I love that Luna is now relaxed enough that he can let that side of him be seen. I mean, he doesn't have to be the one keeping Earth in check/stable, always the caretaker, never the one taken care of kind of thing.
I'm glad that side of the system is finally getting a break (except poor Mars that got dragged into the mess, but maybe we get to see more of his personality from this?).
Neptune is being annoying, but I think is good that we can see some actual flaws that aren't just quirks, it makes them feel more real.
I kind of want to see Jupiter's thoughts on his best friend being accused of murder, given his own past with the Great Tack and all.
Uranus and Neptune are playing good detective bad detective and I'm surprised that Neptune is the "bad one". Also, Uranus's diary being turned into a record of the Solar System, that's so smart! I wonder if this was planned since they were sharing Earth's orbit with that episode that started with him writing in his diary.
Anyways, I think reading a page from 4 billions years ago first was a reference to how they used to think the rings were much older. It was a good detail and they made it "funny" (still don't like how they keep making Uranus the target of jokes like that).
More moon interactions!!! And then again Luna doesn't count as a moon! Please, let him know about the investigation at some point. I really want to see how he would react to finding out that Titan (given his role in the Moon Revolution and that he seemed to be the moon Luna got closer to after it) may had had a participation in another moon's death.
Titan being so on Saturn's side got me thinking that maybe he subconciously knows he himself is guilty and so wants to believe there was no crime. Also, he immediately accused the ice giants of creating drama... I think it ties to how he was the iniciator of the Moon revolution and that whole plot started with a question from Neptune. Now, Neptune is making a lot of questions now and he's afraid it'll happen again.
Triton, having been the one to accidentally kill moons before, must have a lot to say about this. I want a conversation between him and Titan at some point.
Also, let my girl Rhea speak! Girl's only personality traits right now are being nice, soft-spoken and mostly ignored. Let us see more!
Now, about the end, maybe Ceres is the one that knows? I mean, it is the Asteroid Belt and why else would they have included him being creepy in this episode? But it could also be one of the moons... if so, my bet is on Rhea/Tethys or Triton.
Also, maybe MAYBE it serves as a warning that they shouldn't throw stuff around (like Uranus's diary) because this kind of thing can happen (got a page ripped off).
JUPITER’S MAD OHHHHHHHHHHHHH… im so so so so soooooo in love with mad Jupiter. It is so cathartic seeing a character that never gets mad start yelling, even if Jupes has definitely had his moments of anger or frustration across the series. And ofc it’s in defense of Saturn <33 Big guy’s been so stressed lately he really needs an outlet.
GAS GIANT HUDDLE I REPEAT GAS GIANT HUDDLE!!!! I looooooove seeing them get along this is all I’ve ever wanted. Hehehehe Uranus “Gassies doesn’t have the same ring as Rockies” he’s so cute. Neptune raising suspicion about the moons is very interesting, but I’m glad he actually has some rational reasoning. I love this whole interaction so so much bro. Mars is just there to be there tho lol.
TRILLISTO DATE WHEN??? PLSSSSSS. MY GIRL HAS CLEARLY BEEN THINKING ABOUT GETTING HIM ALONE FOR AGESSSS HEHEHE
I think Titan needs to chill out a bit, he’s being too obvious.
I actually reallllly really like Neptune’s reasoning for digging up old wounds. It’s not something a lot of people want to admit but a very important part of the healing process IS addressing the problem head on. It sucks that it’s been buried for so many years because now it feels like it’s in the past for good, but it’s not. The wound is still there, just covered, and it’s going to start causing problems until you force yourself to look at it properly. There just happens to be a lotttt of players in this situation and it seems like everyone’s catching strays.
Neptune using the solar system stages of formation as a metaphor is pretty smart and it does fall in line with the process of healing, but I feel like it sorrrrta falls apart when you consider it’s been 4.5 billion years… or maybe that’s normal I dunno how young our solar system is actually. I’ll have to look that up later…
Triton’s having a bigger role again yayayayay!! GET THIS MAN ON A DATE WITH CALISTO RIGHT NOW.
