The Lost Fable Broke Me notes

So I wanna make a video about my problems with "The Lost Fable." And to do this, I've rewatched the episode and taken notes. Here is the result. (get some snacks cuz it's a wild ride into the dark depths of insanity)

• We never see Salem’s father. We don’t know why she’s locked away, and we also don’t know why she doesn’t just break out on her own. Especially if EVERYONE has magic.
  • And everyone has the same magic? Okay then.
  • I’ve been notified by Cynzi that the Girl in the Tower fairy tale goes more in depth with this. However, that’s another case of this show relying on supplemental content to deliver vital parts of the story, which is literally the opposite of what supplemental content’s purpose is.
• Ozma is just… some random hero. Where’s he from? Why does he want to free Salem?
  • “He fought not for the maiden’s hand” Jinn says right before Ozma saves Salem and then takes her hand to go on adventures.
• We know nothing about these two as people. They’re blank sleights, which probably causes people to project motivations onto them (myself included). In reality, there’s no reason why Salem would’ve stayed in the tower this whole time, no reason why Ozma would’ve saved her, and no reason they would’ve fallen in love.
  • I get it, it’s meant to mock the fairy tale ending where they meet and immediately fall in love. But um, usually they do a decent job making me believe they are indeed in love? Or at least are infatuated with each other. I don’t get that at all here.
  • Jinn is telling us they “fell deeply in love.” I don’t believe it. Prove it to me.
  • Jinn saying they went on adventures but we’ve already animated this whole episode, we can’t possibly animate any of their whacky adventures.
• I kinda like the simplicity of Ozma dying from a cold. People can die at any time from anything, and death often feels like it comes out of left field like this does. However, if they all have magic, how in the hell do they not have magic to prevent this? Isn’t this world supposed to be a utopia? How is a healthy young man able to just die like this? I’d buy this in the hellscape of Remnant, but not a utopia overseen by gods.
  • And now I’m imagining an alternate version where they go on lighthearted adventures, only for Ozma to be unexpectedly killed in front of Salem. That might also explain her reclusive tendencies later on.
  • As this is, I don’t feel Salem’s pain or the weight of Ozma’s loss at all. It just happens.
  • Now I kinda wish Salem kept the cane to this day.
• The fact we have Salem crying, then abruptly talk about the Brother Gods, feels like we’re glossing over real emotions and conflict we could explore for shallow worldbuilding the fans can make Wiki pages for.
• It feels so bizarre having the main characters popping in and out of the chapter. It takes me out of the whole experience. They don’t even add anything of substance to the story, and there’s no reason for any of the character choices. Like, why do Weiss and Blake specifically stand there when we see the orbs representing the gods? Why does Ruby witness Salem stabbing herself?
• I must admit, the Domain of Light is gorgeous. I love the golden grass, the pool, and the tree.
• The Brother Gods have such boring humanoid designs. Even the concept is dull. Yes I get it, they’re the Brothers Grimm, but isn’t this story also supposed to be about kickass women? And isn’t four meant to be an important number? Why not have the Seasons be goddesses who eventually gave rise to the Maidens?
  • And if we wanna point out the failures of the systems men create and how women have to fix them, wouldn’t both the Brother Gods be framed as awful at their jobs and lowkey terrible, incompetent people?
• Shouldn’t the God of Light be more compassionate to Salem? She was locked in a tower all her life and probably didn’t get the chance to understand how life works; no wonder she doesn't know how to handle loss and grief.
  • But again, we know nothing about her, so it’s me projecting reasons for her behavior onto her instead of the show providing that story. This show literally relies on viewers fabricating storylines themselves. There’s a difference between letting your audience connect the puzzle pieces themselves, and telling them to flat out construct the puzzle pieces from scratch.
• The God of Darkness isn’t scary. He looks like a human-shaped bag of jelly.
