it looks like stan and pete are the ones dragging varian out of the room! would they be likely to stick him somewhere in the castle and have done with it? or would they be like “heck, yeah, this is the easiest task we’ve ever been assigned! out the door he goes”?
i know the fandom loves to point out stan and pete’s incompetence and that they are probably married in secret, but the fact remains that they are guards. even if they’re gay, even if they’re bad at their jobs, and even if they usually have good intentions(?), they still chose to be the instruments of a tyrant king’s authority. the excuse of ignorance can only go so far before it turns into willful ignorance, which then becomes apathy to the atrocities, which (especially in their line of work) can become participation in them.
the masked men in “the quest for varian” all had a similar build to stan and the captain’s, but that was an animation choice to conceal the plot twist of the guards’ identities. it doesn’t disqualify pete from being among them.
it just… argh. the presence of one or two guard characters who are “unquestionably good-hearted” makes you wonder why they needed to be written that way. why we need this comparison to the rest of the (unnamed) guards. why the show has a very hard time acknowledging things like classism and prejudice. why we’re being fed propaganda for a kingdom that doesn’t exist.
i would say “it’s not that deep”, but i’m afraid it is, because this is the kind of content being made for children. you can absolutely enjoy tangled: the series despite all of its problematic writing and worrisome messaging (i certainly do), but it’s probably best not to show it to kids until they’re old enough for some critical thinking.
Do you think Rapunzel will ever apologize for burning Cassandra's hand? Or do you think she doesn't even realize the gravity of what happened?
I think Rapunzel has matured by the end of series enough to accept responsibility for her part in disabling and scarring Cass. True, it was an accident on both parts, but the way she was blaming Cass’s suffering and permanent disability on her was so wrong. She definitely holds responsibility. But here’s why I think she’d apologize after the finale, not before.
While Cass was away being treasonous, Rapunzel didn’t have to face the present consequences of her harmful treatment of her. She could focus on her rose-tinted memories of their friendship and hopes of saving Cass or that idealized perception of her, because avoiding bad feelings, especially feelings as terrible as all the grief and guilt and hurt wrapped up in Cass’s betrayal, through distracting herself with real or imagined positives is a, and specifically Rapunzel’s, natural response. Because it was all she could do in the tower to not feel like shit all the time, with how she was punished for showing any kind of disapproval or negativity. (Thanks again, Gothel. Your actions once again harm both your daughters simultaneously.)
“Cassandra’s Revenge” shakes that mindset up somewhat, but not fully. She and Cass spend little of that episode actually talking substantially about what’s happened between them. The few times they do interact, Cass is too busy showing off how totally evil and powerful and remorseless she is now; and Raps is too busy ineffectually claiming love and forgiveness which doesn’t land because she hasn’t been doing the work of understanding the openly flawed, problematic, messy, mentally ill Moonsandra in front of her and choosing to forgive her, instead of just wanting the Cass she used to have back. They’re talking at each other, culminating in them literally just using their words as weapons via the incantations. Ironically the improv scene in “Once a Handmaiden” is one of if not the most sincere and productive conversation they have in Season Three, and they’re both acting and Cass is in disguise so they can’t even take advantage of it in the moment! This comfortable way of thinking about Cass - her loyal lady-in-waiting, heroic friend and caring big sister (not her own person) who was so happy by her side and just needs to come home - is so persistent we even see it right up to the finale in “I’d Give Anything”. It’s a beautiful song and I love it, but though the sentiment is well-intentioned, notice how in all the memories Cass is in her repressive handmaiden uniform that doesn’t represent her personality whatsoever and indeed has an opposite aesthetic. And the item symbolic of the old Cass and their friendship that she sings it to isn’t one that was important to Cass herself, like her medal (from an episode that explored Raps being a bad friend disrespectful of Cass’s independence, no less!) or one of her beloved weapons, but the deindividualizing veil of a servant of the princess. Although I don’t think it’s conscious, Raps isn’t singing to the real, current Cass here. How can she, when she can’t even accept the fullness of her existence? To be fair, reconciling *fawns over Pascal in a dress* and *fights with her life for Corona and her friends* Cass with *takes over and ravages Corona* and *mind-controls people to kill their children* Cass is a hell of a task. But Raps isn’t even trying to tackle it.
Then? Then? Cass fucking dies. For a good minute or two, she’s gone. Not out of sight, unpleasant emotions out of mind. Not able to pretend that she’s fine being a handmaiden or unneeded bodyguard or villain or traitor. Not allowing Raps to entertain the hope that everything could go cleanly back to when they were all happy. Dead. No pulse; not breathing; limp; cold under Rapunzel’s hands.
This is while Raps isn’t the Sundrop, too. This whole time she’s been the adored crown princess of Corona with incredible magical powers. Why shouldn’t everything be okay if she wills it to be hard enough? But now, Rapunzel is utterly helpless on her own. Her best friend could be gone forever and there are so many things she could never get to say, never said when she had the chance -
like sorry.
