💜Fire-Miracle💜

Another moment that I really want to talk about and why so far this is like one of Cedric’s best moments in the new show so far. So before I talk about this scene, i do want to mention that we all know about Cedric’s childhood, right? About the fact that so many doubted him, mocked him, bullied him, laughed at him, and even belittling him all because he struggled with magic, and it wasn’t just his fellow classmates but also the adults… the freaking adults! The ones who were supposed to be supportive and understanding to him. Thru most of Cedric’s life since his childhood, he was always scolded, yelled at, and belittled by the adults instead of getting support whenever he made mistakes with his magic, this is what has negatively effected him since childhood all the way to adulthood during the events of the OG stf series. And cutting back to the clip that I’m sharing here, Camila apologizes to him with the fact that she didn’t listen to his instructions and admits that it was her fault that she used a very strong spell that went out of control. And I’m sure that Camila was deeply scared that he would get so mad at her but how does Cedric responds to her?………..

He doesn’t yell at her, he doesn’t get angry at her, he doesn’t scolds her, he doesn’t belittles her, he doesn’t interrupts her when she explains herself, etc. instead he just remains calm and patient and hears her out about what exactly happened. And he responds in such a gentle and kind way with her and lets her know that it’s alright and even tells her that he knows what it’s like to make mistakes with magic. Like this moment right here got me emotional too because it shows in how much he truly cares about his students. The adults in his childhood failed so badly with him where instead of helping him learn how to improve his magic, he instead got scolded, yelled and belittled. But Cedric refuses to do the same to his own students when they make mistakes. He broke the chain of the emotional abuse he went thru. Cedric knows that even though he can’t change his own past, he knows that he can still be a positive impact on the childhoods of a these children, by teaching them that making mistakes or failing at something isn’t really a bad thing but a good thing, by teaching them that failing or making mistakes helps and teaches them to learn from them, and even teaches them that they shouldn’t be ashamed when admitting mistakes. Heck, he even admits his own mistakes to Camila that he used to fail many times and also let’s her know that even though he failed a few times, he still worked hard to improve. Like it really gets me emotional because despite everything he went thru by the cruelty and mockery from his past, he makes sure that he doesn’t treat his students the way how the adults in his past treated him because he knows that in order for his students to become great in magic is by being a kind, supportive, understanding teacher to them. He lets them know that no matter what happens or what problem is going on, he wants to be there for his students because he truly cares about them. He doesn’t just care, he loves them so much that I’m pretty sure he sees them as his own kids 🥺😭

Just the absolute understanding and empathy in his face was animated SO FREAKING GOOD.

He even admitted as such to Wormwood right before My Evil Dreams: "All these years, I've yearned to take over Enchancia. But something's... different now!" And ofc also through the song itself, brilliantly illustrated by the lyrics and Cedric's thoughts emphasizing them (and the imagery/animation was packed with such amazing emotion and symbolism).

In fact, if you pay close attention to that bit of dialogue and the lyrics to the song, Cedric never actually directly mentions Sofia (but you see her clearly in his thoughts as he remembers how her kindness and friendship always got in his way of chasing after her amulet and plotting to take over the kingdom, the way she'd wriggle her way into his heart). Cedric couldn't bring himself to admit aloud that Sofia was the reason he'd changed, because a huge part of him was terrified to admit it, almost as much as the thought of betraying his only friend who cared about him in so long terrified him and broke his heart ("So why am I so gloomy/ When I should be feeling fine?").

For years, Cedric had built so much of his identity on being an evil, cold-hearted, power-hungry sorcerer, on his evil dreams (even though deep down, all he ever really wanted was somebody to see him, hear him, to be cared about and understood). And now that he was forced to realize how much he'd changed and come to care about Sofia maybe more than taking over the kingdom- in other words, what really made him happy- he was scared and confused, because everything he knew was thrown into chaos. He didn't know who he was anymore, but he knew the thought of hurting the dear girl broke his own heart, but he'd spent so long convincing himself that seizing the throne by force was the only way.

And Cedric's biggest tragedy is that as much as Sofia's kindness, support, and friendship- which had always existed from the day they met- floored him and always meant to him, Cedric had always forced himself to deny to himself that it wasn't enough. That it would never be enough until everyone- especially all those who unfairly wronged him- were forced to see how wrong they were about him. And that also went for the ones throughout the series who also came to see what a great sorcerer he was (often with Sofia's help, like Goodwyn to use just one of many examples); it meant a lot to him, but it would never be enough until the ones who didn't see him for the great sorcerer he was were humbled at his feet. And during My Evil Dreams, Wormwood reminded Cedric of that: "The princess may be nice to you/ But what about the rest?/ All those who point and laugh at you/ Must see that you're the best", which is what made him finally make up his mind that he still "had so much to prove" and "cannot hesitate"... although he still had some reservations, as I pointed out in this post.

No. No. No.

He says: "All I wanted was for someone to finally see that I was a great MAN."

To me, this is an incredibly important distinction. He has spent the ENTIRE SHOW obsessed with becoming a great sorcerer and people seeing him as such. In this moment, the one thing he asks for is for someone to see him as a great man, a great person.

I think, deep down, he knows Sofia saw him this way. (She still does. But, he doesn't think so. He can't. He's too in his feelings and also blinded by everyone seeing him only for his mistakes.)

