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Post by tzigone on Feb 24, 2015 8:45:13 GMT -5
I have a few fic ideas floating around in my head. One of my favorites involves Maeve's parents. But to use them/this idea, I really must work out the mechanics of when Dermott was transformed into a hawk, and I'm having trouble with it. I know what I want them to think/believe, but I don't know how to make it happen. I would love some help in this area. To be honest, I've always had trouble coming up with a scenario where Rumina turns Dermott into a hawk instead of killing him. Why does she do that? Why a hawk? I've searched for Arabian/Persian symbolism for hawks to see if that would give me a reason, but have so far come up empty. I know Rumina likes to play with victims, but that's the ones that have meaning to her, isn't it? Else they get fried like her servant/slave. Besides, she didn't play with Dermott - or at lest, didn't keep him to play with. Here's my list of criteria (spoiler involved): - There are no other magic users in the area besides Turok and Rumina. Maeve knows that she has the gift, but cannot (and will not try to) actively do any magic.
- Dermott was not trying to defend Maeve when transformed (though he may be trying to defend another). I don't want any sense of guilt from Maeve. She completely (and correctly) blames Rumina.
- The villagers/townsfolk should know that Rumina is a sorceress by time it's all over.
- The villagers/townsfolk must think that Rumina killed Dermott
- Maeve must interact with Rumina at some point either before or during Dermott's transformation. Rumina has to know they are siblings. We know Rumina saw her because she looked familiar and we know Maeve expected to be remembered.
- Rumina, Dermott, and Maeve were all at least late teens at the time - functioning as adults.
Here are a few extra details that I don't think will help, but I'll include anyway. - Time period is late 8th century
- Maeve and Dermott's father is a metalworker, and skilled enough to work in bronze; fairly well off. His daughters, as well as sons, were taught his trade and how to fight.
- Maeve and Dermott are third and fourth of five surviving children and are 1-2 years apart in age, with Dermott younger
- Place is likely a monastic town (possibly Coleraine/Cúil Rathain)
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Post by tzigone on Feb 24, 2015 7:02:07 GMT -5
Perhaps not - maybe I didn't read closely enough. I already knew about the Mongol sacking in 1258, and in Wikipedia skips right from the Abbasids to the Ottomans in section titles. But reading more closely, it looks like Baghdad was controlled by "Mongol Jalayirid (1400–1411), Turkic Kara Koyunlu (1411–1469), Turkic Ak Koyunlu (1469–1508), and the Iranian Safavid (1508–1534) dynasties" so the Mongols were out of there by in the very early 15th century. And I did notice before those were called a "Mongol breakaway state" instead of proper Mongol empire, but I thought they still qualified as Mongols. But that was after a Turkic sack, so I'm not really sure how to qualify it. But I'll admit to not knowing much about it, so maybe it was Turkic from 1401 on.
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Post by tzigone on Feb 23, 2015 21:54:28 GMT -5
I don't think so, because I think she'd have tried talking to him, if they were. And if his brilliant magician friend had told him that an evil sorceress, and not the Caliph's envoy was the one insulting him, he'd logically believe her. I'm not sure. It's heavily dependent to me on whether he believed that the Caliph has sent Sinbad to belittle and insult him - that's at least somewhat understandable in the insulting-the-leader-is-insulting-the-kingdom-way. If he didn't think the Caliph was responsible/complicit then he's wholly unjustified (and either way he's going back to youthful hotheadedness). I don't think so. These are not advisers. They're "yes men" - they do small errands and massage his ego. In fact, nothing to me indicated they were advisers. They give no advice. I also don't think that one was either under a spell or working with Rumina. He's just following orders to keep Sinbad happy - the belly dancer said "hey, bet I'd make him happy" and he thought "ooh, good idea." Not really that bright. I do have two things I want to say first (because I really want feedback on them), and then I'll go pretty chronologically. 1. I haven't seen this idea anywhere, and I apologize in advance if it's been discussed before, but what do you think of Caipra and Dim-Dim being recently married? Maybe he's known her for years and maybe not, but he's know Doubar and Sinbad for over 20 years and if he'd been married that entire time there is no reason that they would not at least know he had a wife. I like the idea that after he was exiled from Baghdad, he went to haven-for-magicians-Basra and fell in love with and married Caipra. You don't have to be 25 to fall in love, right? And then one or both of the had visions regarding Turok/Rumina/Sinbad/Maeve and so he set off to recruit a new apprentice as part of the battle for the greater good. 2. What the heck did Caipra mean by "You will not trick me, as you did my trusting husband, Dim-Dim."