Kill The Child

Why Tedros of Camelot is not a Mary Sue

I’ve seen a bunch of people on the SGE wiki calling Tedros a Mary Sue/Marty Stu/Gary Stu and I disagree so here’s a FRICKING ESSAY.

WARNING: This is gonna be a full-blown essay. Also I’m using Mary Sue as a gender neutral term because I don’t see the point in the term Gary Stu but I’m not opening that can of worms…Also, very mild book 3 and 4 spoilers.

DISCLAIMER: I’m tired and grumpy. I’m not trying to attack anyone with this post and I am not usually this tired or this grumpy. But today I’m tired and grumpy. Also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08YRWuK4bso watch this because I’m too tired to repeat her message.

Reasons why Tedros of Camelot is not a Mary Sue

1) Tedros has flaws.

Mary Sues are flawless characters - and this includes characters whose flaws are physical things, or things other people have done to them. Mary Sues are “X character is kind and brave and caring and has unlimited superpowers but they have two different coloured eyes and their parents hate them so they’re totally flawed.”

Tedros is not flawless. Tedros is stupid. Reckless. Impulsive. He holds grudges. He is stubborn. He values his pride too much, which leads him to land everyone in trouble. He is absolutely terrible at communicating. He has SERIOUS trust issues. Did I mention he’s stupid?

But this doesn’t make him a bad character, because…

2) Tedros grows as a character.

I would argue that Tedros is the character who goes through the most character development throughout the series. Tedros begins the books as someone who sees the world as black and white. He is someone who believes he knows the boundaries between good and evil, and refuses to change those views. Take his first proper scene with Agatha, for example. When Tedros sees the gargoyle in Agatha’s arms, he doesn’t stop to ask himself what is going on - he instantly categorizes the gargoyle as evil, and kills it. Even when Agatha protests that the gargoyle was innocent, he just considers her evil by association. He does the same thing with his mother - he resents his mother for abandoning him, so he paints her as the villain of the story, building up his father as a hero, despite having seen his father’s descent into paranoia and alcoholism. He refuses to change his views of Arthur = good and Guinevere = bad. He also holds grudges and doesn’t trust his princess, despite Agatha often knowing better then him.

But throughout the books, Tedros learns. He learns that people are multifaceted, and that there is more to people than Ever or Never, boy or girl. He learns to swallow his pride and let Agatha take the lead. He learns to put away his prejudices and admit his own flaws. He even learns to forgive his mother, and actually listens to her side of the story. And even though he does have a bit of a backslide in book 4, he apologizes and proceeds to be more careful about his actions. In fact, he does this even better than Agatha, who continues to keep trying to take charge even in book 6, when it’s not her battle to fight. (No hate to Agatha. It’s just that Tedros’s arc is slightly more impressive.)

3) Tedros is not a personality vaccum.

Part of the problem with Mary Sues is that they cause everyone around them to lose all personality beyond what is needed to make the Sue look good, as the whole universe’s point is to make them look good. The world literally revolves around a Mary Sue. A smart character cannot be as smart as the Sue, an edgy character cannot have a backstory which is more tragic than the Sue’s, an attractive character cannot be as attractive as the Sue, etc.

But with SGE, this is clearly not the case. Every major character has a reasonably developed and multifaceted personality. (Except Anadil, but Anadil’s whole thing is that she doesn’t have a personality.) Think of Hester - she was introduced as Sophie’s edgy, cool, black-hearted rival. But as the books progress, we see a different side to Hester: she is very driven and determined to prove herself as more than a girl, as seen when Evelyn Sader revamps the school, she is very emotionally mature, as shown when she doesn’t hold a grudge against Hansel and Gretel, and she clearly cares about her close friends a lot - even though Dot is constantly the butt of Hester and Anadil’s jokes, they are willing to do anything to protect her, even attacking the Sheriff.

Another example is Reena - she is present throughout the books as Beatrix’s sidekick, and she is often thought of as nothing more than that, as Sophie explicitly states. But in book 6 she suddenly takes control, revealing herself to be a strong leader, quick-thinking and smart and a QUEEN.

This started as me defending Tedros and dissolved into me just stanning best girls Hester and Reena……..anyway back to the show.

4) JUST BECAUSE YOU DON’T LIKE A CHARACTER, THAT DOESN’T MAKE THEM A MARY SUE.

Being stuck up is not a Mary Sue characteristic. Being perfect is. Look me in the eyes and tell me this dopey golden retriever of a prince is perfect.

In conclusion:

Tedros is not a Mary Sue. He is a bicon and a puppy and I love him.

(Thoughts on OTK coming soon!)

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quilleily

1 month ago