#srmt meta

2 point. Mandarin left the most visible psychological scar on Nova w/her blaming him for her phobia of cold and inability to control her temper because of it (which she got over but she obviously still credits Mandarin w/that triggering). Nova possibly left the most physical trauma on him (the original. Chiro seems to have left the most visible scar on the clone by chopping his arm off and sending him inside the worm. Even then Nova's beat down looks behind Valina's abuse and Chiro's actions)-

3 One that probably affected him for the rest of his life. I doubt before then Mandarin had ever been hurt by someone on his team like that. I'm curious what his reaction afterwards was? Did he blame Nova completely or consider maybe he went about it the wrong way (in his own Mandy way)? Makes me wonder if Nova and Mandarin ever had a completely positive relationship. Even as babies he scared her and she always proclaims he was never good or could be good again. I wonder if Nova had the worst-

4 of him out of everyone even at the start? Not in a I hate him way because I do think back before Mandarin went tyrant wannabe they both cared about each other as teammates. I do bet she had respect for his leadership and trusted in him to guide them in the war. They're professional relationship was probably ok. But their personal bond was probably like iron and clay. 2 things that shouldn't mix at all. Mandarin and Nova might have been those 2 sibs that can't stand each other.

This is a damn good Mandarin & Nova analysis, Anon. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to reply to it! 

I could absolutely see all of this. Nova & Mandarin definitely had the most antagonistic relationship, I’m thinking. Her and Sprx’s, while a little cringy for a modern/older viewer, was still built on affection & fondness. But hers and Mandarin’s...

I think there was part of each of them that loved each other, like you said. They were family. Siblings. But at the same time, there was a part of their personalities that would just. not. mesh.

Nova has been shown throughout the series as being one of the more empathetic/compassionate members, consistently doing her level best to stick up for the little guy & protect those she cares about. She does care about being good at her job, but I don’t think being the Best is something that concerns her. She just wants to help. 

& then you have Mandarin, who--based on flashbacks/inferrance--has been ambitious from the start. Perhaps not fully power hungry, but definitely concerned with being the Best of the Best and judging his own/other people’s worth based on their abilities and power levels. (I’m not going to go digging for the post right now, but either @monkeymindscream or @projectaffectivity did a post on how he is one of the only characters to actually. Not bash Sprx as being only the “dumb monkey” or dismiss his abilities, which is a good example of how this quality can be good!) In addition to this ambition, he also strikes me as a... big picture guy isn’t quite what I mean, but it’s close. He’s less concerned on the small pieces and more on the bigger prize.

So I can see where these two would have clashed from the beginning. Nova would have seen Mandarin as a bad seed from the get go, I think, even though she tried not to. Meanwhile, Mandarin would have seen her as resistant to his authority & perhaps even weakwilled for her emotional connection to things. So then you have the clash.

But combine that with Mandarin seeing POTENTIAL in her, and wanting her to be the Best, and pushing her hard so that she could BE the best, and then Nova likely misinterpreting it as more of their sibling rivalry.... and you have the big KABOOM we see in Snowbound’s flashback.

Which brings us to present day, & a lot of hard feelings and hurt between the two of them. After Mandarin’s bid for power, Nova looks back on all their negative interactions & uses that as confirmation that he was a bad egg--regardless of his intentions. & then Mandarin looks back at said interactions & sees Nova always pushing against him, not respecting him, and then even blowing him up while he was trying to help her... and sees a teammate who likely never wanted him around. Which furthers his resentment against her & then the rest of the team for “taking her side.” 

okay im finally in the Mood again. okay. okay

sparx and gibson. have literally one of my favorite relationships in the show, theyre SO fun every time theyre onscreen together. they love each other so much bro

i realized after my 3.7k gibotto meta that writing a huge analysis like that will literally fucking kill me, but this is probably still gonna be long anyways!

sparx and gibson are... honestly pretty similar to sparx and nova in how they tease each other a lot, but really do care for each other. however, where sparx and nova have... a LOT of trouble just TELLING EACH OTHER how they feel, sparx and gibson... dont actually have that kind of trouble? its more that they respect and trust each other but dont say it because their relationship consists so much of making fun of each other.

doing a seasons 1/2 vs 3/4 thing is kind of difficult, mostly because (sort of like gibotto) theres no real turning point in their relationship, more that they just. learn to openly trust each other more

trust is a big thing with these two, i think? i just. they have almost completely unwavering faith in each others skills! even when theyre arguing over who should lead in the savage lands, theyre not insulting each others abilities at all! theyre just arguing over whose abilities are more valuable at the moment.

like, early on you... REALLY cant see this. mostly season one. but. heh. hehe. swivels my gaze over to hidden fortress. “if gibson says itll work, then thats good enough for me.” “oh, why- thank you, sparx.” BRO!!!! “big brain. glad you could make it.” “yes, well, someone had to pull your fur out of the fire!” BRO!!!!!!!!!

like, even this early on you can see that. once sparx is done teasing gibson for being a smartass, he has SO MUCH RESPECT FOR HIM!! and likewise with gibson!! as soon as theyre finally able to go “hey, we dont need to be angry with each other for a god damn minute” theyre just. so fucking fond bro!!

