jedi_of_urth (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jedi_of_urth) wrote2014-01-28 07:46 pm
jedi_of_urth) wrote2014-01-28 07:46 pm
Entry tags:
Elijah and Klaus meta
Okay, so while I’m waiting to get to watch tonight’s TO, how about a thing I thought up mostly last night. Here’s some ideas I’m working on in a new possible headcanon. I was trying to fic about it, but I ended up just writing it down.
I feel I should first acknowledge that, I tend to view much of Elijah’s time on TVD through the prism of his interactions with Elena (because those are the ones given the most focus in my opinion and are the most relevant to my interests), but I think it’s time I gave a big look at it from the perspective of his relationship with Klaus.
Considering the way The Originals has been portraying Elijah’s historical attitude towards Klaus, I’ve been railing about it not quite fitting with how they were portrayed on TVD. And while I mostly stand by that and would like it to be fully explored at some point, I may have found a way to make peace with why his attitude is now so accommodating.
For one I do thing there has historically been an element of that to their relationship. Between just being an accommodating older brother and carrying guilt around for helping Mikael and Esther bind Klaus’s powers all those years ago, and Elijah just being of a personality that doesn’t seek power for himself exactly, he has a history of standing behind Klaus come hell or high water. We could see at least elements of that back in TVD s2 after Elijah didn’t go through with killing Klaus; he was trusting where he should have been wary and running around cleaning up Klaus’s messes, basically familiar territory for them. And then in 3x13 he adopts that role because it’s expected of him and anything else would arouse Klaus’s suspicions while Elijah was actually making plans elsewhere.
For another thing, I think I may have missed some of how s3 affected him on that front because I was in ship happy mode. But where in s2 Elijah was still focused on Klaus first above anything else, even if it was in anger and revenge plots, in s3 he didn’t. He was prepared to have the family abandon Klaus, throwing Klaus becoming like Mikael in Klaus’s face as he was ready to walk out the door. And while at the time that already seemed like a big deal, given the way TO has portrayed their history, it must be practically unheard of.
And then there was Elena. I’ll try and leave shipping out of it, but his treatment of Elena in s3 has him siding against Klaus in ways he must rarely if ever have done before. There’s the soft evidence in ways he doesn’t react, but there’s also hard evidence is what he actually does in the end. Elena conspired with Esther to get the family killed in general and in specific because she wanted Klaus dead. And yet he could not have been the one to kill her; he may or may not have been willing to let Rebekah do it but in the end he basically forgave Elena for something he would not let slide from anyone else. Instead he made her part of the family (always and forever), the people he tends to be forgiving of. Let’s gloss over the Finn issue, since this is about Elijah’s relationship with Klaus and it seems we’re meant to see Finn as a non-issue (even though I’ve been quite vocal about the kind of reactions I think that should have gotten).
But there there’s what happens in 3x22, where he explicitly doesn’t put Klaus first, and so when it comes to their relationship it was possibly (for this headcanon) a big game-changer in why Elijah’s treating Klaus the way he is now. Because he chose Elena over Klaus. Because he sat there at the Gilbert kitchen table and claimed his brother’s body because they were still brothers, but he put the highest value on Elena’s life. And because of that choice, an hour later he thought Klaus was permanently dead. If he had killed Elena as he pointed out he could have (though pretty obvious to everyone he never would have) Alaric was still alive and got there to stake Klaus when Klaus was defenseless. Because for one day in a thousand years, someone else mattered more to him than Klaus, he had to believe Klaus had died.
No wonder he stayed away in s4, it’s shame from all sides. He failed Klaus by siding with Elena, and then couldn’t even protect Elena when the time came. That Klaus came back meant he would have to face what he had done by making that decision even more than just Rebekah knowing the choices he’d made that day. And it explains why – back in Mystic Falls, in the presence of Klaus – he barely acknowledges Elena’s existence; part knowing what Klaus does to women Elijah fancies (I’ve discussed that element before) and part guilt that in this case he (if not Elena) kind of Klaus’s...Klaus reaction, and determination not to have it happen again.