  • Also, this confirms the Grimm origin we heard back in Volume 4, and it’s so dull. They have nothing to do with humanity’s own darkness, and weren’t created by it. They were just created because the God of Darkness hated his brother’s pretty flowers.
• The Gods don’t even have motivations of their own. They aren’t characters; they’re plot devices, tasked with advancing the plot so Remnant can be destroyed and abandoned. Even Salem and Ozma feel less like characters than they do chess pieces. And unfortunately, the writers don’t know how to play chess.
• I don’t feel anything when Ozma is returned to Salem. No emotions, just boredom. I don’t even feel a visceral conflict between the Brother Gods.
• Jen Taylor’s really trying to sell Salem’s anger but the writing keeps me from caring. I’m just laughing as Ozma is yo-yo’d between life and death.
• The only aspect of the Brother Gods’ designs I genuinely like are their dragon forms. Especially because western dragons are usually demonic and malevolent (God of Darkness), whereas eastern dragons are seen as divine and benevolent (God of Light).
• If Ozma was shown to be in pain from being brought back, then I’d get where the Gods are coming from and they’d be good guys. But they’re literally just killing a man. Whereas Salem is throwing a tantrum cuz no one has explained to her how any of this works. I am rooting for no one.
• Salem’s just like “I will fight the gods!” and the God of Light rushes her like “NO, we can’t afford to animate that!”
• Will admit, I do like the visual of Salem falling from the sky into the spring of light. I blame Kingdom Hearts.
• “It is clear now your selfishness and arrogance have led you astray.” Yeah, totally not the fact she had no human contact for literally her whole life then got whisked into the chaotic outside world by the one person she’d formed an amicable connection with only for him to die because he didn’t get vaccinated.
  • In concept I really do love this. That Salem is immortal and will be until she understands the balance of life and death. Because immortality isn’t a blessing; it’s a curse. You suffer for eternity, unable to rest, and watching any loved ones you meet age and die before you. And eventually, you’re alone as everyone else dies out, like Salem does. But not once do I feel the pain she’s going through. Not once do I feel that was an intentional theme the writers wanted to explore in any meaningful way.
  • It also means that you can’t just kill her. You can’t fight your problems until they go away cuz you physically beat them into submission. You have to understand it and then work your way out like an empathetic adult. And I kinda love that?
• I feel nothing when Salem stabs herself. I don’t feel her despair, her anger, her loneliness, nothing.
  • Also, I get she’s immortal and can’t die. But if the sword can still go through her, why is she fine? You’d still feel all the pain from stabbing yourself. We’ve seen ehr body heal itself in Volume 8, but here she’s fine immediately. No visible wounds, no blood, not even on the sword.
• They really wanted to wow us with this 360 camera work as we transition between throne rooms, didn’t they? Maybe keeping the white void in the far back, and having all these throne rooms barren and ugly, wasn’t a good idea? And it’s also obvious this is just the White Fang throne room remodeled a bit.
• I get we’re pressed for time, but the way Salem turns mankind on the gods is uninteresting. Jinn’s comments of “no longer having to watch their loved ones wither and die” and “claiming the powers of their creators for themselves, and in turn perfecting their own desires” ring hollow. It doesn’t mean anything. We just need a reason for humanity to be wiped out, and this is it.
  • Like, humanity is biting the hand that feeds them. They’re turning on the Brother Gods presumably so they can live forever? But I’m left to just assume that on my own. Again, no worthwhile exploration of any of these themes.
  • “She learned that the hearts of men are easily swayed” oh go step on a LEGO.
• How I wish this moment got some kind of song. Like, a “Divide” prelude or SOMETHING. ANYTHING.
• Magic in this show is so thoroughly unimpressive and bland.
• And because of this one angry crowd, we’re going to kill literally ALL LIFE ON THIS PLANET. These gods suck at their job and lowkey they’re the bad guys. Not that Salem’s any better, but she’s also kinda a product of a fucked up system. None of this is even intentional which is what ultimately makes me wish I was dead right now.
