hot takes and plot ideas on Eugene and his royal heritage being significant to how he ended up as a thief...because the brainworms are wriggling again
Normally in these kinds of fantasy stories, thereās a letter, or an item, or even a caretaker that stays with the Lost Royal and reveals the truth either when theyāre old enough or when the chips are down.
Eugene doesnāt have that. He didnāt have that at all.
It can be argued in the movie (if he knew) he didnāt mention it because -
A (the letter): he just met Rapunzel 2 days ago, sheās not getting everything at once. Plus if he has proof his family abandoned him, even for good reason, it still hurts.
B (Royal item): heās got a family heirloom thatās stashed somewhere that he canāt sell because heās sentimental. May or may not know where it came from. Backed up by: the entirety of Tangled and also: the engraved comb and the scrapbook of wanted posters from RTA.
C (caretaker): Heās proudly a Thief, and a New Adult, who wants to tell their parental figure what theyāre actually doing for a living??? This is assuming that theyāre a Decent Person - if they were abusive and Eugene paralleled that with the Gothel situation - hoo boy now thatās a rabbit hole filled with plot bunnies~
The only thing Eugene ever had in his possession that hinted to his Royalty was a two-headed coin. Thatās it. I suppose that was part of Edmundās master plan - keep him as far from the Royal Line as possible so he would never find the Moonstone at all.
But he was carried away as a baby - he had to have had a nursemaid at least to feed him.
So in canon. Weāve got a gap between being sent away as a baby and being a āemployedā by the Baron as a teenage thief.
Iāve uhh...got a theory.
The world isnāt kind to immigrants. Even in a lighthearted "never say dieā, fantasy world, itās going to be rough. The nursemaid (for funzies, letās call her Claire) tries to support herself and baby Horace. And some people are kind enough, but thereās people that see Horace as a meal ticket, an obligation or a trade for a later reward when heās King.
So Claire changes their names and runs, further than anywhere anyone sheās known has ever been. Claire throws herself into maintaining an orphanage in Varadaros, essentially hiding orphan Eugene in a stack of orphan needles.
Meanwhile, a Princess is stolen and a King tries to eradicate every criminal possible. The unlucky who are accused of more than what they're guilty of flood Varadaros.
The panic creates a power vacuum and one man rises to the top of the dust heap ; a man who styles himself as royalty, mimicking their manners and excess. The Baron.
Plague happens and there's no magical Flowers to save anyone. Claire dies when Eugene is around five, young enough to vaguely remember her voice but not her face. Claireās possessions are gone through and divided.
The letters for Eugene are read. At first they think itās a joke - ah, of course her favorite kid is a Prince! What a funny family joke! But the more they talk to others - they realize that he does line up with the facts.
Word gets out. Sure, itās not the Lost Princess, but itās something.
The Baron hears about it. And the one thing he wants that he canāt ever have is a Royal Title. So he shows up at the orphanage. Talks to them real gentle-like. Tells them to look the other way when he brings Eugene over to his gang.
They refuse.
Baron puts the pressure on the orphanage, threatening them and cutting off their supplies. And - in an effort to save everyone else - they relent. Baron gets the Royal item and the letter. Itās lucky that Stalyan takes a shine to Eugene - they could legitimately marry and cement the title in their family. If he doesnāt work out - he still has the letter, he could pass off another kid as Horace. Itās not like thereās a shortage of brown eyed kids anywhere.
And that's the story of how Prince Horace was swindled out of his destiny for the first time.
how do you think the conversation between Varian and his father went down when Varian came clean about becoming a traitor and lashing out at the royal family and helping the Sapporian's take over Corona? The show never gets into these things and it is frustrating. We see Varian and his dad on good terms through out season 3, and they were gone from the werewolf episode so they must have been away talking about things. But I can't imagine it initially went over well. Thoughts?
Itās hard to tell, because Quirin really didnāt get enough screentime to properly gage his reaction to Varianās actions. However, itās important to remember that Quirin had a whole lot of secrets himself to admit to his son. (ex: the brotherhood and his past dealings with the rocks) You can make the argument that itās because Quirin never told him about his past, that Varian couldnāt grasp just how severe and dangerous the rocks truly were, leading Varian to act recklessly trying to get rid of them.
In all honesty, I feel like Quirin should be more upset about the fact that his son was abandoned by the kingdom and was forced to do something drastic just to have the royal familyās attention. Like, Quirin kept the kingās secret behind why the rocks were there, and what does he get in return? He hears that his son was vilified because Frederic refused to take responsibility for his actions.
Of course, there is the fact that Quirin showed some shame for Varianās actions in the past and honestly his shame is lowkey justified with how reckless Varian was with his alchemy in his attempts to help. Iām sure that played a factor in his feelings for what Varian did. However, if he thought hard on the Varianās circumstances, he probably couldnāt realistically figure out what else Varian could have done without him and the crown not only not helping, but going against him as early as Quest for Varian. Plus him getting manipulated by the Saporians only happened because SOMEBODY thought throwing the scorned teenage prodigy into the same cell as the Terrorist was a good idea.
