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Varian is defended way too much. More than he deserves, even.

And this is coming from someone who used to VOUCH for him in conversations, too. But it’s time for a needed change of heart.

Something that’s said a LOT, is the fact that Varian was punished for his crimes, while Catalina (Red) and Kiera (Angry), were sort of let off the hook.

Catalina and Kiera are very clearly a couple of prepubescent children when they debut, while Varian is a full on teenager who CAN be held criminally responsible. So no, King Frederic was not being a dick. It depends on how that works in some countries, but for theirs, that’s clearly just how it works. And it makes sense.

Varian also did noticeably worse things than they did, or should I tell you to look up his criminal history? Because let’s not forget he very nearly murdered the queen for the sake of saving his father, who very well could’ve stayed dead by the end of the series. Let’s be lucky the hurt incantation even exists and worked on the amber.

Next, Rapunzel cannot be putting her royal duties as princess below Varian. And putting this one character on a pedestal is part of the problem.

An infamous scene in the series is when Varian travels through the blizzard to get help from Rapunzel, while Quirin is actively dying back in Old Corona, and she literally cannot go because she’s in charge of the kingdom, didn’t know this blizzard was going to happen, is worried about her parents who could be dead, just sent her boyfriend and her other friends to go possibly die, nearly lost her only childhood companion trying to fix said storm and save everyone. There’s a lot happening, a lot of possible death happening, one definite one, it’s a lot. Yes…Varian is technically one of her citizens, and yes she did make a promise that we’re lucky she was able to keep later on. But she couldn’t go.

(Edit: Thank you [TangledBea] for specifying that she didn’t explicitly promise to help with Quirin, but that she would help with the rocks when she isn’t so busy. Because she didn’t know that’s what would happen and that just furthers the point. The situation was twisted entirely)

And what I see NO ONE talk about, is the fact that if she did abandon her post to go and see what was wrong, the result would be the same. There would be nothing she could do, she wouldn’t even understand what went wrong, and then there’s no one at the palace to make the big decisions. Quirin would still be long dead already and there’s no way they’d be able to run all those tests, Rapunzel would not be able to ignore the ongoing and worsening blizzard outside.

And before anyone says that Rapunzel could’ve told Varian about the Demanitus device—he did not care about the blizzard altogether. He’s not paying attention to Demanitus when his father is dying.

And my favorite line— “She could’ve gone to check on him!!”

And do what?

We need to understand the result would be the same. It was too late for Quirin. He went out saving his son, he went out being Varian’s father.

And…Varian switched up as SOON as he saw it was too late. Checking on him wouldn’t matter. It was too late for Varian, too. Because even if she checked on him, she still didn’t keep her promise in his eyes.

“She could’ve checked on him but took a painting lesson instead”

Did we watch the episode??? Rapunzel wasn’t in a painting class for shits and giggles. Like God forbid the PRINCESS OF CORONA…has things to do.

When Varian sent them to get the scrolls, she saw Quirin. She did see what happened, and even so…there still isn’t a THING she can do. There isn’t even time to assess the situation. It’s over.

It would all just be filler that does absolutely nothing for the plot, besides bring too much attention to a situation that can’t even be handled for another 2 seasons.

Varian also…doesn’t listen. So in that unlikely scenario, she’d be unable to do anything and Varian would still begging and reminding her that she promised, and it would all be the same.

Honestly, we should take that as great writing because no matter the changes you make, the outcome will be the same, because that’s just who Varian was.

The Cassandra situation.

I’m only bringing this up because I mentioned Catalina and Kiera earlier. Cassandra didn’t serve time in prison for all that she did when she betrayed Rapunzel. And I still fully agree that she should have been penalized for all of that, but I also haven’t heard any opposing opinions or other perspectives on it. But I CAN share my findings that have helped me cope and understand that ending better.

There’s a big difference between Cass and Varian, and it’s how many people they’ve had behind them supporting them from the get-go.

Cassandra has had Rapunzel, Eugene, her father, the guards, the king and queen, all their other companions behind her since day one. While Varian was said to have a bad reputation before his face was even shown for the first time. So in comparison to Cass, Varian had no one.

When it came to Cassandra’s moon arc, of course everyone that loves her and has loved her since the beginning, wouldn’t want to hurt her, give up on her, or by the end of the series, lock her away. There’s too many people on her side. Whereas when it came to Varian, nobody really knew him long enough or well enough to have the same sentiments. He’s not known as a beloved and respected figure and hasn’t been from the beginning.

Something I wanna add that has nothing to do with Cass; Varian’s appearance shouldn’t be enough to sway opinions, either. If he looked even half as average as some of the background characters, I don’t think anyone would feel as strongly. But as soon as you see a cute looking character with big puppy eyes, suddenly they don’t deserve any criticism or punishment for the heinous things they did, or they “deserve better” just because they’re too cute to be treated poorly. Varian wouldn’t even relish in that light if fans were able to say that to his face, because he would want to be more than that, and that’s probably the funniest part.

That’s all I have for the moment, I’ll add things later if I have anything to add. I’d love for anyone to add their own thoughts and opinions because I really like having good talks about my favorite stuff. But I want to hear unbiased opinions, please. And be nice.

Varian was totally fine sharing the blame, though that could be a poor choice of words. But considering how everything really went down, I’m going to phrase it that way.

Varian expressed his remorse for what he did to everybody else and less so for the actual problem at hand; Quirin’s encasing being his fault and only his fault. When he made amends with Rapunzel, the only line I remember clearly is “learn to trust again”, when he was in no position to stop trusting her. He looked up to her, but she didn’t actually let him down. He should have listened but he’s so confident in his “expertise” that he went through with his experiments anyway, only to end up taking the sundrop—tricking Raps in the process—remembering she’s the embodiment of it now, and luring her in. So now it’s not about scientific solutions, when it’s already too late to accept that.

Rapunzel ended up having to feel that guilt, too. She can apologize for being unable to help. That’s a given and honestly the only thing she should have to apologize for. She shouldn’t feel like her inability to help is what killed Quirin. She felt bad as it is, not knowing what to do about the rocks alone, but she promised to help with that. Not the amber, that came out of nowhere.

Age also plays a big role in things like this. If Varian was an adult in the series, everyone would have clocked this a long time ago. But because he was a young teen (allegedly), viewers are likely to feel bad faster and ignore his actions because they’re focused on that and the “angst” that comes with it.. “He’s so young, he didn’t deserve it”. He’s young, yes. But he isn’t stupid. As said in the OP, he’s old enough to be held criminally responsible and knew he was just adding to a list of crimes. And because he’s so young, has a cuter look to him, and the way he was handling the situation by begging and pleading, he grabs the viewers’ attention that way and it’s easy to ignore his poor narration and fault Rapunzel. That’s how they get you.