Elias, still stressing about how to best induce the last missing traumas onto his archivist, watching Jon enter the Spiral to willingly give his ribs to the Flesh then hurl himself straight into the Buried:

John, Lies and Trust, and the Dark World Pt.3

Part 2

The Deal

Kayne mentions that John finally called him only when he sank lower than ever. I don't want to imagine the state he was in. I want to hide in the corner and never think of it again. Now, the deal impacts a lot of s3 and 4, and we still don't know all the details about it, so I'll lay out only the facts first and my assumptions later.

Facts:

Getting Arthur to touch the grey stone wasn't the only condition. Kayne had John do some other things, horrendous by the sound of it.

Not telling Arthur anything about the deal was one of its conditions. I know it sounds sort of vague when Kayne and John talk about it, but after relistening I'm sure it was one.

It is unknown what the punishment would have been if John broke the deal, or even if there was supposed to be one.

It is also unknown whether Kayne said (or John asked) anything about what would happen after Arthur touches the stone and how safe it was.

Assumptions:

Kayne says John had a choice whether to tell about the deal or not and compares it to Matthew's. Which makes me think that if John broke the deal he would have ended up back in the Dark World OR Arthur could die since John can't.

I bet Kayne left A LOT up to John's interpretation because it's "more fun" this way. A vague deal is always a bad one, but I believe John was in no condition to think things through. One - we know for a fact it was very bad, two - Kayne didn't give Arthur much time to consider their deal, so I don't have any reasons to believe he'd be more generous with John.

The part when my "he did all of that but I don't care set him free" attitude towards John comes up: I believe John didn't know if touching the stone would be safe or put them in danger. Or put Arthur in danger... but what I also believe is that John held onto the thought that They Will Be Together. And they've already beaten unimaginable odds together multiple times, so they'll manage somehow. Cross this bridge when they get to it. In any case any danger to Arthur means danger to John as well, so he's very much interested in keeping his friend and host safe, both from genuine care and the will to live. But John couldn't know if it's safe, and by the sound of it Kayne didn't tell him. Didn't warn if it was dangerous either, though. But since John was in a very bad place both mentally and actually, and he wants to live, he chose to bet their lives on this deal. Hoping it'll be alright because the alternative was too unbearable. "Possible problems in some distant future" sounded almost meaningless compared to "suffering here and now". This noticeably weighted on him throughout the s4 finale - he was talking as if convincing Arthur it was ok and they'll get out alive, but he was actually trying his damnest to convince himself. Because they were so close to the goal! It's one thing to have doubts when the salvation is barely hovering there sometime in the future, and totally another when it's already almost within one's grasp. So yeah it's ugly. There's no way to sugar coat this. He was in a survival mode. It's bad anyway, but... I can understand this. Can judge from the moral perspective but not condemn from the personal one.

I'd also like to note that Kayne's idea of a "choice" is fucked up. I mean that's a given but still. A person held at a gunpoint also has "a choice", but it's beyond normal moral limits. It's a dire situation and no one can predict how they would act in it. Kayne I hate you. Even so, John NEARLY spilled the truth multiple times, barely biting it back at the very last moment. I have many reasons to believe he genuinely cares for Arthur, and this is one of them. Choosing between his friend's trust & life (possibly) - and endless suffering & imprisonment in the Dark World, the greatest fear, he nearly chose Arthur more than once. Lastly, there IS one thing supporting the idea that the stone wouldn't have damaged Arthur irrepairably, at the very least. It's Kayne's idea, and Kayne's interested in the show to go on. He may meddle with their lives moderately, but won't lead Arthur to the certain death on purpose. So John had reasons to believe it was somewhat safe.

I'll add that I wouldn't be surprised if Kayne sneered about putting John and Arthur's trust to the test, and the fact that John valued his life more than it. Knowing full well how John would feel about it, how he hates to lie, and enjoying the effect - it's a lasting one, after all, because John either suffers in the Dark World or while lying to Arthur. There was no good choice.

Doctors that could pull off Heaven Sent, as in the same plot and structure of the episode as it stands in canon:

Twelve -- obviously.

