Redsayn

Unusually active

372 1791 0 0
Forum Posts Wiki Points Following Followers

L Character Analysis

L is the primary ‘antagonist’ of the Death Note Manga, Anime, and other adaptations. Kept in shadows for the more than an entire volume, when we finally got to see him L proved to be something other than whatever it was we were expecting.

No Caption Provided

But the detective’s quirky nature did anything but repulse the fanbase. Loved by readers world-wide for his unique personality and amazing food-taste, L is definitely one of the most popular characters of modern fiction. This however begs the question: what exactly makes L… L?

His role in the story: Light's main adversary

In most fictional stories in which a detective goes after a serial killer, you would expect that the detective would be the hero/protagonist. As anyone who has watched/read Death Note knows, this isn’t exactly the case. In it, there is no set good guy or bad guy who the audience roots for. Whilst by the end of the series it is transparent that Light Yagami has long since turned “into the very thing he once fought against” (1), the conflict; dynamic between him and Ryuzaki is the definition of two sides of the same coin.

However, before I can touch on that, first I have to clarify some things:

  • There are definite differences between Ohba’s Manga L and the Anime version
  • These differences can be seen to change the relationship between him and Light

That said, it is undeniable that L is the unmovable object to Light’s unstoppable force, an inversion and reflection of him at the same time. When looked at through this lens, it becomes apparent that any other ending to Death Note would’ve been impossible. In an effort to avoid spoilers for the sad few who have not yet read the Manga, I’ll be sure to keep this vague. L’s entire character was designed to contrast with Light’s. His appearance, as well as lending itself to his more famous traits, is interesting in that it can be seen to represent the ‘justice’ L is believed to stand for. Easily disliked and ugly, perfectly comparable with the perfection of Light Yagami. It’s so easy to prefer Light, so why should anyone even think about L?

This is a part of their dynamic, how Kira is the easy option whilst the legal system can be so hated at times. How Kira can do things so easily, whilst the law can be so difficult. How Kira can be so attractive, and the law so repulsive.

In this regard, and in many others, L is Light's character foil.

I wanted L to be an extremely unorthodox character to contrast with Light, who is supposed to be a brilliant and outstanding student.

Tsugumi Ohba

From his debut, L establishes himself as Light's definitive opponent. That is, he shows himself to be the sole character in the story who is capable of not only disproving Kira's godhood, but is also very real threat to Light's survival. While L lives, Light cannot be the God he seeks to be.

However, it is necessary to appreciate that L is not the main character. If we go into an analysis of L with the belief that he is, and that the dynamic between him and Light is the main focal point of the Manga, then we’d be going in blind. For obvious reasons, this is not really the case. Although L plays a key role in many recurring themes, and his ideology as well as legacy are indeed the major opposition to Kira, AND his intellect has been confirmed by Tsugumi Ohba (him?)self to be the greatest in the series, the man himself is not the protagonist.

To repeat, L is the unmovable object to Light Yagami’s unstoppable force, but that in itself doesn’t make him on equal grounds with Kira in terms of the narrative. Whilst his role and legacy does achieve this, and L himself is Light's single main rival and equal, making the assumption that in the entirety of the Death Note series Ryuzaki himself is on par with Kira is a mistake. The cat and mouse dynamic between L and his legacy in relation to Light Yagami is what many believe to be the greatest part of the Manga, the former especially, but that particular section only spans half the plot. It’s important to note that whilst L and his personal hunt for Kira may be what makes people remember Death Note more than anything, making the claim that Ryuzaki was as much an antagonist as Light was a protagonist would only be true if the story had ended following the conclusion of that arc (also known as Episode 25 and Chapter 58). However, it didn't, and the story continued with new threats with new faces, and although they all link back to the same source in a thematically pleasing sense, Ryuzaki’s role wasn’t to be the equal character to Kira.

In my opinion, it was the role of L to parallel and personify different ideologies along with Light, acting as the other half of the same coin, as well as to demonstrate the evolution of Light’s god-complex; he provides an alternate to Kira’s justice. This can be seen as his more thematic duty, and duty from a story-telling perspective, but of course his character is loved for very different reasons.

Differences between the Anime and Manga

Before we can develop why we adore him though, we must first develop the differences between the Anime L and the Manga L. This section will contain analysis of:

  • L’s motivations
  • the friendship between L and Light
  • further thoughts on L’s role in the story due to the above points

Firstly, let’s examine L’s motivations.

No Caption Provided

In the Manga, they couldn’t be clearer, literally being spelt out for us:

It's not a sense of justice. Figuring out difficult cases is my hobby. If you measured good and evil deeds by current laws, I would be responsible for many crimes. The same way you all like to solve mysteries and riddles, or clear video games more quickly. For me too, it's simply prolonging something I enjoy doing. That's why I only take on cases that pique my interest. It's not justice at all. And if it means being able to clear a case, I don't play fair, I'm a dishonest, cheating human being who hates losing. (2)

Manga L

It is made perfectly clear that L doesn’t do what he does because he cares about justice. He does it simply because he enjoys it. That’s not to say, however, that he doesn’t care about justice at all. In my research for this analysis, one of the most frustrating elements was the supposed paradox. Going into it, I didn’t have any illusions about L’s motivations being what they were, seeing as how it wasn’t my first time reading the Manga. So, when I came upon Chapter 10 ‘Confluence’, I was momentarily stunned.

Kira… I think that right now, we’re even in how far we’ve closed the distance between us. But the clue I’ve managed to get was obtained by sacrificing the lives of 12 FBI agents. Twelve precious lives

So I’ll do this. I’ll show myself to others as L for the first time… (3)

Manga L

Here we have it. Black and white, definitive proof that L does value the lives of others, at least to some degree. Obviously, L wasn't a knight in shining armour (truthfully, he was an arsehole), but he’s an arsehole who isn’t an entirely self-centred machine. He’s a human being, with his own set of morals just like the rest of us. My dilemma was the belief that those two parts of L -being a detective for fun, but also caring about justice- make him a literal paradox, because in my view it was impossible for both of those statements to be true. Evidently, this is not the case. There is no reason for those two characteristics to not co-exist. L is extremely realistic in that he has a moral compass, but that isn’t what drives him. Simple as that.

Also, although this has no real basis, I think there is more to the Wammy-house speech than meets the eye. Everything L says about himself, on some level, is true. However, we have to recognise the context in which L is giving his speech: in an orphanage, to children, who want to succeed him. Later on in this analysis, I'll hint towards how being L has absolutely consumed the character, until his entire life is 100% dedicated towards being the greatest detective in the world. I doubt that L, who does on some level care about justice and morals, would want anyone else to live that kind of life.

