#tts analysis

it sounds as if the flynn rider books depict flynn pulling one over on scoundrels in positions of power (“remember that time you dueled that evil knight blindfolded?”), so it stands to reason that, even in the first episode, varian could have held a tiny bit of contempt for the monarchy.

now, i’m sure books are monitored in a propaganda-riddled kingdom like this one. their messaging would be that these antagonists are just misusing their power, and there would be plenty of good knights and benevolent kings to even out the bad ones.

Firstly, Varian's arc throughout the show is defined by the fact that he is alone. Before he meets Rapunzel, he doesn't have any friends, and he is shown to be hated by his town because of the chaos his experiments cause. Then his dad dies, and he's even more alone. He loses his only support system. He is then put in prison for his treasonous crimes, where he meets Andrew and doesn't feel so alone. But then he betrays him in order to become a better person. And even after he betrays his friend for his kingdom, he is still seen as a traitor by everyone in Corona.

So, what does his mom have to do with that? Well, put simply, if his mom had never died/left, he wouldn't have been so alone.

The biggest reason his father was encased in amber was because Varian was forced to hide his experiments from him. And the reason his father is so distrusting of his alchemical studies and experiments is because his mom died because of hers, and he doesn't want the same thing happening to Varian.

Along with that, if his father (and supposedly his mother) was encased in amber, he would have a support system in Ulla's family. While Quirin does not contact his family (the Brotherhood) because he doesn't want to go back to that life, and they all split up years ago, Ulla doesn't have those same reservations about her family. She most likely would have wanted them in Varian's life, giving Varian people to reach out to in the event of his parents getting encased.

There is also the fact that Ulla would have been able to support and nurture his genius mind in a way that would make him even smarter and talented at alchemy than he already is in the show. And outside of Ulla, he would also grow up around Donella, since she and Ulla often worked on alchemy and engineering projects together. His connection to Don, along with his father's connection to King Frederick, would most likely get him a wonderful job in alchemy once he is old enough, much similarly to how he becomes Royal Engineer of Corona, but without the tension and backstory he has in the series.

In TTS/RTA, when Cassandra wears red, it's representative of her loyalty to Corona and Princess Rapunzel. The most vivid red she wears is the sleeves of her guard uniform.

It's important that it's vivid, because this is when her loyalty to the kingdom itself is her priority. And it's the same uniform the other guards wear. It's also brighter than the red she wears as part of her 'action' outfit:

This is a much more brownish red, almost pinkish, which is interesting because pink is one of Rapunzel's preferred colours. This is significant because Cassandra tends to set aside her loyalties to the kingdom in favour of her loyalty to Rapunzel specifically, which is demonstrated the first time we see her wear this outfit - when she sneaks Rapunzel out of the kingdom for one night of freedom before her coronation.

Also interesting is that the red is worn mainly on her undershirt. From there we can assume that the red undershirt is actually touching her skin (at least on her arms and neck), and it's also presumably the last layer of clothing over any undergarments, meaning it's almost directly over her heart. Loyalty is something that, at this point, she is making her own decisions about.

But then, at the Great Tree, Cassandra's loyalty to Rapunzel is her undoing. Someone else summed it up elsewhere, but basically, Cassandra and Eugene both see Rapunzel's safety as their number one priority - but Rapunzel's number one priority is Eugene's safety. No one has Cassandra's safety as their number one priority, not even herself, and that's why she's the one to get injured. Her arm is badly burnt, even withered, so she puts on this outfit:

Two things are important to note here. First, the arm that was withered was Cassandra's right arm - her dominant arm, established in the next few episodes where she is forced to relearn how to use a sword. This is significant because it means her right arm is the one she uses to protect Corona and Rapunzel, and now it has been destroyed. She's slipped further away from that position of loyal bodyguard by another tiny amount.

The other thing to note is that she is still wearing red, but now, rather than a garment worn over her heart, it's a cape. The red is on full display, but now it's the furthest garment from both her skin and heart. She's shrouding herself in it now, because at this point she's trying to pretend that everything is still as it was and that she's still highly capable of doing the job she was given (first by insisting she's not as badly injured as she is, and then later when she begins to contemplate double crossing Rapunzel). But she's slipping further and further away, and her loyalty to Rapunzel is nothing more than a mask by the time they reach the Moonstone Chamber of the Dark Kingdom.