Raps bringing Cass back doesn’t negate that this has to be a huge wake-up call. Eugene is the love of her life. She knows him better than anyone, their relationship is her deepest and most intimate. So even though the show doesn’t reference it seriously (a missed opportunity, gotta say) he has to have trauma from his murder and by this point, Raps has to have seen it. He must have talked to her about it. She’s probably comforted him after nightmares and grounded him during flashbacks. She knows that an experience that awful isn’t something you just get up and walk away from, metaphorically at least. Even without that analysis, death is as heavy as it gets. There’s no denying or downplaying how much Cass has suffered and the gravity of all they’ve put each other through after this. There is no pretending that things can ever be the same again after this.
(Side note: losing Cass must be extra painful due to triggering her likely PTSD from losing Eugene. This show is so cruel to its main characters. I love it!)
Now Raps is has a choice: she can accept that she couldn’t and can’t save Cass, that her story ends here in tragedy and wasted potential. She can mourn the Cass she remembers with no complex living version around to contradict that. To hurt her. She can never have to face the consequences of her failures as a princess, friend and sister again, because that face will be buried beneath the earth. She can leave Cass to exist only in relation to and from the perspectives of her and her family and friends in Corona. Just as she already has been doing for the last year. Eugene warns her that the magic will overwhelm her. She has no guarantee it will even respond to her now she isn’t the Sundrop. This is the easy option.
Or she can march right up to the unstable cosmic power, risking her own life, and stand for Cass’s right to shout; to rip her veil; to blame her; to insult her; to have opinions and make decisions she disagrees with; to leave her behind; to do whatever the fuck she wants because what matters is that she deserves to live. She deserves to be. Messiness and all.
That’s what Rapunzel chooses. To give Cass a second chance to do with as she wishes. And this is the mindset that sticks! She steps back and admits she was wrong about what Cass needed and lets her go away to learn self-care and find new meaning in her life! She looks at Cass, with all the pain and strife she’s caused Raps, and says, “I love you” unconditionally. So I think it’s highly plausible that she also apologizes for the crippling and everything else she did to her between reviving Cass and bidding her farewell.
Um. This really ran away from your question, haha. But yes, my personal belief is that Raps apologizes, because I take the glass half-full viewpoint regarding to this series, I like Raps and Cass and want them to be doing well as individuals and friends, and I consider the final Healing Incantation an important moment for Rapunzel’s character of redemption from her selfishness.
Maybe it’s just me, but I really like how the parenting episode played out. Because Eugene and Rapunzel are so clearly trying to compensate for what they most lacked in their upbringing. Eugene had no structure, and he knows--now that he’s older--that it sucked and wasn’t good for him. So he tries to bring structure to the kids he’s now in charge of in that episode. Rapunzel, conversely, grew up in a pretty unforgiving, emotionally abusive environment. So she tries to compensate for that by being endlessly patient and far too lenient, because Gothel was far too strict.
I just really like that both of them are so clearly trying to make up for the mistakes of their past and give the kids what they most needed when they were growing up. I actually think it’s really fitting for both of them.
Whelp, I’ve finally caught up with all of Alpha’s latest vids
I gotta say, this just further enforces my idea that Boy will become someone great but is NOT destined to become a warrior necessarily. ‘Cause the video game special shows that he might not be a very good war-leader (though he’d be a talented one) (though as it IS a video game it’s also possible that he’s having fun and wouldn’t be too bad irl), and the vox-log shows strength of will and knowing when NOT to fight- when to simply protect himself and go back to the peacefulness of what he already has.
Detailed character analysis for every second Varian is on screen in “Great Expotations”
No, this is not hyperbole.
Brace yourself, we’re in for a long ride.
Huh. Not even a minute onscreen and already we see Varian’s greatest virtue and flaw, he’s a proactive problem solver.
Cass was tying a knot and when she left it, it started unraveling, and Varian's immediate reaction was to rush forward and fix it. This right here is the core of his character shown in five seconds. That both his best and worst actions come from a single trait is part of what makes him such a strong character.
He smiles adorably at Owl afterward. Fixing things must feel pretty satisfying to him, especially when helping didn't cause a disaster for a change so there was nothing to mar that experience.
But let’s back up a bit to the beginning of his episode.
Varian doesn’t have any experience in building a relationship with someone who is his peer and that shines through clearly in his dialogue here. He tries to catch Cass' attention by bragging about his invention, which makes sense considering his lack of experience leaves him uncertain how to go about relating to her and inventions is something Varian knows gets him excited (thus subconsciously assuming that other people will also be excited about it) as well as something he feels confident about.
He goes on to say: "Rumor has it it is a shoo-in for the first prize in the contest," and stage-whispers to Cass, "I started the rumor." Initially, I was pretty confused about why he said that, but thinking about later episodes it's probably an early hint showing just how important honesty is for Varian.
Later episodes show that Varian’s greatest desire is to be acknowledged in a positive way and here we can see how that desire tends to manifest as being acknowledged specifically for his skills. Varian would see it as wanting people to be impressed and appreciate his alchemy but when looking at his behaviour, it seems more like he wants to be acknowledged as a problem solver. It’s just that the way he sees it happening is mostly through his ability with alchemy and inventions.
You know, before I did this analysis I thought Varian was just a high confidence/low self-esteem person, but now I think a more accurate way to describe him is that he lacks a fear of failure. Eugene saying to his face "Your last invention almost killed us. So glad you're here, with what looks like another invention." doesn't even cause him to blink.