We know what happened to L's first successor and what his second turned into. It's highly likely that after these, L thought that the idea of having successors was horrifying for the successors in question (and likely his reputation). It's possible that L said everything so bluntly so that the successors who idolized him -who wanted to be him- would immediately go off the idea, and would go onto live normal lives. Only those children who didn't idolize L would, after such a bombshell, continue to want to succeed him. This could be an act of kindness on L's part.

...or maybe L didn't want any kids who didn't understand him to succeed him, and this was the best way to thin the herd of possible successors. Due to the first generation of choices I'm leaning towards the first interpretation, but in all honesty it's left to the reader.

Now, in contrast, the Anime:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnqSpbQ-quA

Kira… I’m going to hunt you down wherever you are hiding and I will eliminate you! I am… justice!

Following one of the greatest scenes in all of Anime history, L proclaims himself -with no one other than himself there- justice. Whilst in the Manga L proclaims himself to be righteous in front of the entire Kanto region (maybe to increase his popularity or to intimidate Kira, actually to have a badass scene and foreshadow the dynamic between him and Light), in this instance it is evident that L believes what he is saying. In other words, L believes himself to be justice, and as such it is fairly obvious that L does what he does for the sake of justice.

I personally like to believe that L’s character in this matter has been inverted, so whilst in the Manga he does what he does because he likes it, as well as caring about justice, in the Anime he does what he does because he cares about justice, as well as liking it. This would also explain why L “only gets involved in cases that interest him” (4) in both versions of the story, as one of his main motivations is the fun of it.

No Caption Provided

In the Manga, the dynamic between L and Kira took an interesting turn when L appeared to confess that Light was his first ever friend. This was, of course, a lie.

When he told Light that Light was his first friend, it was a lie. L could never have a friend, as he found humans to be a very cunning species.”

Tsugumi Ohba

This raises an interesting point though. If I may go off on a tangent for a moment, notice how the quote says that L could never have a friend, due to that fact he finds humans to be a cunning species. This suggests that L always loves to be in control, a trait that can be found numerous times in the Manga, and furthermore always seeks to regain control when he loses it. It could therefore be possible that L hates competition, even though one of his main goals is to find it. Interestingly enough, this could be a correct element of the character. He is, after all, extremely childish and hates to lose, so why wouldn’t he desire to be in control, in all areas of his life? Of course, another interpretation is that he just wants to be the best, so he makes himself the best; the competition could just be a necessary step. In fact, this seems quite likely.

We know from the LA:BB novel that he won the identities of Eraldo Coil and Deneuve from the actual detectives in the ‘Detective Wars’, so the idea of L finding and eradicating competition in order to make himself the best does seem in line with his character.

Back on topic though, there were some visual ques that suggested in the original material that L was lying when he confessed. It seems that throughout the Manga you can tell when L’s planning something whenever we just see the back of his head. Although this obviously isn’t a failsafe method, there is a basis for it not being completely void. Prior to chapter 10, whenever we saw L it was at an angle: we never saw his eyes, only either the side of his face or the back of his hair. As well as setting up a badass character and expectations which were subverted, this also set up a recurring motif: whenever we don’t see L’s face, we know that he's planning something.

I mention this as it directly ties into the next element: the Anime’s Judas scene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qrQ3d6OpsQ

For the most part, this scene serves just to build up the culmination of episode 25, and does a fine job of it in my opinion. Religious imagery is used to suggest that L does know what’s going to happen, and his dialogue and mannerisms also suggest that he knows why what’s going to happen will happen. It’s tragic. That said, aside from some additional moments, it seems as though nothing much has altered from the original. That is, until L says that he and Light will be parting ways soon, and that it’ll be lonely (supposedly, for the latter). Although there isn’t enough evidence for any definitive claims to be made, there is enough to suggest that L does see Light as a friend- someone who will miss him, at the very least. Certainly, he seems extremely distressed by what’s going to happen, in a quiet, mournful manner, not only about his own fate. He seems legitimately concerned for Light.

One of the reasons other for why I believe L could see Light as a friend would be the aforementioned ‘mystery motif’. When L says that everything seems to have worked out, we can’t see his face. This seems to be the final piece of evidence that L knows what’s going to happen (because obviously he’s lying to a degree), and that things have worked out- but not for him. This doesn’t really add anything other than what I’ve said in the previous paragraph, but I thought it would be interesting anyway.

I’m not going to act as though L seeing Light as a friend changes that many things. It could give the final episode’s final scenes a different impact than they would’ve in the Manga, but besides from that there’s little overall impact than a more emotional and metaphorical ending to Light the human (referring to the evolution of Kira’s character).

In any event, it's likely that Light and L saw in each other a sought of kindred spirit, and that they saw each other as equals- a kind of familiarity which transcends the lines of morality and any conscious liking or dislike.

Now that the glaring differences between Anime and Manga L are out of the way, I’d say that it’s time to examine one of the more stand-out parts of L’s character.

His appearance and mannerisms

No Caption Provided

L always dresses casually, has hair that’s never been combed, a complexion that could rival a vampire and bags under his eyes that are legendary. There are reasons for this design other than it just conflicting with Light’s however, as well as explanations which are different than being metaphorical for his version of justice.

Firstly, his fashion sense: L doesn’t give a damn about his physical attractiveness, something which is apparent to anyone who’s ever glanced at an episode or chapter. The white shirt and blue jeans are most likely the clothes he feels most comfortable in, so why should he have any variation? The same can be said for his hair; why should he comb it when he in doing do he’s wasting time, time that could be spent cracking a case?

His complexion is obviously a result of never going outdoors, and his bags are the result of never going to bed.

All of the aforementioned points link back to one main thing: if he spends any time changing any of them, then he’d be wasting time which could be spent on a case. His entire being is dedicated to what he does, his life consumed by his pursuit of justice. For someone like him, his appearance means nothing.

He’s not an idiot though. L would most likely change his clothing if in not doing so it would put his health at risk. For example, if he’s going into a room full of broken glass, he’s going to wear shoes. Doing otherwise would be a pointlessly stupid action, after all, and L is anything but stupid.

Now, to examine his quirks.

There’s no point examining all of them individually, they all boil down to the same causes as his appearance. His food, his way of sitting, the ways he walks: they all can be linked to L making himself the best detective possible. His sweet food to keep him wide awake, his way of sitting keeping his deductive abilities at their peak, walking with a slump so that he doesn’t waste energy standing straight. All of them link back to L being able to be at his best for what really matters to him.

Of course, there’s also the metaphorical reasons behind them, which can be summarised in this nice little passage from the ‘L, Change the World’ novelisation.

