Is there a Swan kiss of death?

[Sci-Fi Girl]

Is there a Swan kiss of death?

 

So, Emma thinks that everyone she has had a romance with, has died.  (I am intentionally not saying “loved” because one she loved, another she just sort of liked, and the third she only thought she did. But back to my point.)

I was reminded of a particular story aspect of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.  The lead female character in that is named Elizabeth Swann.  And, starting with the end of the second movie, everyone she kisses dies soon after.  (Warning: spoilers for the Pirates of the Caribbean series.)

First is Jack Sparrow at the end of the second movie, right before he gets eaten by the kraken.  (Though he doesn’t stay dead.)

Next is Sao Feng, a Chinese pirate captain, who promptly dies in cannon fire.

Then Norrington, her former suitor, kisses her when he frees her from the brig, before being killed by her pursuers.

And finally her true love, Will Turner.  They wed and kiss mid battle, after which he is mortally wounded and his heart is removed, making him immortal but separate from the living.

So, what is it about lady Swans, with black widow type curses?!?

😮

SFG

[Gaultheria]

Swans (as in “swan song”) are a death metaphor, so that’s got to figure into a show about literary tropes. And a swan dive is as fatalistic a gesture as you can get on the screen.

Gaultheria's fanvids: http://youtube.com/sagethrasher

[RumplesGirl]

In a word: no

Graham– she kissed once and they were never “involved” in any way shape or form. They had a bit of a flirty flirty thing but that was it. Seriously, including Graham means that she has to include the guy she went on a “date” with in the pilot. It also has to include all the one night stands she’s had and we know she has had them according to S1.

Walsh–apparently dead??? Cause he vanished in a puff of smoke and there was no dead monkey body on the pavement but I guess he died. (or the writers have no idea what happened to him, they only like the shiny quality of Emma dating a monkey, so they decided…DEATH)

 

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[Slurpeez]

Well in Old Norse Germanic mythology, the female guardians of death would shape shift into swans.

The Valkyries, warrior goddesses who chose the warriors to enter Valhalla after death, had the power to transform into swans. If a man stole their plumage, they were forced to obey him.

I’m not saying that Emma Swan is a Valkyrie, since it is probably just an interesting coincidence. There is the possibility that the price of Emma’s true love magic means never getting to be with her own true love.

"That’s how you know you’ve really got a home. When you leave it, there’s this feeling that you can’t shake. You just miss it." Neal Cassidy

[Sci-Fi Girl]

RumplesGirl, that is why I worded it this way:

Is there a Swan kiss of death? So, Emma thinks that everyone she has had a romance with, has died. (I am intentionally not saying “loved” because one she loved, another she just sort of liked, and the third she only thought she did. But back to my point.)

And the comparison to the pirate movies still works that way, because in the movies she only truly loved one of the men listed.  And one of them she didn’t even like, Sao Feng was actually assaulting her when he kissed her, and he was blasted by a cannon before he could continue.

So my comparison is not an attempt to glorify Graham or Walsh, I just like making literary analogies.  🙂

SFG

Keeper of Anna’s Awkward Babbling and Kristoff’s Fur-trimmed Tunic!

[Sci-Fi Girl]

Gaultheria and Slurpeez, that makes a lot of sense, thank you!  🙂

 

I did know that swans symbolize true love, as they mate for life.  So the double symbolism is even more fascinating!  😎

(Actually, that’s where I always thought Emma’s name came from.  She is the product of true love, and so is a swan.  I didn’t think of the Ugly Duckling aspect until it was pointed out recently.)

 

Also, there is a old folk song where a young man is out hunting at dusk, and his beloved / true love approaches him wearing a white apron.  He mistakes her for a swan, and shoots her.

So, he means to kill a swan, and kills love instead.  More double symbolism.

(Though why anyone would want to shoot a swan while hunting is beyond me.)