Jupiter and Saturn’s interaction. Oh my god. UGHHH YESSSSSSSSS CONFLICT, TALKING ABOUT THE CONFLICT, RESOLUTION!!!! PERFECT. Saturn finally standing up for himself and I love love love that it’s to Jupiter. I love these two but they seriously have some communication issues, even if it seem harmless. Because Jupiter sees himself in a protector role he always goes ahead and tries to handle things for Saturn, but sometimes that doesn’t help Saturn it just takes away his agency and makes him look weak, even when he isn’t. This is all unintentional and Jupiter has no way of knowing until Saturn tells him it’s a problem. AND HE DID OH IM SO PROUD. And it ties into Saturn and his rings, which are by far the most personal thing related to Saturn in the entire show, so of course he wants to make sure he has control over this situation. Ugh I’m so glad Saturn is actually playing a part in his own arc.
The moons are definitely hiding stuff and it’s definitely saturn’s moons, I just hope they don’t completely fall apart over this. Saturn’s moons have the most fragile dynamic in my opinion, they just never seem to be on the same page and they’ve hated Titan for most of their lives and now they have a dead moon in their system and a wholeeee bunch of secrets. Yikes.
This episode was actually really entertaining I love all the character interactions in this episode. I’m so excited for next week :)
SO! Solarballs is out. Little fun fact for you: my Patreon free trial ends TOMORROW so i've already seen the next episode! You should look forward to it, some development happens that I think you'll really want to see.
Well, that being said, now I can finally share my first impressions of the episode! Spoilers below 🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶
1. Poor Ogle man 💔
THE HELIX NEBULA. REALLY. Dude was going anywhere except the solar system lmao. At least he got there in the end. Maybe something will happen that we don't expect, because I doubt it would be that easy to just... get Earth and Luna to come with.
2. AWWW AWWW AWWW
THEM. JUST THEM. I could not get over their little smiles for the whole week and I STILL CANT. THEYRE SO CUTEEEE IVE BEEN WAITING FOR MOMENTS LIKE THIS FROM THESE GUYS FOR AGES 😭😭😭😭😭😭 when i tell you i was replaying that scene CONSTANTLY up until today i am not even exaggerating. that is exactly what ive been doing
but i don't ship them ew icky yuck ew i just love seeing a favourite duo/trio of mine get screentime
i wish luna was more involved in that little bit i might have just died in a good way
I'm so glad Luna and Earth are talking sense into Sol now. He's making so much progress and i'm so proud of him dude 🥲 accepting every criticism, learning from Earth, realisations from Luna, it's all working out okay! Obviously we can't really control if Sunny has any mood swings or intense episodes, but he can change his overall attitude towards everyone.
Now X's plan for Ogle needs to go well too.
(Also, it was very refreshing to see an educational sequence. Thanks, Earth.)
3. YESSSSSSS ASTRODUDE IS OKAYYYYY
YEYYSYSYSY I knew he wasn't going to die obviously since he's the main Earthling, but HES ALIVE AND HES GOOD AND ALSO FREAKED OUT BECAUSE I WOULD BE TOO IF THE ROBOTS I WAS MEANT TO BE ON BAD TERMS WITH DECIDED TO BE MY DOCTOR LIKE. And then Earth thinks he's EXCITED like no my dear planet he is NOT
4. WISE YOU ABSOLUTE LEGEND
Words can barely express how happy I am about that. He could've gone to Simp and told her, he could have gone against X, yet he didn't. I can tell he's gonna have a conflict about this in the future and I am SO hyped about it. I actually love him now lmao there goes my mixed feelings
Unfortunately now marks the moment I must end my Patreon free trial. That sucks. I'm gonna rewatch some of next week's episode beforehand just for the fun of it, so yeah that's my review on stuff that happened this episode 💕
YIPEEE!!!!!!! the end scene DESTROYED me, like X was not a good character but i miss him now 😔😔 can’t wait to squeeze the angst out of this and i need to finally make an X design bc i’ve been procrastinating the shit out of everything so far
my criticisms: this episode was obviously rushed and all the character arcs and development were kind of cheesy.
i mean at least there wasn’t a sponsor 😭 but otherwise im not gonna rate this episode higher than a 3/5 bc its mid 😧 ikr!!! obviously bopx was one of the better arcs but this year has been lacking so far. return of astrodude pls i am begging you ALVARO PLEASE PLEDAERRKF
also potential exoplanets arc coming!!! notice how planet x said other systems. he may be going around the galaxy and finding other systems!!!! give me my janssen 55 cancri e pls
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...
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.
