Definitely not. Besides bullying people the only evil thing he did was because he was pressured by the Dark Lord with... Death Threats. (Also first reply :D)
Just like...most of the Slytherins are just kids. They aren’t evil, they’re just raised that way. I mean, Cissy and Lucius are running through Hogwarts to find Draco during the battle, they’re just trying to stay alive. Draco definitely deserved a Zuko-style redemption arc
Yeah, maybe not an exact Zuko redemption in the way he becomes friends with the golden trio but maybe do something that makes Harry see him eye to eye with respect so that the 19 years later epilogue makes a little bit more sense? In the movies we don't even see the Malfoys have a change of heart they just fly the battle altogether so it doesn't even make sense that they were forgiven ffs
I don’t think it would’ve fit the message of the story…draco had a redemption when he didn’t give Harry up at Malloy manner. It didn’t go any further than that and I respect it.
To not make the entire slytherin house look bad, JK should have atleast let two or three slytherins to stay back and fight against death eaters during the battle of hogwarts!
Yeah, that's one of the things that bothers me most about the books. It would've been so easy! All we would have needed was one sentence after the battle
Right? JK Rowling knows she puts muggleborns in Slytherin, are they really not going to fight against someone who is prejudiced against their own race? Presumably other pureblood Slytherins bully those kids too. Why were they never mentioned??
Jk was so close to getting rid of the gryffindor good slytherin bad thing because, wormtail and snape. That one thing could make someone who only idea the books and saw the movies think these were people not monsters.
If I wrote the ending, I would have included the Slytherins coming in right at the very end, hesitant but willing to fight for their school. And then I would have added another book or so detailing Voldemort vanishing during the battle, but what happened was all of his soul came back to him and he got amnesia and then Harry found him working at a coffee shop in London and oops, I made a coffee shop au. I'm not even guilty. And yes, I ship them, but so what? It's my (not so)guilty pleasure.
Andromeda Tonks is also good example of a good slytherin. She ditched her pure blood family for muggleborn Ted Tonks, and she was an amazing grandmother to Teddy Lupin.
This is why I love Draco fanfics. They redeem him in a reasonable logically manner. Like he doesn't ignore everything he has ever done, he owns up to it! Also, Half-Blood Prince was Tom Felton's best acting EVER!!
@@TheMbangel nah, some do it for sure, but the first Drarry fan fic came out on the internet even before the first movie came out. The enemies to friends, enemies to lovers, the bad boy redeemed, the villain turned anti-hero etc are quite a popular tropes in fiction overall. I personally was 100% convinced Draco would get a redemption arch in the final book after the first time i read the 6th book. Just throwing Feltons good looks as an excuse is not entirely honest given the fact that you could easily see that his character simply did not get a finished arch in the 7th book. Harry sees what Voldemort is forcing him to do and is sickend, then Draco doesn't identify him in the manor, then he is trying to get Crabbe and Goyle to stand down and not kill Harry, Ron and Hermione and then he is almost killed by a death eater and finally just sitting in silence with his parents in the great hall after Voldemort died. Like... What was Dracos arc? There was a potential for a redemptive arch and the fan fic community that ship him with Harry or Hermione are just exploring that potential.
I love how a real life situation kinda added to character development. Draco's air of uncomfortableness when Voldemort hugged him was actually the actor reacting to a bit of adlibbing. He was not expecting Voldemort's actor to hug him, so he wasn't sure how to act, so we get Draco looking off about the whole thing.
Yeah, there were a lot of takes but they decided to use the one scene where the hug took place. There were plenty takes without the hug and the hug was only done once
@@kiter. I heard about this too actually, I believe there was an interview with Tom Felton where he explained that they did like 20 takes of this scene and only hugged in one of them, *and they decided to go with the one where they hugged*
Draco's missing redemption arc is easily one of the biggest missed opportunities in the Harry Potter series. It was even set up so well, with him him pretending not to recognize Harry at Malfoy Manor and his mother telling Voldemort that Harry was dead. Draco's lack of a real redemption arc makes these scenes feel like they were really missing something I also think giving Draco a redemption arc would also solidify the theme of Love in the book. Being able to reconcile with a long arch enemy would have shown the futulity of rivalries, and it would have also been a really nice contrast to Snape and James (James' death can arguably be attributed to the constant hatred between himself and Snape)
When you think about it Dudley and Draco weren’t that different. Both were raised spoiled by their parents, had minions to basically do their dirty work, didn’t like Harry. The only difference is that DUDLEY GOT REDEMPTION (kinda) WITH HIS LINE “I don’t think you’re a complete waste of space”
He also left him a cup of tea, but he was too nervous to knock and tell him he had... I feel like he wanted to apologize but it’s like, words aren’t enough. How are you supposed to apologize to someone you’ve been that awful to? He was a teenager who didn’t know where to start when trying to repair things with his cousin that he bullied.
That deleted scene where he runs to Harry after Harry drops out of Hagrid’s arms makes me feel so many feelings cause that scene ALONE could’ve added so much context and development to his character and the internal conflict he wrestled with coming to terms he wants to be a good guy
That would just make more people who have only watched the movies love him, even tho it's not canon at all. It's okay to like Draco, but don't do it because of not canon scenes.
Draco and Dudley are very similar characters in that sense. They both grew up being the center of attention, and had parents thinking less of everyone else. They were brought up with a twisted view of themselves and the world around them, all as a result of their parents and family name. And most importantly, they both realized this as they grew up. Dudley's "I don't think you're a waste of space" will forever and always prove to me that he was a good guy born into a bad family, and the same goes for Draco following his actions in the last two books.
I’m happy that Draco at least has his sunshine of a son, Scorpius, in the epilogue and in the play. Shows that he definitely didn’t want to do the same mistakes Lucius did and is a legitimately good father and has grown a lot as a person.
Gonna be honest, I didn't like the play because of many things that didn't make sense but what I did like the most about it was knowing about Draco's life and the nice son he raised with his wife.
I like the idea that Draco became a good father to his son. However, I DESPISE that Harry is not in the Cursed Child! Not that the play-that-shall-not-be-named is canon anyways lol
LOL he was raised more princely than anyoe else in the books but he's like maybe 1/10 decent & that is being generous but J is right he should have had a full turn
While we are talking about mistakes the author made with her characters, WHY didn't harry become a defense against the dark arts teacher after the events of the books?
