motherland-thoughts

[motherland-thoughts]

Talder: We really need to talk about Gregorio

Some thoughts about Motherland: Fort Salem. Full spoilers for seasons 1 to the end of 3, you are warned. (Sorry, this is extremely long)

This is a (slightly upgraded) repost from my personal blog, original post is here.

Gregorio serves no obvious narrative purpose in s3

In the last 2 episodes of M:FS s3, the only episodes he’s featured in, Gregorio doesn't seem to serve any narrative purpose: he has almost no effect on the plot, his very rare contributions could have been either taken out of the script entirely, or been given by other characters who we’ve been familiarized with all throughout the season.

In M:FS s3e09, here are Gregorio’s contributions:

he meets with Tally and Adil, explains he was in jail (explains his absence for the whole season)

he helps Adil get dressed (he’s literally the only male present with which Adil has had a previous relationship, thus the only candidate for this moment of male bonding)

he’s Tally’s partner at the weddings, they sit together, dance together, have sex

he’s Tally’s partner at an all couple hang out at the campfire scene

In resume, he’s here only so Tally isn’t alone at the weddings or at the campfire.

He’s used as a prop. They put him here to occupy Tally when everybody else is paired up, and to make her look happy instead of helpless (her own words).

A few days before the weddings, we see Tally kneeling on the grass, singing her piece of the First Song in the same way Khalida had done to summon Alder in M:FS s3e04. She’s trying to summon Alder, to get any sign that she didn’t die in the ice cave. When she gets no response to her call, she says: “I gave up my Sight […] to be a Steward of a Song that might never be sung. I feel helpless and I don’t like it.”

Gregorio appears right at this moment.

The writers were not trying to be subtle about this with the wording and the timing. Tally says she feels helpless and the very next thing they write in is Gregorio coming back into Tally’s life. The link between the two facts is pointed out to us: Gregorio’s presence is their solution to Tally’s helplessness. This, she can control. This will keep her occupied.

Gregorio is used as a tool to make Tally look like she feels better. After all, everybody around her is about to be super happy (weddings and all), the writers/execs will NOT have her be a sad sack in the background, it wouldn’t look good.

There was no need for this. We know Tally, she loves her sisters, we know she’s tremendously happy for them, regardless of her own situation. Tally would have been happily hidden her insecurities for the duration of the weddings, for her sisters’ sake.

In M:FS s3e10, here are Gregorio’s contributions:

he’s physically present with the unit when they leave for Fort Salem

he announces that they can equip themselves at the training room (all the people present knew that too, we’ve seen them all use the same training room)

he helps map a path for reaching the Necro facilities (all the people present knew the path too, even Adil contributes and he didn’t even study here)

he leaves the unit to join Petra’s group (the reason is unclear, how would he know if they need his support more than the unit?)

he informs Petra that the unit is armed (messenger for a useless message)

he suggests which Work to use to get rid of their enemies (not only is he the less experienced fighter of this group, making it strange his suggestion is accepted by the others, but it’s also what’s going to ultimately kill Anacostia)

he helps with the Work (nothing says this Work couldn’t have been cast without him)

he rejoins the unit (again, the reason is unclear, how does he know if the unit needs more support than Petra’s team? They just lost one team member, why lose another?)

he tells them about the new silencing tech (the unit still looks surprised when it’s used against them 2 min later, and they disable the tech the way they would have done without Gregorio’s heads-up anyway)

he disappears without anyone noticing (they were evolving together in narrow tunnels with enemies at their heels, how was he separated?)

he reappears (somehow he survived several encounters with Camarilla soldiers, alone in the tunnels)

he fights alongside the unit (basically he keeps the enemies busy while the protagonists discuss things with their backs turned)

he keeps the enemies busy with Nicte while the unit goes into the Mycelium

he hugs Tally when the battle is over (he’s not even present for the homage to Anacostia even though she died saving his life)

In resume, he’s here to make the real protagonists look good during the fights. When the protagonists need to look badass, he’s put aside so he doesn’t take up visual space, and when the protagonists need to chat, he’s brought out again to keep the enemy busy. He does some kind of back and forth between 2 groups, somehow never getting caught even though the base is crawling with enemies, only to transmit messages that are either useless or not actionable. Anything else he contributes, lines or actions, could have been attributed to other characters (in fact, they probably took those lines and actions from other characters just so he wouldn’t look completely useless).

He’s used as a prop. He could have been replaced simply by better fight choreographies, and, although it is good for the heroes to have some support, he didn’t need to date Tally to be here. Gregorio is their friend and coven-mate, this is reason enough to spend time with them and share in their joy.

So if Gregorio being here seems to serve no narrative purpose, why was he here at all? The actor was cast and paid for this, and precious episode time was taken from important plot lines by having him here.

There could be few reasons:

the obsession of writers and/or executives to want to have everyone be paired up for the end of a show, making it at least “look” like loose ends are tied up. This is very common in TV-shows finales. Gregorio and Tally had flirted a little bit in s2 and they were on good terms so he was a suitable candidate for it.

writers and/or executives knew it would be a very open ending with both Tally and Alder alive, but wanted to make sure the door would be closed on a Talder romance. It’s still rare to have an LGBT+ couple be endgame but as they already gave us Raylla, they didn’t want to give us a second one. LGBT+ couples are still treated as tokens because of rampant homophobia and the need for good ratings.

Gregorio could be a self-insert, wish-fulfillment character from a writer and/or an executive, it’s been known to happen more often than we think. The biggest characteristic of a self-insert, wish fulfillment character is “they’re pretty bland character-wise but, for some never-defined reason, the sexy protagonist find them very interesting/attractive”, which seems to fit with the situation here.

There might be other reasons. Let's see if we can find one by over-analyzing some things.

How long have Tally and Gregorio been together?

When the unit gets reinstated and they’re back at Fort Salem, Anacostia says that the wedding will happen “next week”, which is fairly vague in number of days, but let’s say it means “in around 7 days”. Gregorio reappears a few moments later. Meaning that, by the time the wedding takes place, Tally and Gregorio have had around 7 days to reacquaint themselves. They were coven-mates and friends before.

But are they dating by the time the wedding happens? The editing of the episode is a bit murky, so let’s see:

After having helped Adil get dressed, Gregorio says: “I’m gonna go find Tally.” It doesn’t inform us on their status, just that he wants to spend time with her.

At the wedding, the first time we see Tally and Gregorio in the same space is for the ceremony, they are seated close but not directly next to each other (Khalida is between them).

Then we see them flirt while dancing, touching cheeks and laughing.

Next up, they have sex in a hallway.

Then, and only then, at the campfire scene, the evening of the wedding, do we see them behaving like a couple (sitting in one’s lap, holding hands).

In addition to that, in M:FS s3e10, in the training room, Gregorio announces that he’s leaving the unit to join Petra’s group. Even though both Tally and Gregorio know that this might be the last time they’ll see each other, they don’t kiss. They’re awkward with each other, which only reinforces how new their relationship is.