Who could comprehend the man who had lived his life, and had to live confronting all the lives ended prematurely, the tears of the grief stricken survivors, the devaluing of life as a daily reality. How was it possible to measure the pain of such a man? Was it a strain so heavy that L's back curved under all its weight? Was it an agony so terrible as to leave the indelible dark circles around his eyes? Was it a feeling so bitter that every bite he took needed to be coated in sugar? The chronically rounded shoulders, the inevitable dark circles, the eccentric tastes- L suppressed the pain of being a champion of justice, but the evidence of the pain was molded into his very body.

Of course, this is looking into aspects of the character that don't need explanation- his character was designed to contrast with Light, so he was made into a weirdo. The way he sits and the food he eats, both these aspects can be explained by him just wanting to do those things this way. In all honesty, these aspects likely didn't have that large amount of thought put into them by the Manga's creators; in the interviews they've given, Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata have repeatedly said that they wrote Death Note from a lens of "let's make this something really enjoyable, and something that the readers will love!", not something that was meant to be put under a magnifying glass to the extent you would a Neil Gaiman comic.

His personality

It’s weird to think that I’m around 3000 words in, and I’ve barely scratched the surface of L. There’s so much to cover, so let’s get started with the meat of L’s character:

  • Childish and hates to lose- stated by the genius himself numerous times, L isn’t the most mature detective. He has a habit of rubbing his victories into the noses of his enemies; following the Second Kira’s arrest, I can’t be the only one who found that L rubbed some salt into Light’s wound. There wasn’t that much of a reason for him to divulge the extent of his manoeuvrings to Kira in the Lind L Tailor broadcast after all, but to be honest I feel like very few of us would be able to resist either. There’s also the depression he underwent following the 50-day imprisonment; a melancholy attitude would be expected, but to be honest the phrase childish is the best description for how he was acting.
  • Self-awareness- L is more than aware of who and what he is, and this often manifests in what seems to be arrogance. He knows his strengths, he knows his weaknesses, and he knows how to compensate for them.
  • Emotional understanding- I use this term hesitantly, as L's understanding is more clinical than anything. He understands people have emotions, uses this to manipulate them, and to further his understanding of them. His knowledge and grasp is not something that’d fit a therapist. The perfect example: Chief Soichiro Yagami’s confinement.
  • Pragmatic- it should be apparent that L does the bare minimum when it comes to taking care of his appearance and health, but he does so in order to make himself the best detective possible. This would suggest minimalism and lack of energy, but does this minimalistic attitude extend towards his detective work? Technically- L always solves his cases with hard evidence (5), securing that he emerges victorious. It’s likely he does whatever is necessary to achieve this; by his own admittance in his ‘One-shot’ speech, he will. However, when it comes to working with people in order to solve his cases, he doesn’t exert himself. He does whatever is necessary to secure the progress of the investigation, placing that above anything else in the big picture. Put simply, when faced with multiple options, he picks what he judges to be the best outcome. He chooses these options by looking at the big picture, as well as paying attention to the smaller details. Speaking of:
  • Looks at the big picture, whilst paying attention to the smaller details- repeatedly in both Anime and Manga, L demonstrates being able to do this. You can see this, amongst other occasions, when L reveals himself to Light; he recognised there was a risk, but he used his knowledge of Kira to determine that it was a risk worth taking. Also:
  • Takes risks, but not needlessly- as shown in the previous point, L takes risks when he believes it’d be the best choice of action from a detached, analytical perspective, but as evidenced in the Lind L Tailor broadcast he also takes precautions, and doesn’t do anything without just cause.

Risking your life and doing something that could easily rob you of your life are exact opposites. I understand your feelings, but please try to control yourself right now.

Manga L
  • Mischievous, childish sense of fun- this was shown numerous times, my favourite example being Chapter 48, Give-and-Take, wherein Ryuzaki pokes fun at Light about why he’s not going to bed with Misa (6).
  • Detached and analytical- whenever L is working on the investigation, he isn’t consumed by his emotions, instead viewing everything with an outsider’s perspective. This can be seen especially during the Second Kira’s broadcast, and the immediate aftermath. He wouldn’t let whatever he was feeling interfere with his logic, despite himself being in greater danger than ever before.
  • Logical to the core- this shouldn’t require that much explanation. The reasonings behind this are identical as to those in the previous point; that said, L’s reaction to a certain trigger word suggests just how much this is the case (7), in both the Anime and the Manga. It seems as though his entire understanding of the world is shaken. He always refers to logic when working on a case, even if his movements can seem to be anything but logical (such as in Chapter 19, ‘Humiliation’ (8))
  • Paranoid- I’d say that this is fairly obvious. Although his paranoia is very warranted, and it makes total sense for him to take these measure, it is undeniable that L is anything but trusting. In fact, the only reason that I’m including this is because it’s a key part of his life; from what we see in the source material, this is tied directly into L taking necessary precautions, and being logical in his reasonings. A passage in the LABB novel gets this point across amazingly:

For a detective of L's ability, self-preservation and the preservation of world peace were one and the same, and it would not be correct to describe his actions as cowardly or self-centered.

Mello

Intellect

Death Note is most famous for the cat-and-mouse between Light and L, and whenever someone thinks of the series this element is always one of the first to come to mind. That said, who really was the smartest character?

Before we can start on the actual Manga, something must be addressed: the 13th Volume, How To Read. In it, L's intellect is ranked as an 8, whilst both Light and Near are ranked as a 9. To be totally honest, I don't give these statistics that much credibility. Take for instance the intellect of Mello being equal to Namikawa and Takada, (7) as well as being less than Watari. Furthermore, the statistics say that Misa is less smart than Higuchi (a man she easily manipulates during the Yotsuba-arc). It's due to this that I hesitate to rely on these statistics at all, and instead look towards the original material for answers.

My personal opinion is that of Tsugumi Ohba's , in that L was the smartest character because “the plot required it” (something which is stated in the 'How To Read' encyclopaedia). It makes perfect narrative sense: Light has a magic weapon, so obviously L’s going to be smarter in order for him to close the gap between them. This intellectual superiority was required for the plot. Furthermore, throughout the series L outclasses Light in terms of intellect, and the most stand-out times that the opposite is true is when literal divine-intervention is incorporated; when Light had access to resources and information L never had. There is, of course, Light finding the Yotsuba-connection before L: in this instance, L was doing nothing. As seen in Chapter 38, the detective couldn’t be bothered to do anything productive. He was sat in his chair, staring at a wall, until Light uncovered that connection, at which point he gained motivation again. There’s a legitimate chance that if he wasn’t undergoing depression, that he would have found the correlation before his suspect.

