Chosen Secrets: Thoughts on an Annoying Trope in Chosen One Stories:

We all have read a version of this story before: “An unsuspecting person is selected by something beyond their knowledge and, before they know it, they discover that they are the Chosen One! The hero or heroine selected to defeat a great evil.” Usually a mentor figure, like an Albus Dumbledore or Gandalf, accompanies said Chosen One and trains them while telling them everything about their situation…Oh, wait a minute. Only Gandalf, Mored, and Master Shifu have been honest with their mentees about their purpose. A trope I find irritating is where the Chosen One is not given crucial information about their mission, such as the full telling of the prophecy about them or the full reason why they can suddenly use magic. Not that you can have an interesting story without the protagonist knowing the full reason why they’re chosen. But the reasons often given in Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and; the subject of today’s essay and my wrath, the Agaped Bearer; are often idiotic. Let’s just dive into the Agaped Bearer and how it presents this annoying trope and why Ariela, Gaius, and the rest of the keepers (council, whatever they call themselves, I’ve blocked it out of my memory) didn’t inform Lisa of her ultimate purpose to be their greatest weapon against the Fallen.

So, I read The Agaped Bearer up to Part II. I know why Gaius, Ariela and the other keepers didn’t tell Lisa about her powers and their true purpose. Want to know what it is? To summarize Ariela’s explanation to Lisa: “We wanted you to learn about magic with joy and not to go ahead with only the dark waiting for the end.” That’s it. No other practical reasons, except for maybe her being a child but we will discuss that. Just that. Ariela, Gaius, Vilmed, Inna, and the others wanted Lisa to be happy. Who does that remind me of? “I wanted to keep you safe and happy. What did it matter how many countless and nameless people and magical creatures died as long as the plan didn’t fail?” - Albus Dumbledore, the man who actually apologized for his screw-up and admitted it was a bad idea to keep it hidden. Let me explain several things.

The Agaped magic, as Ariela explains, is basically the good guys’ silver bullet against the greatest darkness in the world. It’s important. It’s tantamount to the Infinity Gauntlet in your possession. And, for its own reasons, it chose Lisa, a teenager. Now, let me be clear, if I were on the council of keepers, and I was in that vote to decide whether Lisa should be told about her purpose, I would’ve strongly advocated that she is told about it and given the full truth. “Why?” you may ask. Because then she would know the risks and, if not take greater caution in her life, also make steps towards not dying and would understand why we all have taken her in and are so protective of her. Also, because I would prefer it if we didn’t lose our silver bullet because the bearer unnecessarily put herself in danger because she understand the risks.

Also, what do the Keepers lose by telling Lisa the truth, with gentleness and tact from the beginning? Seriously, what do they have to lose? It’s not like she’s going to think less of you people because you were honest with her. She might be overwhelmed with despair? Yeah, of course she would be! What do you think a person would do if they learned that they’re not only destined to be a weapon against the darkness, but also the weight of the cosmos is on their shoulders? Did you think she would be like, “Yippy! Thanks so much! I cannot wait to do this thing! Woo!” The reason that she might have some despair initially isn’t a reason. Because sadness, like any emotion is temporary. And with proper encouragement, training, and a little magic, Lisa would come around to make the most of her destiny while enjoying what life has to offer. In fact, knowing that she might certainly die might give her a different perspective. She might learn to love life and have more joy more because she knows she has little time.

Ariela is the most guilty out of all of them because she should know more than most what it means and she said nothing until after Lisa “died.” I say that Ariela is most guilty because she, as far as it is known has lived for, if not thousands, certainly hundreds of years, right? All that time, and it hasn’t occurred to her to come up with what they might do if the Agaped chooses a kid? Did she never think about that? Sure, by percentage, it is far less likely that a kid would be chosen, (considering that it is about a 20% chance of a teenager being chosen). But still, that possibility should’ve been on their minds. Ariela should at least have given it some consideration and her taking the childish, “But I want Lisa to be happy though,” degrades her. Someone who’s lived for centuries, especially when we learn she’s the last of her race that hasn’t died or fallen to darkness, she should know more than anyone that life isn’t as black and white as joy or despair. It is both. She has a surprisingly simple view of things. And I don’t buy that you can give her the bad news and not also show her that magic is wonderful and joyful. I’ve seen many artworks from Hannah Lindsey of Lisa after she knows the truth. She seems to be enjoying magic and having fun times! Like, for instance, with those flying horses in book 3. Or in book two with the Hunter’s Ball she seems to be having fun with Caelum.

