Like I think the thing is that Wizard101, at least in arc 3, (and a bit of arc 2,) subverts the classic destiny trope in a way that actually just warps around to playing the trope sincerely.
Weâre told multiple times that things are decided and foreseen: by Raven, by Bartleby, by Spider. But then, every time, that destiny is fulfilled by a âmortalâ characterâs own power, or the way that destined conclusion is reached isnât what people assumed it to be.
Morgantheâs prophecy was always going to be about Spiderâs freedom from his slumber. The Wizard wasnât able to stop that prophecy from being fulfilled, but they stopped Morganthe. They couldnât stop destiny, but they could interrupt peopleâs relationship to that destiny.
And I think this is consistent with arc 3! We see with Bat that Spider did, at his core, always want peace with Raven and the Spiral to survive. Despite all he does to Bat, Bat fulfills what he was âcreated to beâ and brings Spider back to his heart. In that situation it was Bat with the power/awareness of destiny. Spider had created a âfateâ by total accident, and he was entirely unaware that he had until he reconnected with his heart and realized what heâd truly wanted.
And I think this is what Raven unknowingly did with Mellori.
Mellori was created from Ravenâs heart, specifically her love for Spider. She believed that if she extracted that love from herself and distanced herself from it, sheâd have the strength to do what needed to be done and keep Spider locked away, or destroy him if needed.
But in the end, she believes she needs Mellori and her powers to destroy him. That she and her heart must end Spider and, when that doesnât work, destroy him and the Spiral to create something new.
I have a small theory that Ravenâs increasingly insane actions over arc 3 are a result of her disconnection from her heart. Her love for Spider isnât an isolated emotion, that grief is what informed her love of the Spiral, her desire to care for her brother.
But still, her first action when she distances herself from her own emotions are to give those emotions a will. Thereâs zero textual implication that she had to make her heart a sentient being. Why would she do that if unless, on some subconscious level, she didnât truly want those things out of the world?
If you believe the biggest danger lies in you getting soft for Spider, why in the world would you externalize those feelings into a demigod child, give that kid to Baba Yaga to raise, (rather than eat, I guess,) make the demigod child part of this grand prophecy, try to recruit her into the fight against the guy youâre trying to hate, and call her your daughter?
Just like Spider was blind to Batâs true part in fate, Raven was blind to Mellori.
But in both cases, those prophecy children fulfill their roles, but not in the way their parents expected. The truth of what is meant to happenâ Spider is freed, he regains his heartâ comes to pass, but the fear and destruction around it is dispelled. Nobody has to die for everyone to get what they want.
This pattern is probably the most obvious with the Wizardâs relationship to Bartleby. Thereâs a few ways you can interpret the Scion thing, but whatâs clear and canon especially as of Darkmoor is that Bartleby knew his eye would be taken, and knew the player character would be able to act in his time of blindness and both restore him, and fulfill the ideal outcome for the threats the Spiral faces while he canât see.
Even Bartleby himself, his omniscience doesnât allow him to see the absolute perfect outcome. It allows him to see the best outcome, and those timelines converge when everyone acts at their bests, including him. While we can walk circles all day about how Bartleby does or doesnât still manipulate those outcomes and pieces, the truth remains that âfateâ isnât some binding thing by His Will. The Wizard wasnât destined to defeat Malistaire because the Great Tree Willed Itâ they were destined to defeated Malistaire because they could do it. All he and Ambrose did was open the door for the Wizard to be able to walk down that road.
And I think, really, thatâs part of what destiny is in the Spiral. The gods canât just force things to come to pass. They think they can, and Bartleby might have some more awareness but now we can even see that thereâs ways to subvert him, because heâs not exactly willing new things or outcomes into existence. Itâs always just been the people who are already there on the board.
So Iâd make the argument that in arc 3, specifically, destiny is two things: what people think is going to happen and the anxieties that stem from an unknown future, and people acting at their best to prevent those anxieties/awful things, which reveals that their real fates were always going to be just them acting at their best.
Mellori doesnât fulfill what was asked of her by Raven, but she does right by her in every way. Itâs her who leads the charge into the Husk, itâs her that keeps fighting and insisting even when sheâs objectively reduced to a lamp.
She doesnât do what Raven made her for, but she does what Raven made her to do.
Obviously this all remains fully removed from how Mellori feels. Itâs clear that she has a complicated relationship with Raven and doesnât exactly want to be seen as âthe Ravenchildââ but still! We see her in Selenopolis fully comfortable with her own abilities. Sheâs a Ravenwood professor teaching how to defend against Shadow, something sheâs naturally skilled at as a being of Light. Those skills are her own, and she maintains ownership of them. Sheâs proud of who she is and what sheâs accomplished, because she knows that in the end, her destiny was always her own, and what people imposed on her wasnât the truth, it was only their belief about what was âsupposedâ to happen.