? As far as we saw, those two never even met. Did Rumina even know who Dim-Dim was in the first ep? When did she trick him? Did this happen some time between him being blown away by a demon and being held by a force in a land without daffodils? I want to know. Somebody write this fanfic, please! Now, starting with the first scene: to my shame, I must admit that I was so busy looking for main characters that it took me several viewings to notice the massive amount of magic going on in Basra when Rumina arrives (Maeve even later says Basra is a haven for magicians). And the innkeeper definitely amused me; she deadpanned it in lovely fashion. It's worth noticing that she does not seem to know who Caipra is. And, by the way, if my sister's Googling led her to the right values, Rumina is way overpaying for that room. In the 760s, 10 drachmas would be over 5 months' pay for an unskilled laborer (in Baghdad, anyway). This is another case of using numbers/currencies the audience can accept more readily. I like that everyone likes Firouz's game. Too often people belittle his inventions. Even if Rongar is fixing the score. As I've said before, Sinbad doesn't seem much for the long-term strategy. He's not got any plan for looking for Dim-Dim, but instead seems to just wait for clues. But here we have Maeve thinking longer-term. She’s looking in books and finding people who can help her in the ports they go to. For that matter, taking up the study of magic to enable her to kill Rumina after she's tracked her down is also a long-term plan. A simple plan, but a long-term one. So the war was before either Doubar or Sinbad was born, and the Sultan has had the obelisk for 30 years, does that mean Doubar is under 30? Give a couple years wiggle-room, since 30 is a round number. Rumina seems to communicate with Cicero (at least, the conversation about having eaten Sinbad seems that way to me), and Vincenzo communicated with parrots. So do you think communication with animals is the norm for magicians? As a side note; I love her interrogating the cat – I find it quite funny. Do you think Dermott sensed Caipra's presence ahead of Maeve or just that Caipra mentally invited him? Caipra almost definitely has precognition. But I guess most of it (including the perch for Dermott) could be attributed to Dim-Dim filling her in ahead of time. If she is precognitive, then is her statement about Maeve being the only one who could defeat Rumina based on that ability? That would explain why she didn’t try to take out Rumina when she certainly seemed like she could have trounced her if she’d wanted. Maybe she knew it had to be Maeve? Did anyone else notice how completely different Caipra looked in the beginning v. in her battle with Rumina? Not only is her clothing style and head-dress completely different, but so is her makeup. Was she trying to blend in on the dingy street, do you think, or did she just decide to don the right clothes for an impressive impression when confronting Rumina? Okay, Sinbad is usually very bright, but why the heck did he go face an evil sorceress without telling his crew? It's interesting that the crew didn’t think anything of Omar sending a woman for Sinbad's pleasures or of Sinbad accepting. Then again, they’d have seen her whisper in the ear, so wouldn’t peg her for an unwilling participant, someone without a choice in the matter. The conversation Maeve and Caipra has was interesting. Reading older posts here, I saw someone comment about Maeve's lack of faith in the power of her magic, on how she needed to be encouraged at times. I hadn’t thought of that in the past, but it’s certainly accurate. And after reading that, rewatching the scene just brings it into greater clarity. Maeve and not-Sinbad. I like her commenting on the room. Blarney stone is way too new for her to be referencing, though. She does not seem at all temped by not-Sinbad to me. Just confused. Like she doesn’t even pick up on a pass at first. Then Rumina kicks it up a notch. Okay, like five notches. But that’s just not how Sinbad behaves, so Maeve reacts as she does. But then she’s not even angry, but still just even more confused. Then she gets knocked around and then Caipra shows up to kick some butt. In a new outfit. Like I said on the other thread, given the peacock motif, I’m considering the idea that she is some flavor of Zoroastrian. Anyone know of any other cults/religions/philosophies in the region that like peacocks? I love the hug after Sinbad's returned to proper-size. Or, more accurately, I love how they break apart with "wait, how did that happen" sort of attitude. Same thing will happen again later, hmm? But why did Caipra say she didn’t do anything to Sinbad – he saw her? But the thing at the end with Maeve teasing Sinbad over liking kissing Rumina – I swear those two act like ten year olds sometimes. She doesn’t sound jealous to me (this time), but just childish. I mean, they’re playing the "did not/did too" game.
