What’s up it’s 12:30 a.m. and I can’t stop thinking about how after T’Chaka is killed in Civil War, T’Challa tells Natasha their culture views death merely as a stepping off point, but then explains that he doesn’t hold those beliefs himself, though his father did.
That little piece of dialog means this scene from Black Panther is far more significant than it first appears, without that context:
T’Challa didn’t believe in the afterlife or the possibility that he would ever see his father again.
When he comes back from the ancestral plain, smiling and laughing, out of breath, telling Zuri, “He was there, I saw him, my father was there,” the triumph of his joy comes from the fact he didn’t believe it was possible. He knew what was said to happen during the ceremony but he never expected it to be true.
T’Challa’s uncertainty at the beginning of this scene along with his pure elation following the first conversation with T’Chaka now have a totally different meaning for me.
T’Challa realizes the truth behind his people’s beliefs, understands that his father was never really gone, and knows that one day he’ll be reunited with his father, his ancestors, and all of their loved ones – that death won’t be the end.
And yet despite that “safety net,” as it were, all he wants is to be a worthy king for the living.
Anyway, thanks for reading my Ted Talk, this is why I’m crying at almost 1 a.m.
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