As well as this, in regards to L saying that Light could succeed him, it’s a fact that he was lying. It’s apparent that L is merely testing Light, knowing that if he is Kira and is merely acting innocent, then he’ll definitely agree that he would be willing to; furthermore, he even confirms that he was testing Light when called out on it. There’s every chance that when L says that Light succeeded with the phone call better than L would’ve, that he was lying.

There is, of course, the fact that Light won over L. I'm tempted to say that this is less because of superior intelligence, and more the fact that Light was orchestrating supernatural events that L didn't even know existed, and despite his intelligence couldn't possibly hope to compete with. L's death at Rem's hands was not a result of inferior intelligence, but a lack of knowledge of supernatural events and Rem's own incompetence as a Shinigami.

Back on topic, in reference to Near, he himself said that working alone he wouldn’t be able to surpass L. Furthermore, Near fell, or would’ve fallen, for a trick that Light himself says L would’ve detected in a heartbeat.

As such, I feel confident in saying that L was the smartest character in both the Anime and Manga, superior to both Light and Near in this regard.

On another note, in the LABB novel, Mello, as the narrator, gives a bit of insight into L's intellect- it could be exaggeration, but it could also be cold, analytical observations.

By simple arithmetic, L's ability in 2002 was the equivalent of five ordinary investigative bureaus, and seven intelligence agencies (and by the time he faced off against Kira, those numbers had leapt upward several more notches).

Mello

Conclusion

Although L wasn’t the main character, he’s arguably the most loved. His personality and design have embedded him in the hearts of fans around the globe, and he is at least half the reason why Death Note is as loved as it is today.

He is the definition of a layered character, where a perfect grasp of him is nigh-impossible. Below, I’ll include a list of quotes in reference to L which I believe are helpful in order to understand him, as well as explanations in regards to the bolded numbers included throughout the analysis.

R.I.P. L, we will always remember you.

---

1) In reference to the blurb of the Black Editions- "Will Light's noble goal succeed, or will the Death Note turn him into the very thing he fights against?"

2) The Death Note One-shot Special, in which he addressed the orphans of Wammy's House.

3) Death Note, Chapter 10, L's narration as he considers why he's showing himself to the Japanese Taskforce.

4) Death Note, Chapter 2; a person at the ICPO conference suggests that L might not even want to take on the Kira case.

5) Death Note, Chapter 36, Father and Son, "L has always solved his cases with hard evidence.

6) Death Note, Chapter 48, Give-and-Take, "Don't be so shy, Light-kun... Why are you answering so seriously, Light-kun?"

7) Death Note, Chapter 26, Reversal, "Shinigami" [falls out of chair].

8) Showing himself to Light as L.

I’m going to find and dispose of you, if it’s the last thing I do!!

I’m righteous!!

Manga L

To me, Light is evil, L is slightly evil and only Soichiro is totally righteous.

Tsugumi Ohba
In the public record alone he solved over 3,500 difficult crimes, and sent three times that number of degenerates to prison. He wielded incredible power, was able to mobilize every investigative bureau in the entire world, and was applauded generously for his efforts.Mello, LABB novel
L, on principle, never got involved in a case unless there were more than ten victims or a million dollars at stake [...] the only exceptions to this were cases at difficulty level L (extremely fitting), or when L had personal reasons compelling him to get involved.Mello, LABB novel

Volume 13

Light Yagami

Intelligence: 9

Creativity: 10

Initiative: 8

Emotional Strength: 10

Social Skills: 10

Acting Skills: 10

L

Intelligence: 8

Creativity: 10

Initiative: 9

Emotional Strength: 10

Social Skills: 1

Sweet Tooth: 10

Mello

Intelligence: 7

Creativity: 7

Initiative: 10

Emotional Strength: 8

Social Skills: 9

Inferiority Complex: 8

Near

Intelligence: 9

Creativity: 10

Initiative: 6

Emotional Strength: 10

Social Skills: 1

Life Skills: 1

Misa Amane

Intelligence: 3

Creativity: 4

Initiative: 10

Emotional Strength: 6

Social Skills: 10

Charm: 10

Kyosuke Higuchi

Intelligence: 6

Creativity: 5

Initiative: 6

Emotional Strength: 4

Social Skills: 6

Integrity: 3

Reiji Namikawa

Intelligence: 7

Creativity: 7

Initiative: 6

Emotional Strength: 6

Social Skills: 9

Shogi Skills: 10

Naomi Misora

Intelligence: 7

Creativity: 8

Initiative: 7

Emotional strength: 9

Social skills: 6

Luck: 1

Kiyomi Takada

Intelligence: 7

Creativity: 5

Initiative: 6

Emotional strength: 7

Social skills: 8

Grace: 10

Watari:

Intelligence: 7

Creativity: 8

Initiative: 10

Emotional strength: 9

Social skills: 8

Versatility: 10

Start the Conversation

A Year Later: Harry Pottter and the Cursed Child retrospective

No Caption Provided

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child retrospective: A Year Later

When Cursed Child was originally announced, Potterheads all over the world screamed in utter ecstasy. Granted, whilst the play-medium made it difficult for the general audience to appreciate the story in its preferred state, the revelation of a rehearsal script being made public kept the flame of hype burning bright in the hearts of fans everywhere.

Personally, when I first saw the cover of the script online, I could hardly contain my glee- further, I haven’t met anyone then and since who thinks that it is anything less than beautiful. Rowling herself, whilst not writing it directly, was taking a heavy interest in it, and acclaimed duo Jack Thorne -playwright- and John Tiffany -director- were heading up the play. All of these aspects -a talented cast, amazing writers and directors, and practically unlimited potential, as well as characters with well over a decade of history behind them- meant that the play failing was a laughable concept.

