These Explainations Just Always Perfectly Express What I'm Thnking - Tumblr Posts
why do you think fabian ended up killing his father? it's one of the decisions that has honestly never made sense to me
this is a more complicated answer than it initially sounds like, but it boils down to: it was the coolest thing to do at the time.
fabian’s relationship with his dad is defined by its hero worship and the intense projection that came along with it. bill seacaster, in fabian’s eyes, is everything a person should aspire to be: daring adventures, cutthroat skills in battle, secret trysts, dramatic escapes. imagine never getting to grow out of that phase as a 7-year-old where you want to be a superhero, and it hasn’t quite clocked with you all the crazy shit that would come along with being a superhero. that’s the life fabian has lived.
fabian has spent his whole life dramatizing & aspiring to the person that his dad is, and his dad is quite literally a character from peter pan. he has carefully maximized himself to look As Cool As Possible all the time, with the specific intent of gaining validation from his dad.
but fabian is not bill seacaster. it takes all season to acknowledge it, but fabian is kinder, more compassionate, less gold-obsessed, and most importantly, sixteen years old. fabian has lapses, and craves his dad’s love, and gets gifts for his friends just because he loves them, and asks how fig’s dad fucks just to make fun of fig. he is good, in ways that bill is not, and an important part of his arc is the realization that he doesn’t have to be just like his dad.
fabian killing his father satisfies both of these arcs. it’s a fuckin Storybook Moment - narrative parallel to bill talking about killing his own dad, the story of the Son Growing Past The Father’s Influence, just a fuckin Big Swing in general - but it is also an act of mercy, in that it is the storybook ending bill seacaster wants to have. fabian killing his father is a triumphant fairytale moment of cycles and stories, and it’s what bill wants - to go out dramatically, in flames, with explosions. but it is done on fabian’s terms. it is a kindness.
in the moment fabian kills his dad, he is concluding two separate storylines. he is giving his father exactly what he wants. but he isn’t doing it for glory or gold, the reasons his father did it; he’s doing it on his terms. he’s beginning the process of redefining his dad’s legacy for himself to something that he can shape with his own hands to be kinder and more open.