From this, we can conclude with some certainty that Tally and Gregorio only became a couple when having sex in the hallway after the weddings ceremony.

Why now?

Tally and Gregorio have known each other since they started War College in M:FS s2e02. They’ve always made some amount of doe eye at each other but it never went anywhere, even though there was ample time and opportunity, not even when it would have gotten the Imperatrix off of both their backs. They don’t see each other for all the time the unit is on the run (we have no indication of how long this lasted, but at least a few months?), Tally doesn’t even mention him, and finally they’re both back at Fort Salem again only a few days before the weddings.

So why do they suddenly get together at the weddings?

Let’s examine one particular bit of timing at the weddings (Tally and Gregorio are not a couple at this point):

Tally feels helpless.

Alder arrives at the weddings to drop off Khalida, reunites with Anacostia and then leaves without even talking to Tally.

Khalida joins the unit, telling them, by her presence if not by words (we are not shown this part), that Alder is here, alive and well.

Tally runs after Alder, and they have a conversation. Tally looks obviously mad, her stance is guarded, arms crossed and she sports a forced, jaw-clenched smile on her face.

Alder rejects Tally’s help and leaves. Tally looks dejected and mad, she shakes her head, looks up at the sky, and stomps away.

The wedding ceremony happens, pausing the action for a bit.

Tally has sex for the first time with Gregorio, in a hallway.

Before we can conclude anything from this, let’s examine another situation for comparison:

Tally was in a romantic relationship with Gerit. When she learned that he lied to her, by omission, about his marital status, she broke up with him. When, in M:FS s1e07, Gerit comes back some time later and apologizes, Tally initially rejects him.

But she’s in the middle of a personal crisis. She had been ordered to not say anything about Scylla being Spree and being the army’s prisoner in Fort Salem. She can only watch as Raelle suffers from the uncertainty around Scylla’s disappearance. She feels guilty and is scared of Raelle linking with her and seeing her memories of Scylla. She’s obviously conflicted and looks pale (the make-up department is on point).

Tally obviously feels helpless about the whole situation and says so at some point to Anacostia, in M:FS s1e06: “I feel, I do need to do something. […] I cannot pretend that nothing happened!” but she gets shot down.

Then Gerit comes back around a 2nd time, just after Raelle calls Tally out about avoiding her and Tally had to lie about it. It’s only at this point that Tally caves and starts having sex with Gerit again. Even though she makes the decision, she looks downcast about it, instead of horny or enthusiastic.

In resume: Tally feels helpless about Raelle’s suffering - Raelle gets angry at her - Tally starts having sex with Gerit.

It does sound strangely familiar, doesn’t it?

In fact, that’s exactly the same chain of events we have just described about Tally at the weddings: Tally feels helpless about Alder, her Sight and the First Song - Alder avoids her and rejects her - Tally starts having sex with Gregorio.

In M:FS s1e09, when Gerit booty-calls Tally and the unit calls her out on it, right after Libba's funeral, Tally says: “I need this.” Her tone of voice makes it clear that she's not horny or in love, she just needs to work out her frustrations regarding her situation.

Sex with Gerit is a way for Tally to cope with her feelings.

From all this, we can conclude that Tally starts having sex with Gregorio in order to work out her frustrations regarding Alder rejecting her.

Let’s add an interesting fact: in M:FS s3e09, in the hallway as they are about to have sex, Gregorio says he’s feeling judged by a painting of a woman on the wall. Tally answers: “Then let her watch…”. It seems straightforward but Tally looks and sounds a bit ruthless about it, which feels strange as she’s supposed to feel horny and carefree at that point. But if you consider the fact that Tally is here to work out her frustrations about Alder, it would fit that her comment is in fact directed at Alder, not at a random woman in a painting. It’s like Tally is telling Alder: “Look at what you make me do, it’s your fault.” It’s very subtle, though, and absolutely no proof of anything by itself.

Is Tallorio even a romance?

Here is the only instance of characters talking about Tally and Gregorio’s relationship, when Tally calls Gregorio “Greg” after having had sex for the first time in M:FS s3e10:

Abigail: “Greg, we’re Greg now? […] Nice little charge-up at the wedding there, Tal?” Tally: “Always good before a battle.” Abigail: “And?” Tally: “He was so good.”

There’s no mention of feelings at all, just that Gregorio gave Tally a good charge.

Let’s compare this to Abigail, who’s notorious for using sex with men for a charge, when she talks about having had sex with Adil for the first time in M:FS s2e01: “It’s more than sex with this one. More than just charging up, you know? It’s deep and feels like destiny or something.”

That’s a stark difference. Character-wise, Tally has been shown to get attached too fast, and Abigail to not get attached at all. And, at the time of each of these quotes, Tally has known Gregorio for at least twice as long as Abigail had known Adil (half a season for Abigail and Adil, 2 seasons for Tally and Gregorio).

All signs point to Tallorio being nothing else than a simple wedding hookup. There’s the possibility of it being the beginning of a romantic relationship, but the show stops here, a few hours and a whole world-ending battle later, so we aren’t given anything else.

TL,DR?

Where does all that over-analyzing leave us?

We determined that:

Gregorio doesn’t seem to have a reason to be there except to play combat support and be Tally’s sexual partner.

Tally doesn’t have sex with Gregorio until right after Alder rejects her help.

Tally uses casual sex as a way to cope with her feelings.

Tally doesn’t express any romantic feelings for Gregorio.

From all this, we can safely conclude that Gregorio’s presence serves to show how much being rejected by Alder affects Tally. (The shippers might go as far as to say that Tallorio having sex in these circumstances implies that Talder is canon, on Tally’s part at least).

We determined earlier that Gregorio had no obvious narrative purpose for being present in s3, could this be the non-obvious narrative reason? To show the depth of Tally’s feelings for Alder?

#no tags yet cause it's a repost #i don't want it to clog the feed

[motherland-thoughts]

M:FS Season 3, Production issues & Deus Ex Machinas

Some thoughts about Motherland: Fort Salem. Full spoilers for seasons 1 to the end of 3, you are warned.

Season 3 and production issues

After s2 ended, the creative team of M:FS learned that their show would be cancelled after s3. Knowing that they had enough material for 6 or 7 seasons, they had to make a decision: either make s3 as planned, risking leaving the story ever unfinished if no other network picks up the show, or ditch the originally planned s3 and instead make a mad dash for the end of the story.

For better or for worse, they chose to end the story on s3, thus forcing themselves to cut story lines, character developments, and rush to introduce many others.

On top of that, after only one episode of s3 filmed, one of the main actresses had an accident and needed some serious recovery time. Her character had to be abruptly sidelined, and all the story lines she was a part of had to be either aborted or modified in a terrible hurry to accommodate her absence.

The writers had a lot to contend with, and the rest of the team had to keep up too, in an industry that’s already way too rushed and constricted.

Knowing all of that informs a lot about how we ended up with the s3 that we got.

Season 3 and Deus Ex Machinas

Because s3 had to be so rushed and suddenly grafted onto the ending of s2 that was meant to go somewhere else, the writers had to resort to using several Deus Ex Machinas.

