Opinions on Varian's redemption-what you liked, disliked, what could have been done better?
I feel like Iâve approached a similar topic, so Iâll put this in a short summary.
What I liked:
- That there was at least some thought put into how Varian might be feeling, how he struggles with trust and his sense of self, and how being betrayed must have felt for him.
-That there is some semblance of a relationship with Rapunzel and the gang outside of work...some.Â
-That they try to have Rapunzel and the mains care about his safety...sometimes...and who he is as a person...
-That he does make active choices to better himself and address some of his flaws - i.e. taking more caution in his inventions, improving them and contributing to causes and ensuring that peopleâs safety comes first.
-That there are signs he has matured somewhat from his younger self in S1 in terms of being careful about the consequences of his actions and not just thinking of people as means for easy validation (though he didnât exactly have a huge problem with that in S1 save for Great Expotations and maybe a few other moments)
-That he gets redeemed at all.Â
What I didnât like:
- That the show implied that putting Varian in prison - abusing and abandoning further -Â âfixed himâ or helped him come to the understanding that what he had done was wrong
-That the show instantly rewarded Rapunzel with Varian wanting her friendship and trust even when she was wrong and in its turn made Varianâs issues with the royal family and their neglect from S1 look almost meaningless when they werenât
-That his main issues are misrepresented and therefore his arc is unfulfilled - his main issue wasnât a craving for validation, it was to be trusted and be able to trust in turn. But for the sake of hammering his arc for Cass and simplifying things for Rapunzel, of course they did that.
-That this is used as an excuse to make Rapunzel look good instead of acknowledging that the methods her family and she condones are wrong
-That the show and most of its characters are more focused on punting all of the blame on Varianâs shoulders only without acknowledging their parts in his situation and what they could do better
-That the show has him more dwelling in a massive guilt complex instead of having him straight-up apologize and acknowledge why his actions had been wrong
- That he was instantly set free after RR without getting to actually apologize to or have a heart-to-heart with the people he directly hurt (Arianna)
-That Varian has to âproveâ that he can be trusted by re-traumatizing himself and putting himself in life-threatening situations instead of expecting those he tries to trust to take responsibility
-That the mains intentionally make things more difficult for Varian instead of offering to help him in any meaningful way
- That Varian doesnât get to have much of a hand in his own redemption: itâs mostly Rapunzel talking, Rapunzel or someone else victim-blaming him, Rapunzel encouraging him.
-That Varian doesnât get to have a hand in saving Corona or coming up with an idea to stop his own invention during RR. This robs him of agency.
-That Rapunzel gets to take all the credit and punt almost all the blame on him by going âitâs your mess, but my kingdomâ when she herself happily left her kingdom and Varian as they were.
-The fact that Frederic gets a free pass and doesnât need a redemption despite doing much worse and playing an active hand in Varianâs abuse/situation
-That Frederic never apologizes to Varian or Quirin
-That the mains never apologize to Varian or Quirin
-That Varianâs redemption isnât considered âcompleteâ until he fixes Cassandraâs mess in BVA and pushes aside his own problems to serve Rapunzel and Corona in a way he is actually not obliged to
-The implication that Varian deserves to be bullied by the townsfolk unless he does something grand and out of his line to âprove himselfâ
-That the fact that he tried taking the first step towards making things right is overlooked by crediting Rapunzel when she had almost nothing to do with his change of heart
-That in actuality, his redemption is less about atoning for his past actions and addressing his actual flaws, and more about âprovingâ he can handle the mainsâ BS without complaint and kiss up to the people who abused him/let them use him further
-That the show insists that Varian letting the mains endanger him repeatedly is a symbol of nobility and trust instead of the child abuse and negligence it actually is.
-That the show rewards the mains for doing the bare minimum or sometimes even nothing in Varianâs situation
-That Varianâs situation is repeated almost all over again but without emotional weight because he is no longer a character, but a convenient plot device who they can pretend is a cardboard template to Cassandraâs villain arc when Varianâs arc was original and more solid.
-That Varian doesnât get to meaningfully have a convo with Cass but gets to adopt some of Rapunzelâs toxic habits and it goes nowhere
-That his fears arenât addressed like they could have been and he conveniently âovercomesâ them with a lecture from Rapunzel, therefore easing the emotional burden it might have been to the mains) so that no one has to get uncomfortable and address their flaws like they should have
-That some people (not many on Tumblr so far) applaud Varian being abused as a good thing and a good atonement for the fact that he happened to lash out in S1 because everyone was trying to kill/hurt him even when he was trying not to hurt them first.
What could have been done differently:
...Maybe...the opposite of whatever was listed under âwhat I didnât likeâ JFOIAWf.
Okay, in actuality, it wouldnât have taken that much work, and I am grateful for what we got still. Varianâs redemption was good, but it could have been better than just ârepeat S1 but he has new clothes, goes around taking care of other peopleâs problems and the mains give him validation nowâ. I wish we had more time to address how significant the issues his arc brought up in S1 was the overall story and Rapunzelâs growth. But in hindsight to how S3 turned out overall, Iâm very glad Varian was redeemed, and that he got moments and episodes to show how he had matured (healthily). I just wish it didnât have to come at the expense of actual...consistent character development, especially for the mains and Varian himself.
(I still wanted him to actually talk with Arianna and Cass, and make it up to the people he had actually hurt, instead of the show posing that he had to prove himself to the citizens when he didnât really...)