Maybe, as Ariela, the immortal who has lived for centuries and who should know better than anyone should know, it isn’t as simple as that. It isn’t a binary of joyful and despairing with magic or life in general. We have ups and downs, we have moments of great despair and we have moments of joy. It’s like saying, “I don’t want to tell my kids about the sharks and predatory creatures in the ocean because I want them to appreciate the joys it offers.” You can enjoy something and yet understand that some bad things are a part of it. And, actually, you can appreciate life all the while knowing that you will die one day. I think, for as flawed as he applies it, that is Jigsaw’s whole point. People don’t appreciate their lives until they understand how little time they have. Shouldn’t Ariela understand that? To play Devil’s Advocate, let’s argue that because she is immortal she doesn’t understand how mortal life is. Thus, her not telling Lisa was okay. First, she cannot be simultaneously caring about Lisa’s emotional state to the point of hiding the most important information of her life from her because she wanted her to be happy and be the uncaring and distant immortal. Second, her being immortal and effectively the last of her kind should be all the more reason for her to understand that life isn’t just joy or despair. But let’s say for some reason, Ariela doesn’t understand this. What about the other Keepers who’ve experienced loss and death? Like, I don’t know….Gaius? The man who lost his girlfriend and love of his life because she was mortal and he was immortal as I’m pretty sure Mrs. Hannah Lindsay drew for a post. Would he not understand that joy and sorrow intermingle? Our lives are a tapestry of pain and joy, sorrow and happiness, good times and bad. Again, I am now 25 years old and I know this and somehow Airela who’s several hundreds if not thousands of years, my senior doesn’t know this and doesn’t communicate it to her Keepers or to Lisa. That and Ariela should be ultra protective of the Agaped Magic because she knows it better than anyone and why it’s important.

I must emphasize. The Agaped Magic is the most special and important magic, not in New Jersey, not in the US, not even in the Earth, in the COSMOS! In the galaxy at least if we’re going to keep it at the very least. Again, it’s like the Infinity Gauntlet with the importance put on it. And Ariela and her group of Keepers don’t think it’s a good idea to at least tell her that what she has is literally the most important thing in the galaxy!?! Imagine if I ‘d given you a necklace that holds the power to reshaping the cosmos to your will, but I just tell you it allows you to make stuff. Then, after you get attacked by several enemies all of whom are leagues powerful above you and tear apart your city and world, you come to me and then I tell you, “Oh yeah that necklace is a key weapon in our battle against an ancient enemy. But I wanted you to have fun with it and not be burdened with the knowledge you have power.”  We learn that the Agaped Magic is basically the last remnants of the Elysian race that they created to destroy the Fallen, the evil ones. But Ariela treats the Agaped like it’s a childhood toy that Lisa found in a box and she’s letting her play with it. She’s not only disrespecting Lisa by not telling her the full truth, however grim it is. She is also disrespecting her dead people by treating their final act as nothing more than a toy to bring joy. Again, she more than anyone should understand the importance of it and advocate that it and its bearer be protected and trained to use it.