Indeed, the two-part success would later win a record-breaking nine Olivier awards. These ground-breaking results include:

  • Best actor, with Harry himself, Jamie Parker (beating out even Ian McKellen)
  • Best supporting actress (Noma Dumezweni as Hermione Granger)
  • Best supporting actor (Anthony Boyle as Scorpius Malfoy)
  • Best director (John Tiffany)
  • Best lighting design
  • Best sound design
  • Best costume design
  • Best set design
  • Best new play
No Caption Provided

Also, as soon as the play opened there was hardly a negative review in sight. Casual viewers and critics alike were simply astounded by the spectacle they were privy to; the following are example of the experience:

Inventively staged, strikingly performed and genuinely theatrical extension of the Harry Potter franchise -Mark Shenton, The Stage

A magical experience tailor made for the stage -Jack Shepard, The Independent

For once the so-called theatrical event of the year really is just that. The long-awaited Harry Potter play, written by Jack Thorne in collaboration with J K Rowling and presented in two installments that together weigh in at more than five hours, is a feast for fans, packed with pathos, dazzling choreography and moments of pure enchantment. -Henry Hitchings, London Evening Standard

On another matter entirely, let’s look back on one of the more memorable aspects of the hype: Hermione being played by a black actress. If you were to ask any random person walking down the street, they would undoubtedly have an answer for you within a matter of seconds, regardless of the strength of their opinion; to clear up the matter of Hermione’s ethnicity, I will give quotations from the original source material themselves:

“An’ they haven’t invented a spell our Hermione can’ do,” said Hagrid proudly, making Hermione go a brilliant shade of magenta. -Prisoner of Azkaban

A shower of brilliantly colored sweets fell into Harry’s lap. It was dusk, and Ron and Hermione had just turned up in the common room, pink-faced from the cold wind and looking as though they’d had the time of their lives. -Prisoner of Azkaban

Hermione went very red, put down her hand, and stared at the floor with her eyes full of tears. -Prisoner of Azkaban

There were footsteps down the passageway and Hermione and Ginny came into the kitchen, both looking pale and drowsy. -Goblet of Fire

Mr. Malfoy’s eyes had returned to Hermione, who went slightly pink, but stared determinedly back at him. -Goblet of Fire

Hermione went very pink and muttered something about not meaning that she wanted to leave. -Goblet of Fire

“Of course they want to be free!” said Hermione at once, though her face was turning pink. -Order of the Phoenix

“So what if I am” said Hermione coolly, though her face was a little pink. “I can have a pen-pal if I -” -Order of the Phoenix

Hermione, on the other hand, had turned scarlet with suppressed rage. -Order of the Phoenix

To Harry’s surprise, Hermione turned a very deep shade of pink at these words. -Half-Blood Prince

“It’s got nothing to do with that!” said Hermione, her cheeks reddening. -Half-Blood Prince

Hermione was hurrying toward them, very pink-faced and wearing a cloak, hat, and gloves. -Half-Blood Prince

“There weren’t,” said Hermione, who had turned pink. “Dumbledore removed them all, but he – he didn’t destroy them. -Deathly Hallows

Harry, Ron and Hermione took their seats in the second row behind Fred and George. Hermione looked rather pink and Ron’s ears were still scarlet. -Deathly Hallows

Hermione turned pink. There was another pause, an awkward and embarrassed one, and then Lupin said, with an air of forcing himself to admit something unpleasant, “Tonks is going to have a baby.” -Deathly Hallows

However, I digress: this retrospective was not supposed to be an essay on whether a character should be played by someone of a different skin colour. I’ll leave that matter to people who actually give a damn. The reason I mentioned this was because of two reasons: it was a notable part of the hype, and therefore a significant part of the play’s history, and because it mirrors the play itself: people were so caught up by the visual appearance that they lost focus on the reasoning and writing behind the character (though the latter part of the parallel refers to actually watching the play).

Notice that the reviews refer more to the actual effects and acting, and atmosphere, AKA the more visual aspects, rather than the writing, narrative and the overall concept that the crew executed to the best of their ability; as you can see from the aforementioned awards, that ability is proven to be very high. As well as this, notice the awards themselves: awards for acting, direction and the ability of the crew. There is absolutely nothing about best script or best story, or any other awards of that type.

There is a reason for this: in my opinion, the script is similar to what comes out of a hippogriff’s backside. So that the basis of this opinion is fully covered, I have every intention of transforming this retrospective into my own personal review of the rehearsal script. However, before I do this, I’ll first explain why this should not be necessary in the first place:

Cursed Child is a play. It was conceived as a play, it was written as a play, and as such it can only be appreciated as best it can be as a play. Any visual medium would work in this regard too, albeit to a lesser extent depending. A movie would allow for superior effects compared to, in the play’s regard, the best that money can buy, but obviously the atmosphere will be lessened as it would lack the mystique of being done right there in front of you, and to an impossibly immersive extent (with the movie format having the same benefits as a TV show, cartoon or live action, though I would be the first to admit that a longer running time would be much to the story’s benefit).

A comic or a manga would be weird to say the least, but that visual medium would still have visual aid. A novel or two would be much to CC’s benefit (but if the story remained the same then the quality would as well as the play- that however, is completely missing the point.)

However, what we have is a play and a script. For obvious reasons, the former is by far the superior format of entertainment -as well as for reasons I’ll get to later- and I’d go as far as to say that this script is indisputably the worst way to enjoy it. A script is something you learn, something that you use to help you perform later on; it is not necessarily as much for entertainment as it is for education. Therefore, bringing something as visually reliant as CC to the most not-visually suited medium there is is an utterly appalling idea; after all, whilst with a book you imagine what is happening you also have a lot of guidance in the matter- it’s a book, for heaven’s sake, there’s detail in literally every word, so you aren’t usually responsible for filling in every single one of the blanks. In any visual medium, you would be able to see the wonder and magic of the play right there in front of you, and you’d be able to appreciate it in that regard.

However, with a script, you can do nothing but to dwell on the words you see before you, with nothing to distract you at all (with the techniques and sophistication of the writer present in a novel).

That therefore begs the question: wouldn’t it be unfair to judge a story in its worst possible format? All considered, I’d say no.

Firstly, like it or not, the script is the most prominent way that people will experience CC. Tickets are usually sold out within hours of them being released to the public, and as such it is highly unlikely that there will ever come a time when the amount of people who have seen the play outnumber those who have only read the script (with the latter having sold two million copies in the first two days).

What’s more, the script was marketed as not just a script of the play, which would arguably mean that judging the book as I’m going to is unfair, but also as the next major story in the Potter franchise. On the back of the beautiful cover are the words, etched in capitalised, black font, “The eighth story. Nineteen years later.” The powers-that-be literally proclaim Cursed Child as the direct sequel to Deathly Hallows, and as such not only proclaim that this is the format which they want us to judge the story with, but also warrant the story to be judged as though it were a Rowling novel- they take the title of Harry Potter to gain popularity and interest, and as such should be compared with the original material as well; let me clarify that just because it is set in the Wizarding World of J.K. Rowling, that does not necessarily mean that it is blatantly attempting to achieve those things through those particular means. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, for example, was part of that world, but whilst it did use the franchise to increase its hype it wasn’t entirely reliant upon the brand to the same extent as CC.

These different points result in one conclusion: Cursed Child proclaimed itself to be the 8thPotter story, and as such it should be treated as such.

