#chracter development

General reaction to Milo

I love Titus. I love what the author did with him. He is a fantastic foil for Darrow and just his motives are AH

Rarely to I find an author that can make me go from hating a character so throughly to understanding and sympathizing with him. What Titus did wasn’t okay but I totally understand why he did what he did. Titus wasn’t evil for the sake of evil and he wasn’t just a cheap foil for Darrow. HE MAKES SENSE!

I need more bad guys with legitimate and reasonable reasons for being bad.

To some, it may not be news that I LOVE Asmodeus. Listen, it’s not his fault that he’s been mainly written by BL. Parise is doing an amazing acting job and he is actually a really interesting character, you should all dive into the lore!

(There is still a level of uncertainty amongst experts if “Asmodeus” is just a derivation of Asmodee/Chashmodai/Ashmadai/Aeshma Daeva and so forth or if these are actually all separate characters. For the sake of simplicity and continuity and character analysis, I will say: Yes it is all him.)

(I apologise in advance, my research has been all over the place and I may not have the exact sources for every statement but I will attach some links at the end of this post if you feel the urge to read up on stuff. But I wanted to get this out before the new ep.) 

I’ve written about him here and will try to not touch the same aspects again.

Imo, BL have yet to do his character justice and write him a bit less one-liner-y and give him more depth (thank you, Perez for actually pushing his character in a more accurate direction). Also, what’s up with the reoccuring theme of “charactwr vs addiction”? 

According to the lore, it is true that he is neither truly bad nor good and basically just wants to be left in peace and quiet and have a good time, hence:

Everyone needs a little pick me up from time to time.

That being said, he definitely also wants to have power and be in charge. Some stuff I read, he almost seemed to have a trickster kind of nature. I do have to share this story I came across, it made me laugh so hard:

So, apparently he wanted to show off and do this magic trick? But it kinda went sideways and he was like “whoopsie, my bad!”

 After his accession to the throne, a peculiar quarrel among heirs was brought before Solomon for adjudication. Asmodeus, the king of demons, once said to Solomon: "Thou art the wisest of men, yet I shall show thee something thou hast never seen." Thereupon Asmodeus stuck his finger in the ground, and up came a double-headed man. He was one of the Cainites, who live underground, and are altogether different in nature and habit from the denizens of the upper world. When the Cainite wanted to descend to his dwelling-place again, it appeared that he could not return thither. Not even Asmodeus could bring the thing about.

His character captures this season’s theme quite well: separated lovers, things that aren’t what they look like….

At last, one of the more popular stories about him is that he was forbidden to be with the (human) woman he loved, so he killed all off her proposing husbands until God intervened by putting the angel Raphael in charge.

 The Asmodeus of the Book of Tobit is attracted to Sarah, Raguel’s daughter, and is not willing to let any husband possess her (Tobit 6:13); hence he slays seven successive husbands on their wedding nights, impeding the sexual consummation of the marriages. He is described as ‘the worst of demons’. When the young Tobias is about to marry her, Asmodeus proposes the same fate for him, but Tobias is enabled, through the counsels of his attendant angel Raphael, to render him innocuous. By placing a fish’s heart and liver on red-hot cinders, Tobias produces a smoky vapor that causes the demon to flee to Egypt, where Raphael binds him (Tobit 8:2-3).

(I do find it hilarious that apparently, the only thing that works against him is the smell of fish… considering Cas = Fish… I am excited to see where they are going with this)

But what I want to focus on in this post is the aspect of redemption. Especially since the mentioning of the Seal of Solomon and there is some juicy stuff about Asmo and Solomon in the lore. I mean, Solomon has asked him for help to build this fucking temple and then just kept him bound? No wonder he doesn’t want to get into detail about the Seal of Solomon with Ketch. In the show, he has been tied to Lucifer (which is not something prominent in the common lore). So I think what we were given in 13x17 is important. I refer to the wonderful Asmodeus/Ketch dialogue

You think you're so high and mighty, better than the rest of us.

This sounds very Lucifer-y. Have this bit of lore knowledge about him:

He also admits to hating water and birds because both remind him of God.

Apparently, they share some resentment towards God.

But you, Mr. Ketch, you are more wicked than any demon I know. I know 'em all.

He has 72 legions of demons under his command. He is one of the Kings of Hell under Lucifer the emperor. (source)

You act like you're this cold-blooded killer. But you know what I see when I look in your eyes? Fear. And regret. And pain. I see your chewy middle, boy.

Having finally arrived at the end of the journey, Asmodeus, after several days of waiting, was led before Solomon, who questioned him about his strange conduct on the journey. Asmodeus answered that he judged persons and things according to their real character, and not according to their appearance in the eyes of human beings. (source)

(the “several days of waiting” reminded me very much of him letting Ketch wait. He is in charge now and he wants to remind everyone of this any given chance)

You want redemption, but you ain't never gonna get it. Your kind -- our kind -- we can't be redeemed. All we can do is spread our pain around. So no, you don't know who you are.

So, I am not up to date on the whole Lucifer/redemption fandom war but to me, this sounds like Perez telling us “nope. He ain’t getting one”. Thoughts?

That’s basically it but to finish this off, some random Asmo-thoughts: I stumbled across one (1) source that said Asmodeus was bound by Gabriel (in all other sources, it’s been Raphael)

Others again relate that he was employed by Solomon in the building of the Temple at Jerusalem; that he then attempted to dethrone Solomon, to put himself in his place; but that the King vanquished him, and the Angel Gabriel chased him into Egypt, and there bound him in a Grotto. The Rabbins say that when Asmodeus was working at the building of the Temple, he made use of no metal tool; but instead of a certain stone which cut ordinary stone as a diamond will glass.

