The Rapunzel Toxic Debate (Re-Do)

[@NessaTheBat1]

I never saw Rapunzel as toxic. She had flaws but toxic wasn't the right word.

[@littlesparrow303]

Yes thank you!! She made mistakes & later on she makes up for it.

[@blueotter5954]

Naive, given too much responsibility, naive, just gotten free from her tower.

[@saffyesperas2278]

Same.

[@MHall-BlueGlass]

Considering who raised her, it’s a miracle she’s as well adjusted and healthy as she is

[@foxpokemonforever4775]

Words like “toxic” and “abuse” get thrown around so much that it’s important to take a step back and actually consider whether a relationship is harmful, or if it’s just a matter of natural human mistakes. This re-analysis is awesome and I think adds some important points to this debate.

[@Israel_Augustine]

Word

[@karleecraziness9216]

Thank you I was just about to say that.

[@poecraven]

I would also say that some of her misteps come from the FACT in this world that she was locked up and gaslit for 18 years. It would be perfectily normal that she would know how to handel cretain situations, read certain socal cues or body language. She's literally had no experiance with those things, and it's pretting impressive that she's even able to open up to others after all of that. She an abuse survivor recovering from trama in the best way she knows how to.

[@shadowmarauder6033]

To me it feels like the issues came from how the show was written. In many of these instances and even you pointed it out, they way it was written made Rapunzel's actions look & feel toxic even when they weren't. The show as a whole personally suffers from very odd writing, which got much more obvious in season 3 where it seemed they wanted both rapunzel & cass to be in a sort of gray area yet didn't come off that well.

[@MasqueradeMaggie]

Holy!!! I did NOT expect Cinema Therapy to get mentioned!!! You sir, are CULTURED 👏👏👏

[@SmartyPantsYT]

We love Cinema Therapy in this house

[@1rosemaryedits1]

Yesss

[@PaigeRobins-ky4qc]

​@@SmartyPantsYT me too and I hope you are doing well today and amazing work I can tell you work hard on it.💜👍💯

[@SpiderFan-e13]

I also love Cinema Therapy

[@PaigeRobins-ky4qc]

@SpiderFan-e13 me too and I hope you are doing well today.👍

[@oliwiaszczech9717]

Omg, I'm so glad you made this! I always felt like the fandom was strangely obsessed with Cassandra and always defended her no matter what. Everyone acted like Cass was this poor, broken character who had to go through so much and had the worst upbringing out of everyone when that couldn't be farther from the truth. Compared to Eugene and Rapunzel, Cassandra had the 'easiest' life/upbringing by a mile. I hate when people say Rapunzel has such an easy life because it truly makes me wonder if they even watched the original movie. Rapunzel was locked up in a tower for the first eighteen years of her life, gaslighted, manipulated, and used, and when she finally does reunite with her family, is forced into a princess role she might not even want and is confined once again by her overbearing father. But no, we're supposed to feel bad for Cassandra because her abusive mother chose Rapunzel over her (one might argue that that actually got Cass out of an abusive situation). Not only that, but Cassandra is such a bad friend throughout the entire show. She's only truly kind to Rapunzel when Rapunzel has to rely on her for anything, and the second Rapunzel thinks for herself or 'defies' Cassandra, Cass snaps. Not only that, but the ending to this show is wretched and frustrates me so much because this show and the fandom deserved so much better. You mean to tell me that after attempting to kill Rapunzel over a dozen times in the last season alone while also attempting to kill her loved ones and endangering the kingdom, we're supposed to forgive Cassandra without a second thought. Not only that, but Cassandra only 'apologizes' to Rapunzel right after she loses her powers, making me question if she actually regrets what she did or if she was trying to save herself from the consequences of her actions, knowing that Rapunzel would forgive her no matter what. Also, nowhere throughout the show does Cassandra say she wants to travel the world or be a wanderer. It is emphasized numerous times that Cassandra wants to be captain of the guard. So why did the writers give Cassandra that ending? It felt so rushed and lazy. Rapunzel is a VICTIM, and when you take that into consideration, it's actually astonishing that she's as good at communicating and is as open as she is. I feel like Varian's villain arc makes more sense than Cass's ever did. Varian was a kid and leaned on Rapunzel for validation because she was the first one to truly appreciate his area of expertise and talent. I always thought the argument for Rapunzel 'betraying' Varian was really stupid because come on! An ancient demon just unleashed an eternal, brutal winter out on Corona, her parents could be dead, she just sent out the love of her life and friends to find said parents, and the entire kingdom is relying on her. She obviously can't drop everything for Varian, as much as she may want to, and Varian's turn to villainy is just the actions of a rightfully immature and self-loathing young teen with daddy issues (I say this as a Varian Stan). Varian also deals with the consequences of his actions while Cassandra never does. Okay that was my rant sesh because I've been waiting for someone to make this video for so long and am so glad someone finally did.

[@AtarahDerek]

Toxic positivity is never insidious. The toxically positive person is often completely and utterly unaware that they even have a problem. Pinkie Pie from MLP and Joy from Inside Out are two prime examples. Rapunzel's toxic positivity is born of trauma, and as long as she has that trait, she has not addressed that trauma enough to heal from it. And the person Raps hurts the most with toxic positivity is herself. Rapunzel is not toxic herself. She HAS toxic positivity. It doesn't define her, but it is a symptom of an underlying condition. I HAVE trichotillomania. I am not my trich. It does not define me. It is a symptom of an underlying condition; in my case, ADHD. Toxic positivity is like trich. It is not a state of being, it is simply a symptom.

