Thoughts about Scanlan
Thinking about how Scanlan pulled up Vex, Percy and Grog’s arc made me wonder: why?
The first answer is that it was an example of how Vox Machina didn’t do anything for him. He says so himself, after all. But then after the argument continued I started wondering if it actually wasn’t that clear cut. I’m probably reading too much into it, but what if Scanlan isn’t mad, or just mad, about Vox Machina never doing anything for him.
What if he believes they wouldn’t if it ever came up?
Vex didn’t have to have a confrontation with her father. They didn’t have to make getting the titan stone knuckles a battle reunion with Grog’s uncle. They didn’t have to go to Whitestone so Percy could not only get revenge but take out the Briarwoods. It was the right thing to do with Percy and Grog? Yes, but that’s not the point. These moments affected these three, it hurt them and scared them, and Vox Machina was right there with them. They stood together as a family through these moments.
Scanlan later admits to feeling like the group doesn’t actually care about him, that the only reason they like having him around is cause he can distract them and do magic. If Scanlan thinks they only what him because he makes them laugh, why wouldn’t he assume that the minute he got serious would be the moment they weren’t there? Or didn’t handle it like it was a real problem, but a joke?
His own resurrection was treated like a joke. It was great at first when they brought him back, but then they pulled a prank on him when he was at his weakest. Everybody else’s rituals were nice, they were heartfelt and made clear that they cared about each other. Scanlan wakes up as a joke. And I can’t think that that moment didn’t have some sort of impact on him, somebody who believes Vox Machina doesn’t care about him and only sees him as a source of comedy. I’m not going to make a declaration on how important it was, it could be small it could be big, but it does mean something.
But, I’ve gotten off track. Back to the original point. I think Scanlan’s bringing up the three character arcs, is less about Vox Machina actually doing something for him and more about him believing that they wouldn’t do the same for him. Am I right? I don’t know. Could Scanlan still mean it the other way? Yeah, I think a part of him still means it in the “doing” sense.
So why do I think this? Because as a character arc, this would be the most interesting way to bring Scanlan back (if Sam wanted to). Having Scanlan simply return wouldn’t be very interesting, maybe in a moment when everything is going to shit but not have him walk suddenly back into their lives (though Sam may do that simply to fuck with people). If Scanlan believes Vox Machina would not be there for him, then the perfect return is to have Scanlan come across something that he can’t handle alone. Something personal (like his father), something that breaks his mask. So he goes back to Vox Machina and asks them for their help, and they do. They help and are there for him through the hardships, just like they were there for each other, and it finally hits Scanlan that they really do care about him, not about his magic or his comedy, but him.