these are a few headcanons i have of bahubali, after the conclusion
yes ik it has been 10 years but i still think abt these
u will find most of these as avanthika centric (i loved her character, its had so much potential but they did not protray it)
mahendra sketches, when he has time, or whenever he's bored
its usually avanthika, rajamata, halls of the palace, or anything he sees
devasena keeps the first sketch of hers neatly inside a chest in her room
shiva repaints their tattoos once the colours start fading
he's a fair and just ruler
the first thing he did was abolish slavery,
he struggles with imposter syndrome
most of his subjects see him as amerendra baahubali and gets constantly compared with him
sure he picks up military skills with inhuman speed but its not as refined as his father
amarendra had a lifetime of practice while mahendra has quite less in comparison
he prefers the administrative work, as he is more used to it, having received a less complex training during the village
avanthika handles matters related to the military more often as she has been raised to be a warrior
there were a lot of people who opposed her both as a military commander and a potential queen
but she had devasena's support, who actually recommended her to receive tutelage from kattappa
he was hesitant at first not because she's a woman, but because he usually trained the men, women had their own separate division (sivagami had female guards, so im assuming women can take up arms in maheshmati but its mostly just for protection)
nevertheless, after their first encounter, he saw something in her, the potential , the spark in her eyes reminded him of sivagami
he has mahendra and avanthika spar each other for practice, only to realize that mahendra lets avanthika win each time and she doesn't fight with her usual vigour
so he makes them fight alongside each other, bad move, the training grounds are littered with soliders on the floor
he sees mahendra looking at avanthika with the same lovesick eyes that amerendra had for devasena
devasena watches, as his son and daughter in law (yes she considers avanthika her daughter in law), a smile creeping up her lips, while whispering "i see so much of us in them my dear, hopefully the world isnt as cruel to them"
id like to think that the soliders flinch around her and are hesitant to be her guards, as she has killed so many of their comrades
many nobles try pushing their daughters into a marriage alliance with mahendra, he gets so fed up, that he get up from the throne and blurts out that his marriage is already fixed
everyone is in shock, rajamata sighs, and avanthika stares in horror
the nobles cause an uproar, they demand to know who is his betrothed and he gestures towards avantihka, who stands in the position of commander
they question her identity and her lineage,
devasena defends her, stating that being a kshatriya is defined by their actions not their birth
off topic but i want to believe she is some sort of royalty, maybe the daughter of a kuntalan noble, a friend of jayavarma (jayavarma adopted her, we all saw the leniency in his eyes)
the court is adjourned abruptly and mahendra is called by devasena, he enters the room to find avanthika and kattapa
devasena is upset, not because of his choice, in fact she approves of his choice, but of his short tempered nature
avanthika is distraught, she loves shiva ofc she does, but found herself hesitating of the idea of marriage because she doesnt not have the qualities to be a queen
she was a born and brought up warrior, who knew nothing but military strategies, and techniques
none the less the damage is done, and so she begins her royal training earlier than expected, and does well
avanthika and shiva often go back to their garden to escape from the palace
or they go back to amburi village from time to time to visit his parents
personally i think that since he placed the shivaling under the waterfall, his prayers have always been fulfilled
however there was one time where his prayer was not fulfilled, he prayed for a daughter (he's a girl dad ur honour), and nine months later maheshmati welcomes a prince, (avanthika prayed harder)
his prayers are fulfilled tho, when 2 princesses are born 2 years later
lemme know if yall want more :)
