poorwhore1234

Maggie

Six of Crows, The Umbrella Academy, The Folk of the Air, and Dead Boy Detectives

65 posts

Monty's Redemption

I realized why I want Monty to return for season 2 (if we get it). Obviously, love Joshua Colley; fantastic actor that I actually recognized from a Broadway miscast performance from way back in 2016. He played Eliza along with two other little boys and performed The Schuyler Sisters. Tangent: For those who did not already know this, you should absolutely watch it here. He was so good that I remembered him constantly whenever Hamilton was brought up. It happened enough that I went and followed him a few years later. It was a crazy while watching him, cause he felt familiar, but I didn't why, then I saw his name in the credits, and I was like, "Isn't that the name of the kid who played Eliza in that miscast? I'm pretty sure that's his name, let me check." Boom! It was him, and I immediately rewatched the miscast, and it was so crazy because his face has not changed at all! Like, obviously it's matured, but it's the same fucking face. Some people look completely different when they grow up, and some people literally look the same. (I'm one of these people. My face has not changed since I was a fucking toddler. Couple that with my short height and you have a childhood of bullying then an early adulthood of being mistaken for a child. RIP 🥲) Joshua's face is literally the same, it was so crazy lmfao

But other than loving the actor, I really want Monty to come back! I think it would be adorable if he turned back into a human, and joined the squad. He and Edwin would be an adorable QPR, and Edwin could teach him about being a human, since he probably only knows the bare minimum Esther told him so he could be in disguise. I actually wrote an essay about this a little while ago that I might rewrite.

But it is more than just wanting him back for the cuteness and fun of having him around. My urge for him to return feels too strong, too pinpointed, and I couldn't figure out why for a while.

Surprise, surprise! I figured it out!

It has to do with redemption! Charles literally says it when he pushes the backpack to him when he couldn't reach it.

Here's the thing, obviously I'd like him to come back to get a full redemption arc, but I figured out why I'm so set on him getting one. It's specifically Edwin.

There's something Edwin says about Monty that rubs me the wrong way. It's during the conversation he has with Niko on the roof. He says, "He was a good liar, for a crow." It always made my skin prickle, just a little bit.

It's because calling Monty a "liar" feels like an unfair label. Did he lie? Yes, absolutely. But he also didn't.

Everything Monty tells Edwin behind the butcher shop is true. The only lie is the reason he wasn't free to make his own decisions before. It wasn't a coma, but he was still trapped and "in the dark" metaphorically speaking. Even what he says about feeling braver is true.

He's essentially Esther's property; she can do with him what she likes. She quite literally rips him apart and puts him back together, making him a human against his will. Monty says, "I never asked to be human. With all these... feelings."

She forces a massive change in his entire being, mind, and life. Imagine how jarring it would be to suddenly not have wings that you were born with? To have no tail, beak, or claws? To be something completely other than you?

It was simpler for Monty when he was a crow. He was probably scared all the time, and just did as he was told. But once he becomes human, if you pay attention, you can see immediately that Monty does not actually like Esther that much, nor enjoys having to help her. He speaks his mind, and backtalks her, a couple times.

"That little slither bug is the size of a bus. It could afford to miss a few meals." - Ep05 When he says this, he says it with actual disdain in his voice. He's not just being sarcastic about it. Monty's voice and expression when he says it could miss meals looks like he genuinely doesn't like it.

"Well, I mean, you stood bleeding on the shore so Lilith would come out of the ocean and grant you eternal life. She never said you had to stay young and beautiful." - Ep05 Given how much she believes Lilith tricked her, and how much she cares about being young and beautiful, this was an incredibly ballsy thing for Monty to say.

"You didn't tell me that mushroom thing was gonna completely eradicate them. Or how gruesome it would be. Or how to-" - Ep06 Monty is genuinely distraught over this, and saying she didn't tell him implies his actions would have been different if he'd known. How so? We'll never know, but it's possible he would've tried to sabotage or refuse to help her. "Tried" being a key word here because it's clear that she had little-to-no care for Monty at all. He obeys her, but gets revealed by the Cat King, and she rips him up for it. There's really no way he could've survived if he'd tried to refuse/stop her.

Speaking of genuine feelings, Monty did actually like them. Yes, "them" plural. He says, "-gonna completely eradicate them." Monty could've said "him", referring to Edwin since he's the one he's in love with, but he doesn't. He's upset about both of them being destroyed. Earlier when Esther gives him the napkin of fungus, he asks her what she's going to do with Crystal. If Edwin was the only one he cared about, he wouldn't have bothered to ask.

He's not supposed to care at all! If he was still a crow, he couldn't have asked. He'd just go do it. He's her familiar; he pretty much has to. Based on Monty's emotional responses, and the fact that he helps Charles at the end, it seems like he has free will. And you can say, "Why didn't he refuse sooner if he really cared?" and at the end of the day, that doesn't matter. She would have killed him regardless of what point in her plot he betrayed her. He doesn't want to die! That's a very reasonable response to the situation.

The affection Monty has for Edwin is completely real, and develops quickly. After their first meeting, they're swapping books, and Monty seems to have actually read it. Saying it was beautiful is a generic compliment, but how would he know it was funny?

He was genuinely looking forward to seeing Edwin, and disappointed that the plans were canceled.

Esther even says, "Monty, ew. You're not besotted with that little brat, are you?" Funny how he actually never responds to that question here, but immediately shuts the notion down after Edwin rejects him.

And it's when Edwin tells him sincerely that he is his friend that Monty makes the decision to try and get him out of the forest.

I said in my other essay and earlier in this one that betraying Esther is a death sentence. There's no way she wouldn't find out if he helped them escape, but he was going to try anyway.

Monty may have lied about his identity as Esther's crow, but he didn't lie about the rest of who he is. That is why Edwin referring to him as a "liar", plain and simple, feels wrong. Monty deserves the chance to talk to Edwin, to actually explain himself, not under the threat of the Forest Elemental destroying Edwin, and without the Cat King's jeering. Honestly, I think he only ran because of the way Edwin called him a crow as though that on its own was disgusting or insulting rather than the real problem which is him being Esther's crow. I don't think Edwin would've actually cared about Monty originally being a crow, especially given the fact that the Cat King literally switches back and forth between human and cat. He's a human now (in that moment).

The way Edwin calls him a "liar" makes me feel like he didn't believe Monty when he said that he wasn't pretending, that it started off as that, but that it had changed into real feelings for him. It feels wrong for Edwin not to know/acknowledge that, especially if Charles tells him about the help he provided against Esther.

That it is what I want most if Monty is brought back.

(ko-fi)

Monty's Redemption

More Posts from Poorwhore1234