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Scripts
Feb 23, 2015 19:32:05 GMT -5
Post by tzigone on Feb 23, 2015 19:32:05 GMT -5
Are these still being maintained? I noticed there a few sections of "couldn't quite make out what s/he said" and I could help with that.
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Post by tzigone on Feb 23, 2015 18:44:58 GMT -5
I didn't see anything about animal skins (I'm assuming you don't mean tanned leather), but most of my looking was to a later time-frame than the fifth century they gave us. For the earlier time-frame, I did see the wool tunic you mentioned, but men wore the same as women (women's tunics were longer I think) except the wealthier might wear loose trousers (brais) underneath. I don't think we know very much about pre-Christian-era Irish clothing. The Cattle Raid of Cooley (which is ninth century and a bit later than what I'm looking for) describes describes some clothes - 8 soldiers in silk shirts, most of the 37 soldiers described have shirts of some kind. Now, it's not historically accurate to the time it's describing (1st century). And the wealth far beyond realism. But the clothing descriptions do indicate that by the ninth century those that could afford it wore fine/not-coarse garments next to the skin (silk for the rich, linen, etc.) I think I read "linen" (leine) was a more versatile term at the time and could refer to garments made from hemp instead of just from flax. My understanding is that by the viking era (which starts during the reign of the Caliph that Sinbad is set in in our earliest copy, and is the time-frame I was looking at), linen tunics/leines were common with wool cloaks (brats). I do think Maeve in a guy's linen shirt could be done in this context (they could be mid-thigh or mid-calf or between) as easily as a woman's cut down, since I don't think there was much difference in how they were made. I still don't think the leather part works as a man's vest - but I think it's probably too fitted (despite the wide-wrap-around-belt-girdle thing, it seems to be a fitted garment to me as there is no excess fabric or bunching) to fit in anywhere in the relevant time period. Reality must bow before an audience's expectations/desires. Unfortunately, I'm just Googling for this info. I can't promise you that it's accurate. In case anyone cares, there are some nice brooches and pins shown here even when you don't look at Viking material and later. There was some fine metalwork in Ireland at the time. Though the finest work would belong to the richest, of course. Iron was most common. Pins and brooches were used as fastenings for cloaks, etc. Bronze was the metal for the wealthier. Silver was rarer. I think from the examples we have, we've never seen gold except as gilt and accent. I can't think of any reason Maeve would steal decorative brooches (and not sell them for more useful things), so I'm presuming she came from some money (or no one thought of how valuable those things were when doing costuming, but that's the boring explanation). Not even prison. Just penance. I'm unfamiliar enough with the terminology to know if that means just the fasting (bread and water only) or if it means the bread and water diet plus praying and going without linen clothing (unpleasant itchiness) and so on. EDIT: Right now I'm thinking about 786 for a year. Sure, plenty of things don't fit, but that happens no matter what. This gives me 10 years before the Viking raids/Viking era in Ireland (nice because Maeve doesn't know about them) and Baghdad is still the capital for another 10 years. And I can have a town for her to come from. Also, my sister just told me that the Irish laws (Law of the Couples) from around 700 talk about how property is divided in case of divorce (which was pretty common, I think) and it talks about how spun linen and linen fabric (and raw wool and woven wool and cheese and so on) should be divided. So linen was present then.
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Post by tzigone on Feb 23, 2015 13:46:33 GMT -5
I think it's very tough to find out exactly which century the show base on. There is only 1 tiny detail in the show that makes me believe it should be in 15th century. It is the 2nd or 3rd ep of season 2 when Firouz bought a pottery, the merchant said it was Ming pottery. I don't know if it's the problem of the dubbing or really the merchant said that but according to the history, Ming dynasty only appeared since 15th century. But compasses and gunpowder wouldn't be new inventions of Firouz then. And the Mongols would be ruling Baghdad. I know, I know, we have to pick and choose the bits we like to set the setting we want, since the whole doesn't work. But I keep trying to pin it down to a decade, anyway. I think before or during (probably during) the Islamic Golden age. Makes Baghdad a prestigious place for Turok and Rumina to take over. For more fun: Serendip's mirror (if it's just silvered glass with no mercury or anything) shouldn't exist until the 19th century. The silvered glass mirror is credited to a German in 1835.
