Mon-Elâs arc-Breaking Good Meta
So I recently wrote a meta about Karaâs arc and I asked you if you wanted my two cents on Mon-el. A good number of you wanted it, so I was inspired to break it down. This is a really long one! If thereâs something people love more than a good guy breaking bad, is a a breaking good story! Haha.. A well written redemption arc is one of the most satisfying things to watch on TV and it gives writers the opportunity to tell a character driven story with rich possibility of character growth. What people love even more, is to witness the birth of a hero, something we only get as flashbacks with established superheroes. Because one thing weâve learnt from these stories is that superpowers donât make a hero, itâs a calling, a very personal choice, often rooted in grief or the lingering psychological impact of being helpless in a traumatic situation.Â
If youâve watched Jessica Jones, I highly recommend it if you havenât! I absolutely love it, because itâs too real. Jessica is someone who has super strength, she has all the means to be a superhero but she finds the idea of having a costume and nickname ridiculous. She works as a PI or muscle for hire sometimes and often drowns her PTSD, from her backstory, in alcohol. It takes a lot of inspiration, love & a huge threat against the public which she feels responsible for, for her to embrace being a hero. Which is a very human and relatable thing, if I got superpowers, I would definitely not buy a costume and start fighting thugs in my city, especially if Iâm going through something hard. It doesnât make me a bad person, itâs just what logical humans do no matter how strong they are, they put their needs before others and steer clear of trouble. I really needed this on DC TV and that was the first reason why I fell in love with Mon-El.Â
When Chris Wood was interviewed about his role on Supergirl, he mentioned that âThat was their intention, to have someone go through the hero journey, something they canât do with supergirl, well because sheâs supergirlâ *fanboy voice* It wasnât much of a struggle for Kara, she was sent to this planet with a purpose, witnessed a great tragedy, met superman who grew into a hero all by himself and she grew up a normal human watching him change the world. Being Supergirl was something she always wanted, season one was about her becoming her own hero, whose accomplishments arenât shadowed by Supermanâs. A lot of people feel like Mon-Elâs character was pulled out of no where but itâs very clear that he was chosen to be the third alien in Kara & Jonnâs team and Karaâs love interest, because they were very clever with choosing a character that hasnât been used a lot before and they get enough creative freedom with.Â
They wanted his hero journey to be a lot juicer than Jonnâs so they gave him a very different starting point from Jonn who was already a hero in some capacity but was afraid to come out as an alien.. Deciding where to start is very crucial for a writer because the worst thing you can do is, make a character that people just donât care about. You want them to feel something extreme towards him even if itâs bad but you donât want to go as far as give your character an evil or sinister start as a villain for the contrast to the hero side. Itâs much easier to create someone who lacks conviction, who doesnât have a cause, plenty of weaknesses, faults and vices but a few redeeming qualities and the flexibility to change.Â
The best writing tip Iâve received is, never willingly give too many flashbacks, build upto it and make the audience or the character who wants to uncover the truth, work hard for the back story. Why?
Because it distances the audience from a time when he developed his weaknesses & faults, a time before the desire to change.
It makes him mysterious & interesting and causes people to speculate.
Itâs more fun when secrets are revealed when the stakes are high.
His backstory is really cool because of a couple of reasons that they keep hinting towards and it left a good impact on his personality:Â
1. Politics: He was an influential political figure as Prince of Daxam and not just a helpless bystander in a world that Kara, our POV has so many prejudices against. As someone who grew up in a corrupt country, this is very interesting because even people in power have a hard time getting a lid on complicated issues. Most of us usually do butt heads with our elders when it comes to being progressive politically & disagreeing with the status-quo but the struggle is so good for Mon-El because he was so close to power, his parents, but had no real control, which explains a lot about why he said his father is a bad man.Â
I even liked when they brought up the issue of slavery, because most TV shows usually pretend that it never existed, which it still does in many parts of the world. If there are things that bad in the society you live in, that you donât believe in and wish to change, being so close to people who could make a difference and being unheard is frustrating.If they do not care about your opinions and you are groomed to one day take their place and adopt their political stance, that pushes a person to resign from those responsibilities and politics. I would compare this to how most people in third world countries have a nihilistic or hedonistic  âWhatâs the point in hoping or tryingâ attitude. Which explains why Daxam is party obsessed & hedonistic, it seems like a coping mechanism.
Thus having the sterotypes just thrown at you in a âWhat else can you expect from a Daxamiteâ really pisses people off! Theyâve used it so well until now because the prejudice really makes him tick.Â
2. Childhood issues: This is something theyâve hinted at and used so well and I find it relatable because I had a rough childhood/daddy issues. Iâve mentioned the impact a rough childhood leaves on you before and Iâll mention it again: âWe try to do our best, push to be better, go to great lengths to make our loved ones proud, but we love nothing more than someone to just tell us that we are lovable just the way we are because all that effort is rooted in the belief that no one could possibly love us unless we change or put in real effort or have something solid to offer. Unearned love is something people with rough childhoods never get and itâs the greatest giftâ
You see that discomfort in Mon-El, now that heâs not a prince, has nothing to offer like he did before and heâs dating a very independent and strong superhero who can take care of herself. It doesnât help that she has so much prejudice against him thus he constantly feels like he doesnât deserve her or she wouldnât want to be with him, something she even vocalised once. Which is why you see him putting in a real effort into the relationship and struggling to change to be the man she wants him to be. When Winn told him to stop trying so hard & all Kara needed was his presence, it surprised him because thatâs how childhood issues work! Like really? Just my presence? Thatâs enough?