A third thing that's interesting to note is that the cape is a much... purplier shade of red than anything else Cassandra is worn. Where else have we seen a purplish red before?

In fact, knowing that the Great Tree - where Cassandra got the armour - was once Zhan Tiri's stronghold, for whom Gothel once worked, there's even the possibility that the cape is made from the same actual fabric as her dress.

The armor of ALL of the Coronan guards seems to be made of gold. And while yes, it does look cool considering they belong to the Sun Kingdom, gold is soft. It is absolutely one of the worst materials to make armor out of.

Why do the guards assigned to defend the King and Queen are not only weak buffoons, but are also equipped with a terrible material for defense? Do they believe themselves to be so untouchable that they just do not bother getting a decent armor?

I suppose it's possible to melt gold mixed with other metals to make it more resistant, but still, it's gold.

one of the worst written characters in tangled the series was cassandra. she started off great; her internal conflict was amazing and it was well-developed throughout season 2. what ruined her was season 2’s finale and season 3 in general. while season 3 was great for varian, it was a complete and utter nightmare for cassandra’s arc. most, if not all, of her pre-established character traits & personality was overwritten just to make a more marketable character. it was so disappointing when i rewatched it in the past year, looking back on a character arc that i had loved a few years earlier just to realize how utterly horrible and hopeless it was.long story short; varian works as a villain, and cassandra doesn’t. ‘why’ isn’t hard to determine. the entirety of cassandra’s villain arc was focused on developing and creating a new character, instead of expanding upon cassandra’s current one. i could even see alternatives of the arc where she doesn’t take the moonstone because it’s ‘her destiny’ [as she claims], where she grabs it in a feeble attempt to protect rapunzel, or out of fear of losing her forever. anything would’ve been better than what we got, if i’m being honest. villain cassandra isn’t the same cass that we met and bonded with in the first two seasons. that’s the major problem of her arc.

Cassandra’s initial outfit (which will go here because Raps and Eugene’s starting clothes are established in the movie) is plain, subdued and practical, setting her apart from the other Coronans and the country’s bright and cheery aesthetics, while also showing her down-to-earth and reliable nature. The dagger on her belt and hidden one in her boot show that she is inclined to violence in her protectiveness of her loved ones, country and ideals and is a capable fighter who likes to be extremely prepared and self-reliant. The most dominant colour being dark red subtly foreshadows her connection to Gothel. But red is also the colour of the royal guards. Her own style is in all respects at odds with her pastel blue, flowing, lacy, demure handmaiden dress, showing us that she really isn't meant for or thriving in her job. Cass the handmaiden is not Cass, but merely a front, a box she’s been forced into.

Rapunzel’s Season Two outfit is sturdier and more practical than her previous more stereotypically ‘princess-y’ dress and has some darker and more muted colours, even outright black. This reflects this season’s more adventurous and serious tone and Raps’s personal increase in courage and confidence, and loss of innocence. The flower in her hair is replaced with a bird pin; she’s traded the symbolism of flowers, growth and renewal (from the renewal of her life as and growth into the princess of Corona), for that of birds, freedom and daring. This brings to mind the bird imagery in “Set Yourself Free” and the birds that flew past her way back when she first escaped the tower.

Eugene’s Season Two outfit is likewise more… swashbuckling. It’s the vibes, you know what I mean! The shoulder pad indicates that he’ll be doing dangerous, athletic activities, for example. The blue jacket is more similar to his most-of-Season Three one than it is to the old waistcoat. I’ll get to that in a bit, but basically what I say about that applies here but less so and minus the sun stuff. It’s kind of like the proto-Season Three jacket.

Cassandra is the only lead not to get any new clothes in the second season opening. Yes, obviously she’s changed a lot since Rapunzel came along (before that her father was the only close, positive relationship she'd ever had in her whole life, as far as we know). But in some very important ways, especially to her, she remains stagnant: she’s still in service to Rapunzel. Her existence is still legally considered inherently subordinate to Rapunzel. She goes on the journey in the first place with orders to protect Rapunzel, after all. Her outfit hasn’t changed because, handmaiden vs 'bodyguard' technicalities and Raps genuinely considering her an equal and friend aside… her role as ‘gal pal side character’ and servant in the heroine’s story is exactly the same, and Cass becomes increasingly attuned to this fact. And she isn’t happy about it.

