I think everyone knows about how Triton likely had a binary partner that was tecnically its moon, but there is more: Triton was very likely bigger before and had what's called a reliquidization during the capture.
The tides from Neptune and collisions with its moon system would have melted Triton and make it lose a lot of material, as well as absorb some from the past moons.
Why is this important?
Because if Earth is not Proto, then Triton shouldn't be who he was pre-capture.
Also, if Earth and Luna are siblings because of the shared origin (and composition), then Triton and the current inner Neptunian moons could also be considered "biological" siblings, since those little moons formed from the disc of debris from the capture (mix of past Triton and the past Neptunian moons' material). I think it's sweet that all of Neptune's moons see each other as siblings even without this being addressed.
Am I the only one that went "No?" when Neptune said that friends are for life and then "Nononono" when Proteus said he couldn't just stop being X's friend because he made a mistake?
Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but the framing and wording made it felt like they were trying to teach that's how friendships should work, which it's actually a very dangerous mindset.
Like, if my friend becomes toxic I have to keep being friends with them? If, even without being toxic, they make a BIG mistake (like, I don't know, potentially killing me and my friends and severely hurting my big brother and some other friends on purpose), I can't stop being friends with them over that?
If Neptune had said "Friends should be for life", it would come across as just his opinion. If Proteus had said "I don't WANT to stop being your friend because you made a mistake", I'd be like "Okay, he's as forgiving as Neptune and is willing to still be his friend after all that", making it a "this character is like that" instead of "this is how it should work".
The rest of the episode was good, though, I really liked the conversation with the Sun. I didn't expect him to tell his backstory and didn't notice the revelation of the Great Tack was the turning point for him.
Also, I facepalmed with Astrodude; but, well, the guy has been ignoring his wellbeing for a while now, so I'm not surprised he focused so much on helping the Solar System that that happened. I'm honestly more surprised that Earth and Luna didn't realize that would happen.
This is one of those episodes where I say "It's great, but some things could have been handled better".
I loved the little interaction with Earth and how nice Sun was to Ogle. I feel that since he's usually more in contact with the rockies (and the how had whas for them to survive in the early system) he has a soft spot for that kind of planets.
Then, I missed OP Sun. By that I mean when he shows how powerful he is, and the "godly" voice made it epic (hehe).
I wonder if the fact that the rogues felt him breaking the laws of physics implies others (*looking at Alpha Centauri*) also felt it, which could lead to Sun meeting the other stars again (they could even meet them on their way back!). The "I wonder if anyone shaw the solar flare" seems to imply this too.
Also, why is "Uranus" the only name Sun didn't call? You better not let him know, he'd start feeling left out again. And did Sun forget X is his planet too? I would have liked more of a conversation between them, it feels like there's a lot unresolved.
I also wish we would have seen more of the Great Tack Survivors. They just saw their star, who they thought they would never see again, after billions of years and he's showing how much he cares for his planets. I'd have been nice to see their reaction at least, but an actual interaction would have had so much potential!
I'm also wondering how the eye color thing works. They just saw the Sun and decided to go back to him, so why are their eyes still black? It would have been very impactful if, when they saw the solar flare, their eyes literally lit up back to white. Or the very last when the finally meet again.
By the way, Venus seeing the Sun crying and saying he knows he's angry made me laugh. Then, I wondered what it means for Venus to "confuse" the two...
Jupiter and Sun's encounter was so sweet. It made a mini comic appear in my head with the first drawing being the young Sun telling Jupiter "When you're afraid of the dark, look at me" and the second with "I've spent too long in the dark, Sun" from this episode (maybe adding what the Jupiter allucination said in between or replacing the first?). Anyways, I don't think I'll draw it so you're free to take the idea.
The resolution of the dwarf planets was a bit anticlimactic. I mean, they could have stayed in the Solar System the whole time and nothing would have changed. Also, I really thought Proteus knowing would have some importance, but no. So what was all that for?
I loved the "They are not yours, and they are not mine either" line, that's a good show of character development. A lot of it feels like they learnt from their mistakes with X's character arc and made the Sun's better.
I'm guessing him letting X go without protest is part of it? And it was funny how Wise reacted, he was like "I'm the only one sane here. Thank the cosmos you're staying". I wanted him to come back though... but that just my personal preference (which includes Sun taking the Great Tack survivors and maybe Ogle too).
