What Is Vor? - Sofia the First Villain Analysis
So, as I've been writing and worldbuilding I've been asking myself this question a lot.
And, the conclusion that I've come to is that she seems to be some kind of primordial force of evil.
When we first see her, she's trapped inside jewelry - a locket.
This is a common villainy trope that we see in fiction when talking about a villain's spirit.
The first one that springs to my mind, and likely many minds, is The One Ring.
Now, The Ring has been analyzed to death, and the question of what/ who Sauron represents has also been looked at from many different angles. But, many folks lean on the concept of him either being The Devil (and thus pure evil) embodied. However, I always thought it was far more fascinating to look at him as the embodiment of Despair.
Despair which slowly sucks the life from its victims until nothing is left.
Despair which gains its power from making people think they have to submit to it because that's the only way forward. (See Sauroman and Denethor)
But, what does this have to do with Vor?
Great question, I'll tell you.
We know that Vor basically needs nine elements to be brought together in order to be released from her ...
Oh ...
What was that ...
Nine rings for mortal kings who above all else desired power?
That's where I'm going with this.
Now, while Sauron was end game in LotR, there were a bunch of unexplored vilain trinkets from other films that could still be hanging out that Vor didn't absorb.
So, that makes me wonder, are there other primordial villain forces out there?
If so, do they represent different places from which "villainy" can stem?
What is Vor's "deal" if she is a primordial force?
Based on how she affects people, and manipulates them, I could see her being an incarnation of Power.
However, it was her face off with Sofia that really made me lean towards, like Sauron, her being an incarnation of Despair.
Let's take a look at their sort of "Epic Rap Battle of History" song title: "Your On Your/ My Own"
The title implies, on Vor's end, a seeming "isolation" whereas, from Sofia's end, there's a sense of the "final battle sequence" from the great epics or "Hero's Journey."
Vor's first verse ends with these lines:
But now, no matter where you turn There's no one here but you You're all alone, your greatest fear Has finally come true
Now, I could see "Fear," also a pretty basic force in human nature, being Vor. Yet, just because fear is mentioned, doesn't mean that's what Vor is. In the context of the verse, Vor is focusing on Sofia's isolation. She's focusing on how Sofia is alone with no one to assist her.
And, I think that creates an atmosphere of "Despair" - despair being when human beings feel most isolated and when their calls won't be heard.
"Sofia: Just because I'm by myself Does not mean I will fold I don't need help to battle you I just need to be bold Vor: Spare me your heroic speech We both know you are wrong Sofia: I'm not afraid to stand alone Vor: My dear, you won't be standing long! You're on your own, can't run away You've met your match this very day Sofia: I'm on my own, but won't give in I'll get back up to fight again Vor: The good in you is fading fast And when it's gone you're mine at last Sofia: But like the sun, I'll rise once more! Vor: Until night falls and wins the war!"
So, I just decided to quote this whole section because I find this back and forth relevant.
The particular lines that strike me are that Sofia "won't be standing long," that "good is fading fast," and the idea of "night falling and winning the war." However, the entire build into that section is important when countering Vor as a personification of Despair.
Sofia steels herself first in boldness and stands firm in the face of Vor. It's her sureness in herself that counters Vor's first argument that she's going to fail because she's alone.
What I think is interesting is how many people Sofia has encountered that have spent time in isolation and stood firm and/ or recovered from "fading goodness."
As we learn earlier in this episode, she and her mother lost her father at sea when Sofia was young.
This means that Sofia has seen her mother in a form of isolation for like let's say 3-ish years, since she was 5-6ish when her father was lost. (She's 8ish in the pilot right? I think?) However, those 3-ish years would have been formative ones. Sofia would have known that grief. She would have seen that loss in her mother. And, like, that's hard. Yet, she would have also learned how to make peace with isolation as something that can cause growth and a place out of which love can find rebirth - as she saw with Miranda's marriage to Roland.