Cassandra’s armour between “Rapunzel and the Great Tree” and “Destinies Collide” represents her reinforced emotional walls, her desire to protect herself from further harm and betrayal by anyone, but specifically her own friends, and most of all Rapunzel, who has just permanently crippled and traumatized her. She finally gets new clothes, the better part of a season late. Just like Rapunzel gets everything first, while she’s left waiting until she can scavage some armour from a random, forgotten knight, exactly who she wants to avoid being. Cold steel physically cuts her off from human warmth and affection. The deep red cape continues that link to Gothel. I think her new disability is important to this outfit. It’s firmer to limit her withered arm’s movement and provides it with better protection and insulation, possibly acting as an improvised brace, thereby giving us an impression of how painful and inconvenient the injury must be.

All of that applies tenfold to Cass’s black rock armour. It is literally indestructible, the way her toxic coping mechanisms are intended to make her, but that only highlights her emotional vulnerability in contrast. The blue right gauntlet draws attention to her formerly crippled arm, a sharp reminder of the pain that drove her to this point. Her skin turns ashen, implying that though the Moonstone cures her arm, it is (unsurprisingly for a power of death and decay) causing some kind of biological damage or sickness to parallel its toll on her mental health. Her theme colour besides black abruptly switches from red to blue, its near opposite. Her dark hair and eyes that connoted how grounded, sincere and trustworthy she was are turned a naturally impossible luminous blue, much more intense than her handmaiden dress’s pale blue. Her villainy is unnatural and wrong for her as her suppression was back then. But this is far worse for herself and everyone else. (“Waiting in the Wings”, which spells out Cass’s insecurities and ambitions that lead to her defection, occurs in a dark setting lit with blue moonlight, an early glimpse of Moonstone Cass’s black and blue colour scheme.)

Rapunzel’s Season Three outfit has elements brought back from her old dresses, like the puffy upper sleeves of the Season One princess dress and layered skirt combo with the front parting from Season Two, but it’s more elegant and refined than both of them. In a word, it’s regal. The colour gold is present for the first time in the cuffs, belt buckle and embrodered sun, connoting power and success and nicely complementing her purple. And of course, it matches her blonde hair that glows gold when she uses the Sundrop's magic. She truly masters that power from now on. This look befits at first her role of acting queen, and throughout the season her development into a wise, responsible, mature leader to her people. The sun symbol’s placement on her chest mirrors Cass’s Moonstone, contributing to the parallels between them that this season is brimming with. It also foreshadows the solid Sundrop’s manifestation there in “Plus Est En Vous”.

Eugene’s pre-promotion Season Three outfit is similarly more mature. He proudly wears the crest of the land he used to be an outlaw in on his shoulders, a display of commitment to Corona’s people and wellbeing and his own belonging there. Despite now knowing himself to be the heir to the Dark Kingdom, his home is and always will be Corona. That’s a significant step forward after his identity crisis in “Destinies Collide”. The knee pads are a continuation of his last outfit’s shoulder pad. There being two pads this time contributes to the outfit’s symmetry and adds to the professional feel. Like Cass used to, he wears a dagger, illustrating his protective role in his relationships and to his country (maybe royal guard foreshadowing?).

Eugene’s promotion to the captain of the guard brings his character arc full circle. The broken, lonely man who cared only for himself and mocked justice, clad in cool blue, has become a happy, loving and loved man who fights for justice and the greater good, clad in warm red. Again, there’s the Corona sun.

I just think he’s such a fascinating character, particularly in s1. we see him change from this sweet, misguided kid scientist into the main antagonist and it works. It makes sense as a character arc for him.