Eight -- He just seems like someone who could pull off a monologue and make it interesting -- I don't know if he could pull off the "that's a hell of a bird" (I need to relisten to the audios), but a.) I feel like he could and he could definitely pull off punching through the wall (he'd be much more of a sad wet cat about it though) and b.) I would absolutely watch Eight wander sadly around a mysterious castle for fifty minutes and not even because I'm starved for live-action appearances of Paul McGann.

Doctors who could maybe pull off Heaven Sent, but it would probably need some pretty major plot/style revisions to make it work:

Seven -- once again, he could absolutely pull off a monologue and make it interesting, and he's got the charisma and the ego to carry off an episode with him as the only character, but the episode would need to have a fairly dramatic tone shift to work with who he is as a person. Seven's speeches are very different in style and tone, and his solution to the episode would need to be immensely different.

Four -- 100% has the ego  to pull it off, but I'm not sure I can see him giving any of the speeches. I'm putting him into this category for the ego reasons, but he kind of also falls into the next one, where tonally it might be the same as the episode but it would need a plot/character/action shift, probably towards a much stronger puzzle sort of mystery.

Doctors who could pull off a focus episode at the level of Heaven Sent but would need a fundamentally different style of episode:

Fourteen/Ten -- they absolutely have the on-screen charisma to pull off an episode where they're the total focus, but Fourteen/Ten doesn't have the kind of speech patterns/problem-solving style that lends itself well to being a solo character. He needs someone to bounce off of so he can talk ten miles a minute and still have it work. (As a side note, this entire ranking was built around the idea that Wild Blue Yonder is basically Fourteen's Heaven Sent, and like... it really is, and also that's what I'm talking about when I say he needs someone to bounce off of -- we get just as much focus on him even with three other characters in the episode. Same with Midnight, really, but that's got too many other people to really be what I'm talking about.)

Nine -- I feel like Nine would have to go the route of getting really really angry to pull off that kind of focus episode, which means he'd need an outright antagonist he could interact with. (So basically just Dalek, tbh, but. y'know. more.)

Doctors who probably couldn't manage something like Heaven Sent: (NOT a commentary on whether or not these doctors are well-written or interesting or have distinct character writing, just a note that I think they need the rest of the cast around them in a way that a Heaven Sent-esque episode, by its very nature, removes them.)

Eleven & Five -- I don't want to sound mean but they just don't super, like... have enough ego to pull it off? They've always read as fairly mild compared to, say, Ten and Seven's mania or Twelve and Four and Nine's intensity, and their quirkiness works best when its contrasted or counterparted with someone who does have that kind of intensity (River Song) or characters who are a lot more "normal" (Amy and Rory, Nyssa and Tegan).

One, Two, & Three -- They just work best as part of an ensemble cast, like not even the case with Ten where they need someone to bounce off of, they literally just work best in stories when they're part of a group.

Doctors I don't have a good idea for:

Fifteen, Thirteen, & Six -- I either just have not seen enough of their eras or don't have a good enough grasp of their personalities (sometimes both) to say whether or not I think they'd work in an episode like this, so anyone who's got a better grasp of them please tell me what you think!

(IMPORTANT NOTE: this is categorically not a comment on any of the actors' skills -- this is about whether or not I think each Doctor as they are written would be interesting to watch in a Heaven Sent-like setting -- aka would each Doctor's personality, transported into that setting and plot, be interesting to watch or would it be dull and/or a tonal mismatch. The actors are all amazing and I love each and every one of them)

Ok actually I'm still thinking about this. Hold on. Let me be cringe

I don't think either of Haruka's songs would fit any H1VE characters?? Maybe AKAA would fit someone but I doubt it and I couldn't tell you who

Yuno's songs wouldn't fit anyone from H1VE unless you wanna take Umbilical as a true cutesy romance song in which case probably PR1CADICA or something

I feel like either of Fuuta's songs could fit someone but idk who

After Pain could be Timema? Possibly? And It's Not My Fault could probably be Cas

Throw Down is probably Scarab? I'll have to relisten. I don't think Triage fits anyone though

TIHTBILWY like I said could be PR1CADICA but in a very specific way. It's also Edgar coded as hell but whatever this isn't about him. Also I Love You is cascarab as fuck

Both of Kazui's songs fit Scarab SO well they're basically the same character

Magic wouldn't fit anyone but The Purge March was written about Mantis Walters

MeMe could be Cicada? Or maybe Elijah? I don't know. Double seems like it could fit Cicada if you stretch

And I doubt either of Kotoko's songs would fit anyone but who knows let's wait for Deep Cover

Theory : anti-spoiler culture ruined the soundtrack of the kenobi series

I relistened to the series' soundtrack last week and the thing most noticeable about it is.... how unremarkable it is. Aside from the main theme john Williams composed, can you remember or sing anything from it? Aside from few good parts here and there, the impression I have is very generic, bland, and definitely void of the trademarks that make a good, memorable star wars soundtrack in my opinion.

