nondescript

Aurora: Decent Person, but Morally Flawed

@silveyn once pointed out how Aurora is basically ToT's discount Echo. And they are right!

After all, both are manipulative horned women with the ability to turn into harpies, and... That's pretty much it, actually.

Because while Echo is a beloved character precisely because of her charisma, her genuine love for the people close to her, and that perfect balance between angelic and demonic that is so prevalent even in her original design; Aurora is easily one of the most despised characters because she's just hateful, and she only gets more hateful each time she opens her mouth.

So, why not take the similarities a little further by making Aurora as morally flawed yet likeable as Echo?

In this particular instance, I'd take her original role as mediator, but make sure she actually fullfils it.

Remember? The season 3 artbook describes her as a "mediator" between Armand and Amalia, but I put that in between quotation marks because that description immediately contradicts itself by clarifying she only ever sides with Armand. Which is not how mediation works.

In other words, it was an early indicator that Aurora is only in it for herself and, thus, will always side with whatever is more convenient for her (in this case, her husband), rather than actually try to listen to both sides of the story.

You already make her more likeable by playing this role straight rather than subvert it.

If I were to write the dinner scene from season 3 with this in mind, I'd have it so, after Amalia storms off because of Ashdur, rather than call Amalia a weed and assure Armand that they'll eventually take care of her, Aurora would take the time to get him to ease up on his sister.

She could tell him that maybe they should wait until things with their father have calmed down (either because he recovered or passed away) before bringing up the possibility of another arranged marriage to Amalia. To give her time, rather than spring up suitor after suitor to her while she's worried sick about the king.

Likwise, Amalia and Aurora's relationship would be less antagonistic as a result. With Eva gone unless there's a crisis, Amalia's sister-in-law could fill the role of older sister figure for her. And Aurora could try to get Amalia to see the importance of political alliances without being self-serving and pushy about it.

There could be a scene after the Ashdur fiasco where Aurora reaches out to Amalia, promises to respect her wishes, but also points out that every kingdom needs allies, and marriage is usually the most surefire way to achieve that.

Maybe Amalia could admit she's right, but what happened with Harebourg is still far too recent for her to trust anybody else. Coupled with her father's declining health (and her feelings for Yugo), she is just not ready to look for a husband yet.

Aurora could say she understands, but ask Amalia to give what she said some thought. With the scene ending on a lighter tone by having Aurora joke that she's glad she didn't pick Ashdur in the end. He's a bit of a bonehead; she doesn't know what she was thinking when she called for him.

Maybe it's my Amalia-loving ass talking, but I think that already improves Aurora's character by a million percent.

More importantly, since we said the aim is to have Aurora still filling the role of antagonist in the manga but not being a pain about it, this new characterisation would add a new level of personal tragedy to her eventual betrayal during the war.

Amalia's (understandable) resentment and hatred of her after she ran away wouldn't just be anger because a political alliance fell through when they needed help the most, but because someone she trusted and was beginning to truly consider family failed her and her brother.

Don't tell me that's not more compelling!

On Aurora's side, something as simple as making Aurora more self-aware yet conflicted already does wonders.

For context: we're keeping my theory that she was lying about them knowing about the baby beforehand and Armand telling her to run in order to protect it as canon.

Indeed, she returned after shamefully abandoning her late husband's kingdom because she is pregnant with his child and considers it's her duty to honour Armand's legacy and fight for her child's right to the throne. However, this time around she is also keenly aware that she lost the Sadida and Amalia's trust, and that things might have been different if only her father had kept his word and sent help, or if she simply defied his wishes and chose to remain in the kingdom after Armand died.

So this time around, while still an antagonistic force with a very personal rivalry against Amalia, Aurora is also filled with resentment towards her father, and self-loathing because, despite everything, she is still incapable of going against him.

(Don't tell me this shot of her crying helplessly doesn't hit harder if she's angry at her father or herself or both over what happened, c'mon).

What's the point in giving her a clearly emotionally neglectful father if she's just going to happily go along with his schemes as he uses her as a political chess piece?!?!?

This way, you get a still antagonistic yet much more developed and, dare I say, likeable Aurora.

Now, onto the versions that keep her as a more unpleasant individual, but also aim to make her a more interesting character by actually exploring certain aspects and her background.

