Something that I think about a lot with Mastermind is the significance of Stolas taking responsibility.
Like yes obviously politically it's a huge deal and obviously it's this dynamic shift in the whole course of the plot, yada yada yada... but like. the personal significance is huge in a way I don't see talked about, specifically because of Blitz's personal history.
Blitz is consistently in a protector role with those around him. That's not news. It probably started with Fizz (and perhaps Barbie?) and continues with Loona, with M&M... he's the guy who is putting himself on the line to take the fall when shit goes wrong.
The implication is pretty clear (and I suspect will become clearer as we get more information about the Buckzo family) that Blitz has been The One Responsible, for better or for worse, since he was very young. We see his father placing responsibility for the family finances on his shoulders when he's only grade school age. He is just as heavily parentified as Millie, although from a rather different angle, and the echoes of that abuse (and it is a form of abuse) are loud in Blitz's behavior throughout the series... and it shows up elsewhere, too.
Notably, it shows up in Barbie. I was hesitant to make any sweeping statements on her based on Unhappy Campers alone. One episode where she only appears for a few minutes at the end isn't enough to base major analysis on. But after the most recent short, I feel more comfortable saying that Barbie is very reluctant to take responsibility for her own actions... but all too happy to place blame on Blitz.
If it weren't for this, it would be easy to assume that Blitz probably spent his youth sharing the blame for childhood shenanigans with his twin. But Barbie is never responsible for anything that goes wrong, and Blitz? Blitz is always responsible for anything that goes wrong, in perception if not always in fact.
There's a lot we still don't know about the Buckzo family and how Barbie fit into the circus trio dynamic with Blitz and Fizzarolli. But I would wager that Blitz, who was very clearly The Idea Guy even as a kid, was the one taking the heat every time the circus trio got into some kind of trouble as children. That's a bit speculative, of course, but there's a very strong implication showing in his present-day dynamics with his loved ones that he has a history of being the one falling on the sword, taking the blame whenever anything bad happens.
But here's the thing: when Blitz was a kid, even if he was the one with all the fun, crazy ideas, he wasn't actually responsible for his sister's actions, or his friend's, even if he was likely punished as though he were. And when it comes to the grimoire... well, that wasn't all on him either, was it?
Which brings us back to Satan's court:
This would have been Blitz's final actâ one last chance to jump on yet another grenade for the people he loves. He was fully prepared to take all the blame for the whole mess with the grimoire onto his own shoulders to spare his friends and his daughter from sharing in the punishment.
Whether or not an imp having access to a powerful spellbook is actually wrong is a whole other question (I would strongly contend that he and Stolas did nothing wrong and it is the laws of Hell which are wrong), but even with that in mind, it was technically illegal, and it was a crime he and Stolas committed together.
And for what might be the first time, someone who created trouble alongside Blitz stepped up to share the responsibility. Not just share responsibility, but wholly lift it from Blitz's shoulders, even though there was absolutely no obligation to do so.
How long has it been since anyone did this for Blitz? Has anyone ever done this for him? Has anyone ever planted themselves between him and blame or consequences and said "no, I had a share in this too, don't blame him alone" and taken the weight off him?
One of my earliest posts when I first started actively blogging about HB was about how symbolically and emotionally significant it was that Stolas faced the literal fire in Blitz's place, but it's so important that he took the metaphorical heat as well, because Blitz hasn't had anybody willing or able to do that for him in who even knows how long.
