of all the cr4 pcs, whose narrative arc are you most looking forward to/think has the most potential and whose arc are you least looking forward to/are hesitant about where it could end up?
Realistically, I went blorbo-brained for Hal when he spent the whole first episode playing gracious host at his little brother's funeral. So I'm most excited about his arc. And I do also, from a more analytical space, find the potential really appealing. There's a lot going on there with ideas about the power of art, parenting, what it means to build a fruitful life after liberation, the trauma of war, what it means to provide a safe space, how to build strong communities, grief, and the sacrifices required to fight oppression. I don't think it's totally clear yet which of these themes Liam intends to lead into hardest (so far it's been sacrifices required and the power of art), and he could try to meaningfully address all of them. But there are a lot of ways for Hal's story to go, and I'm excited by most of them! (I will admit, I think I would find it a detriment to my personal enjoyment of Hal's story if he were to leave Dol-Makjar at this point. Not just a favorite character, favorite table thing, but I think most of what makes Hal most interesting (his art, his community, his interactions with his children) lives in Dol-Makjar. I'm not saying I don't see ways for his story to remain compelling if he leaves, but I do think it's a harder path for allowing the maximum exploration of his character.)
Setting aside the blorbo-brain, I am deeply impressed and intrigued by the work Marisha and Robbie are doing. I think they have both grabbed onto thematic ideas that go together in interesting ways. I wrote a whole post about how ideas of the future/destiny interact with ideas of class and hope in Murray. Kattigan is a character who Robbie seems to have discovered through play is deeply moral and has sharp insight into human behavior. However, Kattigan is also hugely uncomfortable with other people and with being asked to contribute in a more concrete way. He deserted a fight he believed in for a life that seems to have blown up in his face. There's a clear contrast between who Kattigan could be and who he is now that feels really fun. He feels like a character that could, and maybe should, live at the moral center of the story. But he is not currently capable of doing so. Which is fascinating!
Special shout-out to Vaelus, I think she has the most exciting potential character arc based on character concept. I've run pretty hot and cold on the execution so far. But we're only on episode 27, there's lots of time for that to turn around.
In terms of who I'm least excited about. Rich assholes with daddy issues have never been my type when it comes to characters. I really don't see the appeal of Julien. I was more open to him at the end of the overture because I love a true redemption arc where someone seriously grapples with what they've done wrong and resolves to live a better life. (There are many rich assholes with daddy issues that I do love because they have a great redemption arc - Emma Frost, my absolute beloved, but also MCU Tony Stark way back when.) I found the sort of aimless drift toward allyship that happened in the Seeker arc to be pretty detrimental to a potential redemption arc (it still could happen, but I'm not holding my breath), and it's left me pretty unenthusiastic about him. Themes of revenge and honor aren't that compelling to me.
Speaking of which, I do love Thimble. She's remained consistently in my top 4 for characters I enjoy seeing on screen. But revenge arcs don't hold a ton of appeal for me narratively. And I'm not totally sure how they fit into the wider story of CR4 either (there's a parallel to Yanessa as a little girl who lost her world during the Shaper's War, I suppose, but it feels hard to do a lot with). Which doesn't mean they don't fit into the wider story, just that I'm not compelled enough to see the vision. I'm optimistic that we will move away from revenge eventually in Thimble's arc and focus more on grief, identity/personhood, loyalty, and other ideas that feel implicit in her relationship with Thjazi and her identity as a fairy. But we're not there yet, which puts her on the lower rung of arcs I'm looking forward to even though I love her.
Honestly, I'm not sure what to make of Bolaire at this point. There are ideas of arcs in him that I find interesting (the conflict between his self-righteousness and his parasitic nature, his tendency to confuse reality and fiction, the moral ambiguity inherent in his existence, his newness to personhood, his existence functioning as another echoing impact of the Shaper's War). But if Taliesin is aiming for any of them, I'm not sure I see the angle he's coming from. And given that his improv style has proven to be not to my taste so far, I'm a little nervous about how it will unfold. His is the arc that I feel like has the most risk of damaging the story for me overall, instead of just being an individual character I don't enjoy/don't think is on an interesting journey. I don't think that will happpen; but the risk is there.
Thank you so much for this question! It was so fun to answer and really brightened my morning!