Cause he through a whole trauma conga line including:

Growing up without a mom

Having a father who was distant and unapproving

Trying to make the world better with his inventions but they always end in disaster*

Basically the town pariah, he has no friends and everyone considers him either a menace of a dangerous wizard

FINALLY finding some friends who he idolises (the princess rapunzel who’s also weird, his hero flynn rider and his “dream girl” cass who saved him) and who actually seem to care about him and believe in his inventions and TRUST him with secrets

Tries to help his village only to see quirin lie to the king and then be threatened by his own father into staying quiet (but at least his friend who he trusts that promises to help him)

goes out of his way to try to help his village and rapunzel by trying to solve the problem of the black rocks. quirin forbids it despite not giving any clear reason (and varian continues! even though he wants quirin’s approval, he still wants to help)

but his experiment goes wrong and he basically kills his dad

he runs through the worst blizzard corona has seen in thousands of years to find rapunzel for help, only to have that help denied*, then to be thrown out of the castle, and run back through the blizzard

none of his new friends come to check on him even though they promised to help and the storm is over

the black rocks tear his village apart around him and he’s left alone with his father’s body, desperately trying to find some cure

he starts to dig deeper and potentially find answers only to be attacked by armed, masked soldiers who chase him off and turn out to be the king’s secret police

the king spreads rumours that varian attacked rapunzel when he came to seek help, so now he’s a kingdom pariah

varian manages to secretly get a message to rapunzel to get the information in his home - that’s impossible for him to get to because of the armed guards

*admittedly, varian doesn’t know his limits and is reckless and dangerous with his inventions even if his intentions were good *rapunzel had a real, valid reason for not helping varian right away - she had to save the rest of the kingdom. never going to see him after.... not so valid.

Also Varian’s 14.

like being 14 is hard enough without this insane amount of trauma. and then being alone for almost all of it, blamed for most of it, and having no way to work through it because more just keeps happening.

So by the time secret of the sundrop comes around, he’s well and truly lost it.

An interesting take I saw once is that Varian is working through the stages of grief after losing Quirin - shock, denial, guilt, he’s into bargaining and is moving into anger.

He blames Rapunzel for what happened to his dad because she broke her promise to help, and that’s exacerbated by the fact that it seems her hair could be the only cure. And he’s willing to do anything to get it.

(low key though, he’s not entirely wrong about the rocks being rapunzel’s fault, although faults a strong word. the black rocks are searching for the sundrop in order to unite it back with the moonstone. rapunzel is the sundrop, so the black rocks are only there because of her. BUT she never chose to become the sundrop, it was frederic who did that. frederic knew of the potential consequences and chose to save his family anyway - honestly fair, but then kept everything a secret and let his kingdom and his people pay the price - not fair he’s an asshole and a terrible king. also quirin didn’t trust varian to tell him the truth about the rocks, and interrupted him during a key moment of the experiment causing it to go awry, so quirin is somewhat at fault too. and it was varian’s experiment that created the amber, so he’s at fault too. but it’s also understandable that a traumatised and alone 14 year old can’t deal with the overwhelming grief and guilt that losing his father was his fault, so he blames it on someone else. it’s complicated all round)

ANYWAY, varian kidnaps arianna partly for practicality and partly out of revenge. someone he loves was taken by the rocks, it was the fault of the royal family (completely, in his mind).

practicality: he needs rapunzel’s hair to save his father but he knows she would never help him willingly now (especially if the process could kill her), so he needs bait.

revenge: rapunzel is connected to the rocks and broke her promise, frederic kept secrets and sent guards to attack him and stop his progress on freeing his father, and arianna sat by and did nothing while this was happening.

varian’s choice to threaten the queen with amber is both chilling and genius.

chilling considering this is a person - and he seems to have no issues with murder here, especially the same gruelling end his father faced. admittedly, he truly believes that rapunzel’s hair will free quirin, so by that logic it should free arianna too.

also chilling though because varian must know there’s no way he will walk away from this. and he doesn’t care. all he wants is to save his father. he doesn’t care what he destroy’s in his path - including his own future.

genius because if rapunzel’s hair somehow doesn’t work - it won’t just be varian desperately trying to save his father, alone and shunned and attacked, it will be the entire kingdom trying to save the queen. when arianna was dying, the entire kingdom came together in search of an ancient healing flower that may or may not have existed AND THEY FOUND IT.

