#bacharath

throughout the show, buddy has been shown to have a very impersonal connection to helio, the deity he draws his power from. when talking to kristen in the hallways, he mentions how helio uses him as a conduit to unleash his will into the mortal will, and that he has no control over what spell comes from his hand. of course, from the way we know clerics and worship works in the world of fantasy high, we know that this doesn't make sense and is not true. ankarna's followers used her powers to kill her sister's followers and kill in her name. she had no agency in this matter.

instead of a truth of buddy's relationship with helio, this moment read to me as a reflection instead of how his worship is conducted: muscle memory and memorization. he puts none of himself into worship and devotion because all that thought comes outside of him, totally impersonally, from his grandfather's ideologies.

we don't see this method of worship change when he changes his deity that is, to him, an unnamed god of rage. instead, he doubles down. "of course bacharath has to be the true name of the deity, we just aren't believing hard enough." the way he devotes himself (aka: impersonally, without introspection) has not changed. only the subject of his devotion has changed.

now, how did s1 kristen create a new deity in the first place? throughout fhjy, so many talk about how impressive this is. she creates a new deity by understanding deep fundamental truths about the universe.

this idea is cheapened by the fact that buddy dawn creates a new deity. he isn't shown to understand a deeper truth about the universe at play, and he isn't shown to change how he worships. instead, he believes so so hard, exactly the way he has his entire life, and this method of worship is then substantiated as legitimate by the narrative.

and then, he goes back to his grandfather.