So, in order to fully appreciate the entirety of the product as available to the majority of the public, and without further ado, my review of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child:

Cursed Child, at least in the script format, is the definition of unsatisfactory.

To begin with, the overall quality of the product is quite novice. That’s not to say that everything about the book was bad- merely that, for a project of such scope and effort, the actual effect without the mystique and magnetism of a theatre and the crew’s efforts is one of an average nature. The best things about the play, whilst definitely done well enough to enjoy quite a few times, is nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, you could go to your local book-store and pick out at random a book which does these aspects superior to the script.

That aside, the things the script fails with, it does so horrendously. For instance, there’s an undeniable lack of understanding of some of the characters. The most obvious example of this would be Ron, who -though the play seems to be set in the book timeline- is merely the comic relief, and displays practically none of his book aspects. Instead, he seems to be based entirely on his movie counterpart.

On the subject of humour, I have to say that -personally- the book just didn’t do it for me. Often, it comes out of the blue and has no purpose in the scene, and often it is a detriment that injures the narrative and the established atmosphere rather than a pleasant, necessary break from it. Speaking of coming out of the blue, there’s one occurrence in the play that makes literally no-sense whatsoever, but what’s really baffling for me is that it doesn’t impact anything whatsoever: there’s a completely mind-blowing element that doesn’t affect the narrative at all, and the only effect is one of utter bemusement and a pointless inclusion which confuses the audience.

The arcs of the characters are often stereotypical and follow a strict, predictable and worn-out formula, which whilst not bad in and of itself was not executed well enough for it to be a success. In other instances, characters have no arcs whatsoever (Ron, Hermione) and the other characters did indeed grow but don’t really seem to develop that much (everyone besides Draco, and that’s relying heavily upon what we know through the books; that is, however, excusable seeing as how the writers want us to see the script as a sequel). Due to this, the new characters lack substance, and the old characters gain little, or are in fact worsened.

On the other hand, some scenes are stand-out for positive reasons, just as some are stand-out for more negative aspects. Some in particular are actually pretty intelligent, not spelling out much and instead leaving it to more metaphorical means for the messages to make sense. However, all too often the themes and messages of the story are blatant and practically stamped in bold on the page. The parallels implemented between the characters and each other are rather obvious, but the poorly written, poorly executed and nature of these parallels (in particular those between the villain and main protagonists) makes it so such a would-be thought provoking element lacks in use and wastes time that could have been spent on other parts of the play, such as developing the characters and their interactions with one another.

As well as this, one of my most immediate criticisms is the dialogue; given the critical acclaim of the writers, one would expect the best from Cursed Child in this regard. However, the dialogue is, in my opinion, rather plain and run-of-the-mill. The script continuously attempts to incorporate wit into it -fair enough, given that it’s entirely reliant upon the ability and charisma of the actors-, but often the lines just come off as kind of, in a way, ‘anti-climactic’. Given the magnitude that Cursed Child is in its entirety, it feels as though the lines are trying to reach a level that is continuously beyond what they’re trying to achieve.

The story’s concept is definitely interesting, but overdone many, many times over. Avoiding spoilers (though I doubt that’s necessary) the concept allows for different portrayals of characters, but the explanations behind those portrayals are nowhere near good enough to excuse what happened to the characters (Hermione in the first divergence in the concept, and a spoiler in and of itself in the second). Further, when the divergences realign with the original, the events that took place in the divergences automatically lose any and all impact.

However, those divergences allow for the audience/reader to get a superior grasp of the stakes, which is a good idea as it allows for more emotional investment. However, MAJOR, BUT PREDICTABLE SPOILER the good guys winning results in those divergences/events in/of the story being invalidated, and the characters do not have enough developed character in themselves and not enough developed and interesting enough relationships with one another (the former much less than the latter) for their growing relationships to be good enough to make up for the lack of impact. This results in the play not having enough of an effect on me as a reader, and as such I finish the script thinking that nothing’s really changed.

That said, as this is merely a script for a play, and seemingly most of the emotional investment comes from the actors and the atmosphere, I can’t really criticise this aspect; however, that does not make the script any better, and as such that aspect is still -for me- subpar.

On a different topic entirely, the villain was underwhelming to say the least. Their very background tarnishes one of the most prominent Potter characters, their dialogue is beyond cheesy, and the antagonist’s role couldn’t be more predictable. They come off as a massive Mary Sue, and their potency in magic is not deserved from a narrative perspective.

The antagonist, like most of the characters, undergoes no to little development, and as such the story itself suffers massively.

The stage directions, in my nowhere-near professional opinion, do not do the job at all. They offer little aid to the actors, and sometimes the decisions are just baffling (if I remember correctly, they say that a character should act ‘discombobulated’, that a scene is ‘almost a Spartacus moment’, and they order a specific atmosphere often without offering guidance of how to achieve that atmosphere, not to mention going out of their way to treat one particular character as if he was real, without giving anyone else the same treatment). As such, the script fails at its should-be main point: giving direction to the actors, and the crew behind the performance. Truly, I am desperate to see the play: there are things that happen in this that should not be possible to perform on stage, in front of a live audience, and too to be anywhere near believable. The actors and crew behind the performance must be astonishingly capable to pull this off.

On a side note, let’s address the use of magic in the play (though this should be taken as nowhere near as important and striking as a general audience member as some of the aforementioned points). In a duel, somewhere in the first part of the script, two capable (one inferably very capable), and yet they seem to be combatting at the same level, and using some of the same spells, as 3rd-5th years, and the latter is an extreme stretch.

Also, the use of SPOILER goes against what it has presented to be in the original source material, and blatantly contradicts itself many times in the latter half. This breaks immersion as effectively as a hot knife through butter.

TO CONCLUDE:

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is not abysmal, but that isn’t to say it’s good. It succeeds sometimes in quite a few aspects (dynamic between characters, metaphorical scenes and some other heartfelt scenes) but commonly the script is mediocre at best, and embarrassing at worst. The dialogue is commonly average and novice, the humour subpar, and the interactions between characters are predictable, as well as the storyline in and of itself. Major characters in the established lore are tarnished, and are altered at a fundamental level.

Following a scene-by-scene analysis, I reached the conclusion that Cursed Child is, on average, a 4.866514568/10, but in retrospect it is more of a 3.9999-4.3/10.

To repeat, I did the script-review so as to appreciate CC as best as I can in the formats that are available the most to the general public, but I also did it to emphasise one thing: Cursed Child is a play. It was conceived as a play, and -despite the dubious quality of the script- it was written as one as well.

