La Ron S. Readus
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Does Lady Micte Deserve Forgiveness? (VIDEO SCRIPT)
🕑 Added 2021-10-27 20:01:01 +0000 UTCReaders, I watched Maya and the Three on Netflix and My God (pauses). MY GOD.
/Nine episodes split up into 3 acts with the first 6 getting you in the mood for a story that’s both similar to and done 10 times better than Raya and the Last Dragon in my opinion/
And the last 3 doing nothing but just disintegrating the walls separating your logic from your emotion to dust like the Hebrews did with Jericho or Berlin in the late 80’s
No, seriously; this is like...the THIRD thing I watched in 2021 that caused me to uncontrollably weep by the time it was over.
Which I admit is pretty impressive, because despite the tone of the project or how good it is, getting me emotional enough to shed tears doesn’t really happen.
Because I can honestly say that Maya and the Three was able to tug on my heart strings enough to do so, while at the same time being an entertaining and engaging 4 and a half cluster of storytelling, worldbuilding and latinx representation.
And Jorge R. Gutierrez -- the show’s creator and director -- was able to do all of this while also being able to transfer the exaggerated 2D animation style he’s known for thanks to creating El Tigre on Nickelodeon over to cgi.
/But what left me the most impressed outside of the storytelling, representation, and how raw the finale left me emotionally, is how Maya and the Three was able to present what it means to seek forgiveness -- true forgiveness -- in the form of the goddess Lady Micte./
Now before I continue, I’m just going to warn that the rest of this video will contain spoilers for Maya and the Three. So if you haven’t seen it yet and want to avoid spoilers, I suggest you give the show a watch first before continuing on with this video. Cool? Cool.
So as we know, Maya is the daughter of King Teca and Lady Micte, the Goddess of Death.
/As she explained to Maya in Chapter 8: The Bat and the Owl, she was initially conceived to be used as a sacrifice for her husband Lord Mictlan -- the god of war -- since a god sacrificing the human offspring of the Goddess of Death would increase the power of said god tremendously. So she sends Maya to the human world in which the celestials guided her to her father and Queen Teca to raise as her own./
Now we learn that Maya is technically a demigoddess around the same time that Maya does as well.
/During the events of episode 1 when Zatz the prince of bats arrives to the kingdom of Teca during Maya’s coordination, he does so to collect her for Lord Mictlan and plants the seeds not just in her head, but in the neighboring kingdoms and tribes to Teca’s own./
By episode 2, its confirmed that Queen Teca -- who she argued with earlier in the episode regarding being a warrior versus being a diplomat -- truly ISN’T her mother, but is the result of her father having an affair with the Goddess of Death herself Lady Micte.
/This of course causes her to gain some newfound respect for Queen Teca, realize the nasty things she said to her during her coordination and seek her forgiveness./
/Which, over the course of their interactions from then on out, is reinforced by Maya’s changed behavior toward her/
Now as we all know, willingly changed behavior regarding the toxicity you displayed is THEE key factor in apologizing and seeking one’s forgiveness.
And if you DIDN’T know that, I made an entire PSA-style comedy sketch a while ago regarding how to apologize and stick to it -- especially on the internet -- that you should check out after you finish this video.
Meanwhile, everything we’ve seen of Lady Micte since the reveal that the Goddess of Death and wife to the God of War is Maya’s biological mother has been very Team Micte.
/Being faithful to her husband, advocating for Maya’s sacrifice, and both loving and gassing him up by truly being in his corner the same way pretty much every husband and wife relationship has been depicted in this show./
So by the time Act 3 comes along, we find out that not only are our expectations of Micte subverted due to growing an attachment to her, but that she constantly puts herself at risk to see her grow up and be involved in her life...
Taking into consideration everything else that happened over the course of the series’ last three episodes made me think two specific things:
/Is THIS Micte’s way of seeking Maya’s forgiveness for not being as prominent in her life as she could have been, and does she deserve said forgiveness?/
If changed behavior is the main factor that plays a role in successfully seeking the forgiveness of someone they wronged, then Lady Micte checked off all the boxes
Does that mean Maya HAD to forgive Micte? Absolutely not.
