TPOT 20: IN DEFENSE OF FOUR, AND WHY YOU SHOULDN'T DEFEND ONE (YES, EVEN IF SHE FEELS BAD).
I've decided to make this post analyzing the most recent episode due to the rampant mischaracterization of the characters that the episode has caused, despite the fact that the episode is very, VERY firm on who's in the right and who's in the wrong here, and how complex the whole situation is as a whole. So, for starters, let's clarify some things.
Guilt does not immediately undo all the harm someone has caused, much less if they keep doing harm even while they're aware that what they're doing is wrong/believe it's right. Guilt does not immediately justify everything bad action someone has taken, and one must thrive to get better instead of trying to justify themselves about it. The end does not justify the means, even if the end is meant to be good.
Now, with that being said and being kept in mind during the rest of the post, let's begin with the very basics!
1. One's Motives: Explaining, Not Justifying
The episode showed us the reason as to why One has been doing all of this, and how it started as her wanting to be seen/have connections with the other numbers that seemed to always be ignoring her/pushing her aside. It is also revealed how the algebraliens got their powers, which is thanks to the Yoylite! One found the Yoylite and learned about it's powers, and thought that in that way, she would be able to become closer to the other numbers by using it, to which she ends up going to Three to tell her about it.
This is how she gains her first friend, Three, although One was also quick to react poorly when Three tried to get some of the Yoylite as well, showing that One got very, very possessive and defensive over what made her special/standout from the others. One's core issue throughout the episode is how deeply insecure she is about herself, which while it does make sense as to why given her lack of connections, it is the core issue of everything that has ocurred ever since.
One ends up accepting Three also getting the Yoylite under the idea of... finally having a friend. She's happy to finally be close to someone, to have something in common. However, this changes once Three tells the other numbers about the Yoylite without telling One first, and without telling them that One was the person who found it on the first place, leaving One behind. One is, of course, deeply heartbroken by this, which is understandable! She isn't in the wrong for feeling hurt by this, as Three wasn't exactly considerate towards her, even if Three had good reasons as to why she's done this (it would be unfair to everyone, and it is far too much for One- for them, to take alone)
And in a fit of grief and rage after Three tells her that if she's not going to be able to be mature about this, One ends up killing Three using the same powers Three has warned her about.
This is one of the parts that has caused the most issues fandom-wise, where people have quite literally. Justified? This? Despite it being very clearly One's point of no return action wise. It doesn't matter that she immediately tried to fix it/felt guilty about it, something that people ultimately overlook is that even if she didn't intend to kill Three, she was so upset that she very clearly wanted to hurt her in some capacity because of the unstable state she was in. I do think that it ultimately comes from people relating to One in this setting, but here's the thing right: it still doesn't justify it. It explains WHY she acted like this, but murder isn't the way to go about this, and I can't believe that this statement is a hot take. It's quite literally common sense.
As well that One tried to justify herself when seeing how everyone was hiding from her in fear, which is EXACTLY proving the point of One being in the wrong in this scene. She took the life of the one that was the most important to everyone, and said things that didn't help her case either shortly after.
People also ignore the fact that Three very clearly resents one/feels upset because of the way One hurted her, as she quite literally pushed her away once she was conscious enough to react properly. The other algebraliens are of course extremely horrified by the loss of their friend, and Four decides to act fast to make sure that One doesn't get the rest of the Yoylite, in fear that she hurts someone else. Because if she hurted Three that much because she was upset, who's to say that One wouldn't hurt the others if she lost her temper? Three was right. One doesn't know how to control herself.
And this is where the most controversial part arises,
2. Four: Irrational Actions Due To Distressing Situations
Four is one of the most complex characters throughout the whole show, seemingly not having a sense of morals or awareness of the damage he has caused, and it is shown on this episode how he seems to be rather "careless" towards the others, but here's the thing that made people immediately turn their backs on him despite it being completely reasonable for him to do: he trapped One inside the moon in fear she could harm anybody else.
People insist that it was an overreaction and that he was the one in the wrong, but that's really just not true and completely missing the point of the episode. What were you people expecting? For him to go and talk to her about the magic of friendship? She just killed one of his friends infront of him BECAUSE she couldn't control her own powers. Of course it looks like a lot for us (because ultimately, it is), but at the moment, can you put yourself on Four's place and imagine how genuinely afraid he must've been of One?
I think it's completely reasonable to want to send away the person that made your friend disabled. Because that's what One did. She pretty much broke Three beyond repair, and who knows what else she would've done to the others if Four didn't act fast. It wasn't a good choice, but it was one made in fear and anger, and he wasn't happy about it either. They lost two people that day. If anything this was an choice that seemed heroic at that time, they didn't have much else of a choice.
And Four learned why he was in the wrong.
