just thinking about nowhere king centaurworld like. horse is such a great foil for the nowhere king, ESPECIALLY in the moment rider told her sheās ājust a horseā. like!!! the nowhere king/general/elktaur thought he was superior to other centaurs but still not as good as a human. he thought this so hard he split himself into two versions, one version lied and manipulated thousands of people into a war he knew he could never end and the other version created monsters and killed and violated thousands of beings. the general KNEW he could never end the war, because that would kill him. horse willingly sacrifices herself to HOPEFULLY end the war.
and horseās family, reason for doing this, rider, tells her sheās JUST A HORSE?? who would have a better reason to think āoh iām not as good as a humanā. horse or the elktaur actively hanging out with his crush who definitely likes him and tells him straight up she loves centaurs and centaurworld.
itās just so purely an internal thing, self hatred and also the sense of entitlement. elktaur believed he deserved both of the things that happened to his split halves. he deserved to be lifted up above others, get the girl, be a leader, but the part of him that he hated deserved to be put into a box, destroyed, left alone and isolated. Iāve seen interpretations where oh the good half is the general and the bad half is the nowhere king. the general is a shithead as well!! the general is just as genocidal!! HE KNOWS WHAT WILL END THE WAR. he could have saved all the lives of everyone. he could have used the key to make himself whole at pretty much any time before the bridge between worlds is destroyed.
you could argue horse ādoesnāt belong anywhereā just as much as the nowhere king. sheās a horse, not a centaur. she is as smart as a human but sheās not a human. but she chose to accept help and love for her entire being, not just the parts she thinks deserve it.
i also donāt think the nowhere king/general is completely irredeemable because of his actions either, which iāve also seen a lot of. the point is that heās not capable of redemption because he refuses to accept himself, refuses to be himself, refuses to become whole and therefore cannot ever take accountability for his actions, not because heās done too many terrible things. I actually think Iroh avatar the last airbender is a good example of someone who has done āunforgivableā things who accepted himself and his actions and resolved to be better. iroh was a general for the fire nation!! he was not a good person!!! there are probably lots of people who will never forgive him for his actions and he deserves that which he knows and accepts.
the nowhere king/general refuse to do this. they canāt accept who they are and what they have BOTH done, and so they canāt ever be redeemed.
