Sheidheda Should Have Been A Teenager
Okay, so hear me out, cause I really feel like this would have made his storyline more interesting, more nuanced, and more thematically resonant.Ā
We first hear about Sheidheda from Gaia (a flame-keeper) as theĀ ādark commanderā who killed three of his flame-keepers before being killed by his fourth. And thatās really all the evidence Gaia gives for why this commander was evil. But from what we see of the flame-keepers... they do not have the nightblood novitiates or the commanders interests at heart and are in fact a danger to them. From what we see in season 3, for example, the nightblood novitiates seem to only have Titus and Lexa as guardians/teachers/adult figures in their lives- and Titus (and Lexa but weāre talking about flame-keepers), besides essentially raising these children for the slaughter, was emotionally distant/unequipped to raise a bunch of kids (ālove is weaknessā) and played favorites- in which kid he wanted to live and kill all the others (as Luna says about Lexa being Titusā favorite and what Lexa says about Aden being commander after her (in front of the other kids, even) supports this as just a thing that the people surrounding the nightblood kids did). And then Titus kills Lexa (unintentionally, but still he killed her while he was trying to control and manipulate her). And I feel like itās worth noting that the whole system revolves around child commanders that arenāt expected to last long, with other (younger and more pliable children) in the wings should the they die- this is the perfect system for allowing (head?) flame-keepers to discretely (or not so discretely, see Sheidheda) do away with commanders that they deem too troublesome- that donāt follow their advice or, like Lexa, try to change traditions. And then the flame-keepers are still alive and institutionally powerful enough to control the narrative of the dead commanderās legacy.
So itās easy to Sheidheda as having been made a commander as a child (say the same age as Madi, even), whoās just been forced to kill the children he grew up with to survive. And now, heās friendless, surrounded by people watching with hawk eyes for weakness, with only a flame-keeper as an ally. A flame-keeper whoās emotionally distant (probably neglectful), who probably views Sheidheda as replaceable, maybe even would have preferred another child as commander and now resents Sheidheda for it. (And with how much power the flame-keepers have, especially over the nightblood children; well who would have stopped the flame-keeper if they were outright abusive). Itās to see how Sheidheda would see violence as the only way to survive (that is after all how heās commander and his classmates are dead) and resents his flame-keeper or feel like his flame-keeper is a danger to him. So he kills his flame-keeper. And the next flame-keeper distrusts Sheidheda and Sheidheda distrusts the flame-keeper and eventually murders this flame-keeper, too. And so on, until the fourth flame-keeper murders Sheidheda, at say, age sixteen, confirming to Sheidheda that flame-keepers are dangerous, out to get him, and that he was right to kill the first three.Ā Ā
So, what? Am I saying that Shiedheda should have been the good guy, an unfairly maligned commander? Not really. I still think Sheidheda should be a ruthless, merciless, violent commander who, paraphrasing from Luna, was taught by the flame-keepers to revel in his anger and violence. I am saying it would be more interesting if he was painted (at least somewhat) sympathetic villain, as a teenager who embodies of the cycle of violence.Ā
I also think it would be interesting if he genuinely had what he thought were Madiās best interests at heart.
Maybe he sees himself in Madi (a child commander of a society that uses and discards nightblood children) or maybe he sees the nighblood children he grew up with before he was forced to kill them.Ā
And this could have easily fit with his actions for most of season 6. He repeatedly tells Madi to kill Gaia, because from his experience with flame-keepers, theyāre dangerous so youād better kill them before they kill you. And hell, Sheidheda is not exactly wrong about Gaia, either. Yes in the end she decides to sacrifice the flame to save Madi, but before that she stated- multiple times- that she would murder Madi before allowing Sheidheda control of Wonkru.
Sheidhedaās plans for murdering all the primes? Well, Madi clearly wants revenge for them murdering Clarke and theyāll be a threat to Madi if they find out sheās a nightblood. Better to kill them all now.
Telling her to kill Jackson while heās forcibly taking her bone marrow is pretty self-explanatory (especially when you consider he didnāt seem like he was going to do anything when Russell ordered them to take enough doses that would kill her).
Even threatening toĀ ākill this childā if Raven doesnāt stop trying to delete his code fits with this if you view it as self preservation (heās looking out for Madi but heās not willing to die for her) and/or a bluff because he thinks heās the only one looking out for Madi and he thinks sheāll die without him (heās projecting his experiences of being a child commander onto her).
And can you imagine the reveal, if for episodes weād been hearing about this scary, evil commander and oh no, heās starting to control Madi and telling her to murder Gaia, and then we go into Madiās mindscape and holy shit Sheidhedaās sixteen.
And thematically, we could get into the cycle of violence. How when children are taught they have to kill to survive, that violence and anger are strength, they will kill and keep killing. How this system of child commanders and child soldiers hurts children, and is bad all around. How in order to ādo betterā, you have to stop this cycle of violence (and you canāt keep using fucking child soldiers, yes Iām talking about Madi). And- especially if you keep some of the season 7Ā āSheidheda in Russellās bodyā plot- the question ofĀ āhow do you stop the cycle of violence when those still caught in the cycle are determined to still commit violence?ā is much more present than what we actually got in season 7.Ā