Also, did Proteus want to say something to X too? He was just there...
Now, I'm going to point out that they will eventually be out of the Solar System because the Sun has a limited lifetime, unlike them. They'll either be destroyed during the red giant phase or drift away because the white dwarf Sun would no longer have enough gravity to hold them. Hopefully X will have managed to make a change in the Rogue Planet Kingdom by then.
I'm still curious about the Kingdom's backstory and why they came to the conclusion that all stars are evil and all planets are scared of them, though...
So, since the show started out as educative I thought it was worth mentioning this:
The Alpha Centauri System wasn't near the Sun when it formed.
Stars move at different speeds through the galaxy, and so, the Alpha Centauri System is our neighbour NOW, but it wasn't back then and won't be in the future. Same can be said of Arcturus.
The one that could really have been there was the old star, that I think it's meant to be Coatlicue. Its supernova was the one that supposedly triggered the formation of the Sun and some sibling stars (aka stars from its birth cluster) by compressing the cloud of gas that would form them.
First of all, I think Neptune is pretending to be less aware than he actually is when he's in presence of the rogues. He's actually very smart not only with maths and science stuff but also when it comes to perception and insight. His "crazyness" keeps that hidden, so maybe he's using that to his advantage so they don't know he's onto them and have the surprise factor (besides of self-preservation because I think he suspects about what they may do if they consider them traitors).
On the other hand, Jupiter is in his accidental villain era, because isn't he acting a little like the Sun? Not listening to the others? Jupiter is doing it out of guilt (augmented by the guilt-tripping of the lost Solar System rockies) and the rogues' manipulation, while the Sun is doing it out of fear and a sense of losing control (which he sees as the way to prevent loss and loneliness). Both of them have that: good intentions turned bad by obsesion (Sun to keep his planets safe, Jupiter to save planets to redeem himself) and making them hurt the ones they care about.
Now, the dwarfies and Wise, I really hope he did leave them somewere they can locate the Sun and if not that Ogle will find them and they can convince him to take them to the Solar System (like saying something like they were going to get the Earth but got lost, since I don't think Ogle knows the were kicked out of the Kingdom).
By the way, looks like guilt-tripping is a favorite of the rogue planets, since Wise pretty much blamed the dwarf planets for calling them to help.
Also, the way he said "You're free" reminded me that rogue planets are also called free-floating objects. It would be a good way to distinguish the ones that belong to the Kingdom and the ones that are on their own.
Back to the Solar System, I think it's good that Sun was given some time to think and that he actually did it. The hallucinations reminded me of that moment in Earth's therapy with Mercury with the cutouts of the other planets, but the fact that they are hallucinations makes me feel it's not going to go completely well... I mean, the Jupiter hallucination is saying Sun is more fear-inducing than the thing he fears... That's a hard blow.
Now, with the planets again, I keep getting surprised that they even think about Astrodude, given the situation. Like, Earth and Luna would care, but them? Also, thanks for waking up Mercury! Seems everyone (except Jupiter) are getting their braincells back. I love that Uranus reinforced the "We were supposed to stay together" and worried about Neptune being alone. Also, Neptune's "I'll be okay" sounded more honest this time (compared to the ordered by size arc), so fingers crossed.
I loved X using manipulation for good (it's a trope I love). It made me think "You are finally redeeming yourself for real". Now I'm worried for him, though, it's the moment for Wise to prove his loyalties and I'm doubting him more every time he appears.
And this is besides the point, but it calls my attention that they weren't sending X with them and the planets didn't even ask about it (guess it was needed for the plot -.-U). Also, will they take their moons? I assumed they would, but if they don't... the rogues may hold them as hostages if needed...
The rogues... I still don't get why they want the Earth. Is it really just to prove life can exist around non-stars? Why, though? I wonder if it has to do with brown dwarfs being called "failed stars" (aka, they want to prove they aren't to the ones that looked down on them). It's gonna backfire anyway, because Earth needs specifically the Sun's light to keep his life (I hope he knows this), on top of all Mercury pointed out. I hope the rockies realize "trial and error" can't be applied to this. Also, poor Ogle, he's the only rogue that I like.
Going back to the Solar System, I like what Earth said to the Sun, but I don't know how to feel about his reasoning. Like, I see the point but don't agree with how it was presented. Others do notice if you are doing a good job, maybe they won't say it, but they will follow your example and/or look up to you (like they did with Jupiter, that's the example he could have given, with the addition of the parallels between the aftermath of the Great Tack reveal and how they got along now pointing to how it was possible that they would the very least accept to be his planets again).
