, but as of right now the Osamodas are my least favourite class if only because their entire royal family are a bunch of fucking assholes.
First, the Osamodas king, clearly trying to manipulate Armand into ruling how he thinks is best while simultaneously looking down on his kingdom. Then his blatant disrespect towards Amalia despite her clear experience dealing with crises and the fact that she's the best informed person around. The fact that he either refused to ask the other kingdoms for help on behalf of the Sadida or he at the very least neglected to send some troops of his own to help the allied nation his own daughter married into, instead telling her to turn tail as soon as things get bad.
And then there's Aurora who actually listened to him. Despite her feelings for Armand being genuine and mourning his loss (and the fact that, admittedly, Amalia refusing to let her near his bud definitely hurt—but she was probably too in shock to want to let all she has left of her brother out of sight tbh), she did not hesitate to abandon the Sadida, who could not have been more distraught at the sight of their queen leaving.
They deserve whatever cataclysm leaves the Sadida kingdom in ruins instead.
My least favourite class, really. The only exceptions are Coqueline and Simone.