#yolenta

First, we see Rafal, who believes in rationality - that which is rational is also beautiful, as he likes to say. All this talk about ignoring emotions was true until it simply was not. After meeting Hubert, the boy moved by the other man's words, decides that there is something bigger, something more important than living logically(=normally), something that was worth his life and everything he had lived for up until then.

After that, we meet Oczy who is eventually joined by Badeni. Oczy, who had previously thought of this world as ugly, is moved enough to place hope in Earth and its wonders, attempting to see it in a new light, again, even if it cost him his own life, very insane given his pessimism that he would express to Gras. The one who preferred heaven over this Earth, had chosen to bet everything on said Earth even if it meant ascending to hell.

Badeni had been wishing to find "a moment that makes life special". Needless to say, that was heliocentrism for him so things are slightly different when it comes to him. He had been on the search for something big prior to the events so for him, it was mostly about 'What makes this moment truly special'.

Badeni, having found his special moment, what changed for him was the means in which he approached the matter. Determined to prove the theory himself, instead of pushing everyone away and using them for his own benefit like he said, aka selling out Yolenta or destroying all research data on heliocentrism for only he deserved credit, he ended up doing things that he never pictured himself doing.

He left evidence for the next generation. Let alone that, he left behind Oczy's journal. What was logical about that? How was this beneficial to him? He could have left Oczy to suffer the torture but, having been through similar punishment himself, he realized that this is not the way to do things. That the matter was out of his hands and that giving up does not mean denying what is important to you.

Yolenta is a bit different from all the rest. Solely because of socially imposed stereotypes, she could not move the way she wished to when she was young. She did not change her behavior having been met with the heliocentric theory but rather, she was convinced of her inspiration to protect this knowledge, whether she would live to see the day did not matter as much as that.

The girl was always hesitant, unlike the others, she needed time - years that is, to accept that the treatment towards her was not fair at all, making it her goal to make knowledge more accessible to people like her and to the world in general. Though, most importantly, to accomplish a goal she had since childhood - publishing under her own name that is.

She had always doubted but as we can see, the years had passed and we meet her now; she is not that shy girl of back then. Yes, it is true that it had been many years but the life she had lived was not an easy one. The girl who always doubted her actions appears before us convinced of her every choice.

I would like to add that I may be a man but I grew up, fortunately using my brain, to know that women have always been in the workforce and academia. They seriously always have. You just have to dig up the info a little bit or, even if she is a known person, her life would have been miserable or cut short. I know things like that occurred in the past, where people died young but anyone can see that women, who have always contributed to all fields, have been mistreated in the course of history and today as well.

Yolenta is a really good example. I am a scientist and so I have happened to read about the history of it. I can not even begin to count the amount of times where scientists, who are women, make an astounding discovery only to not be rewarded or for their name to be erased or downgraded from its rightful place. It is shameful. Also, for some reason, society wants people to believe that women are now worse off than in previous generations since they can "now" work - which is of course, false. Women have always worked and studied. Thinking otherwise dehumanizes them. They have always had passions and dreams.

Just like Yolenta, who wished to publish. She wanted her name out there in the world, to leave something behind. Every woman that made history is Yolenta.

(I may talk on this account about Rafal and Badeni a lot but I have such a soft spot for her, I could not even properly rewatch the scene where the guy tells her he submitted her treatise under his name. Time skip Yolenta is also inspiring, I was moved by her firm stance towards the world. She looked stronger than anyone else on the show.)

On The Passage of Knowledge through Time

The fact that Hubert mentioned the three hills similarity to Orion's Belt means that he was already set on passing on his work to Rafal specifically... I know that this much is obvious but knowing that, means he knew that very soon, he would not be alive any longer.

I think he knew that Nowak would catch up to him. Rafal himself got poison on his person when he thought back to Nowak's questioning of the necklace and all, he knew Nowak would get him as well.

So I think that a part of Hubert may have wished for Rafal to take on his work but another also hoped he would burn it. He truly was conflicted and left his fate in his hands - the hands of a child he believed to have understood him and his love for the cosmos. His fate was rather his mark left behind in this world.

It is all the more sad when you remember that heliocentrism was not proven through Hubert's work but rather, as many of us know, by Copernicus'. It is a fictional work so everything before Albert's enrollment did not occur but if you sit for a moment and think about it then you will realize; even in the real world, a theory may have been proven long ago and yet, it may not come to light for many years.

It is true. Not solely for our story. There is many a phenomenon that were already proven in the past but did not see the light of day for all sorts of reasons. That same initial proof may get discovered later on or, though someone else, completely unaware of previous works which may have been lost to time, the same conclusion is drawn once again.

Similarly, in Orb, heliocentrism may not have been proven by Hubert and the people that took over his work later on, but they caused a stir. They inspired many people around them. For example, Badeni and Oczy with the old man who was in denial about the phases of Venus.

What I am trying to say is that, even if their work did not come to light - something that seems to make many viewers sad, you have to understand that everyone leaves a mark on this world by causing a sort of emotion within someone. A sense of wonder, sorrow, ecstasy or even thaumazein if you will - such feelings that are shared among people makes us move forward.

So even if they did not prove this theory, they inspired many. They inspired Albert - through Rafal sensei that is, to pursue the truth in his own way. And that is the case in the real world too. Many unknown heroes are born in this world that inspire the ones we study about in our textbooks, not knowing about the ones that caused the stir.

I was reorganizing my Spotify library and had a thought; what would they listen to if they were alive in our age?

Now, there is no clear answer of course. We barely know little details about the characters to begin with but that makes it all the more fun to hypothesize about.

The first character I came to a definite answer for was Hubert. In my opinion, he would listen to punk and all kinds of metal music. Just as fast, he would switch to melancholic classical pieces of the violin. It may seem like an abrupt change to many but metal and classical music are actually very similar in many aspects. They are both intense when it comes to conveying an idea/feeling. I think Hubert would be a fan of such a thing.

Now for the next character. Jolenta. I can not really answer for her. I think that her music could range from Arabic folk to Bachata. I think she would enjoy traditional instruments more as well. Her library would have no category whatsoever.

Onto Badeni, I think that he would not listen to music much. It would be something he does when he is reminded of it at random times. He would have a list of piano pieces that he would treasure but not much other than that. Could have other lists with random songs he likes for a specific reason and whatnot.

For Oczy, I think he would enjoy American Pop, something similar to 'My Heart Will Go On' and stuff. He does not really analyze the songs much, he simply likes how comforting the singer's voice is.

I like to think Draka would like Nu Jazz, similar to Nujabes for example. Soft but dynamic hip hop songs. She would also be a fan of girl groups I believe. Maybe even all kinds of indie music here and there.

Now, little Rafal would enjoy movie, video game, show etc. music scores. So much so that I think he would enjoy learning music theory and later on, how to produce. He would be a big fan of all sorts of keyboards perhaps.

Last but not least, Rafal sensei... Which I do not really feel like defining. Would he truly stick to one thing for a long time? If anyone has listened to All genres somehow then that someone is him. I am sorry to disappoint.