• And the gods peace the fuck out like I wish I could right now.
• This is how the moon breaks. Because the God of Darkness yeeted himself through it as he left. I fucking hate it.
  • From what I can recall, the canon theme behind the shattered moon was to represent the “sins and folly of mankind.” But given the reason the gods left, there’s no real weight behind it. If anything, it’s a shallow explanation that pales in comparison to the work goddamn fan theorists had been putting into crafting their own stories until this chapter came out. I don’t even like theorizing and I have to give them that credit. Then again, it’s always the fans putting more meaning into the show’s content than its writers.
• Again, Salem’s wandering the world, then becomes a Grimm out of her own negativity. Well, literally it’s an ichor pool, but on a story level it’s her giving into her negativity, which is probably the deepest the story ever gets. But I don’t feel anything. There’s nothing substantive here.
  • If the Grimm feast on negativity, then what the hell were they doing when the planet had no life? Why didn’t they all attack Salem as this huge, solitary pillar of negative emotions wandering the landscape? Imagine if she’d been fighting them off the whole time, and whenever she gave in they ripped her apart, only for her immortality to bring her back so the Grimm could do it again and again? It’s dark but IT’S SOMETHING.
  • There are random deer, so I assume it’s just humans who died out. Why didn’t Salem just befriend animals? WHO KNOWS.
• The God of Light sends Ozma back because… I don’t even know why. Didn’t you give up on Remnant, dude? Why do you even care? I don’t get what his motivation is.
  • “I’m afraid a tragedy has befallen your world at the hands of my brother.” Yeah, a tragedy which you let him carry out and then left before fixing it. And if they were able to yank Ozma to and fro death, how is it even possible that the God of Light couldn’t just bring everyone back if he felt really bad about it? Why stick one innocent man who’s suffered enough with this responsibility, all while having to deal with his lover turned demon? THE GODS SUCK.
• I don’t know why, but I’m cackling at the height difference between Ozma and the God of Light. It’s like… smol boi… and tol boi. (I need to be shot)
• So the new humanity came about through literal bloody evolution. Cool beans, but why are the Faunus just now showing up? Then again I shouldn’t mention that cuz the last time I did I got called a lunatic by the fandom.
• “Humanity will be made whole again.” What does that even mean? Like, humans are the same now as they were then, but they just don’t have full-on magic. What else is different? They clearly aren’t more likely to give into darker emotions given humanity literally turned on the Brother Gods when they had a utopia. A utopia in which a healthy young man could DIE FROM THE COMMON COLD.
  • Ugh, and now I’m remembering all the “Aura, Semblances, and Dust aren’t magic!” crap and I hate all of this.
• I can’t believe we really villainized Oz, myself included. He’s the fucking vicctim in all of this, and even the characters are cruel to him when we ge tout of this. Like, “How dare you not share your literal eons of trauma with us children!”
• So Oz just… possessed a random man? And then he takes over completely and we have no idea who this was beforehand. We don’t see a merging of souls or personalities, there’s none of that.
  • “Tell me you’re name. Who are you?” Weren’t you presumably both from the same village?
• As usual, the Faunus are a complete afterthought. They just randomly appear from evolution and get locked away in cages cuz they have fangs. Okay then. Oz have literally no opinion on this so who cares I guess.
• They still don’t explain where Dust came from. Like, is it the remnants of dead people? Is it the moon? What the hell is it? I don’t even really care about this on a plot level; I wish we knew because that affects what it means on a thematic level.
• Salem just… lives in a random witch cottage. Okay then.
• “What do we do now?” I burst out laughing. I don’t even fucking care, this reunion means nothing.
• “Salem blamed the end of the world on the gods” I mean she did play a part but THE GODS ARE ALSO AT FAULT. BOTH OF THESE THINGS ARE TRUE.
  • “Both of these things can be true - there are idiots.”