Aurora Related a Little Too Much to Armand

If you've ever seen my content, then you probably know those two are my Wakfu NOTP, in no small part due to the fact that it comes completely out of nowhere and it's not even explored, just... established out of the blue.

Sure, they're married, but watching their interactions in Falling Down and Far From the World back to back... It doesn't flow at all.

In season 3, the general vibe between them is that they're shady business partners who happen to be married, and if Aurora has Armand wrapped around her little finger is because of her manipulations, not genuine love. Then season 4 rolls around, and suddenly they act like they're hopelessly in love and so thankful for their marriage, and I'm left like, "...is there a secret season 3.5 that I somehow missed, or something?"

The more I think about this, the clearer it becomes to me this is a change brought on by their last-minute plans for Armand. Rather than trying to give them any depth for Aurora's benefit, they suddenly turned them into a happy couple for Armand's sake. So it'd be even more impactful when he died because he was finally happy at last.

Because when you come down to it, their "happy" relationship isn't all that deep either. There's nothing tangible that hints at those two having grown really close during their time together.

I can count with one hand the number of onscreen conversations they've had, and they revolved around politics (Armand's coronation, the Eliaculus, Aurora leaving for her kingdom) and how much they love each other despite everything. And that's just a tad too... performative for me to become invested in it?

Which is a pity, because people in arranged marriages who genuinely fall in love with each other is a trope that sells like hot cakes. My favourite fanfic of all time follows that exact premise! (@tipolover22 the GOAT that you are 🥰).

But Armand and Aurora are just... there, and all because of Armand's eventual sacrifice.

In other words, there ain't nothing cheaper than the "Redemption Equals Death" trope. Change my mind.

So, if I were to rewrite Aurora while keeping her flaws but focusing on her role as Armand's widow and Amalia's most prominent political opponent, I'd focus on her hatred of Amalia being because of Armand.

The way their relationship is written in canon, you understand why Amalia hates her, but not why Aurora would go from seeing her as a bit of nuisance she'll have to bend to her will to an insufferable brat she actually dreams of getting rid of for good.

As I said, use Armand!

Aurora was written as a manipulative femme fatale, that much is a fact. Meaning, it is not unlikely that she originally tried different tactics to get closer to Armand in order to have him under her thumb. Such as the aforementioned "mediator" role she had.

Well, why not have it so she presents herself as a willing ear to the burdened prince so he'd lower his guard around her, only to find out she can actually relate and understand many of his struggles?

Especially when it comes to his father favouring Amalia over him.

While never touched upon, it is canon that Aurora has several brothers. And, given how the possibility of Armand becoming King Consort of the Osamodas Kingdom is never brought up, then it's clear one of them will inherit the throne. For all we know, Aurora may actually be the eldest child, but come from a patriarchal society that passed her up in favour of the first younger brother she got.

It wouldn't surprise me if her father had neglected her her whole life in favour of his male heirs, only caring about turning her into someone else's queen they can use to benefit their kingdom from the shadows.

I mean, despite his casual condescension towards the Sadida Kingdom, the Osamodas King was still more interested in what his son-in-law had to say than his own daughter...

Yikes.

So hearing Armand bitch and moan over King Oakheart favouring Amalia despite the fact that she prefers to travel the world over carrying out her duties could hit a little too close to home for Aurora. Thus, leading to husband and wife becoming closer because they have something to bond over for real, and explaining why Aurora would hate Amalia so much and see her as little more than a little brat, even though Amalia never did anything that bad to her.

In other words, you get a better foundation for their supposedly loving marriage and her bone to pick with Amalia if you just explain Aurora projected her family issues onto the Sheran Sharms more than she should.

And speaking of projecting, that's our third point:

Aurora's Hatred of Amalia Was Born Out of Envy and Projection

As I said, you get the distinctive feeling that the Osamodas Kingdom is more patriarchal than the Sadida Kingdom, as well as the fact that the Osamodas King is far more neglectful than King Oakheart, especially towards his daughters.

That kind of environment can be extremely stifling for women from nobility and royalty, as more often than not, they will be reduced to the role of someone's wife and mother of his children all for the sake of continuing their bloodline. Even when they're the rightful heir to their respective titles, it's usually their outsider husbands who will become head of the house and manage state affairs.