A Deus Ex Machina, meaning literally “The God from Outside of the Machine”, signifies a miracle, divine-like intervention that comes out of nowhere, a resolution that isn’t justified by the narrative that’s been constructed up to then.

A small example of what is and what isn’t a Deus Ex Machina: from her first scene in s1, Raelle is shown to be a Fixer. All throughout the show, she not only heals a good number of people, but is also proven to be exceptionally strong. When she heals Khalida from the Witchplague with the covert help of the Mycelium, her connection to the Mycelium has already been established. After this, Raelle keeps proving to be a strong Fixer with a special connection to the Mycelium.

It’s very much justified by the narrative that Raelle succeeds in healing Khalida where others have failed.

If, instead, Abigail had been the one to heal Khalida, that would have been a Deus Ex Machina. Abigail has never been shown healing anyone, has no connection to the Mycelium and is only ever shown linking with someone once when she fails to save Raelle in the Tarim.

The narrative would not have justified this in the least.

The first use of a Deus Ex Machina is Alder’s new mycelial body.

At the end of s2, Alder’s body is 300+ years old when she’s put, still alive, into the Mycelium. She’s presumed dead by the protagonists but the audience is privy to seeing that her body is in fact being rejuvenated by the Mother, and that Alder is very much still alive.

Obviously, the writers had a plan for Alder to come back into the world in her own body, probably weaker than she was before (cause that’s just good story-lining).

But with s3 becoming the final season, they suddenly needed Alder to be very powerful so she could hunt down and reunite the pieces of the First Song that are scattered all around the Earth. Their solution is to give her a body made entirely of mycelium, that can travel very fast, very far, and, although it sometimes needs to recharge, and seems to be aging rapidly, is somewhat indestructible.

She also got a single mind totally focused on her mission for the Mother, making it easier for her and the unit, particularly Tally, to get along without having to waste precious time rehashing and fighting about the events of s2.

The second use of a Deus Ex Machina is the change of heart of President Wade.

President Wade starts s1 by being anti-witch, though not to a Camarilla level. Given the recent rise of the Spree, it’s only logical that fear would lead citizens of the U.S. to elect a president who would be hard on witches.

Her first words on the show, in M:FS s1e02, are mocking witches and their tools. She threatens Alder with replacement in an effort to secure her reelection. She forbids Alder from helping the Tarim who are being killed off. She refuses to help the army identify and protect the lost witches. She doesn’t care at all that Alder executed Esterbrook's Rebels. She doesn’t care that the Bellweather unit saved all the witches of Fort Salem by killing Penelope. She doesn’t have any empathy for Petra possibly losing her daughter just so she can make an example. She never shows any care about the fact that the Camarilla are killing her army’s witches.

It does seem like Wade would have had a better personal rapport with Petra (Petra’s schemes helped Wade kick Alder out, after all) until Wade makes it clear to Petra that she wants to use Abigail to set an example for witches and regain control of her nation.

But with s3 becoming the final season, the writers needed her to, at the very least, not be a hindrance, and at best to become an ally to the witches. To do so, they use several story points that are justified by the narrative, for the most part. Petra, Anacostia and Izadora devise a way to examine Wade’s voice and prove she’s not Camarilla. Then they prove to her that her Vice President and own chief of staff are all Camarilla, working to use her and kill her (the audience knows that the Camarilla had planned to execute Wade as far back as M:FS s2e10, when Hearst talked with Silver: “Wade will pay the ultimate price for collusion with the enemy.”).

But those story points only happen after they use a Deus Ex Machina in the name of Minerva Bellweather. All in the span of one episode, M:FS s3e02, they introduce the existence of an enduring decades old rivalry between Minerva and Wade, then immediately solve that rivalry through an off-screen conversation, and suddenly Wade’s anti-witch tendencies are all but forgotten.

There’s a possibility that Wade was always intended to becoming an ally for the witches. She is, after all, a formidable opponent and therefore would (and does) become a formidable ally. But the writers needed it to happen way sooner than intended and thus had to cheat.

All of Wade’s fake death in collaboration with Petra, her subsequent hiding with M amongst witches and her budding relationship with the Marshal were a very good storyline and her becoming pro-witch by living with and getting to know them should have been the main focus of Wade’s arc. It also would have set the example that to reduce the prejudice against witches was as easy as just getting to know them. In a time of Camarilla resurgence, this could have been so good.

The third use of a Deus Ex Machina is the vaccine against the Witchplague.

All throughout seasons 1 & 2, the different forms of the Witchplague have been a real problem for our witches. One drop of it in Penelope was enough to decimate all of Fort Salem if not for the Witchbomb. At the end of s2, they have had a single sample of it for only a few days and Izadora barely had the time to start working on it.

Yet, at the beginning of M:FS s3e01, Izadora announces that the vaccine is almost ready, and she starts administering it at the end of this same episode. Granted, we don’t know how much time has passed since the end of s2, and we all have absolute faith in Izadora’s abilities, but it still seems a bit fast.

What about the fact that the Witchplague had several different versions, and was supposed to keep evolving? Also, what about the fact that only the army witches are being inoculated (presumably at least for a while)? Our protagonists are on the run and don’t have an opportunity to get the vaccine. The Camarilla wouldn’t know right away about the vaccine and could still have used it against the Bellweather unit.

Again, it may very well be that a vaccine was always intended to have been the solution to the Witchplague, but the writers had to get rid of it so quickly that they simply expedited the process.

Some other considerations:

Our protagonists seem extremely competent in combat against the Camarilla during the last battle at Fort Salem. It’s extremely satisfying to watch but it’s also not really justified by the narrative. They were only in their second year of training, had only seen combat on this scale once (the battle during the Tarim mission) and had a few skirmishes here and there where they weren’t shown to be all that competent. Even Gregorio seems to be a master at stealthing all over a Fort Salem overrun by enemies that negate the use of Work. It’s understandable that they’d need to be able to fight off the Camarilla to finish the story but it’s still happening too fast. We know our protagonists are strong and would end up being that competent at some point. It’s a sort of Deus Ex Machina, a Deus Ex Tempus more like.

Abigail being a Steward of the First Song is the opposite of a Deus Ex Machina. From day one, the narrative has slowly set up the Bellweathers to be more than they seem. Jem Bellweather’s beginning in the army as a slave and her immense power as a witch are being constantly talked about. The Camarilla’s first overt act was to kill 18 Bellweathers at the same time, and keep hunting Abigail all throughout the story, which we learn later was to prevent “the union of earth and sky”, aka the singing of the First Song. The writers clearly intended to sprinkle hints here and there over the course of their planned 6 or 7 seasons and found themselves short when they were suddenly stopped at s3. That’s how they ended up introducing the idea that the Bellweathers had much of their history stolen from them only one-half episode before it’s revealed that Jem was a Steward. The Bellweathers were always very proud of their heritage, and seemed to have heavily benefited from their success in the army. At no other point before the second to last episode do they talk about having lost parts of their history. Of course, Jem starting off in the army as a slave implies that she would have lost much of her history by being displaced and stripped of any right and possession. But the Bellweathers never complained about this point before M:FS s3e09.