[@CatWithAQuill]

I fully agree, especially with the note that the post-storm situation was very much the fault of the writing. It could have been fixed with ONE SCENE---heck, it could have been fixed by moving a version of the scene near the start of The Quest for Varian to the start of Painter's Block. Have Rapunzel go to her father, mention what Varian said, bring up that she wants to go check on him, and have Frederick be like "oh, you shouldn't go yourself, it's dangerous, but no worries! I'll send some royal guards to check on Old Corona." Literally, the only thing that would change is making it a bit more obvious that Frederick is kinda very much at fault for a lot of how bad the rocks got without doing anything to stop them and in a way at fault how bad Varian himself got, but it's not like that wasn't already evident in the royal guards activly impeding Rapunzel in retrieving the scroll piece in The Quest for Varian (which, we know they'd already been in Old Corona for a while given Varian mentions them in his note). That aside, it gives the audience a valid reason why she wouldn't have gone to check, especially if then the mural and dinner with the Griffin are used as ways of distracting her to keep her away from the rocks. Rapunzel trusts her father absolutely at that point, and if he promised to make sure the rocks her dealt with and that Varian and Quirin were alright, she'd believe him, as she DID believe him in The Quest For Varian until she saw the rocks for herself. I love the show, it had a lot of talented people on its roster and ultimately its very enjoyable to watch, especially if you're a casual viewer who doesn't overthink everything like I do, but man does the writing really miss the mark sometimes.

[@falconanddragons2214]

Ngl, Cassandra was way more toxic than Rapunzel in the show. Her reasoning that "Gothel chose you over me" is just such bullshit. You know full well Rapunzel was kidnapped by Gothel, but because she's your biological mother that completely negates anything that your adoptive father has done for you? Also I feel way too many people get onto her being always happy go lucky and stuff when times really get bad, but Rapunzel's Return shows how that it's really a serious problem for her because we can tell it feels like she's stuck that way to be nice, happy, and such like that. It's really sad when you think about it.

[@Victoria-_]

Agreed!

[@sebaschan-uwu]

I just brush all that under the rug as horrible writing and I don't even think about that when I consider Cassandra's character because it's so out of character.

[@tomatosoup1304]

She's toxic for even more that that too. She actively causes harm in Rapunzel's relationship with Eugene by guilting her into not telling him any details or information that could cause miscommunication and issues in the longrun

[@NinjaGirlSakura1]

If anyone was toxic it was Cass. Cass was so petty even as early as "challenge of the brave" cause Rapunzel dared to enter the contest that she hides her frying pan and could've gotten her killed. Rapunzel only entered cause she wanted to spend time with her. Then in the great tree when she sees Rapunzel is becoming more independent and confident in her decision making she's not happy for her best friend becoming more worldy. Oh no, she's mad cause Rapunzel won't need to rely on her as much. Which isn't even true,even with Rapunzel becoming more in tune with the world she still wanted Cass around and tried to include her. Then when Cass learns the truth about her mother she dares to victim blame Rapunzel like she had a choice in her kidnapping. She shouldn't care about if Gothel picked Rapunzel over her anyway cause I'm sure she told Cass how bad it was growing up with her. How good of a life does Cassandra think she could've possibly had with her anyway? It's like Cass isn't happy unless she's the center of attention and if people aren't praising her or giving her that attention she throws a tantrum or worse.

[@fridayguy2649]

There’s no way the challenge of the brave is a lethal one. You may have a point about the other stuff.

[@evva_piper]

she was not toxic, that’s not the right way to describe it

[@lucymotyka510]

I have never agreed with someone so much. I really will never understand people thinking Cassandra was a good person even before she turned evil. She was just an awful friend the whole show

[@Disneyfan82]

She wasn't petty, she had a right to be pissed off at Rapunzel being in they way of wanting to prove herself that she can be more than a lady in waiting, a job she never wanted in the first place. How dumb can anyone be not to understand it from her point of view?

[@evva_piper]

@ YEESSSS 👏👏👏

[@yrooxrksvi7142]

Tangled The Series is a mixed bag honestly. When the writing works, it's great, the characters really shine, there's interesting lore expansion and plot development. When it doesn't, it's frustrating and infuriatingly disappointing.

[@lasercraft32]

People throw around the word "toxic" way too loosely.

[@misfits9294]

Personally, my take is: sometimes, and completely unintentionally, yes Rapunzel can be toxic if only in the way she doesn't know her actions are affecting some of her friends negatively. What I mean is even if toxic may be too strong of a word, her actions and behaviors do cause hurt to the people she cares about, so I think from their perspective it's fair to call it toxic. That hurt is still there. I also may be viewing the way I see toxic as unhealthy behaviors. I say this because at the very least with Varian she actively caused his descent into villainy, and they tried to hit the same beat with Cass albeit not as effectively. Now that does not mean Rapunzel is a bad person or character! In fact, I'd be surprised if she wasn't toxic in some ways given she grew up locked up in a tower with an abusive, narcissistic mother figure. Throughout the series, Rapunzel is faced with a bunch of difficult situations and decisions she needs to make as a princess and future queen, which comes in conflict with her kind, easy-going nature. Prior to the storm in s1 she was far too indecisive and didn't impose her will enough, for the valid reason she didn't like the idea of it. She'd been controlled her whole life after all. But then she was faced with having to make a tough call she could not take back and had to make with helping Varian's dad or focusing on her citizens; and I'd argue after this, she swings to the opposite extreme of being too firm with her decisions. After all, Cass can't and shouldn't blame Rapunzel for Gothel leaving her, but she does have legitimate gripes with Rapunzel for, y'know, burning her arm. Like we can't forget they had a disagreement over how to handle the situation in the Great Tree, and seeing as Rapunzel learned by now that being decisive was important, she didn't listen. But that not listening directly put her friend in danger and placed her in a situation where she got seriously injured when Cass's way would have been less dangerous for them all. You do bring up this point, but you forget that Cass's decision to use the spear would have also worked without the dangerous side-effects of using a power they don't know about and potentially hurting others. Which it did. Yes, Rapunzel didn't make her touch her arm, but Cass was only touching her to try and snap her out of the power she can't control, and she knew she couldn't control. I wouldn't say it's all because of Rapunzel but she made the decision, as leader, to go for the riskier option when Cass's option would have worked just as well and be safer. And it ended up hurting her friend. Of course this is far better handled with Varian and his own arc, and while again Rapunzel had valid and maybe even necessary reasons for the decisions she's made, the hurt is still there and at least with Cass she doesn't seem to be aware of or process that other ways were possible. Again, this doesn't make Rapunzel a bad person, it makes her a flawed and interesting person who unintentionally hurts her friends in her constant struggle to balance her good, somewhat indecisive nature with the demands of being queen. She ends up going to the opposite extreme of having her way be the right way, and that's a new lesson she needs to learn, which she does by the end of the series.