About Astrodude, they did not need to make him faint to get to that conclusion, they could have used the "almost falling to the Sun" for that. I feel like the only way for him to survive is if they send him back to Earth so he can be treated in a hospital, maybe with Computer acting as autopilot and calling in advance so they can recover him from wherever he lands.
Now, back to the rogue planets. I'm honestly glad that the planets are starting to face the consequences of their actions (aka helping the rogues for X and joining without thinking for the others, mainly Jupiter), but part of that is my frustration at how absurd everything was with only the dwarfs, Neptune, Saturn and X being aware that they shouldn't trust them so easily.
Uranus pretty much implied that the main perk to the Kingdom was that they were together and now they want to separate them for a long time, so I hope that makes them come to their senses. In other words: The blindfold is off now, let's see if they keep their eyes closed or open them.
As a side note: Proteus, I love you but you are getting on my nerves with the friendship thing. Also, please stay with the other moons, you'll give Triton (and Neptune) a core attack at this rate.
Summary: they keep breaking or forcing their own rules for plot convenience.
It seems like they keep going "okay, so we've presented this as a problem before but actually we need this to happen so it isn't now" or "Plot twist! This is a problem now because we want to raise the stakes" and then ignoring it when the moment has passed.
Full explanation below:
Back when it was just funny educational videos, they kept breaking the laws of physics and that was okay because the worldbuilding dictated they didn't apply, or at least not all of them (they did say they couldn't get too close to each other or it's a collision and what would happen if the Sun suddenly disappered, among other stuff). The issue came when the show became more plot-driven they started switching what they were able to do or not without solid in-verse justification.
A prime example of that is the speed they can move at. The first time it's brought to attention is during the race against X, when the moons imply that, on their own, their max speed is their orbital speed. Now, however, they are moving faster than light speed. The explanation seems to be "they didn't know and didn't need to, so they didn't try", which seems cheap. Are you really telling me that X broke that in-verse rule (and the laws of physics) because he wanted to leave the SS faster, but he didn't try to when Metis passed him during the race? It would have been a way better explanation saying that it has to do with the Sun's gravity weighing them down or something, but it's never stated or even explored.
Then, there's also Earth's restrictions. What do you mean he had the whole thing with heading to the Sun, but then in the SS trials he seems fine? Sure, it could be a "can stand it for a while but not permanently" kind of thing (which I'm not sure he'd risk without complaining, anyway) or even that he is in his orbit but it looks weird, but then you also have the axis thing. It has been established from the start that he needs someone helping with his axis, but then he just suddenly learns to do it on his own??? Without any effort shown? After billions of years of that "struggle" persisting?
To me, those changes of logic come so out-of-the blue that they break the immersion and make the watcher feel lied to because they present something as a big issue and then move on like it was nothing. Also, it makes it hard to write for this fandom if you want to follow canon.
Summary: I think Planet X should have had a proper name that no one knew.
It makes no sense that every character knew their name when they woke up except him. Also, having an unknown name would explain better why the fifth giant is being called Planet X (those are different theories), since that would just be what others call him.
Full explanation below:
In the show (The Big Bang part 2), he introduces himself by saying "I don't have a name. I like to go by the name of X... or Planet X." That is a nickname he gave himself.
I don't think that counts because, if celestial bodies simply named themselves, Uranus wouldn't have given himself a name he hates. Besides, later we see Neptune naming (or namedropping) Proteus when he wakes up and Earth is told to just "say whatever comes to mind", so that seems to be some information they just spawn with (and maybe the ones they orbit have it too, like how Luna knew Earth was his planet and he was his moon).
So, to make it make sense, they could have done what they did with Luna: Planet X tried to say his name but kept being interrupted. Then, after his ejection, he either did forget (giving more weight to his introduction to Ganymede and Europa) or didn't care anymore and just took whatever he was being called.
It would give more depth to the character, implying that his revenge mattered more to him than his identity and also opening the door to the big reaveal of his name at some point. Can you imagine if, when he said goodbye to Jupiter, he told him his name (as if indicating that he was saying goodbye to the Planet X phase of his life too by leaving)? Or when he came back and everyone was like "Planet X!" and he replies "It's [name] actually"?