How did the Camarilla proximate the after affects of the Witchbomb for their plot to blame the President’s assassination on the Bellweather unit? We know they can proximate vocal work with their voiceboxes but the Witchbomb is very different. How did all of those mushrooms grow so fast after the explosion?

#motherland fort salem #analysis #long post #save motherland fort salem

[motherland-thoughts]

Alder: Death? Not even once. -Sarah Alder (probably, at some point)

Some thoughts about Motherland: Fort Salem. Full spoilers for seasons 1 to the end of 3, you are warned. (Sorry this is very long)

This is a (slightly upgraded) repost from my personal blog, original post is here.

Alder in the Mycelium

In M:FS s2e10, Alder’s biddies all die from the witchplague. Her body ages 300+ years in a few seconds, her skin taking a bark-like aspect, rendering her unable to move. Despite that, she’s still alive, stuck in a way-too-old body, her organs probably at the edge of failing. She’s still capable of very limited speech and movements.

Izadora: “I don’t understand how she’s holding on.”

Alder asks to be put into the Mycelium, to join the Mother, and they grant her her wish.

She’s still moving and watching as mycelial tendrils attach to her aged body and is taken into the Mycelium. For the people present, they consider that this is her death.

But as the audience, we are shown something more. Inside the Mycelium, we see that Alder’s body, with its bark-like skin, is attached by numerous tendrils and some form of crackling pink energy go from those tendrils into her body. Some areas of her skin have regained a normal aspect, her face, her hands and forearms, obviously a work in progress. Her heart is pulsating with this same pink energy and all the while we are seeing this, we can hear it pulse loudly. In the end, her eyes open.

She is definitely still alive, and the Mycelium is healing/rejuvenating her body.

She was alive going in and is alive once inside, being healed.

Thus, she hasn’t died this time.

Alder in Season 3

All throughout M:FS s3, we are shown that Alder is not using her own human body, but a new body made of Mycelium:

In M:FS s3e01, Alder’s body and clothing are formed from the ground by the rapid growth of mushrooms and mycelial tendrils, in between tendrils is emptiness, it’s not forming a cocoon.

In M:FS s3e03, Alder disappears from inside a trailer with no obvious exit (we aren’t shown how).

In M:FS s3e04, Alder appears suddenly from a paved ground (we aren’t shown how).

In M:FS s3e05, several Alders appear through tendrils coming from inbetween pavement directly into human bodies, making them explode. All those bodies but one, although all looking like Alder, alive, dissolve into mycelial spores. The last body is Alder, alive but considerably weakened. Also in this episode, it’s important to note that Adil crushes a mushroom that dissolves into mycelial spores. Even though it happens inside a building, those spores are shown to travel quickly, straight into the Mycelium.

In M:FS s3e06, Alder rejoins the Mycelium through the mycelium wall, her body becomes transparent, showing that it is entirely made of mycelial tendrils. The tendrils are not arranged to replicate human organs. “It’s time for me to go now.” Later, Alder’s healed mycelial body disappears into grassy ground, leaving a patch of mushrooms visible on its surface. Also in this episode, Willa Collar, although dead and her own body destroyed by the witch plague and the collapse of a building, has a new mycelial body grown for her, it is formed through mycelial tendrils growing rapidly through a wall inside a building. It’s visually similar to the first appearance of Alder’s mycelial body in M:FS s3e01. Willa’s mycelial body then dissolves into mycelial spores when she leaves. Willa is still seen outside and inside the Mycelium after that, her consciousness survived.

In M:FS s3e07, Raelle appears inside a building by using her witchbomb powers to kill a Camarilla, but the mechanism of her arrival is kept purposefully hidden, she seems to appears from behind the spores of the witchbomb. We know this is her real body. Important to note that we can see her heart pulsating in mushroom pink, the same way Alder’s heart was pulsating in mushroom pink in her real body in the mycelium in M:FS s2e10.

In M:FS s3e10, Alder touches some mycelial growth on a wall and her own mycelial tendrils merge with it, she uses it to disappear from a dangerous situation (we aren’t shown how). Also in this episode, Alder disappears from a library room, no indication she used the mycelium for it but the clerk seems surprised by her absence (aka she probably didn’t use the door). At the end of this episode, Alder’s body dissolves into spores in a visually similar manner as Willa Collar’s did when she left Edwin’s house in M:FS s3e06.

Some additional observations:

Alder has flashes of mushroom-pink in her eyes every now and then all throughout s3,

Alder’s mushroom-clothes in the helicopter and when she “spores” herself out of it are the exact same color as the spores in the air.

In resume:

Alder is exclusively using a mycelial body all throughout s3,

a mycelial body dissolves into spores to travel through air and solid matter,

a mycelial body merges its own tendrils with any mycelial growth to travel directly through the mycelial network.

From all this, we can conclude that Alder’s body dissolving into spores at the end of s3 means she is only traveling, not dying.

Thus, she hasn’t died this time either.

As a side note, we’re never shown how people with non-mycelial bodies travel through the mycelial network. We never see them entering it nor getting out of it. Khalida, Noodin (the Cession Steward), the unnamed Basque Steward, and Tally, have all traveled through the mycelial network with Alder as their guide. Raelle has traveled through the mycelial network too.

Why does Alder leave the unit then?

In M:FS s3e10, just before she leaves the helicopter, Alder says: “She [the Mother] has just told me my work is done.” Nothing indicates that the end of her mission means she has to die. Nothing indicates that Alder assumes so. Why should we?

Alder is simply leaving, most probably going back home, her home being the Mother since the end of s2e10. Going home at the end of a mission is standard for everyone, what else would you do?

Also: the helicopter is taking the unit to President Wade, where Alder has no interest in going. Her mycelial body looks almost expired and Alder always had to go back to the Mother when her mycelial body “malfunctioned”. And let’s not forget that Anacostia just died, and is presumably with the Mother too. It’s understandable that Alder would want to go join her.

What’s next for Alder

One of the most important piece of information that Alder gives to Tally in s3 is that she doesn’t know much about her situation, she only knows what she has to accomplish. “She [the Mother] doesn’t tell me everything”, “I’m sorry, Tally Craven, I don’t know.” In M:FS s3e10, Alder is not the one giving the big explanation, it’s the Mother who speaks through her. Alder seems to hear it at the same time as the protagonists.

It’s logical to assume that even Alder herself doesn’t know what happens next for her.

But those absolute facts remain:

Alder’s real body is alive, being rejuvenated (or having been rejuvenated) inside the Mycelium

The Mother gave Alder a mycelial body to use for her mission to find the First Song (its traveling capabilities were vital to her mission)

Alder’s mission had ended, her work is done

Again, it’s logical to assume that Alder is going back to the Mother, with the intention of giving her mycelial body back. From here, her consciousness would presumably be returned inside her own live body.

There is one more piece of information to consider:

In M:FS s3e02, Raelle entered the Mycelium while still being alive. The Mother healed her body.