/And even SHE knew that Maya had every right not to./ (I deserve that)
But even if she didn’t, that doesn’t negate the work she put in -- both physically and mentally -- to actually go through with the course of actions she displayed in the third act of the series
/Unbinding Maya from the sacrificial altar. Providing her the blade necessary to stab him. Transforming into the owl that flew Maya and her friends out of the Underworld
/Including Zatz, who could turn into a giant bat, which could’ve easily freed up room for Picchu to not have to sacrifice himself to allow them to escape?/ (He could do that the whole time?)
All of these were decisions Lady Micte willingly decided to do before she even decided to allow the words “I’m Sorry” to leave her mouth, when she had every opportunity to just sit back, relax, and watch her daughter get sacrificed for the benefit of Lord Mictlan
/But what told me that Lady Micte would’ve decided to have this change of heart REGARDLESS of receiving, was in the final episode and Mictlan learns that Micte betrayed him to fight with Maya and the humans./
Two things specifically stuck out to me during their initial interaction; both of them spawned by a rather genuinely heartbroken Mictlan
/The first was when he says this to her/ (I forgave you after your betrayal; does that mean nothing?)
Micte reacts this way because there is genuine love between the two of them, and not love in the way that Thanos loves Gamora; I mean ACTUAL love.
/Showing genuine love within its romantic and platonic pairings and partnerships is one of the things that this show does really well; even for the villains./
So when Lord Mictlan feels betrayed by Micte siding with Maya and the humans, I can feel it as much as I can see it. And when Micte realizes that she hurt him for siding with them instead of her husband, I can feel and see it from her as well
/Which is why seeing her stick to her guns and continue to fight by Maya’s side after realizing that hurt is so important regarding how much of herself she’s willing to change in order to make things right with her./
/Including deciding to say what she said after Mictlan replied to her hostility with those three small words./ (I love you/Then end this)
This entire encounter with Mictlan was Micte’s final test; to prove that the behavior she realized was toxic about her can be changed and that she wanted it to change.
/And she wanted it to change so badly, that she extended a hand to someone she loves just as much and has played just as prominent a role in the toxicity to change as well./
Yes, it helped that Maya found it in her heart to forgive Micte.
/But it was clear from the moment we found out she always found a way to see and involve herself in Maya’s life growing up that this was going to be something she was going to try and make right./
Once again, Maya had every right to not forgive Micte when she asked for it or explained herself, and she would be justified in not doing so.
Thankfully in Micte’s case, she received said forgiveness. But even if that were the case and she never received it, that doesn’t negate the work or the progress she would’ve continued to make to ensure that the behavior has been corrected and will stay as progressive as we’ve seen it when she received it.
Because it is absolutely possible for one to put in the work necessary to seek forgiveness, and TRULY change both their behavior and actions for the better, and STILL not receive the forgiveness of the individual or individuals that they initially hurt.
That does not mean however, that you should no longer want to become better because the person that you hurt and that prompted you to want to change your behavior will not forgive you
Because if you decide to fall back on the behavior responsible for why you initially sought the forgiveness of the individual who won’t forgive you...
It means that you were never really serious about changing to begin with and that all you cared about was being back in the good graces of the one you hurt.
Micte was one of those individuals who realized she did wrong, was absolutely prepared to NEVER receive the forgiveness of the individual she wronged, but still made the conscious effort to do the right thing anyway.
/And I personally believe that because of her aspect of truly understanding what it means to seek forgiveness that she’s truly worthy of it./
But, I digress, Readers. Your homework assignment for the day:
Write in the comment section what YOU thought of Maya and the Three if you’ve seen it.
Or, if you feel like sharing with the rest of the class, a character in television you thought did a good job at showing changed behavior as proof of their eagerness to receive forgiveness in their development.
Whichever question you decide to answer, I’d love to know your thoughts.