I think an auror is more fitting for him tbh! It's hard to live full time at Hogwarts as a professor and raise a family ya feel. But I think once he retired from being an auror I think he should have taken the job.
I heard somewhere that Draco wasn't given a redemption arc in the books because the author didn't like him, and didn't understand why anyone liked him. But a lot of people, especially victims of abusive families saw themselves in Draco, I mean he was clearly written as an abuse victim (in my opinion) so it's just cruel to see the lack of redemption for him despite all the bullying he did. Draco deserved the redemption arc way more than Snape, who is a full grown man who bullies kids, than a kid who literally lives in fear of Voldemort and his parents for so long
I agree with you about Draco deserving redemption over Snape but i’m pretty sure I read somewhere that Jason Isaacs (the actor of Draco’s father) adding the abusive nature of Lucius and Draco’s relationship. I don’t think Lucius was written the same way Jason Isaacs plays him in the movies but i’m not 100% sure, it’s been a while.
He was abused and spoiled. When Draco did things the way his father wanted them he was spoiled. When he didn’t do things right or live up to the “malfoy expectations” his father obviously criticized and verbally abused him. I believe his father might’ve even used spells on him, but not intense when because of narcissa. Narcissa in my eyes wouldn’t spoil Draco but instead try to teach him the morals of right and wrong. But Draco obviously stands with his fathers views more until he realizes just how bad Voldemort is so there’s that.
I love how they show him becoming increasingly more afraid of the decisions that he and his family have made and at the end how much they just wanted to be away from it, to be rid of voldemort all together, and keep their family together and safe.
Also noticed that one of the only times we see him entirely alone to be himself (or at least Draco seems to think so). Right before the Sectumsempra fight in the bathroom where Draco's having a mental breakdown the only person that's there to comfort him and that he allows to is Moaning Myrtle who is a muggle-born and who straight up was killed by the man that his dad works too. If he had the value set of his family I don't think he would've befriended myrtle, yet it seems they have a decent friendship Myrtle seems to see him in a light that he rarely shows to anyone, she listens to him, and she defends him when Harry busts in. I feel like because the story is in Harry's perspective we mostly see Draco in ways he wants people to see and feels the need to put up an image, and then that was the first moment where we saw the actual Draco and his eternal struggle. I would have preferred a Draco redemption to the Snape redemption we got. I think it would've made more sense if he got the redemption especially instead of Snape or At least make his redemption more of a focus especially since Snape’s never made sense to me it was kinda a half redemption but then if you look into it more it doesn’t check out or make him good to the point where the movies had to Soften him up so the redemption could work.
@@Skylerrelyks93 He'd probably already knew all about her before they had even met, Lucius probably would've brought it up at some point probably around the same time of chamber of secrets. He knows that a muggle-born died when the chamber was first opened I wouldn't be surprised if he at least knew the name.
EXACTLY! And since Snape was good the whole time, it technically wasn't even a redemption, just a reveal. SO THERE WAS ROOM IN THERE TO REDEEM A CHARACTER AND IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DRACO
Yeah, that's what bothers me so much about it. She had already laid out all the build up for his arc, we just would've needed to change a paragraph or two outside the Room of Requirement and maybe a scene in the epilogue or something
Literally one sentence would be all it takes. Draco throws the diadem, Harry nods at him, Ron and Hermione hug, the oaf that survived looks on bewildered, noone ever mentions it again in keeping with "Draco is too cool for feelings" party line. She did this on purpose.
I really wish JK Rowling had had a better editor for the last half of the series. A good editor doesn't just fix typos and tell you to cut word count, a good editor points out things like this! "Do you really want *all* Slytherins to be bad? Harry should be starting to notice the ones who *aren't* toadying up to Malfoy by now." "You said two books ago the world isn't made up of good people and Death Eaters, I can see what you're trying to do with Slughorn being a "good" Slytherin, but you really need to show, not tell, a lot more!" "Cut about half the "camping" stuff, and give us some good Slytherins in the final battle!" And yes, making Draco consciously choose to destroy the Horcrux would have been a good option for his redemption. ;-) Trouble is, JK got too powerful and didn't have to work with anyone or compromise with anyone, or even listen to anyone. Her work suffered for it.
Cedric should've been a Slytherin. It would've planted the seeds for the Slytherin students who join in the Battle for Hogwarts to avenge one of their own who was killed by their supposed Leader. And their mantra can be, "No more spares." And when Harry arrives at Hogwarts and Neville introduces him to a 7th year Slytherin who's "leading" the rebellion within Slytherin House, then can shake hands and he'll say "No more spares," and Harry replies, "Right. No more spares."
@@propheinx2250 I think it’s because she was rushing it sure she doesn’t need to go full George R. R. but extra year between book after book 4 would have made a world difference
@@iRazenrak to be honest... Cedric DIDN'T even embody the personality traits of the Slytherins. He was just MEANT to be in Hufflepuff. It was just so out-of-character for him to be cunning and mischievous.
Seeing as how JK Rowling liked to use parallels in her books, having Draco parallel Regulus would have been a nice touch, two followers of Voldemort who had a hand in destroying a horcrux.
as much as i love draco and want him to be redeemed i do kind of think theres something poetic about his ending being unresolved. It's a good reminder that change doesnt happen all at once. Maybe he comes around years after they leave school, or maybe he stays undecided but instills better values in his children and gradually shifts the Malfoys onto a better path over generations. Either way, good to see our boy shedding his instilled beliefs and biases and opening himself up to the world.
This is how i view it. His redemption is subtle. He sees the error of his ways but can not get passed his past with people. But his children are raised without that mindset.
I’ve written a series of essays on why I don’t think Snape was a hero (I ultimately went with antihero and would write another set about the exact same thing for Dumbledore) but I would write a million of them on why Draco was capable of change similarly to how Regulus was (Regulus went to destroy a horcrux and died for it because he realized what he was doing and what his family had taught him was wrong just like I think Draco could)
This is entirely your choice, but could you share those essays? Or at least provide a link to a doc with them? I'd love to read them. I love reading these long character analysis essays lol. I agree that both Snape and Dumbledore are extremely morally grey characters and Draco definitely had a very similar life to Regulus, who proved he was more than what his family wanted him to be, and I would have loved a redemption for him. Honestly, I chalk up Harry naming Albus Severus after Snape and Dumbledore to just him being forgiving, but neither of those two deserved full acceptance from Harry, at least not with the limited time they had with him. Draco destroying the diadem would have solidified his want to change, even if that wouldn't be a full apology for all his bullying. Heck, for all we know, Regulus was just as bad a Slytherin, but since he had so little time after he decided to rebel against Voldemort, I can forgive him for literally laying down his life at age 18 to take down Voldemort. Draco, meanwhile, had a whole future for him to redeem himself and we never got to see it. It sucks that we didn't have what could've been great good Slytherin representation.
