Now that nobody cares as much about Wilbur’s apology lore stream I wanna rant about it.
Because yes, C!Tommy deserves an apology, absolutely. C!Wilbur’s not appreciated him much, and he’s had a lot of shit happen to him because of C!Wilbur. But not only do I think Wilbur’s character is currently not able to recognize the harm he’s done to C!Tommy;
I also think that his choice to apologize to C!Techno first was the right choice.
Technoblade is the only person actively recruited by Pogtopia. By the time Techno joins, pogtopia’s pretty set, and all it’s members are previous members of L’Manburg, including their allies still living there like Niki and Quackity. Quackity changed sides because Schlatt wasn’t actually letting him be vice, so on. They weren’t necessarily asked to join.
They asked Techno. That’s clear from his introduction and Techno reiterates it a few times - Wilbur asked him to join.
So firstly: Wilbur recruited Techno.
And Techno put in the work.
It’s clear from the many somewhat concerned jokes about his play time on the server and the sheer amount of stuff he manages to get together over the course of his allyship with Pogtopia that he put in a fuckton of work for the cause. Several suits of full enchanted netherite, loads of food, enchanted weapons, etc. all that takes hours upon hours of farming.
So second point, Wilbur took advantage of Techno’s work.
Not only that, but he keeps Techno almost completely in the dark the entire time - he leads Techno on about believing in anarchy right up to the moment he reinstates L’Manburg as a government. It’s clear in his exchanges with Tommy and Quackity - when they ask what he’ll do when they remake the government, he tells them essentially that they’ll deal with it when it comes to that - the implication being that if Tommy and Quackity try to reform a government, he assumes Wilbur will help him squash it again.
So point three, he deceives Techno for their entire allyship.
Then you have to remember that the Red Festival was when all that TNT was supposed to be triggered - and it’s clear from how Techno introduces the stream and his behavior with Niki that he and Niki have no idea there’s TNT under their feet. All he tells us is that he was invited to the festival and that Wilbur asked him to collect information.
Wilbur planned to let Tubbo decide if they wanted to sacrifice Niki and Techno to kill the rest of L’Manburg - despite most of the inhabitants being sympathetic to their cause, by the by - and didn’t bother to tell Niki or Techno about it.
He planned to kill Techno and Niki in the explosion. I’m unclear on whether Tommy and Tubbo knew and didn’t tell them on purpose, or if they knew and Wilbur made them promise not to, but either way, Techno and Niki were left in the dark about that danger.
And the disregard for Techno’s life doesn’t end with that - when Schlatt calls him up to dispatch Tubbo, Techno clearly stalls and glances up at Wilbur, looking for direction from the person he respects as leader here.
He gets nothing, and ends up having to fight the entire country. He wins, because he’s technoblade, but just because he won doesn’t make it not another attempt on his life via negligence.
So, point four, Wilbur made plans and decisions he knew might result in Techno’s death and didn’t warn him at best, and at worst planned to let him die.
And finally, he properly betrays him. Knowing that Techno did all this work for his cause, knowing that he did it because Wilbur promised anarchy instead of government, Wilbur reinstated the government anyway. Whether it was because he knew he was about to blow it up, or because he knew Techno would destroy it out of anger, whatever the reason - he still did it. I also think it’s safe to say that Tommy talked to him enough about wanting L’Manburg back that Wilbur probably knew that the country would rebuild as well. It’s either betrayal or manipulation, take your pick.
And of course those actions result in Techno’s self-imposed banishment and his failed execution. Wilbur is the butterfly wing-beat that sets off Techno’s entire sequence of later betrayals and close scrapes.
So yea, I think starting with C!Technoblade is a pretty good choice on C!Wilbur’s part. Both because Techno - despite his many violent titles - is not quick to anger and is generally shown himself as willing to forgive and reconcile, a-la Tubbo and Tommy. Techno is both deserving of an apology and also apology easy mode, which is very good for Wilbur’s character’s continued growth. Based on previous behavior, if Techno had decided to hold a grudge, it’s likely that Wilbur would have started to spiral again and become discouraged from further healing the damage he’s caused.