[@mintyaquagreen1675]

You know, just two days ago I was watching the previous Rapunzel videos. I was not expecting this.

[@just._.chara_]

I agree wirh you mostly. While I was at first one of those who thought Rapunzel behaviour is extremely toxic, especially towards Cass and Varian, I've slowly realized I qas wrong at that. I don't agree with her decision in the story, especially the fact she didn't even check on Varian after the snowstorm or send someone to go see if he's actually okay after he literally begged her for help, but I don't think it's toxic either. She does sometimes poor decisions, Yeah, but not necessary toxic. That's why I'm happy it all ended with happy ending for everyone and I agree with your opinions Although I really find it weird Cassandra wasn't punished any way for her actions against royal family, while Varian had to be 1 year in prison... but that is just my bias becaue Cass and especially Varian are my fav characters from the show.

[@lenastorm6280]

Uuuuh! Cinema Therapy is awesome! I love their videos so much.

[@rosexoxo_Roblox]

I miss being younger of watching this on Disney channel, I remember being so mad that Rapunzel got her hair blonde and long again. I think the brown suited her so much more.

[@anivijudi]

The show tries very hard to show the viewer how people, normal people we actually like, might become villains. To do that they need a villain in their own story and since the show is about Rapunzel she's the one who becomes the villain of those characters stories. It's a very fine line of having Rapunzel as the lead, but making viewers sympathize with the villains, and as a result Rapunzel choices and actions sometimes seem toxic and unreasonable because we view them through the lens of the people who are most negatively affected by them. The ambiguity is sometimes seems a bit clumsy but I think it's part of what makes it a good show.

[@amethystimagination3332]

I feel like every criticism people make about Rapunzel’s treatment of Cass, is way more applicable to the way Cass treats Eugene. She’s constantly bullying him for no reason and no one in the fandom really talks about it

[@TwiKou89]

I wouldn’t necessarily call certain things bad writing as opposed to unfortunate timing. Should Rapunzel have gone to check on Varian yes but given the advice of someone and her father on the fact that they feel he was showing signs of being unstable at the time it was out of her hands technically.

[@MHall-BlueGlass]

Yeah, I remember as I was watching for the first time thinking wow cass is kind of toxic. There are way more moments about Cass being toxic than Rapunzel being toxic

[@Junoisverysleepy]

I might be biased cause I love Raps a lot m, But I never saw her as a toxic friend. She made some decisions I found quite frustrating but that felt more like the writing was not able to execute the right themes since at the end of the day this was meant to be a kids show. The audience they were aiming for holds back the story in a lot of places unfortunately and I think by the end of the show they weren’t able to flesh out the complexity of the character’s motivations because “haha gotta bring back the creepy monkey to make silly hahas”. Same reason why I didn’t like Eugene as much in this series, he lost some of his edge from the movie to be comic relief in the series. However I LOVE Cas and Raps relationship. The Betrayal had really good set up and Cas makes a really badass villain. HOWEVER, I think they needed more time to develop her motive and goals. Her complete turnover to HATING Raps doesn’t make sense. She was disappointed and let down by Rapunzel, because she was blinded by her inability to see that Rapunzel’s growth after each conflict they had. She seemed to only acknowledge the mistakes and disregard the apologies or compromises. Which makes a lot of sense for her especially after she gets her hand destroyed! Being a knight is like her whole thing, what she thought was her destiny, and Rapunzel (unintentionally) may have destroyed her dream. The whole theme of the season was about finding one’s destiny. And I think the show failed at making it clear what Destiny Cas was seeking after she betrays Raps. What would make sense for me is if Cas read a different part of the scroll (maybe one altered by Zantiri) that made it seem like the purpose of the moonstone was to correct the mistakes of the sundrop and that if the sun drop was to seize the moonstone they’d both be destroyed or something. I don’t know, allow Cas and Raps to seemingly have conflicting interpretations of the Scroll much like their other disagreements. I just didnt love that Cas’s hatred for Raps centered around her “mommy issues” blaming Rapunzel for her own literal kidnapping. If anything it should be the other way around and Rapunzel should have distrusted Cas more after finding out she was Gothel’s. She wouldn’t cause she loves her, but if Cas was demanding that she hand over her powers as the sundrop that might be a little triggering. All the other stuff can stay the same I just needed Cas to be less directionless in that final season. They’re very inconsistent on whether or not she’s completely evil or just doing bad things for the greater good, and it’s (frustrating)

[@noahpinkston2620]

Don't forget that Rapunzel was raised by a toxic person for most of her life. Not that makes Rapunzel toxic, but some of Gothel's traits could have been rubbed on Rapunzel without her realizing it.

[@chris_dog2730]

I love this series and it tells so much about how Gothel knew about the flower and Rapunzel is my favorite Disney princess

[@mermaidsabrina7896]

i never saw her as toxic i think the problem wasn't her it was the writting

[@lasseehrenreich5502]

I have never really thought About It She is a very Complicated character who have done a lot of Both good and bad things

[@0w0nashy]

The thing I always had in mind was that raps never had any healthy relationship (except Pascal) to base her new ones of, so it makes sense for her to be SO oblivious and and trust her own opinion more than others as a first instinct even if later on she was going to change her mind. So yeah, she has never been toxic in my book. The one who was kinda toxic (even though I loved her character) was Cass. She was all "oh, my mother changed me for you so you stole my destiny"- like, girl, your mother abused both of you?? You wanted that to keep going??