Draco being roughly the same age as Zuko makes this seems so much more plausible... Books 1-5 are "trying to capture the Avatar for my super awesome family", book 6 is the Ba Sing Se refugee realizations, and book 7 is the "basically got what I wanted and it sucks" arc. If Draco had joined Team Potter when they escape his manor at the end it would have been the perfect opportunity for a "hello, Draco here" moment, but I think Draco's a little behind because he's stuck with Snape instead of Uncle Iroh!
Not only did Crabbe destroy the diadem, he destroyed it on ACCIDENT after losing control of the fiendfyre curse. What a kick in the nuts to Draco's redemption arc.
It’s goyle not crabbe But beyond that he did not destroy it it was the basilisk fang that Hermione and Ron stabbed it with there is no proof the fire would’ve done anything to it
@@76tennboy It's Crabbe in the books, and it IS the fire that did it. Hermione and Ron stabbed another Horcrux, but Crabbe destroyed the diadem of Ravenclaw. Also Hermione says that Foxfire is one of the only things that can destroy a Horcrux
I feel like Draco could have been the Regulus of his time. I haven’t read the books in quite a while but from what I remember Regulus pulled away from the black family beliefs. That could have been the situation for Draco. We could have got a new age version of Regulus Black. Me and my friend have spoke about this and we think that he should have helped Luna when she was in Malfoy Manor. The most carefree of souls meets someone who grew up taught that everything different is inherently bad. It would have been not only ironic, but almost perfect. Luna is the definition of all good. She loves her friends and is so kind. Then there is Draco. He’s potentially the biggest anti-hero in all of the books. The difference between the two would have made it great. Then after he helps Luna he could have been a double agent just as Snape was. It would have been amazing.
This would have been so amazing!! As Draco is helping Luna she breaks down things about Draco he's afraid to see. It makes him open his eyes to everything and, even if he isn't a complete saint yet, he at least wants to save this one girl who- for some odd reason- sees a good in him that he's not even sure he's capable of himself. Ooooh I love this dynamic💕
Snape's role is the biggest plot twist of the series, Draco's redemption would have undermined that. For books 1-5, Draco is a bully and not really impactful to Harry's overall story. In HBP, he finally gets some depth and then turns around by the end of DH. Snape has been important since the beginning.
That's if we ignore the fact that majority of them just go like "oh but draco was secretly a good guy all along and he would never do anything bad or evil" which is the WRONG way to handle it as that destroys any kind of character development he did receive, of which there was plenty.
Speaking of good people who were Sorted into Slytherin, there was also Andromeda Tonks (nee Black). She rebeled against her pureblood-supremacist family, married a Muggleborn, and aided the Order of the Phoenix.
While you were talking about elementary school, all I could think about was Mad-eye's lecture on elementary wand safety. 'Better wizards than you have lost buttocks, you know.' XD
There was actually a deleted scene where at the end when Harry rolls off of Hagrid's arms, Draco throws a wand at Harry. You can search it up on TH-cam.
The fact that the wizarding world doesn't have a some kind of elementary school really just makes me surprised that any of those kids had any kind of social skills at all
As someone who was homeschooled throughout elementary, middle, and high school, it's actually easier than you expect to develop your social skills at home. Basically, you just learn what not to do with your parents (and siblings) and then your friends teach you what you should do.
I feel like Hermione may have actually entered Hogwarts at an advantage because she was Muggle-born....Like, she probably got a really good education in reading and writing before starting her magical education, and that was useful to her.
yeah and i feel like harry should have had something similar, like Ron probably didn’t have that much of a muggle education but Harry did and so he would probably be used to having essays and stuff like that so it would make sense that he wouldn’t complain as much with the homework that they were assigned but he does
J. K. Rowling: *writing this scene* Alright, Harry, Ron and Hermione have already destroyed a Horcrux, so that just leaves these guys. How to decide... eenie meenie minie- OKAY CRABBE IT IS!
As far as I'm concerned, the best thing by far about the Cursed Child was Scorpius Malfoy and the way it credited Draco's good choice in marrying someone who would help build on his own personal growth and make him a better man was the correct way of redeeming him. Just a shame about the plot making the character development de-facto non-canon (but to me, that will always be who Scorpius and Draco turned out to be).
I completely agree, but if we’re on the topic of characters who deserved better I’d like to add Cedric. I know his death was to show how ultimately cruel Voldemort is but cursed child literally ruins that and I will be forever mad
I would have loved for Draco to have the diadem, then throw it in the fire, knowing that he is helping Harry, then return and fight for the Deatheaters, really nailing home that he can be a good person - he's just in a no-win situation
To add insult to injury, Ron says in the epilogue that his daughter better beat Draco's son when it comes to magic or grandpa will be disappointed. Almost twenty years later and Ron still thinks like a petulant child. To me it's JKR saying: "No, you won't get your redemption arc and the main characters will continue to dislike Draco". At least Harry has shown some adult behavior in that scene.
I know, I'm a slytherin and I'm re-reading the books and it just makes me feel so disheartened to see how she made almost all slytherin bad ( and the ones who were good or were muggle born and half-bloods weren't shown much ), it irritates me so much that I make things up to make slytherins look better in my head.
@Ano Sora slughorn andromeda and regulas got little to no screen time and we were convinced that snape was bad for most of the series and no one talks about Merlin since he is dead so we don’t know if his intentions were good or bad
One of the most disapointing thins of the series. I hope future MG fantasy authors will do something simulair like Slytherin but with more good people. And with good people i mean who are not old or dead.
Yes! Have Harry explain it to Draco- This is a piece of dark magic keeping Voldemort alive. If all of the pieces get destroyed, Voldemort can be gotten rid of. Draco's family had suffered so much at the hands of Voldemort that he'd jump at the chance, and it would complete the family's heel-face turn and settle the Malfoys on the good side firmly.
The one that sticks in my craw is how Rowling seem to forget that Ron was a chess prodigy...a skill that could have come in very handy in strategic battle situations. So Harry coulda been the Chosen One, hermione the smart one, and Ron could have risen to be the strategist of the group.
