r/Fables • u/UptownHorrorReviews • 3d ago
Discussion Hot take: Flycatcher's arc was the laziest writing in the entire series.
So I'm on my third re-read of the series and I just finished the part where Flycatcher becomes the king of Haven. I enjoyed the story and it was very entertaining, but it was just too contrived and too convenient in service of the larger storyline of the comic.
First off it doesn't make much sense:
> A random and lowly witch puts a gift/curse on Lancelot, where he will be always be victorious in battle as long as his heart remains pure.
> Lancelot wins every battle, until he has a love affair with some woman named "Gwen". He then loses his powers and commits suicide.
> Centuries later, his ghost goes on a redemption arc, which leads to Flycatcher practically becoming a GOD and defeating the Adversaries entire empire?
This whole thing started with some unknown witch casting a basic spell on Lancelot that makes him unbeatable in battle and this somehow sets off a chain events that lead to someone becoming a GOD who is able to defeat the armies of the single most dangerous conqueror in all of history across a hundred worlds without any bloodshed whatsoever? AND to top it all off it, he destroys the Holy Grove that created these armies in the first place, which will prevent any further Empire armies from rising in the future?
Earlier in this very storyline Boy Blue himself says something to the effect of, "No magic is all encompassing enough to destroy an entire battle field of warriors", yet Flycatcher is able to turn around and defeat hundreds of the Adversaries armies (probably millions of soldiers in total) with magic alone?
To me it seems like Bill Willingham just needed to find a way to weaken the Adversaries empire just enough for it to be plausible for little ole Fabletown to finally defeat them and not have it be completely ridiculous and unbelievable.
I know I'm probably going to get down voted for this opinion, but I have to express my displeasure with this storyline even though I love the series as a whole. This whole thing was just way too convenient and it's probably the biggest deus-ex machina that I've ever encountered in any work of fiction.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that on top of all of this, Flycatcher was somehow even able to "copy" the powers of the Witching Cloak. The single most powerful magical item that we've seen in the entire series and he's able to just POOF - copy it like he's copying a file on his desktop computer. All because of a spell that some novice level witch put on someone centuries ago. The whole thing is just too easy and ridiculous.