Although it could just be his oft repeated excuse in court “I’m not guilty!  It was an accident!  I thought she was a swan!” 🙄

Also, it sounds like a variation of the swan maiden mythology you mention Slurpeez.  🙂

 

I’m not saying that Emma Swan is a Valkyrie, since it is probably just an interesting coincidence. There is the possibility that the price of Emma’s true love magic means never getting to be with her own true love.

Hmm, a very interesting thought indeed!  *thinks*

SFG

Keeper of Anna’s Awkward Babbling and Kristoff’s Fur-trimmed Tunic!

[RumplesGirl]

So my comparison is not an attempt to glorify Graham or Walsh, I just like making literary analogies.

Never said you were. And my point still stands. Unless Emma Swan is leaving a trail of corpses behind her, then no there is no “kiss of death” making her like a “black widow.” We know she’s had previous hook ups (which, I am going to go out on a limb here, I assume involves kissing and being with) but none of those people have died. So Emma’s actual statement that “everyone I’ve ever been with has died” is straight up nonsensical.

As for your literary analysis, I get it. But I also think you’re discounting context, causation and correlation. Elizabeth kissed Jack to trick him, lashing him to a pole. The kiss did not lead to his death. It’s not causation. Same with Norrington. It’s not causation.

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[Keb]

I’m also curious as to whether Walsh is really dead. Emma has every reason to BELIEVE he’s dead; she saw him fall off a tall building, and also shot/watched her family&friends explode a whole bunch of flying monkeys in Storybrooke.

But we also know that Little John, Aurora, and Phillip were monkeys and came back.

And Zelena was still talking to at least once monkey in Storybrooke in the same manner she always spoke to Walsh in Oz, which would place it after Emma saw Walsh vanish.

So Emma’s believe that Walsh is dead may or may not be actually true (though I doubt we’re likely to see him again, regardless). To be fair, she liked him enough to almost agree to marry him. It may have been a ruse on his end (though he did say he actually liked her), but that doesn’t mean her feelings were false, just manipulated.

And she liked Graham enough that her kiss brought back his memories–it was strongly suggested that it was a kind of TLK right before he died. It was a short relationship and nothing like the love she had for Neal, but it was real.

It’s reasonable for her to be connecting the dots that way right now, so close to Neal’s death, even if there’s nothing to it. (Dunno if the writers will ever address it, but) she’s probably feeling very guilty about Neal’s death–she helped it happen by separating him from Rumple with her magic, and she’d confessed to him that she had hoped he was really dead back in Neverland a year before because it would be easier for her. Besides the fact that he was her true love (Belle said so, with the swan necklace as proof, that’s canon enough for me), that’s a lot of emotional weight to deal with only days/weeks at most after his death.

It makes a lot of sense that she’d be freaked out about Hook meeting a similar fate with all that history.

Keeper of Belle's Gold magic, sand dollar, cloaks, purple FTL outfit, spell scroll, library key, copy of Romeo and Juliet, and cry-muffling pillow, Rumple's doll, overcoat, and strength, and The Timeline. My spreadsheet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6r8CySCCWd9R0RUNm4xR3RhMEU/view?usp=sharing

[Sci-Fi Girl]

RumplesGirl, I think both our points work, from different angles.

I know exactly how they died.  It wasn’t literal causation, but it was literary or metaphorical causation.  An interesting coincidence in timing.

And yes, Emma’s line was quite an exaggeration, but I am exploring the fact that the writers chose to place that idea in the show, via that line.  And all the interesting things I think of, and the discussions we can have, because of that.  🙂

SFG

Keeper of Anna’s Awkward Babbling and Kristoff’s Fur-trimmed Tunic!

[RumplesGirl]

And she liked Graham enough that her kiss brought back his memories–it was strongly suggested that it was a kind of TLK right before he died. It was a short relationship and nothing like the love she had for Neal, but it was real.

I interpret it differently. Emma IS true love. She could kiss everybody in the town–one by one–and it would bring back their memories because she is True Love in the flesh. However, only by kissing her true love–Henry–could she break the curse all at once.

 

"He was a lot of things to me" "The only conclusion was love"

[Author]

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