Agreed. Draco was done dirty. He should have either went full evil giving as a climactic battle to the death with Harry, or be fully redeemed But he just stood there in the middle
Draco Malfoy did get fully redeemed to me in Malfoy Manor. Started his redemption on top of the Astronomy Tower when his wand almost lowered when facing Dumbledore if the others hadn't arrived I bet he would've fully lowered it and let Dumbledore help him. Finished redemption when he attempted to save Harry in the Manor. Added to it with stopping the Avada Kadavra. So I feel he got redeemed. I feel he is the equivalent to Regulus Black a sort of more modern version of him. Raised in a Pure-Blood Wealthy family with a sense of superiority and long lineage. His family convinced him joining the Dark Lord was a good thing but then he realized how wrong it was and tried to do good. Also had a House-Elf though Regulus treated his family's decently unlike Draco. But anyway that is my take Draco is the Modern Wizarding War Regulus. Also on Pottermore I am a Gryffindor with an unyielding flexibility Blackthorn and Dragon Heartstring wand with a Shark Patronus somehow.
@@ljd6711 he didn't intend on harming them seriously rather to try to keep Voldy from harming him and his family he would find the Diadem and in the process maybe get his wand back from Harry
@@morrigankasa570 sure but then he’d do what with the diadem? give it to Voldemort. That would mean Harry couldn’t stop him and Draco is smart enough to know what would happen to Harry if Voldemort won. Also, not retrieving the diadem wouldn’t get his family harmed. We know this because first, Draco was never instructed to get the diadem and he wasn’t harmed when he didn’t get it. He was looking for it because he wanted to help Voldemort.
Funnily enough I was thinking about the “Tragedy of Draco Malfoy” a couple of days ago. How he goes from a smug 11 year old to a broken young man. If Kylo Ren can be so easily redeemed I see no reason why Draco Malfoy couldn’t be either.
I honestly think most people forget that most of the characters are children, and most children in real life who are bullies grow up and change their beliefs and become a better person. I don't blame any of the children in Harry Potter for their actions as when we see them they are between the ages of 11 and 17 years old and going through major changes and trauma in their day to day life. I think that Draco started to realize what he thought was wrong in year 4, because I have met very similar people and when they have a change of heart like that they go through an identity crisis so he reverted to want he knew how to do, but I think considerably less than the years before . Putting myself in his shoes I don't think I would have reacted very much different. I think Draco should have a redemption arc instead of Snape as Draco was a child and bullied other children whereas Snape was an ADULT and bullied CHILDREN in real life that teacher would have been fired.
i mean he wasn’t NOT redeemed? he was a child bully and ignorant, especially more so in the books (the films he seems much more sympathetic - even in half blood prince where he’s seen crying in the bathroom in the films, where in the books he’s much more seemingly determined until closer to the ‘end’), and though a result of his upbringing, he never outwardly tried to stop his bullying behaviour etc in spite of external positive influences in hogwarts. he should still be help responsible for his problematic behaviours (before Voldemort’s direct influence more so). and i think he was but also forgiven and redeemed at the end in knowing the worst of what he did wasn’t done because he wanted to - he was a bully but not evil. i love draco still and do sympathise with him. i would like to add that even snape didn’t really get cleansed of his past behaviour because of ‘always’. i think the Harry Potter series just shows a dynamic mix of characters, and some morally ambiguous including snape, draco, even sirius. but none of these three for example are defined as evil - and neither perfect too. snape was redeemed to a degree - but to show how he wasn’t fully evil rather than him being a pure good guy. he should still be seen a bully like draco, but his bravery and commitment to Lily was shown to be considerably significant to harrys so that’s why i feel there is much more a focus on him (and the perceived idea that he was redeemed). basically, it’s all subjective if you consider certain characters redeemed or not, because they’re defined by their actions - and should be judged for both their good and bad actions - but the degree to which someone takes the good as outweighing the bad is down to personal judgement i guess!
Draco's redemption was at Malfoy Manor; he refuses to condemn Harry Potter to death by casting doubt till Harry can act. It's not a full redemption; it's just a refusal to play pawn to Voldemort. So, he's about where Snape got to.
@@erfmosoh Perhaps. But there's no need. I think Draco has come as far as he's going to go, and he will backslide; not all the back, but back to a point where he feels at home. He will never be a friend to Muggles or muggle born Wizards, though he will not go out of his way to be an enemy, either. Recovering his family name, wealth, and prestige will be Draco's goals as he gets older. He will never be a follower, so he must lead from the front. But, that's about as much redemption as you'll get from Draco, unless there's another crisis and turning point.
I believe Draco should have gotten even more of a redemption, and he certainly did not get around the same amount of redemption as Snape, who I don’t believe deserved as much redemption as he got. Snape was never on the good side for good reasons, was an immature bully as an adult towards his students (NEVILLE) and had an obsessive and unrequited love for Lily-yet at the end of the story, Harry’s son is partially named after him??? He wasn’t good enough of a person to me to be given such respect imo
No it was not because he went back trying to capture Harry and bring him to Voldermort to be killed out of own free will. Ao i fail what you are blabbering about.
@@Daisy_human yeah I definitely zukos was better since it was the greatest redemption arc of all time imo but I think if developed properly from the beginning dracos had a lot of potential
When it comes to Draco I think a lot of people are underestimating how hard and lonely it would have been for him to distance himself from his family, particularly because they were undeniably very loving to him.
Draco's redemption arc should've been like Amity Blight's from the Owl House: A bully from a rich family who sees that they're wrong and changes for the better.
0:29 “Gets to enjoy the honour of destroying a piece of Voldemort’s soul-“ MrManSir Crabbe died soon after he destroyed the horcrux without even realising he did it. I don’t think he had the time to revel in his accomplishments.
When Draco and Harry give each other that curt nod in the movie I was so confused because I recognized what the act was supposed to mean but of course the story was missing that pivitol moment of Draco getting redeemed so yeah. We were definitely robbed the ending even feels like there was supposed to be a moment of redemption. Without that the nod feels almost random. Like you said after all these years "I don't hate you" is what we end on but that nod was supposed to mean "we see eye to eye and recognize each others as equals." But that's what fix-it fanfics are for.
I think a really interesting idea for the series would be to focus on the Malfoy family through the years. What his parents went through after Voldemort's fall and then what they went through during his rise like in book 2 and then after his resurrection. Their family relationships, the strains that were put on them, their new priorities, what drive them away from Voldemort, but also how they were stuck in his service. There is SO much to unpack there.