[@Stumbi-se1ew]

I disagree with you that Rapunzel had no hand in Varian's villian ark. don't think Rapunzel is bad in Varian's case for 'breaking a promise'. I think she was bad because she let a CHILD get thrown into a snowstorm, that was already SAID to be deady for an adult, let alone a 14 year old boy. You could make the defense that she 'didn't know he was thrown out'.... But she would have seen him during the evacuation, and she's not stupid enough to not put two and two together. Sure, it was Nigel that gave the order, but Rapunzel was in charge. She could have stopped that at any time, but she didn't. You could say that it could be she wasn't used to giving orders, but does that change the situation at all in Varian's eyes? No. He was still thrown out to die, then not even CHECKED on. Nigel said earlier in the episode that going out into the snowstorm was a death sentence, it's part of why Eugene and the others going was such a sacrifice. I know you said that her not checking on him was terrible writing, but whats worse is that she threw him out to die. THEN didn't make sure Varian hadn't frozen to death. In the 'I will make you proud' song, we see Varian literally get into multiple dangerous situations. Heck, he jumped over a ravine that could have killed him if he didn't jump far enough, or even slipped in the snow. Then, after that, Varian gets slandered. Rapunzel even KNOWS about the rumors that he attack her, not paying any mind to it when it gets brought up. Twice. Once by her dad, once by Varian (even then she didn't even adress it)? Varian hadn't even attacked her, unless you count 'ToUcHiNg HeR aRmS' but it's clear he means no malice. Hes just desperate, and is literally begging for help. You can even see in the way it's animated, it's not tight or hard. The Coronians in the 'I've got this' song treat her far more maliciously, but no one bats an eye. You can say it's the situation that counts, but, that doesn't mean they should have been terrible to the person in one case, then not bat an eye when an angry mob appears? This doesn't make what Varian did okay, but Rapunzel isn't in the right either. She definitely had a role to play in why Varian did what he did. This isn't even taking into account what King Fredrick did, sending a bunch of guards to harrass an innocent (at the time) child. Then, theres also the fact about the black rocks that Fredrick did nothing about, but this isn't about Fredrick, it's about Rapunzel. (After this point I'm kinda just ranting about theories and speculations, lol) Oh! And Rapunzel told Varian not to talk about the rocks, too, which sent him further into taking matters into his own hands because no one was helping his home that was literally being destroyed. We even get Varian's flash backs of the rocks destroying everything. And I always thought that it was implied people were injured or even killed. For instance a teddy bear, that was stabbed. If the teddy was stabbed, then the person couldn't have been fast enough themselves. Also the issue with falling rubble from houses being destroyed, especially if people were at the home. The rocks are fast, and by how traumatized Varian seems while telling Rapunzel, something very bad must have happened. You can rebuilt houses, and it's clear they have had to in old Corona as seen in the first episode, so Varian wouldn't have been as traumatized unless someone, or multiple people, got hurt. You could also say that he is because rocks are literally destroying his home, but he only starts sounding really traumatized after saying "Things are getting bad... *Really* bad." That implies more than just rocks destroying things, that implies lives are on the line. Varian waits for a long time after the snowstorm as well, at least a few months based on how much happens in episodes between him giving the truth cookies. He was already angry, but got more so when he realised that they STILL weren't doing anything about the rocks. In the battle against Varian, I noticed there were no pedestrians. The town became unlivable, and you can see that woth the rocks. Fredrick said that they got rid of the rocks, yes, but in Varian's perspective, he doesn't know this. Because of Rapunzel's previous actions, Varian has been led to the conclusion that it's something in her character to do. I'm sorry this is so long, but I wanted to get my thoughts out there.

[@universestars]

Well they probably wouldn’t have listened to her as in the episode pascals dragon Rapunzel gave orders to basically leave the dragon be but as soon as she left earth shot Nigel went ahead and gave orders to basically take action against the dragon even though Rapunzel ordered them not to so I don’t think they would’ve listened to her anyway

[@Stumbi-se1ew]

@@universestars But that hadn't happened at that point in time, so it wouldn't have been something Rapunzel thought about. Yes, it wouldn't have changed Varian being thrown out, but it would have let Varian know Rapunzel was still somewhat fighting on his behalf.

[@sailorearth2007]

