In the top 10 heartbreaking moments of the show, we have absolutely got that part where - after Lugad shows up - Rohan's waffling on whether or not he can fight him, and when Angus says something like, "You're comparing Lugad to the family that raised you," Rohan's like ":( u don't understand, he's my brother" and runs away.

Literally the whole show is Rohan or Angus going on and on about how long they've known each other, actually using that to break the Enchantment Of The Week the one time Rohan gets all scared of everything, and throwing that in both of their faces during that episode where Angus gets framed and Rohan's accused of lying to cover for him 'cause "isn't it true you'd do anything to help him" (lmao no random village-lawyer man, it's the other way around 🙃).

But the whole show is also very, very careful about having them call each other their best friend exclusively. It's like a hard line drawn between that and between Rohan whining about wanting to know who his family is (also kinda throwing it in Angus' face in the episode where Rohan says, "I'd use a wish to find out my family is"), so - like... you'd think it wouldn't be such a surprise to anyone. They also fight all the time because "Punching someone in the face is an excellent way to break through spells 💖" and "Rohan wtf did you say to him now"

Buuuuut Rohan doesn't meet his family until the end of the show, so those two talking about 'best friends' basically means 'brother' until Lugad shows up and they finally have something to compare it to. And the second after that comparison's made, Rohan downgrades everybody else in his mind. Particularly Angus.

It just says a lot that Rohan's an orphan who was adopted by a druid (and by Angus first lmao #Rohan's Primary Caretaker) and never shuts up about wanting to know his real family, and Angus - who is ALSO AN ORPHAN but wasn't taken in by anyone who wasn't a guard dragging his ass off to jail - never mentions wanting to know his 'real' family even once.

... 'cause...

He's got one.

It's Rohan.

Obviously.

So right up until the point where Angus asks Rohan, "Dude, you know you've got us, right? Like we've been the people raising you this whole time. We're your family. Specifically me," it's like Angus was always fully confident in how Rohan saw him 'cause he just assumed it was mutual, especially when Rohan is all Angus has and we see him endlessly demonstrating it (to the point of Angus solo-taming a dragon mid-argument-where-Angus-was-absolutely-correct-to-be-pissed-at-Rohan to go rescue the guy and later being like, "Cathbad's magic wasn't enough to help Rohan in today's episode, so I'm gonna go yell at King Fin Varra WHICH IS ORDINARILY A BAD IDEA 'cause I'm not gonna let Rohan live cursed by whatever-the-fuck Maeve did to him this week")...

... and Rohan shatters that by effectively saying, "That's nice, dear. Hey so this guy who showed up five days ago, and that I found out was my half-brother two days ago? He now means more to me than you, who - and I cannot stop joining you in emphasizing this every episode - I have known for pretty much my entire life, even before I met Cathbad and was definitely relying on you to keep us alive 'cause I'm too hoighty-toighty to be a thief even if I was starving, and we 100% were starving back then because you still eat like someone who never had reliable access to food. actually who even are u lol ew go away"

I mean, in the show, Angus just switches to being like, "k cool i'm gonna go crash garrett's car into a tree for fun now," but Rohan said that to his *face*.

You think you know a guy and dedicate your life to keeping the idiot alive...

:/

(btw i love rohan. but i also even-more-love how perfectly thoughtless, inconsiderate and self-absorbed he gets and how thankless it is for angus to be so devoted anyway)

(also yes i know it's because the no-family thing hits rohan extra-hard and he's going through some shit and everyone's trying to prey on his emotions so he never really got to angus' level of "ya obviously we're family, screw everyone else", so it's not like i'm saying rohan is doing this on purpose lol. the poor guy has some viciously low self-esteem and he does seem like he feels terrible about this - but he always feels terrible about it and it's always directly at angus' expense until someone (usually angus himself) fixes rohan's problem, and then angus has to be like, "🫠 it's fine, that's just how rohan is, i'm gonna make out with deirdre for a while ok")

🥲 Made myself sad thinking about this again.

I don't think I gave Rohan enough credit about how awful he feels over this. Like - I stand by what I said about it still being directly at Angus' expense but...

Rohan is the other half of that friendship. He's just as close to Angus as Angus is to him. It's some genuine ride-or-die shit - yes, Angus is usually the one having to act it out 'cause Rohan is almost always the one going, "HEY I'M GONNA GO TOUCH A DRAGON LOL," and because most of the hijinks that Angus gets into is shit he figures out how to fix by himself (or that the whole group gets involved in with fixing), but Rohan leads the charge when it's Angus who finally does needs help.

Rohan's there in the first episode actively helping Angus sneak in, and Angus is the only person he even considers bringing on this definitely life-threatening journey to the fairies. Not volunteering Angus for it - Rohan still deadass asks the guy if he wants to come along, so technically Angus has a choice - but straight-up telling the KING that ya i'm bringing my bestie :3 before he even lets that bestie know.