I actually kind of liked the fact that Malfoy didn’t get a total redemption within the timeline. I think that probably over the span between the end of the war and the epilogue, he would become a better person. I also liked that he did acknowledge Harry and his friends in the epilogue. And it is understandable why he didn’t associate himself with them. Considering that he basically bullied them their entire time at school.
yeah agreed. its simiilar to the way the dursleys dont go full circle. dudley gets a small redemption moment but vernon and petunia cant bring themselves to say anything meaningful when they part in book 7, even though harry saved dudley from the dementors (which petunia at least understands even if vernon doesnt). The dursleys and malfoy might feel slightly guilty for how they treated harry and realise they may have been wrong, but theyre not big enough to admit it and that goes along with the way their characters acted for the entire series
@@darthskywalkerclown I don’t think it’s just them not being big enough, I think that’s a really heavy topic to approach with someone that is only appropriate in a certain time and place. So perhaps later if the setting was appropriate they could apologize and ask for forgiveness but JK Rowling doesn’t explore that so🤷♀️
While snape was redeemed by the end of the book i still dont think he really had too much of an arc over the course of the books. Snapes alleigance was always to dumbledore when he realised he'd set voldemort on lily. even though its perceived as an arc to the reader, ultimately he was always working alongside dumbledore, we just never saw it that way till the end. And whilst he tormented harry this was really rooted in his hatred and jealousy of James at school. I think that had snape survived, it would be unlikely we'd ever see any sort of reconciliation with harry that went beyond anything we saw from malfoy/the dursleys (and also think its the stupidest thing ever that harry named his son after him lol)
I believe this with every fiber of my being. Draco should have gotten his redemption. Should he and Harry have been friends? No that doesn't *have* to happen. Snape was great but Draco, a literal child in all this mess, deserved to be seen as a good person at least in the end. Not just someone who decided not to do bad but someone who chose to do good.
Are we just going to pretend J didn’t call Neville “Big-bottom” in the list of people who destroyed a horcrux? Or is this a patented SCB inside joke I’ve missed?
I think it was probably just a weird pun. It is kind of a running joke for them to say characters names slightly wrong or replace one word in a name with a similar sounding or meaning word, and “big” and “long” kinda mean the same thing. I doubt they meant anything by it.
i feel like the scenario J gave was perfect, draco doesn't offer to be friends, he doesn't help anymore, he just does the one thing and boom redemption arc completed but alas it's not like we can bully jk rowling into rewriting the last book...
Was more redeemed than Snape. Draco: Easily influenced child brought up to believe the wrong things but eventually learned it wss wrong. Snape: Grown man who still held onto a childhood grudge and blamed their child. But he liked Harry's mum and felt bad after he got her killed.
Nothing in Draco's actions show he knew anything he did was wrong. Everything he did that appeared to be good or help Harry, in the ned, was out of his cowardice, not because he was trying to be good or help Harry. Snape's character actually affected more than Just Harry. Harry was the one thing he couldn't let go of for whatever reason. However, he didn't kill the professors when he fled the castle, He only killed Dumbledore who was doomed to die anyway as a way to try and thwart Volemort from getting the "death stick." Snape also restrained the Carrows (sp) from killing students as I recall. He switched the sword of Gryfindor. He brought the real sword to Harry. In the end showed Harry the truth when he was dying. What you missed from the books, clearly, is that Snape was basically tortured by James and Sirius. His actions directly led to the death of the woman he loved and her child looked exactly like the person who tortured him, almost got him killed by a werewolf, but has woman he love's eyes, a reminder of his past literally every time he see's Harry and looks in his eyes. Snape had already been redeemed. Just the one issue with Harry and his past. Which actually is actually quite a real struggle. Not defending his actions here, just pointing out the reason for them.
did narcissa ever show any desire to be on the dark side?? I would have enjoyed a moment where narcissa shows defiance to voldemort, finally giving her son confidence to join her and fight against him maybe it just bothers me that narcissa is just kind of there, shows so much love for malfoy and wants nothing more than to protect him, yet gets no redemption either. I feel like the end would have been the perfect moment for this. they are essentially serving voldemort for their own safety and so they dont die to his hand - what better time than when everyone is fighting him than to realize they can help end their debt to him?? malfoy only walks over to the death eaters at the end because his parents beckon him and he is always being influenced by his parents and those around him. I wish it went a different way
Disagree...he didn't deserve to be put in the situation he was in but he was a thief and a bully otherwise. Even if he DID deserve redemption, for doing absolutely nothing, not everyone gets it and would make for a better story without it.
@@maraudentium2607 i would have liked for him to get redeemed to but i do agree if he wasnt orderd to kill dumbledore he would have still be the same racist bully he was in the first 5 books.
I actually feel bad for Malfoy at the end. Snape on the other hand will never have a redemption arch from this momma bear. There is never a reason for child abuse!
Draco is the opposite of Harry for a reason. We need personification of Harry's opposite to relate to Harry more, to empathize with him more. You only understand the success of Harry by seeing the failure of Draco. Draco's story line wasn't about redemption, it was about showing where Harry could've ended up. No, Draco shouldn't have destroyed a Horcrux. Crabbe wasn't great either. (Should've been Ginny, imo)
I just want to say that when Draco offered to help Harry in the philosophers stone he was being genuine. His father thought that Harry might be the next more powerful Voldemort, so Draco wanted to be his friend.
I’ve been waiting for ages for someone to make a video about this very thing. Thank you so much, SCB! My Hufflepuff BFFs (minus me) think I’m crazy for wanting a better redemption arc for Draco. This Hufflepuff is very happy now.
Draco did have a redemption arc. It just happens after the end of the books. His ultimate redemption is turning away from his family's pure blood supremacy, falling utterly in love with and marrying Astoria (despite his parents' disapproval), who'd had a similar but less drastic turn and hence could guide him in the right direction for the first time in his life, raising his son in the complete opposite way of his own upbringing and making him a genuinely decent person, especially after Astoria's death as a strong single father, and ultimately helping Harry and his family stop Voldemort's resurrection at the hands of his own cousin.
No, I think in the end she was so into main character's endings, she simply forgot about the few strips still hanging... And, in the books, Malfoy's don't run away like cowards, they are in the middle of all the celebration and sorrow, like an isolated island, but still with them. And later on, in the end, they show that they know each other but no more hate in between, Hermione even stops Ron for speaking bad about Scorpius ...
