Raya and the Last Dragon: Good Lesson, Unfair Execution

If you want a person to trust the very cause of their trust issues again, it’s a two-way street.

The way the movie made Raya learn the lesson to trust again was already critiqued by La’Ron Readus with his video “Raya’s Moral ISN’T A Good Lesson to Learn (Raya and the Last Dragon) | READUS 101”. This article is to go more in-depth.

The movie wants Raya to learn to trust people again, including Namaari, the one that broke it. But their execution of it was a hit and a miss.

Raya’s Trauma

A long time ago, there was a plague called the Druun that turned people into stone. The dragons sacrificed themselves and put their magic into a dragon gem that vanished the Druun. The gem also caused everyone who was turned into stone to come back, except for the dragons. The people of Kumandra fought over it and splitted into five regions.

Five hundred years later, Raya’s father, Chief Benja, wanted the people to unite as Kumandra once more. So he invited the leaders to share a meal and communicate.

Raya, wanting to follow her father’s faith in other people, befriended the daughter of one of the leaders, Namaari. Sharing her love for dragons, Raya showed Namaari the dragon gem. Namaari betrayed Raya which led to the dragon gem being broken. Raya saw first hand how the different leaders fought over and stole the pieces.

With the dragon gem broken, the Druun returned. In one night, Raya lost her father and her people as they turned to stone. This traumatized Raya to lose her faith in people and not trust anyone.

How Sisu Help Raya to Trust Others

Sisu’s naive and trusting nature helped Raya see there is more to people than her habit of expecting the worst in them. She helped her see that they all have something in common. They lost the people that they love from the Druun.

There’s Captain Boun, a boy who lives in a boat. Noi, the con-baby and her monkeys. And Tong, the last survivor of the Spine region.

After finding out about Sisu and the dragon gems, they all wanted to help Raya to complete the dragon gem pieces and bring everyone back.

The Story’s Hit-and-Miss with Namaari

Through Sisu, the movie tried to tell Raya that she should let go of the power and control Namaari’s betrayal has on her:

Raya: Yeah, well the world’s broken. You can’t trust anyone.

Sisu: Or maybe the world’s broken because you don’t trust anyone.

This is well and good that Raya shouldn’t let what had happened with the dragon gem define her view of the rest of the people. But then came the part where the movie is pushing for Raya to put her growing trust to the one that had caused her pain and loss.

• Sisu’s Intuition vs Raya’s Experience

Upon confronting Namaari, Sisu was able to intuitively tell that there may be something good in Namaari. Sisu wanted Raya to trust her about Namaari.

But here’s the thing. Sisu has an intuitive feeling about Namaari. Raya has experience with Namaari.

Sisu tried to convince Raya to trust Namaari that she would help. By telling Raya her story.

In the past, Sisu wasn’t as gifted as her siblings. In the last attempt to save humanity, her siblings put all their power into a gem. This leaves her siblings to turn into stone from the Druun, leaving her to activate the gem and thus saving humanity. Even though she didn’t understand why they chose her to survive in order to activate the gem, she knew that they trusted her and she trusted them.

Sisu’s story was touching and all. But her lesson of trust was not applicable to Raya’s situation. Raya was hurt by the person that she trusted. Sisu was not.

• Raya’s Trauma was not Properly Addressed in order for Her to Trust Namaari Again

The movie gave Raya, through Sisu, a hopeful reason to trust Namaari again. IF their plan works, she would get her father back.

Raya talked about how her trauma is making it difficult for her to trust Namaari.

Raya: How would I even approach Namaari after all that’s happened?

Sisu: It may feel impossible, but sometimes, you just have to take the first step even before you’re ready.

Sisu’s advice is incomplete at best and unhealthy at worst. In order for Raya to trust Namaari again, it’s true that Raya has to take initiative. But at the same time, Namaari should be held accountable for what she had done and do the work to earn Raya’s trust back. Starting by addressing the harm that she had caused her. No matter if it was unintended or not.

When all you can do is take the first step to trust and hope for the best, hope is a good thing. But not yet in their situation. If Raya could see for herself that Namaari could be trusted again, wouldn’t that be better development for both Raya and Namaari? There was no time pressure. They could spare to investigate if Namaari could be trusted. Or at least a fail-safe plan if Sisu was wrong about her.

Because even if Raya agreed to meet Namaari because she trusts Sisu, what Sisu wanted from Raya does not make sense to a traumatized brain that is wired to protect themself. And the biggest thing Raya had learned from Namaari is betrayal.

• Namaari was Let into the Plan without Making Amends to Raya

Trust is like respect. You have it until you break it. And when you do, you get it back by earning it. To trust someone again without any form of confidence that they will not hurt you again is only asking to be hurt twice.

The movie tried to shed some light on Namaari’s side. Namaari was young and was influenced by her mother. “We never meant anyone to get hurt,” Namaari said in a scene between her and her mother. They only planned to steal the gem in the belief that it would make their kingdom prosper. But they did cause the Druun to return. People did get hurt and amends should be made.

Namaari then met with Raya after receiving the gift that Namaari gave her as a child. The movie didn’t make Namaari address the the pain and loss that she had caused Raya for years.

It’s one thing to meet with them in order to make amends for the Druun being unleashed.

It’s another for a broken friendship between two people who have to work together. The movie could’ve at least made Raya and Namaari talk about what happened before they could proceed with the dragon gem pieces.

Namaari had been made to understand by her mother that if everything would be resolved, the consequences of the Fang kingdom would catch up to them. But if all the dragon gem pieces and Sisu were with the Fang, the other kingdoms would see them as the ones who ended the Druun’s return.

And so Namaari tried to take the dragon gem pieces and Sisu by force.

• The Victim was Blamed When She didn’t get the Proper Support in the First Place

And because Raya’s trauma wasn’t properly addressed, she wasn’t able to trust Namaari when Sisu agreed to go with her. This caused her and Namaari to accidentally and gravely injure Sisu. With Sisu out of the count, it caused the waters to dry up and the Druun to become worse .

Raya was then partly blamed for the dangers that ensued.

Namaari: I don’t care if you believe in me. Sisu did. But you didn’t trust her. That’s why we’re here. Do whatever you want. But you’re as much to blame for Sisu’s death as I am.

The plot was then arranged in a life-and-stone situation where the only way she could fix her mistake is to let go of her trauma and take the first step into trusting Namaari. Now this is the situation where all she could do is hope. Which was a good lesson in an unfair execution.

Happily Ever After But…

Everything became alright in the end as Namaari fixed the broken pieces together. But it caused the “reforged” friendship between them to feel forced. Unnatural. It felt superficially fairytale-like that has often defined Disney in a negative way.

Writing About Trust, Forgiveness and Redemption of the Guilty

Ever since the story of Zuko’s redemption in Avatar: the Last Airbender, people in Western animation were moved to propagate it. There’s the Diamonds in the Crystal Gems, there’s Catra and Hordak in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power and even a Webtoon devoted to redemption which is Hazbin Hotel.

But when creators focus on redeeming the ones who have caused harm, they sometimes do it at the expense of those that they have hurt. The survivor’s trauma either got looked over and reduced to a plot device. Or they got punished from still being hurt from it when they were not given compensation nor closure from the trauma that they had went through.

Survivors shouldn’t always be expected to take the higher road when they don’t even know if the guilty would take advantage of it again. That is not practical in terms of healthy boundaries when the guilty has to be held accountable too.

Survivors shouldn’t be pressed into prioritizing the ones who have hurt them in literal life-and-death situations.

If one wants redemption of the villain to be a part of their story, it should be fair to the survivors too.