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Post by tzigone on Feb 23, 2015 12:17:40 GMT -5
Well, Muslims believe in jinn even today (they're in the Quran). They're not gods, but like demons (which many Christians believe in). You know I just found out recently (from the Wikipedia page) that in the Fourth Voyage, Sinbad bludgeons to death many innocent people to steal their food (he'd have starved otherwise, at least the first time) and takes the gold from their dead spouses. I'm really glad this show didn't stick to the source material.
I can't say for the accent, but she did reference the Blarney Stone (in "Double Trouble"), and that's Irish. But some legends say it was in Scotland a while before being taken back to Ireland (in the 14th century).
For me they are definitely her own. Insane to wear, but lots of the women wear insane-to-wear things. It's too fitted to be man's clothing. There's no bunching, etc. The linen works better for me to be a woman's shift cut short.
I thought women shaving (or close-trimming and ash for burning or some other body-hair removal) was common in the region (though not in Europe) at the time? And I'm not just talking legs and pits here. You're completely right about the clothes, though. I know it was body-hair done later in the medieval period by Muslims, but I thought the custom predated the religion.
Edit: I did find some references to Celtic women in battle, but that was against the Romans, so the time period is off, and that wouldn't have been in Ireland.
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Post by tzigone on Feb 23, 2015 11:51:56 GMT -5
I get where you're coming from. I'm wary of changing the phrases used by the characters, myself, though. And, as an atheist who uses "God" in expressions and might even say "bless you" when someone sneezes, I don't put a lot of stock in that necessarily indicating the religious beliefs of the speaker. Rather that it's just indicative of the environment they live in or grew up in. Dim Dim, yes. For me, Maeve was definitely not raised in magic. Or at least, not raised in doing magic. I'll comment on this more in the episode threads, but she very frequently goes to the sword first. Even in the season finale, she's using a sword and Sinbad has to tell her to use magic instead. It's not instinctive to her. To me, she's new to magic. Maybe not to the reality of magic (as it seems to be very common in this universe, and could likely exist side-by-side with any religion). I don't think she sought out training at all until after Dermott was cursed, but that's a rather baseless belief since we know nothing of her life before. I guess I was just thinking of her as someone with magical potential, but that it was never realized before because she was in a sparsely populated area with no other magic-doers to train her. I did know that. You know, my sister was trying to find Irish-Christian attitudes on the matter and found a reference to a (not Irish) penitential that said this Really, there are some that just seem wildly out of proportion and they varied from book to book. Meanwhile a woman who does a certain non-procreative intimate act with her husband gets to do penance on appointed fast days for seven years. I just don't think I can get into the medieval mindset. Fortunately, this show doesn't require me to do so. So true. I think I'm still leaning a bit earlier, but I'll research this time period further.
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Post by tzigone on Feb 22, 2015 20:14:47 GMT -5
Obviously, there are some things that appear in the show that are centuries too early - tomatoes, peanuts, silvered glass mirrors, Bushido, etc. And the entire culture, their races..this was not a show concerned about historical accuracy (I wouldn't have liked the show if it was accurate, anyway). But I still want to establish - in my own head - a timeframe for the show. I never thought about it when I watched the show back when it originally aired. When I watched this time, I just went to Wikipedia and looked up Sinbad. Saw the oldest one we had was explicitly set during the reign of someone who ruled in the late eight and early ninth centuries. Then I started looking up details about that time period (particularly in Ireland, as I was thinking of doing something with Maeve's parents). Then I started seeing "fifth century" all around the fandom. Did that come from an interview? That's really jaw-dropping to me.
Baghdad wasn't founded until the eighth century (and Basra the seventh). The Caliphate didn't exist until the seventh century. And very, very importantly, Muhammad wasn't born until the late sixth century. If the show is indeed set in the fifth century, they absolutely cannot be Muslims. Well, actually, they can, because I'm thinking about fanfic and the show didn't care about history either. But I can't write it that way. It's just too far for me to go. It's like Christians in the 2nd century B.C.
