The Subversion Of The Mark Of Athena

The Subversion of the Mark of Athena

Annabeth’s solo quest is a bright spot within this series in that it completely subverts your expectations for what both Annabeth and the reader thought it would be. Upon a re-read I realized that this quest was the exact opposite of what Annabeth had wanted. Annabeth wanted to prove herself to the gods and to herself instead she is forced into the quest, disowned by her mother, in the end Annabeth ends up questioning her mother’s integrity, and even when the quest is over she is sent against her will into an even more dangerous trial instead of going home to glory. Annabeth has always wanted to prove herself to the gods and in the end she is mad at the gods and doesn’t care for their approval. This coupled with the fact that Annabeth going on a solo quest has been built up since the beginning of the Percy Jackson series makes this subversion fascinating to read.

Princes Lotor and Zuko

The parallels between Lotor and Zuko are numerous. They were both inherently more peaceful then their fathers and seen as failures and outcast by those same fathers for their empathy and standing up for what they thought was right. Zuko when he was against purposefully sacrificing young soldiers and sending them to a fruitless fight and Lotor for not subjugating and destroying a race of people and instead learning about them and working with them. Due to their banishment they developed a facade that hid their empathy from those around them that slipped at moments. They both work tirelessly toward a goal they think is noble that is warped because of their parents views. Zuko his honor and Lotor the quintessence. I think like preince Zuko Lotor truly believes that the quintessence is the solution to his and his people’s problems. Lotor may end up betraying the Palladins, but it won’t be because he is evil or wanted to betray them. It will be because of a source of conflict and his obsession towards his goal. If he does betray the palladins he will eventually get his redemption arc where he realizes what he strove for wasn’t the solution to his answers. The source of conflict was set up this season in Honerva. I believe it will play out similar to Azula with Zuko in the crossroads of destiny. It is made clear throughout the season that both of Lotor’s parents were neglectful and one was abusive, so if he accepts that Haggar is his mother and discovers she has been helping him with the palladins and indirectly saved him from Zarkon through Kuron he may be manipulated. He admits to Allura in the finale that he envies her because she had Alfor as a father and he travelled the world with her and it was implied that he also envied that she got to have that childhood with happy family memories. If his mother is revealed to have loved him and “love” him his emotions can be manipulated in her favor. There is also the parallel between Honerva and Zarkon and Lotor and Allura. Both sets have a fixation on quintessence and believe that it can bring prosperity to the people, but while Zarkon and Honerva slowly become corrupted in their initially honorable quest Lotor and Allura have the ability to change their projected outcome. I think that while Honerva slowly edges Lotor to corruption Allura, because she is pure at heart, can prevent his downward spiral. The reason the relationship between Lotor and Allura was expanded upon so much this season could be for this reason, to prevent Lotor from becoming his Father and Mother and truly use quintessence to help the people and bring about a new age of prosperity instead of destruction and death. Lotor’s redemption arc has just begun. 

The Incredibles 2 Review

Very minor spoilers ahead

I just saw the Incredibles 2 and loved it. It doesn’t cover as many mature themes as the initial movie, but it still brings the heart and Parr family that we know and love. Bob and Helen continue to be one of the most realistic animated couples and the family is still relatable despite all the new developments within the film. The characters are the reason for watching both this film and the original. The family still fights, but at the end of the day they care about each other and wouldn’t give it up for the world

The family is taken in a new direction from the original; Helen gets a job trying to legalize supers again, Bob is staying at home taking care of the kids, Violet goes through boy troubles, Dash doesn’t understand his homework, and Jack-Jack develops a whole slew of powers. Their problems are things everyday people struggle with and Violet, Dash, and Jack-jack’s problems helped move Bob’s storyline forward. He is now the hands-on parent who isn’t gone all day for work. He’s trying his best to be there for the kids and gets frustrated when he has trouble. He works to understand Dash’s homework so he can teach Dash, He tries to help Violet’s boy problems, and he brings Jack-Jack to Edna for help with all of his burgeoning powers. Unlike most cartoon fathers he is competent at being a stay at home parent. Helen’s new job is a fun part of the film that shows just how good she was at being a superhero before having to retire. The villain she has to face is interesting and brings up a different viewpoint on superheroes as a whole. The screenslaver believes that superheroes made the people complacent and neglect protecting themselves which leads to tragedy.

All in all this was a great addition to the Incredibles franchise and I’m glad we got it even if it is fourteen years later. This is the type of movie I would go to see in the theaters twice. I appreciate all the hard work Brad Bird, the animators, and voice actors put into this film and encourage everyone to go see it with their own eyes.

My Thoughts on Rose Quartz and Pearl in a Single Pale Rose

Spoilers for the new episodes below.

A single pale rose confirmed many of my suspicions about rose quartz as a person. In every previous episode centered on rose quarts she always seemed more curious and fascinated with humans and life on earth in a way that seemed more like she was more entertained by them than truly seeing “inner beauty”. The way she saw people seemed less than natural. Rose quartz/pink diamond created the human zoo which confirms her perception of humans. In this episode it all but confirms her warped perception.

