tbh, I think the problem is that people confuse âgetting a redemption arcâ with âbeing rewarded with what comes after a redemption arcâ
like, redeemed villains are generally friends with the heroes. they get to experience love and The Power of Friendship for the first time, if they havenât already. they generally get to experience forgiveness. if their motives are based off of some kind of trauma or pain (like a lot of redeemed villains) then they will probably have that resolved and get some sense of closure or inner peace from whatever is hurting them.
so when they say that âthis character doesnât deserve a redemption arcâ what they mean is âthis character doesnât deserve to be loved. they donât deserve happiness, peace, or companionshipâ. the alternatives I have seen are:
âI hope that this character realizes how awful they are and they kill themselvesâ
âI hope this character is redeemed by a heroic sacrificeâ (meaning they would be redeemed but wouldnât be alive to experience the ârewardâ afterwards)
âI hope this character begs and pleads for forgiveness over and over again, but is never forgivenâ
itâs pretty disturbing tbh, to treat basic things that every human needs (like being loved) as a ârewardâ that you get for good behavior. or more accurately: never being bad in the first place. that once you fall from grace youâre damned for eternity.
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