Cedric's greatest moments are the moments where his humanity shines through. He's not the best sorcerer. But, he's incredibly gifted at understanding people's needs and hearts, when he's not exhausted and in his feelings.

However, great sorcerers are not always great men.

Some, like Merlin, are. But, many are not.

Grimtrix? Great and powerful sorcerer, terrible person.

Goodwyn? On the side of good, very helpful, terrible dad, absentee, incredibly demeaning.

Great sorcerers are not always great men.

What I think Cedric is starting to challenge is this idea that power makes greatness.

However, there is a quote I love from "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" that I think applies here. Charlie's teacher tells him at one point "We accept the love we think we deserve." (I have not read this book since my senior year of high school. I will never re-read it. There are some books that deserve to live happily in land of nostalgia. That is one for me.)

However, to this day, I love that quote, and I think that applies not only to romantic relationships (the context it appears in relation to in the novel) but in ALL OF OUR RELATIONSHIPS. We accept the parental love we believe and have been taught that we deserve. We accept the friendship love that we believe and have been taught that we deserve. We accept all kinds of love that we believe and have been taught that we deserve.

So, I don't think, until Sofia challenges Cedric in the dungeon, that Cedric realizes the extent to which her friendship and daughterly love for him extends. He fully thinks that taking over the Kingdom is all anyone will ever see him for. He even says this. But, her reply that him saying they weren't friends, that he wasn't her menor, denying everything they shared together, hurt her more than anything he's done PHYSICALLY. That shakes him.

No one has ever cared about *him* before.

Roland, his best friend in childhood, abandoned him.

His sister mostly abandoned him.

His own father mostly abandoned and low-key kind of abused him. (Verbal and emotional abuse is still abuse.)

He wanted the accolades because he thinks that will fill the void left in him by years of abandonment. Cedric isn't stupid. He is never once shown to not be smart. He is incredibly creative and crafty. He knows people aren't going to magically fall in love with him because he's the King. However, he doesn't care.

For one, if you look at the way he really gets into Roland's face when he says "so did you," referring to mistakes?

There's no way he didn't know about The Well.

Roland is a danger to his own country in Cedric's mind. Roland's impulsiveness unchecked is dangerous. I will die on that hill. Cedric doesn't trust Roland as far as he can throw Roland after what happened to Lorelei.

If that makes him evil, so be it.

Roland's dangerous and unwilling to listen because of something that Cedric did when he was a child. Something is very wrong in this Kingdom and Cedric isn't about to take that sitting down.

However, eventually, other things start to matter more than his "evil" persona, his rebellion, the walls he has built to protect himself because he has grown to care about *someone.*

Yet, after so much time in isolation, it's hard to believe, even after being shown time and time again, that Sofia cares back. He may see her as his apprentice and pseudo-daughter. But, he can't believe that she really cares because eventually Roland will turn her against him. He's her dad. Eventually, Sofia will learn that he's just Cedric the Bungler like everyone else. Roland will tell her about Enchancia's historically accepted version of The Incident, and everything will be over.

Worse still, after his own failure to take the Kingdom, he believes he has done it himself. She doesn't need what's in the records and the history books. He screwed up so bad there's no WAY he can redeem himself now because of the choices *HE* has made.

But, he hasn't. Sofia still cares about him. She still wants to be his friend. She still wants to learn from him. She still believes he can protect her.

Sofia still sees him as a great man.

So, he becomes one.

He accepts the friendship, apprenticeship, and daughterly love he finally sees himself as deserving of because Sofia finally got it through his thick skull that she doesn't care what anyone else says he. matters. to. her.

The next few times we see Cedric, in "In Cedric We Trust" and in the "Finale," it's his acts of sacrifice that show his greatness.

In "In Cedric We Trust" his magic doesn't actually go that well, I mean, it does until it doesn't. Then, in the battle with Prisma, he doesn't actually use magic all that much. He uses himself as a human meat shield because she uses the crown to disarm him after one spell. (There's actually a lot of fun symbolism in him trying to disarm Prisma, who is using Snow White's stepmother's crown, with an apple tree, but I digress.) He still ends up disarmed and doing the first thing which comes to his mind - defend, at all costs.

In the "Finale," he uses himself as a magical conduit. He knows he doesn't have the raw power to do what needs to be done. So, he allows himself to be poured into by others. He's humble.

I don’t know if this is an unpopular opinion however, I don’t care if it is.

I personally am starting to find the hugfia shippers annoying.

Sofia the first was never about relationships or shipping. It’s about friendship Hugo and Sofia were never going to be a thing because it’s a preschool show. It’s really dumb to not watch a show because your fav ship isn’t canon.

It’s made for 2-5 years olds.

But I do agree that the Hugfia shippers are extremely annoying, because they kept bugging Craig about the ship despite him saying it is not canon numerous times. One person tried telling me the official Disney Jr. channel on YouTube ships it, and then got argumentative when I told them that doesn't mean it's canon because the higher-ups don't write the show (and I also think they were taking it the wrong way because I have never seen Disney Jr. promote that ship).

He stepped closer, voice lowering so only Evaline could hear. His hand hovered for a heartbeat before settling gently at her waist. “May I?” Evaline’s answer came without hesitation. “Of course.” The ballroom seemed to hush — not from command, but from anticipation — as Cedric leaned in and pressed a soft, reverent kiss to Evaline’s lips.