It is in this play format that Cursed Child succeeds, and should I ever have the chance to see it I have no doubt that I would love it. We really have to stop dwelling on the negatives in the form of the script’s shortcomings, and instead focusing on the positives; Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a very pleasant experience in the correct environment, it’s only because that the best environment is so difficult to come across that it faces such critical opposition in its entirety.

The message that I wish to communicate here is that we must accept the ups and downs that comes with specific mediums of entertainment, and we must also acknowledge that we don’t always have the best formats at our means to enjoy something.

But the script is pretty bad and underwhelming, format be damned.

Start the Conversation

Book review: 'The Novice'

No Caption Provided

One of my main criticisms of the first book was the antagonist. It wasn't that he didn't have his place, but such an irritating villain being the main threat -albeit if the focus was more on the surroundings, and with him merely personifying the actual society that was at odd's with the protagonist's growing world view- takes away from the experience of reading the novel. Here, there is no such issue.

First, let me clarify. There is an utterly annoying 'villain' -though more of a nuisance- who we are meant to hate (and the author gets a 10/10 in that regard), and he does personify the social issues the protagonist faces like his predecessor. However, there is also a much more interesting, seemingly complex and simply fantastic villain who I personally couldn't get enough of. As this book's focus upon him was mostly hyping him up, we didn't get to see either how his mind works or the motivations behind him. Despite this, there's substance behind the character that is hinted at, and in the 3rd book I look forward to seeing more of him. Whilst the nuisance was superb for his role in the story, I am looking forward to the sequel having more fleshed-out and more-or-less superior antagonists.

That said, the villain/s aren't the only thing to have improved. Though an argument could be made for this being slow-paced, I personally think that the story took all the time it needed; developing characters and the dynamics between them, building the world in an intriguing way and just delivering a tightly-written experience. As such, I feel like the pacing was overall superior in this than Magician's Guild.

That aside, there is one glaring flaw here. There's a character in the 1st book who was arguably the second most important character, and he disappeared entirely. An argument could be made for him having no place here, and that his inclusion would be forced and awkward. Though these are likely valid, his almost complete absence was confusing, and was one of the aspects I found awkward.

Back to the positives however, the author’s for-lack-of-a-better-word ‘political agenda’ was done pretty good. The themes of equality and discrimination are presented blatantly enough to be noticeable, but subtle enough to not be too overt and take away from the experience. So to sum up, here are some of my thoughts about what the story did well:

  • · Characters- all were well developed with unique voices and interesting arks. Like the first instalment in the Black Magician Trilogy, the side characters were strong enough to carry individual scenes (may personal favourite being Dannyl, who I can't wait to see grow in the sequel). This aspect would be a moderate 7/10.
  • · Villains- they served their purpose good enough, and you feel what the author wants you to feel towards them. However, the lack of focus on the superior antagonist and the nuisance-villain having more attention renders this aspect a 6/10.
  • · Thematic and political competence- blatant enough to be transparent but subtle enough not to be entirely. I’d say that this aspect was a solid 8/10.
  • · Writing style- Canavan’s technique is perfect for the story she’s trying to tell, not to pretentious but not dumbed down, and with a vast array of descriptive devices that paints a vivid picture- this aspect is most likely a 7/10.

To conclude:

I had a fantastic experience reading The Novice, simple as that. The characters were good and the villain showed potential, and I have no regret whatsoever in giving the second book in the Black Magician Trilogy a 7/10, highly recommended towards fans of a moderate pace and world-building.

Start the Conversation

Book review: 'The Magician's Guild'

No Caption Provided

This book is enjoyable, and that summarises pretty much everything in it. The characters: enjoyable. The atmosphere: enjoyable. The pacing: enjoyable. The storyline: enjoyable. The Magician’s Guild is a book I would highly recommend reading if:

  • You’re a fan of some classic Harry Potter Fanfiction tropes, but you want them portrayed with skill in a brand new setting with brand new characters.
  • You’re a fan of world building
  • You’re a fan of fantasy
  • You like a simultaneously slow-paced and fast-paced book
  • You like having a sense of momentum in your books

Let me clarify on these: with point A, I mean the whole ‘magical cores’ and ‘wizards losing power over the years’ tropes, though I’m sad to say that the characters aren’t on the level of the classic Potter protagonists.

With points B and C, the novel succeeds beautifully. I really felt as though this was a world with an established history and with figures not unlike those in our world. Themes of prejudice/discrimination and how not all kinds of people are the same serve to execute this attempt beautifully.

And for the final 2 points, I have to say that they’re not totally benefiting for the book either. You feel like the story gains speed and momentum as it continues, slowing down at some instances but never entirely letting up. As the book nears its finale, you are convinced that there’s going to be some climactic event that will change up the entire status quo. When this doesn’t entirely happen, you’re not going to be underwhelmed (for there was really no other alternative that would match with what we’ve seen prior to the ending) but you will have a momentary sense of ‘oh, that’s it?’- the ending as it does happen is not bad, but you feel like the momentum keeps on going so much so that you have to see what happens next, if only for the pay off.

I -and I haven't yet read the sequel- would advise doing just that. The characters have solid foundations to grow, an interesting antagonist has been set up for future events (even if the scene of the revelation was a rather low-moderate 4/10) and the series has massive potential to grow. An instance of a similar event happening is with Victoria Aveyard’s ‘Red Queen’ series, targeted to a similar audience and growing from a low 7/10 to a high 7 or low 8/10, and it a trilogy I’d highly recommend if you enjoyed Magician’s Guild.

On topic though, Trudi Canavan delivered a decent time-waster. The protagonist was good enough, but I’d say the immediate side-characters were better in terms of their potential and just their charisma. Characters such as Dannyl and Rothen could, handled well enough, carry an entire scene (though I admit that they work well enough in their respective roles). The antagonist of the book though, was one-dimensional and dull. He wasn’t even TWO-dimensional, with actual motivations that were stated out if not proven. He was just evil for the sake of being the villain, with no depth whatsoever.

This character was absolutely boring, and even irritating. He took away from the overall experience of the fiction, and was one of the lowest points of the book. Canavan’s writing style wasn’t the best I’ve seen, and was rather run-of-the-mill with little to no stand-out attributes besides the vivid descriptions.

And that about sums everything up: the book was decent and one I’d recommend, though it’s aim towards ‘young adults’ was rather blatant at times. The characters were good and descriptions vivid, but the story was let down by an extremely underwhelming villain, an inferior protagonist and an atmosphere of being a prologue to the sequels.

6/10

Start the Conversation

Legends of Tomorrow Season 3 pitch

In this blog, I am going to pitch my opinion of what Legends of Tomorrow season 3 should be about- hope you enjoy.

