I really like the aesthetic of The Dark Kingdom and The Brotherhood, and I'm interested to see what role they all play in the season to come. This post is mostly an analysis with some predictions thrown in, but before we get to them let's do a quick recap. Also, spoilers.
Single drop fell from sun, boom: magical Sundrop flower. Healing powers, save Queen Arianna, Rapunzel is born, magic hair, movie plot, lose hair, lose magic. Series begins, unbreakable black rocks, Poke, hair back, different powers, Rapunzel is the Sundrop now.
but also
Single drop fell from moon, boom: magical opal. Destructive powers, unbreakable black rocks form around it, Dark Kingdom built to safeguard for generations. King Edmund tries to destroy Opal, Nope, all kingdom sent away for safety (including a certain Prince), Edmund sends out three trusted knights to ensure opal is kept a secret.
Okay. So, Hector, Adira and Quirin were all chosen by Edmund and formed The Brotherhood to protect the world from the opal's destruction, but they don't seem to be all that close. Even before being sent away, they all seemed to have their own idea of what they should be doing. They must have found a reluctant balance while still in The Dark Kingdom, but separated they all sort of did their own thing, and it's hard to tell what King Edmund would think of each of their actions. Let's look at them individually.
Hector:
(Somewhere between Tormund and Ramsey.)
Hector is... a little extreme. He creeps in the shadows, grabs faces, has vicious bearcat companions, and even rides a rhino instead of a horse. He shows little hesitation when it comes to hurting people if he thinks it's the right thing to do, even threatening to kill Adira if she returns to the Dark Kingdom. He takes his mission very seriously, but is aggressive and reckless, even going so far as to remove a very important spear from the tree of Zhan Tiri. This ultimately puts everyone in worse danger as he ends up temporarily possessed.
I imagine Hector may have always had issues with showing restraint, but Edmund trusted him anyway; he's clearly a very skilled and loyal fighter. I doubt the King would be too pleased with some of his decisions, though he was also the only one to actually fully stick to his orders, just maybe to a fault. Hector does show small signs of remorse here and there, and Adira actually helps him to safety after the events of "The Great Tree", though there'll likely still be some conflict. Now that Rapunzel and the gang have arrived in The Dark Kingdom, Hector can't really dispute the existence of the Sundrop. His loyalty should hopefully still be to King Edmund, so he might have to apologise to him and the others, for more reasons than one. Probably with the most graceful "oops" he can manage.
Adira:
(A more animated Sir Brienne of Tarth.)
Adira is the opposite of Hector. She's equally
Adira and Hector may have never really gotten along, and even Quirin seemed disapproving of her seeking the Sundrop as it was against Edmund's wishes, but Edmund himself was especially disappointed in her. He was convinced that she was bringing further danger and that their only option was to attempt to destroy the opal with her shadow blade, a sword made from a shard of the unbreakable rocks. With some convincing, Edmund eventually allows for her plan to go forward. Again, we still don't know the exact outcome yet, but I think Adira and Edmund may be on better terms now, gaining Rapunzel a powerful ally. Adira had been following Raps and the gang for a while, long enough to know about her fight with Varian and to know that he is Quirin's son.
Quirin is still currently trapped in crystal as a result of one of Varian's experiments on the rocks going horribly wrong, but there is a theory that Adira's sword would be able to free him. It's possible she knows he is trapped, but wanted to avoid freeing him until her plan was complete; Quirin would likely have tried to stop her otherwise... assuming he'd be in any state to do so. He's clutching an important note that he had written for Varian; assuming she can free Quirin she will be instrumental in revealing what is on the note.
Quirin:
(Ned Stark?... uh-oh.)
Quirin seems to be the midpoint between Hector and Adira. He's loyal to Edmund and wants to keep the opal a secret, but he's made some well meaning compromises along the way. He's heavy on the secrecy and we know the least about him, so this part is kind of hard to contextualise. We know he told King Frederic that there would be consequences if he removed the Sundrop, but we don't currently know how much else he may have told him, just that they kept the threat of the black rocks between them. Quirin had an ancient scroll piece with him the night he warned Frederic, a scroll piece that originally belonged to Adira when she left The Dark Kingdom. Though they eventually both believed in the existence of the Sundrop, Quirin still wanted to keep people away, whereas Adira may have wanted to take it just as Frederic did. Either Quirin took the scroll from her in a disagreement, or she allowed him to have it as Old Corona became his post.
We can assume that Quirin settled in Old Corona upon hearing there was a search for the Sundrop. He must have stayed there even after it was found to keep an eye out for any repercussions. When nothing seemed to happen in the time that Rapunzel was taken and the years that followed, it seems he became less involved with his duties as part of The Brotherhood. He became a prominent member of his village, enough so to become their leader. He fell in love and had a child, and packed items of his past away in a chest and bricked them up behind a wall, not to be revealed until the rocks began appearing years later upon Rapunzel's return.