 In the scene where pearl and rose are talking about staging her shattering it didn’t seem like rose had thought the plan through, like she was doing it on a whim because she wanted to. She also emotionally manipulated Pearl. She lead pearl on and let her believe that she had a future with rose. This really bothered me because while I had suspected this for a while, but having confirmation made it worse. Rose clearly knew that Pearl loved her and used that love to get pearl to do her bidding. And because of the actions taken in this scene pearl probably believes it is her fault for the diamonds turning their focus on earth and shattering all but a select few of Rose’s followers. She believes she caused the death of so many gems. Rose has caused many problems for pearl that I can’t help, but empathize with because I have watched Pearl’s struggles to move on from them. We have seen Pearl’s absolute devastation with Rose’s choice to be with Greg, have Steven, keep secrets from her, etc. Rose had long lasting mental scars on pearl. I hope that the issue of Rose’s emotional manipulation of pearl is addressed and Pearl eventually accepts and moves on. 

I never believed Rose was as great as the gems seemed to believe she was. She always seemed like a figure looked back upon riddled with nostalgia and rose tinted glasses. I never thought she would be this morally ambiguous. She lead a war from both sides until getting pearl to “shatter’ her which only made the situation worse. Then she goes on like nothing happened and has a kid and passes all of her problems onto him. She also bubbled bismuth without telling anyone and hid her away. She is incredibly childish and doesn’t think her actions and how they will effect others through. In the episode jungle moon when we see pink diamond complaining about not having her own colony and when she gets one she doesn’t want to tell them she doesn’t want that colony she tries to sidestep and make up excuses. Her shattering plan didn’t take into account the fallout. She didn’t consider the diamonds getting revenge for her, how it would hurt the other diamonds (blue diamond has depression and yellow is sad but tries to repress it), how her emotional manipulation of pearl causes pearl so many problems down the line, her manipulation of her followers on both sides of the war, etc. All of these show a sense of entitlement and immaturity. Rose quartz never existed just a pink diamond who had a fascination with humans because they entertained her like humans who go the the zoo to see the lions, tigers, monkey, and elephants. 

Rock Lee vs Gaara is about more than hard work vs natural talent

Rock Lee vs Gaara is about more than hard work vs talent. On the first watch that may be what is taken away from it. Upon a second viewing after watching these characters grow and change and learning about Gaara’s past it takes on a whole different clash. One of views on the society as a whole. 

Both of these characters are products of their society. They were shunned by the people in their society for two completely different reasons and thus grew to have two completely different view points on society as a whole. 

Rock Lee was condemned by society for his lack of ability and therefore was considered an ineffective and useless “weapon” for the society to call upon in a time of need. He was considered worthless, so he worked his way up to prove himself to that society that believed that. He thrived off the atmosphere that society created. He was condemned for weakness and thus strove for strength. Rock Lee condones the society that ninja lived in.

Gaara is the exact opposite. He condemns society for what it did to him. It condoned creating him into a living weapon, but then condemned him for being what they created. He was crushed and twisted under the conflicting ideals society had about his birth and life. He was told his initial purpose in life was to protect the sand, but once he was deemed unnecessary because of the negative atmosphere society created around him his purpose was considered lost. His life was deemed worthless. 

Spider-man Homecoming Review

Spider-man Homecoming was better than I could have hoped. When it was first announced that Disney and Sony were teaming up and rebooting spider-man I was a little frustrated that this was happening again and I thought that moving Black Panther to make way for spider-man was just a cash grab. I have never been happier to be wrong. The Movie mixed the school and hero aspects of Peter's life wonderfully. He was the awkward nerd that everyone loves and remembers. Tom Holland was excellent and brought the character to life. His rendition of Spider-man was a fresh take on a character that has been brought to the big screen on numerous occasions. He made me feel for Peter and his struggle to prove himself to others and stay true to his ideals. This movie also addressed important questions every spider-man fan has asked himself time and time again like how does spider-man get places if he has no buildings around to websling on? and what does spider-man do when there isn’t a world or city threatening enemy to fight? He runs the places he wants to go and gives little old lady’s directions to where they want to go.

             As a lifelong spider-man fan I was impressed by the cast and how they portrayed their characters. Jacob Batalon was loveably humorous and geeky as Ned Leeds. Tony Revolori portrayed the classic high school bully to the T and was fun to watch. Zendaya was quirky and strange yet endearing. Tom Holland blew it out of the water and convinced me time and time again that he is Peter Parker and Spider-man. Marvel has yet to miscast its heroes. Michael Keaton fixed the villain problem and brought a 3-dimensional character to the vulture.

             I did have a few problems with the film and almost all of them came from the completely forced love subplot between Peter and Liz Allen. I found Peter’s one-sided attraction to Liz endearing, but it made no sense that she would return his feelings. He constantly let her down and every interaction they had I could barely believe they were friends. They were closer to acquaintances that didn’t really talk that much and that Peter was really awkward around. She doesn’t know he is spider-man so throughout the movie she sees Peter being unreliable. At the beginning she doesn’t even think to invite him to her party until Ned says Peter knows spider-man. This was however a rather small blemish considering it didn’t take up that much of the runtime.

Overall this movie was a blast to watch and I enjoyed the ride from start to finish. This movie was worth the money I spent to see it and I will be seeing it many more times to come