So in short, while Iām sure it was a hard conversation for both of them, I would think Quirin cares enough about his son to not only acknowledge his own failings during the situation, but also be aware that the situation was stacked against Varian. Yes, maybe Quirin felt a bit of the old shake he had for his sonās actions, but by that point, Varian had been through more than enough, and was still suffering from the weight of his actions. I donāt think Quirin would have the heart to throw more shame onto that pile.
We now know that Eugene is just turned 26 years old, officially. Back in āDestinies Collideā, we saw the 25 year flashback of when King Edmund sent everyone, including his infant son, away and isolating himself in the Dark Kingdom cause heād had enough of the Moonstone affecting their lives. We know Eugeneās mother was presumably killed as a result of the Moonstone acting up prior to that.
Do you think, in some form of symmetry, Eugeneās birth was affected by the Moonstone, kind of like Rapunzelās was by the Sundrop?
Personally, I just feel it would be fitting if Eugene were to be the one to reclaim the Moonstone in order to properly reunite it with the Sundrop.Ā Get some literal Power Couple action against Zhan-Tiri.
Is it possible that we still donāt know everything that happened behind the door?
Look at the very end of the flashback we get inĀ āRapunzelās Returnā. Itās nighttime, and Cass is pretty angry...
Compare that with the shot of her leaving- not only is it daylight inside the door, but Cass looks exhausted.
So... did opening the door just take that long and that much energy? Or did something else happen that we havenāt seen yet?
Maybe Cass was running from something. Or fighting someone.
Maybe something tried to stop her from leaving.
And since Blue Girl wants to beĀ āfriendsā, and wants Cass to go and take the Moonstone... none of these possibilities seem like something she would cause.
(Honestly Iām not sure what, if anything, to conclude from this- anyone have ideas??)
Ok guys I know everyoneās screaming over the mid season finale as it is, but hear me out I have a wholesome idea to make it a thousand times better-
Rapunzel asks Varian to play the guitar for her when she proposes with Eugene.
Imagine it. He ends up being the only person she tells that sheās planning on engaging to Eugene on his birthday, and she asks him if he would willing to play music for them when she is walking to him with the ring. It would be the ultimate sibling fluff to show how far their relationship has come since s1.
The BVA storyboards did show Vās room, and that he owns a guitar, so he could know how to play it.
Varian would end up accepting, literally screaming inside that one of his best friends in the whole world is about to engage to the love of her life/his role model; he can barely contain himself, and is literally struggling to stop himself from gushing about it because heās just so darn excited. He literally spends nights preparing and practicing the song, making sure itās perfect for the moment.
Rapunzel is really nervous about it, but also extremely excited and looking forward to it. Finally, after everything she and her friends have been through, they can all enjoy a perfect, normal evening together, marking their first steps towards moving on from all the hardship they faced, together. She is going to engage with the love of her life, someone who sheās nearly lost multiple times, whos now here with her against all odds, save and sound; and she and him are going to be happy.
Itās hard to say what exactly would go down at the party, it can go any way really.
During the party for Eugene (which its hard to say whether it would be exclusive to friends or if the kingdom would be invited), everything will be going great, everyoneās having a wonderful time, lots of smiles, dancing, and a general cheery bright mood is going on. Rapunzel is getting more excited and nervous by the second, thousands of thoughts racing through her mind. Varian tried to calm her down, assuring her everything will be fine (she sometimes goes to him during the party for reassurance; heāll always give her a little pep talk to help her out).
Later into the party, that fabled moment arrives. Rapunzel is getting ready to propose to Eugene, sheās silently rehearsing her speech making sure it sounds perfect, shaking off all those remaining butterflies in her stomach, and from there anything happens.
1. Cassandra shows up and attacks before Rapunzel even has a chance to propose, and V doesnāt get to play the song.
2. Rapunzel does get to propose, she walks out slowly. She gives V a nod, who starts playing the song on his guitar, everyone falls silent as she walks up to Eugene, looking nervous but overjoyed at the same time, Eugene looks bewildered; and just as Raps goes to take out the ring, Cassandra shows up.
3. Whatever else you can think of.
Really the possibilities are endless with this scenario. Iām excited to see whatever the show has in store, but for real if something like this happens I will be screaming.
Sorry if my thoughts seem all over the place with this blog I just had this idea rocket into my head and I had to type it out as soon as possible.
Donāt know if it was pointed out before, but I keep thinking back to this image from āHappiness Isā and canāt stop thinking that we may have ran into a small, simplistic drawing representing our main trio.
First we have the Sun, which is Rapunzel, obviously. We also have the Moon, and with the recent revelation and imagery throughout the series associated with Cassandra, itād be her.
Now where does planet Mercury come in?
We know Mercury is the first planet from the Sun, the closest and the fastest. It was named after the clever Roman Messenger of the Gods, whose Greek counterpart is known as Hermes. From what limited research I could find, Mercury is a god of Commerce, Profit, Travellers, sometimes referred to as a guide to the underworld, and also a god of Trickery and Theivery. One of his most famous myths involved him stealing cattle from Apollo, making them walk backwards so their owner cannot find them. From what was found, I can see it being associated with Eugene in ways.