I am excited where they are going to go with this!

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 (kinda) randomly tagging

I’m not going to pretend I’m not aggravated about a lot of things, but I’ll try to be civil. I had a LOT of hope for this book, and while it can still redeem itself, it’s getting increasingly less likely.

I’m not sure where to begin. What the frickity frack.

I guess I’ll start with Tamara because she is one of the most common subjects of discussion right now. I may not be a fan of Callmara, but I am okay with it happening. No matter what, though, I don’t think Call’s first thoughts after six months of prison time, doing nothing but staring at a wall and getting interrogated all the while buried ten feet deep in self-hate over his best friend’s death, should be of how hot your friend is. Then obsess over the fact that she may or may not have a crush on you. There’s a time for all of that, but it is not chapter 3. He just broke out of PRISON. I think there is plenty for you to be thinking about. Speaking of which, how the heck am I supposed to believe that fifteen year old Tamara Rajavi—no matter how kick butt she is—somehow orchestrated the prison break of the most high-profile criminal in the country who was being held in the tightest security prison the mages have? With one singular Devoured? Master Rufus smote the elemental in Call’s room with one wave of his hand, how can letting loose one elemental (even if she is a Devoured) destroy this top security prison no problem. Like, it seemed like it was actually no big deal, and that the mages apparently had no wards, and that they didn’t have a specific team or group of people focusing on the Enemy of Death to make sure he was safe/not going to get away. It was like they didn’t even try to stop him. That was the easiest escape I’ve ever read. It was absolutely pathetic. Tamara is somehow the driver, despite the fact that she’s too young for a license (was it really that difficult for Anastasia to drive? They were already leaving as quickly as possible, would it really make a difference if she was seen driving away?) and somehow knew just about nothing of Assemblywoman Tarquin, even though she had supposedly gotten her help to plan the escape. Shouldn’t they have had get-togethers? This was also the worst planned prison break, because it was clear Anastasia has no plans to return to the Assembly. She blew her cover. Really badly. She was the one who said she was escorting Call out, she was the one in charge of the elementals, if she had actually wanted to try clear Call’s name, one would think she’d still want to be in a position of power.

What was Anastasia thinking when she brought Master Joseph? Doesn’t she know how badly he was trying to persuade her son to go all Evil Overlord? You would think she had done her research, questioned Master Rufus as well as other people who were at the Magisterium on what the heck happened. But no, she supposedly turns to Joseph for more than the intel on who Constantine had become. She thinks she can trust him to protect Call when all he cares about is Constantine. I just think she’s such a smart woman, and it would be really ridiculous for her to think he’s on her side. She can’t really think that. Especially after Joseph had to resort to violence to get Call, Tamara, and Jasper to go with him.

The writing seemed so different from the other books. Like I wasn’t reading a Magisterium book, but rather its cousin. It didn’t help that the pacing was a mile a minute. Boom, this happens, boom, that happens. Did I mention it’s been six months? One second we’re being interrogated, the next the building is on fire. It’s an absolute mess. There feels like there was no time for anything. A bunch of discussions cut short, and then suddenly we spend fifty pages describing Tamara. And now it feels like we’re reviving Aaron the next chapter! If this book isn’t the biggest so far, I will weep at all of this lost potential. Not to mention that discussion with Master Rufus? The shortest, most random thing to ever happen. Just filler character background that had absolutely no relevance to anything except “Hey! We promised LGBT representation, so here it is, kiddies!” It was some strange attempt to get us to like Rufus better, but that moment could have been spared until later on in the book when Call isn’t, you know, in prison. (Or better yet, earlier in the series!)

And. Of course, to absolutely no one’s shock, I am absolutely enraged about how Jasper deWinter’s character was treated. Who is this imposter? Give me the real deWinter back. The one who joked with Aaron, attempted to fight Automotones one-on-one to buy time, and was frustrated when Call didn’t think he was their friend. The one who kept Call’s secrets, and made up the lie about liking Celia to distract from the fact that they thought she was the spy. This preview held some of the biggest character regression in this series so far. Jasper, despite what I had previously assumed, was NOT part of the “elaborate” break out plan. He really WAS visiting Call the day TWO of being allowed visitors JUST to whine and complain about needing to get Celia back. That is disgusting on so many levels. The lack of regard for the fact that his supposed friend was depressed, imprisoned, and may have a death sentence looming in the near future is appalling. It seemed like a joke, and that he was actually just there to escort Call out. But no. I don’t care how loveSICK you are. That is pathetic. Jasper had so much potential for character growth. But instead of utilizing it, they kept him around for the reluctant companion trope. Anastasia practically had to shove him in the van, of course not with out his whole “My Father Will Hear About This” bull crap. Jasper was being belligerent about the concept of Tamara hoping to clear Call’s name, and not to mention his dramatic “once again swept along by the cruel broom of fate” speech was something I’m pretty sure Jasper had to get over book ONE or TWO. THREE would be a stretch. But book four? Cut me a break, the Jasper I know has gotten used to it by now. I can’t believe this one is acting like such a child. Especially with the whole Celia thing. How am I supposed to believe that he’s so obsessed with her that he lost all of his friends, and Tamara feels like he’s no longer willing to help. No longer one of them. I think the authors were trying to make his character arc dramatic in this book or something, but all they did was reduce his complex character down to the same old, same old mush you can find in any isle.