It would also fit better with him being socially awkward despite his confidence as well as his scientific background. He's almost certainly mostly self-taught and we know he messed up a lot and it was probably worse while he still didn’t really know what he was doing. If he had fear of failure inhabiting him, there's no way he would have the skills he does today.
It’s also a trait that ties with him being so proactive. Unlike other characters, Varian doesn't have that hesitation of "But what if it doesn't work/what if I can't do it" when facing a challenge, he just goes and does it and deals with a lot of mistakes as a result, yes, but also a lot of successes.
Dawww, kid is embarrassed about his crush on Cassandra.
It's probably nothing more than how relationships are somewhat of a taboo subject for kids combined with his social awkwardness and lack of experience on the subject, but it is a point in the column pointing against him having naturally high confidence.
Obstacles don't seem to slow Varian down a whole lot. He came to the expo with the intention of asking Cass to be his assistant and despite his faux pas in the first conversation (which he promptly fixes in the next conversation by making it a joke), the conversation being interrupted midway and Cass being distracted and kinda cold in the second conversation, Varian still goes through with asking her to be his assistant.
There's a theory about learning I'm familiar with that says there are three levels of comprehension on a subject: memorizing, understanding and implementing.
Memorizing constitutes of having knowledge about the subject, but not knowing how to use it (it’s the level required for classes like history in school). Understanding means the person can use the knowledge in a practical way with situations that were studied beforehand, learning how to recognize each situation and what to do in them (It’s the level required for learning stuff like languages, specifically the part like tenses and other grammar rules). Implementing means being able to successfully use the knowledge in a situation that was never encountered before (Math usually requires that level, which is why it’s so hard for a lot of people).
Despite what the show would like us to believe sometimes, it seems like Varian actually knows what he's doing in regards to science, because this moment shows us that Varian holds the highest level of comprehension about alchemy.
When he made the stain disappear it wasn't because he remembers that salt + water from the flowers would prevent grape juice stains. It wasn't because he understands that a certain combination of chemicals would prevent acidic stains. It was because he knows chemistry on a level that allows him to take all the theory and implement it into practice even in an unfamiliar situation. That level of comprehension, as well as his excellent problem-solving skills, allows him to figure out solutions to problems that he never encountered before and fast.
(Lmao watch as our boy is enjoying seeing Cass' reaction to his trick so much. Me too, Varian.)
Varian is very eager to agree to help Cass with her chores. While that eagerness can come from his crush on Cass, it doesn’t feel like the full answer. Following her around for a while to help her would be an easy way to spend time with Cass in a situation where he's not actually sure how to go about hanging out with her. It would tie back to why he wanted Cass to be his assistant in the first place, seeing as that's another easy way for them to spend time together.
Plus, considering how one of his biggest desires is to be acknowledged as a problem solver, Varian probably sees it as an opportunity to impress Cass with his skills and not only be acknowledged in the way he wants, but also be acknowledged by a person Varian wants to impress.
There are a few moments in the episode where Varian acts and his brain only catches up a few moments later and here we the first of them. He realizes that being overeager to spend time with his crush is a faux pas mid-action and tries to smooth it over right afterward.
This is also a moment that showcases his problem-solving skills. It only takes him a few seconds to figure out that it can be a solution to his original problem i.e. asking Cass to be his assistant.
Boy is just glad he actually managed to succeed in his goal and spend time with his crush.
It’s yet another example of how he doesn’t really know how to relate to people who are (kinda) his peers. He's excited because this feels like a big achievement for him.
Nex,t we see a montage of Cass and Varian working together to finish her chores, which actually teaches us quite a few things about Varian's skills:
1) Varian has already created several functioning inventions that do exactly what he wanted them to.
1.1) The only reason he wouldn't be able to market them commercially is because they would not pass any safety standards.
1.1.1) Take safety precautions with your inventions Varian gdi
1.2) The reason he doesn't bother with safety precautions could tie back to his absolute lack of fear of failure. This small little ball cleans a corridor by putting everything on fire? Just don't get caught 4head (and when Varian inevitably catches on fire because he's a trouble magnet he just deals with it with some panicked screaming and a lot of flailing).
1.2.1) Another possible explanation is that Varian doesn’t generally plan for failure. It tracks pretty well with what we see of his behaviour in the rest of the series and considering that he doesn’t fear failure, it makes sense that he wouldn’t think about the “what if something goes wrong” and plan for that.
1.3) The montage shows Varian using his inventions for more than one purpose. It shows that same kind of comprehension we saw earlier where he knows the theory so well he can use it in various different ways to solve problems he never encountered before.
1.3.1) It also shows that he possesses a flexibility of thought. He's not stuck thinking things have that one specific intended use for them, but keeps his mind open to other possibilities.
2) Varian can quickly construct devices from what seems like common everyday objects
2.1) There is that flexibility of thought again. Things don't have intended uses, just potential uses.
2.2) I'm not sure if I would put him at MacGyver level of impromptu devices but he definitely subscribes to that school of thought.
2.3) Varian is very knowledgeable not just in chemistry but also in engineering.
3) He seems to think "There must be a better way to do this" a lot.
3.1) Because he's a proactive problem solver with the skills to make his ideas reality, he often just goes and tries to figure out or make that better way, regardless of the circumstances.