I agree Raps is NOT toxic but the writers made her more naive to the point some of her choices really got under people’s skin In terms of Varian yes the fault is on him and yes Raps had a MAJOR situation on her hands but how she handled his asking for help was not good…again most of the problems come down to bad writing but while she was right to prioritize finding her parents and protecting the kingdom she also allowed Varian to be thrown out of the palace and back into the blizzard then as you mentioned didn’t check on him after IMHO what she should have done was explain the situation and then invite Varian to stay and help…his knowledge of alchemy and the fact he traveled through the blizzard proves he can handle himself and could have been an ally in finding the king and queen…Raps could have made a new promise after inviting him to help that after the storm passed and her parents were safe they could all go see what they could do…yes this would change the plot but would make more sense In terms of how Varian wound up in this situation to begin with the fault is on his dad who hid the truth as did the king (forget his name)…Varian didn’t learne what his dad knew and about his involvement with the Dark Kingdom so Varian trying to find something to stop the rocks that are destroying his home is understandable…he is being kept in the dark and everyone either marks him as a failure or holds back the truth and acts like the situation isn’t as serious as it actually is Regarding Cas I think a lot of that friction comes from how different she and Raps are and their status in life…and yes bad writing She was raised by the captain of the guards after Gothel abandoned her then became Raps’ lady in waiting…Raps was simply a princess…yes she wanted to see the world and not be roped into a tropical role but she is still a princess and that title has a lot of expectations I don’t remember Raps apologizing as often as you said nor her acknowledging Cas’ concerns…I say this because when it comes to Cas betraying everyone Raps IMHO is a major factor…yes she is the one calling the shots but Cas promised to keep her safe after giving up everything to go on the journey to the Dark Kingdom Throughout season 1 Cas is trying to prove herself and follow her dad as the next captain of the guard…she has many opportunities but each backfires or is interrupted…often by Raps…no she isn’t doing this intentionally but as a royal all eyes are on her and thanks to bad writing she has no sense of boundaries so joining the fun with her friend makes total sense…at the end of season 1 when Varian kidnaps the queen Cas gets her moment to lead when her dad is injured…you can see his pride during “Ready As I’ll Ever Be” and Cas singing “They can trust me” shows her determination and insecurities about being more than someone who helps the princess…someone waiting in the wings After all this Cas chooses to give up everything and go on the journey and help keep Raps safe…and all of the “fun” ideas Raps has create more friction because if anything were to happen most of the blame would fall on her…also Eugene but she is the closest thing to a royal guard in terms of extra protection…this helps explain why Cas makes such drastic decisions like grabbing Raps’ arm at the tree or being suspicious of everything…she walked on the wild side in episode 1 where Raps got her magic hair back and when the truth came out was almost sent to a convent…I mean harsh much Cas simply felt overlooked overshadowed and under appreciated…but that is only part of the picture Growing up without a mom Cas probably had questions…and she was never given an honest answer…she was lied to about her mom and then never informed about Hothel after Raps returned…if she had been the two could have had that big talk right away and Zantiri would have failed in her attempt to manipulate Cas into helping her…but the conversation never happened so Cas who was already struggling and vulnerable believes Gothel actually loved her and then chose Raps…this carries over to the cave of mirrors where the two bump heads over their opinions…and OMHO one of Gothel’s mirrors reveals the truth about how Cas came to be The whole ending felt so rushed because it was…there were fewer episodes in season 3 and like any show that got moved to Disney XD viewers dropped so it was seen as no longer popular and wrapped up in a rush…same reason Ducktales 2017 has such a controversial finale that feels forced Wonder go into details about DT and what I imagined for a fourth season but in terms of Tangled the Series I think using at least one of the unused episodes would have helped So right after Zantiri attacks would be the episode in question…unlike DT there was a lot of info throughout the series and it wasn’t easy to remember everything without watching recaps or binging the series…so I would use this episode as that recap but in the style of a story told by the blacksmith…all the backstory and what Zantiri was looking to do would be explained…and the blacksmith having an old book and being the one to tell everything makes total sense When the focus turns to Cas walking the now abandoned palace we see her struggling with who she is and what she is doing…we also get quick flashbacks as seeing or finding things triggers memories that only add to her struggle…these help remind viewers of her journey why she is in this position and make her more relatable Moving all this to an episode frees up time in the finale…to get more time Zantiri and/or Cas creating those cages like she did to Varian makes more sense than just throwing everyone into that creepy portal world…then after Zantiri is defeated and Cas is saved we get the second or third part of the finale where we actually see things play out rather than just catch a fast glimpse during that final song… Cas will help rebuild the kingdom and Varian can offer to help her like she did for him as the science fair…this is also his was of redeeming himself without Raps helping him…the rebuild can be set to an original song to help with the Timelapse and we can jump between Carina and the Dark Kingdom which is also being rebuilt…Raps can of course help and add her artistic touch then update her book like she says she will but never does…after the rebuild she and Varian can formally apologize to the king and queen…now forgiveness feels right given the knowledge of Zantiri and Cas being manipulated to the point Z blew her cover when she was trying to go talk to Raps which lead to everyone freaking out and Varian’s weapon misfiring which in turn lead to Cas thinking SHE was being attacked…we can also see her conversation with her dad and the two of them finally clearing the air On the other side we can see Lance adopt the girls and the three of them starting their lives as a family…we can also see Raps talk with her parents about the future of the kingdom…she will eventually become queen but her parents appeared to have recovered from the memory potion Varian hit them with so I see no reason they would both step down Cas can still leave to find her destiny but this time it will feel right since she made things right with everyone and could return in a special that explores her new role…also Varian should have gotten that spin-off series

[@Mighty-YTshortz]

I literally just got back into this series and you upload-

[@kendraroth1276]

Well She does definitely mean well and does her best but she was unintentionally insensitive. Cassandra: Broke her trust, went behind her back and never told Cassandra. (Rapunzel was surprised when Cassandra knew about how she told Eugene that she was the one who snuck Rapunzel out.) Rapunzel also often disrespected Cassandra’s boundaries. Varian: Was hypocritical and ignored him for months though I suppose it’s more the writers fault than hers.

[@arivontrapp]

The 3 Main Girls in this series have problems socializing Rapunzel - Was isolated for the first 18 years of her life (exterovert) Arianna - Has austism (ambivert) Cassandra - Just has no interest (introvert)

[@princesserika9899]

Don't you mean "Ambivert"? 😶😶

[@arivontrapp]

@ Yes. Srry

[@mudi269]

Love the content man

[@JayMadd13]

I would say Rapunzel has a few toxic traits, But in the sense they're as toxic to her as much others. Negative learned behaviors from being isolated with an abuser and manipulator for most of her life. As well as a struggle to read people, again due to the isolation. But I would also say she seems amenable to work on them when she is reasonably called out.

[@DavidBContentExtravaganza3967]

The writers of the TV show never intended to make Rapunzel toxic at all, just learning her way around the world and how to interact with people and build friendships ever since she got out of the tower. That gives her more development as a character and still likable as ever like in the film.

[@KkJ401]

Rapunzel gets too much hate and cassandra doesn’t get enough for my tastes

[@sebaschan-uwu]

Yeah it pretty much is nepotism that cass has her job, but she is also the most qualified person in the kingdom for the job considering she doubles as a permanent body gaurd for rapunzel due to her warrior training.

