#guthred

Genius Invokation TCG | Arcane Legend Cards: Dynamic

Vicious Ancient Battle

Edict of Absolution

Pilgrimage of the Return of the Sacred Flame

for you, only the warmest beating heart.

Every time I see this scene I feel like I'm going crazy.

We all know that Capitano sacrificed himself and merged with the Lord of the Night in order to change Natlan's ley lines and finally lay his comrades' souls to rest. But the way this was framed? Why??

So in order to be sacrificed he has to sit on the Throne of the Primal Fire. And then we get the slow shot of him walking up to the throne with his soldiers and Natlanese souls saluting him. Note how they're lining the staircase like it's a procession. The Khaenriah'n soldier even congratulates him on a job well done.

And then. AND THEN.

YOU HAVE.

GUTHRED. Who is standing closest to the throne. He's basically at the top of the stairs before you reach the dais on which the throne is located. And nobody else is there. He is the only one. Why. Sure you can say that Guthred's his second-in-command so he's at the top of the stairs but if that's the case the animators could've just placed him near the top with the rest of the souls? But instead he's at the verrrrry top with a sizeable distance from the others. So already there's already a visual difference.

And there's the dialogue. He could've congratulated Capitano like the other soldier. But no, his line is "This time, let's go together." And Capitano replies with "Yes, let's go together." You don't understand when I experienced this for the first time in game my heart was in so much pain. "This time", meaning they did it wrong last time because Guthred died and left Thrain all by himself. But this time, they're going together. And the softness of his voice compared to when he was a crazy yandere trying to kill Ororon? omg? Anyway, when he says that line you get a closeup of him with the Throne in the background. Yes it's because both him and the Throne are in the same line of sight. But they could've framed his closeup like the other souls - camera angle from Capitano's side, therefore no throne.

So now we have this association of Guthred with the Throne, which is symbolic of Capitano's sacrifice. Through this association, we can say that when Capitano takes the throne, he will also get Guthred. And as Guthred offered and Capitano agreed, this time, they're going to the afterlife, together. Guthred is the "reward" Capitano gets when he reaches his goal of self-sacrifice upon the Throne of the Primal Fire.

Also another thing? When the camera switches to the closeup of Guthred the music transitions into this soft, gentle thing??? Like wow??? Also I checked the CN dub because I'm crazy and CN Capitano sounded so... gentle??? Ughhh these twooooo.

Also you know what the whole thing reminded me of? Aragorn's coronation in Return of the King where he finally gets to marry Arwen because he finally became King of Gondor.

If you managed to get all the way to the end, thank you for reading and witnessing my madness.