Let’s use another example of an immortal learning about their magic being lost. In Raya and the Last Dragon, a movie I like although it is bad, Sisu, the titlular last dragon, finds out that the Dragon Stone that her siblings all sacrificed themselves to protect is destroyed and the enemy they sealed away is out and wreaking havoc on the world. Raya, the one who basically helped cause it tells her this. How do you imagine Sisu reacts to that news? I think her exact first word was “WHAT!?!?!” And then she proceeds to panic and then get ticked off at Raya for screwing up. Somehow, Sisu has a far more appropriate reaction to the last vestige of her people’s magic and their most powerful weapon getting nearly than Ariela does when she learns that Gaius let Lisa nearly die and thus lose the Agaped Magic. “Oh that just shows her maturity.” Forget maturity! You should chewed out if you screw up that badly! If your boss gives you a document full of the company’s secret fool-proof methods to make money and you nearly lose it to your rival because you left it on an unprotected Email server, you deserve to be chastised if not fired.

But I digress. Going back to my example with you, the reader getting a cosmic necklace, how would you feel knowing what I just told you after you’d just endured several months of getting attacked by monsters and being left in the dark about being in cosmic peril? The Christian fiction writer answer would be: “Well I’d forgive them and, while I wouldn’t like it, I’d accept it and continue on.” The honest answer, the one we’d feel in that moment would be: “I’m sorry, what!?! You mean you left me with the most important weapon in the cosmos and said nothing because you wanted me to have fun? Did you want me to die? How can I trust you after you intentionally withheld valuable information from me?” If anything, that scene where Lisa agrees to bear the Agaped even after learning how much in the dark she was kept shows her strength of character (or cosmically great stupidity) that she doesn’t even get angry at the Keepers for keeping her in the dark about carrying the most important magic..IN. THE. COSMOS! I cannot emphasize enough that Ariela, at least if not everyone else on that council, should be willing to do anything to protect that magic and to ensure that whomever the Apaged magic chooses is made into a strong bearer who can use it effectively. “Oh, but you see, Noah, this is a character development for Gaius and Ariela! They’re learning to trust Lisa and to be better mentors.” Raises eyebrow.  Now, here’s the thing. I would expect someone like me, a 25 year old, to screw up something like that. Because, I am 1/4 of a modern human’s usual life span. And thus, I am not as wise or have seen as much as someone who’s lived like 50 or so years. So, I can make a mistake like that, and it would make sense. It would be idiotic of me, but still, if I withheld that kind of information, I would at least claim being immature. Ariela is, what? Several hundred years old at least, if not millennia years old? And she has endured the extinction of her race and watching over of the galaxy and her fellow keepers, yes? Oh, yeah, her keepers, the ones whom I assume she mentored? And, no, argument that this is for character development; that doesn’t work. Again, Ariela should want to protect this magic at all costs as she personally knows what it cost to create it, as presumably does the other Keepers. It has a personal connection to her and her people.

Your most prominent question at the moment is probably “Oh my goodness, Noah, why are you harping on about this? It’s just one part. That cannot impact your reading of the whole book.” One part that is significant and, in context makes Gaius and Ariela out to be either malicious or outright galactic idiots. One part that comes 25 chapters in. Twenty-five! That is unacceptable. Let’s be clear about something. If they, Ariela, the Keepers, all of them told Lisa the truth from the beginning, the burden of responsibility falls entirely on Lisa because she knows the full truth and thus, if she gets herself killed, it is her fault because she didn’t listen to the people who told her what’s going on.

Quoth Ezekiel 33:1-6: “The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.”

In this current situation, because Gaius, Ariela, Inna, and the rest, said nothing, the fault is theirs. They were the watchmen over Lisa and the Agaped magic. They failed to blow the trumpet and Lisa basically died because. If she stayed dead, her blood would be on their hands and is still staining them. And, when I say that Gaius and Ariela are ruined as characters, I mean that they, more than most should know the importance of the Agaped. Ariela in particular, having lived for centuries, should know that joy isn’t a constant thing. To reiterate, you experience pain, sorrow, and anger in your life and expecting only joy is immature. Ariela, the centuries if not millennia old person should know this and believe it as I’m sure she’s endured a lot of sorrow, yet found joy in her journey. But also, how am I as a reader supposed to be invested in the Keepers when I learn they care so little about saving the universe from the Fallen that they keep their most powerful ally in the form of Lisa completely in the dark about what her actual purpose is for no reason other than they wanted her to be happy? Again, they treat the Agaped magic, not as a dangerous and powerful weapon. No, they act like I do with my old Toy Story Rex plushie. It’s just there to be played with and have fun. Also, I’m sorry, I care not how much Hannah Lindsey tries to tell me that Gaius is actually a great surrogate father after he allowed the person it was his ultimate goal to protect die while not knowing why she was dying. The plain truth is this: Gaius screwed up as did Ariela.