Then, in M:FS s3e07, Raelle is given a choice to either leave or stay by her mom. Raelle’s mom died but her consciousness still lives in the Mother. If she’s able to give Raelle this choice, we can safely assume that it’s in fact the Mother giving her this choice.

Raelle: “Well then I can leave.” Willa Collar: “If you want to. It’s your choice. Stay and we can be together.”

In M:FS s2e10, Alder entered the Mycelium while still being alive. The Mother healed her body.

Alder’s situation is the same as Raelle’s was. Is there any reason the Mother wouldn’t give Alder the same choice? Especially now that Alder has found the First Song like the Mother asked her to.

From there, we can only speculate as to what could happen in a hypothetical season 4.

Alder could be given this choice and decide to stay, spending time with Anacostia and any other dead witch present in the Mother. Anacostia could convince Alder to go back to the world and live fully at last. Anacostia loves her mother, of course she would encourage her to live.

The Mother could also use Alder as her Winter Soldier of sorts, popping her out in a mycelial body anytime She needs something important done.

The unit could go and plead with the Mother to give them Alder back. Maybe they’d have to fight for it, accomplish something for the Mother in exchange of Alder’s come back. Or they could have to convince Alder to live.

Talder could become canon.

The writers could go with any of these routes, and more, or simply ignore this thread entirely, never mentioning anything about Alder’s live body or consciousness ever again (which still wouldn’t negate this thread’s existence).

But as long as there’s nothing official from whoever owns the IP of Motherland: Fort Salem, Alder is alive and anything is possible.

#no tags yet cause it's a repost #i don't want it to clog the feed

[motherland-thoughts]

M:FS The Witchplague

Some thoughts about Motherland: Fort Salem. Full spoilers for seasons 1 to the end of 3, you are warned.

Alban Hearst, about the Witchplague, in M:FS s2e07: “Every generation gets a little stronger.”

There are 4 different versions of the Witchplague that we see in M:FS (non-official names):

The Slow Witchplague: this is the 1st version we see. It is slow moving, colonizing the infected witch’s body for days, maybe weeks. It is not contagious (lots of people touch Khalida without getting infected).

Expected results for the infected witch is loss of control over vocal cords (inflicting additional collateral damage), followed by death.

Usual Fixing techniques result in collateral damage and death. Raelle Collar’s christo-pagan Fixing technique, with added mycelium help, is the only known cure.

Way(s) of infection: unknown (used against Khalida and some of the Tarim during s1).

The Rapid Witchplague: this is the 2nd version that we see. Its effects are almost instantaneous, entirely colonizing the infected witch in seconds. It is potentially contagious via direct skin contact.

Expected results for the infected witch is rapid death (a few seconds at most).

No known cure, death occurs too rapidly to attempt anything. The Witchbomb can’t destroy it. With her christo-pagan Fixing technique, Willa Collar was able to completely take onto herself the Witchplague taking Raelle over. Willa still died but Raelle survived.

Way(s) of infection:

injection via puncture wound: an individual projectile containing a sample of the Witchplague is launched at a target through a blowpipe (used against a Biddy in M:FS s1e10); or several projectiles are set inside an exploding container, this Witchplague grenade is then thrown at groups of witches (used against the Spree Leadership meeting in Bruxelles in M:FS s2e01);

skin contact: a sample of the Witchplague is dropped directly onto the target’s skin (used against Raelle Collar in M:FS s2e07).

The Hunter Witchplague: this is the 3rd version that we see. Its effects are almost instantaneous, entirely colonizing the infected witch in seconds. It is extremely contagious, by way of the tendrils of the Witchplague capability of extending themselves far from the original contagion site, hunting any witch around over some distance and destroying any obstacle in its way.

Expected result for the infected witch is rapid death (a few seconds at most).

No known cure. Total incineration destroys the Witchplague.

Way(s) of infection:

injection via puncture wound: an individual projectile containing the Witchplague is launched at a target through a blowpipe (used against a Biddy in M:FS s2e10);

proximity: a sample of the Witchplague is put onto an object, and it activates only when a witch is in close proximity (used against General Sharma and her entourage in the train in India in M:FS s2e05).

This is the version Izadora engineers the Witchplague vaccine from.

The Parasitic Witchplague: this is the 4th and last version that we see. It settles inside a witch, the host, keeping them alive at all cost, and, once mature (after a few minutes), goes to attack every witch in close enough proximity to the host. It is extremely contagious but only in its area of effect, centered on the host.

Expected results for the host are loss of awareness and sustained life. Expected results for any secondary-infected witch are loss of control over vocal cords (inflicting additional collateral damage), closely followed by death.

No known cure for the host. Destruction of the host’s body removes the infection in linked infected witches, saving those who are still alive. No known cure for the secondary-infected witches except for the removal of the source.

Way(s) of infection: injection via puncture wound (used against Penelope Silver in M:FS s2e09).

In M:FS s3e01, Izadora manages to finalize a vaccine against the Witchplague, from a sample from the Hunter Witchplague. The Witchplague is never seen again, the vaccine seeming to be effective against all versions of it.

Additional consideration:

It’s unclear whether the Rapid Witchplague is contagious or not:

The infected Biddy in the Tarim is touched by another witch but not via direct skin contact (we see a glove touching her uniform), and there are no tendrils reaching out of her. It isn’t shown to be contagious, but it’s also not explicitly shown that it isn’t.

The infected Spree members are all affected at the same time, none seems to touch any of the others, and there are no tendrils reaching out of any of them, leaving us to believe that each witch has to have been hit by an individual projectile. The projectiles seemed to hone in on the witches, as proven by the one that targets Willa who’s further away, and is only stopped by an obstacle she hides behind. It isn’t shown to be contagious, but Willa later states that it is. Either she misunderstood what she saw, or she simply assumes that it is (plagues generally are), or the writers slightly messed up (not super important).

Yet, Raelle is infected by direct skin contact with the Witchplague, which leaves the possibility for anyone else touching her infected skin to become infected too. Willa’s christo pagan Fixing involves absorbing the illness, so her getting infected while Fixing Raelle isn’t proof that it is contagious.

All in all, it could be that either the Rapid Witchplague is contagious by direct skin contact but, by chance, it simply never happens, or that there are in fact 2 versions of it, one that is contagious and one that isn’t. In any case, it’s probably for the best that no one else than Willa touched Raelle while she was infected.

There exists another potential problem with the Rapid Witchplague. When Willa Collar goes to unbind Raelle before Fixing her, the Witchplague in Raelle doesn’t reach out at all for her. Yet, seconds after Willa dies, the Witchplague grows tendrils and reaches out, rapidly chasing Raelle, Abigail and Scylla until they close the door in front of it. It now behaves like the Hunter Witchplague. This is the only case where we see the lines being muddled between different versions of the Witchplague. Was that in fact not the Rapid Witchplague, but a new version that needs an infected witch to die to evolve into a Hunter-like version? Was that potential new version engineered by Hearst or did it evolve spontaneously inside Willa? Or was that an incoherence in the script, to allow Raelle to be saved but force her and her rescuers to leave in a hurry, or to simply amp up the terror factor of the scene?