not to talk abt dumb stuff like character arcs but. lol. their relationship transfers so smoothly from bickering to just- genuine affection and fondness as their characters grow! see that as sparx learns to be more open with his feelings and not always default to the teasing/nonchalant persona (especially with nova) he stops going for gibsons throat all the time, and- gasp!- actively appears to care about him and goes out of his way to ask gibson for help or to help him.

its been days and i literally cannot stop thinking abt this shot like.... novas finally back shes BACK and she just got shrunk by tv monster and sparx is going to help GIBSON up???? i cant believe this motherfucker

and yknow, over the course of the show their teasing goes from resentment (ie ape new world- “oh, that explains it doctor brain strain. wuh-huh.”) to more just. fun and friendly! brief moments of smugness rather than actual malice towards the other

like come on.. this is the cutest shit.

sparx tends to tease gibson because he just- straight up doesnt understand what hes sayin sometimes! gibson is. EXTREMELY fucking pretentious. and sparx hates it. i mean who wouldnt?? but! sparx knows that the reason gibson is so pretentious is because he DOES know what the fuck hes talking about. sparx knows gibsons The Smart One and even though he can be bratty about it he still acknowledges it just fine

and like, eventually that distaste/resentment on sparxs end morphs into just. plain old trust! sparx trusts gibson and he knows that gibson can think on his feet and give them a solid plan. like, theyre put in several life-threatening situations and sparx is immediately like, hey, yknow who would know what to do? gibson.

gibson, likewise, cares about sparx a LOT! like. ive said it a million times but gibson views pretty much everyone as inferior to him bc of his intellect. wspecially sparx and otto! and ESPECIALLY SPARX bc every time gibson says something smart sparx makes fun of him. and up until hidden fortress, small tender things like “‘course i can grab him. i hope i can grab him.” in thingy were Not Heard by gibson. so gibson was very pleasantly surprised when in hidden fortress sparx let his guard down for a moment to be like “yeah, gibsons the smartest, i trust his judgement.”

and eventually, theyre just. buds! theyre straight up buds. gibson teases sparx in return and theyre just. BRO THEY R FRIENDS!!!!

“as you would say, sparx- ive got your back!” HRHRHRNGNNFND!!!!!

like. i CANNOT emphasize enough how supportive nd empathetic they are towards each other by the end. or, well.... earlier, its more sparx showing that he trusts gibson, and then later, its more gibson giving sparx more reason to trust him! its gibson being fun and friendly (as shown above) in response to sparx showing him that “hey, i dont actually hate you that much.” like.... need i remind you that in fire of hate, gibson warns sparx to be careful before touching it. in soul of evil, during the final scene with sparx tearing up nova, gibsons the only one who still looks sympathetic to him!! thats love bitch!!

IM FINALLY GETTING AROUND TO THIS LOL

okay so like. true gamers may recall my various sparx/antauri angst comics, right?

but like you said, that mostly focuses on sparxs issues with antauri.

i think that like.... hmm. i think its less that antauri has issues with sparx specifically, but more just...... issues in general that make him less close to the team individually? like. he doesnt play chess with gibson anymore. he (like you said) doesnt seem to have that Unspoken Trust with sparx anymore. i get the feeling that silver antauri wouldnt be quite as helpful to nova if the events of snowbound had occured later in the series.

BUT THIS GUY DOESN’T NEED TO BREATHE AIR ANYMORE, WHAT THE HECK!!!!!!!

I mean I guess TECHNICALLY, he may still be lesser in that everyone else’s bodies get way more obviously changed and he actually resisted corruption, but I assumed he just always had pointy teeth and baggy eyes. It didn’t occur to me that they could have been effects from corruption? Like it’s probably most easily compared to the Ringmaster.....

Up until they transform though lmbo.....

I’m like super interested in this, because almost all the corruption that occurs on-screen is pretty fast and demonstrates extreme changes. The other ones that may have been slow would possibly be the Alchemist and Mandarin, but they occurred in the past under arguably different circumstances. While we see that the Alchemist obviously changed in Golden Age, they were originally shown unchanged in ItGoE and Savage Lands. So INITIALLY, the Alchemist would have showed less change to corruption like Mandarin and Quint. I’m curious now if the dark markings around the Alchemist’s eyes were actually supposed to be another subtle display of corruption.

With Mandarin though.....I honestly don’t know to consider Mandarin’s change more or less subtle. If we didn’t know how a robot monkey was supposed to look like, I would say his was the most subtle? Red eyes, sharp teeth, sharp claws.....we already expected him as the evil monkey and he had changes from aging and the removal of parts. We didn’t see the effects of corruption on-screen until two episodes later with Thingy too......Then it becomes more apparent when he works with Skeleton King......

I used to think the white eyes in SotSM was an error compared to ItGoE and Snowbound, but considering the painted shot also showed the whites, it’s more likely that the latter episodes were errors or a design change for season 2. Did stasis slow Mandarin’s corruption or was he always less effected since he wasn’t directly corrupted the same way as the Alchemist?