Winter Solstice

Remember, this is the name of the two-part episode that includes The Spirit World and Avatar Roku. I assume that, although each separate episode has a Story Enneagram, that the overarching story will also follow one. Let’s see.

ONE

Spirit’s One is also this section of the One. The gang travels north until something interrupts them.

TWO

As I guessed in my Spirit review, the overarching Two is Aang’s sadness and need to talk to Avatar Roku. We already know from the Roku review that the Eight is indeed that meeting. Finding Roku — how do you talk to a spirit? — is the Trouble of the story resolved at the climax.

You’ll remember, though, that this moment in Spirit felt extremely awkward and forced.  You’ll also notice, looking back, that the beginning of that story has a lot of padding that isn’t part of the overarching plot. The Two section is sloppy in both overviews.

Continue reading “Winter Solstice”

BATMAN (1992-1995), NINE

Don’t underestimate this Batman just because he’s a cartoon. Batman: The Animated Series is arguably the best version made of the character.

The credits intro, with Shirley Walker’s powerful orchestrations and the Film Noir shading, is very binge-worthy.

When I complained that the Bale Batman had no humor, I was thinking of this series. Our Batman here is no camp comedy, like the old TV show was, but he has a subtle tongue-in-cheek humor. He’s not as stoic, either. He’s moved by more than his own sense of mission.

But is he an Eight?

He’s a tougher nut to crack because we’re looking at a series. A movie with a two hour arc must give us its Batman right away. Something that rolls out over weeks, even years, can be more coy.

This Bruce Wayne is very much an inhabitant of his city. We see him with friends and at charitable events. His Batman is more compassionate, more involved with citizens, than any other iteration.

It’s the episode with Catwoman that shows us who this Batman is. He’s a Nine. Her volatility is irresistible to him. That dynamic, the Four/Nine attraction, is the key. Of course he’s a Body Type still. This Batman, though, is more about judgment than anger. And his community interactions are also the social diplomacy of a Nine.

A Nine superhero fits more smoothly into our expectations for the genre. It makes sense that this iteration is so beloved. He has all the troubled heartbreak we expect from Batman with none of the explosive surprise an Eight brings.

Chimera!

Finding a chimera in the world is always fun when travelling with pawns who know what to do.

Cleave the poison-spewing snake tail, silence the magic-casting goat head, and kill the lion. It’s fast, satisfying work with plenty of climbing, clinging, and hacking.

When we popped by the Abbey to check on Quina, she said she’s still seeking information about our wound.

Paint It Red

When the muslin meets the wine
paint it red
When the dance card makes you mine
paint it red

O my heart isn’t here
It’s at home with a good book
where I’m safe
I swear I could stab you
if I had my netting hook
but you’re safe
It’s not here either

When the gossip oozes brine
paint it red
When the clock chimes only nine
paint it red

CHORUS

When my family starts to shine
paint it red
When the carriage’s last in line
paint it red

Don’t worry, I’m fine.

Track Three is now available at bandcamp.

Avatar Roku

(Winter Solstice, Part 2)

ONE

As we’re in Part Two, this episode immediately picks up where Part One left off, in the village with the threat of the comet deadline hanging over. Aang has decided to go into the Fire Nation alone.

TWO

Katara and Sokka say nope. They’re coming, too. Appa approves and gives Sokka a big, wet lick.

THREE

Zuko, at the village our gang just left, insists on knowing where they went.

In Part One we had parallel Enneagram structure. Part Two is only Aang’s story. This allows Zuko to influence the plot as its Three/Six.

Continue reading “Avatar Roku”

Mason and Salvation

After Elysion runs away and we kill the zombies, who should be left but Mason. He calls Salvation a “skulk of foxes”. I don’t think he’s playing a double game, but I’m not sure what his agenda is. Investigating evil? Is he the voice of the common man in a medieval world of princelings? He’s portrayed with a sinister edge, and I’m not sure what the developers had in mind with him.

Regardless, he has a captured acolyte and he expects me to deal with it.

(Me? Why me?)

The acolyte has “seen the two of us together”, which is apparently bad. The quest is murky, but basically I must decide to free this fellow or kill him. My Pawns say things like, “It’s your decision, Arisen,” and “We support you whatever you decide.”

Thanks, guys.

Meanwhile, the acolyte is trying to bribe me while saying he was just there for fun with this whole perdition thing. A LARPer, lol. I kill him.

It seems evident that Mason would’ve killed him if I didn’t, and now I’m someone who Mason can trust. I just wish the intention behind this scene had been clearer. I don’t even know what I’m risking!

DARBY O’GILL, TWO

The man who has truck with the wee folk. Don’t be puttin’ the come-hither on me, now. Who doesn’t want to watch this Disney classic and speak in fake Irish?

Darby is no con man. He genuinely can see and negotiate with the King of the Leprechauns. However, Darby is so intrigued by the fairy world that he seems like a flake. He doesn’t do much work, he’s too busy scheming for his three wishes. He procrastinates and socializes. The only time he jumps is when the priest needs someone to retrieve the church bell.

Ah, Darby is such a Two. His collection — an identifying feature of a Man Two — is leprechaun lore. His knowledge and sharing of it are what make him so beloved at the pub.

He has a kind heart but he’s no businessman. He putters, trimming the hedge here, poaching a rabbit there. Service to the Church, though, moves him. The notion that the music of the bell belongs to him makes him tear up. 

A fixture of the community, both human and fairy. Two.

BATMAN (2012), EIGHT

The Dark Knight Rises is the third part of the Nolan trilogy. This Batman character has an arc, so we will find an Enneagram here (as opposed to part two).

At the beginning of the movie Batman is retired, hobbled, and reclusive. He’s just Bruce Wayne. The plot draws him out. He seeks prosthetic support for his knee and returns to training. He is initially defeated by Bane and must triumphantly overcome. 

It’s fairly cliche.

Is Batman still an Eight?

Physically, he’s dogged. He takes a beating and comes back for more. His sense of justice is also unflagging. Batman’s one consistency in the Nolan years is his insistence on saving Gotham. The city is his child and he is its protector.

His anger and how it fuels him is Eight-ish. I’m concerned, though, that he never shows that irreverent humor an Eight has. He never shows any humor. Eights have a sardonic wit and a brutal honesty that I’m just not seeing.

I think they’ve kept Batman an Eight, but only half an Eight. He’s physical and indestructible, a gamer’s tank. However, Batman’s cynicism, melancholy, and loneliness, and how they manifest in his dark humor, are also canon. The Nolan years have lost this side of him. My rewatch of these three movies has surprised me. I’m not a fan anymore. Half a Batman makes for a stodgy, ponderous slog.

The Catacombs

We wend our way down, fighting skeletons and the undead. Until we arrive at the Gathering Hall this mission is just a straight-up dungeon.

When we’re close, though, we begin to overhear the Elysion. This is the high officiant, presumably, giving his sermon or lecture. It’s an incredibly dense speech, with ten cent words and a ranging philosophy.

Basically, the soul is incomplete in this world of the mortal coil. “Whence, then, is salvation?” Not in pleasure. Equilibrium comes from the dragon. Freedom from pain makes the soul complete. Fear distills the soul to its lofty character. You’re duty bound to cede your souls to it.

You get the idea.

A group of people in creepy robes end up . . . eaten? killed? . . . by the undead who rise from the dirt floor of the catacombs. And Elysion, laughing, escapes.

Is the dragon our main antagonist, or is this fellow?