Subject: I think I see it...
Author:
Posted on: 2018-11-01 21:17:00 UTC
But Cuztec's last stand was the best scene in the entire show. That's how you end a character arc. Never before or since was the phrase "I'll figure something out" so badass or so poignant. This from a guy who was introduced as a permanently helmeted strawman. It kinda feels like the show giving a middle finger to itself.
I've invented a new game. In this we post spoilers for works that do not exist. For example:
In the final episode of Quon Vet, the statue of Abraham Lincoln at the replica Lincoln memorial turns into a perpetual motion machine and bores a hole into a network of caverns populated by reptilian humanoids. This is never explained.
I haven’t seen Quon Vet myself, but I’m fairly certain we should have seen JLI(Jealous Love Interest) have a flashback to a scene where his former girlfriend was cheating before he died his Tragic Death (The Generic Love Story, by Some Person)
What's your favourite arc? I'm an unabashed fan of the season 2 UnderWar; I mean, I would've preferred a Hades victory, but Osiris earned it, right? Though it would've been nice to see more of the Xibalbans.
And yes, I still ship Persephone/Hel - how can you not? The way Hel brought 'Seph back from the brink during the Magister's S3 scheme - pure shippy gold.
hS
The season 1 intro because the show introduces itself so beautifully. No more needs to be said.
The middle of season 3 because I like classical tragedy, and the "Fifth War" arc had it all. Explosions, poison, philosophy getting thrown around everywhere, and of course, piles and piles of corpses. I know some people didn't like the new main cast, but I really enjoyed seeing things through the eyes of the mooks that seemed so faceless and disposable earlier in the series. It also made the audience reconsider whether the court's personal drama was really all that important in the midst of a crazy war.
The Court were a great initial set of characters, but having even less-than-omnipotent 'gods' as your protagonists kind of makes proper threats hard to come by. I reckon that's why there were so many overlapping wars in S2&3 - to give the Court something to challenge them.
Like I say, I would've liked to see more of the Xibalbans before Empress Elizabeth took them out, but ultimately decimatinf off the Mesoamerican Court, and recentring the plot on the regular folk in their (former!) lands, was a good choice.
Plus, y'know, it meant more Persephone, and more 'Seph is always a good thing. ^_^
hS
I like 'Seph just as much as the next guy, but I think the scenes with her were actually Fifth War's weak point. They would have worked in season two, but she brought too much of that old style to an arc significantly darker and more grounded than the early days. Having her snarking about wine vintages an episode after Private Cuztec's heroic last stand was a bit jarring for me.
In short: I disapprove of plot-lines that don't affect each other.
I know, I know - me as a 'Seph apologist, whatever next, but I feel like the dissonance you're talking about was the entire point. The fact that the remaining gods were still in 'business as usual' mode - still acting as though It Can't Happen Here - I think it was kind of a WWI allegory? Like how the royal houses of Europe saw the Great War as just another imperial spat, and then suddenly - "my God! Millions of people are dead, however did that happen?"
Ironically, Persephone is probably the one this applies least to, since she already had her 'my Me!' moment after the Hades Assassination. Remember this?
(Art Deco Greek mythology is my new favourite style, btw.)
Chills, I'm telling you. So things like the wine episode were a bit backslidey, yes, but I read them more as her being in denial. It's all about building the tension, so that when the moment comes in S4 when she finally puts on the Helm of Darkness and throws in with Colonel Tezu for good, it actually means something.
hS
But Cuztec's last stand was the best scene in the entire show. That's how you end a character arc. Never before or since was the phrase "I'll figure something out" so badass or so poignant. This from a guy who was introduced as a permanently helmeted strawman. It kinda feels like the show giving a middle finger to itself.
Good old Cuztec.
hS
to my personal headcanon, which states that Hel is working for the bad guys. I mean, how else did he find out what the Magister was planning?
It’s just that no-one actually bothered revealing it, leaving me to write hundreds of fanfics based around that premise.
(It’s fun doing this. I like being able to make up evidence to support my claims!)
Not with the way s/he reacted when the Roosevelt Revenants showed up. That wasn't the response of a guilty person.
The most plausible version I've seen is that Hel actually has a split personality, to go with her/is asymmetric body. But honestly that just sounds like taking the visuals a bit too literally. (And anyway, are the producers really tone-deaf enough to make the non-binary character secretly evil?)
Now if you'd said Quetz' was secretly evil, I'd back you in a heartbeat. Featherboy's just inherently untrustworthy.
hS
What was the term they used back in the day - 'Mesoamerican Arabesque'? Absolutely stunning, though it's a hard bar to me ever pulling off any decent fanart. And (if we're speaking of spoilers) I loved the way the production crew delighted in breaking out new styles whenever they visited a different location. Remember the moment we stepped out into the golden Kaladesh-style filigree of India? I don't often describe things as perfect, but...
hS