(I have mentioned, but might as well again, how convenient the Klaus kills women Elijah fancies explanation is for the Elejah ship. Of course he ignores her in s4 unless she’s standing in front of him, and alone, anything else and even Klaus might put two and two together and get four (or at least a number) instead of salamander.)
There’s a couple things that are hard to reconcile with this interpretation; Katherine, and him giving the cure to Rebekah instead of Klaus. Of course that’s s4, so a lot of things get hard to explain.
In the case of Katherine, she did bring something to the table in them looking for the cure together, whatever purpose Elijah most wanted it for. And then...Katherine was safe in a way. He wouldn’t put Katherine above Klaus, he never had so why would he start now? (I will never accept this whole Elijah helped her escape from Klaus retcon, that is in no way what we saw in s2.) If he could play savior to both of their souls so much the better I guess (I have long held to the idea that in a better written world, the doppelgangers would be the key to Klaus’s redemption). And because he wasn’t likely to put her first, Klaus would have less reason to go after her (any more than he already did).
The thing with giving the cure to Rebekah is probably even rougher. But a lot of the problem is we get so little of Elijah and Rebekah’s relationship that it’s not clear how it fits in with the brothers’ relationship to each other. But if I’m to stretch this headcanon, well I suspect Elijah had his doubts about giving the cure to Silas even if he did want to help Klaus. And in the end it rested on the ultimatum he gave Rebekah, that I don’t think he expected she would actually live up to (and she didn’t, but Silas impersonated Rebekah and claimed she totally did...if I remember correctly). He didn’t make it about Elena (who it seems likely to me motivated his original search for the cure) or Katherine’s concerns over Klaus’s wishes, it was only Rebekah that he would possibly side with over Klaus.
And then enter Hayley and the baby, an extra way to prove his commitment to Klaus paired with hope for Klaus’s salvation. Elijah will stand behind/beside/in the defense of any of them because that’s the way it’s always been and because of how much he feels he owes Klaus, especially after what happened the last year or so. The only time he’s explicitly sided with Hayley over Klaus it was still motivated his hope for Klaus to be better than he is and Elijah still decided he had to apologize after the fact when he probably shouldn’t have. And yes I’m sure we’re meant to see his feelings for Hayley being more than reflected from Klaus, and maybe they are, but loyalty to Klaus (part real Klaus and part the person he wants Klaus to be) is still paramount.
I feel I should first acknowledge that, I tend to view much of Elijah’s time on TVD through the prism of his interactions with Elena (because those are the ones given the most focus in my opinion and are the most relevant to my interests), but I think it’s time I gave a big look at it from the perspective of his relationship with Klaus.
Considering the way The Originals has been portraying Elijah’s historical attitude towards Klaus, I’ve been railing about it not quite fitting with how they were portrayed on TVD. And while I mostly stand by that and would like it to be fully explored at some point, I may have found a way to make peace with why his attitude is now so accommodating.
For one I do thing there has historically been an element of that to their relationship. Between just being an accommodating older brother and carrying guilt around for helping Mikael and Esther bind Klaus’s powers all those years ago, and Elijah just being of a personality that doesn’t seek power for himself exactly, he has a history of standing behind Klaus come hell or high water. We could see at least elements of that back in TVD s2 after Elijah didn’t go through with killing Klaus; he was trusting where he should have been wary and running around cleaning up Klaus’s messes, basically familiar territory for them. And then in 3x13 he adopts that role because it’s expected of him and anything else would arouse Klaus’s suspicions while Elijah was actually making plans elsewhere.
For another thing, I think I may have missed some of how s3 affected him on that front because I was in ship happy mode. But where in s2 Elijah was still focused on Klaus first above anything else, even if it was in anger and revenge plots, in s3 he didn’t. He was prepared to have the family abandon Klaus, throwing Klaus becoming like Mikael in Klaus’s face as he was ready to walk out the door. And while at the time that already seemed like a big deal, given the way TO has portrayed their history, it must be practically unheard of.