During the whole montage he's always looking to see Cass' reaction even when he should really be paying better attention to what's going on around him because he's lighting a whole corridor on fire, Varian. It's that recklessness of his again, the one that's born out of his lack of fear of failure. But it's also because the boy is thirsty for people to acknowledge his skills, his identity as a problem solver, so he drinks up every drop of it when Cassandra gives it to him in the shape of shock and amazement.
He's very similar to Cass in this way. Both of them have a strong self-identity they want to be acknowledged by society or the people around them, and the fact that it isn't can be traced back as the root of a lot of their problems.
Of course, for Cass, the biggest obstacle to that acknowledgment is society itself, while Varian is his own biggest obstacle.
But we already established that obstacles don't slow him down a whole lot, which is why he keeps trying regardless of any failure. His lack of fear of failure also takes some of the sting, since instead of framing it as a “bad end” he would regard more along the lines of “eliminated a way in which it doesn’t work”.
Not to say that all of the failures don’t take their toll, since they evidently do. We see in QfaD (Specifically, Let Me Make You Proud) that his self-esteem isn't the highest and that he's very aware of his many failures and how they sabotage his efforts to get acknowledged.
Something that seems quite evident but that I didn't mention it so far is just how confident Varian is in his skills. Then again he's very justified in that confidence.
At first, I didn’t think it was honest self-assessment because of his later denial of blame and also the fact that he’s 14. However, there’s more to support for that interpretation than I realized at the time. Varian’s denial in SotS is less an issue of awareness and more of a coping mechanism, seeing as his other option is to face the possibility that he (in his mind) killed his own father which… yeah. Even then, he acknowledges in Ready as I’ll Ever Be that his actions are bad despite the way he refuses to take the blame (and responsibility) for the situation. Add in the awareness he shows in Let Me Make You Proud and his pretty accurate introspection later in this episode, and his confidence coming, at least partially, from honest self-assessment has a lot of evidence to back it up.
I would actually be pretty curious to know what came first for him: his confidence in his skills, or his lack of fear of failure. The first would mean he felt like he could deal with everything thrown his way so he didn't need to fear the consequences of failure. The second would indicate he didn’t fear to get things wrong, which is the root of a lot of insecurity.
The answer is probably that the two grew in tandem, each feeding into the other in a positive feedback loop. But I'm kinda still leaning towards the second more, if only because that initial lack of worry would mean his skills would develop at a much faster rate, which would better explain his current skill level.
Now that I think about it, teenage feeling of immortality probably didn't help.
Poor Quirin, teen Varian must be a nightmare to deal with
I'm kinda sad we didn't get proper friendship between Rapunzel and Varian. This episode shows how both of them are creative, productive and very knowledgeable individuals, to the point where Rapunzel was the one translating Varian's technobabble in the climax. They could have a lot of fun together if they ever tried.
In many ways, their friendship would be healthier than the one we’re shown for Rapunzel and Cass. Aside from having shared interests, their problems and strengths would complement each other’s quite a bit, without the destructive feedback loop Cass and Rapunzel can get to.
Rapunzel's high energy would go well with Varian’s creativity and proactivity. Varian's lack of fear of failure and proactivity would be good for Rapunzel with her avoidant personality. Varian wouldn't mind Rapunzel's lack of boundaries as much or have insecurity about his place next to her. Rapunzel would probably be glad to help Varian in proving himself and has an indestructible hair to protect them when explosions inevitably occur.
The major flaw with this friendship is that they can easily create a feedback loop of recklessness that would leave Eugene as the voice of reason in the party, so take that as you will.
This may seem obvious, but Varian is pretty observant. As much as he didn't let it stop him, he did notice and understand what Cassandra's cold attitude was all about. This moment discounts the possibility that his social awkwardness comes from having difficulties understanding social cues, or that his lack of fear of failure in those situations came from him not understanding that something was a failure or a rejection. Considering his outgoing personality, it’s very possible that had he been socialized properly he wouldn’t experience that kind of awkwardness at all. Act like a weirdo? Sure, this is Varian after all, but it wouldn’t be because he misunderstood something or felt uncomfortable and out of his depth.
He also somehow knows that Cap is Cassandra's dad. It's not like it's a secret, but I checked and it definitely wasn't said in front of him in the episode. He probably keeps his eyes and ears open and notices stuff around him, his speed in connecting dots would help him make sense of the stuff he notices. Just in this episode we see this process. Earlier he saw Stan telling Cass about the Captain having open positions and how she got excited over it. Later, when Cass tells him that today is kind of a big deal for her, he immediately connects between the two things.
(Also, Sassy Boy is sassy and I love him for that)
Varian is naturally pretty empathetic, in the mirroring emotions sense of the word. His expression falls both times Cass becomes upset, and he attempts to help her by offering up proof that he can relate and she's not alone. I use the word "naturally" here because trauma can suffocate empathy pretty quickly as a coping mechanism, so his levels of empathy in later episodes aren't really indicative of his personality.
It's pretty interesting that his response to Cass being upset is an empathic reflection considering his problem-fixing nature. He only tries to offer up a solution when Cass brings up a concrete problem he can deal with.
