You know, I kind of love that Essek kept floating around the Nein, even after knowing that he didn’t need to. ‘You don’t have to float around us, man,’ Beau told Essek. Which meant that Essek could float just because he wanted to.
Essek seems to enjoy floating! (‘You can attempt to climb,’ he says, cheerfully smug. ‘I’ll be fine.’) And why wouldn’t he enjoy it? It’s a cool, clever, unique and enjoyable bit of magic… but one that’s likely gained a lot of bitter edges for him. It became something he had to do to keep up the Shadowhand mystique. It’s one more thing that’s expected of him on top of all the other expectations. And once he starts to regret his actions, he perhaps starts to associate it with all the other things he’s done out of arrogance.
Walking around the Nein is a big moment of growth and vulnerability for him. It’s hard, and huge, and wonderful. But once he confesses his reasons for floating… well, it loses its mystique to the Nein entirely. The Nein are never going to see Essek as the Aloof Floating Shadowhand anymore, and they’re never going to expect him to float again.
But the thing is: the Nein love that Essek floats! They don’t think it’s a sign of him being the Shadowhand who’s above it all, they just think it’s cool and fun. Jester with her singsong ‘You float really good!’, Jester saying they’re choosing Essek over Trent because ‘That guy? He can’t float.’ Beau scattering ball-bearings under his feet and being absolutely delighted when they get pushed out around him. Caleb watching Essek float down a cliff and saying ‘Not going to lie, that is pretty cool.’
Suddenly Essek’s floating is just a cool Essek quirk, like dead people tea is a Caduceus quirk and having pink sparkly unicorn-themed magic is a Jester quirk. It loses the bitter connotations, and becomes something that his friends enjoy. Which means Essek can enjoy it again for what it is: an ingenious, original bit of magic that he absolutely has a right to be proud of and have fun with.
Essek can walk around his friends now. He can put his feet firm on the ground to pull Caleb to safety and kneel in the soil of a garden, and it’s a sign of how far he’s come.
But Essek floating just because it’s fun, not out of arrogance or because he has an image to maintain, people to impress, expectations to meet? Essek being able to take simple joy in his creativity and cleverness? I think that’s growth too.
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