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miscellaneous_sectionIntroduction
Welcome to my second ship manifesto, and this time I would like to re-visit an old topic I already talked about a few years ago. I’ll be talking about Cravex and Mortdred, and why I love this couple so much!
Yes, Visionaries is the cartoon that just keeps giving because I’m still finding things to talk about. And yes, I’m going to be talking Mortdred and Cravex, again. But, it’s in a more romantic angle than my last study about them. Mainly, I can’t hide my bias with these two and I feel this will allow me to explain some points further than last time.
I know some people will feel as though I’m reaching with this one. Don’t say it because I have my moments where I feel like I am. But, this is a ship manifesto so this is more for fun. It’s also mainly, due to how short this series is, a lot of it is my own interpretations and speculations on these two because they’re were one of the many characters that didn’t get it a chance. So, some of it is more covert in nature (I’m looking at you, Cravex). So please excuse me for becoming unhinged in this work. As I said before, I’m biased about them.
So, I will be retreading some areas if you haven’t read my character analyses about these two, and relationship study. Also, I wanted to talk about some new things I’ve found along with some points I’ve missed in my relationship study. Plus, an interpretation I had of Mortdred that in hindsight was completely wrong.
And without further ado, let’s get right to it.
The story of Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light takes place on a far away, fictional planet called Prysmos. The people were once an advanced, futuristic society who lived in comfort and ease for over 7,000 years. But, the realignment of the three suns caused the end of the Age of Science. The old order collapsed and a new more medieval-like society arises from the ashes.
A wizard by the name of Merklynn offers a challenge to the knights of Prysmos. For to anyone to successfully ascend within Iron Mountain, they will be given magic.
Fourteen knights make it to the peak of the mountain, and are rewarded. All of them get animal totems, but the ones with staves get spells while the remaining knights with no staves have the ability to magically breathe life back into vehicles.
With these newly acquired magic powers, and with the Second Age of Magic had begun, the battle for dominance continues.
Now that we got that out of the way, let’s talk about the two Darkling Lords in the ship.
Mortdred
Oh, Mortdred. Oh, lovable Mortdred. This guy can’t catch a break. Since episode one, he’s the butt of everybody's jokes because of his sycophancy towards Darkstorm.
Seriously, I can’t talk about Mortdred as a character without bring up Darkstorm. No matter what, Mortdred’s whole being and self-worth revolves around this man. He has an undying loyalty to him, and will suck up to Darkstorm just so he can stay by his side. He will do anything for him: spy for him, go to dangerous places for him, and Mortdred will even fight for Darkstorm’s honor if someone insults him.
It doesn’t matter the amount of humiliation he’ll go through, he’ll did it! And, that’s how Mortdred earned himself the Beetle totem.
Thanks for nothing!
But, while rewatching the first episode, I think there’s an aspect of Mortdred that isn’t talked about or even explored in future episodes. It’s in this scene here where Mortdred sounds like he’s almost this close to being done with Darkstorm.
I know, that seems unlike him but listen to how he sounds during the garbage chute scene and the maze scene here. He’s trying to put up with him to stay on his good side. Plus, it’s shown here that Mortdred slightly hesitates to go into a temple when asked to by Darkstorm; note that Darkstorm isn’t willing to go in himself.
Also, where will Mortdred go if he somehow left? He’s completely stuck working with Darkstorm, and he can’t do much about it. That’s the only real difference I can think of between Mortdred in the cartoon and comic that isn’t about the gag.
Where in the comic, he’s a 100% genuine with his praises and actions to Darkstorm. The infatuation is strong in this one, it’s quite troubling. While in the cartoon, Mortdred may have been at that level of infatuated with Darkstorm at one point. But, it has been over two years now and the feelings are somewhat gone. You can tell when he’s being genuinely honest or not with Darkstorm, but he hasn’t caught on to it yet.
The best example of this in the seventh episode, The Overthrow of Merklynn, where Mortdred is shown his reward for being loyal to Darkstorm. You can watch the full scene here, but basically Mortdred could have followers that are "loyal" to him much like with Darkstorm. And the look on his face says so much.
Hand on his chin, looking away, lost in thought. Who knows what’s running through his mind during and after the vision. He could be realizing the thought never crossed his mind, or he could also be pondering if the reward is right for him. Hell! It could be both. Who knows?! But this too doesn’t get followed up on.
Basically, Mortdred is really good at hiding what he truly thinks and feels, especially with and about Darkstorm.
Cravex
Cravex does not seek approval or validation from anyone, unlike Mortdred. He doesn’t care for it when the only thing on his mind is surviving.
