Tangled frames the conflict between Varian and his dad as all Varian's fault because he screws up. But was it more than that? We see Quirin roll his eyes at Varian when he gets excited about traveling with him to see the King. He was embarrassed by the display. Do you think Quirin was disappointed in Varian's overall personality as well?
When it comes to that scene specifically, Quirin rolling his eyes at Varian’s enthusiasm isn’t really my gripe with his character arc, though it does help highlight it. Just analyzing that scene alone, it’s not an completely unreasonable reaction, although pretty sad considering what follows it. Varian canonically has a reputation of being the dangerous “wizard” of Old Corona. Not too long ago, Varian caused numerous earthquakes and a sizable explosion. I wouldn’t be surprised if news of his invention malfunctioning (although completely not Varian’s fault that time) has reach Quirin’s ears. With all there factors in mind as well as knowing Quirin’s role as leader figure in Old Corona, it’s honestly understandable of him wishing his well intended son didn’t attract so much attention to himself. Again, though it’s not a completely evil thing for a parent and child to not be on the same page and be embarrassed and/or a bit ashamed of each others’ behavior in a public place. Is there any of us that didn’t roll their eyes at our parents doing a specific moment, and vice versa?
However, the scene does help illustrate Quirin’s actual failings in his parenting. He doesn’t really take Varian’s feelings into consideration. Rather than take offense to his little eye roll, I’m more sadden by Varian’s obvious joy in being a part of his father’s plans to travel to the captial for aid, only to be left behind at the very last second. Us viewers are made pretty aware that Quirin had Varian tag along as his way of keeping an eye on his son, but to Varian, who has been well established to want to prove his worth and want to help in anyway he can, saw it as his father putting trust in him during an important situation. The dude was all ready to make a game plan in his and his father’s appeal to the king. Unfortunately, Quirin never had any intentions of Varian even entering the throne room, and Varian is just left to which as his father seemingly blatantly lie to the king while their home is dying.
Again, Quirin’s distrust in Varian is understandable to an extent. Quirin witnessed the black rocks destroy his previous home, and now he has has even more to lose than just his home with his reckless son purposely putting himself in the rocks’ destructive path. he loses a lot of reason points in the scene in the hallway. Varian is understandably upset at his father’s actions and lies. When Quirin just tells (almost orders) Varian to trust him, Varian rightfully points out how unreasonable it is to ask for trust when he just lied in court over such a serious issue. Instead of giving Varian any sort of reassurance or reasoning, Quirin chooses to shut Varian down through intimidation. Once again Quirin casts aside his son’s feelings in favor of just doing what he thinks is best, but this decision is what costs both Varian and Quirin a lot.
In Varian’s eyes, his father has been proven to be untrustworthy, so he begins to go behind his back to solve the problem with the rocks. In Quirin’s attempts at discouraging his son’s involvement with the rocks, all he really accomplished is Varian messing with the rocks without any valuable warnings or even supervision. The later argument between the two once Varian is caught just further illustrates how Quirin’s refusal to communicate has only driven his son away right up until the amber incident happens, and both are left to the mercy of the plot.
Varian and Quirin’s relationship is clearly meant to run parallel with Rapunzel and Frederic’s relationship in S1. Two fathers letting their past trauma dictate their actions at the detriment their relationship with their kids. At first it’s understandable that Rapunzel resolved her and Frederic’s baggage first not only due to Quirin’s fossilization, but to get the story to move forward to the season long quest. Unfortunately, because the show later undermines the conflict between Varian and Quirin, it retroactively sours Rapunzel and Frederic resolution into more bias pandering. When Rapunzel takes a stand against her father, she gets an explanation for his actions, an apology, and a promise for things to be better in the future (which honestly doesn’t really happen, but I disgress). However, when Varian takes a stand for himself against his father’s wishes, he is put through the ringer, gets no real apologies or explanations on screen from anyone, and just gets a shallow “I’m proud of you son.”
Even though Varian desired validation from Quirin, it wasn’t the only issue between the two of them. Varian’s recklessness and Quirin’s secrets is what caused the actual conflict and is never truly addressed. In my opinion, Quirin is a worst father than he was in S1, because you can make the argument that he at least did the effort to check on his son’s physical well being. In S3, he is just reduced to a father that just farms around as his son is actively put in dangerous situations. I’m sure the show didn’t intend to make Quirin’s character worse by the end of the series, but that’s just what happens when a show fails to follow through with their narrative promises; the intent gets lost and message gets sloppy.