• “This world is quite literally godless.” I mean, it’s uglier now, but is it really that much different? We weren’t given any reason to believe the old world was in fact the utopia they claim it was, so I don’t feel the loss of that old world whatsoever. I don’t feel like this world is a remnant in anything but a technicality.
• God Ozma is so passive I hate it.
  • Salem doesn’t even seem malevolent here. She seems genuinely excited at another chance with Ozma. And she wants to make a better world, and through the episode the only evidence of this being bad is a war being waged? But like… that’s also normal of literally any country.
• “The two amassed a following” but unfortunately we don’t know this kingdom’s name or have any legends about this. Cool.
• The daughters are presumably the seasons given there’s four of them, and they seem to have seasonal aesthetics. We know Oz created the Maidens himself while the Gods made the Relics, so does that mean Oz later on created the Maidens, inspired by his lost daughters, to guard the Relics? I DON’T KNOW, CUZ THE SHOW NEVER TOLD ME.
• I wish this castle was in the Land of Darkness and was Salem’s current castle. The architecture is similar, sure, but it’s not in the Land of Darkness. But that would add so much weight to Salem’s choice for her base of operations, and also make us feel now in this chapter the malevolence she’s steeped herself in.
  • Why do they even have a normal army? Why not command the Grimm? Salem is part-Grimm, and that’s presumably how she can control them. So why not have her army be entirely Grimm, and they’re feared through the lands because they control a literal demon horde fed by sin and malice?
• I don’t even know what Salem’s motivations are. “We could replace them with what they could never be.” The “them” grammatically has to refer to humans, because the previous clause was “Why bother trying to redeem these humans?” The object is “humans.” So Salem presumably wants to replace the current populace with humans who can use magic, just like the old world, but it’s not clear whether she wants to do that through full-on genocide, so I don’t get Ozma’s hesitation.
  • It would be so easy to tie Salem’s fear of death into her actions here. She knows she’ll live forever, but that also means she’ll have to watch Ozma grow old and die. Sure, he’ll reincarnate, but she’ll have to watch him wither and die over and over, going long periods of time in-between without him. And their daughters will die and just not come back at all. Imagine how palpable that fear could’ve been if that were part of this story.
  • Also, a lot of animes do have villains who wanna destroy the current world for an ideal one, or change the current world in such a way that would mean less suffering, but also no joy. Like in Tales of Berseria, the main villains Artorius and Innominat want to end all suffering and wipe out Daemons. However, that means they have to literally rob humanity of their free will and emotions, turning them all into empty puppets who wander around mindlessly, even killing themselves if they believe they’ve done something bad, no matter the reason or context.
• Oh no, Salem slaughtered her nameless daughters for no reason after Ozma tried to sneak out with them for no reason. Such emotion.
  • I feel more emotion when Weiss witnesses two parents fighting and is presumably triggered than I do from the fight itself.
  • Also, nice cutting away from the fight so you don’t have to animate any of it. Why did we force this all into one chapter again?
• Salem be like, “WE COULDA HAD IT ALL, ROLLIN’ IN THE DEEP.”
• Oz is the real victim with all he’s been through, but the show doesn’t bother exploring the pain he’s been through in any meaningful way, and still continues to insist he was in the wrong for not telling the kids all of this in its gory, upsetting detail.
• “Ozma sought out the power of the Relics.” Did the God of Light literally just drop them in four random locales? What is Salem even doing through all of this?
• “How do I destroy Salem?” “You can’t.” CUZ THAT’S NOT THE POINT.
  • I do like this fakeout of not being able to kill Salem, but it really feels like so many people - including the writers - didn’t think of what that could mean for the story’s themes. I mean I know why, cuz no one thinks of what the themes are supposed to be. Wonderful.
• I felt nothing through all of that, and I am still left feeling… nothing. And not even in a powerful way where something has left me numb or speechless; just… this said nothing of substance, and therefore I am left unaffected. Wow.