Actually, for me, none of the characters can be monotheists. They have no problem with the wind gods existing. Only Firouz expressed doubt on Poseidon. They all believed in the Old Ones who were explicitly called gods. I don't know much about it, but I looked it up in Wikipedia and in pre-Islamic Arabian myth, Allah was a creator god (Muhammad's father's name translated as "slave of Allah") and Allah was sworn by even then. From what I read, even in 900 AD, both Iraq and Iran were only about 50% Islamic (more in the cities, though). If it's the eighth century then all of Ireland was nominally Christian. But if Maeve was raised that way, she didn't keep to it. I'm not sure I think she was, though, since she says "by the Gods." Not one of them, when presented with another god, has said "hey, there's only one God/Allah." Scratch says he's pretty much taken over the West - but what qualifies at the "the West"? Anglo-Saxon England didn't start Christianizing until about the seventh century and Scandinavia was later. Maybe he just meant the places like Constantinople and Rome and so on.
Since we've so little on her backstory, I've been trying to come up with one that suits me. Right now, if eight/ninth century (I decided she left before 795, because that's when viking era started, and she doesn't seem familiar with vikings), then I was thinking that she was the daughter of a metal-worker (seriously, did you see how many buckles, brooches and pins she was wearing?!) because it gives the potential for some wealth (necessary for all the pins she has) but keeps her out of nobility, which is my wish. The rich would have bronze, too. Silver was rare and gold very, very rare. I'd put her in a monastic town (or a pre-cursor to one) because those were the only actual town-like-settlements in Ireland, so far as I can tell (and they were typically small-town sized). Other than that, it was just rural. Money was not used. It was a barter economy; I think they were transitioning away from a cattle economy at the time, but am not sure. I picked a settlement because that would be much easier for me to write with than raths, if I ever write anything.
Fifth century has the ease of less Christianity, which suits Maeve's attitude better, I think. As far I can tell, there were no towns in Ireland in that time frame, though - they may have appeared at the end of the fifth century. Completely rural. I haven't really been able to find out much about daily life or social gatherings or the like for the time and place. I really don't know why Rumina was hanging out in that backwater. I might give her a magical artifact to be after.
I was actually thinking that no matter which century it was set in, I might like Caipra to be Zoroastrian. I thought the dualism (good v. evil with the evil not be subordinate to/created by the good) of Zoroastrianism suited Dim-Dim's talk of the coming battle and that the Zoroastrian big bad, Angra Mainyu, might be a good captor for Dim-Dim. And he exists along with the devil and Poseidon and so on. But it was a popular religion in the region (or at least in Iran) before Islam, and the peacock is the symbol of luck (I think), and Caipra had a peacock motif to her outfit when she stopped Rumina. That's more into fanfic material, though.
As you might have figured out, it's more important for me to know the timeframe so that I can figure out a barebones of what I want for Maeve's backstory. I've seen the world Sinbad and Doubar and Firouz seem to have grown up in/come from on the show. Regardless of whether such a world ever actually existed, I have a canon for their environment. I need to develop a fanon for Maeve's.
So, I guess my issue is I have to decide whether to treat Baghdad, Basrah, and the Caliph as names/titles put in for flavor that hold no historical meaning (Sultan and Pasha were also used the show and were much later terms) and as something the audience would have familiarity with and just use fifth century or go the other route and use some time post-Baghdad-founding as my time frame. Then I have to decide what to do regarding Maeve and her obvious non-Christianity despite her entire region being nominally Christian.
So, if I've got anything wrong, please correct me; I don't mind. I'd love to hear arguments for or against either placement. If you have a third timeframe in mind, then chime in. I'd love to hear how others decided what time or background to give the the characters - in fanfic or just in their heads.
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Post by tzigone on Feb 22, 2015 10:52:17 GMT -5
Hi, I'm new and wanted to join in the discussion. I watched the series in it's original run, and just decided to look it up again earlier this year. I enjoyed the first season more originally, but watched both. I watched all the first season this time, then watched the first five eps of the second season (wanted to see Rongar's backstory ep) but not the rest. So basically all my comments on the board will be without memory or insight into season 2.
The premier has several interesting bits.
Firstly, I wanted to ask a couple wardrobe questions: does anyone know the name of the blue garment Maeve wears over her outfit and has anyone gotten a good look at Firouz's pendant - I'm curious to as if it has any meaning regarding the character's religion/philosophy.