3. Prince privileges: Because he grew up to be an adult there, he does have a lot of intel about creatures that they come across (Mxy or the fight club monster, slaverâs moon) which will be a good contribution to the team once he becomes a hero. When he first woke up, he found out a way to find a signal to Daxam very quickly, stayed silent when imprisoned & made up a lie when asked about his backstory.. Itâs a very realistic depiction of someone who was royalty, shows the training. And him being a prince is something that explains his cynicism, self preservation, survival instincts and not wanting to be a hero, because political kids are raised to put their safety above everything else. They have bodyguards to protect them. Soldiers and field agents are trained to run towards trouble, âSurvive, protect yourself, run away from troubleâ is whatâs drilled into royaltyâs heads. Thus not only does the idea of having a job seem outlandish to him but so does running into trouble and thatâs something that has good potential for growth.Â
4. Frat Boy : This is that rich kid trait that was meant to piss the audience off. Itâs a very feminist show so this was an incredible contrast. Thatâs how you change public perception as a writer, not just by giving people characters that are already feminists and who educate you on it through dialogue but by also showing them a characterâs transition from the opposite end of the spectrum. Not all feminists I know started out that way and they definitely didnât change their minds because I threw words at them. People these days are pretty socially challenged in terms of talking to others who disagree with them and tagging people with harsh words at the first sign of disagreement is a very common practice these days. I mean look at the fandom, heâs been nothing but a puppy to Kara and people just canât seem to move past the frat boy stamp that was just mentioned, we havenât seen any proof but even if he breathes, people complain.Â
Itâs something he moved past in the first few episodes, which was step one for his hero journey.Â
There is a lot of backstory potential to be milked here for the future, because he spent his entire adult life there, as royalty. So thereâs a lot for the writers to keep going back and expanding. Iâm so looking forward to this!Â
HIS PROGRESS (CURRENT & SPECULATION)Â
INSPIRATION: Chris mentioned in his interview, that in the beginning Kara tries to bring him into her job & DEO world but Mon-El will end up finding his own path which is why most of the heroic moments he has are when Kara is not looking or around. Him agreeing to train or be her partner, is not picking up very fast because Kara is his inspiration but she will not be the reason why he becomes a hero, but their love & everything he loves and admires about her will serve as a moral compass. He wants to be better for her but he still doesnât believe in her cause.Â
MOMENT OF TRUTH: Itâs going to be a tragedy that he feels personally responsible for, which is why they brought in his parents as the big bads. Because feeling personally responsible for something horrible or saving someone you love are the only reasons a normal person would want to run into trouble. He needs that birth of the hero moment, where he decides to do something selfless because he personally feels responsible and he believes that he needs to do the right thing. That will be pretty awesome!Â
SUPER POWERS & TRAINING: I feel like his superpowers will start manifesting next season when he actually starts training in the field, because what they are doing right now is just stalling. Plus his costume includes a cape & capes are used because they are aerodynamic & help in flight. And he canât fly right now!Â
SUIT & NAME: This one will take time because Valor is a heavy name and would be followed by a very heroic moment. It means â great courage in the face of danger, especially in battle.â Itâs obviously not going to be something Winn assigns to him. But he will need something thatâs bullet proof & a cure for his lead allergy.Â
MODUS OPERANDI: I think his code of conduct and style will deviate from Supergirlâs. Right now she needs someone who listens to her and follows orders but thatâs not partnership, thatâs not what Jonn does. Even though Mon-El is a noob, he does have his moments when he tells her not to run into trouble without a plan, with just hope. He follows her, but he complains about it. It makes sense for him too, because heâs not as strong and definitely not bullet proof like her (lead allergy). Barry and Oliver had this fight at a very large scale, but that ship is another story :DÂ
So theyâll always disagree in some ways, but thatâs good, I donât just want an assistant for Supergirl, I want a team member who brings something new to the table: His alien intel & caution.
MORAL CODE: Even Supergirl is not at that stage, where she has a solid code of conduct in place but I think he will just adopt hers when she does.
Depending on where he started âLabel: Fratboy of the Universeâ and his endgame: âValorâ, this is going to be a long arc, heâs here to stay for a really long time! This is going to be multiple season Heroâs journey. I mean, maybe not as long as Jon Snow (that guy took his time from going to a bastard child with no conviction & power or desire to be a hero to the King of the North) but itâs usually pretty standard. It starts out with a someone with no courage or ambition, someone who clearly doesnât seem like a hero to anyone, but faces challenging situations, finds a moral compass, a friend, a mentor, maybe love and all of it end ups shaping him/her into someone people end up believing in. I got the romance quickly so Iâll take the superhero slow burn!Â
Chris already asked about Legion of heroes, because he loved the comics & they shut him down because they told him heâs a supergirl character and theyâll be deviating from the comics too, plus DCTV already has LoT as a teamup.
Speculations of him leaving with parents or going to the phantom zone are wishful thinking. Comic books did that a lot in those days everytime they decided to clean house with characters during their generational reboots, itâs just a comic book trope that no one takes very seriously when it comes to considering whatâs canon. Barry Allen ran in the speedforce for decades after Crisis of Infinite earths but it was just a way to bring his character back after it was killed off, sending people off to places for years is just a reboot strategy that a TV show only needs to introduce people when they pull them from these zones. Â Plus you donât play a long game involving a heroâs journey like this for a single season character. This is the one character they really get to play around with and writers donât let go of those unless they completely exhaust all avenues.
As far as Karamel is concerned, if itâs an endgame couple, which it seems like because they are bringing in the big guns in terms of the romantic scenes, they will end up having on and offs like they usually do on DC TV shows or CW shows in general. But I donât know, I usually donât worry much if the actors have chemistry, were introduced to be a romance and the writers pulled off fanfiction level fluff. That being said, I want to see his character grow outside of the relationship too, talk to people other than Kara and Winn, which Iâm pretty sure he will do next season.
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