“What? Did you think that they should tell her the full truth right there in her backyard?” First, yes. Or at least, when Lisa was brought to the council later on and safe from prying eyes and ears. And, Counter Question: At what point would it have been okay to tell Lisa if the Fallen had never come after her? Let’s say hypothetically that none of the Fallen’s forces came after Lisa and, apart from the standard monsters she fights, she was in no danger at all. Let’s say that the Fallen and all their forces fell into a deep sleep and missed when the Agaped came. When would the Keepers have decided would be best to tell Lisa about her true purpose? Seriously, when was Ariela planning on telling Lisa the truth? 10 years? 100 years? 1,000 years? What time would it be better to give her the full truth?

You know what, let’s take a little break to have some fun. Let’s do a little game, shall we? Let’s call it “Pros and cons.” I’ll list two options and the pros and cons of each. And you, the reader shall tell me in your unbiased opinion. Ready? Great! Let’s play!

Option 1: Gaius, Ariela, and Company Tell Lisa Full Truth from Start -

Pros -

1: Lisa knows the full truth, thus the Keepers have her full trust and also immediately prevents any ability of the Fallen to weaponize Lisa’s ignorance against her or against them.

2: Lisa knows the full danger and thus has an obligation to, and will most likely, be more cautious due to her knowing what she’s in for. If she still acts recklessly, the lesson about caution will go to her heart. “The burned hand teaches best, and advice about fire goes to the heart” as a certain wizard said.

3: Lisa has a realistic expectation of what will be coming, yet she will be surprised by joy along the way and she will see things, with the council and guidance of Ariela, Inna, and Gaius in a balanced view.

4: Lisa has a clearly defined goal to work towards and knows why her training must be so vigorous and Gaius’ promise to make her the greatest hero ever means so much more than if she has zero context.

5: Gaius and the keepers are shown to be wise in revealing the truth to her early, and yet gentle in how they encourage and help Lisa come to terms with her great destiny.

Cons -

1: Lisa more than likely will be crushed by this news and useless for a while. Yet, training and enough encouragement will amend this.

2: ????

3: ???

Option 2: Gaius, Ariela, and Company Don’t Tell Lisa Full Truth from Start -

Pros -

1: Lisa has no idea what she’s getting into making manipulating her easier for the Keepers.

2: She has a more positive view of magic at first…until she learns the truth at some point which is undetermined and may never come if the Keepers have their way.

3: ???

4: ???

Cons -

1: Lisa has no idea what she’s getting into making her ignorant of the tremendous danger she’s in. Thus, she is more likely to die, lose her magic, run off on her own and get hurt, etc.

2: Lisa’s ignorance also makes it easy for the Fallen to tempt her to darkness by offering her the truth and subverting her trust with the Keepers and Gaius.

3: Learning the truth later one after something horrible, or several something horribles, happens to her may turn her against the Keepers and subvert her trust in them anyway which realistically should’ve happened after she got killed.

4: Because Lisa doesn’t know what it is she’s training towards, she cannot have the proper motivation to work towards it. When you have a mission and a clearly defined goal to work towards, you work harder.

5: Gaius and the Keepers are made the fools for not telling her the truth.

Let me know which one you think was the better option! I think considering the context, you can make an educated guess.