Now, lets get started: the beginning always seems a little strange to me on rewatching. I get that Sinbad couldn't find any of his friends, but given his pretty noble nature, it seems strange that he immediately goes to thievery for food without even a mention of working for it. And he's friends with the Caliph, but doesn't try to approach him either. But since one probably doesn't just call upon royalty without an invitation (and they'd probably not believe him/let him in), I'll let it slide. Interestingly, the Caliph didn't seem to know he was supposed to be dead.
I really enjoy the reunion with Doubar. I absolutely love how happy Doubar is to see him and how he doesn't even notice he's pulled blocks from the wall. That said, some of the acting in that scene is just painful - the dialog contributes. I'm sorry, the flower/dragon line is really clunky (and patently false) to me.
So, our earliest establishing of Doubar's characters shows us he's very strong, loves his brother very much, and gets into fights. All of those will be seen again later, though less of the fights against non-evil. I really do like the Doubar/Sinbad relationship. I'm very big on sibling relationship and family relationships and show in fiction. Romance is great, but so much easier to come by.
I like Mustapha. He's kind of one note, but then he only had one episode to establish himself. I love his casual response to Sinbad saying they couldn't sail together because he was due to be beheaded later in the day. I've seen some speculation as to him viewing Maeve negatively, but I thought he liked her after she tossed him. Actually, it has become my own personal headcanon that he and Doubar became friends in a similar fashion. He and Rongar make an odd match. Mustapha is friendly and outgoing. Rongar is downright rude - doesn't even shake Sinbad's hand. He's really very standoffish in general in the beginning - how many episodes pass before we see him smile? I actually wonder if he deliberately cultivates the intimidating persona? He noticed Admir's suspicious behavior earlier, but it doesn't seem like he told anyone about it, does it? I get not telling Sinbad - there's no proof, no evidence at all, and there'd be no reason he'd be believed and he doesn't know Sinbad. But it doesn't seem like he told Mustpaha, either, does it? Also, I really liked his pushing Sinbad (who is a virtual stranger) away to be alone with Mustapha in his last moment, though. I do wish Rongar had gotten in that killing blow instead of Sinbad.
Another one of those pilot/rest-of-show discontinuities that pops up in so many shows is Firouz's tomato-throwing invention. I'll forgive that tomatoes are new world crop and would not be present, because it really is a joke. But we never see Firouz do an overly-complicating, Rube Goldberg machine again (which I'm glad of). Sure, he events lots of things, but not overly-complicated/do nothing devices. Like Sinbad said - he has a lot of time on his hands. One thing about Firouz that's pretty consistent through the first season is that he's an energetic sort of person. He's almost always thinking and doing and talking. I really don't think he's one for quiet, solitary, relaxation. I actually didn't notice until a later viewing that he hugged Dim-Dim, too. So they know each other pretty well.
Dim-Dim is important - at least in the goal of finding him later in the series - but we don't see an incredible lot of him. He's sort of plot-device to get Maeve in. Sinbad says he was like a father to Doubar and him. But he's also said Doubar as like a father to him (and that Dim-Dim was like a father to the prince - I wonder if Sinbad just throws around the term lightly). So I've spent an inordinate amount of time trying to work out exactly what the dynamic between Sinbad, Doubar, and Dim-Dim was when they were kids. Besides that, Dim-Dim is friendly and forgiving (see the prince) and very mild in his approach to things. He knows Dermott started trouble with Sinbad, but just presents the idea, then pretends to completely accept Maeve's explanation and brush it aside. He does seem to have some precognitive ability (as does Caipra, but not Turok or Rumina). He got blown away by a demon, but chained the devil, so I'm not sure what to make of his power-level. But he's wise and good. He knows the story with Dermott, but Maeve seemingly didn't tell him, and I doubt Dermott did. He knows something about the bracelet, but didn't volunteer any info.
Maeve's introduction is fairly cliched, but I'm more interested in the difference here and later. Firstly, I'd think she'd have known who Sinbad was and been less aggressive - it seems a pretty obvious conclusion that he might be the person Dim-Dim sent her after since she's on a magic island that no one knows where is. But what's interesting is the aggression - we don't really see her immediately react to people like that later. Nor does Dermott, actually. He just attacks Sinbad for no reason. This, combined with her "I know what you want" and "Dermott doesn't care for men" and her "Dermott'll have your eyes out" leads me to wonder if they're just used to being very on-guard because a lot of men see a woman alone as an easy target. To me, this episode presents Maeve as very new to the study of magic - a few months on hands-on experience at best. I'm particularly thinking of Dim-Dim's dialog when he's teaching her to create fireballs. In any event, we know she's been studying with Dim-Dim for less than two years, because he was in Baghdad two years ago, advising the Caliph. Maeve also doesn't want to bond with any of the others in the beginning, and later they've all become good friends. Maeve doesn't want to share her secrets, and that'll remain.