He seems to use humor, and snark in particular, to deal with situations pretty often actually. And in various ways as well. Here he uses it to turn around an uncomfortable and heavy situation. In later episodes he would use it to claim a measure of control over a situation involving enemies. Curiously both here and later he uses it to express anger. Granted his “anger” here wasn’t really anger so much as calling Cass out, but it still functionally fulfills the same purpose.
Poor boy is so hopeful that he and Cass are friends. He's uncertain about how this friendship thing works and if they are actually friends which once again shows that he's pretty isolated and without any peer relationships. This uncertainty of his shows that just because he doesn't usually dip into the negative axis of doubt doesn't mean he is on the positive axis of confidence
As much as his lack of fear of failure (and I got to find a better shorter word for it) can manifest as recklessness it can also manifest as what seems to be overconfidence at first glance. Yet when he says he has everything under control, we actually see that he manages to do exactly as he said. The only thing that sabotaged him this episode was not allowing a margin of error in his plans in case of unexpected complications, but if we're being entirely fair here, the vast majority of people only think about adding that margin for error once they're older and more experienced, so it's not like it's unique to him.
I mentioned before Varian seems to have that thing where his mouth works faster than his brain sometimes. Here is instance 2 and 3 that we see in the episode.
Varian doesn't seem to actually know what to do with people acknowledging his skills when he didn't set out to impress them. This indicates that something like this would happen rarely, if at all.
Just by themselves, those kinds of circumstances can teach someone that if they want to be acknowledged than they’re the one who has to go out and get it, because it’s not going to come to them unconditionally. In this case they also cause another "chicken and egg" situation in regards to Varian’s proactivity. Was he already proactive and when he didn't get acknowledgment for that, that tendency kicked in and cause him to actively seek it out, or did he want the acknowledgment first and when he didn't get it he learned that the only way he would get it is by actively working for it?
Once again it's probably a mix of the two that grew in tandem with one another, with him being naturally inclined to proactivity and problem solving but circumstances reinforcing it by teaching him that he won't get acknowledgment and his "solution" to that was to go out and get it rather than wait and hope it will come on its own.
Still, I'm a bit more inclined towards the second option. There is quite a bit that seems to imply that Varian didn't get as much attention as he needed growing up. From Quirin being a single dad and a village leader, to Varian's desperate need to be acknowledged, to the fact that a lot of the implied mishaps he had could've only happened if he was left unsupervised and how we saw walking around alone at age 5. I can see that desire for attention starting from a very young age and slowly growing to what we see today.
To be perfectly clear, I’m not ragging on Quirin here. He was doing the best he could and his best was actually pretty good. It’s just that “pretty good” doesn’t necessarily mean “enough”.
For the record Varian being excited for the expo is adorable but his "Is this guy for real" expression when the judge is being dramatic is even better.
"Don't worry about me. I am sure I can find another assistant in the next five minutes."
There are a couple of things happening here. First is Varian putting Cass' ambitions above his own and trying to assuage her guilt, which is an early hint to his low self-esteem. The second is Varian's problem-solving tendency jumping up and trying to fix the damage only to be confronted with the fact that, no, there's no good solution for this simply because there isn't enough time.
(I got to admit, I fall in love with the show's joke of "cutting edge equine technology"="horsepower" every time I see it.)
We see Varian acting nervous and hesitant for the first time in the episode. It's unlikely to be a case of simple stage fright seeing as he was so confident not even a few minutes earlier when he spoke with Cass. I think here it's more of a case that he knows the solution he came up with is a bad one.
However, I still feel like it's worth noting that despite the very short time limit, he still managed to get an assistant. And that despite the subpar quality of his assistant, Varian still tried his best at the presentation. It tracks very well with how he doesn't let obstacles slow him down. It also speaks a lot about his mental fortitude and determination because it’s not uncommon for someone to just give up in a scenario like this, or at the very least panic and not give as good of a presentation as they could have as they already know it'll suck (because of the subpar assistant in this case) so there's not really any point in investing that much effort.
It's that same determination along with his lack of fear of failure that would drive a lot of his villain arc because frankly, most people would hesitate taking on a whole kingdom even if they think that's the only solution to their problem. Varian just thinks about how he would get it done.
Not about the if.
(Well he would think about if he should do it on a moral ground, but not if he should do it because failing would have major consequences)
Varian naming stuff he invents after people is a cute joke, but it also feels a bit... childish in a certain way. It's a pretty blatant way to impress people and get attention, kinda a combination of flattering people by naming things after them and impressing them that he created this whole new never-seen-before thing, which is yet another way in which he shows he doesn't really know how to create relationships with peers. While it’s a bit weak it can also be taken as another hint to his low self-esteem because his first instinct is to name stuff after the people around him, which implicitly places more importance on those people rather than his own experiences.
Then again naming things in general is hard and I suck at it just as much lol.
This line really emphasizes how much Varian is still a kid while showing some of his underlying assumptions about the world. Things should be as what they're presented to be. A science exposition should judge the science. A promise should be kept. Friends should try to help their friends. It ties very strongly to the importance he places on honesty and the truth, if something isn't what it's presented as that's a form of deception.
