Was Eclipsa Really as Great as We Remember? (SVTFOE Video Essay) (10K Subscriber Special)

Title’s kinda misleading

16:15 "I have not eaten a single baby. Now, I did hurt the occasional teenager, but only psychologically, and they always deserved it." Grunkle Stan approves.

To me, season 3 Eclipsa was the best, because you can tell she was morally grey - selfish and whimsical, but also had a wise, rather mature aura about her, like she always knew what she was doing and what to say when asked. Half the season even is Eclipsa giving life advices and tips to Star [and Moon], but after it was confirmed 100% she's not evil and became queen, she kinda turned into "season 1 Sar 2.0" and began acting rash, childish, and even outright neglectful. It's like the writers didn't know what to do with her after her red herring subplot was over and all that could keep her relevant was being quirkly.

I don't think her selfishness was necessarily bad, in fact I think it was kinda healthy. She left an abusive relationship in a situation where people were willing to kidnap and imprison her whole family while being wiling to act like they didn't even exist. They could have found another way to handle it politically but the high commission didn't and they wouldn't have.

She’s the best character on the show, but that doesn’t say much

I think Eclipsa not having a "fish out of temporal water" storyline could actually the greatest bit of storytelling consistency in the series. Mewni is just so stagnant/regressive that a Queen from hundreds of years ago will have little trouble getting used to the modern day.

I get why star wanted to give her back the wand and role as queen but I don’t think that’s something eclipsa particularly wanted. She willingly gave that life up for globgor and their daughter. I think she would’ve been happy to just live somewhere in peace with her family. I don’t think ruling was ever for her.

My biggest problem with her was they kept alluding to the fact that she might be evil or have done really evil things but then the writers didn't have the balls to go through with it and settled for "misunderstood" instead.

Fun fact: Eclipsa's love for monsters did not come from nowhere. Her father was not originally so racist and callas like Solaria. He was going to sign a peace treaty with them, until one of his close friends was suddenly killed by one. Given her father was Solaria's advisor, and not originally a monster hater, I'd like to think she got her kindness from him, having heard his stories of liking them before the inevitable. I wish we knew more on him.

if only the show had better writing and handled Eclipsa's character better and focus more on lore and character development and less Shipping even in there filler episodes they focused way too much on Shipping

I know you mentioned river, but honestly I felt eclipsa and tom not talking was a complete missed opportunity. Tom is literally a royal half monster child of mixed parents and eclipsa NEVER really speaks to any of them. We never hear her thoughts on them or anything. Eclipsa went to meet all the royal families OFFSCREEN, a meeting with the lucitors who basically parallel her and globgor sounds so INTERESTING. I wanted to know why the lucitors personally didn't like her, and what is like for them to rule their respective kingdoms (like the lucitors were literally the only mixed royal couple before she was queen ). How does Tom's dad handle being the only mewman running a monster kingdom? Missed opportunity honestly, the lucitors had so much potential

Eclipse wasn't perfect some of her decisions were not the best. But she was only doing them cuz she thought it was the best thing for her people. I really love eclipse 💜

Gotta admit, "stand before the queen and cower" was a cool thing for eclipse to say

My main problem with the show is that we never actually see a main character with a healthy balance of being selfish for yourself and your family and being selfless for your people and kingdom, sure you can say Star is a healthy balance but most of the time she is all over the place, like flipping a switch ever episode or so.

She's alright, kudos for sticking to the fact she did nothing wrong, but it kinda makes her feel less interesting. No plot twist, no moral grey areas, she's just an innocent victim of the situation. Heck she feels more like protagonist then Star, if Star has issues of having too many flaws in protagonist, Eclipsa is no flaws kind of protagonist

I don't think they drew enough attention to the hypocrisy of Star telling Eclipsa, "How's anybody supposed to trust you when you use spells like that?" Hmm. You mean like the All-Seeing Eye....?

When Eclipsa first came up and the flashbacks with Moon happened, I was extremely interested in her. Why was she locked up? Why was her part of the book forbidden? Did she purposely give Moon that weird black stuff when they shook hands? When she finally appeared, I was extremely disappointed because she wasn't what I thought she would be and nothing about the deal she and Moon made was ever mentioned. Moon only said that Eclipsa did it to her and that was it. Despite this disappointment, I actually liked what I got, as long as I pretend the build up to her didn't happen or at least happened differently. As many people pointed out, she was selfish, but I can understand why. She grew up in a monster hating world. She married and started a family with a monster only to be locked away and have her daughter be tortured and brainwashed for years. Then this strange child (Moon) keeps coming to her, being her only company. Once she was free, it's understandable why she was selfish. She's playing catch-up. She's had these Queenly duties thrust upon her when she wasn't ready and got a ton of push back that she never wanted. She tried to do what she could but again, she wasn't ready, so when the going got tough, she chose herself. It wasn't always the right decision and did cause trouble, but that's part of her character. Unlike everyone else, Eclipsa remained consistent and stable in her beliefs. She didn't start as great as I wanted and thought she would be, but she ended up great in what we got and thus became one of the best characters in the show, possibly THE greatest character.

I find it hilarious that celena the shy was never really touched up upon. Now I kinda Headcannon that she literally knows everything but we'll never know.

I have always liked the idea of Festivia being Jushtin's granddaughter. That he married a Spiderbite duchess and moved to Pie island to live a quiet life. Then their kid(s) went on to have Festivia. Most likely because the island is far removed from magic, the cheek marks weren't present when she was born and only appeared later when exposed more to it. And the idea makes sense in a few ways. I mean, in real life if there were no kids born or able to take the throne of royalty under the current King, the crown would go to one of the King’s siblings or a nephew instead. If there are none that can/are able, then back another generation again with the King’s uncles or his uncles/aunts kids (the Kings first cousins) or their grandkids (Kings first cousins once removed). It really doesn't make sense that even in the Mewni kingdom, they'd chose someone with no relation to the throne to become monarch. It might as well be a democracy if blood doesn't matter. And in the Butterfly lineage they did the opposite of what irl monarch's did and didn't have dozens of kids (legitimate and not). They usually only had one. And at max, 2. Given their leaning towards magic that is perhaps why they felt much more comfortable in having so few. As in the past disease and other health problems would kill a lot of children, including royal ones. Which is why they'd have so many. To make sure there was someone to inherit the throne. Also, side note that the Butterfly's almost always seem to have firstborn girls who are able to take the throne. Just thought I’d mention that. Very strange when you think about it. And finally, as to bring up evidence that’s a bit more in universe. Jushtin and Festivia have quite a few similarities that push the idea. They both have purple hair, both are very outgoing and sociable, and they both enjoy partying. And of course that scene in The Tavern at the End of the Multiverse where as spirits, he has his hands on her shoulders in a sort of protective hold which showcases at least in the afterlife they became close if they weren't already related. But still it points to a connection, I think. Sorry for how long this comment was, just wanted to give my two cents on the matter. And it would mean that the Butterflys now aren't actually frauds just that they shifted power wrongfully from the true heir based off a bigoted decision.

You can see the difference in Eclipsa's conception in the scene of her getting pinned down by Omni (with a casual look on her face) in the garden vs her nearly getting imprisoned again by Rhombulus during her coronation (looking scared and desperate). She also seems to have lost her mischievous charm by Season 4, her entire personality now being "perpetually persecuted victim," kinda like when Lapis first appeared in Steven Universe and got captured by Homeworld Forces.