#jay descendants

Did it bother anyone else that in D3 the Rotten Four just like… forgot that they hated their parents…??

D1 and D2 canonically say that the Rotten Four do not like their parents, are afraid of their parents, and do not want to go back to them. I present to you the following movie-based evidence of this (since I’m pretty sure there’s also some in the novels):

Several bits of dialogue suggest (to me) that the relationship between the VKs and their parents is based primarily on fear. The Rotten Four are scared of the consequences that come with disobeying their family, of retribution:

Directly below are the Rotten Four after their FaceTime/Zoom call with their parents on the Isle. As you can see, they look anything but happy. Jay’s expression specifically stands out to me as particularly emotional… he looks so distraught just to see and hear his father again…

Also, this scene in D2 is a brilliant (for lack of a better word) example that really emphasizes the point.

Mal:Carlos, don’t you ever miss screaming at people and just making them run away from you?

Carlos:

Carlos’ expression in the first frame says it all. He’s looking at Mal as if she’s crazy for even asking — of course he doesn’t miss his mother, and none of the VKs should.

Scenes with Uma and her mother also highlight this anti-parent theme well:

Uma’s mother, crashing the Shop with her tentacles, and zero regard for anyone’s safety or life. And here we also see Uma reassuring her crew that everything is fine after Ursula does this. The fact that Uma even has to ensure her crew’s safety also speaks volumes about what it’s like to live with villainous parents, and how said parents don’t give two shits about their kids.

I cannot emphasize the established canon enough, and it is a wonder to me how the writers in D3 ever forgot this.

On the other side, I understand how some VKs do want to see their parents again. Dizzy, Celia, Squeaky + Squirmy have good parental relationships, so obviously these characters would be excited to see their families after leaving to Auradon.

So, given all this…

For some reason, at the end of D3 we still see the Rotten Four suddenly excited to see their parents? And running across the bridge towards them ecstatically? I do like parts of D3 but this last scene is especially irritating. D3 erased a lot of characterization that D1 and D2 established, and it was just so random for Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos to suddenly forget the years of terror and abuse their parents imbued in them, and get excited to see them again.

It’s just incredibly irritating to me, and I will forever be confused about the complete destruction of canon in the last 10 minutes of D3.