@@diyavatsavai5778 Yeah but that’s the point. She left him as neither a good or bad guy, implying he wasn’t fully capable of redemption. He definitely didn’t want to help Voldemort by the end but he also never helped Harry, which feels like such a miss on Rowling’s part. He was on his way to switching sides but then he was never able to fully do something meaningful before the battle was won. I’d have been fine with him just completely leaving the battle and deciding not to fight for either side but no, he didn’t get any sort of completion at all. The battle just ended without him making any decision at all.
Draco was robbed of a redemption. The environment he group up in led him to antagonize the golden trio but he did acknowledge their feats as you mentioned him using their ideas. In addition to him pretending not to have recognized Harry, he should have been the one to destroy the diadem. That scene example you gave of him tossing the diadem into the fiendfyre fire would have sealed the deal that he was completely done with Voldemort.
I will say that this theory is where I thought Draco was heading as I read the books for the first time. While Draco was redeemed, I feel like you have to think about it through subtext to see it. What I mean by this, it’s that his redemption isn’t fairly obvious.
Draco could be the chosen one… 1) Dracos family have thrice defied volermart. Defied can mean challenge. In this case, they made voldermorts plan a challenge. 2) Lucius fails with Tom riddles diary and the prophecy and Narcissa lies to voldermort about Harry being dead. 3) Voldermort Marks the malfoys as his equal. They are his trusted death eaters and equal to voldermort’s cause. 4) The power Draco has that voldermort knows not, is family. The malfoys are willing to lie to voldermort so they can save each other. 5) Either voldermort or the malfoys survive. For neither can live while the other survives. 6) Draco was reborn as a death eater by the end of July. 😂😂😂
Draco definitely wasn't as bad as people like to say he is. I personally think he didn't get a redemption arc because JK Rowling is openly biased against Slytherin as a whole.
@@slytherinsheir299 technically Hagrid almost got Buckbeak executed. He should have known better than to have a dangerous animal around a bunch of untrained kids. His past experience with his giant spider didn't teach him? His awareness of wizarding culture's view on other magical creatures as being lesser to them didn't clue him in?
A thousand times YES!! One of the things that's most annoying to me in the series is the fact that people forget that most of the characters are literal CHILDREN. Children are not to be judged by adult standards. Because Harry and the Gryffindors are all so heroic and right and Good(TM), people set this standard that if you're not capable of critical socio-economic analysis at age 12, you're evil. Yes a lot of what Draco does is awful and he's a bully, but that's still schoolyard things. It shouldn't be glossed over but it can and should be analysed within the correct frame of a child, nearly brainwashed by his parents (lets be honest, the pureblood society is like a cult at this point) that slowly (very slowly) realises that his whole worldview is wrong. And unfortunately he realises too late and has no choice but to persist to protect his family and try to do the least possible damage in the meanwhile (and maybe help a bit aka not identifying Harry &co). To me, Draco is a Zuko. The story only stopped before he could completely come back around.
I always thought that it's easy to say right from wrong when all the terrible people in your life say the wrong things, and the kind ones are the goods - aka Harry. The terrible bullies raising him were wrong, the kind Weasleys were good. Okay. But for Draco? All the kind people who loved him and were kind for him, taught one thing: of course a kid thinks that's the good way! I wanted him his redemption.
![Draco Malfoy's Patronus [Harry Potter Theory]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/FmDs9-uggQ0/mqdefault.jpg)
![Draco Malfoy's Patronus [Harry Potter Theory]](/img/tr.png)
![Why Harry & Hermione Should Be Together [Harry Potter Theory]](/img/n.gif)
Are you happy with the state of Draco's redemption?
Definitely not. Besides bullying people the only evil thing he did was because he was pressured by the Dark Lord with... Death Threats. (Also first reply :D)
No
Not quite, definitely deserved better
Yes
Yes
Just like...most of the Slytherins are just kids. They aren’t evil, they’re just raised that way. I mean, Cissy and Lucius are running through Hogwarts to find Draco during the battle, they’re just trying to stay alive. Draco definitely deserved a Zuko-style redemption arc
Zuko! Yes, exactly!
Yeah, maybe not an exact Zuko redemption in the way he becomes friends with the golden trio but maybe do something that makes Harry see him eye to eye with respect so that the 19 years later epilogue makes a little bit more sense?
In the movies we don't even see the Malfoys have a change of heart they just fly the battle altogether so it doesn't even make sense that they were forgiven ffs
I don’t think it would’ve fit the message of the story…draco had a redemption when he didn’t give Harry up at Malloy manner. It didn’t go any further than that and I respect it.
How about a Vegeta-style redemption?
Wanted to kill Harry Potter but letting Harry live makes Draco to strive to be more powerful than Harry.
LOL 😂😂😂
I blame the American way of writing characters
This is the carlin brothers showing that they would be pretty good at writing the new Harry Potter TV show
YEAH
I think that's the only way we can assure that it's good 👀
FACTS
True. And they'd weasel out all the plotholes. Just kick them right out.
Absolutely
To not make the entire slytherin house look bad, JK should have atleast let two or three slytherins to stay back and fight against death eaters during the battle of hogwarts!
Yeah, that's one of the things that bothers me most about the books. It would've been so easy! All we would have needed was one sentence after the battle
Right? JK Rowling knows she puts muggleborns in Slytherin, are they really not going to fight against someone who is prejudiced against their own race? Presumably other pureblood Slytherins bully those kids too. Why were they never mentioned??
Jk was so close to getting rid of the gryffindor good slytherin bad thing because, wormtail and snape. That one thing could make someone who only idea the books and saw the movies think these were people not monsters.
If I wrote the ending, I would have included the Slytherins coming in right at the very end, hesitant but willing to fight for their school. And then I would have added another book or so detailing Voldemort vanishing during the battle, but what happened was all of his soul came back to him and he got amnesia and then Harry found him working at a coffee shop in London and oops, I made a coffee shop au. I'm not even guilty. And yes, I ship them, but so what? It's my (not so)guilty pleasure.
@@serenityfortune jeez that was cringe to read. Voldemort returning? Him working in a coffeeshop? Him getting Amnesia? jeez
Andromeda Tonks is also good example of a good slytherin. She ditched her pure blood family for muggleborn Ted Tonks, and she was an amazing grandmother to Teddy Lupin.
Yes but still a side caracter
@@klaasromkes7961 i know, but i was just saying shes a good slytherin. even here in gryffindor i have to admit, andi was a great grandmother to teddy
@@dolphixwaters319 The problem is, she isn't really in the story.