It’s this bit here that really cements Great Expotations’ place in Varian's character arc of disillusionment with authority figures. This is the first place he meets overt corruption in the form of the judge and the showy contestant who won. Even if he won't think of it as corruption at the time, at the very least he'll see how the irrelevant stuff decided the outcome rather than the important things. Which is very much the opposite of how the expo presented itself, after all it was supposed to be about science.
Even his time with Cass contributes to that arc. They had a deal, Varian will help her with her chores and in exchange she'll be his assistant. He even felt they grew closer during the time they worked together to the point they became friends, and when he asked it was something that Cass confirmed. Yet, Cass still backed out of the agreement at the last minute. And yes, she apologized and made it up to him but isn't that in some ways worse? Because it would mean people can still genuinely be friends while betraying his trust.
In many ways, it's a failure of truth that drives Varian’s arc just as much as it's a failure of action. Both are tied together and enable each other to happen.
People lie so they wouldn't have to take action and they cover their inaction with distortions of the truth.
Both are core parts of the corruption in the system of Corona that allowed the tragedy of his situation to escalate to the point it did.
Truth is actually something that's pretty central to Varian's identity. At his core he's a proactive problem solver, yes, but the way it manifests is through his interest and skill in alchemy, or rather science. The entire point of science is discovering truths about the world through action, by observing and researching and recording. He takes a lot of pride in his skills and in being scientifically minded, or else he wouldn't be so bothered when people think he's using magic.
And when that pride and respect for the truth is set on a crash course towards the corruption of authority, whether by lying or inaction or both, in a rather personal way. Well, that's how we get RTA. Add in his proactivity, determination and lack of fear of failure as well as his skills to the previous explosive mix, season with desperation, sprinkle a hefty bunch of trauma on top and shake well. That’s the recipe we were shown in SotS.
Varian gives a rather accurate assessment of his motivations here with a level of self-awareness that surprised me the first time I saw it. It's much more than most 14 years old are capable of. In fact, there are many adults without that level of awareness.
It obviously does matter to him. He says that all he wanted was to impress Cass but he's clearly measuring his success according to his success in the expo. That expo is important to him.
The way he minimizes how it was important to him is another hint towards low self-esteem. As well as him calling himself dumb, especially since it seems to imply that he sees himself as being dumb for thinking he could ever impress Cass and get her to see something special in him.
Varian panicking about safety should make people suspect the apocalypse is coming. In this case they would even be right, considering how things turn out.
Another way in which this episode ties into Varian's character arc is that once again he's saying something important and is ignored. This time is about how the judge is messing dangerously with Varian's machine. Next time will be about how they need to find a solution to the black rocks. The one after that is about how his father is in danger. Until it culminates in Ready As I’ll Ever Be where the line describing his motivation is "I'll make them hear me".
He ends up saving everyone from a danger that could've been entirely averted had the judge only listened to him.
In fact, things are only solved because someone (Cass in this case) does listen to him.
Varian's surprise at being the one saved by Cass can point to his low self-esteem, but it's just as likely to be because Cass doesn't have the best track record in choosing friendship over duty in this episode.
In either case, it sets up the basis for his later trust issues. Maybe he’s quick to lose faith in people after they fail him, or maybe he just doesn’t think highly enough himself to believe that someone will go out of their way for him at a cost to themselves. Neither option is particularly good for his mental health.
I think it's very telling that when Cass asks "How do we stop it." Varian replies with "I gotta pull the handbrake". It shows another one of his underlying assumptions about the world, that he's got to be the one who fixes it (whether because it's his mess or just because he's used to being the only proactive problem-solver around). He even starts walking towards the doomsday machine without the thought that Cass might want to help even crossing his mind.
It's yet another example of how Varian just goes and does things without hesitating.
It also displays a somewhat self-centered view of the world that’s actually pretty typical for his age. Now to be fair, he really does seem to be one of the only (if not the most) proactive people around, so this attitude might actually have a basis in reality.
It's this somewhat self-centered view of things that would later cause him to mess with the black rocks after he sees Quirin lying to the king about them. He had faith that his dad would handle the problem and when that trust broke he felt like he was the only one trying to find a solution to the black rocks which I would normally say is robbing people of their agency but in the case of the series seems to actually be true.
I'm not actually sure how to describe Varian's little laugh after Cass says that he's going to need an assistant but the words that come to me are "disbelieving", "a little bit hysterical" and "adorable". Whatever the case he clearly didn't expect Cass' offer, just like he didn’t expect her to save him instead of her assignment.
Although it’s pretty telling that as much as didn't expect Cass' help, he didn't hesitate to ask for it. The source of those self-centered assumptions isn’t pride for sure.
Varian's immediate reaction to shutting down the doomsday device appears to be "enjoying the rush". The whole scenario would very much appeal to Varian's nature as a problem solver. He just solved an important problem, had people supporting him along the way, people who listened to him, everyone is acknowledging his part in the solution and not the problem for once.
Also, the literal adrenaline rush.
Varian had a lot of curveballs thrown at him this episode. I’m willing to bet that his day ended absolutely nothing like he first imagined. He showed an admirable ability to adapt and roll with the punches while still working towards achieving goals.
If we take a step back and consider all his stated and implied goals in the episode then we can see how he actually succeeded in doing everything he set out to achieve, even if it was done in a way he never planned on.