In M:FS s2e07, Alban Hearst calls the Witchplague by male pronouns, which is on point for the Camarilla, an organization that’s based on hating everything female: “Oh, he’s a frisky little bugger, isn’t he? I must confess, I love this little guy.”

At the meeting of the Hague in M:FS s1e03, the British commander states: “Our embassy was taken out by a plague bomb that no one’s used in 50 years. 263 dead, 91 injured.” Although it sounds, with hindsight, that it might have been a Camarilla attack, an embassy is manned by government employees, aka civilians. Only the Spree target civilians. Still, it’s interesting to wonder about who used to use plague bombs in the 1970s and what kind of plague they were using.

#motherland fort salem #analysis #long post #save motherland fort salem #i put this here mostly for reference in other posts #i invented the names myself #not great but eh #yell at me if you like

[motherland-thoughts]

Alder: Saving the Tarim

Some thoughts about Motherland: Fort Salem. Full spoilers for seasons 1 to the end of 3, you are warned. (Sorry this is very long)

Alder never states that her help to the Tarim would come at a price. Adil, and then Khalida, both assume that on their own. All the others nations, including the Council of the Hague, want to weaponize their songs, and Alder is known for weaponizing her own, so it’s not a stretch for them to assume so. Alder simply never answers those assumptions, she only ever proposes her help.

In M:FS s1e03, Alder looks clearly emotional when hearing the recording of the Tarim’s songs and is the only one advocating to let the Tarim be and to not force them into militarization.

In M:FS s1e06, we see that Alder brought Adil and Khalida in Fort Salem for safety and healing. Alder worries about Khalida’s health and Adil’s mental state. Adil is very weary of her motives and immediately assumes the worst:

Adil: “Thank you for bringing us here.”

Alder: “We have the finest Fixers in the world here. You’re in good hands. I will do everything in my power to help.”

Adil: “Once Khalida is well, we won’t trouble you any longer.”

Alder: “You’re welcome here for as long as you need. All of Fort Salem is yours as you see fit. Please, take some time away from the infirmary. The grounds here will nourish your body and your spirit.”

[…]

Alder: “The songs your people sing remind me of those my own family carried for centuries. I would very much like to learn them.”

Adil: “The songs you carried were never meant to be released into the world. […] You made weapons of your own songs.”

Alder: “I defended myself. And made a place for my people.”

Adil: “What kind of place? We will remain the final stewards of our songs.”

Later, in M:FS s1e07, Khalida is healed and has a conversation with Alder:

Alder: “Well, I’m very pleased that we were able to help. I will do everything in my power to protect you and your people.”

Khalida: “You’ve done too much already. What can I do for you?”

Alder: “Teach me your songs, and I will use them to make a better place.”

At this point, Khalida pretends to teach Alder a song, and Alder, again, looks clearly emotional at hearing it. But Khalida attacks Alder, draining her and the plants around them.

Khalida: “Our songs are not safe with you.”

Alder only ever asks for the songs, never demands them in exchange of her help. To both Adil and Khalida, she worries about their well-being, physical and emotional, and promises to do everything in her power to help. Whether it’s a tactical move or she’s being genuine, Alder is only ever portrayed as trying to help the Tarim. Adil and Khalida are the ones who clearly assume she’s making a play for their songs, because because everyone else wants their songs and they know Alder’s history.

Alder wouldn’t even be able to make that deal with the Tarim. Alder is powerful but she’s entirely under the authority of the civilian government, currently led by President Wade, who’s portrayed as anti-witches. Alder has to convince Wade to let the army help the Tarim.

Yet, as soon as Alder gives herself the authority (through puppeting Wade) to go get the Tarim, Khalida accepts Alder’s help. Why? What does this change for Khalida?

Khalida categorically refused Alder’s (or anyone else’s) help, because she refused to share her songs, even if it meant all her tribe dying. Suddenly she changes her mind and accepts Alder’s help.

We can only conclude that Alder promised to save the Tarim without them having to share their songs in exchange.

What can we make of this? What changed?

There’s a lot of politician talk, this aspect of the storytelling can be quite boring, and that’s probably why most people skip it.

This is the conversation between Alder and Wade:

Alder: “We know that the Tarim are on the run. If we intercept them now, we can extract them, quickly and safely.”

Wade: “Why is everybody so worked up about these people?”

Alder: “The work they possess is very special. Profoundly rare, in fact.”

Wade: “Unfortunately, we can’t make a move on the Tarim without setting off a conflict between Russia and China. You know better than to ask.”

Alder: “The Tarim are of great military value. But there is also a humanitarian imperative.”

Wade: “I forbid you intervention in this matter.”

Basically, Wade asks why she should take a political risk to save the Tarim.

Alder tries the weaponization angle: the Tarim’s songs could be great weapons for the U.S..

When that doesn’t work, Alder then pleads that saving their lives is simply the human thing to do.

That’s when Wade completely shuts her down, as witches’ lives are not valuable enough to her.

Wade then tells Alder that she’ll be fired on live TV. That’s when Alder puppets her and gives herself full power to act as she sees fit.

And what does Alder do with that stolen power? She flies out as fast as she can to save the Tarim.

Does she do anything else with that stolen power? No, as soon as she comes back from the Tarim, we get into the Not Our Daughters plotline and the Camarilla plotline. The Spree’s leadership get mostly murdered and stop everything to fight the Camarilla too (except Nicte). Alder still has to push Wade to get the testing centers open.

Saving the Tarim is all she ever did with that power she stole.

This was long and complicated, but here is what we can conclude from all this:

Alder really would do anything in her power to help the Tarim, but helping them without a deal for their songs is NOT in her power, it’s in Wade’s power. Alder is subservient to the civilian government.

Wade is anti-witch and cares very little for a random tribe of witches in a foreign country, or for what that tribe means for witchkind. Any action on her part would deal her political blow on the international scene and possible repercussions, political, military, or to her reputation.

Alder hoped that the promise of new weapons would sway Wade’s decision. That’s why Alder can’t promise she won’t need the songs in exchange for the U.S.’s help, she might need to propose this deal to Khalida if Wade agrees to it.

But Wade forbids Alder to save the Tarim, so Alder has nothing to lose then: she gives herself all power by puppeting Wade.

Now Alder has the power to help the Tarim without a deal for their songs, and that’s why Khalida accepts.

Additionally, when in the cave where the Tarim are hiding in in M:FS s1e10, Adil uses a seed to melt a solid wall. At this point, Alder backs up to pace a ways away. If Alder wanted those songs so much, wouldn’t she at least stay to watch Adil use one? Observe him in maybe hope to replicate it, or proximate it, in some way? Instead, she leaves. This is what makes Tally (and the audience) understand that Alder really isn’t here for the songs, but for the people. Tally walks up to Alder and tells her: “You’re really worried for them.”

Another important point, from the moment Alder gives herself the power to help the Tarim (through puppeting Wade), she never mentions wanting to learn the Tarim’s songs again. It’s clear that they haven’t shared their songs in exchange for Alder’s help, and Alder never presses them about it. She’s content that they’re safe.