He’s also somewhat money-minded, and has a short temper as well. He’s his own person with no connection to the other knights. I don’t even believe he’s a part of any known kingdoms. He’s seems to wander the land, scavenging/looting whatever he can, and sell it later to make some money.
Cravex is even seen going to the mountain alone, and is shown hiding in the rafters from the other knights (here). And does what I just described, he scavenges what he can get after scaring off the others with bees. That’s how he earned the totem of the Phylot after the Iron Mountain quest.
Basically, he’s a loner and he wants to keep it that way. Except, he gets strung up by his ankles with three other knights in Iron Mountain during the challenge. Darkstorm finds and frees them, but only if they swear loyalty to him. Cravex was the most reluctant out of the four to join his forces.
But, how is he while working for Darkstorm?
Well, Cravex is loyal to him but he has no qualms punching him in the face (full scene is in the upcoming section), calling him out (here) or even poking fun at him (here). If I had to describe the dynamic between Darkstorm and Cravex it would be this video here. I think it sums it up perfectly. In essence, Darkstorm is stuck with him, and Cravex feels about the same. But, he is possibly the most reliable out of the bunch (Mortdred is either tied or is the 2nd most reliable).
He is dangerously effective, with or without his magic, in what he does as shown here, here, and here. Basically, give him a task and he will get it done with very little issues. Truly, Cravex is someone you do not want to mess with, and surely not be his main target.
And yet, I’ve noticed some interesting bits that were left in-between the lines about his character.
Oh no, he’s cute!
Cravex’s got a hidden soft side, and in The Overthrow of Merklynn, Cravex is shown (here) a world where nothing makes him irritated. It’s revealed that Cravex has a fluffy imagination, and he loves horses, but we never get to see his reaction to it.
We can only speculate what it could be (and yes, we’ll dig further into it), but it does seem to be a nice place. But, what if I told you it was hinted at earlier than that? We’ll get to it when we get to it.
Overall, he’s a loner, and a jerk that enjoys some thrills and mayhem, but he’s got a hidden soft side. Truly, he is an interesting character, and a personal favorite of mine.
How the Relationship Starts and Grows
The relationship starts off rocky where the men in the pair don’t hate each other, but they don’t particularly like each other, either. They some times get on each others’ nerves, and are antithesis of what they are. But, there is a sense of similarity between them as mentioned before: the hidden self.
In the third episode (here), The Quest for the Dragon’s Eye, Cravex finally loses it after Lexor tries to save face despite venting to him about their unfair treatment. He lays the smack down on everybody, except Mortdred. Interestingly enough, he only berates him for being a spineless sycophant and nothing else, but I’m getting ahead of myself. But, for the most part they don’t interact too much.
In the seventh episode, their hidden selves are shown a bit. Mortdred lost in thought of his reward of his own group of sycophants. Having never thought of it before, but unsure if this reward is truly what he wanted in the first place. Plus, he actually tries to persuade Darkstorm to not summon the “sacred secret spell” believing (but not saying out loud) this is a bad idea.
Cravex’s fluffy imagination and love of horses is shown. Remember, we don’t get to see his reaction to it. His soft-spoken tone of voice and pessimistic outlooks are drawn out. But, he manages to pull himself together to get the magic orb returned to Merklynn before “The Time of Darkness” comes.
Surprise! The darkness doesn’t come because the spell was a fail-safe spell, and Merklynn explains it did what it intended to do (here). And as for Mortdred and Cravex, the changes begin to take root.
In the eighth episode (here), Power of the Wise, there’s a sign that the dynamic/relationship has started to change judging by this moment here where Mortdred chuckles at Cravex’s comment about “old Leoric”. More so in the eleventh episode, Sorcery Squared, judging from these scenes here and here. Where Cryotek has Cravex’s Phylot totem along with his Bear totem, and it’s bring the worst out of Cryotek. The Spectral Knights and Darkling Lords have to team-up to find him and get the Phylot totem out of him.
The two factions do find him at his home kingdom of Northalia, and Cravex and Mortdred decide to take matters into their own hands. This is my favorite exchange between them.
Cravex asking Mortdred to help him make Cryotek suffer, and he’ll reward him well. Mortdred turns it down because making Cryotek suffer will be reward enough. The cherry on top is that mischievous grin on Cravex’s face, just the two them being petty bitches, together.
ProZD’s voice: Oh! They fucking!
Going back to an earlier scene in the episode, Mortdred is shown getting into harms way by Cryotek, and that’s when Cravex has had enough and jumps in to end it. But, this would not be the first time he’s done something for Mortdred, actually. Although, it was cut from the final product.
