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dragonlady7via https://ift.tt/3cSdqZG
snarklyboojum:
anchorsoutatsea:
This. Scene. Right. Here.
This scene is so underrated.
We’ve just met Jaskier in this episode, but within minutes we find out that this bard is confident and well educated. As he and Geralt are trekking through the land looking for the Devil of Posada, we hear Jaskier say a line that’s seemingly unimportant, just more of his ramblings. He says “The elves called this Dol Blathanna before bequeathing it to the humans and retreating to their golden palaces in the mountains. There I go again, just…delivering exposition.” This is information that he prides himself in knowing, most likely taught to him during his time in Oxenfurt. He can even speak Elder, not a common trait for humans. Oxenfurt taught him their language, but the information they gave him is wrong. It’s the teaching of humans, not the truth.
The scene above is the exact moment that Jaskier realizes everything he knew about the elves was wrong. Filavandrel tells Jaskier and Geralt that they were forced from their homes and starving, forced to ask a sylvan to steal for them for survival. Jaskier learns that it was humans that forced the elves into unlivable conditions. Everything was stolen from them, their land, their magic, their lives.
And I think this was the exact moment that Jaskier chose to follow Geralt. Not because of the stories he would learn and could sing, not because Geralt was good for exposure and protection, but because Jaskier had just learned that elves, witchers, and creatures alike were never the real monsters.
Humans were the real monsters all along.
And if what humans said made people like Geralt a monster, he would rather choose to follow a monster Every. Single. Time.
ALL OF THIS YES. There’s a particular line in this scene that gets me - I think it might actually be the moment of this exact screencap, though I could be wrong. “And now the humans proudly watch these very fields grow… our babies fertilizer for their grain.” You can see this hitting Jaskier hard, especially after the propaganda and lies he never thought to question.
So let’s examine “Toss A Coin”. The song is clearly Jaskier doing his own PR for Geralt, with the later verses easily adaptable to whatever particular monster a particular place is suffering from. But the intro. The elves are barely mentioned, other to imply a hoard living high in the mountains at the edge of the world. The focus is on the “devil” not only because it’s more catchy and more stuff rhymes with “horn” but because it’s a distraction; it’s Jaskier’s way of saying the elves are here, and dangerous, but you don’t need to go looking for them. Leave them alone.
“Oh, valley of plenty. Oh, valley of plenty.” What if Jaskier thinks of those growing fields of grain every time he sings that song? What if he looks around at the coins and smiles and food coming his way and wonders what bones are hiding underneath?
snarklyboojum:
anchorsoutatsea:
This. Scene. Right. Here.
This scene is so underrated.
We’ve just met Jaskier in this episode, but within minutes we find out that this bard is confident and well educated. As he and Geralt are trekking through the land looking for the Devil of Posada, we hear Jaskier say a line that’s seemingly unimportant, just more of his ramblings. He says “The elves called this Dol Blathanna before bequeathing it to the humans and retreating to their golden palaces in the mountains. There I go again, just…delivering exposition.” This is information that he prides himself in knowing, most likely taught to him during his time in Oxenfurt. He can even speak Elder, not a common trait for humans. Oxenfurt taught him their language, but the information they gave him is wrong. It’s the teaching of humans, not the truth.
The scene above is the exact moment that Jaskier realizes everything he knew about the elves was wrong. Filavandrel tells Jaskier and Geralt that they were forced from their homes and starving, forced to ask a sylvan to steal for them for survival. Jaskier learns that it was humans that forced the elves into unlivable conditions. Everything was stolen from them, their land, their magic, their lives.
And I think this was the exact moment that Jaskier chose to follow Geralt. Not because of the stories he would learn and could sing, not because Geralt was good for exposure and protection, but because Jaskier had just learned that elves, witchers, and creatures alike were never the real monsters.
Humans were the real monsters all along.
And if what humans said made people like Geralt a monster, he would rather choose to follow a monster Every. Single. Time.
ALL OF THIS YES. There’s a particular line in this scene that gets me - I think it might actually be the moment of this exact screencap, though I could be wrong. “And now the humans proudly watch these very fields grow… our babies fertilizer for their grain.” You can see this hitting Jaskier hard, especially after the propaganda and lies he never thought to question.
So let’s examine “Toss A Coin”. The song is clearly Jaskier doing his own PR for Geralt, with the later verses easily adaptable to whatever particular monster a particular place is suffering from. But the intro. The elves are barely mentioned, other to imply a hoard living high in the mountains at the edge of the world. The focus is on the “devil” not only because it’s more catchy and more stuff rhymes with “horn” but because it’s a distraction; it’s Jaskier’s way of saying the elves are here, and dangerous, but you don’t need to go looking for them. Leave them alone.
“Oh, valley of plenty. Oh, valley of plenty.” What if Jaskier thinks of those growing fields of grain every time he sings that song? What if he looks around at the coins and smiles and food coming his way and wonders what bones are hiding underneath?
