The Glory of Merlin

Fandom, meet Jim Lake:

This precious, dorky, noodle child. He is a cinnamon roll who is completely inept at combat WHEN SUDDENLY he’s the Troll Hunter; a job that comes with very much combat and near-death experiences. Friends, Jimbo did not sign up for any of this crap.

Not This:

Or This:

This was not how he thought his sophomore year was going to go:

That’s a big, fat NOPE:

He handles it a whole lot better than I would, honestly. There would be tears if it were me. And screaming. I think Jim has deferred that task to Blinky and Toby, though. In fact, that is the #1 rule of being the Troll Hunter--fear. Thus, it is meant to be the underlying motivation of the job. As Jim gains confidence in his abilities, he does a better job of harnessing his fear into focus and action. BUT, when Jim is unprepared, or caught unaware, the fear swells and he is prone to impulsiveness and desperation. This is very human of Jim, who is not a seasoned Troll Hunter, but a very inexperienced and vulnerable kid.

This bring us to the ring.

Up until that moment, Jim is confident and secure in his plan—not only recovering the ring, but righting some past wrongs (like losing the second triumvirate stone). Things are going so well, he takes a few extra seconds to be petty and spit in Stricker’s mouth (you know, for funsies). He becomes complacent. He is not expecting time to run out right as he’s staring a frozen Angor Rot in the face. But alas, poor Jim, Murphy’s Law is a thing. He’s separated from his allies, trapped in the sewers with this dangerous and unpredictable troll, and Angor Rot is ready to charge him, leaving him no time for his Magical Girl Transformation sequence presumably. What is Jim to do?

Well, he has two options: give Angor Rot the ring with no guarantee of his own safety should he do this, or use the ring to control Angor Rot and the terrifying element of uncertainty, thus ensuring his safe escape.

Jim chooses the morally gray decision to use the ring. He doesn’t know Angor Rot’s backstory and he certainly doesn’t know what Angor is planning to do to him. The only way, in Jim’s mind, to get out of his current predicament unscathed is to make sure Angor does not have the capacity to hurt him. Jim was afraid, and in his fear, he makes a decision that is otherwise uncharacteristic of him (he couldn’t even kill Gnome Chompsky, the troll equivalent of a rat, and he couldn’t finish Draal during their rematch, though Draal had no reservations about killing him). When a protagonist is typically good, righteous, pure of heart (that old cliché), some of the most compelling character development they can have is when their morals are tested and the falter in that righteousness. He has plenty of reason to let his distrust of Angor Rot get the better of him. Their last two encounters ended up with Jim incapacitated in some way—Angor’s light beam trap or whatever, and the pixie-induced hallucination-nightmare.

It was so, so important to show Jim could be tempted to make a rather dark decision, because it show the depth of his weaknesses and what he must overcome to control them. I believe this sets the stage for his decision to venture into the DarkLands alone. It’s not a very good decision, but Jim is trying to protect those he cares about and maintain control—of his fear and of himself—by taking the initiative. Jim answers the call of the Troll Hunter, but his fighting has been a lot of luck and reactivity. In the season finale, we see Jim seeking to take the first strike, and this is significant. Jim is also seeking greater reliance on himself by going alone; all part of mastering fear.