And then there was Elena. I’ll try and leave shipping out of it, but his treatment of Elena in s3 has him siding against Klaus in ways he must rarely if ever have done before. There’s the soft evidence in ways he doesn’t react, but there’s also hard evidence is what he actually does in the end. Elena conspired with Esther to get the family killed in general and in specific because she wanted Klaus dead. And yet he could not have been the one to kill her; he may or may not have been willing to let Rebekah do it but in the end he basically forgave Elena for something he would not let slide from anyone else. Instead he made her part of the family (always and forever), the people he tends to be forgiving of. Let’s gloss over the Finn issue, since this is about Elijah’s relationship with Klaus and it seems we’re meant to see Finn as a non-issue (even though I’ve been quite vocal about the kind of reactions I think that should have gotten).
But there there’s what happens in 3x22, where he explicitly doesn’t put Klaus first, and so when it comes to their relationship it was possibly (for this headcanon) a big game-changer in why Elijah’s treating Klaus the way he is now. Because he chose Elena over Klaus. Because he sat there at the Gilbert kitchen table and claimed his brother’s body because they were still brothers, but he put the highest value on Elena’s life. And because of that choice, an hour later he thought Klaus was permanently dead. If he had killed Elena as he pointed out he could have (though pretty obvious to everyone he never would have) Alaric was still alive and got there to stake Klaus when Klaus was defenseless. Because for one day in a thousand years, someone else mattered more to him than Klaus, he had to believe Klaus had died.
No wonder he stayed away in s4, it’s shame from all sides. He failed Klaus by siding with Elena, and then couldn’t even protect Elena when the time came. That Klaus came back meant he would have to face what he had done by making that decision even more than just Rebekah knowing the choices he’d made that day. And it explains why – back in Mystic Falls, in the presence of Klaus – he barely acknowledges Elena’s existence; part knowing what Klaus does to women Elijah fancies (I’ve discussed that element before) and part guilt that in this case he (if not Elena) kind of Klaus’s...Klaus reaction, and determination not to have it happen again.
(I have mentioned, but might as well again, how convenient the Klaus kills women Elijah fancies explanation is for the Elejah ship. Of course he ignores her in s4 unless she’s standing in front of him, and alone, anything else and even Klaus might put two and two together and get four (or at least a number) instead of salamander.)
There’s a couple things that are hard to reconcile with this interpretation; Katherine, and him giving the cure to Rebekah instead of Klaus. Of course that’s s4, so a lot of things get hard to explain.
In the case of Katherine, she did bring something to the table in them looking for the cure together, whatever purpose Elijah most wanted it for. And then...Katherine was safe in a way. He wouldn’t put Katherine above Klaus, he never had so why would he start now? (I will never accept this whole Elijah helped her escape from Klaus retcon, that is in no way what we saw in s2.) If he could play savior to both of their souls so much the better I guess (I have long held to the idea that in a better written world, the doppelgangers would be the key to Klaus’s redemption). And because he wasn’t likely to put her first, Klaus would have less reason to go after her (any more than he already did).
The thing with giving the cure to Rebekah is probably even rougher. But a lot of the problem is we get so little of Elijah and Rebekah’s relationship that it’s not clear how it fits in with the brothers’ relationship to each other. But if I’m to stretch this headcanon, well I suspect Elijah had his doubts about giving the cure to Silas even if he did want to help Klaus. And in the end it rested on the ultimatum he gave Rebekah, that I don’t think he expected she would actually live up to (and she didn’t, but Silas impersonated Rebekah and claimed she totally did...if I remember correctly). He didn’t make it about Elena (who it seems likely to me motivated his original search for the cure) or Katherine’s concerns over Klaus’s wishes, it was only Rebekah that he would possibly side with over Klaus.
And then enter Hayley and the baby, an extra way to prove his commitment to Klaus paired with hope for Klaus’s salvation. Elijah will stand behind/beside/in the defense of any of them because that’s the way it’s always been and because of how much he feels he owes Klaus, especially after what happened the last year or so. The only time he’s explicitly sided with Hayley over Klaus it was still motivated his hope for Klaus to be better than he is and Elijah still decided he had to apologize after the fact when he probably shouldn’t have. And yes I’m sure we’re meant to see his feelings for Hayley being more than reflected from Klaus, and maybe they are, but loyalty to Klaus (part real Klaus and part the person he wants Klaus to be) is still paramount.