Comment on A Cabal of Paris

  1. ysande on Chapter 1 Sun 30 Dec 2018 02:48AM UTC

    I agree with Athos' deep unhappiness probably stemming more from the dissonance of what he did/what he 'had to do' than truly from Milady's secret; there's probably a lot of guilt and self-loathing there that he hides under his blanket of misogyny which he hides under his blanket of cool and aloof noble. His unswerving determination to have Milady killed (ok, yes, she was a spy for the Cardinal and a dangerous opponent and she did murder poor sweet d'Dartagnan's poor sweet Constance) likely stemmed from a deep seated hope that if Milady were truly dead (for totes legit reasons) then his role in her original attempted murder could also be forgotten :( And then his weird and irrational terror of Morduant is because he realises that it can't be forgotten; here is a piece of Milady who won't die, and more importantly, won't let him forget :(

    Also I have to admit I liked 3M Athos much better than 20YA Athos... by 20YA he has lost too much of his sass and his aloofness and his superiority and I really just missed the original Athos :(

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    1. Deiseach (Guest) on Chapter 1 Sun 30 Dec 2018 11:19AM UTC

      The situation with Mordaunt is almost Athos swinging to the other extreme from Milady; I think it does show growth there. Unfortunately, the rest of the guys are right that Mordaunt is dangerous, is determined to kill them all dead, and is not open to notions of redemption and forgiveness and forgetting his revenge.

      But Mordaunt really does have good reasons to want revenge on his uncle, and it's also very natural that he wants revenge on the murderers of his mother. And Athos has changed so much that he no longer has the automatic reaction "Yes, this person is evil and has no redeeming features, yes they're bad and there are no excuses for their behaviour, yes let's execute first and not bother about reasons afterwards". He does feel responsible at least in part for how Mordaunt ended up and after raising Raoul he does understand the things a parent will do for a child and a child for a parent. He wants to extend forgiveness and a second chance, and he is hoping for that for himself as much as for Mordaunt.

      Of course, Alex sets it up so that Mordaunt attempts to drown Athos along with himself, but hey, at least it was a moment there!

      20YA Athos is indeed different from 3M Athos, but it is also very funny how d'Artagnan expects that by now, due to his drinking, Athos will be the shattered remnants of what he once was, and he's expecting to meet a red-nosed dribbling drunkard, then they find this elegant, handsome, youthful-looking nobleman who has settled down to a very respectable family life and is deeply and genuinely admired by all his neighbours and popular with the peasantry :-)

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      1. Donna_Immaculata on Chapter 1 Sun 30 Dec 2018 03:12PM UTC

        You know, from where Mordaunt is standing, he is completely right to do what he does. These men did lynch his mum, and they were the reason why his Evil Uncle kicked him out at the age of five to beg by the roadside. It's only because Mordaunt is a Protestant, and, worse, a Puritan, that he is irredeemably evil and also quite ugly, in a pasty, Puritan way. And he gave himself an Evil Name; had he a mundane, trustworthy name like Harry or Luke people might sympathise with him.

        D'Artagnan's premature lament over Athos' decrepit state is never not funny. He had not counted on the demidivine genes power of paternal love :D

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    3. Donna_Immaculata on Chapter 1 Sun 30 Dec 2018 03:02PM UTC

      Also I have to admit I liked 3M Athos much better than 20YA Athos... by 20YA he has lost too much of his sass and his aloofness and his superiority and I really just missed the original Athos :(

      I feel the same. Athos is my favourite in 3M, and Aramis is my favourite in 20YA. They're just more fun when they're sassy and a leetle murderous <3

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      1. ysande on Chapter 1 Mon 31 Dec 2018 02:54PM UTC

        - Athos from 3M entirely
        - Aramis' spirit from 20YA and pretty looks from BBC
        - Porthos from BBC almost entirely (minus the stupid subplot about his parentage; ye gods must they ruin everything?? Heathens)
        BBC Louis just IS the best version of 3M Louis

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        1. Donna_Immaculata on Chapter 1 Mon 31 Dec 2018 04:01PM UTC

          Oh yes, BBC Louis is perfection. It's such a shame that they ruined the excellent casting with idiotic plots. We just can't have nice things.

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          1. ysande on Chapter 1 Mon 31 Dec 2018 10:20PM UTC

            The thing I don't understand with TV shows like this is WHY they have to be so crap. They go to all this trouble to have gorgeous sets and perfect casts and everything is lovely then all of a sudden someone has a brain aneurysm and makes Aramis the fucking father of the Sun King and Porthos is an angsty nobleman and Grimaud is a villain and I just - WHY *tears hair out* there are so many incredibly talented writers out there, and so many just vaguely mediocre ones who would at least have done a serviceable job so WHY does it need to turn into a crapfest?!

            Oh God, maybe my new years resolution needs to be "have more chill XD

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            1. Donna_Immaculata on Chapter 1 Tue 01 Jan 2019 03:39PM UTC

              I know! Why do they do this? The writing wasn't stellar to begin with, but what happened in season 2 was abominable, and apparently season 3 was even worse? I understand that sometimes characters develop a life of their own and want to move in certain directions, but to set out and with malice of forethought make Grimaud a villain requires a special brand of stupid evilz.

              The thing is, it's so easy to create drama for these characters: both by using historical stuff from the era, where everyone was apparently knee-deep in intrigues and everyone was at war with everyone else, and by using their characterisation from the books, where, as we discussed, they are willing to get into a fight at the slightest provocation. What is not necessary is pour bucketfuls of stupid over everything.

              British television used to produce clever and well-written shows, especially historical ones. Like, they didn't have as much money as the Americans and their productions looked cheap, and it was the writing that was their strong suit. I don't know what's been going recently. My tentative theory is that they've been trying to appeal to an international audience more and more and invested their entire funds into making their shows look flash, while the writing is now done by the Tumblr algorithm.

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