[@saritasteel3178]

I just hope that in the movie of Shrek 5, once Disney buys DreamWorks, all The Official Disney Princes and all The Official Disney Princesses appear, especially the most important character in the movie of The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea, Melody, The Daughter of Prince Eric and Princess Ariel, with her best friends Zephyr, Tip, Dash, Kiera and Catalina, and besides, they will be the new main characters of the movie of Shrek 5 so that they help Shrek, Princess Fiona, Donkey, Dragon, Puss in Boots, Kitty Softpaws, Perrito, Dulcinea, The Three Diablos, Goldilocks, The Three Bears, Prince Lancelot, Princess Tiffany, King Artie, Princess Guinevere, The Children of Shrek and Princess Fiona: Fergus, Farkle and Felicia, The Children of Donkey and Dragon: Bananas, Parfait, Peanut, Eclair, Coco and Debbie and The Others to defeat Rumpelstiltskin, Death, Drizella Tremaine, all The Official Villains of Disney and all The Official Villains of DreamWorks, as Queen Grimhilde, Lady Tremaine, Captain Hook, Hades, Maleficent, Cruella de Vil, Marina del Rey, Ursula, Gaston LeGume, Jafar, John Ratcliffe, Shan Yu, Yzma, Dr. Facilier, Zhan Tiri, Mother Gothel, Judge Claude Frollo, Nalo, Tamatoa, Drago Bludvist, Grimmel The Grisly, Mor'du, King Runeard, Prince Hans, Pitch Black, Emperor Belos, Odalia Blight, Dr. Zara, Queen Nerissa, Ercole Visconti, King Magnifico, Rapunzel (Shrek) and Morgana, and to prevent Rumpelstiltskin, Death, all The Official Villains of Disney and all The Official Villains of DreamWorks from ruling and destroying all The Multiverse Forever, especially The Kingdom of Far Far Away, Shrek along with his wife named Princess Fiona will need help from their new friends which are all The Official Disney Princes and all The Official Disney Princesses, as Prince Florian, Princess Snow White, Prince Charming, Princess Cinderella, The Baker, Anastasia Tremaine, Prince Philip, Princess Aurora, Prince Eric, Princess Ariel, Prince Adam, Princess Belle, Prince Aladdin, Princess Jasmine, Prince John Smith, Princess Pocahontas, Prince Li Shang, Princess Fa Mulan, Prince Naveen, Princess Tiana, Prince Flynn Rider, Princess Rapunzel, Varian, Cassandra, Maui, Queen Moana Waialiki, Hiccup Haddock, Princess Merida, Kristoff Bjorgman, Queen Anna, Jack Frost, Princess Elsa, Miguel Rivera, Princess Raya, Walter Beckett, Princess Mirabel Madrigal, Jin, Yi, Connor, Ruby Gillman, Starboy, Princess Asha, Mateo, Queen Elena, Prince Desmond, Princess Amber, Prince James, Princess Isabel, Prince Hugo, Princess Sofia, Jim Hawkins, Amity Blight, Hunter, Luz Noceda, Namaari, The Futuristic Four, The Other Six Princesses of The Kingdom of Atlantica and Melody, but actually, Melody is The First and Only that she is not a True Official Disney Princess, because Melody made her debut in the movie of The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea and it is also because she is The First and Only Daughter of an Official Disney Princess, but Shrek, Princess Fiona, Donkey, Dragon, Puss in Boots, Kitty Softpaws, Perrito, Dulcinea, The Three Diablos, Goldilocks, The Three Bears, Prince Lancelot, Princess Tiffany, King Artie, Princess Guinevere, The Children of Shrek and Princess Fiona: Fergus, Farkle and Felicia, The Children of Donkey and Dragon: Bananas, Parfait, Peanut, Eclair, Coco and Debbie and The Others also need Melody's help to protect and save all The Multiverse, especially Their Kingdom of Far Far Away away from Rumpelstiltskin, Death, all The Official Villains of Disney and all The Official Villains of DreamWorks, because Melody is The Daughter of Prince Eric and Princess Ariel, but also The Death of Queen Lillian, because since her husband named King Harold passed away in the movie of Shrek 3, she has felt heartbroken and that caused her own death in her Kingdom of Far Far Away, and all The Inhabitants of The Kingdom of Far Far Away are saddened by The Death of Queen Lillian, because now she is with her husband named King Harold in heaven, and now they have lost their queen, that means now The Kingdom of Far Far Away needs a new queen and King Artie said that his love interest, girlfriend, fiancée and former classmate from Worcestershire school called Princess Guinevere would be the one to be The New Queen of Far Far Away, so King Artie decided to return to his old school called Worcestershire along with Shrek, with his older cousin Princess Fiona, with Donkey, with Dragon, with Puss in Boots, with Kitty Softpaws, with Perrito, with Dulcinea, with The Three Diablos, with Goldilocks, with The Three Bears, with The Children of Shrek and Princess Fiona: Fergus, Farkle and Felicia, with The Children of Donkey and Dragon: Bananas, Parfait, Peanut, Eclair, Coco and Debbie and with the Others to meet again with their friends from their school who are actually Prince Lancelot, Princess Tiffany and his love interest, girlfriend and fiancée Princess Guinevere to take them back to his Kingdom of Far Far Away, and also The Romance of all The Official Disney Princes and all The Official Disney Princesses, especially The Romance of Maui and Queen Moana Waialiki, The Romance of Hiccup Haddock and Princess Merida, The Romance of Jack Frost and Princess Elsa, The Romance of Varian and Cassandra, The Romance of Starboy and Princess Asha, The Romance of Prince Lancelot and Princess Tiffany and The Romance of King Artie and Princess Guinevere, because I think that Maui will be Queen Moana Waialiki's love interest, boyfriend and fiancé, while Hiccup Haddock will be Princess Merida's love interest and boyfriend, Princess Tiffany will be Prince Lancelot's love interest, girlfriend and fiancée and Princess Guinevere will be King Artie's love interest, girlfriend and fiancée, because Queen Moana Waialiki is going to fall in love with Maui, Princess Merida is going to fall in love Hiccup Haddock, Princess Tiffany is going to fall in love with Prince Lancelot and Princess Guinevere is going to fall in love with King Artie, but they don't know how to tell them their feelings towards them and neither how to win their hearts, because every time Queen Moana Waialiki gets too close to Maui when it comes to true love, she gets very nervous with him, while which in the case of Princess Merida is also the same, because whenever Princess Merida gets too close to Hiccup Haddock when it comes to true love, she also gets very nervous with him, in the case of Princess Tiffany it is also the same, because whenever Princess Tiffany gets too close to Prince Lancelot when it comes to true love, she also gets very nervous around him, and in the case of Princess Guinevere too, because every time Princess Guinevere gets too close to King Artie when it comes to true love, she also gets very nervous around him, but luckily for them, Princess Fiona will help Queen Moana Waialiki to win The Heart of Maui, also Princess Merida to win The Heart of Hiccup Haddock, also Princess Tiffany to win The Heart of Prince Lancelot and also Princess Guinevere to win The Heart of King Artie, and I also want that Jack Frost will be Princess Elsa's love interest and boyfriend and Varian will be Cassandra's love interest and boyfriend, because Jack Frost leaves fall in love with Princess Elsa, but he doesn't know how to tell her his feelings and how to win her heart, because every time Jack Frost gets too close to Princess Elsa when it comes to true love, he gets very nervous with her, because Varian leaves fall in love with Cassandra, but he doesn't know how to tell her his feelings and how to win her heart, because every time Varian gets too close to Cassandra when it comes to true love, he gets very nervous with her, but fortunately for they, Shrek will help Jack Frost to win The Heart of Princess Elsa and also Varian to win The Heart of Cassandra, except Melody, The Daughter of Prince Eric and Princess Ariel, because she doesn't need a love interest, but also The Rivalry of King Artie and Queen Anna because they both want to compete in a challenge to see who is The Best Ruler of a Kingdom, because both want to do what is best for Their Own Kingdom, because King Artie wants to do the best for his Kingdom of Far Far Away because now he is The New King of Far Far Away and Queen Anna wants to do the best for her Kingdom of Arendelle because now she is The New Queen of Arendelle, but at the end, King Artie and Queen Anna become best friends in the world, because at the end, they both learned from their mistakes that they have made since their challenge to compete to see who is the best ruler of a Kingdom, and that at the end, King Artie and Princess Guinevere see their first true love kiss and that they become a romantic couple, just like Prince Lancelot and Princess Tiffany, Shrek becomes The New Leader of The Official Disney Princes and Princess Fiona becomes The New Leader of The Official Disney Princesses and finally, also that at the end of the movie of Shrek 5, Princess Tiffany will be The Wife of Prince Lancelot and that they have a family in the future, and that also Princess Guinevere is The Wife of King Artie, that they also have a family and that she becomes The New Queen of Far Far Away some day in The Future.

