u/salmxx0

it’s pretty blurry so i apologize, but this is as clear as i can get it. not sure if it’s readable either

looks like sulfur and mercury kind of? not sure about the first one

we do see werewolves portrayed alot in media, but the show’s depiction of them has distinct qualities and symbolism that separates them from other interpretations. being a werewolf actually creates more nuance for characters who are one.

out of all the other outcast types, they are the most firmly bound to their identity in the sense that they have their own traditions, norms, and social structures. they live in closely-knit packs where their belonging is everything to them. but this intense need for connection is interjected by their social expectations, and their preservation of specific benchmarks that deem you worthy of acceptance.

enid is a great example of being dealt the short end of the stick, twice. she had undergone constant pressure to wolf out like the other werewolves her age, and her mother was trying to ‘fix’ her through literal conversion therapy. never wolfing out meant being kicked out of your family pack, which is considered a werewolf’s whole identity. it’s also suggested that werewolves are expected to mate only with other werewolves, which adds more depth into enid’s relationship with bruno and ajax in season 2. (really wish they had gone over this.) she finally wolfed out under dire , where tending to the person she actually cared about, instead of bending to her family’s whims.

in season 2, enid undergoes a a huge change in her outward persona. she can’t help but embrace this new identity that has been awarded to her from wolfing out. she affiliates herself with a newfound pack, surrounded by other werewolves, and feeling like she belongs. she feels inclined to date bruno, another werewolf, because she’s taught that werewolves should stick with their own kind. everything’s going well, except it isn’t. she’s frustrated with wednesday’s lack of communication, and it eats at her despite the fact that she has everything she could want, or should want. but it ultimately goes to shit when she realizes that she isn’t an ordinary werewolf. she’s the kind of werewolf that will be hunted and killed by other werewolves if she slips up. the kind that could potentially make her a loner if word got out.

she realizes that trying to embrace the same norms that oppress her has no real value to her. instead, she chooses to appreciate the people that actually matter to her. she completely trusts wednesday to find her if she were to ever wolf out, because she knows wednesday is the only one she can trust with that task. at the end of season 2, she chooses agnes and wednesday over her pack, and that decision is highlighted in the final episode, where she realizes the consequences of being a transformed alpha werewolf are worth taking for the people she genuinely cares about.

this is one of the better things that the show executed. you can make connections with actual cultural and societal standards, and it serves its purpose in the characters themselves.

the earliest recorded instance of a human transforming into a wolf occurred in the Epic Of Gilgamesh. tablet VI, the goddess Ishtar transformed a shepherd into a wolf. this shepherd was courting her, making numerous sacrifices for her, before she was seemingly bored of him and transformed him into a wold, causing him to promptly be driven away by his shepherd boys, and mauled by his own dogs.

similarly, enid is torn by her devotion for wednesday. she pays the ultimate price for it, where she is hunted down by other werewolves, like the shepherd’s dogs, who are supposed to represent undying loyalty, yet ultimately became his predators.

and i think the relevance also comes down to the fact that this is the OLDEST interpretation of human-wolf transformation. she’s basically filling in the oldest “werewolf” archetype

heavily pro-AI: 41 (22.9%)

heavily anti-AI: 16 (8.9%)

moderately pro-AI: 53 (29.6%)

moderately anti-AI: 49 (27.3%)

center: 20 (11.1%)
—————————
total pro-AI: 94 (52.5%)
total anti-AI: 65 (36.31%)
center: 20 (11.1%)

link to original poll: https://www.reddit.com/r/aiwars/s/bezVoZNUX9

in this show, outcasts often enact some of the behaviors of what they are based on, such as animals. unlike doves, which typically dwell in flocks, ravens are deemed solitary, with the exception of their mate. they grow strong bonds with their partner and mate for life. despite her family-oriented upbringing, wednesday is set on her isolated future with the “solitary raven” path being ingrained into her mind. however, ravens aren’t solitary, because they accompany themselves with their partner for life.

not just in a symbolic way, but i’m theorizing that as psychics with dark, misleading, and paranoia-inducing visions, they need someone to ground them, specifically an individual who is deeply special to them.

enid is her most notable and valuable relationship, someone outside of her immediate family who she shares a level of vulnerability, trust, and intimacy that isn’t seen in any of her other relationships.
she is alsp the core of her prophecy, and it was for a reason beyond a single, inevitable event of her foreseeable future; it was a message from her inner-subconscious, alluding to enid’s significance to her personally.

as characters whose views oppose eachother entirely, and naturally, their ideas on what factors equal strength are entirely different. wednesday believes that emotion is a gateway to weakness: it entails letting your guard down, inhibiting your ability to think rationally, and is often achieved by dependence on other people, whereas enid prioritizes social connections, believing that they are intrinsically tied to your personal strength and success. she also exhibits emotional fortitude, letting it reinforce her rather than suppress her.

as said, visions are often unreliable interpretations of the future, and should be seen from an abstract lens. at the start of the vision, where wednesday is reluctant to share this information to enid, whose emotions would likely curb her mission to revert the prophecy, especially when enid has already “sworn off all dead bodies,” which further roots that idea into her head. wednesday distances herself from enid in the process, until she is confronted by her, and eventually, inserts herself into wednesday’s missions. the reason that their bodyswap marked the end of the prophecy is because they’ve finally reconciled, and they pledge their loyalty and understanding of each other, which reinforces how vital they are for eachother.

