ShopDreamUp AI ArtDreamUp
Deviation Actions
Literature Text
A Spyro Easter Special - Paradox in Purple
You couldn't keep the smile off his face; he couldn't quite explain why this was the case, but he accepted it completely, his spirit no longer being held down by fear and guilt that had bound him to depression for so long.
The immediate cause of the irrepresible joy was the young purple dragon sleeping in the next room. He was a paradox, completely contrary to all expectations of his ability and color, but a paradox so wonderful that it heartened all that accepted it and believed it. It was said that it was impossible to have a purple form and a white heart, but this impossible combination had been manifest before his eyes, the source of all new hope and joy.
He knew that purple was the color of pride, conceit, vanity, ego; all these traits were manifested in the Dark Master Malefor long ago, and since purple dragons were feared as much as respected. Spyro was ignorant of the true signifance of his color "heritage", but even if he knew all it wouldn't have made a difference; keeping ignorance of all the facts wouldn't have changed what the young dragon did.
The first part of this wonderous paradox was grace and forgiveness far beyond what he could fathom, that Spyro would care so much about the dragonness that was trying to kill him, that was depraved totally, that represented every failure he, Ignitus, and the other Guardians had in protecting their race. The forgiveness and pity for a creature so depraved meant that Spyro was willing to forgive ANY failure or fault, including those that had burdened the Guardians down for so long. Ignitus hadn't believed enough before, but now he believed with all his heart because the young dragon had forgiven the failures and guilt of his elders.
The second part came directly from the first; Ignitus didn't need to know the details of the battle that had taken place in Convexity, because merely having Cynder cleansed from the Dark Master's influence present in the Temple told all that needed to be told. Cynder had long ago been "left to the darkness", already dead in her corruption and depravity. But the young purple dragon had not just defeated her, but cleansed and forgiven her as well. According to the typical view of purple dragons, she should be dead, trapped forever in the Well of Souls with the Dark Master as punishment for her actions.
He knew that the Dark Master would've wanted this after Spyro broke his control of her. He also knew that this would've forced Spyro to make a choice: try to save her, hardly worthy of salvation, from the Well and risk everything that he was or could be, or let justice take its course and trap her in its grip forever. Every force, every fact pointed toward her being lost forever: justice, pride, selfishness. But she was here, now, sleeping near the one that had saved her. Why? What had prevailed over all the power of the Dark Master and the pride and ego of the purple dragon?
The only conclusion seemed impossible: Spyro, a young purple dragon, had destroyed an important part of himself to save Cynder. His pride, conceit, ego, his entire selfish nature he had obliterated, completely destroyed! A white, pure, selfless heart was supposed to be impossible for a purple dragon to have, but this amazing "impossiblity" had come to pass right in front of his eyes. This meant that Spyro, completely denying himself and whatever his purple coloring entitled him to have, would not be swayed or broken by any power of Dark Master, nor would he fear any power known to the dragon races, having faced death itself and defeated it in Cynder.
Forgiveness of failure? Defeat of death? Destruction of ego? These were the most foolish, but also the most wonderful and the most hopeful things he had ever heard; he didn't know why this was, but it didn't matter. The word would spread, a good news evidenced by Cynder herself, of unlimited forgiveness, of denial of self, of death and evil defeated, of a hope and a love greater than life itself. He didn't know why it felt so good to believe this, but he didn't care.
The salvation of Cynder, and of the world, lay in following his lead, of forgiving as Spyro had forgiven her, of losing the self in love seemingly infinite, of being sure that evil and death itself would be defeated. The belief was wonderful, even if it was unexplainable...
You couldn't keep the smile off his face; he couldn't quite explain why this was the case, but he accepted it completely, his spirit no longer being held down by fear and guilt that had bound him to depression for so long.
The immediate cause of the irrepresible joy was the young purple dragon sleeping in the next room. He was a paradox, completely contrary to all expectations of his ability and color, but a paradox so wonderful that it heartened all that accepted it and believed it. It was said that it was impossible to have a purple form and a white heart, but this impossible combination had been manifest before his eyes, the source of all new hope and joy.