[@wak773]

0:10 what do you mean it took some persistence for you to keep going with it? the episodes before "queen for a day" were nice. you can be honest though.

[@CatWithAQuill]

Not sure about Smarty Pants, but to speak from my own experience as someone who also had to have some persistence at the start before I could really get into it (and subsequently became obsessed with it), for me it was the fact that it starts so episodic with very few hints to the overarching story. That doesn't make it bad---tons of great shows are very episodic or lack an overarching narrative, and an overarching narrative isn't necessary to make a show good---but that structure doesn't necessarily click with everyone, especially right off the bat. First time I tried watching it a few years ago, I stopped around Challenge of the Brave because I found it a bit boring, but when I pushed through the second time, I found my stride with it and got very invested, especially after QfaD. Now, having watched and rewatched the whole show, I do enjoy a lot of those early episodes, but I still remember how at first, I wasn't grabbed enough by the characters to fully enjoy them yet, if that makes any sense.

[@wak773]

@@CatWithAQuill i get it, thanks for explaining.

[@bradiedean7466]

Cinema Therapy!!! I love them!

[@Callidus7SSM]

At this point I don’t think people who call someone, especially a fictional character toxic understand what they’re talking about. Nowadays “toxic” seems to just mean “that person didn’t do or say *exactly* what I wanted them to, so they must be horrible”

[@notrealyBea]

For be the toxic one has always been Cass

[@kaekaesam6240]

what i dont get is why they chose to bring back Repunzel's long blond hair instead of keeping it brown like how it was at the end of the movie and she could always just grow it long but her powers changing from hair magic to tears magic was a pretty important turning point was it not!? It just cheapens her character that they went back to magic long blond hair!

[@Neevkl_7]

The power didn’t transfer from her hair to her tears, she always had the tears because she is the sundrop. The reason her hair grew back was because touching the black rocks caused them to grant her some of the moon stones powers because the moon stone and sun drop want to reunite as they’re two halves of the same energy that fell from the heavens after a cosmic event

[@CatWithAQuill]

Marketing. Also, the magic didn't transfer to her tears. If I remember why I've heard right, that tear was supposed to be a "one last drop" sort of deal (or, retroactivly via the show, a "the Sundrop was inside her all along and not only in her hair" sort of deal).

[@thegamingmultiverse6693]

Rapunzel lived a very sheltered life so things like boundaries, and trusting the words of others wouldn’t be easy, because gothel wasn’t very affectionate and gaslit her for her whole life

[@droppystardusk]

I'm so glad Tangled the series is becoming relevant again, it's been my emotional support show for years! Also, great points, couldn't have said it better myself

[@Jettfighter]

I’ve never heard of the series until fall 2023 no one Disney never made it a big deal. It’s a great series.