Get Cass to be his assistant? Check, although as an assistant to shutting down the imminent apocalypse rather than for presenting his invention.
Impress Cass? Check, only he probably expected to impress her with his amazing new invention that creates a whole ass new element rather than with helping her do her chores.
Give Cass a necklace of an element named after her? Check, and his small little while looking at the necklace indicates that he realizes it too.
This pattern of events repeats itself most of the times when we see Varian sets himself a goal to work towards. He starts out with a plan, falls victim to the god of chaos that probably claimed his soul when he was a baby or something and somehow ends up succeeding in his goal in a way that blindsides even him.
In GE he impresses Cass all the big and small obstacles, but loses the contest. In QfaD he reaches the princess despite the blizzard, but she denies him help. In RTA he gets the flower despite the princess, but it no longer holds the magic. In SotS he gets the princess to do what he wants despite an entire kingdom, but her hair doesn’t work.
The third instance of Varian being surprised at Cass going out of her way for him that cements the pattern.
At this point, the behaviour tells us a lot more about Varian’s underlying assumptions of the world, than anything about how he perceives Cass. The continuing surprise at the unprompted positive attention shows it’s an experience that’s out of the norm for him. Combined with what we know of his reputation, his lack of peer relationship and his busy single father, it paints a picture of a big part of Varian’s emotional needs that are going unfulfilled even before everything happened.
Quirin is trying his best but he’s busy and as much as he loves Varian, he doesn’t really get him. Even without those challenges, one relationship simply isn’t enough to fulfill all the emotional needs of a person. However, Varian’s relative social isolation and reliance on his father give the events of QfaD a whole new layer. He didn’t just lose his dad and caretaker, but also his entire support network in one swoop. A support network that was full of holes and leaking, but one that kept him afloat so far nonetheless. Shhh, I know nets naturally have holes. It’s a metaphor.
But that pattern of behaviour tells us a lot more than just the size of Varian’s support network. Just like his proactivity grew from his need to actively seek out that positive attention and acknowledgment, so would his self-reliance increase the more he sees others won’t give him what he needs without him prompting them in one way or another, and we indeed see that Varian is very independent.
Now, self-reliance isn’t a bad trait by any means, at least when it comes from a healthy place. But that level of self-reliance in children and teens, especially when it comes to their own needs (whether emotional or physical), often comes from a place of distrust that those needs will not be met consistently if left up to another. Needless to say, it’s not the most healthy mindset.
It’s another part of the foundation of Varian’s later trust issues. Both come from a place of “I need to do this because no one else would do it for me”, but where the first is limited to getting acknowledgment and positive attention his later mindset grew to encompass things like “free Quirin”, “help me” and “protect me”.
Like before, Varian accepts how Cass asserted her own ambitions over his with very little fuss. After all, it’s not that hard to accept an apology if he didn’t put much weight on her putting her on ambitions above him. While his low self-esteem is far from the only factor at play here it’s yet another thing that hints towards it.
Cass words here delight Varian for much of the same reasons he reacted so strongly to all those instances of unprompted kindness. Except this time it’s much more validating than that. It shows that she listened to him, even if she rejected that nickname at the time. Plus, it was something that she didn’t like initially, so the only motivation she had to change her mind was that she genuinely liked him. It’s a tangible proof that he managed to earn Cass’ respect.
Varian acting as if he’s the one that should be responsible for cleaning up, which is rather bizarre. He’s using the singular I we saw him use earlier when he planned on shutting down the doomsday device, which seems to be indicating he thinks he holds the main responsibility here.
It could come from his extreme proactivity, like with the knot at the beginning of the episode (6k words ago, feels like forever) or from that same self-centered worldview. However, if we look at the word choice we can tie it back to Let Me Make You Proud with its line: "maybe I make things a mess". The implication being that Varian is cleaning the mess because he himself (knowingly or not) to be the one responsible for creating it, despite his tangential role at best in the chain of events.
Seeing how Varian and Cass bonded over trying to impress their dads and failing, Cass turning down a guard assignment probably seems like the equivalent to him turning down Quirin's approval in his mind. He knows this is a Big Deal.
Based on everything we saw so far in the series, Varian seems to enjoy working with completely and totally new things. Whether it’s never-seen-before mystical rocks, the new element he invented and even reverse engineering long lost tech. Hell, even a lot of his own inventions qualify since he’s the first person to come up with them.
This moment is a reflection of the earlier one when Varian asks “what does flair has to do with anything'', albeit this one has way more far-reaching consequences. And once again Varian’s instinctive reaction to what isn’t-that-far-off-from-deception is to be upset and question it.
A lot of people forget that QfaD wasn’t the first promise Rapunzel broke to Varian. Although to be fair the writers seemingly forget that as well, so most of the burden lies there.
Varian’s character arc up to the midpoint can be charted by the promises broken to him (with better and worse reasoning). In many ways, distrust and trust issues are a central and ever-present force in his arc. Separating him from others in a big dramatic like in the climax of RTA, to smaller quieter ways like how his need to act in order to achieve the validation he wants isolates him from his community, to overarching themes like disillusionment with authority figures.
The promise here is another data point to teach Varian to not trust in promises, but it’s also another, more insidious data point that paints Rapunzel as Fred’s accomplice in keeping the black rocks situation quiet.