chilling and genius because it’s such a specific form of revenge. rapunzel and frederic hurt and betrayed varian, and left him with his father’s corpse frozen in amber. no one came to help him. now if they don’t help him, someone they love will suffer the same fate. they will understand some of the agony he’s been put through, he will make them understand.

varian is sarcastic and honestly seems to be enjoying all of this. maybe this is because he’s unstable, but i think it’s maybe because he thinks he’s finally in control. he’s getting his revenge, he’s freeing his father, and he’s proving that his inventions will work all at once.

but, like many times before, varian’s arrogance and desperation collide into recklessness and his plan fails.

and instead of revenge, quirin being safe, and his inventions working - he’s thrown his entire life away for NOTHING, as he’s left without his father permanently (at this point, there’s no known cure), while the royal family that caused all of this gets to have their happy reunion.

and he just snaps.

he’s not thinking about consequences. he’s not thinking at all. his bargaining failed completely and he’s gone head first into anger. he’s just engulfed in rage and despair and guilt and it all rushes together and he has to let some of that emotion out or he’ll drown in it.

and how dare rapunzel get to be happy with her parents when she broke her promise and her hair failed to free the only person that matters to varian. so varian decides to take away what matters to rapunzel. there’s no practicality or genius or planning. he just decides to destroy everything, for everyone to be in as much pain as he’s in, and he tries to murder three people.

i wish we’d been able to see some of his time in prison. i think not long after all of this, he’d become very, very depressed.

he’s sacrificed everything in his life in vain, hurt people he did care about and does come to regret that, took quirin’s away, and ruined his own life trying to fix it. you can understand how when varian is put in a cell with andrew, how easy it would be to manipulate him.

offer him the slightest friendship and he’d be desperate for any kind of positive interaction. offer him some father-figure approval? he’d be in their corner. offer him revenge on the kingdom that turned it’s back on him, revenge on the king and queen who’s negligence caused the black rocks, and the ability to wipe the slate clean? to have people respect him and his inventions, to be able to change things “for the better” and get revenge in the process? and varian in rapunzel’s return makes complete sense.

and so does his turn.

varian doesn’t want to hurt people (even if he is willing to do so). all he wanted was to help people, and for his father to be proud of him. obviously that did not work out. at all.

when he realises that his invention is going to be used to hurt a lot of people, he can’t stand by and let it happen. even if it means sacrificing his new friendships (doesn’t help that he trusted them and they lied to him). both of these things would bring up a lot of issues and unresolved trauma for varian, but he’s not in such a grief/rage stricken state, and he decides to try and help.

rapunzel has a bit more life experience, and can empathise somewhat with how varian must have felt after her betrayal. how much it hurts to lose a friend. she chooses to trust him here, because she believes he wants to help. he chooses to trust her here, because he regrets what happened and does truly want to help - especially to clean up his own mess.

after varian sees how much rapunzel cares for her people, i think he would understand her decision in queen for a day better. when rapunzel won’t let varian sacrifice himself, and instead saves him and risks herself for her people, i think he starts to see that person he admired so much back in early s1 again. and when rapunzel offers a way to potentially save quirin - he’s all in.

rapunzel trust him here. not because she doesn’t have any other options, or to save her people, she trusts varian here as himself. using the hurt incantation is so incredibly dangerous (and went so horribly wrong last time she used it, it caused the first HUGE crack in her relationship with cass) and yet she’s doing it for varian, and trusting him in the process. it’s a big deal.

and he proves himself here. the incantation frees quirin - achieves the thing that varian threw his entire life away to try to achieve - but varian stays with rapunzel. doesn’t give up on her, tries to help her - even when his father is free, even when all three of them are in tremendous danger. and his faith in her brings her back.

varian and rapunzel reach a balance in their relationship - one of trust and respect. and it’s slowly built up throughout season 3. quirin being free, and being proud of varian puts varian in a good place, where he actively takes accountability for his actions and does his best (to kind of an insane and dangerous degree) to try and help.

he’s just a fascinating character - always going to extremes. but whether he’s a plucky kid scientist, a reckless terrorist, a regretful ex-convict, or the royal alchemist - he always remains true to his character.