Through BFB, Four grows and learns to treat the objects as people, but it is also highlighted how he starts to understand One's feelings and that he was quite harsh on her. The reason as to why he possibly didn't free her despite this is because well, trauma. He's still pretty scarred from seeing Three being literally shattered infront of their eyes, anyone would be, one just does not simply recover from this. And even then, once One escapes, Four doesn't immediately plan to find her or get her.
He hopes— he wants to believe that maybe she has changed, that maybe her alone time during her banishment made her change for the better. Four is clearly open to the idea of her getting better, and he even says that as well before One seals him in the moon as revenge. Four is not the best person by any means, but he has grown and has learned instead of getting stuck just in one place, unlike One. As well, I do want to point this out, but the other algebraliens trusted him to take care of Three! He made a whole forest and most likely has also made the castle for her!
He really cares about Three and tried their best to make her new home a safe place where she could just... rest. Now I KNOW what you're going to say, "but why was Three on the jail cell then?" Well. I don't think Four placed her. I think Three put herself there.
Think of it, Four made such a nice place for her to stay, and maybe for a while she was okay with it. But as the years passed, she started to grow more and more guilty about what happened with One, and felt like she didn't deserve that treatment anymore. So both in the fear at the idea of being found by One somehow, and because of her extremely poor mental state, Three has locked herself in the dungeon. She most likely feels like she deserves this, but something important to note is that even despite this all, she does not want One's help, and it is very clear that she never wants to see her again.
I haven't seen anyone point this out but can you imagine how scared Three was to see One at the cell, taking notes? Can you imagine seeing your perpetrator, the one that took your life and then left you disabled forever, right infront of you, and you can't do anything else but watch her as she writes down something you don't know? She's still out there. And you can't protect anyone from her.
You can't protect your friends.
You can't protect the one that tried to keep you safe.
And now, forrr the last point, that is just me bringing up Leafy's and One's paralells and how the episode masterfully uses Leafy as a character to call out One's behaviour!
3. Leafy and One: Growing Sour/Growing Kind
This scene in particular elevated Leafy's character as a whole SO much to me. Before the episode dropped, everyone thought she was going to beat up One, which I was somewhat expecting to SEE due to the damage in One's room, but this? THIS is SO much better. Keep in mind that before all of this, it was shown to us how cruel One became under the excuse of helping Three (someone who literally does NOT want to know ANYTHING about her), tormenting the objects and threathening them to harm them, and she has harmed them BEYOND forgiveness I may add! All under the belief that this is justified to help her "friend", so when Leafy calls her out and tells her she's not being nice at all, One is obviously. Shocked.
And here's when her insecurities come back! One still has despite it all a very poor self image, so Leafy saying that she's not nice deeply worries her. She's painfully lacking on the self-awareness aspect, so when Leafy constantly rubs it in (despite not knowing her story, yet somehow really getting where it hurts her the most) that if she keeps this attitude up, she'll end up lonely and unwanted, which, Leafy knows from experience! Despite the fact that One knows that Firey is deeply important to Leafy, she seems to have missed out completely on something very VERY IMPORTANT to Leafy's character: this wasn't her first time being completely alone.
Leafy has gone through very similar things as one, she did something that made everyone around her hate her despite the fact that Leafy yearned for companionship, and she spent a whole season being miserable and hurting others because of her own grief. She eventually learns to get better/grows as a person and apologizes, and was able to fix her relationship with Firey in the process. She's One's direct opposite, she wasn't happy living like that, and she managed to get out of her grave, while One kept digging and digging, convinced that maybe if she fixes Three, everything will be okay again.
It doesn't work like that.
Leafy reminds her that her actions will always be there, and that it won't get any better for her if she doesn't try to change. One, of course, is too far gone and doesn't listen. Having someone telling her that this is why she's completely alone crushes her, and she does not want to accept it. It's extremely important as well as it VERY clearly tells you that One is the one (heh.) in the wrong.
Three does not want her help, and she's hurting everyone and everything for her. She's ruining everything. Three was always right. One does not know how to control herself or the power.
So to finish this post, what can we gather? One is still in the wrong even if she didn't mean to kill Three, and her guilt does not justify all the torture and pain she has put the contestants through, much less the damage she has caused on the planets and to the algebraliens. Three is completely on the right for resenting One, and anyone who insists that she doesn't actually hate her did not get the whole point of the episode, and lastly, Four is not irredemable for trying to protect his friends even though his methods weren't the best.
This whole situation isn't black and white, but rather an extremely complex gray, and I'm starting to think that none of you genuinely try to get the show and only care for shipping or throwing dolls together. This is the story of what power does to someone, how grief consumes you and about the point of no-return. One's guilt does not justify her actions at all and she's still the villain, and she's still a bad person, especially as she has not tried to get any better and had effectively gotten way worse. This is meant to give more depth to her as a whole, and it was not meant for people to try to say that she was never in the wrong when that's quite literally not the case.
That was my TPOT:20 analysis post. If you've read through all of this, thank you.
