Salem has become, in my opinion, one of the most interesting villians. Her path to becoming the Big Baddie, and even her attitude as the Big Baddie is not quite the same as most villians.
I think back to the episode of the lost fable and kept wondering so many things. Like, why was she trapped in that tower like Rapunzel? Okay, Jin said it was because her father was Cruel…but was it really?
Let’s think about this a moment. Her tower room is actually pretty darn comfortable, all things considered. She certainly didn’t want for much. So I am wondering what the real reason is for locking her away—and how she stayed locked away. She had magic, like everyone else. Why couldn’t she escape on her own? Was her education about her powers being kept minimal? I actually believe so.
I am leaning towards there having been a prophecy that Salem would be the downfall of humanity. She was too powerful, and too…selfish, I think is a kind word. She had zero hesitation about attempting to manipulate the gods, and she did a pretty good job of it. She was educated on them, at least, because she knew better than to mention the God of Light to the God of Dark. Why she thought it was a good idea to ask such a thing of the gods is beyond me. It is quite apparent that there has been no presedence for it.
But for whatever reason, Salem thought she was special. She thought she deserved something that no one else would get, regardless of their situation. People far more deserving than her would be denied the request of resurrecting a loved one.
When you think about Salem’s attitude, you notice that…it really doesn’t change that much. We don’t get to see her with Ozma after the tower much, and we only get to see her moping around being locked in the tower. But as soon as he dies, her true colors are swiftly revealed. First and foremost, she thinks only of herself, what she wants, what she thinks she deserves, and how to satisfy those needs. This exact attituted is reflected in when Emerald, Hazel, and Mercury return without Cinder and report what happened at Haven. I wonder how long it would have been before her true nature would have been revealed to Ozma, had he lived.
What is even more remarkable is that her attitude was not really altered by the Grimm Pool. While her anger and apparent thirst for vengeance was indeed, magnified, her selfish me-first attitude remained pretty much the same.
This makes me feel really bad for Oz. The woman he loved was but a mask, really, or just a sheer veil over the face of what she truly was. If she was locked in the tower because of prophecy, her “cruel father” would have known how powerful she really was, too. And he may have fed into that attitude as well by giving her anything else she could want, outside of freedom. In the end, he would have made the prophecy come to pass.
What comes next is the question of her desires now. Before, she just wanted Ozma back. But now? What does she want? It could be one of a few things.
1) She could want to summon the gods so that they destroy the earth, and thus herself in the process, allowing her to die.
2) She could want to summon the gods with the mistaken belief that she could defeat them. She does have that level of egotism.
3) She wants to destroy the relics so that the gods can never be summoned.
At one point, it is obvious that she wanted to rule with Ozma. I don’t think she wants to rule anymore, though. I think she either wants to die, or to prevent the gods from being called again. If the gods never come, she can pretty much take over the world with little to stop her outside of Oz as an annoying bug at her heels. She may actually find some semblance of entertainment in it.
Yeah right, I know. She seemed pretty pissed finding out about Oz reincarnating so fast. So probably not. However, the Relics themselves have strong abilities on their own. The Relic of Knowledge itself would be super useful, and probably all four together would give her enough ability to become almost a god herself. It could be that with those relics, she could well remove Oz from the whole equation.
I do not know that nor think that Salem truly believes the gods would destroy everything and let her die. The Gods are…petty. As gods usually are. They would probably kill all the people again, permenantly, and just leave Salem to wander alone in the world. A fate worse than death.
I actually kind of feel pity for Salem. The gods were unable to see what her father, apparently, could. She can’t learn what they want her to. But that may well be the only way to save humanity, and the world. She can not be killed (and in that sense, destroyed) by the words of the gods themselves. Unless she can learn the value of life and death. Basically, her heart has to be turned and her entire nature redeemed and rehabilitated.
Most likely, the Silver eyes can clear our the grimm infection from the pool, if they are strong enough. If they can clear out that,, they can probably try to reach her and help her see what she failed to all these years.
The greatest irony about Salem is that she is doing the exact same thing to Cinder—and Cinder just seems so much like Salem, that I don’t think it will amount to much.
titsay
kaledo-art
tangentwithtanner
pixelskylines
yousharknotpass
turnnoffyourmind