Seeing how Aurora entered a political marriage to strengthen her kingdom's hold over Sadida politics... I'd say it's safe to say the same applies to her.

So I imagine someone from such a restrictive and unfair background would find it mindnumbing upon discovering another princess, someone who should be in the same boat as her, has actually been granted much more freedom and support her whole life.

For someone who didn't leave her court until it was time to be married off like Aurora, Amalia's reputation as a rebellious, adventurous princess is completely unheard of. Moreso when you remember King Oakheart came to fully support his daughter's unorthodox lifestyle.

If you ask me, you alreadly make Aurora more compelling if it turns out that, much like Armand, she would have liked to be granted more freedom, but was never given the opportunity by her traditionalist (*cough*misogynistic*cough, cough!*) father. With her hatred of her sister-in-law being a result of the envy and resentment she dares not voice to her father because he could never love and support her unconditionally like Oakheart did with Amalia.

Which, again, allows you to actually give Aurora relatable reasons why she would come to hate Amalia, and explore the fact that she isn't happy with her father either. Instead of her blissfully letting herself become his political puppet like in the manga.

Or if you don't think it fits Aurora to be jealous of Amalia because she wanted to see more of the world too but couldn't, then keep her jealousy over her loving relationship with King Oakheart but have Aurora, a woman raised on more traditional values, be appalled by the fact that her fellow princess would prefer rough and tumble endeavours over fulfilling her (objectively outdated) role as a woman.

(I've said it before, but just compare how cold and stiff the Corvus' interactions are compared to Amalia and her father).

There you go, folks.

An in-depth analysis of how Aurora's character could be salvaged if only ToT gave a fuck about giving Amalia an actually compelling opponent and wasn't just treating giving our queen an arc as something he has to cross out of his to-do list.

Can't wait to hear y'all thoughts. Do you agree with my takes? Any suggestions? I'm all ears.

The truth of the matter is that Amalia's character has always been disrespected in some way. In seasons 1 and 2, it was played for laughs. Let's take the sheltered, spoiled princess down a peg or two kinda humour. I'd say sometimes it wasn't all that funny, but I can forgive that.

And from season 3 onwards (this including The Great Wave), the way she is continuously disrespected is played for drama, yet never fully resolved. It just keeps piling up, really.

Season 4's case is pretty egregious because she doesn't actually do anything deserving of mockery and derision. Writing issues and preferences aside, Amalia has a pretty good head on her shoulders throughout.

Despite having mended fences, Armand can still be a condescending jerk to her; she is disrespected by her fellow royals; freaking Qilby goes out of his way to insult her; Toross calls her a salad...

It's not just that Amalia can barely catch a break through it all. What's even worse is that the season actually built up to a perfectly curated moment where she could finally put her foot down and demand her due respect, and the narrative completely brushes her off.

I'm talking, of course, about the throne room scene from episode 10. Right after Armand explains to his father-in-law why his kingdom is always targeted.

I honestly expected that scene to result in a powerful speech or declaration from Amalia, only to be left completely disappointed when it amounted to nothing.

Because that is the perfect moment for Amalia to finally call everyone out and reassert her position as Princess of the Sadida Kingdom. It has all the elements that should lead to that kind of scene!

Even after admitting he should have listened to Yugo when he first tried to warn him, the moment Amalia makes her presence known, Armand's first instinct is to disparagely and snidely ask if she's come to defend Yugo. Which she thankfully shuts down by revealing the severity of the situation: Yugo has been captured by the Necros.

This is then followed by a brief speech with incresing fire and intensity as Amalia demands to be treated with respect because she is trying to fulfill her duties and inform him of something very serious.

The way it's structured, you'd think this speech will segue into a more climatic declaration that will help Amalia establish herself as a prominent political figure whose opinons and expertise must be taken into account.

Only for this to cut to the next scene, far away from Amalia and the Sadida Kingdom. Who we will not see again until halfway past episode 11.

And the worst part is that said episode doesn't even resume this conversation. No, instead, it immediately cuts to everyone on the balcony as they watch the giant portal tear a hole into their reality, allowing the Necro threat to advance.

