OOOOOH SNAP. Sorry I had to sit on this for a couple days, as it’s been a busy week. BUT–
–and this is an unpopular opinion from what I’ve seen–
I love it.
There, I said it.
And it’s not because he’s adorable (doesn’t hurt, though). I love the absolute potential beyond this. Anyone who’s read my stuff, who knows what I like to read, knows I love melding adventure, tragedy, immortality, supernatural, and the tumulus, emotional struggle in rolling amidst otherworldly cultures and realities. A while after I could (as a viewer) digest the significance of Jim’s permanent status, I started to get really excited. Excited by the prospect that Jim’s time as a human adjusting to a trollhunter’s responsibility was the mere prologue to his entire trollhunting career.
In the same manner I like to ignore the HP epilogue and see the whole boy-who-lived business as a mere prologue to the Master of Death’s story. And, Hitchups, well…
That’s my bad habit: I like to view epic stories as mere prologues to even more.
I’ll briefly touch on the necessity of Jim’s decision, in that it was there. Naturally, the real tragedy beyond losing his humanity is that, perhaps, it wasn’t a necessity. They didn’t have time for perhaps. So they made that decision. That permanent decision. And that’s the sort of storytelling I live for. The dramatic irony. That realism: that we’re often left to adapt and deal with and overcome the choices we make in the moment, not the ones that are plotted out. I get Merlin’s POV. Dude has experience with these sorts of decisions and even alluded to once “being like Jim”, which goes to show that whole “live long enough to be the villain” Batman quote is always in play. Not that Merlin’s a villain; as I said, I get why he is the way he is and I love it. Just another beautifully complicated character in this series that’s too easy to turn into a scapegoat.
As a Human, Jim had a safety net. A support network. Familiarity that he could fall back on. Loved ones and comfortable habits. There was always something to look forward to at the end of the day: “normalcy”. As though, in the back of Jim’s teenage mind, being a Trollhunter was something he was doing “for now”… and not a life-long commitment.
It’s tragic that Jim has a finite time with the people he started this journey with. 100 years from now he’ll have new humans in his life, and a hundred new adventures under his belt, and it’ll still tear his heart apart when he thinks of his mother. 200, a little less so. He’s going to go through emotional circles. When he thinks he has a cap on it, something will happen that’ll drive his mental and emotional state into a tizzy. It’ll be a long, slow, delicious process, and that’s hardly considering the delicate balance between his human emotions and troll instincts.
But it’s not all tragedy and drama and sadness. That’s what I think people are missing.
Jim can fall in love again. And again. And mentor, and parent. And meet other half-human one-of-a-kind beings. Others who were torn from everything they knew and loved and had to adapt. There’s no way in hell he’s the only one, and with a job like the Trollhunter he’s going to get some experience under his belt and meet beings. It’s sad to us, as boring humans, because it’s being violently thrown into unfamiliar territory and away from what we know as good and safe. Jim’s going to do a lot of mourning in his life. He’s also going to experience a lot of joy, and a lot of wonderful, incredible things he, as a human, would never have experienced. And he’ll learn to quietly and calmly accept the mortality of his earliest, closest loved ones, as well as learn to celebrate the life they led and the part he played in it. He’ll learn to accept that death, and loss, and separation are meant to be painful, but experienced. And it’s okay.
That leads me to another point to consider: Merlin’s arrogance. Ah, yes, the arrogance of powerful old men who have seen A LOT™. Merlin says its permanent. Maybe it is. Maybe there are ways that Jim can shift forms. Maybe he can even shift to fully troll. The thing about Merlin is that he’s a human. A wizard, but a human. And, ultimately, a seemingly arrogant old man. If he hasn’t found a solution in the hundreds of years he’s been around (but what’s hundreds compared to thousands?) in the handful of worlds he’s visited (but what’s a handful compared to dozens?), then what possible solutions are there? … As I said, there are other beings out there that Jim will encounter in this far, far more open world he’s been immersed in; beings with different experiences, with different resources, and with different… solutions.
Jim, as a half troll, has a hellova lot more time to meet some other characters.
And if anyone has sat through this slop to the very end, let me give you a little canon reward:
For me, what’s big about Snotlout in S6 is the manifestation of subtle growth. Once we look back to how Snotlout acted in the start of the series, we realize how far he’s come. Snotlout has grown hoards by the end of RTTE, and S6 is where we get that treated to us in full.
Snotlout starts the series putting too much stock in his father’s advice. During “Race to Fireworm Island,” Snotlout believes Spitelout over the rest of the dragon riders. The rest of the riders believe that Hookfang needs rest, but Snotlout thinks so highly of his father’s opinion that he doesn’t listen.
Snotlout: Hookfang doesn’t need rest. He’s a warrior. And we warriors live for the thrill of battle. It’s like my Dad always says…
Snotlout wants to be a warrior, obviously holds his father’s statement in good regard, and thus thinks that Hookfang doesn’t need rest. The way that Snotlout talks about his father is with the belief that Spitelout’s words are good to listen to, and that his father’s words are always something to respect.
Snotlout also starts the series constantly trying to impress his father. In ROB, DOB, and the start of RTTE, we constantly see Snotlout attempting to garner his father’s approval. Oftentimes, this is met with disappointment, and Snotlout continues to receive less respect than deserved from his parent.
Snotlout ends the series knowing when his father is in the wrong and thinking about his own achievements regardless of his father’s approval. Snotlout isn’t trying to mold himself to his father’s image of a stout, manly Viking. Snotlout’s more willing to emotionally express himself, more capable of thinking for himself, and smart enough to realize that not everything Spitelout demands is healthy.
