Yet Another Video Essay On How VARIAN GOT DONE DIRTY

Comments · 237

• KR

  @kristenkortright2921 · 2 years ago

  It made no sense that after the blizzard, Rapunzel didn’t even bother to check if Varian was alive after being thrown out into it. Instead, she took a painting class to distract her because she was feeling guilty.

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• CL

  @clippy_clippington · 2 years ago

  I am to this day, still so confused about how Cass escaped with zero consequences. Varian deserved so much better

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• AN

  @anemoinsanity8208 · 10 months ago (edited)

  The problem is also the insane contrast. Varian steals what essentially is expired medicine in an act of desperation, and suddenly he’s an irredeemable monster (I know he does more, but that’s when he starts getting called a monster). Cass steals a weapon of mass destruction, attempts to kill several main characters, kidnaps and drugs a child, releases a demon, mind controls the brotherhood, and displaces everyone who lives on the island, and yet they still believe she’s just “lost” and “they can reach her”. Believing in that after all she’s done is not only stupid, but extremely dangerous.

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• PR

  @princessmiami8758 · 1 year ago

  I wanna know which guard is responsible for launching my boy out of the castle in a BLIZZARD. A FREAKING BLIZZARD

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• DE

  @delphoxhoopa7289 · 2 years ago (edited)

  To this day, I can't help but worry if Varian was only brought back in Season 3 because of his popularity. Season 1 honestly gave the impression that he was going to end the show imprisoned. Which is ridiculous because out of all the villains, his motivations were actually sympathetic and believable unlike Cassandra's, who's arc was PLANNED for the show, yet had the most unsatisfying fate considering her crimes.

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• VU

  @vuivraalbastra · 2 years ago (edited)

  Varian&apos;s arc frustrated me too on a rewatch. The only reason it was easier to digest than Cass&apos; was because it was much shorter. Every episode after Queen for a Day, especially in the more chill episodes, I wanted to shout at Rapunzel through the screen. Why was she wasting time in Corona when nothing important happened instead of checking up on Varian? She even has the gall to complain that she had to turn away Varian, her friend, and that&apos;s a decision that haunts her... No, it obviously isn&apos;t haunting her if she isn&apos;t doing anything to talk to him and try to help him now at least. The writers tried hard to make Rapunzel sympathetic even when she treats Varian with such coldness, but he really wasn&apos;t a friend to the group and not for the lack of trying. He is treated by Rapunzel, Eugene and Cassandra as just a cute acquaintance and nothing else despite and that would be fine if the narrative didn&apos;t insist they are friends. Also the fact that King Fred didn&apos;t care about Old Corona and left them to fend for themselves when it came to the spikes is completely forgotten too and he never has to apologize for that, just for not letting Rapunzel do what she wants to do. <br><br>I also had issues with how his fall to villainy is well paced and makes sense then boom, in the last episode he goes from just doing anything it takes to save his father to deciding to kill the entire royal family as revenge in a second. On top of it, Varian&apos;s liking of Flynn Ryder and of Cassandra went absolutely nowhere, those things aren&apos;t even mentioned after one or two or episodes and he easily threatens to kill Cass in the finale, lol. It felt like something extra the writers added just so we can see Varian as a villain that needs to be stopped in the climax. But why? I thought showing that the royal family can make mistakes and treat people badly even when they don&apos;t mean too was great, it gave them room to improve and put themselves in the shoes of the common people. But no, Varian gets only a sliver of empathy from Rapunzel and her parents even though he was only 14 at the time and was just left without any parents around. Rapunzel is okay with just telling her dad to go easy on him, not even talking to Varian directly once the battle is over, and later on she doesn&apos;t even react to the fact that Fred just threw the boy in jail, what a joke... On the other side, remember how she fought for other characters to be given another chance (I&apos;m not only talking about Cass) ? Yeah, poor Varian...<br><br>To add insult to injury, he&apos;s not even left to do the heroic thing to redeem himself. In the first episode of season 3, his explanations for doing what he does are really fitting for his character and a great start to his redemption arc. He helps with information and providing some potions, but then when the time comes for the big, heroic moment Rapunzel pushes him aside. He begs her to let him do it because it&apos;s his mess, she simply replies it is his mess but it&apos;s also her kingdom, then goes onto saving the day by herself.... because we can&apos;t have Rapunzel not being the hero in the episode at that point in the series, not even once. Varian is a great character wasted by the writers bending Rapunzel&apos;s personality to do whatever they think it&apos;s most flashy, not what makes the most sense.<br><br>That being said, his songs are absolute bangers. Ready As I&apos;ll Ever Be is peak for me despite the context and Nothing Left to Lose is conceptually awesome (I wish it had any effect on the plot though, like perhaps his plea might have convinced Cass to not go too far in a certain situation at least? But no, that didn&apos;t happen because Varian is not actually treated like a close enough friend by the main trio). Edit: Let Me Make You Proud is not bad either, it&apos;s just that I found the timing for it to be quite strange, if I was running to ask for help to save my parents, my first thought wouldn&apos;t be &quot;this will surely make them be proud of me&quot;, it would just be the natural thing to do.

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• FU

  @fuutakajiyamakisser · 2 years ago

  It’s upsetting that he didn’t get his own show, even though Disney should’ve KNOWN Varian is the fan favorite 😭

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• DS

  @dspace4514 · 2 years ago

  Varian is my favourite chracter in all of Tangled. His songs are probably the best in my opinion.

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• MA

  @marvelgirlfan0119 · 2 years ago

  This is why I really separate the tv from the movie because I really think the movie Rapunzel would NEVER treat Varian like this.

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• BU

  @ButtonStone · 1 year ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GykhymDOezU&amp;t=531">8:51</a> THIS. is what I&apos;ve been thinking.<br><br>the ONLY reason she even talked to Varian was because HE walked to HER .<br><br>when its supposed to be the OTHER WAY AROUND.<br><br>the way Rapunzel gets upset about what Varian did but lets Cass gets away with it was unfair.<br><br>hes my favorite character , I rlly wish he got the spin-off series :c

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• SH

  @shepollie · 6 months ago (edited)

  I love his character, but I hate how both the writers and the characters treat him. In the episode where he steals the flower he says to Rapunzel something along the lines of &quot;If we can save Corona thats a plus, but I&apos;m mainly doing this for my dad.&quot; which Rapunzel gives him a look of suspicion for (I got the sense that this was supposed to be the point where the viewer thinks &quot;oh yeah Varian&apos;s definitely a bad guy,&quot; but it did the opposite for me. I was kinda expecting for Rapunzel to end up apologizing for this, but they didn&apos;t go in that direction.) Then, later that same episode iirc, Rapunzel is talking to her dad and he tells her that he knew using the Sundrop could endanger Corona and put his family first anyways. Rapunzel reacted with understanding, and even gratefulness. So... two separate people admitted to Rapunzel that they valued their family over their country and she met one with hostile suspicion and one with understanding. It seems to me that Rapunzel doesn&apos;t mind putting family above country, but only when the family being saved is HER. It comes off as selfish and hypocritical on Rapunzel&apos;s part, especially when she meets Cass w/ sympathy for doing much worse. &nbsp;I know it wasn&apos;t the writers intention, but it feels like she meets every villain with some level of sympathy EXCEPT Varian.

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• ST

  @starchildofthesun · 1 year ago

  &quot;Not on the same level of characters like Rapunzel or Eugene&quot; Bro, Varian is the fan favorite. I doubt there&apos;s enough people that like Rapunzel more than Varian to make that quote from you true.

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