Angus gets captured getting his armour? "FUCK YOU KING, I DON'T NEED YOUR ARMY, I'LL GO GET HIM BACK MYSELF also i'm bringing your daughter along lol"

Angus gets a bunch of thorns in his ass? ":3 i'll get them out for you! also i'm bringing deirdre along lol"

Angus gets sentenced to jail For Real™? "LOOK INTO MY EYES AND TELL ME YOU REALLY DIDN'T DO IT. GOOD, I BELIEVE YOU, I JUST WANTED YOU TO SAY IT ALSO I LIKE YOUR EYES. NOW I'M GONNA DO EVERYTHING THERE IS TO DO TO MAKE SURE YOU'RE FREE 'CAUSE YOU'RE MY BESTEST BEST FRIEND ILY btw deirdre's coming too lol hope that's okay"

Angus gets mind-controlled by that random wizard guy from hell? "OH FUCK OH SHIT OH FUCK OH NO WE HAVE TO FIND HIM NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW THIS IS EXACTLY THE ARMY I WANTED TO SEND BACK IN LIKE EPISODE 6 oh hi deirdre"

So it does say how much hope Rohan had that a 'family' was some even more magical, amazing, perfect dream than his relationship with Angus. He's spent his whole life building it up in his head. He's so stupid about it that he assumes it should give him an insta-truce with Lugad because they're half-brothers - where, if he'd had any sense at all, he would've remembered that other time Angus was mind-controlled and started fighting him, where Angus did his whole ":3 oh it's you rohan why are we fighting lol?" and then went right back to kicking rohan's ass, which should've been the "BROTHERS WILL FUCKING FIGHT YOU" lesson. But Rohan never makes that connection because he's so mesmerized by the fantasy of family being something else.

I'm (once again) thinking about that episode with the wish, where Angus' last straw is Rohan being like, ":3 i'd use a wish to learn who my family is." Yeah, there have been three other people badgering him about what to wish for, but how many times growing up has Rohan said something like, "Wow, Angus, you're my best friend! Not my brother though, because being a brother is gonna be ten times better! Wow, I can't wait until I have a brother someday"? That's some wear-you-down "yes rohan i'm sure it's great :/" shit. Especially when Rohan gets after the others for badgering Angus and is like, "That's not what friendship is! D:<" Dude - you're beyond friendship. You wouldn't have even had your own wish to badger Angus with if you just realized you'd already found your family!

I dunno - obviously it's a kid's show that only got one season, and they did put a lot of emphasis on Angus' reaction when they thought Rohan was dying (which was very sweet, I loved that), but I wish they'd had a line where Rohan said something like, "I understand now that you're my family (to Angus). You're all my family (to everyone)", instead of jumping to the line where he says it to all of them. Angus making his unrelated, borderline changing-the-topic jokes after that almost come across as, "Oh, everyone's your family, huh? 🙄 Cool," and that's a bummer.

Just wanted more of a one-on-one acknowledgement of it, since those two have been through so much and Rohan's arc of "What's a friend and what's a family" is 90% tied up in one person, with another 5% for Cathbad and a last 5% for the rest of them.

I want that direct acknowledgement because I do think Rohan would've sat down at one point, thought about his whole life with Angus up to now, and finally realized, "Damn. He's really been there for me, hasn't he? :( That's what family is." Pleeeeeease let that have been the first time Rohan actually stepped up and appreciated Angus (even if it was off-screen) instead of having Angus swallow it down again because, "That's just how Rohan is 🫠"

But the moment where I assume Rohan definitely 100% did that off-screen is the one that made me sad. Because that's a lifetime of thinking and dreaming and wishing to have to go, "Oh. This is as good as it gets." Not because Angus isn't enough, but because Rohan wanted a 'real' family so, so much. Honestly, the crash of that reality finally forcing itself to be known might be the whole reason Angus has never pushed it until it was threatening to get Rohan killed by Lugad.

'Cause Angus is a fuckin' bro. 👏🏼

-

One more thing

😭😭😭😭 Can you imagine an episode in season two - the one we never got and I'm glad we never got because apparently Vincent Walsh wasn't gonna be in it for some reason???? - where Rohan's trying to connect with Lugad and being like:

Rohan: "This isn't working! This isn't how brothers are supposed to be! Maybe we can't read each other's minds because we're only half-brothers? 🤔"

Everyone else: "Rohan, brothers can't read each other's minds. That wizards."

Rohan: "No but we're brothers! We're supposed to be able to know what the other's thinking and know how they feel and know exactly what to say at every second!"

Everyone else: "That's wizards, group therapy and probably a wizard again."

Rohan: "D: Well... Okay, what are Lugad and I supposed to be like then, if I have it so wrong?"

Ivar: "Here's what I do with my brothers!"

Garrett: "Here's what I do with my brothers!"

Angus: "You're thinking of the number 437."

Everyone: "What."

Angus: "haha no i'm just joking"

Rohan: 👀

Angus: 👀