While he does gain some respect from Spitelout by “King of Dragons Part 2,” there’s something to be said that this isn’t why Snotlout finds peace. Snotlout says some powerful things before Spitelout gives him respect in S6… showing he’s grown beyond the shadow of his father’s approval. By S4… and certainly by S6 beyond that… Snotlout is able to enjoy his father’s company when it’s wholesome, but also intelligently understand when it’s better and healthier to forge a separate path.
Snotlout starts the series with poor understanding and respect of Astrid. He makes misogynistic remarks. He constantly flirts with her despite the obvious annoyance it gives her. There’s a reason Astrid is always irritated with him.
By the end of RTTE, Snotlout has grown to demonstrate obvious respect to Astrid. He’s learned more how to treat her as he should. Astrid, on her own end, has noticed, and gained her own share of respect for him.
This positive exchange from S6 E9 never would have happened in ROB times:
He still annoys her time-to-time. It’s not like he’s completely outgrown his old habits. He has, however, improved. And that’s cool to see.
Snotlout starts the series constantly butting heads with his dragon. There’s a lot of dysfunction between Snotlout and his dragon – it’s difficult to even ride the dragon sometimes without messing up. Snotlout’s inability to ride Hookfang stems from his inability to treat his dragon and himself as a fully interdependent team. It’s not that Snotlout dislikes Hookfang – he loves his dragon – but he does always demand things from his dragon. Hookfang, meanwhile, turns away from Snotlout whenever he receives those unthoughtful demands. That issue, combined with other things like Snotlout trying to overwork Hookfang, shows how much Snotlout needs to learn about working with a team. He needs to learn to think more about Hookfang’s perspective.
Snotlout ends the series with great respect for Hookfang. Instead of overworking the dragon or demanding Hookfang follow his commands, Snotlout is a lot more lovingly attentive to his dragon. Their bond has hugely grown and become more mutually productive and understanding. Just consider Snotlout’s lines at the end of S6 E11 “Guardians of Vanaheim.” This shows both his grown spoken trust and support of Hiccup and his attention to his dragon.
Snotlout’s no longer forcing his dragon to overwork. He’s not demanding his dragon come and do what he wants. Instead, he’s looking after what his dragon needs and wants and is perfectly happy doing so. That’s what’s become his heart and instinct and natural response: caring after Hookfang.
Snotlout starts the series defiant of Hiccup and openly rude to Hiccup’s ideas. While we know from “Defiant One” that Snotlout holds jealousy for Hiccup’s heroics and abilities, this doesn’t stop Snotlout from constantly butting heads with the other rider rudely. His lack of respect for Hiccup’s leadership is a main source of tension throughout especially ROB and DOB. Snotlout even in early RTTE times speaks of his doubt in what Hiccup can do. His comments are divisive to the team. His actions can be rebellious or lack thoughtfulness of teamwork.
Snotlout ends the series stoutly supporting Hiccup.
Sure, Snotlout doesn’t lack his moments of bite or analytical questioning, even in S6. To give just one example, in “Guardians of Vanaheim” he complains, “You know, I’m sure you’ll make a great chief one day, Hiccup. Just know that I will not be living on your island!” But these sorts of complaints or criticisms (usually) are no longer intended venom or ways of dismantling Hiccup’s leadership – they’ve become banter, smart questionings of strategy, and other actions that aren’t debilitating. They’re a part of the friendship.
We can see that Snotlout has instead firmly taken to Hiccup’s side. Instead of telling Hiccup that his ideas are ridiculous, Snotlout says in S5 “Sandbusted” that Hiccup’s ideas are always right. Not to mention, if someone even so much as suggests Hiccup gets abandoned, Snotlout has something strong to say about it.
He’s such a strong supporter of Hiccup that I could imagine him – years down the road – becoming our chief’s number two.
Snotlout ends the series as someone who can act as a rolemodel for other growing youths. Snotlout shows Gustav Larson what true courage is on Berserker Island. And in S6, Snotlout also has grown enough to be able to give people advice. He’s able to take his past experiences, which we’ve seen him struggle through, and now apply it to life lessons – for himself in his own growth, and for others and their needed growths, too.
Snotlout didn’t always say the right thing with Minden, but when he did, he said it good. REALLY good.
Would ROB or DOB or even RTTE S1 Snotlout been able to say THIS?
Snotlout takes all his past experiences, all his mistakes, all his flaws, all his moments of not-quite-glory… and uses them to speak heart-to-heart with Minden. He’s able to advise her and encourage her at the same time. It’s a very mature way of handling his emotions, admitting them, and handling someone else’s struggles. He’s manifesting hoards of growth here. He’s not just admitting he’s struggled. He’s talking about how his vulnerabilities have been mistakes. He’s talking about how to overcome those vulnerabilities. He’s showing how to maturely handle them and become someone great.
Does Snotlout still have a lot of character flaws to handle? Helheim yeah. I’m not highlighting those areas of imperfection in my commentary here, but it’s obvious he still has to grow.
But has he improved a lot by RTTE S6?
ALSO Helheim yeah.
We’ve seen Snotlout growing throughout RTTE and there are some cool moments in S4 and S5. But S6 was also a real treat for showing the growth of who Snotlout has become.
I read this entire thing twice. This was so good. I really love how snotlout has grown and you explained it all so well. ❤️
my-many-muse-rp-blog 