Now I'm not one to hang on established themes if new, equally good ones are introduced; the mandalorian is my favourite star wars music, it proved it was possible. That wasn't the case here. And the kenobi series is, let's be real, mainly an appeal to nostalgia of the prequel movies. The mandalorian made new themes for new characters; and used the force theme for Luke's appearance, because it would feel like it's missing if it didn't. kenobi was almost exclusively legacy characters, some of them with firmly established musical themes. Leia has a theme since A new hope. The series also repeated instances from the prequels that had distinct musical associations: order 66 had the march on the jedi temple, anakin's betrayal, and the obiwan - anakin duel was characterized by battle of the heroes and duel of the fates (whose absence is made more frustrating by its use for the trailer. I don't think it was unreasonable for us to expect in to be used in the series when the promo was done with it).

Leia's theme is not used at all, despite the fact it had come to represent even alderaan itself in tcw's soundtrack. It makes no sense not to use it. They used it for baby leia meeting breha, it was created for her 19yo self, why wouldn't it be relevant to her 10yo self ? Besides, the emperor's theme is also left unused despite being long established in both trilogies. The imperial march is used once, and while I don't mean to swing back and argue they should have used it as much as rebels did, I do think it was too little and felt missing in the village scene on mapuzo

Again I would not be complaining if the music we got was so great that it made me forget what it didn't include. I don't want star wars to become a repetitive loop of rehashing and never any new theme, only callbacks. I do feel those themes should be used, sparsely, when relevant, when telling the story of the characters they represent. And especially in flashbacks. And the "replacement" we were given instead is, frankly, mediocre. I can't help but feel a void listening to it, because if you are reusing so much of the prequels both narratively and emotionally... why leave out such a huge part of what made us feel this way? Why cut the wings off your most emotional scenes by not reminding us musically what it's connected to ?

If you have to make me watch order 66 one hundred times, make it good. I have qualms with tcw s7, but I can't say Victory and death wasn't efficient, fitting, and as good a track as revenge of the sith's order 66 music. And it's just my opinion, but kenobi's take didn't live up to the challenge.

Ok, rant over. Why did this happen tho ? Why wouldn't they use the established themes? This is just my theory, obviously I don't work at Lucasfilm, but my guess is : the composer didn't know who she was writing for, she couldn't know what to use when. They wanted to keep the importance of leia's role a secret at all costs and make it a big reveal, as was when the vader - obiwan confrontations would take place, and the emperor cameo. I wouldn't be surprised if it was kept from even the composer. Favloni kept Luke's cameo secret from as many people as possible, telling basically anyone but mark that it'd be plo koon, and the only reason we did get the force theme in my opinion was that it did not give away it was specifically luke but any jedi. That specific brand of bland soundtrack mediocrity reminds me of what happens with the mcu when composers don't know neither what characters nor the details of the scenes they're writing for, in opposition with the Black Panther soundtrack where ludwig Goransson was informed.

It betrays such a disdain for composers that Disney is fully choosing to sacrifice quality, retaining relevant and vital information, to exclude artists from key aspects of the projects they hired them to be a part of, stifling their abilities to give us good music, and all out of fear of leaks that they cannot stop from happening anyways. Word got out of Luke's cameo, word got out of leia's involvement. Total lack of spoilers is impossible to achieve, and striving for it is hindering the very art it claims to protect the enjoyment of. Besides, a good plot should be able to withstand spoilers, and the whole spoiler circus seems very much a way to manufacture hype by signaling to people that they should want to find out before anyone else. But I digress. My point is that the lack of involvement of the composers make for some very forgettable scores and it's a damn shame