He knew that purple was the color of pride, conceit, vanity, ego; all these traits were manifested in the Dark Master Malefor long ago, and since purple dragons were feared as much as respected. Spyro was ignorant of the true signifance of his color "heritage", but even if he knew all it wouldn't have made a difference; keeping ignorance of all the facts wouldn't have changed what the young dragon did.
The first part of this wonderous paradox was grace and forgiveness far beyond what he could fathom, that Spyro would care so much about the dragonness that was trying to kill him, that was depraved totally, that represented every failure he, Ignitus, and the other Guardians had in protecting their race. The forgiveness and pity for a creature so depraved meant that Spyro was willing to forgive ANY failure or fault, including those that had burdened the Guardians down for so long. Ignitus hadn't believed enough before, but now he believed with all his heart because the young dragon had forgiven the failures and guilt of his elders.
The second part came directly from the first; Ignitus didn't need to know the details of the battle that had taken place in Convexity, because merely having Cynder cleansed from the Dark Master's influence present in the Temple told all that needed to be told. Cynder had long ago been "left to the darkness", already dead in her corruption and depravity. But the young purple dragon had not just defeated her, but cleansed and forgiven her as well. According to the typical view of purple dragons, she should be dead, trapped forever in the Well of Souls with the Dark Master as punishment for her actions.
He knew that the Dark Master would've wanted this after Spyro broke his control of her. He also knew that this would've forced Spyro to make a choice: try to save her, hardly worthy of salvation, from the Well and risk everything that he was or could be, or let justice take its course and trap her in its grip forever. Every force, every fact pointed toward her being lost forever: justice, pride, selfishness. But she was here, now, sleeping near the one that had saved her. Why? What had prevailed over all the power of the Dark Master and the pride and ego of the purple dragon?
The only conclusion seemed impossible: Spyro, a young purple dragon, had destroyed an important part of himself to save Cynder. His pride, conceit, ego, his entire selfish nature he had obliterated, completely destroyed! A white, pure, selfless heart was supposed to be impossible for a purple dragon to have, but this amazing "impossiblity" had come to pass right in front of his eyes. This meant that Spyro, completely denying himself and whatever his purple coloring entitled him to have, would not be swayed or broken by any power of Dark Master, nor would he fear any power known to the dragon races, having faced death itself and defeated it in Cynder.
Forgiveness of failure? Defeat of death? Destruction of ego? These were the most foolish, but also the most wonderful and the most hopeful things he had ever heard; he didn't know why this was, but it didn't matter. The word would spread, a good news evidenced by Cynder herself, of unlimited forgiveness, of denial of self, of death and evil defeated, of a hope and a love greater than life itself. He didn't know why it felt so good to believe this, but he didn't care.
The salvation of Cynder, and of the world, lay in following his lead, of forgiving as Spyro had forgiven her, of losing the self in love seemingly infinite, of being sure that evil and death itself would be defeated. The belief was wonderful, even if it was unexplainable...
Suggested Collections
Featured in Groups
Happy Easter (if a little late! 
). This is a Spyro fic in case you didn't pick up on it in the title; this probably needs some explaining, so I'll do it now:
Before I bought "Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning" on a whim a year or two ago, I was only a casual fan of the old Spyro, who was cocky, plain and simple. But "A New Beginning" presented a new and better Spyro, essentially selfless in his thoughts and actions; having been pleasantly surprised by that game's ending (probably one of the most uplifting video game endings in recent years), my affection for the "new" Spyro was solidified, further supported by the wonderful drawings of
on the subject (she, sadly, has mostly left that fandom recently due to disrespect of her from other members of the fandom).
As a Christian, I quickly picked up in the "selfless savior" angle, and this is the results distilled in one short story, told from Ignitus POV shortly after ANB's end. In the emotion of the moment, things end up being somewhat idealized (Spyro is subsequently shown to be far from unshakable), but the basic idea of "surprised by grace" and "joy in hope" still stands throughout the rest of the trilogy.
