I’ve been finding it quite interesting how Yona is always praised as a “strong female character” and gushed about every time she draws her bowstring or tells someone off, yet as soon as she shows emotional vulnerability of any kind (or makes a seemingly ‘incorrect’ decision, no matter how 'rock and hard place’ it was *glances at the chapters where she decided to come to the castle*) the immediate reaction in the fandom is to say that she has regressed and is no longer “strong”. Or for some to claim that she is acting out of character and needs to go back to being the “strong female character” we knew before. I don’t think these claims would be so bad if Yona had been acting this way for multiple arcs with no real cause given, but these reactions usually come after single chapters/events that a) haven’t even been concluded in the story yet, and b) justify quite well imo that she has every reason to be upset/confused/mistaken/you name it.
I think another interesting opinion floating around is the idea that Yona is acting out of character because she didn’t just storm the castle and/or hasn’t told off the people around her trying to control her. Again, I’ve been wanting to rant about this for ages, but the short of it is that this current situation is nothing like what she has experienced in the past. I feel that every villain in AnY has served (or, tried to serve, some fell flat - that’s another rant I’ve half-finished and never published) to teach Yona something important about leadership, giving her life experience and varied viewpoints to look back on and use if she ever takes the throne. It’s why I’ve never gotten up in arms about the villains in AnY typically being defeated very easily - they are usually flawed characters who are not meant to be physically strong or necessarily super smart. They are manipulators and scoundrels who misuse their power or influence and there are lessons on how not to lead/how people work to be learned from them. The same can be said about this current arc. Usually the people Yona has to deal with are obviously in the wrong for some reason. She (with the help of others more closely involved with the situation - see Lili, Tae-Jun, Kouren, Tao, etc.) can easily remove them from the picture and try to fix their corruption, or push them back because they have tried to invade Kouka and that’s obviously not going to fly. This current scenario is SO DIFFERENT. People are not necessarily being hurt under Soo-Won; rather, the opposite. He has seemingly won the favour of the people more than Il ever did, and has been doing “good” for the country. (I say “good” because all of this is subjective and I know the scale could be argued to be tipping both ways, but that’s a debate for later). He is not someone abusing power to harm the people. We know how he got the throne and that Yona and co. have a right to dislike him, but the people don’t know this. Taking him or parts of his team out could start a civil war if done incorrectly. I’ve been saying for a while but this arc is about “perceptions” - about acting in such a way so that your actions don’t conflict with how you need to be seen by others. As you say, it’s ‘less about strength and even more about human chess with information’ and Yona is not super skilled in this area yet. But I have 100% faith that she will learn. We’ve already seen that she knows she and her friends are being manipulated. Her glaring at Kye-Sook/Joo-Doh/Soo-Won and calling them out in private (because she can get away with defying them openly there because no-one is watching) is obvious proof of this. However, her ability to do a lot about it is still lacking. I’m hoping this will be a great learning experience for her and she will start to pick up on ways to get what she wants without ruining her “status”. I get that sneaky politics doesn’t seem very much like Yona and the person we know her to be, but I think it’s important for her to learn. Even if she doesn’t use manipulation to get what she wants, learning how to spot it and work around people trying to use it is so important if she eventually wants to rule, because others WILL try to take advantage of her, no matter how kind and steadfast she is. I’m sure (or at least I really hope) she’ll start to figure it all out, but she needs time. As you mention, her current location and the heavy baggage she is now carrying are definitely not helping, but as she always has done, I have faith Yona will stand up again and figure out what to do. Her showing emotion and getting upset here are not signs of weakness or regression imo. They are signs that, despite everything going on around her, Yona has not lost her compassion and ability to love.
pixelskylines
blakekathryn
romaincrisis
annaxmalina
stormborns
andulkaphoto