Sofia also learned, through her StoryKeeping, what happened to Roland's wife Lorelei and the isolation that he experienced. The kind of grief he lived through. That grief being its own form of isolation. It's own form of despair. As much as he may have been physically surrounded by staff and people, at the end of of the day that grief would have been left him lonely in ways that words can't describe. I'm willing to bet Royals aren't quite as ... well connected? ... friendly? ... as village folks are. He wouldn't have had the equivalent of a Hellen the way Miranda did. I mean, sure, there's Baileywick. But, I mean Baileywick is like your second-gay dad. It's not the same as a peer. Which is where a lot of folks are going to be like "Just heal the relationship you used to have with your childhood bff!"
Nah. Nah. Nah. Not that simple. Mates. Not. That. Simple. There is years of crap going on there that, for both of their own valid reasons, a dude who just lost his wife to a wish he made AND Mr. Vincent Van Magic up there are not solving their differences right now. Much as I love them both, neither of them would have been in the headspace to tackle being the right friend for each other in that moment. (Much as they might have needed/ benefited from each other.)
So, much as with her mother, Sofia would have the missing pieces necessary to have seen how her father grew in love finding new life through her, her mother, his own children, AND repairing his friendship with his childhood best friend over these last ~3 1/2 to 4 years.
Speaking of that, Sofia would have seen Cedric go from being isolated and villainous into attempting to/ beginning to repair his old relationships as well as setting himself up to forge new ones. Vor says "the good in you is fading fast" and Sofia counters "But, like the sun, I'll rise once more."
I know there's a lot of contention about whether or not Cedric's actions should be seen as forgivable. Yet, I think this is the line that solidifies why that moment of forgiveness important to me. Without that moment of pure and total forgiveness, and without Cedric's act of sacrifice in "In Cedric We Trust," without the rift between Roland and Cedric slowly repairing itself [which again, justified that it took Roland time to get there, miscommunication/ needing time to heal is a fact of life], there wouldn't be a long term example (from the audience's POV) to show the slow climb to redemption.
I mean, sure, you have Miss Nettle. But, she wasn't a long term recurring character. She only appeared 4 times. We had Ivy who appeared twice. But, apart from them, the slow climb to redemption wasn't ever really shown.
So, in many ways, the idea of isolation and turning away from Despair, even after Despair has taken hold, has been shown to Sofia in her life. She truly has been well prepared by those folks in her life to take on this task, and I think, based on what those close to her have seen, it's not all that unlikely that Vor is a metaphor for Despair. But, I'm going to continue with the lyric analysis.
Sofia: There's a bond you'll never know A power you can't feel The love you give comes back to you And makes you strong as steel If I remember those I love I keep them close to heart My love will shine from deep within And chase away the dark
Vor: My darkness can not be denied Your little light won't last! I'll show you where real power lies One final wicked blast! Sofia: You tried your worst to keep me down But I'm still standing tall Vor: How can this be happening?! Sofia: Because, I stand for one and all! I'm on my own, I found the light To see me through the darkest night Vor: (final words) You're just a girl! This cannot be! Sofia: I'm more than that, but you can't see I may be small and on my own But I can feel how much I've grown My will is strong, my heart is true My love will be… The end…! OF…!! YOU!!!
So many different folks have written about "love" being the power that conquers "Despair." I have many favorites.
However, this one by Vincent Van Gogh I think I'm going to put in my kiddo's playroom with some art I'm drafting:
“You know, what makes the prison disappear is every deep, serious attachment. To be friends, to be brothers, to love; that opens the prison through sovereign power, through a most powerful spell. But he who doesn’t have that remains in death. But where sympathy springs up again, life springs up again.”
And, I think this quote is, in the end, the thesis of the finale.
What strengthens Cedric's spell is everyone's power coming together in friendship. It pulls Sofia out of the prison of the Amulet, but so also, she was pulled there to conquer Vor - to conquer Despair.
I might be totally off base. But, I think it's a fun and interesting way to look at the finale and Vor in particular.
As I've been drafting writing about her/ expanding the universe of Sofia's world, this is the perspective I've taken.
There are primordial forces at work in it, and they operate on the things that may turn us evil if we offer to do deals with them.
