KitKatwood

[kitkatwoodz]

So a few people are saying they're unhappy with the latest episode because they feel it ruins and undoes all of the healing hunter did in the human realm. I've heard the choice of belos possessing hunter called unnecessary and done for purely angsty value. But I want to explain why I think it's a very realistic move for the writers and an important one.

Anyone who has gone through trauma, especially as much as hunter has, knows that recovery from it is FAR from walking in a straight line. Some days it's a few steps forward, others it's a few steps back. I think hunter slowly but surely healing without a few major setbacks would be a very unrealistic and unwise move, especially since a large portion of the fan base has gone through abuse themselves and hunter represents us in a way.

Trauma or the abusers themselves rarely are gone from our lives forever. They can often pop up at the worst times, and you have to work through your trauma both past and present again to get through it. Exactly like what belos did in the episode. Sometimes we fall into their grip again, but the point is we keep learning and fighting.

And we can learn this through hunter. At the beginning of the episode he was very much afraid of belos, literally shaking at the thought of seeing him again. He then temporarily fell back into belos' control. But he made it out the other side thanks to his friends, not trembling in fear anymore, but angry, determined, ready to fight him head on. Now he's ready to really face him for good, with a new sense of identity. It's very realistic imo.

Plus people rarely get out of these re-encounters with abusers unscathed, hence the new scarring. They can be viewed as reminders of the past, or a reminder that you can get thought something tough, but the keep moving forward.

As for flapjack? Loosing what's essentially his emotional support animal? You could see it as a sign of hunter growing and recovering. Hunter didn't have friends to support him before, only flapjack, but now he does. I definitely would prefer him to still be alive though, but I get the sense he's not gone forever just yet.

Sorry this is long, just wanted to get it out there. Let me know if you think it's accurate:)

[kitkatwoodz]

Many people have pointed out that Hunter is the first Golden Guard to break the cycle with Belos. Now in this case 'breaking the cycle' is referring to how each Golden Guard is created, emotionally and physically abused to stay in line, eventually betray Belos, and are killed for it at the hands of the Emporer himself.

Up until this point, Hunter hasn't actually done anything different from the other Golden Guards. He was raised by Belos, found out the truth, and went against him, just like the others.

Now bare with me..

I'm willing to bet virtually every single grimwalker ended up in the Golden Guard Graveyard. Belos believed it to be a safe place to hide the evidence of his experiments, and judging by the sheer number of them, they're probably all here.

And many of them probably faced a similar situation to Hunter above on the bridge, confronting Belos. One last stand. But they all ultimately faced the same fate. Either by being knocked off, killed and then thrown off, or killed somewhere else and chucked down with the rest.

Did anyone notice how in the scene where Kiki brings 'Hunter' to Belos (knowing full well he wanted to kill him btw) that Belos threw the collector down into the same pit once they were no longer 'of use' and knew the truth about him, just like the previous GGs. And in the very next scene we see Hunter falling to what would've been his death. That can't be a coincidence.

The writers are showing us that this was Hunters fate. This is what would've happened to him. In regards to 'breaking the cycle' Hunter was no different than the other clones. The ones who truly broke the cycle were Luz, the rest of the gang, and the Collector.

Luz when she caused him to find out the truth in Belos's mind, and once he used her glyphs to escape being stuck there forever, was teleported far away from Belos, safe. We know from that episode that Belos would immediately try and dispose of him as soon as he even questioned things. Luz saved him from that.

He still ended up on that bridge to face his fate like the others though, but this time, he had his friends to protect him. Keep him alive just long enough for the collector to turn the tables of destiny and give Belos a taste of his own medicine, on that very same bridge where he condemed the other GGs.

Thus, making Hunter the last Golden Guard, and the only grimwalker to survive the cycle.

He hasn't got out of it unharmed, but he escaped thanks to his friends, and I'm sure he'll heal thanks to them too.

[kitkatwoodz]

Something I realised after the finale

In Hollow Mind, after seeing the palismen 'monster' (which looks exactly like Belos's cursed form) Hunter tells Luz they're probably being punished. He immediately associates this form of Belos and his goop abilities as a punishment, something to fear. He also seems to be more scared of it than Luz is in that episode.

We see a similar reaction in the latest episode too. When they first catch up with Luz, he's the only one to not greet her because he's too focused on Belos. During the fight scene, the only time he moved was to protect his friends, but otherwise just stood there watching in fear.

And it's because this form is how Belos punished him. We've seen it (or at least, belos threatening it) once already, we've seen Hunter flinching away from it, and we've seen how trigger happy Belos is with his abilities from his interaction with the collector.

This form is what he faces when he fails. It's like the embodiment of his physical abuse. While Belos's 'human' form is literally the face of his emotional trauma.

Which makes this scene all the more painful

And this all the more brave

"You're lying!"

Btw heres some more trauma points:

Hunter was unknowingly feeding the monster hes so afraid of when he had to bring Belos palismen, and he thought the palismen were helping the curse he so desperately tried to find a cure for, since Belos made out he was suffering and was in pain (which tbf he probably was at the time) but then in Hollow Mind he openly admitted in front of the poor boy that he 'cursed' himself on purpose so he could have these goop abilities, which means he never wanted a cure and was just using the situation to make Hunter feel bad for him and more likely to do what he says.

[kitkatwoodz]

TOH SPOILERS!

Is anyone gonna mention how before Belos tried to manipulate Hunter, he looked like this-

The draining spell is paralysing his arm, but no cuts or other injuries. Then when Belos sees flapjack while Hunter is frozen in place, he goes crazy...

We next see Hunter with slash marks in his shirt and a sizeable cut on his knee.

Now the rest of the group got scratched up pretty bad aswell, but it seems that in Belos's moment of rage, he tried to kill Hunter right there and then he was frozen.

Hurt at the hands of his dear 'Uncle' one last time before seeing him pound into a pulp. Just one more thing to add to his ever growing list of trauma.