#moon buttterfly

[thejunkyardafewblocksfromhere]

If it doesn't crush me It's alright If it doesn't break me It's alright All the petty demons trying to break me in two I was born stronger than any of you It's alright It's alright It's alright -Hail Saint Sebastian, The Mountain Goats

[blackvelvetmuffin]

To the Undaunted to the Usurper

Yeah...I think its time for me to give my input on what happened now that things have relevantly calmed down.

I could care less about the teens and their rom drama.

The destruction of magic that I already saw coming in one form or another.

But Moon’s betrayal like everyone else, it did cut a little deeper than expected only because nobody saw it coming.

The show doesn’t really have much of a black and white perspective but it made me see Moon in a different light at almost the end of the show....and it’s not positive.

I also want to point out that Moon is still my favorite character but I cannot defend her actions...so despite it being harsh, I have to stay objective on this.

I never would have expected for Moon to be placed in anti-villain territory along with Toffee and the MHC. But considering her history with her mother murdered when Moon was 17 by a rebel monster faction, forced to take the throne early, and making deals with a “Dark” Queen for a spell to kill an immortal leader, she’s been through some hard shit. With being a Queen being the only life she knows, she eventually took in villagers that got shafted by Eclipsa’s new decrees and gave them structure and community despite them hating Eclipsa and the monsters. But does it justify overthrowing Eclipsa, terrorizing her family and the kingdom because she was sent by accident to the Realm of Magic where she lost her memories and got separated from her family for a while that Eclipsa already apologized and tried to make amends for?

No...

If anything, it makes her look petty and arrogant; at worse, a weak excuse to justify what was put on full display to the audience: her racism reborn.

I can understand using the MHC to put Eclipsa in the most shameful light possible. I can even see her freeing Globgor to try to prove herself right just this one time only in my assumption that she would be relieved that she was wrong...

But teaming up with Mina?

She knew very well what Mina was capable of, the destruction and death she knew it would bring to all monsters as well as mewmens, especially how crazed and fanatical to Solaria Mina is. And she teamed up with her anyway and worst, gave her more soldiers using the very mewman villagers that opposed Eclipsa to assist Mina. All while thinking that somebody this unpredictable and crazed can be controlled, let alone trusted. Mina’s very nature and mental instability would instantly be a huge red flag that no one with any real common sense would dare risk trusting unless you are looking to be the world’s biggest dunce.

That type of reckless and fatal destruction doesn’t come from a simple grudge in my eyes, that comes from true hatred for Eclipsa which is why I think her excuses are just perfumed horseshit to avoid saying the truth: She never wanted Eclipsa with the throne and she and the monsters need to go. You know during her reign, it got so bad for the monsters that they, including Buff-Frog and his kids, had to flee for a safer dimension? Moon may say its not about hurting monsters but her actions say otherwise. And the most tragic thing of all out of this?

She betrayed her own daughter.

Moon destroyed all of Star’s trust, faith, and respect for her as well as crushing her ambition to bring Mewni together the right way. Her actions and direct role in this brand new threat have made her no different than Toffee except they’re on different sides of the conflict and that Moon is in denial about her ruthless, reckless and devious nature while Toffee fully owns his. As people, they have become two sides of the same coin; two peas in a pod and kindred spirits. What she’s done was prove Toffee’s point in the end and I know that he must be cackling like a maniac at her from beyond the grave for this.

Despite knowing that she held no real right to the throne because of the MHC’s role in placing her impostor direct ancestor, Festivia, out of politics and racism, she had no interest or desire to give up her power or secede to honorably and ethically install the rightful heir to the throne, Eclipsa.

To make herself look good, she left to try living a peasant life with River for Star but in the end, her need for power got too strong and instead of being honest with Star and Eclipsa and handling it peacefully, civilly and ethically, she created a war and tried taking the throne and her power back by force which resulted in Globgor near death, her daughter almost dying in battle, the kingdom near destroyed, Star’s friends and the monsters injured or ending up like Quirky Guy who died from his wounds. Do you have any idea how bad it would get if Ponyhead, whose still a princess and heir to the throne of the Cloud Kingdom, ends up dying from Moon’s war with Eclipsa? Civil war would only be the beginning if that happens.

Now Moon’s recklessness is further displayed when she honestly thought that she held any shred of control and that Mina had real trust in her but her power-hungry and reckless nature clouded her judgement to not see that Mina was only using her for a means to an end and cleverly struck the final blow when Moon held no further use for her and tried having her killed along with Eclipsa, Star, and Marco. I will give Mina this: She’s very observant, clever, and manipulative when the occasion calls for it.  

When Moon and the others got rescued by Heckapoo, she helped them escape into a multi-dimensional bar using it as a safe house to avoid getting caught in Mewni’s destruction. And the roasting that Moon got from Star was rightfully deserved as she stabbed her in the back deeply and got all of her friends, but Marco, fatally injured. What’s surprising is that Eclipsa exposed that this wasn’t the first time that Moon betrayed her as she knew that no one but Moon could persuade the MHC from releasing Globgor to sabotage her family revealing why she wasn’t much surprised at Moon’s deceit and why she turned down Moon’s offer to care for Meteora earlier. Her resilience, calm under pressure, and quick innovative planning, further notes how far Eclipsa has come and willingness to sacrifice for the safety of her kingdom proves she’s become a worthy queen of admiration and respect.

As far as the question of Moon’s redemption goes, I don’t think it’s possible for a  real and genuine one so close to the end or else it will be an extreme form of sacrifice on Moon’s part. However the real question is “Does Moon deserve one?” As I’ve stated earlier, her actions are the same as what Toffee had done in the Battle of Mewni and both believed they were in the right side of the conflict. She’s manipulated and back-stabbed people to stage an uprising and overthrow the royal family in the same ruthless and devious manner and was willing to kill to get their way. Why should Moon get a pass when Toffee got demonized, punished, and killed for the exact same crimes? And to add, she is still withholding information on how to end Mina and the Solarian warriors as she nervously lied to Eclipsa. To do so would not only be the highest form of hypocrisy and display of bias and racism in ethics and morality on the show but on the fandom as well. I’m of the opinion that Moon, for the sake of the show’s integrity, should not get one.

Scorn from her daughter and Eclipsa throwing shade and the possible removal of all magic is like giving her a slap on the wrist, the punishment needs to fit the crime. Not just for her but the MHC, Mina, and the Solarian Warriors as well. All of them have committed treason, conspired to harm the royal family and the citizens of Mewni. At what point do we see real punishments being dealt to the antagonists by the end of this show? It is because of them that Star has no choice but to destroy magic as no one is offering any effective solutions to end the current threat and is considering to sacrifice being with Marco to save all of Mewni.

Even if the last episode/movie manages to resolve the crisis and Star succeeds in saving Mewni, be able to be with Marco somehow, all of her friends and family are safe, and everything is pretty much happily ever after, the quality of the series finale and the show will be judged by how its antagonists are going to be handled to see if it will stand the tests of time.