This trope with the “Chosen One” genre bugs me. The chosen one is chosen, but they’re kept wholly in the dark about why they’re chosen or what their prophesied purpose is for literally NO REASON! Again, Dumbledore kept Harry in the dark because he wanted Harry to be happy and, initially, because Harry was young. And, to back Dumbledore up, Voldemort was at least not alive in a body to hurt Harry as far as Dumbledore knew for the first three books at least. But at least, Dumbledore admitted he messed up. And the Percy Jackson book series too! Percy is a potential candidate to fulfill the prophecy and the gods are like “We’re going to kill you, Percy.” And Percy is there asking, “Why? Why do the gods hate me and want me dead?!?” Everyone else in the series: “Screw you, we’re not going to tell you. Because reasons. Deal with it, Jackson!” What if he accidentally fulfills it because you didn’t tell him? Also, what if Percy, feeling like he isn’t safe with the gods who want him dead for indiscernible reasons, joins Chronos? Did you think about that? And, btw, if Percy is that great of a threat, why don’t you just kill him? Wouldn’t it be safer that way as opposed to gambling on something you don’t want happening?

“Oh, but Noah, if they told the protagonist the truth then we wouldn’t have a story!” You can rewrite the story! That’s the wonderful thing about drafting is that you can always make it better. And you absolutely could’ve written AB to have Lisa know about the truth, not take it seriously or else pretend that she took it well. She sorta pushes her dark destiny off by enjoying all the things that magic has to offer (like what Ariela wanted). But then, after several horrible events including her “death,” she breaks down like at the beginning of Part 2 as the full weight of what she has to do crashes on her. Gaius comes in and comforts her, promising that he’ll make her the best heroine the world has ever known. Wow, look I just gave a potential new route, in…what? A couple of seconds. Oh, and to use an example from a book that is far superior in my view.

Birthright of Scars avoids this Chosen One trope magnificently. When Disrel, who has taken on the identity of the Tourmaline Renegade the most wanted and iconic outlaw in the Kobalt Empire, meets Mored, the resistance leader and former TR, Mored cuts straight to the point. He doesn’t futz around, or have useless platitudes about how he wants Disrel to approach this with joy. No! He gives it to Disrel straight. His words were in summary: “Look, you just made yourself the biggest target of the empire that is currently hunting down our people and making them extinct. The empire will do everything in their power to capture you. And I cannot risk my organization letting you officially join us. I’ll provide you with training and leads on how you can help. But if you get caught, I’m not saving you because I cannot compromise what I’m doing to help the Pyron survive genocide. If I tell you more than what you need to know and you get caught, which there is a high chance of that, our entire operation could be compromised as could the lives of hundreds of Pyrons.” I think that is pretty reasonable for Mored to not want to risk more lives just for Disrel.

Or, for instance, in Kung Fu Panda where Shifu tells Po directly that he is the only one who can stop Tai Lung now that he’s escaped. He’s been a straight shooter with Po from the start. He tells Po his feelings about Po being chosen and his expectations for him in training. Then Shifu has his progression and accepts that he has to train Po and trusts his master’s guidance.

Uggh! This freaking trope of keeping the chosen one in the dark because “Oh they’re young!” Or “Oh, well we wanted them to be happy” drives me nuts! How about making them successful? Does Ariela not want the Agaped magic to be used successfully? The magic that her people died to create or however it was made? Because here’s the thing, if the chosen one is successful in their mission, they will live happily ever after and the evil will be defeated without greater loss due to the hero acting out of ignorance! Gandalf told Frodo EVERYTHING about the Ring when he found out what it was. He spent the whole night telling Frodo everything and gives it to him straight, but also gives him his full assurance that he’ll do everything to help him. And, at the Council of Elrond, Elrond gave everyone there (7 of whom formed the Fellowship of the Ring) the entire history of the Ring from the beginning all the way to Bilbo and Frodo. Why is it that nowadays with exception of Birthright of Scars the mentors don’t want the Chosen One to succeed?

I just really hate this trope and wish it would stop. Or, even better, it’s done well. But I don't think that will happen.