The game now is about where the Tarim will settle. When Khalida announces, going on a tour of the Council Nations in M:FS s2e02, Alder only insists that Khalida accept to be accompanied by a security detail, even as it’s made obvious that General Sharma is still intent on acquiring the Tarim songs via acquiring the Tarim themselves (Khalida assumes so in M:FS s2e05).

Again, even as she’s at risk of losing the Tarim (and thus their songs) to another nation, Alder is only ever shown worrying about the Tarim’s safety.

We can only conclude that Alder wanted to save the people more than she wanted to acquire their songs. If the Tarim survive, then the songs survive, and that’s enough for Alder.

It’s important to note that Alder might very well be playing the long game here, she has all the time in the world, after all. But whether she saves the Tarim in the hope to get their songs later or because she really doesn’t want more witches to die, she’s the only one to advocate for them and the only one who puts herself in very hot water to save them.

#sarah alder #motherland fort salem #analysis #long post #save motherland fort salem

[motherland-thoughts]

Alder: The Spree trucks incident

Some thoughts about Motherland: Fort Salem. Full spoilers for seasons 1 to the end of 3, you are warned. This is specifically about s1e08 Citydrop. (Sorry this is very long)

The situation is this: 2 Spree trucks, presumably full of mines, are on their way to the Boston airport and they have to be stopped to avoid mass civilian casualties. A strike team is en route but will be too late to stop the mines from either sent into planes all over the country or being used in the airport. Only the instructors and cadets currently in operation in Citydrop are close enough to stop the trucks.

Those are the mission parameters. They’re pretty clear: stop the trucks or let thousands of civilians die.

A reminder that Scylla killed approximately 1600 civilians with one balloon, though it was at a big event with a huge crowd. From the very limited angle of Tally’s Sight, we are shown at least 12 inflatable pool toys, 3 huge metal canisters and 2 smaller thermos-like canisters. There are also barrels and packed pallets that may or may not contain more bottles and inflatables. The death toll could be catastrophic.

Also, the Spree destroyed the car factory themselves minutes after leaving with the trucks. Only the 6th floor was the Spree armory, all the rest of the building was a legitimate workplace with civilian employees inside and the Spree didn’t hesitate to kill them as collateral. The televised report from Alder announces over a hundred of casualties at the factory.

The cadets and their instructors place themselves in the path of the Spree trucks and wait for them to arrive. The army has legal authority and is simply blocking the road. Any amount of stalling here would be to their advantage as there is a strike team on the way. They are not being aggressive.

The 1st Spree truck doesn’t stop and tries to run the cadets over. The cadets defend themselves by windstriking the truck off the road. The Spree are the aggressor.

The 2nd Spree truck stops in the middle of the road to reassess for a minute. They then start driving again and try to run the cadets over like the 1st truck did.

Through Tally’s Sight, the army knows that the Spree have now armed the mines. The Spree’s intention is that the cadets’ windstrike would trigger the mines and kill them all, hostages included. The Spree in the 2nd truck chose the murder-suicide route.

It’s only because of Little Miss Scryer Extraordinaire’s great skill in Sight that the cadets know what the 2nd truck is really trying to do. Thanks to that, Anacostia and the cadets change tactics and windshear the truck to oblivion instead of using winstrike again, avoiding a total bloodbath.

Therefore, in her televised address, Alder told the exact truth: “After our forces intercepted them, the Spree reacted as they always do, with violence and destruction. They chose to execute the hostages […].”

A suicide by cop is still a suicide. A murder-suicide by cop is still a murder-suicide.

Another reminder: the Spree are shown to be somewhat impervious to their own push work (as seen in M:FS s2e08, when Scylla resists at least one of Nicte’s push attack). Meaning that would the Spree survive the windstrike and subsequent crash of the 2nd truck (the Spree in the 1st truck survived the crash) could be getting away alive. So it wasn’t even a murder-suicide by cop, only a murder by cop.

In this instance, Anacostia is the one who lies. When Tally tells her about the hostages, she relays the message to Alder and Alder says: “The mission hasn’t changed. Proceed.” For Alder (and anyone who can count), the maths still works: 7 dead hostages are still better than thousands of dead civilians. There is no other solution. Neither Anacostia nor Tally proposes an alternative. No officer present in the war room proposes any alternative, they all know there isn’t one.

But Tally doesn’t take it well, and Anacostia then lies to her to pacify her:

Tally: “There are innocent people inside!”

Anacostia: “No. The Spree are just making you see things. My intel says there are no civilians onboard.”

That’s the only lie uttered in this whole mission. Alder didn’t lie, and didn’t order Anacostia to lie.

After this lie is the misunderstanding that will lead Tally to be so incensed against Alder:

Anacostia: “Craven. My intel, my orders, come directly from General Alder herself. Do you understand?”

Anacostia is simply trying to impress upon Tally that they don’t have the power to make a decision here, only their Commanding Officer does. But saying this right after her lie makes it sound to Tally that Alder said that there were no civilians onboard.

Now Tally mistakenly thinks that Alder lied when the lie was Anacostia’s.

Later, Tally says to her unit: “I told Anacostia. […] She said that intel came straight from General Alder and that there were no hostages.”

Now all 3 believe that Alder lied to them.

This misunderstanding will most probably never be addressed even though it’s what turns the unit against Alder in the first place, sending them to Petra, sending Petra to Wade, forcing Alder to puppet Wade and precipitating her later demise.

The cadets have sworn the oath to defend civilians with their lives, like every other soldier in the army. It was their duty, like every other soldier in the army, to stop those trucks. It’s only because they’re still in training that they are seen as “children sent to war” in the public eye.

Using the cadets is bad for optics, for the army’s and the government’s reputation. It’s a political and public representation problem, but that’s all it is. It’s the only reason that President Wade takes umbrage of this, for the same reason she always does: her reputation is taking a hit. Her reputation is the only thing she ever evokes as reason for her decisions.

It is unarguable that:

it would have been worse on every level to let the trucks reach the airport unhindered;

the Spree made the decision to execute the hostages;

Alder told the truth about it;

it was the correct decision to let the hostages be sacrificed.

The cadets, and Tally in particular, are traumatized, which is only logical. It would have traumatized more experienced soldiers. It even traumatizes Anacostia, who blames Alder as a way to cope with it.

The Spree did this to them. The Spree’s violence put them in an untenable position. The Spree forced them to kill innocent civilians. The Spree rammed their trucks into them and killed Libba.

The Spree are terrorists, they use terror as a weapon. They might have failed to use it against thousands of civilians, but they still managed to use it against the cadets and public opinion.

