CRAZY IMPOSSIBLE FTRS/RAR Theories!

"Why does everyone just forgive Anna?" analyzed:

Okay, people constantly say "Why does everyone just forgive Anna?" and I want to say a few things about that.

Anna was a confused child with no clue what path she should follow - who now feels bad about the choices she made and wants to be better. She literally ran away! Would the appropriate immediate first response be "You betrayed me, you are horrible, I hate you, get away from me"??? NO. That's how Anna's fragile thin-ice emotions snap in half. That's how the flood gates break. That's how you make a confused and emotional child run away. That's how Anna chooses evil. That's how a villain is born. It's important to treat the situation with delicacy - but also, constructive rules. Which is why she is staying at reform school. And for those people who say "FTRS was too small of a punishment", it's really not. FLUNKED:

"'This place is for real criminals.' I stand up I'm so outraged. 'I allegedly took a dragon's tooth clip! That's no big deal!" Flora stares at me sadly.

"Since your thefts were not violent crimes, you will have the freedom to move around school as you please and can choose extracurricular activities...'"

Anna's was violent. Which means she will not have the freedom that makes FTRS so cool. Let's not forget that three detentions equals solitary confinement. Yes, the rules may be a little different at RA, but overall, keeping her at FTRS was the perfect punishment. Not even punishment at that, just a great tool to help Anna. Yes, punishments are necessary, but a child as confused, emotional, spunky, broken, and traumatized as that? No, there needs to be other measures than just punishment and it sounds like FTRS deals with those measures and is willing to take them.

As for Hal and Eva, they're her parents. Of course they are going to forgive her and love her in all of her mistakes. Now, they are definitely mad at her and will keep her in reform school until further notice, but overall, they are her parents. As for Trixie, Han, and Hamish (well, and Felix, if he was still there) they are tiny children who don't completely understand what's going on and just see their big sister as, well, their big sister.

As for the professors, it's their job to give everyone a chance. If Anna wants to reform now, it is literally in their job description to help all children to reform themselves into better people.

Okay, I can see Gilly's friends having serious beef with Anna and not being cool with her for a while.

As for Gilly? Let's not forget who Gilly blamed for the situation Anna is in... herself. Gilly is very self-critical when it comes to Anna and wears a lot of weight on her shoulders for the choices Anna made. Obviously it's not all Gilly's fault, but that doesn't change all the "what ifs" that are probably constantly going through her head. What if I talked to her? What if I let her win once or twice? What if I just told her I didn't want the business? What if I didn't involve her in the school breakout? What if I was there for her instead of letting her run off with Hansel and Gretel? What if?

Anna is her little sister. It is Gilly's nature to be her caretaker, and we know that since she spent years stealing to provide for her. More proof of Gilly's caretaker nature? SWITCHED. She climbed a beanstalk and faced giants because she thought Anna was unhappy. It's all about unconditional love for her family. A lot of people don't understand it, I know. But it is obvious that the Cobbler kids are very tight-knitted and always there for each other through everything - all five of them share one bedroom! They are definitely going to be close. They are blood-related and there is something very... specific and... special to say about that. It's not really describable... You know what I mean?

CURSED:

"Time seems to stop as I look at my younger sister. There is so much hurt between us that I don't know what to say. All I know is that we're as different as can be, but that's not a bad thing. Not when she's choosing good."

None of it matters as long as Anna is choosing good. In the end, that is the goal, for everyone to choose good, and if it took that long journey for Anna to realize that, all that heartbreak, everything that went down in order for Anna to learn that good is always the answer, then it was worth it. She was unhappy. That's not just going to go away. If it took Rumpelstiltskin, Cloud City, the Fire Moon, all of it to heal someone as broken as that, and still, in the end, good prevailed, then it was worth it.

Finally, for the love of Grimm, she DOESN'T just forgive Anna!!! There's some SERIOUS heat between them, if I may remind. CURSED:

" Finally, I let go of Anna's hand.

'Gilly?' she starts to say.

But I'm too upset to talk to her. 'Don't move.' She sits down on a rock, looking lost."

LATER IN CURSED:

" I turn and see Anna standing awkwardly with Mother. Everyone looks at my younger sister. 'I know I came here once before and did everything wrong.'

'Everything,' I repeat sharply, folding my arms across my chest."

Yeah... that's how I remember that going down... people make it sound like Gilly just ran up to Anna and said "I'm so sorry and I forgive you for everything you put me through, besties again? Let's go shopping!" But, in reality, Gilly couldn't even speak to her, she was so upset. Then later, she said...well...that. In my personal opinion, I actually thought that was a little harsh when I was reading it XD It really confused me to see what some people had to say about Anna...

LATER IN CURSED:

" Anna's eyes are full of tears. 'I want to be good like Gilly.'

My heart breaks a little. 'And I want you to be you. Whoever you are—as long as it's good, of course.'

Anna runs over to hug me. I don't let go.

Anna isn't good yet, but she obviously isn't all that bad either. She's a bit like all of us, trying hard to do the right thing and sometimes failing. But that's what Fairy Tale Reform School is for, to help us learn how to get things right and make the kingdom a better place."

AMEN, GILLY! I really think she handled the situation perfectly. She's clearly been wanting to tell Anna that she wants her to just be herself for a while - ever since their conversation in TRICKED. She finally got to say it - of course, with the addition of "as long as it's good".

LATER IN CURSED:

" 'Want to go check it out?' I ask Anna, holding out my hand.

Anna looks at her new school in wonder and smiles as she puts her hand in mine. 'Yes.'"

People use this part to say "I can't believe Gilly just forgave Anna" buuut she didn't just forgive Anna. She's asking her sister if she wants to go look at her REFORM SCHOOL. It's a simple "hey, the big bad war just ended and you're on my side again, we've clearly got alota issues to work out but let's not worry about that right now." It was also a sweet way to end the series! It finally resolved the conflict between Gilly and Anna and was a sweet way of bringing them back together again. Think about it. Would it have been as sweet of an ending if Gilly said "Go check it out by yourself, I'm too mad at you right now" THE END. ??? Hmm...

So that's my viewpoint. Anna is a confused, broken child that wants to be put back together the right way this time, and if she's willing, that's all that's needed. It is either their job or their responsibility to forgive Anna. And finally, Gilly didn't even just forgive Anna. It is going to take time just like anything else.

I really don't quite understand the question "Why does everyone just forgive Anna?" and that is why. I don't know about you guys, but I think Jen Calonita did a 100% perfect job redeeming Anna's character and solving the conflict between her and Gilly in the most realistic and still sweet way. Plus, we get to see more about her in HEROES! So yeah, that's that. Thanks for reading another long comment!