Tears to Tiara – 20

Summary:

Many years ago, Arawn had been born as the 13th Angel and put under the care of Myrddin. One of the first things Arawn asked Myrddin was the difference between the 12 Angels and the White Angels, and Myrddin had replied that it was just two names for the same thing depending on what the speaker was particular about – numbers or appearances. He had also told Arawn, who back then was still known as Lucifer, to refer to him as father. When Lucifer later seemed down about not being able to become one of the White Angels in order to create the perfect world, Myrddin had noted that what was important was not what he became but rather what he did and achieved. Myrddin had also questioned what perfection really meant, but in the end, he had given reassurances that Lucifer would become a White Angel. He was sure because there’d soon only be 11 White Angels, and so Lucifer would get promoted.

In the meantime, the Angels had created detention facilities to hold humans until they died as part of a plan to make sure that humans went extinct. When Lucifer and Myrddin went down to one of these, they found what appears to be no survivors, but Myrddin pointed to a pile of frozen bodies, in the middle of which was a little girl who was still alive. Lucifer was surprised to hear Myrddin indicate that humans were the perfect race, and he balked at Myrddin’s suggestion to save the girl. He was even more surprised when Myrddin claimed that divine providence didn’t exist in this world and that they needed to create a new truth to make the world better. Lucifer didn’t understand this, but he knew that if Myrddin had said these things in heaven, then Myrddin would be finished. Since Lucifer didn’t want that to happen, Myrddin decided to invoke Lucifer’s name to prevent him from doing anything for a little while. He then gave the gift of fire to the little girl and told her that the long winter would soon give way to spring. To make this happen, Myrddin had started the Song of Creation which Lucifer realized would cause him to die. He wasn’t able to stop Myrddin though, and as Myrddin bid his son farewell, he disappeared in a bright light.

Preview

I initially thought that this would be a slow episode, but it actually turned out pretty interesting. It was good to see them explain what the Angels are after (and how they think), how Myrddin had a different perspective and influenced Arawn/Lucifer, and Primula’s beginnings. I’m not sure I understood everything Myrddin was referring to, particularly during that chat with Ogam, but I definitely feel that I have a better grasp of the overarching story and of why the Angels are against Arawn. Speaking of which, since this was so long ago, I thought Ogam would have looked younger, but he appeared exactly the same as he is in the present timeline. I thought that even dragons aged..? In any case, I’m not sure how all this knowledge benefits Taliesin of all people. You’d think that it’d be more useful for Arthur to allow him to better understand Arawn. Maybe the answer is in how the preview seems to indicate that Taliesin will be singing the Song of Creation. I also wonder if this is the end of the flashback and if they’re going to show how Pwyll fit into all this.