The Spirit World

(Winter Solstice, Part 1)

This is another episode with two Enneagram paths, one for Aang and one for Zuko. I’ll approach them in the order of the show.

Also, even though this is a part one, it is a complete story. It should have all the pieces of an Enneagram. Will the overarching “Winter Solstice” two-parter have an Enneagram? We’ll see!

ONE (AANG)

The gang rides high on a flying Appa, wondering what fluffy clouds feel like.

TWO (AANG)

Down below they see that the land has a burn scar and fly down to investigate.

THREE (AANG)

Aang is deeply saddened. As the Avatar he’s supposed to protect nature. But how? No one can train him. If only he could talk to Roku, the previous Avatar.

Okay, let me unpack some of this.

Continue reading “The Spirit World”

In Danger

I believe —
Will she dance with me?

I believe —
The line of her neck as she reads ‘cross the room
… honey won’t taste as sweet.

I believe —
Does she tease me?

I believe —
The form of her hand in her glove as she waves
… I’m alive in the heat.

I believe,
were
it not for her
inferior
mother,
I’d be in danger.

Second song from the ongoing Ardent album now live at bandcamp.

The Watergod’s Altar

The second Wyrm Hunt quest involves helping The Faith survey an ancient ruin hidden behind a waterfall. Upon entering I am told by the pawns that this was once “a place of worship and training for clerics of the old gods.” 

Apparently The Faith has supplanted or incorporated elements of an older religion? And this earlier, presumably more nature-based, worship knew about the dragon?

Don’t try to understand too much. Just go with it.

We find poor Brother Jean dead on the ground. And it becomes obvious what caused his demise.

The cyclops drops an orb (was it in his eye socket??) that unlocks a mysterious door. We drain the water in the lower levels, fight some skeletons, and recover five ancient texts.

These slates may have “revelations of vast importance”, which The Faith will decipher.

Someday maybe I’ll know what they said.

PRINCE JOHN (2010), THREE

This John is played by Oscar Isaacs. So, John is a hottie now lol. During the movie John legitimately (rather than through trickery) becomes king after Richard’s death. His regency is not as important to this story. It’s his ultimate signing of the Magna Carta — his compact with the barons — that drives this John. We’re already in very different territory (historically and motivationally) from the classic of 1938.

John is volatile. When his queen advises him and he doesn’t like what she’s saying, he’s physically threatening and verbally abusive. Rains gave John a certain mustache-twirling villainy; Isaacs gives John something more realistic: unlimited power dictated by whim. No one, not even Hood, can stop him if he doesn’t want to be stopped.

This version’s King RIchard is no hero popping in at the end to save the realm, but he’s still a knight on Crusade and John still feels that baby-brother envy. I would say that Rains’ influence on the John portrayal is in effect. We will always have a Heart Type John, regardless of who he really was.

I want to say Three, though, rather than Four. This John, compared to Rains’, is harsher. Isn’t that funny? He doesn’t even try to have his brother murdered!  He’s a man, though, who doesn’t like to hear “No”. He hates being thwarted, he hates being wrong, and he hates being held accountable. Meanwhile, he’s a handsome young king. Life is pretty golden for John. And the kingship lands in his lap.

I mean, c’mon. So Three.

PRINCE JOHN (1938), FOUR

Claude Rains is magnificent. He’s so beautifully oily and conniving. Has he set the tone for how John will be portrayed in all the films to follow? 

In real life John was 33 when he was crowned. A grown man, was he as self-indulgent and childish as he’s portrayed? Did he machinate and plot his brother’s death? Whatever is true about John, Richard really was a warrior’s warrior, more interested in fighting than in staying home and ruling. Rains’ portrayal conveys some of the sense that being king is unglamorous and thankless. Everyone loves Richard, who’s not a great administrator. John, collecting taxes and running the country, is the villain.

Envy. This is what Rains works with. His John doesn’t just want to be king, he wants revenge against Richard on a personal level. Rains isn’t tall (as John wasn’t) but he’s playing a Four. It’s that sardonic temperament. He’s detached yet focused, hurt yet impervious. He’s winsome and deadly dangerous. Of the Heart Types, only a Four can embody such an interesting dichotomy.

Spying at Night

Remember when Mason asked us to shadow Salvation’s spy as he left the castle? Well, I was near the gate at night when a cut scene took over. I pursued the quest, following a manly man in a blue cape.

I hate following someone in a game.

He did pause and look back. Hah — missed me. I did not have to start all the way back at the beginning of the trail. Eventually he knocks at the door of an abandoned house and we peep through the window.

It’s a shop owned by Madeleine. She seems to be passing him a scrap of paper, although it ends up in her cleavage for a moment. He rebuffs her overt advances, leaves, and the sneaking is over. I report my finding to Mason’s agent — A Knight is the spy — and that’s it for now.

Imprisoned

ONE

As always, Avatar sets the scene quickly. Where is our team now? They’re resting in a forested area. Sokka can only find nuts for dinner. They’re hungry, pickings are meager, and Sokka is the butt of the jokes. Remind me to look back sometime and see how many episodes begin with this formula!

TWO

The next thing that happens is Momo, who holds a rock that was mixed in with the bag of nuts, tries to break it open. Slam. Only the sound is a huge SLAM. The gang goes to see what’s making such a noise.

THREE

The next thing that happens is an earth bender, Haru, practices on the sly. When Katara says hello he runs away.

You probably have guessed I have a problem with these two beats.

Continue reading “Imprisoned”

Decipher an Ancient Text

We were given a mysterious slate to decipher for the Wyrm Hunt. I run around town looking for clues, but it’s not clear who I need to meet.

So I cheat.

I know where I need to go ultimately. Not too far north is a hillside with a large rock formation. I just jump to the end and go there. As we walk up, the game goes to a cut scene.

The “my heart has been ripped out” chest scar is a clue.

This guy and his weird young doppelgänger greet me.

Continue reading “Decipher an Ancient Text”