as complex as the vision was, it serves as a lesson for her other relationships as well, but enid was the sole figure of her prophecy for a reason. outside of blood relations and family, enid is her closest, most beloved person by far. despite how vastly different they are, they still manage to not just work out their differences, but compliment each other. enid grounds wednesday, and is the only person who has been straightforward with her. as of now, trust is the most valuable thing to wednesday in her relationships, and enid has never lied to her about her intentions once. she provides a different lens, while still being compatible with her, and i think that this is a golden example of why such connections can be crucial to ravens.

we’ve seen what has happened to characters such as ophelia, when they abuse their powers senselessly and have nobody to anchor them. however, hester is a different situation. we only know one relationship outside of the addams family, and that was her lover, who we don’t know much about as of right now. it is likely possible that ravens can be independent, obviously considering that this is just a theory, but also, it probably takes immense restraint to control psychic abilities, especially as a young raven, i presume.

now we need wednesday actually giving her a pinky promise in s3

throughout 15th-17th century europe, werewolf trials were a widespread practice caused by superstitions of humans transforming into wolves and murdering and cannibalizing people and children.
france accounted for the majority of werewolf trials. some sources say that there were approximately 30,000 werewolf trials that took place during that period, but it was likely closer to hundreds.

so, coincidentally, france is the most werewolf-fearing country in europe, and we have seen that wednesday will be searching paris to find enid. and we also have the question as to why and how enid even ended up in paris. im honestly starting to lean towards the theory of her being captured now, it could be out of malice, and the hatred for werewolves may still be deeply embedded in this universe.

throughout 15th-17th century europe, werewolf trials were a widespread practice caused by superstitions of humans transforming into wolves and murdering and cannibalizing people and children.
france accounted for the majority of werewolf trials. some sources say that there were approximately 30,000 werewolf trials that took place during that period, but it was likely closer to hundreds.

so, coincidentally, france is the most werewolf-fearing country in europe, and we have seen that wednesday will be searching paris to find enid. and we also have the question as to why and how enid even ended up in paris. im honestly starting to lean towards the theory of her being captured now, it could be out of malice, and the hatred for werewolves may still be deeply embedded in this universe.

i wanna see how the novel depicts her personal experiences, as well as any of her inner thoughts that haven’t been directly expressed yet. i’d even prefer this over a basic novelization of each season, if they could just release one installment each season that depicts what she has written throughout the duration of it

so, with new glimpses of season 3 production, i’ve been thinking about enid’s character lately. clearly, this is leading up to another major character arc for her, but season 2 was a bit of a letdown for me. while her storyline was conceptually understandable, it lacked alot of the nuances that had been explored in other characters.

for one, let’s compare family dramas. wednesday’s conflict was primarily with her mother, bianca struggles with the whole cult situation with gabrielle, tyler realizes that his mother is alive and reunites with her and his uncle. hell, even agnes’s father had more screentime than a single member in enid’s family.

enid’s family, primarily her mother, served as an influential character(s) for enid’s internal conflict. we see that werewolves are expected to be a certain way, or they are seen as abnormal. we get to enid standing against her mother’s expectations, and then she wolfs out at the end of season 1.

but evidently, those expectations would manifest themselves into her season 2 arc. after going to werewolf camp throughout the summer, she starts off with a newfound pack, and surrounds herself with other werewolves. her new werewolf boyfriend accompanies her, and she seems to lose feelings for ajax. but we can notice a clear pattern: she’s surrounding herself with werewolves specifically.

they could’ve made this mean something, i mean they’re the only outcasts we’ve seen so far be explored this way.

so werewolves clearly tend to stick with their own kind, it’s expected that every werewolf finds their place in a pack, and if they leaned into the whole “werewolf-supremacy” thing, it could’ve not only made werewolves a more intricate group of outcasts by giving them their own quirk, but could’ve amplified aspects of of her characterization.

so, back to the bruno situation, it was incredibly aggravating and even felt demeaning to enid’s character. enid begins to fixate on him out of the blue, also giving her horrible pr with the way she ghosted ajax, which wasn’t clearly integrated into said pressures. this EASILY could’ve been implemented in a way that ties into the what her character arc symbolizes, which is the struggles that comes with harmful traditional and cultural expectations, which harbors prejudice and exclusion.

so even if enid has finally wolfed out, she still has to make steps towards upholding her place as a werewolf. since having other werewolves in her life are crucial to maintaining her status, it’s not too far fetched for enid’s mom to pressure her so that she is only romantically affiliated with werewolves, because it’s “culturally acceptable.”

this would make the premise of her her character’s journey far more coherent, relatable, and compelling. it also makes her devotion towards wednesday, agnes, and thing more meaningful, especially during the end, where she sacrifices her entire identity, her humanity, and possibly her life, to save wednesday, because enid realizes that she matters to her far more than everything else.

my main issue really with this is how it felt that the writers keep sidelining her potential. there’s depth if you look into it, but not as convincing than if they were to flesh it out more. she’s a great character who keeps getting undermined, and while they COULD fix these things by touching base on them in season 3, i highly doubt that they will.