Keep Your Friends Close - EPIC- The Musical ANIMATIC
Yeah, it's not the official animatic, instead one by gigi... but I seriously can't view the song in any other way
So this was someone who I just thought of in a random listen of the song and then it hit me... "Hey... maybe they can actually count" and it's always good to just somehow make a discussion on Epic so... as a not I'll be importing this from my EP on Troper's Hub here, some adjustments here and there none withstanding. So let the trial commence.
What is the Work?[]
EPIC: The Musical is an appropriately titled musical created by Jorge-Rivera Herrans. Serving as an adaptation of Homer's The Odyssey, it follows Odysseus, King of Ithaca, who was on his way back home to reunite with his wife and son, Penelope and Telemachus, who he had to leave behind as he went to fight the Trojans in war. However, due to a stumble with a cyclops, a chain reaction of events was set up that delayed his journey for over 10 years. As the various experiences force Odysseus to swallow his pride and balance both mercy and ruthlessness to finally return home.
As it is Odysseus himself and arc villain Circe both keep handily for the trope (albeit only due to later arcs for Odysseus), but whose to say a one scene wonder doesn't count? Star of "Keep Your Friends Close". Enter Aeolus, the Wind God.
Who is Aeolus[]
Aeolus is the Wind God having their own island floating in the sky. When Poseidon summoned storms that block Odysseus' fleet from entering Ithaca, Odysseus notices the island and has the soldiers aim their harpoons to pull the ships to Aeolus' islands, to which Odysseus intends to ask Aeolus for their help in trapping the storm. Aeolus happily agrees, but first wants to do so as a game: Odysseus must keep the bag trapping the storm's winds closed. It seems easy but then Aeolus then whimsically tells him to "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer" and how "friends turn to rivalries" and "sometimes killing is a must".
And then we see what Aeolus' game is. They trick Odysseus crew that the bag actually contains treasure, to which Odysseus warns them that this is actually contianing the storms and must never be opened. As Aeolus expected, Odysseus in his paranoia would appear himself even more suspicious, refusing to sleep to keep watch of the bag, alienating all the other soldiers. This resulted in growing distrust within the crew that culminated to Eurylochus, Odysseus' second in command, opening the bag while Odysseus finally went asleep. When this led to the winds taking the fleet to the land of the Giants, Aeolus spends their final moments in the musical taunting Odysseus for the lack of trust within the crew making him lose the game and abandon them to whatever fate has in store for them in the Laestrygonians' domain, being the sole victor of their game
Are They Magnificent?[]
Has a banger song, where their playful, whimsical nature make their a very gripping character for someone that just appears in just one song. And while this is in a point of time where Odysseus would definitely not count as an MB, he was still cunning as hell who schemed his way out of the cyclops and then audaciously had his entire fleet tether and pull themselves to Aeolus' sky island. So Aeolus having to absolutely play Odysseus like a fiddle, turning him and his crew against each other and have Odysseus inevitably lose the game he agreed to play with them by giving him the wind bag, and thus Aeolus the only victor in the entire song and serves a major humble pie to Odysseus and Eurylochus on the value of trust and danger of betrayal.
Are They a Bastard?[]
Alright, so they are a trickster jerkass god who agrees to Odysseus to help his fleet return home to Ithaca, but in truth was backstabbing and setting him up to gloriously fail as he turns his crew against him, in which Aeolus also goads Odysseus that to keep the wind bag safe and prevent betrayal he should just kill all who he doesn't trust, and when their manipulations result in the wind bag opened, Aeolus callously abandons the fleet to suffer whatever fate awaits them at the Land of Laestrygonians. They are definitely shady enough for the trope.
However, this is a musical that has Poseidon and Antinuous as CMs and Zeus comparing breaking the pride of men to how he forced himself to women... and that's just scratching the surface at how their actions are simply not worth losing sleep over in the musical.
Final Verdict[]
Honestly am gonna say a yes.