Plot overview

Time-travellers have been leaving aberrations across the time-line, enormous in their magnitude and their impact on history. The Legends are facing a dilemma, one which they know they should not be facing but they are, simply because at the end of the day, they are heroes. This dilemma is whether or not to stop the aberrations before they take affect, but why would they be having this conflict?

Because history is being changed for the better. These time-travellers are preventing wars, starting revolutions, saving lives, even preventing prejudices before they take root in society.

The amount of these time-travellers is unknown, possibly a single man or hundreds of saviours. Whatever the number, they're enough to keep the repercussions of history directed in directions they deem desirable.

The main conflict of the series would be the Legends having to correct the aberrations, dooming millions to death and suffering throughout history.

Possible aberrations:

  • Homophobia, sexism, racism and any kind of discrimination has not taken root in any society throughout history. This could be the introduction of the season; a series of coordinated strikes against the time-line, with the end result being a free democratic society in which all are treated equal.
  • No World Wars.
  • Kennedy and Lincoln were never assassinated.
  • Attempts to stop the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ (perhaps the season finale).

Why this would be a good idea:

In Legends so far, we have had Vandal Savage and the Legion of Doom. These are major players in the hierarchy of DC villains, and its practically impossible to top them unless you go with Darkseid, Brainiac or the Anti-Monitor. These are, as many of you will agree, not suited for Legends in the slightest, reasons for this being their overwhelming power and their scope throughout the universe (and that it would be impossible to do justice to them, as well).

This leaves us with the conclusion that the villain would likely have to be earth based, would have to be fought across time, and would be a legitimate challenge to the heroes and force them to be better. The pitch I have presented you with has covered all of these aspects, offering opportunities for meaningful conversations, incredible character development, and of course exploring a world that the protagonists would have to replace with a -when all is said and done- worse one.

As well as this, the villain/s would be interesting- with enough talent involved, they could be complex heroes who stand in opposition to the main protagonists, with no clear sign to the audience of who is right and who is wrong, or even if any is more in the right than the other.

Drawbacks

There are, of course, problems with such a storyline. These include:

  • The crew behind the show not being capable and talented enough to do the story justice.
  • The possibilities not being done with enough respect and justice.
  • The antagonists being turned into mere villains who are only in it for themselves. The idea itself works well because it is about heroes changing history for the better; turning it from a story about heroes VS heroes to a story about heroes VS villains would be predictable and terrible.

Conclusion

I hope that after reading you will see this as a legitimately good idea. Of course, there are others that have their own merits, but in all honesty I fail to think of any that compete with this morally ambiguous concept. I hope that you agree with me, and if you don't please tell your own plot outlines for Legends of Tomorrow season 3.

2 Comments

Who is in the Vault?

No Caption Provided

It the time of this blog, for the past three episodes of Doctor Who the mystery of 'The Vault' has been on the minds of any Whovian- and for good reason. Not only is the season worthy of such consideration (due to the astonishing increase in quality), but the mystery is being put across perfectly:

It's not the main focus and forced into conversation (an instance being season 9's Hybrid), but it is also a present factor in the show that is not glossed over- the perfect balance.

The question is then, what is in this vault?

As crazy as this theory may appear, and how in retrospect it may seem convoluted, it does make a certain sense and seems to be a viable possibility.

In my opinion, the being in the vault is...

John Simm's Master
John Simm's Master

The following is the evidence that points towards this possibility:

John Simm has been confirmed to be returning as the Master

Self-explanatory: Simm has been confirmed to be returning as the Master in both the season-trailer and multiple sources.

Steven Moffat has confirmed that John Simm's Master and Michelle Gomez' Missy will be interacting

0:06: Moffat: Well, I've always thought [...] it would be fun to have a story where two versions of the Master meet.

1:07: Moffat: They are absolutely wonderful together they're hilarious it's absolutely gorgeous.

1:43: Moffat: When I see Peter Capaldi facing of with John Simm's Master.

These confirm that Simm's Master won't be a mere Flashback, not just a regeneration scene, but present in the present. He will interact with the Doctor and his future self, and this suggests that he will need some way to appear in his future self's timeline- the Vault may be this way.

Four Knocks

At the end of 'Thin Ice', Nardole was in front of the Vault- when it started knocking.

Three knocks over and over again, until just before the next time trailer, there were four. If you were a fan the Tennant-era, you will remember that the Master had a rather close connection to the drumbeat of four knocks.

Conclusion

There is a high likelihood that Simm's Master is the one looked in the Vault. How and why I have no idea, yet I hope you now accept the possibility that this iconic iteration can be the one who knocks.

Start the Conversation

Debunking Newt's 'Oneshot' of Grindelwald

In the past day, I've noticed that there seems to be a collection of people with the opinion that, in Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, the magizoologist Newt Scamander stomped arguably the most powerful Dark Wizard of all time fair and square. Of course, this is not true, and I will now present my case as to why.

Evidence:

I present to you a scene from the Fantastic Beasts movie, displaying 'Graves'' confrontation with MACUSA.

The following is a screen-shot of the Aurors Grindelwald was facing, as well as the protagonists of the movie (and Madam Picquery).

No Caption Provided

Here is an extract from the official Fantastic Beasts script book of the Grindelwald/MACUSA confrontation:

GRAVES strides confidently back along the platform, firing spells at both groups of Aurors facing him. Spells fly back at him from all angles, but GRAVES parries them all. Several Aurors are sent flying - GRAVES appears to be winning...

In a split-second NEWT pulls the cocoon from his pocket and releases it at GRAVES. The Swooping Evil soars around him, shielding NEWT and the Aurors from GRAVES'S spells, and giving NEWT time to raise his wand.

With a sense that he's been holding this one back, he slashes it through the air: out flies a crackling rope of supernatural light that wraps itself around GRAVES like a whip.

The Case

It is difficult to tell the amount of Aurors, but I count 39. 39 Aurors Grindelwald was facing, firing spells at him at him 'from all angles', and despite their great numbers they were losing.

It was only because of this large distraction that Newt was able to do anything at all- there's no doubt that if Grindelwald had registered Scamander as a threat, then Newt would be dead

The Conclusion

Newt is a talented wizard, there's no denying it. However, Grindelwald is just better by light-years. I hope that by reading this, people will realise not just how out-classed Newt is, but will realise just how skilful and powerful Grindelwald is in general.

He could be considered the second most powerful Wizard in the Potter franchise, inferior only to Dumbledore himself. Whether he was surpassed by Voldemort or not, there is no denying the magnitude of his power far out-strips all but his successor in terror and that of his best friend.

Start the Conversation