Islaboo

I wanted to focus on the relationship between Varian and Andrew, so here we have a few screenshots with my analysis added to them.

(Part 1 of 2)

First we have these two. When Andrew and Varian are looking down at Rapunzel and her friends, obviously hurt by the explosion and fall, Varian is obviously feeling guilty- and Andrew sees it, too.

He elbows Varian lightly and tells him he did well, calling him “kid” in a way that he was definitely trying to portray as affectionate towards Varian. Then, he calls Varian to follow him and set his mind back to alchemy, almost as if he’s trying to distract Varian before he can realize what he’s done.

Next, there’s this.

We can tell Andrew is a bit impatient with Varian, but he still makes it a point to call Varian “buddy”. Again, he’s trying to establish a bond to make Varian easier to use. Unlike the Sapporians, who share his views, Varian is working with them because while their goals are different, they can mutually benefit one another. This makes Varian something of a wild card- what happens when Varian decides the Sapporians have gone too far, or that their morality doesn’t align with his own? The alchemist is useful to him, so I imagine Andrew wants to give Varian a more personal reason to stay.

At this point, Varian is explaining to Rapunzel that he’s beyond help, and that this is the ONLY way left for him. Andrew and the other Sapporians look so smug- Varian can’t see, since his back is turned, but Andrew seems to me to be bragging to Rapunzel.

At this point, Andrew steps into Varian’s space and picks him up, pretty easily and not in a “friendly” or “affectionate” way like the other times he’s elbowed or otherwise touched Varian.

This time, it felt more to me like a display of strength. He was about to break it to Varian that their deal was broken and wanted Varian to remember who has the power here.

When Varian gets in his face at first, we can see how annoyed Andrew is with him. He doesn’t see Varian as a threat at all.

But then, he puts on the facade of a caring friend again. He’s very gentle when he takes Varian’s finger out of his face and even kneels down to be at eye level with him. Again, we see the pattern of Andrew elbowing Varian and smiling, as if they’re close friends sharing a joke. It’s a way to make the situation seem less messed up and to remind Varian “Hey, kid, I’ve been taking care of you.”

The next red flag for me is the way Andrew responds when Varian tosses the bathbomb at them, especially compared to the other Sapporians.

Everyone looks angry. Well, everyone except Andrew, who’s smirking. He knows Varian’s biggest fear is probably being abandoned again, so when he drops Varian like a sack of potatoes the moment he rebels against them for wanting to literally destroy Corona, a switch flips. Andrew isn’t pretending to be nice to him anymore. Andrew wants Varian to be hurt and regret what he did.

          TEASER 1 / 3   —   Beginnings