With Amalia outright confirming that's what she wanted to talk about but was somehow too late to do so?

I mean, how?

Because the scene just cuts to them already on the balcony. They somehow figured out something was wrong even before Amalia had a chance to say anything and made their way outside to check it out.

They didn't even had the decency to end her previous scene from episode 10 by having Canar and Renate interrupt her and tell their king there's something he should see like back in episode 5.

That at least would explain this utter disservice to Amalia.

I mean...

Poor girl didn't even get to do the one thing she set out to do and warn Armand of the upcoming invasion.

So Amalia got her thunder stolen by... poor pacing?

And that's the thing!

The throne room scene should have led to Amalia asserting her position as Sadida Princess and proving her worth to, at the very least, Armand.

She should have been allowed to make a grand declaration explaining she's been to the Necroworld. She knows what the Necros plan to do to their world, and it is not pretty. She should have been allowed to talk some strategy with her brother and display her quick-thinking and crisis-solving abilities she's gained over the years from adventuring and saving the world!

I wholeheartedly believe Armand actually entrusted the kingdom to her and not Aurora. Damn it, add decisive scenes and character moments that make Armand realise his sister's much more capable than he ever gave her credit for and that the kingdom will be safe in her hands!

Add more value to that climatic scene!

For all Armand is the eldest, and the one raised to succeed their father and lead their people, it's clear to see that Amalia far surpasses him in other areas.

Have that play into his decision.

(Thanks @laneylunen for pointing it out back in the day!)

Now that we're on the topic of individual strengths and virtues, these two frames go back to back, and they are such a wonderful visual key as to each sibling's strengths.

Armand may have been raised to rule and be adept at diplomacy (allegedly; we've only ever seen him attend meetings, never mediating them), but even though he was trained from a very young age to be a powerful fighter and protect his kingdom, the truth of the matter is that he hasn't been in an actual battle since Nox's attack.

Almost a full decade prior.

So when faced with his first ever major scale crisis and armed conflict as king, he is petrified. Nearly shellshocked and unresponsive.

Meanwhile, Amalia's unorthodox upbringing adventuring and saving the world means she has plenty of experience facing crises and reacting to them in record time.

What she lacks in traditional princess values she more than makes up for in aptitude for fighting and problem-solving.

While Armand is too stunned to move, Amalia is focused and determined. She immediately turns to the Osamodas King to ask for his help, whereas Armand is too paralysed by anxiety to do anything but support her when his father-in-law tries to deny her request.

This is brilliant storytelling that really showcases where both Amalia and Armand converge and differ as people due to their different paths in life.

And it would be even more brilliant to have clearly and unambiguously incorporated this into Armand's decision to sacrifice himself and let Amalia succeed him because he knows their people are in good hands.

I'm just saying, for a season where these two finally bury the hatchet, they did very little to explore all those elements behind their relationship. Like Armand finally seeing that his little sister is all grown up, and Amalia mourning her brother and king who, despite everything, she loved dearly and loved her dearly in return.

This may be a bit of a tangent brought on by the fact that I'm thinking about this retroactively, but by having Amalia assert her position and her kingdom's importance, you also sort of explain some developments from the webtoon.

Like Aurora's claim in chapter 6 that Amalia is always boasting about Sadida traditions which is... demonstrably false. I genuinely cannot think of a single canon instance where Amalia has boasted about her traditions. Not once.

You could always say it might have happened offscreen, but then there's the fact that Aurora said in chapter 21 that she barely saw Amalia during her one year stay in the kingdom, which, judging by Amalia's words in chapter 22, we're supposed to believe is true? Which begs the question, if you two barely interacted, then when did she even have the time to boast about her people's traditions to you in the first place???

See? The timeline is too confusing and contradictory and convoluted.

At least if Amalia had managed to defend her kingdom, you could think that's what Aurora is referring to. Sure, that still doesn't count as "boasting", but the Osamodas are so self-important and condescending to the Sadida, it honestly wouldn't be far-fetched to believe they would simply misinterpret Amalia's words.

I mean, they didn't bat an eyelash even as Armand explained his kingdom's importance to them.

I just think that Amalia deserved a win beyond (briefly) reconciling with Armand and marrying Yugo after a full season of being insulted and condescended to by a good chunk of the cast.