Honestly, I feel bad for Zed

Dude's just chilling in an abandoned tower, trying to find inner peace, casually draining the magic of a local forest, when a couple of punks come knocking on his door. They make a mess of the front yard, kill a good number of his disciples (assuming they aren't shadows), and then interrupt his meditation.

How rude.

Worst of all, Xayah trashes his crystal mobile, which probably took a while getting it to the size shown in Wild Magic. Now, I'm no expert when it comes to draining the essence of an enchanted forest, but given the tiny flakes we see gradually accumulating, I estimate Zed was putting that thing together for the better part of a week. Hours of work gone in seconds because some harpy dusts it with her filthy feathers. Zed won't be winning first place in the science fair this year.

Now you might say, "Hold on, Villain. Zed was sucking the life from surrounding forest, he was destabilizing the local ecology. By draining the area of magic, he was inadvertently harming many creatures reliant on magic for survival, including Vastaya!" To which I reply, of course he was, but is it really so bad?

I would like to now call attention to the cinematic's title Wild Magic. How often in folklore or mythology does the unbridled magic of wild places harm whatever poor sap happens to wander through? Magic, in its natural, mystical state is capricious, arbitrary, and most importantly, hostile. Not something you want to be near, temporarily or permanently.

It should be clear that Zed is taking magic and concentrating it into a crystalized state. An important facet of crystallization is the arrangement of molecules into a particular pattern, often structured and organized. Zed is collecting wild, unstable magic to condense it into a tempered state, he is refining magic. You might think this is incredibly unethical, and you would be right, but at least that magic isn't royally screwing you over because you stepped off the beaten path.

And hey, it's an efficient source of reliable magic! What's not to love? ######Unless you are Vastaya, in which case, woops, sorry, better luck in the spirit realm. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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