In the last episode, Dawn of the Sun Imps, these two act like a married couple. Don’t believe me? Here’s the scene in question! Cravex doesn’t mind Mortdred touching him (doesn’t even try to shake him off), but he does mind Mortdred “accepting his council”, though. He also listens to him and goes along with a vote (suggested by Arzon) to open the tomb or not. Cravex gets out voted and sounds so betrayed. The way he stutters on his words when in the past he’s clear and concise. And yet, despite this, it doesn’t destroy their bond/relationship they’ve made as they continue on their day like it’s any other.
Sadly, this is the end for Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light. Personally, I think it ended on a good note. One where it unleashed its silliness and laughed at itself into the cold night. I prefer that over a cliffhanger any day.
Feelin’ cute. Helped them bake a giant cake!
But this is only scratching the surface. This is all of the canon material I could find in the cartoon. I’ve found more in the scripts, such as cut dialogue and scenes, and how they still connect to what’s going on, especially Mortdred and Cravex’s development.
Some Cut Material
In the conclusion of my relationship study (the script can be found here, starting on page 21), I found some cut scenes from the tenth episode, Trail of the Three Wizards, where it shows Cravex has grown to care about Mortdred. Basically, the Skyclaw gets shot down and they have to jump. As this is happening, Mortdred pleads to Cravex to save him and he does it with no questions asked.
It reminds me of the beginning portion of the eleventh episode where it is shown once again, and officially this time, that Cravex does care about Mortdred and his well-being. He didn’t come back to the Dagger Assault immediately once Cryotek was taken care of. My guess would be he was trying to find Mortdred but couldn’t.
Lay a hand on that man, or you're dead!
But the jump in their dynamic is so fascinating!
They go from disliking each other to casually cracking jokes to trusting each other. All within 13 episodes, and it’s not even the main focus here! That’s insane!
I would not be surprised that in episode nine —Horn of Unicorn, Claw of Dragon— that off screen their bond deepen some more since the seventh episode. Because almost dying twice due your boss’s pride and arrogance can do that.
So it makes sense that Cravex would do this for Mortdred. Whether Mortdred is pleading for him or not, Cravex will do it. He’ll risk his skin for this man because he cares that much about him. Cravex will not do this for anybody. It doesn’t matter if they’re friend or foe, he’s resistant to offer to help as shown here and here. But with Mortdred, that resistance doesn’t exist. Like I said, he’ll just do it with no questions asked.
And speaking of Mortdred, I do believe in the ninth episode was the final nail in the coffin for him with Darkstorm. No, he can’t leave but he’ll continue his work as the steward of Darkstorm’s castle. But, he won’t be as enthusiastic as before.
Going back to the tenth episode, Mortdred doesn’t praise Darkstorm as much as he used to nor does he chide Cravex for making this statement here. There’s some cut exchanges in the second act found on page 27. Once they captured one of the three wizards, Mortdred does chide Cravex for his remarks. And later into the episode, on pages 36 and 37, Darkstorm has successfully broken Lexor, mentally, and Mortdred is flattered by taking the credit Darkstorm gives him. That’s dark and I can see why that was cut. But, do you see what I mean?
These cut lines and interactions read as Mortdred from the earlier episodes, but he’s changed so much since then. I would not be shocked if Mortdred is thinking the same thing as Cravex, questioning himself why did they waste their time on this loser of a wizard.
Lastly, Mortdred doesn’t seem that intimidated of Cravex. Arguably, there were hints that Mortdred was put-off by him at first in the first few episodes. But even then, his expression barely changed when confronted by Cravex.
I’ve heard worse...
Mortdred was only frighten of him when he was tossed into a lop-sided match against Cravex in a fighting tournament in The Price of Freedom (here). And this leads to me to rethinking Mortdred’s character, and bring up some other points I’ve neglected to discuss in my last study.
Oh no, he’s hot!
Some Tidbits I’ve Missed and Got Wrong
I have to admit one thing that I got wrong with Mortdred. It’s an old statement I made when explaining what I interpreted from Cravex’s character, and I used Mortdred as an example. It was made when I had a Tumblr account (my old mutual still has the post there), and I listed some points I’ve read from Cravex’s character judging from my first viewing of the show.
One of them being this: “… does not attack people who cannot defend themselves unless proven otherwise…” At the time, I was implying about Mortdred and how occasionally he can be a bit cowardly. But that’s the thing!
Mortdred is capable of holding his own in a fight! He has shown multiple times that he can put up a fight. Feryl Steps Out, The Dark Hand of Treachery, The Age of Magic Begins, and so on and so forth. Even in the comic, in issue two here, he has shown that in multiple issues he can fight. Hell! Mortdred is the one laying the smack down on Reekon for implying Darkstorm is more of a coward than Lexor. The only issue with Mortdred is that he’ll eventually be overpowered by someone.
Lexor is the one that can’t fight at all.
