Ok so. I made a reblog of a post by Raine talking about this, but I feel like it’s something I should just make my own post about too. Because their post does have me thinking and trying to have a more balanced take on this. So thanks Raine for that one (/gen) it did kinda snap me fully out of being emotional and into giving this a proper look.
Now, for those not in the know of the absolute bomb that was dropped upon the Misako corner of this fandom: there was a canon, off screen skit performed by the VAs of Kai, Lloyd, Arin, Sora, Wyldfyre, and Wu at San Diego ComicCon featuring the ninja opening their years’ worth of backlogged letters. Each ninja present got to open one for the purposes of the scene and Lloyd’s was from Misako inviting him for tea and mentioning she’s invited him a dozen times but he hasn’t come around yet. Arin tells Lloyd he should call his mom back, Sora retorts that Lloyd might have good reason to not but Lloyd corrects her that he loves his mom and he does need to call more. Then Kai makes a remark about Darkley’s, Arin and Sora have a reaction and the segment switches over to another letter.
On paper it sounds fine enough but, with the specific way it was written, it felt off to a lot of fans of Misako. And even people outside of the Misako corner of the fandom picked up on the Vibes surrounding her mention. I mean just look at the comments of literally any clip of this scene, you’re gonna find someone mentioning it. Naturally a lot of people, myself included had a very strong reaction to this. It’s the first canon mention of Misako since Dragons Rising started and it seems to be painting her in this weird, negative light. But I want to look at why does it feel that way? Why does the scene feel to some like it’s treating Misako as a bad parent? Hell, even the final letter of this scene (from Wu to Lloyd) makes mention of how much Misako loves her son so it’s odd something from just a few minutes earlier feels like it could be saying something different.
So earlier I only saw the one clip of Misako’s segment, but, for the sake of fairness I went and watched the whole scene. And I think I know what’s causing it to feel like a dig at Misako, and it’s not necessarily anything within the scene and characters themselves. I’d be lying to say anyone is behaving out of character because- well- they’re not. Even the most talked about line of this segment, Kai’s, is 110% in character for him. Like, this is Kai we’re talking about here. Kai “if he opens his mouth there’s at least a 50% chance his foot will fly right into it” Jiang-Smith. He’s not exactly the ninja anyone looks to to phrase something properly. Arin, Sora, and Lloyd also all are behaving in character. It’s only natural Arin, who spent over half the series searching for his own parents, would encourage Lloyd to call his mom more, and, on the flip side, Sora, whose MAGA-allegory parents are not only the actual worst but also just showed up at her door unannounced, would jump to the idea Lloyd might have reason to not speak to his mom. Then you have Lloyd himself who defends his mom through the whole scene and doesn’t speak a bad word of her, as we would expect of him.
But I just spent a paragraph explaining all the reasons it really shouldn’t feel as off as it does. By all means, this scene should work just fine! So why? What gives? Well, I think it’s the way this segment ends that ultimately makes it feel like it’s negative towards Misako. You see, here’s the last four lines of the segment:
Kai: And Lloyd’s totally over that thing where she put him in that evil school while she went off on her expeditions-
Lloyd: Um- um- moving on-!
This is ultimately why I think this part lands the way it does. The framing of the ending and Sora’s last line of “told ya”, especially combined with Lloyd’s stammering, feels like Sora is being framed as correct. The “told ya” is following her “hey, he might have good reason not to talk to her”, so Sora ending that conversation on “told ya” with absolutely zero correction or redirection frames her as right in her first statement.
Not to mention, for a lot of people, myself included, bringing up Lloyd having a complicated relationship with his mom now of all times just feels… weird. Like this is the first mention of her in almost four years, and lingering resentment Lloyd might have about being left at Darkley’s hasn’t even been alluded to since season two. Fourteen years ago. So to suddenly mention it now, after fourteen years of absolutely zero hints or indication this was still an issue for Lloyd? It feels odd.
Now, I want to clarify, I’m not saying it’s not realistic for Lloyd to have complicated feelings about his mom, it absolutely is. And, honestly if we ever got a flashback or short exploring their relationship and rebuilding it after her return, I would eat it the hell up! I am absolutely someone who, at every turn will complain about the untapped potential of Lloyd and Misako having a longer reconciliation arc.
But ultimately they didn’t. Their reconciliation lasted one episode, and was treated as resolved in every single interaction between the two of them in every episode and season since. Could there maybe be room in DR for Lloyd to contend with some unresolved feelings he buried? Maybe. I think if executed well that could work, especially with our current themes of Lloyd diving into his past and all. But to allude to the idea here? In a comedic sketch that’s a convention exclusive scene? Like I keep saying it just feels very weird for this to be where we’re bringing this up.
Overall, on a full watch I did enjoy the letter scene as a whole, Wu’s especially at the end was sweet. Also the Kreel coupons were hilarious. But that’s my full analysis on Why Did It Feel Like that. Thanks for reading if you made it all the way through!
