#master zan

Episodes: S2-E12, S1-E5,S2-E8,S3-E8,S1-E11,S4-E9 

This is something that I've been thinking about for a while now.

Some of you might immediately scoff at this. "Of course Chiro is the Chosen One! It's been stated multiple times in the show!" you might say. And you're right. It has.

Chiro's status as the Chosen One was first revealed to us in Hidden Fortress during the following conversation directly after Chiro locked the monkeys in the fortress to keep them safe:

Sprx: *Forced laugh* “Hey kid.” *More forced laughter* “Okay. Real funny. Now let us out.”

Chiro: “The Supreme Destructor is only after me. I won’t let any of you get hurt. If I fail, you’ll still be here to protect the city.”

Antauri: “Chiro, you are more important than you realize. I was attempting to tell you this before. Our first encounter. It was no accident that you found us.”

Chiro: “Of course it was. I wandered into the robot, woke you guys up, the rest is history.”

Antauri: “No, Chiro. You were destined to find us. You are the Chosen One.”

Chiro: “Chosen One?” *Incredulous laughter* “What do you mean?” *Alarm sounds* “We’ll finish this later.”

This is later confirmed by Mandarin in the same episode:

Mandarin: "You disappoint me, boy. You are the Chosen One." *Chiro glares at him* "Ah. Antauri has at last revealed your destiny."

Chiro: "So I'm some sort of Chosen One. So what?"

Mandarin: "Your insolence is precisely why you will never realize your true potential."

Chiro: "We'll see about that."

Chiro's status as the Chosen One was also hinted at by Mandarin back in Secret of the Sixth Monkey:

Mandarin: "One day, you will find out how much more you are."

Skeleton King himself calls Chiro the Chosen One in Skeleton King:

Skeleton King: "Ah! Chosen One. At last, the fates have brought us together."

And this is all well and good. But then we get to Antauri's Masters, and one line in particular from Master Zan:

Master Zan: "I'm impressed with your diligence, young Chiro. But you are not the Chosen One."

The two times that Master Zan refers to Chiro as any kind of Chosen One, he refers to Chiro as Antauri's Chosen One:

Antauri: “There is still hope Master Zan.”

Master Zan: “No, dear Antauri. I have seen the beginning and end of all created things. I’ve even seen your precious Chosen One fall before the might of the Dark Ones.”

Antauri: “That will never happen!”

Master Zan: “You know nothing.”

and

Antauri: "How could you betray us?"

Master Zan: "It has all been preordained. Skeleton King will rule the universe under the might of the Dark Ones. Your Chosen One will be destroyed.

Antauri: "Never!"

Chiro is never the Chosen One when Master Zan refers to him. It's always your Chosen One.

You could argue that Master Zan has been driven insane by the corruption of the Power Primate, and thus anything he says cannot be trusted. But if that's true, it also discredits his prophecy that Chiro will fall before the might of the Dark Ones, and I'm not the only one that loves the head-canon that Chiro was the one that was supposed to sacrifice himself to stop the Dark One worm from hatching, but Antauri did it instead because he wanted to save Chiro. I would also like to argue that calling Master Zan a liar is the easy way out, and isn't a very interesting rebuff.

Assuming that Master Zan wasn't lying, what does this mean? Is Chiro not the real Chosen One like Antauri assumed he was? Is the real Chosen One still out there somewhere? Or is it someone else we know?

If you look a little closer at what Skeleton King says in Skeleton King, you could argue that his dialogue suggests that Chiro isn't actually the Chosen One:

Skeleton King: "There are forces in the universe beyond your imagination, Chiro. We are but pawns in a universal game of good versus evil."

Chiro: "I'm ending this game, Skeleton King."

Skeleton King: "You are the one chosen to end it?" *He laughs* "Believe what you will to ease your fears, boy. In coming here you have given me control of your destiny."

But that said, one also has to wonder if there even is a real Chosen One, and if the concept of a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy exists in SRMTHFG. Was Chiro actually right earlier when he said that he found the monkeys by accident in Hidden Fortress? Could the Chosen One have been anyone? Did Chiro become the Chosen One because Antauri thought he was and helped lead Chiro down that path?

After all, doubts aside, Chiro has done some pretty amazing things. He's gone toe to toe with Skeleton King. He brought Antauri back to life. He played a role in defeating the Dark One worm. He has an amazing affinity with the Power Primate. We can only imagine what he would have done in Season 5 had it been allowed to exist.

A counterpoint to all this could be that Master Zan, having gone insane by the corruption of the Power Primate, meant that Skeleton King is the Chosen One. Which would make this whole argument entirely pointless.  

I actually would have to say Master Zan! And I do have to agree with you that he is a pretty weak (in terms of emotional impact) villain. We didn’t even know that Antauri was trained by the Veran mystics until like after 24 episodes(?!) I feel like Antauri could’ve told Chiro about Master Zan literally episodes ago and the twist that Master Zan was working with Skeleton King could’ve been less out of the blue.