Which… she kinda is. No, she never cooperated with any of Fred’s actions to silence the situation. She just held her own silence, when her words would’ve been enough to break the deception.
It is a crime of inaction, but those are not inherently less damaging or harmful than crimes of action.
But for Varian, who could later look at that moment with the hindsight of knowing the full situation with the black rocks, it would be so easy to see active cooperation in Rapunzel’s actions and use it as another point against trusting her.
But despite any reservations Varian may have, at the moment all he sees is his friend trusting him with a secret. After being considered a walking disaster for so long, that trust (from the princess no less, a person with authority) would be very validating.
...If you reached this point you have my full respect. Any blame should be directed to the tangled server because they’re a bunch of enablers.
For what it’s worth, I do think the emperor loves his sons. I think he’s doing his best to communicate to that to them, as well as to avoid repeating the mistakes he’s made in the past.
His best just, you know, fuckin suxxx.
Everyone and their gestation tube has already called Emps out for shitty parenting, though, so I'm going to talk about what Emps' best actually consists of.
Magnus, by dint of being around the longest, gets the most tangible affection from Daddy. He gets practically showered in gifts in episode 14, being given (in no particular order) a bike, his soul, and an actual-facts 'I love you'. In light of later events and the whole "that boy is no good for you" thing, I would argue that dragging Magnus back from Tzeentch was an effort to protect his son from the forces of chaos. The entire mini-arc with Custodisi, from the restraining order to deleting him from reality, is almost unambigously Emps protecting his son. Given Emps' [JUST AS PLANNED] in episode 27, it's also easy to make a case that he pushed his trusted subordinate/complaint manager/housewife into leaving with Magnus (it's dangerous to go alone, take this), even though it left Emps in dire straits company-wise.
As for the other sons, Dorn gets a bike too. (He also gets an admonishment not to actually play with blocks on the freeway). He sends the Ultramarines after Khan when he learns that he's in Commoragh - and completely drops the idea of nuking it.
In summary, Emps has two main ways of showing affection: bike gift-giving and protection from (physical) harm. He’s also not shy about telling his sons he loves them, though that’s generally less about Emps and more about reassuring the son in question.
From this, we can draw a couple of interesting conclusions. Firstly, it's easy to interpret the entirety of Ep14 as Emps bribing and/or manipulating Magnus back to his side for the master plan, but it's also the most prolonged and overt display of affection Emps gives in the series (bar, arguably, his lamenting of Sanguinius). In that light, I can't help but draw parallels to a parent buying their kid stupid amounts of candy after losing them in a mall. He lost his son, he got him back, and he doesn't fight the very human urge to overcompensate about it. Just because he's using affection to manipulate Magnus doesn't mean there isn't feeling behind it.
Secondly, there's some interesting parallels that can be drawn between Emps' treatment of his sons and his treatment of humanity. The Emperor has protected humankind from the forces of Chaos since he was born. He fends off daemons and xeno fleets alike - and the first thing he does when he comes back is to kill the craziest 68.8% of the organization that's actively killing his population. As the Emperor of Mankind, he gives humanity the ability to go fast warp travel, builds it space marines and primarchs, puts together a government to unite and defend it.
In short, he's not lying when he says he loves humanity and he's doing everything he can to show it.
But just as with his sons, the Emperor's everything isn't enough.
It's not nothing - humanity would definitely be worse off without his intervention. But the Imperium of Man falls in almost exactly the same way as the Emperor's family. Everything is fine: Emps' sons are loyal and the Imperium is secular and progressive. Then Emps' attention is drawn away, by the human webway and being stuck on the golden throne, respectively, and (to his genuine surprise) everything promptly goes to shit.
In my opinion, this is because Emps fundamentally misses the point. The end goal of parenthood isn't to produce a well behaved (or, more to the point, obedient) child, it's to raise a functional adult. The same can be said of the empire - the point of a legacy is for it to still be standing when you're gone. Emps' need to control everything prevents his kids/empire from learning to function on their own, and his ego prevents him from realizing this is a bad thing.
If Emps is going to prevent history from repeating itself, I think compassion is a good place to start. But here's hoping Star-Fyodoper contains his humility as well, because if he wants things to go better this time around, he's going to need it.
With all of the #Ricky’s Quest stuff going on, I’ve started digging in to the first season to see anything that I’ve missed. Instead, I noticed every time the Disney-villian-green color popped up. You know the one.
So far, I’ve noticed three times in the two seasons--excluding the Zhan Tiri ones (cuz jeez it doesn’t take a genius to figure out he’s the bad guy). Also, feel free to add more scenes if you caught some that I missed. The first is when Cass was carrying that green lantern in Before Ever After:
**Sorry for the bad quality lol** Anyway, that’s one. The second time is in Great Expotations when Varian helps Cass with her chores.
Some fancy villain-green fire. Note that only Varian and Cassandra are present. And finally third is in the second season, Rapunzeltopia.
I’d like to point out that the first gif of Cass and Varian is the exact same green tint of fire as the last two. And I don’t believe it was an accident, either. And now that we’ve seen Cassandra’s fall and already witness Varian’s I think it’s foreshadowing their team up. The fire engulfed both of them. Yet ironically enough, it got to Varian first. 👇
