I Watched Joel's 7th Episode Of Secret Life First This Friday, And By God, Watching The Start Of The

I watched Joel's 7th episode of Secret Life first this Friday, and by god, watching the start of the infection and the resulting domino effect from his point of view was terrifying.

His episode felt like a horror movie.

(spoilers for Joel's ep7)

Joel desperately tries to avoid contact as he watches the infection go from person to person via death messages in chat, quickly realizing something strange is happening. Sneaking in and out of others' bases to avoid being ambushed. Seeing the horde of growing zombies gathering at a distance as they search for victims.

Joel, watching the other players fall one by one, realizing just how many infected players are running around now.

I was on the edge of my seat for the entirety of his episode.

Since Jimmy beat the canary curse . . .

((--kinda-sorta. my opinion is that he's still the canary. that Lizzie was a miner who died because she went ahead of the canary and deeper into the mines. that Jimmy's death was still the precursor to more chaos, the warning that people took notice of. because almost everyone was oblivious to Lizzie's death (therefore, she did not act as a warning like a canary would), and so Jimmy still acted as the warning sign, if a late one. but I digress--))

. . . I decided to post some old art I had made of his canary wings. The markers bled through the paper and created a really cool no-lineart version of the sketch on the other side, which I think looks pretty neat :)

Also, take some Secret Life Scar. I'm loving the sunflower theme!

Media types in the Jimmy art: ink pen, ohuhu markers, pencil

Media types in the Scar art: ink pen, colored pencils, markers, ohuhu markers

I find it really funny how just yesterday I posted about how Secret Life Scar reminds me of Scar from his The Crafting Dead series.

And then, when episode seven came out today, there's literally a zombie apocalypse and he's trying to snipe the infected with his bow just like he used to snipe zombies from his watch tower in TCD.

Except this time, Scar doesn't succumb to the hordes by his own choice.

Instead, Scar loses the battle and becomes one of them.

The plot line!!!! the angst potential!!!!!!

Guys, I'm absolutely rioting.

AAAAH this series has me in a chokehold-- the angst, the drama-- I just gotta talk about Scar's final episode! I can't stop chewing on the ideas it's spawned in my head.

I mean, Scar and Bdubs' dynamic has to be addressed. They felt like proper siblings in this. From the way Scar was like an older brother praising his younger sibling's efforts, to Bdubs boasting about his success to get his older brother's approval. . .

And for Scar, I might even go as far as to say that he was protective. How he was constantly in a state of hypervigilance about their safety. How he was constantly offering resources and support.

(gosh, I can feel the possible fanfics boiling beneath my skin)

And the fact that Scar went and killed Cleo for her favoritism, rather than taking out his jealousy on Bdubs.

Not to mention that Scar was absolutely brutal this entire season (this last episode in particular) yet to Bdubs he was almost gentle in this last episode. This is the same Scar who looked at Etho, his "father", and saw nothing more than an animal he needed to put down. The same Scar who pushed Bdubs into a pit of zombies for the giggles.

Yet when it came down to their red lives, Scar was more than willing to set aside his need to bully Bdubs and instead look out for their little group. (Even if Scar never planned to really end up in any group specifically, I feel he was more than happy to side with his brother.)

And Bdubs was also more than happy to have Scar join their group-- even after being pushed into the zombie stream. (I like to think this is because, while Bdubs was angry at Scar at the time, he more easily forgave Scar because of their familial ties.)

And in the end, it just feels like a sibling relationship-- you'll fight over petty things like they're the end of the world, but when the end of the world actually arrives you stick together and are as thick as thieves.

I'm just dying to see art or read fics about this complex dynamic and their messy past. I feel like there's so much potential.

I have so many thoughts about this last episode and this is only skimming the surface.

. . . . and racist for us to draw from?? Spelling error, perhaps???

Now that Scar's won, it's that time when everyone comes together to choose the winner's motif/symbol.

Grian is the Sun, Scott the Stars, Pearl the Moon, and Martyn is Mars.

Now what of Scar?

I definitely like the idea of Scar being the Earth, as many people have proposed.

I've also have seen some people propose Pluto.

However, I'm not a big fan of this one.

My reason for not agreeing with this option is pretty simple. Pluto, while sharing some similarities with Scar (like loneliness and being an outcast), doesn't really have enough meaningful connections or parallels for it to be used as a motif.

I think that since Scar's theme is so full of flowers this season-- Sunflowers, Poppies, and Lilacs-- this naturally connects back to the Earth, which also ties to a lot of other symbolisms as well, making it the better option out of the two.

So I've decided to throw my vote in for the Earth as Scar's symbol.

I think it just fits, in the end.

The Sun and Moon are both in close relation to Scar, with Pearl and Scar being each other's foil, and the Sun being vital to the Earth (desert duo aaaangst!!!). And the fact that all three are stuck in each other's orbits is perfect.

And on top of all this, is that the Earth is lonely. Just like Scar was this entire season.

The Earth is the only planet we know with such an overflow of life. The only one in this solar system that is covered in plants and animals and people. There is no other planet like it. It is alone in its uniqueness. And just like the Earth is alone in the solar system, Scar was alone in the game.

I think that loneliness, paired with Scar's flower themes, and the relation to the Sun and the Moon, is what makes the Earth such a perfect symbol for Scar.

I feel like any other symbol would leave out important aspects of his character and his story.

Anyways, what are your opinions on the matter? I'm curious to hear your thoughts. Don't hesitate to mercilessly poke holes in my argument. It builds character.

Some observational sketches I did on some organic items that I had lying around the house.