[@droppystardusk]

@Jettfighter It was pretty heavily advertised on Disney Channel, well, at least the German one, but they used the WORST clips

[@Jettfighter]

@ here in America I never saw it advertised once. Maybe when before ever after came out and the season beginning and finals but the commercials I never saw anything then again I had just entered highschool so I guess I didn’t know about it

[@karleecraziness9216]

Let’s so also keep in mind that Cass doesn’t communicate what she wants. She just drops hints Rapunzal will pick up on it

[@azureaquarius4487]

I don't think Rapunzel is toxic but I do think she has double standards and is a hypocrite in the the show

[@FunVideos-qf4zr]

Anyone who thinks rapunzel is toxic is an idiot. rapunzel is literally one of the sweetest, kindest and bravest characters i have ever seen. if you think she is toxic, you just can't handle flawed characters.

[@rqpunzel.ৎ]

I love Rapunzel soooo much!! Can’t wait to watch this!

[@PaigeRobins-ky4qc]

I love this series.💜

[@Jettfighter]

Best series Disney put out in the Disney cinematic universe. It’s a shame that they never advertised it

[@PaigeRobins-ky4qc]

@Jettfighter I hope you are doing well today 👍

[@lukajakos9680]

For me she was never toxic and from what i remember she learned from her mistakes later on in the show. I think people need to learn what toxic means before just throwing the word around like it is nothing anyway a great video.

[@johanstenfelt1206]

Very well done Video. Hm, i would like to see other Disney Film get a Series like this.

[@megancarter7139]

I read the time travel message differently. Rapunzel make Eugene more caring in the past, and he carried that forward to his future/present self, and understood Repunzel’s pov

[@shadamyandsonamylover]

Have not seen any part of this video - at all - but wanted to comment on the thumbnail? Isn’t defense…not spelled with a c?

[@megancarter7139]

I’ve heard of Rapunzel having ‘toxic positivity’, but show Rapunzel doesn’t. Maybe a little at first but she learns.

[@bewareofthevlaplayer]

Toxit positivity!?!? How can positivity be toxic??

[@princesserika9899]

​@@bewareofthevlaplayer You know that feeling of constant denial over a negative feeling like sadness or grief? Like, "Oh, I'm fine! I'm definitely fine..." Yeah, that's toxic positivity. It's like, the more you try to convince yourself that everything is fine even though you're not fine, then it'll only get worse from there and it's not healthy 😃

[@LadyLeomon]

Honestly I think Cassandra was *way* more toxic Rapunzel (who I honestly only ever found annoying, she was never malicious unlike Gothel Jr 😒😒😒)

[@evva_piper]

Neither Rapunzel or Cassandra were toxic. They just made mistakes and had hard lives ❤

[@azurerandomness]

I dont like cass and varian defenders very much bc they just, paint rapunzel in such a bad light when like… girl has not made mistakes so bad that both of them have to make it deeply personal It’s overdramatic

[@sophierules4745]

I agree with all the varian stuff because no one seems to notice all the things he did wrong but there was more on casss side that didn’t get mentioned like Zhan tiri or the time in vardarous where Rapunzel tried to take away the party cass was trying to throw but when they got tied together and had to fight or whatever they didn’t make up and when they were doing the tournament thing Rapunzel shouldn’t have done it and a lot of things she did because she was a princess so she shouldn’t be putting her life at risk or making herself look bad like in the great tree cass did have reason to believe Adria was untrustworthy and when cass was not leaving at Rapunzel request cass ended up saving Rapunzel life, also casss idea was much less dangerous and Rapunzel should have just listened there’s also more but I think I put too much into this comment already

[@skyenight-by8yh]

Ngl, I know that Rapunzel has been kidnapped for 18 years, but the term’s honestly interchangeable since she has flaws but isn’t *toxic.*

[@Diamondflash137]

666th like

[@JoyfulNerd400]

You just showed she’s toxic because she’s so headstrong it’s to the detriment of others lmao

[@miraculous-tales]

Try to watch with an objective mind and review the definition of toxic. Her intentions aren't harmful It is her mission so it is her right to only listen to advice and choose to agree or not with them. She is willing to learn from others and doesn't push her opinion on anyone. She even told Cassandra to leave if she wished. Disagreement isn't toxic. She helps and cares for others especially Cassandra who literally betrayed her, yet she didn't allow others to hurt her nor allow Cassandra to cause harm no matter how much she loves her. Her diplomatic actions opposed to Variant for her nation are understandable. Context matters. Making mistakes is relatable instead of her being perfect in every way. She's learning from her friends/support system and growing while taking accountability. These traits outweigh the mary sue and toxic accusations she is provided. Look at the evidence. Personally, a person like her is someone I'd want to befriend. She has the resilience despite her past, the spirit, strength, care, and the willingness to learn and grow from her mistakes. And as mentioned, she's far from perfect.

[@JoyfulNerd400]

@ I did. I didn’t think she was toxic until AFTER the video. Genius.

[@amidoshi03]

​@@miraculous-tales Throughout the whole show, she's never once learnt from her mistakes. She's never held accountable, while both Varian and Cassandra are for things that aren't even their fault. It's always "She was trapped inside a tower for 18 years, she doesn't know about social behaviour" but shouldn't she, after making the same mistake THRICE, having consequences every time, and everyone but her blamed for it. Moreover, she refuses to learn and understand that there are people better than her at things, and that's okay

[@amidoshi03]

​​@@JoyfulNerd400I totally agree. She's a really well written character, as in, she has that nuance of a real person, but she's a terrible person as per say. I've had this debate with many people on my hatred of Raps. She's just not a good "person", to herself or to people around her. She just never learns, or understands others and their feelings. However, I wouldn't necessarily call her toxic. She's a horrible horrible character, but not necessarily toxic

[@DragonGoddess18]

​@@amidoshi03 Exactly 💯 Rapunzel is just...too pushy and I don't see myself being friends with someone like that. Period

[@Sabir-i7i]

First

[@Vivi-ADS]

tbh i think the writing overall is too bad for me to have opinions on the (bad) characterization