It's after really seeing him in action that Maeve changes gears. She says "well done" to Sinbad and that's really her first overture of friendliness that I can think of (he's already made one and we don't see any real interaction with Maeve and the others this ep, I don't think). He's gone up in her estimation, as have they all, I think. And then the end; when we get the information that Dermott isn't really a hawk. It's a very sad moment. And Sinbad doesn't know what's going on, even though Maeve is upset enough to not be hiding that secret just then - "look at Dermott" is fairly big clue. She's just so upset - she had real hope that the curse on Dermott would be broken, and then it didn't happen.
Turok and Rumina. I get the sense of Rumina being quite young here. She's so "daddy's little girl," if you know what I mean. And she's so childish. She wants to play with her "toys." She's unfamiliar with fear. Plus she's held up as a potential wife for the prince, who maybe 20 at most? She's very short-term-goal here. What feels good? Big plan to take over Baghdad, but she's got the hots for the sailor, so she's going to derail the entire plan. On the other hand, it was her dad's plan, not hers. Even later in the series, she's just not that politically motivated, is she? She wants power, certainly, but doesn't seem to have any goal for what to do with it. Turok was a bit of moron to turn his head away from his enemy just to say he had it all handled, wasn't he?
And Sinbad. He seems remarkably content to just take what the world throws at him. His fortune is gone, and he doesn't seem to care. He's missing two years of his life, has no idea what happened to him or what he did, and he doesn't even seem curious. It's just very different from the typical hero's behavior - usually they spend lots of time and effort trying to figure out what happened to them. That said, I'm not sure: Doubar seems an open book, what he thinks and feels are very obvious. Maeve, on the other hand, tries to keep her secrets, play her cards close the vest. She wants to appear tough and strong. Her vulnerability is only apparent when it comes to Dermott. She's closed off, but it's obvious to the audience. There are a few tidbits in season one (can't comment on season two) that indicate that perhaps Sinbad is closed off, but appears to open. That actually ties in with Dim-Dim's "wounds in her heart" comment to Sinbad to me. Because Sinbad rarely seems very wounded. Well, except in regards to Lea, but she seems plot-devicey to me. He usually seems quite healthy and healed, despite the battering. Will comment more in later ep discussion.
As much as I enjoy Sinbad talking about the world growing dull and Doubar griping about commerce ruling the seas, I do have to snark a bit. In the real world, it was always about commerce, not adventuring. But Sinbad's lines there are indicative of his nature. He likes the adventure. But always for the just cause; he's not mercenary material. Sinbad is good with people, he's brave and good and very smart. He's a brilliant tactician. But he's not much for long-term strategy at all, is he? Throughout the season, he seems to have no real plan to find info on Dim-Dim. He goes from place to place and if a lead comes up, he follows it. But he doesn't seem to actively seek information (as we see Maeve do, on occasion). Anyone watch Avatar: The Last Airbender; when it comes to long-term strategy, Sokka has definitely got him beat. And I wonder if the two attitudes don't go hand-in-hand? Sinbad lives in the moment, and thinks in the moment.
One thing I really want to try to get a handle on is when Sinbad really starts to think of Dermott as more than a bird. I know what Maeve said here, but I don't think Sinbad gets it yet. Sure, he's talking to Dermott at the end, but he really more talking to himself. Later, it seems different to me. You know, I'd misrembered the series. I'd remembered Sinbad having a line that went something like "Dermot wasn't always a hawk, was he?" and, of course, that would have been proof that he knew. But there is no such line (must have come from a fanfic, I guess). So when was the moment. He knew by the the first season finale, I'm sure, but when did he he really draw that line, do you think?
Anyway, I enjoy the episode(s). The ending, in particular, leaves us at a good starting point for the series:an honorable quest in finding Dim-Dim, a personal goal for Maeve in defeating Rumina, and with a good villain to challenge them in the future.
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