Quirin may have relaxed his Brotherhood duties because he believed things really were safe, but another reason may have just been because the whole situation was too dangerous and he didn't want that for his family. We've seen what we're dealing with now, and it's clear why Quirin didn't think Varian was ready for any of it; he's already lost the woman he loved in one way or another and doesn't wan't to lose anyone else. I don't think Edmund would be too pleased to find that Quirin had essentially abandoned his role in The Brotherhood, but he would certainly understand him just wanting to protect his family.
Whatever King Edmund's view of his three trusted knight's choices, I think it's clear that everyone's going to have to work together to fight
Varian and the note:
(Angry alchemy boy, brought to you by Disney.)
At some point, Rapunzel and the others are going to end up back in Corona. When this happens, Varian is going to learn about The Dark Kingdom and The Brotherhood, and with their help he may finally be able to free Quirin. The worrying part is that he's clearly not going to be ok, with the important note giving us the information that he is unable to. I think it's more likely he'll be in a "Disney coma" as opposed to dead. Varian's got a lot of trauma to deal with as is, he may believe Quirin is dead, but having a character genuinely be connected to their own father's death might be a little much for a Disney show... though it would certainly be interesting. Either way, there're going to be some big changes for Varian the next time we see him, let's break it down a little.
I will make you proud of me dad, if it's the last thing I ever do.
This is the last line we hear Varian say back in season 1. I originally thought this seemed like some kind of sinister foreshadowing, but with only one more season left and much more to get through, I just don't know if there's time. There will likely be friction and the possibility of Zhan Tiri possessing people, but we still don't know what happened with Cassandra and the Twilight Zone Scary Door yet, so that might be a bit repetitive. By now we can trust that King Frederic is actually helping Varian understand the whole situation. I think Varian's last line may be for the sake of contrast. It really shows how far he has to go to improve whilst emphasising he's still all about pleasing his dad.
A lot of time will have passed by the time we see Varian again and I think it would be strange for no change to have occurred, even if it's small. I imagine he would have a better understanding of his actions and how he confused his motivations for revenge along the way. Basically, he might be taken down a peg or two. Varian can be seen as arrogant, but I think a lot of his actions stem from insecurity. He's made some big mistakes and oversights in the past, overlooking potential dangers (blowing up his village) because he doesn't want to admit when he's wrong; he doesn't see that as something to be proud of. He was wrong about the flower and Rapunzel's hair being able to free Quirin, but was so convinced he was right that he did terrible things in the process despite any subtle reservations. I even think he only threatened to trap Arianna because he thought he could free her afterwards. When his attempts to free Quirin failed, his loss and guilt made him snap. Varian lacks patience in himself and is desperate to prove his capabilities, even his song was "Ready as I'll ever be" because Quirin told him that he wasn't. Frederic will tell him what he can, then Rapunzel and the others will do the same, leaving only the note to fill in any spaces.
(I'm sure it's something...noteworthy.)
The note will likely inform Varian on things we already know as the audience, but there has to be something new for it to be satisfying. Now, I know this is stupidly vague, but I think Quirin knows something big. There may be something or someone out there to find, or a possible connection to Lord Demanitus. Maybe he knows something about the Saporian separatists or Zhan Tiri, maybe he even has a hidden knowledge and love for alchemy. Whatever the note says, it is going to show that Quirin trusts Varian with what to do next. The note may show us how proud Quirin already is of Varian and his determination, and ask him to carry out a task that he couldn't himself.
Varian will probably be a little overwhelmed by the sheer scale of this whole situation, it will certainly put some things into perspective. There's a whole lot of danger, powers beyond comprehension, and victims of circumstance... and a big scary goat octopus man. If Varian didn't feel guilty before, he certainly would by this point. It may be that he'll already feel he owes Corona for what he has done, but knowing how disappointed Quirin would be in him post "Queen for a day" would be a definite contributing factor; this may be his last chance to make him proud. Varian could essentially become an unofficial member of The Brotherhood and continue in Quirin's stead, though of course his focus would still be inventions and alchemy. Demanitus once defeated Zhan Tiri with both magic and science, and as I've said before in a separate entry, that sounds like Rapunzel and Varian to me! Speaking of...
I think we're going to see some real developments with Varian and Rapunzel, I'd love for Varian to get some real closure with her as well as Quirin. It'll take time for them to adjust and I can see them creating a significant understanding in their shared experiences. I want to see the process; apologies, tears, acceptance and emotional growth. Everyone is this show is dealing with things beyond their control, making questionable decisions out of love/fear, even facing the fallout of astronomical events involving celestial bodies and inter-dimensional beings... as you do. I think Varian is going to be a great help and a valued friend to the group by the end of the series, truly redeeming himself and owning his past (Plus est en vous!). I don't know about you, but I for one would be very proud of him for making that kind of progress. I'm sure Quirin would too, though Varian is still probably going to be grounded after all this. His last line in season 1 has me concerned that he might do something drastic like sacrifice himself or lose an eye (like Demanitus?), but I'm sure Rapunzel and The Brotherhood will handle him well. I hope Edmund will see some potential in his eyes, and those bearcats better be nice to Ruddiger.
So, I'm probably completely wrong about everything, and I might not be ready for season 3, but I'm still...
Ready as I'll ever be!