He’ll turn the other way to avoid being the center of attention, and has to be threaten by Darkstorm to get back into the battle. He even crawls under a table to get away from Leoric during an ambush in Iron Mountain. In the comic, Lexor is basically everyone’s punching bag until the spell of Invulnerability comes into play (here). Then, he has no issues throwing himself into combat since he can’t be physically harmed by any of the knights (here).
So, why is it that Cravex has no issues punching Lexor in face (and even breaking a chair over his head), but doesn’t lay a hand on Mortdred at all? On top of this, even when he’s given the golden opportunity in The Price of Freedom to knock Mortdred’s teeth out. Even in a fighting tournament, he still can’t do it.
At most, he’s berated him for being a spineless sycophant in the third episode, and he only tackled and threw Mortdred at the Dagger Assault in the fourth. That’s about it. I don’t count the thirteenth episode where he “finally smacks him”. Cravex just gets pissy at him for voting “on their side” for the most part.
If you asked me there’s two explanations.
1.) Mortdred gets enough shit from everyone, so let’s not more on top of it.
2.) Cravex thinks Mortdred is cute, and can’t bring himself to break anything on that adorable face of his.
I mean look at him!
I wouldn’t want to break his nose either. I would feel like I was ruining his cute little face. And speaking of Cravex and cute things.
Then there’s the seventh episode where we don’t get to see Cravex’s reaction to his reward. A place that’s own his paradise and it’s pretty childish in nature. Even the full script of that episode describes it as “…a child’s view of heaven…” (read here on page 27). Personally, I’d speculated that this was a side of himself that he did not want anyone to know or see.
Think about how I described Cravex in the beginning of this manifesto. He’s a scavenger that’s a loner. He travels to a variety of places just to sell whatever he finds to make some money. And before you know it, he’s out of town before anyone gets a good idea of who he is. Cravex is just a nobody to people, and he leaves them to believe whatever they like about him. He’s never going to see them again for a long time. Now, he works for Darkstorm and is still allowed to leave occasionally. Hopefully, he hasn’t figure out anything about Cravex as a person. For the most part, he hasn’t; until Darkstorm gets Merklynn’s magic orb and decides to pick at his brain for a moment by giving him a simple prompt.
“An imagine a world without irritation; a world where nothing makes you angry.”
Cravex ends up betraying himself by doing that. We see his fluffy imagination of that world: a nice garden, money to spare for gambling on horse races, and so much more. It’s a nice place, but it doesn’t feel like a home. It’s something he thinks will make him happy. But, is it something Cravex will be content with? Maybe? It’s never explored in the show, and that’s a shame due to the era and limited amount of episodes.
I have everything I could want. And yet, why am I still lonely?
And yet, despite this, it doesn’t change anything for Mortdred. He still sees the deadly, and cunning warrior within Cravex, but Mortdred has seen that he’s just like everybody else. Cravex wants a sense safety and comfort in an uncertain new age. At that moment, Cravex was truly seen as a person. Not a stranger or a monster, just a person trying to survive another day.
So this little crush evolved into something more; where Cravex wants to be with him. Because Mortdred makes him feel safe to be vulnerable and to be a little more himself. Because Mortdred is the most genuine out of the bunch (besides Cindarr). And in turn Mortdred feels he can finally be honest with someone about his thoughts. Who isn’t being paid to be here, or lies until he has the chance to stab someone in the back, Cravex’s loyalties are just as genuine as himself. And for once, someone actually cares about him. And that there is why I adore this ship.
It’s sappy —yes— but in a way they bring out the parts of themselves that make them better (while still being major antagonists to the heroes) and give them something they long for, what they actually needed. Cravex found his rock in the storm of life, and it’s Mortdred who reels him back in (even when wants to bust open a tomb that could contain curses and/or treasures). Mortdred doesn’t need Darkstorm’s approval, or anyone’s really, he only desires to be listened to and cared about, and that’s good enough for him.
Conclusion
Even these two know these bitches gay!
I’m amazed how this short-lived cartoon still has so much material to analyze. Whether it be character interactions or personal motives. The relationship between Mortdred and Cravex is one the many things that draws me back to it. The background development of it and how these two grow in canon, and the cut material from the tenth episode. Despite this manifesto being more speculative in nature, I think that’s the main appeal of this ship.
On the surface, they’re so different from each other, but underneath it all they’re two sides of the same coin. Two people trying to live another day (either staying on people’s good side or be a stranger to people). But when they’re together, those walls started to crumble and they got to be more than what the others thought of them. The pair got what they longed for in a way they didn’t expect, and that’s just fine by them. That to me is beautiful and utterly sappy.
Also, Cravex and Mortdred are still funny when they’re being petty jerks to the Spectral Knights.