This is made clearer when the Dark Master (Malefor) is revealed to be the first purple dragon, corrupted by power and totally selfish. Ignitus, his outlook affected by the guilt of failure and possibly the perception of purple dragons being prideful and selfish creatures, has only a slim faith in Spyro during ANB; probably his best-case scenario was Cynder dead after Spyro won a hard-fought battle. He never expected Spyro to risk his own life (counting it worthless and "obliterating his ego") to save Cynder after exorcising the Dark Master from her; as far as he was considered, she was dead the moment she was taken from the Temple.
Therefore, when Spyro defies all expectations and brings Cynder back with him from Convexity, Ignitus and the other Guardians are bowled over: by all indications, it should be impossible, but it was unfolding in front of them. This results in the "joyous paradox": they can't understand why Spyro is how he is, but it doesn't matter because Spyro has given them the new beginning they have been hoping for.
From this springs the three components of a (pseudo-Christian) faith mentioned in the story; these components also form the bedrock for the popular SpyroxCynder pairing (which apparently got distorted in DotD
). Now I'm not trying to say that Spyro is a Christ figure, but merely reflects Christ in his actions, and some of the conclusions drawn may be debatable, but my basic principles are solid.
As a final note, I should point out that my SpyroForum (before I broke contact in support of the DeviantArtist previously mentioned) username was "SpyroATrueHero", which was derived from a line spoken by Zeus at the end of Disney's Hercules: "For a true hero is not measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart." Spyro earned the title of "True Hero" by saving Cynder, and I'm sure you would agree with me even without drawing parallels to Christ.
Anyways, I'm going on too long again. :/ Enjoy!
). This is a Spyro fic in case you didn't pick up on it in the title; this probably needs some explaining, so I'll do it now:Before I bought "Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning" on a whim a year or two ago, I was only a casual fan of the old Spyro, who was cocky, plain and simple. But "A New Beginning" presented a new and better Spyro, essentially selfless in his thoughts and actions; having been pleasantly surprised by that game's ending (probably one of the most uplifting video game endings in recent years), my affection for the "new" Spyro was solidified, further supported by the wonderful drawings of
on the subject (she, sadly, has mostly left that fandom recently due to disrespect of her from other members of the fandom).As a Christian, I quickly picked up in the "selfless savior" angle, and this is the results distilled in one short story, told from Ignitus POV shortly after ANB's end. In the emotion of the moment, things end up being somewhat idealized (Spyro is subsequently shown to be far from unshakable), but the basic idea of "surprised by grace" and "joy in hope" still stands throughout the rest of the trilogy.
This is made clearer when the Dark Master (Malefor) is revealed to be the first purple dragon, corrupted by power and totally selfish. Ignitus, his outlook affected by the guilt of failure and possibly the perception of purple dragons being prideful and selfish creatures, has only a slim faith in Spyro during ANB; probably his best-case scenario was Cynder dead after Spyro won a hard-fought battle. He never expected Spyro to risk his own life (counting it worthless and "obliterating his ego") to save Cynder after exorcising the Dark Master from her; as far as he was considered, she was dead the moment she was taken from the Temple.
Therefore, when Spyro defies all expectations and brings Cynder back with him from Convexity, Ignitus and the other Guardians are bowled over: by all indications, it should be impossible, but it was unfolding in front of them. This results in the "joyous paradox": they can't understand why Spyro is how he is, but it doesn't matter because Spyro has given them the new beginning they have been hoping for.
From this springs the three components of a (pseudo-Christian) faith mentioned in the story; these components also form the bedrock for the popular SpyroxCynder pairing (which apparently got distorted in DotD
). Now I'm not trying to say that Spyro is a Christ figure, but merely reflects Christ in his actions, and some of the conclusions drawn may be debatable, but my basic principles are solid.As a final note, I should point out that my SpyroForum (before I broke contact in support of the DeviantArtist previously mentioned) username was "SpyroATrueHero", which was derived from a line spoken by Zeus at the end of Disney's Hercules: "For a true hero is not measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart." Spyro earned the title of "True Hero" by saving Cynder, and I'm sure you would agree with me even without drawing parallels to Christ.
Anyways, I'm going on too long again. :/ Enjoy!
Comments9
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Oh man, I haven't played Spyro in ages, and that was just the first. I like how you kept with the theme of a rebirth of sorts as the character comes to terms with things.