@@ShadowSonic2 true but she is a good example of a 'not evil' slytherin. she's in a lot of fanfics tho
@@dolphixwaters319 Rowling just waited too long to really bother with any sympathetic, not evil Slytherins. Like Slughorn: He was too little too late.
This is why I love Draco fanfics. They redeem him in a reasonable logically manner. Like he doesn't ignore everything he has ever done, he owns up to it!
Also, Half-Blood Prince was Tom Felton's best acting EVER!!
Yesss such good emotion from that actor
This isn't about Tom Felton bro
@@IshaqRahim Tom Felton is literally the reason why people ship Draco with everyone. It has everything to do with him.
@@TheMbangel nah, some do it for sure, but the first Drarry fan fic came out on the internet even before the first movie came out. The enemies to friends, enemies to lovers, the bad boy redeemed, the villain turned anti-hero etc are quite a popular tropes in fiction overall.
I personally was 100% convinced Draco would get a redemption arch in the final book after the first time i read the 6th book.
Just throwing Feltons good looks as an excuse is not entirely honest given the fact that you could easily see that his character simply did not get a finished arch in the 7th book. Harry sees what Voldemort is forcing him to do and is sickend, then Draco doesn't identify him in the manor, then he is trying to get Crabbe and Goyle to stand down and not kill Harry, Ron and Hermione and then he is almost killed by a death eater and finally just sitting in silence with his parents in the great hall after Voldemort died. Like... What was Dracos arc? There was a potential for a redemptive arch and the fan fic community that ship him with Harry or Hermione are just exploring that potential.
I love how a real life situation kinda added to character development. Draco's air of uncomfortableness when Voldemort hugged him was actually the actor reacting to a bit of adlibbing. He was not expecting Voldemort's actor to hug him, so he wasn't sure how to act, so we get Draco looking off about the whole thing.
I don’t think that’s true - I heard that they took like 20 takes of the scene...
Yeah, there were a lot of takes but they decided to use the one scene where the hug took place. There were plenty takes without the hug and the hug was only done once
@@kiter. I heard about this too actually, I believe there was an interview with Tom Felton where he explained that they did like 20 takes of this scene and only hugged in one of them, *and they decided to go with the one where they hugged*
@@987liss ohhh
@@kiter. they did but that was the I ly scene were he hugged Tom Felton
I very much agree, showing even he could change and was a product of his parents' bias would have been a hopeful look at the future
Draco's missing redemption arc is easily one of the biggest missed opportunities in the Harry Potter series. It was even set up so well, with him him pretending not to recognize Harry at Malfoy Manor and his mother telling Voldemort that Harry was dead. Draco's lack of a real redemption arc makes these scenes feel like they were really missing something
I also think giving Draco a redemption arc would also solidify the theme of Love in the book. Being able to reconcile with a long arch enemy would have shown the futulity of rivalries, and it would have also been a really nice contrast to Snape and James (James' death can arguably be attributed to the constant hatred between himself and Snape)
And this is why I read fanfiction. To give me the closure I needed lol
This is why I so loved Draco's arc in your "if Harry was a Slytherin" series.
Yes that was amazing
I think Draco should’ve been redeemed for the mere fact that I think it would have paralleled Regulus Black, only this time it doesn’t end in tragedy
When you think about it Dudley and Draco weren’t that different. Both were raised spoiled by their parents, had minions to basically do their dirty work, didn’t like Harry. The only difference is that DUDLEY GOT REDEMPTION (kinda) WITH HIS LINE “I don’t think you’re a complete waste of space”
He also left him a cup of tea, but he was too nervous to knock and tell him he had... I feel like he wanted to apologize but it’s like, words aren’t enough. How are you supposed to apologize to someone you’ve been that awful to? He was a teenager who didn’t know where to start when trying to repair things with his cousin that he bullied.
I would say that puts Dudley and Draco on the level. They're both Kinda redeemed.
Yup
@@forestgrump4723 yup
@@adde9506 Dudley worked for it, Draco didn't.
That deleted scene where he runs to Harry after Harry drops out of Hagrid’s arms makes me feel so many feelings cause that scene ALONE could’ve added so much context and development to his character and the internal conflict he wrestled with coming to terms he wants to be a good guy
Apparently it was ooc for him and against jkr's ✨vision✨
He never wanted to be a good guy tho. He just didn't want to be a murderer. There's a difference.
That would just make more people who have only watched the movies love him, even tho it's not canon at all. It's okay to like Draco, but don't do it because of not canon scenes.
J: Crabbe had zero-
Me: brain cells?
J: lines
Me again: mh, close enough
I MEAN...
Both are true
Actually he had -2 brain cells, easy mistake
@@christhesoulcastermage then the proper expression should be "Little to no-" brain cells, right?
@@sirmyself little to none implies that there is something there, even if its just air, but he has a void in his head
Edit:grammar
Draco and Dudley are very similar characters in that sense. They both grew up being the center of attention, and had parents thinking less of everyone else. They were brought up with a twisted view of themselves and the world around them, all as a result of their parents and family name. And most importantly, they both realized this as they grew up. Dudley's "I don't think you're a waste of space" will forever and always prove to me that he was a good guy born into a bad family, and the same goes for Draco following his actions in the last two books.
I’m happy that Draco at least has his sunshine of a son, Scorpius, in the epilogue and in the play. Shows that he definitely didn’t want to do the same mistakes Lucius did and is a legitimately good father and has grown a lot as a person.
Gonna be honest, I didn't like the play because of many things that didn't make sense but what I did like the most about it was knowing about Draco's life and the nice son he raised with his wife.
I like the idea that Draco became a good father to his son. However, I DESPISE that Harry is not in the Cursed Child! Not that the play-that-shall-not-be-named is canon anyways lol
@@ashleynicoledickerson8844 Harry is in the cursed child? He plays a quite active role
@@incompetence10881 I was saying unlike how Draco IS a good father, Harry is not
@@ashleynicoledickerson8844 ohhhh, gotcha
Draco Malfoy: The Half-Decent Prince
LOL...
This better stay the top comment
LOL he was raised more princely than anyoe else in the books but he's like maybe 1/10 decent & that is being generous but J is right he should have had a full turn
lol
I felt that in my soul
Crabbe: Destroys the final horcrux
Draco: "My father will hear about this..."
