Why Varian Worked Where Cassandra Failed - TTS Analysis

Cass: Hey can I copy ur villain arc? Varian: Yeah sure just change it a little so no one notices Cass: Ok

Varían after his redemption arc: just vibes Varían after he gets kidnapped by Cassandra: vibes anyway

The funny thing is that Varian was literally a last second character that they pulled out of the hat when the writers realized they needed someone to get Rapunzel out of Corona.

Rapunzel in the movie: "When I make a promise, I never EVER break that promise" Rapunzel in the TV Show:

Honestly as much as I love moon Cassandra the arc really do be all over the place

"he just want his dad to be proud of him, doesnt every characters with black hair want that" me touching my hair, gasp dramatically : how dare you

"And this is when Variam shifts from the sweet cinnamon roll that the fangirls love to the angsty alchemy based anarchist that the fangirls also love" I legit just died at that!! 😂

The thing about Varian's arc is that he wasn't FIGHTING Rapunzel. Rapunzel was as much a tool, to him, as the Demanitus Scroll was a tool to Cassandra later. Varian was fighting the one that kept him trapped in the ruins of his hometown, the one that vilified him and kept him from trying to get help legally, that allowed a false rumor to spread about him. He was fighting Frederic, and his "she's right, dad" gloat was him declaring "Checkmate" on their ongoing challenge. Was he mad at Rapunzel? Yes. But Frederic was the big obstacle to him helping his father, the one making moves in secret to beat him down. That's why his arc, to me, was so compelling. He wasn't just fussing over a broken promise, he was fighting the entire Royal Family, but especially the King, for his life and freedom to save his father without armed men in masks hunting him down.

Varian: always helped rapunzel but got rejected when he asked for one. Lost his dad, his home, and lost his faith. Cassandra: JEALOUS

The king is indeed stupid and dose not take blame for anything. What I have also said is after the storm Raps never goes and visits Varian. See what he needed.

"you killed my father" speeches never get old. For example. "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die"

And Varian’s arc is even more sympathetic when you look at everything else that isn’t directly stated in the show. Nigel accuses Varian of attacking Rapunzel before he even did anything, so he’s likely not going to be able to go into town to get stuff like food in the amount of time he spends at home trying to free his father before The Alchemist Returns—we know his reputation was already that of a ‘dangerous wizard’, and with this added onto that, life would’ve been far from easy. And in Quest For Varian, King Frederic literally sent guards to drive this kid out of his home because he knew too much! And when he promises he’ll get Varian help, he just...doesn’t. I’m so mad that Fred never faced the consequences of his actions just because he’s Chris Sonnenburg’s self-insert. The stuff with Varian isn’t even close to everything he’s done. It’s so weird how Varian’s arc, which was only there as a plot point to get Rapunzel to go to the Dark Kingdom, is so much better than Cassandra’s, which was a planned part of her character and the show, from the beginning.

Something that makes me sad about Cass's villain arc is that she only admits she was wrong once she looses her power and is betrayed by Zan Tiri. Varian sorts himself out once he realizes the raiders actually plan to hurt people, and willingly turns on them even though he's outnumbered. Cass's "redemption" kinda felt like she didn't really mean it. It happened when she was reduced to nothing, sitting in a cage with no moon stone left. It just feel insincere imo.

The thing that always bothered me about Cassandra's arc was a lack of purpose/plan. For Varian it was simple: steal the flower -> free his father. Turns out Rapunzel was the flower? Get leverage (kidnapping the queen) -> distract everyone -> get Rapunzel to help free his father. And he achieved that, his plan and execution was flawless, he was only wrong about the flower being able to destroy the amber. (which he had no way of knowing, so he just had to gamble) As for Cass, we have: get the moonstone (which she had no way of knowing if it would give her powers or simply kill her) -> ...destroy Rapunzel i guess??? But what does that mean? Kill her? She had plenty of oportunities to do that even before moonstone. Destroy Corona? Then why wait so long, she could've done that the moment she figured out how to use her powers. Show everyone who's boss? Okay, but... what does that achieve? At first her being kinda lost made sense, but after a while it became aparent that she had no real goal.

The fact that Varian FELL off Cass’ TALLLL TALL stronghold, but rapunzle went to check on Eugene, and none of them went to check in Varian after, is concerning. (But dang, the face Varian made when hugging Lance is ✨ g o l d ✨)

8:47 "And so, Season 1 ends with Varian being seriously messed up on the inside and the king is like 'Ew, get this peasant out of my face', great" Savage, girl.

To be a tad fair to Cass, I would not say her being ticked off at Rapunzel for “stealing Gothel” or whatever is entirely unreasonable. This is because in real life, children who are abused by their parent(s) really want their the latter's approval. And oftentimes the more abusive the parent is, the more the child wants to get their affection. EDIT: Dang, I think this is the most likes I’ve ever gotten. Thanks~

DONT forget, Jeremy Jordan’s voice acting for Varian was also PHENOMENAL

I do kinda understand why cass is so desperate for gothel's love but watching her flip flop around for a season is so frustrating. Cass go to therapy challenge

The problem is that Varian had a valid reason to lash out: he wanted to save his father and he believed everyone was against him. He was an impulsive kid with no one to turn to, and he was treated as a dangerous criminal. Cassandra had no reason to attack Rapunzel and destroy the kingdom other than she just wanted to be special. She had an entire support system who she could've confided in about her struggles, but chose not to, and she was seen as a victim of everyone's shortcomings.