Additional considerations:

Why did the Spree even take hostages? Hostages are meant to serve as a shield, to influence your opponent’s actions, but it can’t if they don’t know you have hostages. The Spree didn’t announce that they had hostages, and only Tally Saw them. Anacostia specifically asked Tally to scry on the truck because she knows Tally’s Sight is that exceptional. The Spree wouldn’t have counted on the army’s scrying being that good. It might be a problem in the writing of the scene, but we could also assume that it was done this way to again demonstrate Tally’s great Sight, and to amp up the drama of Tally being the only one to know about the hostages and to think Alder lied. Or it could be that the hostages were always intended to be used as sacrifices in case the trucks were stopped, making it look bad for the authorities that hostages died (which is exactly what happened).

Knowing that hostages were onboard the 2nd truck, Tally refused to participate in the collective windshear to destroy it. There’s a distinct possibility that adding her power to the collective windshear would have finished destroying the small debris that injured some cadets and killed Libba. Adding the fact that it’s been demonstrated that the Bellweather unit’s harmonics are way more than the sum of their individual’s, there’s a really high chance her participation would have saved Libba. She refused to help the Spree kill civilians, and in doing that, also refused to help her sisters who were under threat of death. Nobody ever mentions it but it is very much part of showing how Tally’s immaturity is dangerous to the people around her.

Anacostia states that the instructors present in Citydrop are specifically trained in using Spree works (and thus are better suited than most at resisting Spree works, as demonstrated later by Scylla in M:FS s2e08). Had the mines been triggered near them and the cadets, they would have had a chance to resist them and hopefully help the cadets survive too. Not that there was any alternative, but Alder might have counted on that fact when she gave the order.

Anacostia also states that any cadet failing the Citydrop exam would be put on the list for early deployment instead of being sent to War College. Meaning that, even if Wade makes a great case about Alder sending untested cadets to war, those cadets were potentially hours away for being deployed anyway (although, they would have been deployed only after graduation day, which is still a few days away). Wade’s uproar really is just about semantics and appearances.

It’s possible that the army could have warned the civilian authorities of the arrival of the trucks, and maybe they did (it wasn’t on the list of possibilities voiced in the war room during the incident). Assuming there was even time for them to do something about it, the civilian police could have blocked the road, and the airport authorities could have evacuated the airport and grounded all the planes. This would have reduced the number of casualties, but, as the Spree demonstrated, they would have simply activated the mines and rammed into roadblocks to reach whatever amount of civilians they could. The deployed police forces and any civilian bystanders would still certainly have died en masse for it. Having the cadets intercept the trucks was still, by far, the better solution.

#tally craven #sarah alder #motherland fort salem #analysis #long post #save motherland fort salem

[motherland-thoughts]

Over-analyzing Talder scenes: The Warding Circle

The Warding Circle scene is not a significant scene for the relationship between Tally and Alder. Tally’s mad at Alder, then saves her life. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before.

Let’s over-analyze it anyway, and see what we can find.

For plot purposes, Tally has to be with Alder when Nicte makes her 2nd attack: someone has to save Alder’s life and discover the identity of the attacker, 2 things that only Tally, her Sight and her previous knowledge about Nicte can achieve. It also justifies sending Tally after Nicte for the next step of the plot.

But in the story itself, Tally’s presence in the warding circle has certain implications, intended or not.

As an example, imagine watching a movie, and you see, in the background of a scene, a building with a BANK sign on it.

It doesn’t matter that, on set, that building is just several wooden planks taped together and kept upright with wooden poles and some rope. The fact that it is pictured as a real building on the screen informs and implies a lot about the world your movie takes place in.

If there’s a bank, then there’s the concept of trade. The concept of language, of community, of currency. The concept of centralized banking. The concept of a central government to regulate it. The concept of laws. The concept of bank robbers. The concept of active (weapons, guards) and passive (locks, reinforced doors) defenses for protection and transport. Etc.

With that in mind, let see about our scene:

Remember that Alder has just been attacked and almost killed by a new type of Work that the army doesn’t know how to counter. Alder is hurt, vulnerable, dreading the next attack, and has to hide it from her own allies so her numerous enemies stay ignorant of her condition. The less people know about her state, the better. She doesn’t even inform the President or the Vice-President even though she should.

Her only company are her Biddies, as hurt as she is, Anacostia with whom she’s currently in conflict, Petra who is as much an ally as a threat to her, and a select few to keep Alder and current operations going.

Yet, Alder invites Tally, a first year War College cadet into the Warding Circle to “put her mind at ease” about another cadet’s safety. Really? Would Alder really be putting her secret at risk to reassure a cadet in person? Anacostia or anyone else could have gone to Tally’s location and give her the message.

Granted, Alder lies to Tally about the Warding Circle and the need for this meeting to happen in the Necro lab, but she still has to explicitly state the existence of a threat, she’s moving gingerly, and her throat is still visibly red.

Narratively, it doesn’t make sense. “Putting Tally’s mind at ease” must then just be an excuse that Alder uses to justify Tally’s presence here. So what are her true reasons, ones that must be worth the risk to her secret?

It could be that Alder wanted to debrief Tally herself about Raelle’s abduction. But Alder wouldn’t have needed a lie for it, and, at this point, Raelle is already safe, Alder already knows who abducted her and who retrieved her. Through linking, Alder probably already saw what Tally saw during the abduction.

What else then? Thankfully, we have some points of comparison that we can base our reflections upon:

Alder is hurt, vulnerable and under threat of death. That last time that this happened to her was during the Tarim mission, where Tally was the one who ended up saving her. It would stand to reason that Alder, knowing that her attacker would probably try again soon, would want Tally to be near her again. So when Alder sees an opportunity to bring Tally close to her, she takes it, even if she has to lie about it. Alder bringing Tally to her could imply that Alder feels safer with Tally around (and she’s immediately proven right).

The last time Tally received a joyful news on the scale of “Raelle is safe” was when she learned that Abigail and Raelle were still alive after the Tarim mission. Tally was Alder’s Biddy at that point, and, during that scene, we saw Tally’s unbridled joy. A joy that Alder, through the Biddy link, clearly shared with her: they were both crying and laughing, Alder holding Tally’s forehead against her own in a rare gesture of tenderness. Now, Alder knows that Tally is about to feel that unbridled joy again, and what does she do? She brings Tally directly to her. It seems fair to assume that she wanted to share that joy with Tally again, even if without the Biddy link it would never be as potent, and she would have to hide it. Alder bringing Tally to her could imply that Alder wanted to see Tally happy, wanted to share in Tally’s happiness, or even wanted to vicariously relieve a time she felt happiness through the link with Tally.

Both of these reasons fit within the context of the situation and Alder’s personality, each would explain why Alder lies about it (she’s very guarded, so she can’t admit to any of these reasons) and not only are they never disproven, but they’re somewhat confirmed later on in s3.

In any case, Alder didn’t have any tactical reason to invite Tally in the Warding Circle at that point, so her reason(s) must have been personal.

So the plot engineers this situation because Tally has to be near Alder for Nicte’s 2nd attack, but the narrative implies that Alder brought Tally there because she feels safer and/or happier in Tally’s presence.

Don’t you just love how that works?

#talder #tally craven #sarah alder #motherland fort salem #analysis #long post #i feel like this post is missing something #but oh well #let's ship it anyway #it's been in my draft for weeks