I wasn’t going to post this reply because of comments, but as I’m about to disappear from tumblr for another few months, and this is the first time I’ve actually had these discussions in months, I thought fuck it.
He’s protecting them from being destroyed, as mentioned by Asha in the first few minutes of the movie. People seem to forget that this movie was set in the 1200s and life wasn’t the same then as it is now. There were plenty of things that could destroy dreams and sickness and war were rampant. People didn’t live to be 100, yet here is Sabino, turning 100, most likely due to the protections and improvements that living in Rosas provided.
He didn’t omit it at all. He said what he was going to do, because it’s spoken about in Asha’s story. It talks about how he grants wishes “For the good and worthy” and as the one with the magic, of course he gets to decide who that is. Beyond that, he was granting one a month. Could these people not do maths?
We also don’t know that Sabino’s wasn’t bad, or that it wouldn’t have been had Magnifico granted it earlier. It certainly didn’t benefit the Kingdom, which seems to be the intention behind a lot of his choices. (Like granting a wish to be the best dressmaker in the land, now the kingdom has more choice of clothes and some of them can be traded with other kingdoms). Sabino would give them.. what? A jaunty tune? They always had music, we hear it.
And that’s not even touching on the fact that Sabino is older than Magnifico (if we go based purely on their looks and not my theory that Amaya and Magnifico are older than they seem), he could have played his dumb little lute before he ever came to Rosas because he’s literally 100 and probably had about 60 years to try. But he wanted a shortcut and then was disappointed when he didn’t get one. I personally don’t see him as worthy 😂
The people of Rosas don’t have no dreams at all. They had one single wish taken from them but humans aren’t made up of one single wish. Wishes also change. They establish this in the movie. And when those wishes change, there’s nothing stopping people from pursuing their new ones.
We also don’t know how their wishes were selected. Magnifico does his whole “think of a wish” thing at the ceremony, but does he necessarily take those wishes or is he able to select things in people that aren’t necessarily their deepest desire? Because one person literally wished for a nanny and I’m supposed to believe that that was their biggest wish? Maybe he selected that wish because they already had the skills to make their deepest wish come true and Rosas would give them a place for that.
Because look at Dahlia. Not old enough to give her wish yet, but she loves baking so they give her the opportunity to develop those skills in a place where she was probably working with the best chefs in the kingdom. They did encourage people working for their dreams and developing skills. That’s why people aren’t just sat around doing nothing all day.
Sakina is another good example. She’s a seamstress because she clearly has the skills, but the wish Magnifico took was one to see her daughter thrive or something (it’s been a while since I read A Recipe for Adventure), but there’s no way that that’s been her life long wish as Asha is only 17.
And maybe in a similar way, he can take people’s ‘darker’ wishes, or ones that cause them pain. People who wish for the return of dead relatives, for example, or those who wish for things that would harm others. I don’t mean necessarily serial killer wishes, but humans can be selfish, and I would imagine there are many selfish wishes in Magnifico’s chamber.
Magnifico’s judgement is biased, but the same can be said for Asha’s. She’s grown up in Rosas. Protected from the “real world” and yes, she lost her father, but outside of Rosas, I imagine she’d have lost a lot more in those days. She’s been protected from a lot of shitty things that exist in the world, so while he sees danger everywhere, she doesn’t seem to see it anywhere except in Magnifico.
Amaya could have, and should have, bridged the gap between these two points of view, she should have balanced them out and created a better Kingdom where some people still got to give wishes if they chose to, because they might have had reasons for wanting to, while others could be helped to work towards them in the same way they helped Dahlia already. (Self promo here because I literally have this happen in my sequel 😂)
Asha having magic isn’t a bad thing. Asha is the one who says that one person shouldn’t have all the magic and then becomes that person. It’s this hypocrisy that those who dislike her don’t like. Beyond that, she doesn’t even seem good at it, and there’s no one to teach her because Star is dipping out of there.
And while I was kinda joking, I don’t think that reaching out to other kingdoms in the 1200s would end the way you think. Undefended kingdom with bountiful supplies and a beautiful queen? That place is being invaded within in weeks. They’d be much safer remaining isolated, continuing to trade the way they currently do and acting to the outside world as if Magnifico and his power remain in place.
