Now A Part Of Me Does Feel Pity And Grief For The Nowhere King/Elk/General, But On The Other Hand I See

Now a part of me does feel pity and grief for the Nowhere King/Elk/General, but on the other hand I see the Mysterious Woman kill him and I’m like;

This lady didn’t ask for this. She was only ever kind to the Elktaur and his components, but then had to deal with the fallout of them fighting over her without much, if any, regards to what the Woman wanted. A part of me is sad for the Elk, but a part of me notes that it’s kind of possessive how he mostly throws a pity party for himself and doesn’t seem to care that his beloved is happy. And the General... Well? He speaks for himself.

The Mysterious Woman saw two worlds get ravaged, countless people died, because these two men couldn’t agree over her. And she no doubt blamed herself, shouldered the burden for their immaturity, hence why her final song evokes the ‘poison’ they’d fed her. She had little to no agency in this mess, yet was the centerpiece of it as a trophy the Nowhere King and General were fighting over; Civilizations were ravaged by the Nowhere King, while the General let people die so he could be with the Woman when she clearly didn’t want to prioritize their relationship over lives.

So to see the Mysterious Woman acknowledge her pain so she can absolve herself of that unfair guilt placed upon her... Realize it’s not her fault, the Elktaur and his halves made their decision? Genuinely cathartic. The Mysterious Woman can finally be free of the burden of their possessive love that killed and destroyed, and not treat this tragedy as her responsibility, but simply a problem to be dealt with. She would’ve loved him regardless, it really is just HIS fault.

From a meta standpoint, I have to wonder if this is Megan Nicole Dong’s discussion of how women are treated in media. How in stories like these, the women’s feelings and agency in these back and forth conflict between their potential lovers is often overlooked, swept aside, because the pain and angst of the men is more important. What about the woman, what does she think and feel and want?

Not to mention the sexist tendency of writers and web fandom to put the onus on the woman for the man’s mistakes- To act like she’s responsible for him/them, she’s supposed to take care of and do everything in her power to make him okay, to ‘fix’ him. It’s her fault for not taking care of this grown man and her fault that the man caused this damage, and not... The man’s fault for choosing to do all this because she doesn’t owe him anything. If anything he owes HER, we see how the Mysterious Woman went out of her way to be kind to this dude and give him recognition!

So the Woman mourns the Elktaur, the love they could’ve had... But ultimately, she finally absolves herself and recognizes that this is his fault. She’s not beholden to him, she doesn’t owe him love. And while she wishes he hadn’t been like this... In the end, HE was, and she and so many others had to deal with the fallout of it. And the Mysterious Woman blamed herself, because if only she’d done more or been kinder...!

So yeah, I think this whole arc was a bit of a meta commentary on sexism and how women are tossed around as trophies to be won with no agency, while simultaneously given the onus of being responsible for the feelings and thus actions of the men who yearn for them. This backstory is possibly a discussion on how these messages in media can harm and damage women watching them, who feel like it’s up to them to ‘fix’ toxic people, because who else will?

And then that applies to just about any toxic and possessive relationship... Like there’s something rather victim-blaming and gaslighting when the Nowhere King tells the Woman that he forgives her, as if she caused this! Maybe it was in reference to sealing him away, but she only did that because HE tried to kill everyone; “I did this for you,” he claims. But did she ask for it? Is it her fault that he chose to do this when she never asked, and is it her fault for choosing to reject it, when such humble gifts are meant to be unconditional and prepared for rejection?

It almost implies as if it’s the Woman’s fault for making things more difficult and bloody than they need to be, by not accepting this ‘gift’, and rendering the Nowhere King’s efforts and sacrifices ‘meaningless’. As if this violence only became senseless because the Woman didn’t justify it by accepting the gift. As if these deaths that could’ve been a necessary loss by accomplishing something were instead wasted by her, because the Woman didn’t want to go through with it and take the final step.

All in all, she did the right thing. The Mysterious Woman practiced some self-care by smashing Elktaur’s head in, taking a moment to mourn and pity but also take out some much-deserved anger; I’d argue it’s a very progressive, feminist storyline and victory for her! And honestly, I look forward to her friendship with the Beartaur, of all people- Yeah they sass one another but they’re actually relatively honest and open with each other. There’s more communication with these two over their issues than there’s ever been between the Woman and Elktaur, and I think about that a lot.

It’s funny, because I was wondering what their relationship was like, if the Beartaur moved into the Woman’s cave and she had to sneak back in to make additions to the mural, but no! It’s a totally open and relatively mutual arrangement between these two, and I love that weird yet human dynamic where these two bicker as roommates in Season 2.

Weird take incoming, but the Beartaur is already proving himself to be a better romantic candidate than the Elktaur, and if the Mysterious Woman ever makes room for romance in her heart again, he’s arguably the best and maybe only option she has! And yet the Beartaur would never act entitled to her love, all he asks is for the Mysterious Woman to be a cleaner roommate which is... A totally fair demand let’s be real. This might be just HIS cave and he lets her live there in exchange for lore.

And it’s kind of ironic but really fitting that this shlubby nerd of a dude who is a borderline basement dweller is like. A better companion to the Mysterious Woman, romantically or platonically. Simply because he never acts entitled to her love and just talks and communicates with her on the same level, while the Elktaur doesn’t.

Yeah the Beartaur is willing to glue live people but it’s because he knows what he wants and isn’t indecisive about it. He’s not a Nice Guy like Elktaur who is swimming in self-doubt, dude chooses to glue people because they make the best figurines, what about it? It’s not like this is because of some self-loathing or personal pity party, he is who he is, and that self-acceptance and communication is kind of why ‘jerks’ like him are preferred by women. The Beartaur owns who he is and will actually talk to the Mysterious Woman, and complain not over love he’s owed but just hygiene.

TL;DR There’s something very feminist, both in a meta and in-universe standpoint, about the Mysterious Woman reclaiming her agency and absolving herself to kill the Elktaur, and finally be rid of his possessive and destructive love that she blamed herself for. She’s finally free now, to live and breathe and love -herself and others- without guilt. And while it’s so tragic and unfair that it’s up to her to finish this and kill the Elktaur, even if it’s not her fault, at least the Woman finally got over if.

(And ftr I don’t hate Elktaur or his components. Well except maybe the General. I’m very emo over him/them too.)