My TDROTI Rewrite Character Analysis - Sky
So I thought I'd write up a bit of a look into the thought process behind how I'm writing and developing the final six in my TDROTI rewrite. Episode 22 included a ton of backstory reveals and psychological development, so this feels like an appropriate place to pause and explain what exactly I'm going for.
Spoilers ahead if you haven't read it yet and don't want to know who the final six are. Ok, yeah, there's the name in the title, but you might not know the other five yet.
I’ve decided to post these one-by-one for each character instead of all at once, so they will be coming out sporadically over the next week or so.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Sky
To me, Sky isn't a particularly interesting character in canon Pahkitew Island. She doesn't have much of a personality beyond ‘athletic,’ ‘focused on winning,’ and ‘Dave's crush.’ Once Dave leaves, she doesn't really have much to do. The basic crux of her arc is: she develops feelings for Dave, prioritizes the game over those feelings, Dave completely unravels, and... that's about it. Oh, and then it's revealed she had a boyfriend the whole time. So I started asking myself: what does it actually say about Sky as a person that she consistently puts winning ahead of personal relationships?
There's a lot to explore there, and I think it makes for a much stronger character than simply revolving around Dave. In my rewrite, I made it clear from the outset that Sky has no romantic interest in him whatsoever. I leaned further into Dave's lack of charisma and his neurotic tendencies, so from Sky's perspective, keeping him at arm's length is the entirely rational decision. At first, her game-first mindset appears to pay off because Dave really would have dragged her down. But then this strategy eventually consumes her. Rather than simply being competitive, Sky becomes increasingly locked into the game until she develops a kind of tunnel vision. Episode 22 is where it reaches its breaking point. She hurts multiple contestants, not because she's malicious, but because she's become so focused on winning that everything else fades into the background.
In that sense, Sky's arc mirrors Jasmine's, though they manifest slightly differently. Jasmine's flaws come from being too hard on herself, becoming emotionally overwhelmed, and letting those emotions cloud her judgment. Sky's flaws come from the opposite direction. She becomes so driven that she loses sight of everything else (Though we do see her lose her cool a few times, such as EP13: Hack and Field). Tragically, I think the two would have become very close friends under different circumstances. They have a lot in common. Sky even says this in a confessional in Episode 22. But because the game places them on opposing sides, that friendship never has the chance to develop, which feeds into the overriding theme of the game bringing out the worst in people.
One aspect of Sky's character that surprised me as I wrote was her relationship with female authority figures. We first see it with Jo, and later with Scarlett. She instinctively respects strong, capable women, yet she also feels compelled to challenge them whenever she thinks they're heading down the wrong path. She isn't submissive, nor is she rebellious. Instead, she's drawn toward them while simultaneously trying to guide them. I never consciously planned this dynamic. It simply emerged as I wrote. I like that, because it makes her feel less like a collection of traits and more like a real person. I'm not entirely sure what it says about her, either, and I think that's okay. Maybe it stems from her relationship with her mother. Maybe it reflects her ideas about femininity, leadership, or belonging. Maybe it's connected to her sexuality. I'd rather leave that open to reader interpretation.
I also chose to explore Sky's Cree background a little more than the original series did. Her cultural background gets alluded to a few times over the course of the season. Canada has a rich Indigenous history and it seemed worth acknowledging without making it the focus of her character. In my version, we learn Sky left her Cree community to attend an elite private sports academy. That likely leaves her feeling displaced: separated from her family and her community. She may even be one of the only Cree students at the school. I don't spell out exactly how that experience shapes her, but I like the idea that it quietly informs her competitiveness, her relationships, and her constant drive to prove herself.
Episode 22 serves as the culmination of Sky's arc. Earlier in the episode, her parents tell her not to feel like she has to represent them or her community, reassuring her that simply being herself is enough. Ironically, she immediately does the exact opposite. The challenge becomes the moment where her competitiveness finally overwhelms her judgment. By the time she's eliminated, she realizes the pressure she had been carrying was something she had imposed on herself (and exacerbated by Chris).