Edit: Thanks so much for the likes everyone :)
I love this comment! 😂😂😂 And I understood that reference
Lol
That wasn’t the final horcrux there was still nagging and Harry left
@@odoaiden3525 Ik. Crabbe was just the last one that J mentioned.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
While we are talking about mistakes the author made with her characters, WHY didn't harry become a defense against the dark arts teacher after the events of the books?
I think about this all the time! It would've been perfect
I think an auror is more fitting for him tbh! It's hard to live full time at Hogwarts as a professor and raise a family ya feel. But I think once he retired from being an auror I think he should have taken the job.
Would you want a drop out teaching your kids?
Ame
@@jeremytung1632 If they were a dropout that used their skills to save the world, I think I might want my kid to learn that.
I heard somewhere that Draco wasn't given a redemption arc in the books because the author didn't like him, and didn't understand why anyone liked him. But a lot of people, especially victims of abusive families saw themselves in Draco, I mean he was clearly written as an abuse victim (in my opinion) so it's just cruel to see the lack of redemption for him despite all the bullying he did. Draco deserved the redemption arc way more than Snape, who is a full grown man who bullies kids, than a kid who literally lives in fear of Voldemort and his parents for so long
Yeah. I totally agree with you.
Maybe it’s the lack of abuse in my life but he appeared to be well loved by his parents, if a bit spoilt.
I agree with you about Draco deserving redemption over Snape but i’m pretty sure I read somewhere that Jason Isaacs (the actor of Draco’s father) adding the abusive nature of Lucius and Draco’s relationship. I don’t think Lucius was written the same way Jason Isaacs plays him in the movies but i’m not 100% sure, it’s been a while.
But he wasn't abused he was spoiled by his parents.
He was abused and spoiled. When Draco did things the way his father wanted them he was spoiled. When he didn’t do things right or live up to the “malfoy expectations” his father obviously criticized and verbally abused him. I believe his father might’ve even used spells on him, but not intense when because of narcissa. Narcissa in my eyes wouldn’t spoil Draco but instead try to teach him the morals of right and wrong. But Draco obviously stands with his fathers views more until he realizes just how bad Voldemort is so there’s that.
I love how they show him becoming increasingly more afraid of the decisions that he and his family have made and at the end how much they just wanted to be away from it, to be rid of voldemort all together, and keep their family together and safe.
The fact that the movies actually had a scene where Draco threw a wand to Harry, but decided to delete it. 😶
ah man that would have been epic!
I KNOW I AM SO MAD
I KNOW ITS SO UPSETTING
Sounds like it was a gag scene, as Draco shouldn't have had a wand and harry had his wand lol
At least the game had that, I would know, they have it at the hospital I was at for a broken leg
Also noticed that one of the only times we see him entirely alone to be himself (or at least Draco seems to think so). Right before the Sectumsempra fight in the bathroom where Draco's having a mental breakdown the only person that's there to comfort him and that he allows to is Moaning Myrtle who is a muggle-born and who straight up was killed by the man that his dad works too. If he had the value set of his family I don't think he would've befriended myrtle, yet it seems they have a decent friendship Myrtle seems to see him in a light that he rarely shows to anyone, she listens to him, and she defends him when Harry busts in. I feel like because the story is in Harry's perspective we mostly see Draco in ways he wants people to see and feels the need to put up an image, and then that was the first moment where we saw the actual Draco and his eternal struggle. I would have preferred a Draco redemption to the Snape redemption we got. I think it would've made more sense if he got the redemption especially instead of Snape or At least make his redemption more of a focus especially since Snape’s never made sense to me it was kinda a half redemption but then if you look into it more it doesn’t check out or make him good to the point where the movies had to Soften him up so the redemption could work.
That’s assuming malfoy cared enough about a ghost to know she was a muggleborn or how she died... i highly doubt it tbh.
@@Skylerrelyks93 He'd probably already knew all about her before they had even met, Lucius probably would've brought it up at some point probably around the same time of chamber of secrets. He knows that a muggle-born died when the chamber was first opened I wouldn't be surprised if he at least knew the name.
hello fellow starkid fan
@@sillygoosetaur Yes hello
EXACTLY! And since Snape was good the whole time, it technically wasn't even a redemption, just a reveal. SO THERE WAS ROOM IN THERE TO REDEEM A CHARACTER AND IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DRACO
I think the thing that annoys me most about this is that it wouldn't have even been hard to implement
Yeah, that's what bothers me so much about it. She had already laid out all the build up for his arc, we just would've needed to change a paragraph or two outside the Room of Requirement and maybe a scene in the epilogue or something
Literally one sentence would be all it takes. Draco throws the diadem, Harry nods at him, Ron and Hermione hug, the oaf that survived looks on bewildered, noone ever mentions it again in keeping with "Draco is too cool for feelings" party line. She did this on purpose.
I really wish JK Rowling had had a better editor for the last half of the series. A good editor doesn't just fix typos and tell you to cut word count, a good editor points out things like this! "Do you really want *all* Slytherins to be bad? Harry should be starting to notice the ones who *aren't* toadying up to Malfoy by now." "You said two books ago the world isn't made up of good people and Death Eaters, I can see what you're trying to do with Slughorn being a "good" Slytherin, but you really need to show, not tell, a lot more!" "Cut about half the "camping" stuff, and give us some good Slytherins in the final battle!" And yes, making Draco consciously choose to destroy the Horcrux would have been a good option for his redemption. ;-)
Trouble is, JK got too powerful and didn't have to work with anyone or compromise with anyone, or even listen to anyone. Her work suffered for it.
Cedric should've been a Slytherin. It would've planted the seeds for the Slytherin students who join in the Battle for Hogwarts to avenge one of their own who was killed by their supposed Leader.
And their mantra can be, "No more spares."
And when Harry arrives at Hogwarts and Neville introduces him to a 7th year Slytherin who's "leading" the rebellion within Slytherin House, then can shake hands and he'll say "No more spares," and Harry replies, "Right. No more spares."
Yes. Her work suffered... she became one of the most well known authors to ever exist, but her work suffered.
@@propheinx2250 I think it’s because she was rushing it sure she doesn’t need to go full George R. R. but extra year between book after book 4 would have made a world difference
@@iRazenrak to be honest... Cedric DIDN'T even embody the personality traits of the Slytherins. He was just MEANT to be in Hufflepuff. It was just so out-of-character for him to be cunning and mischievous.
The last books were the best ones
Seeing as how JK Rowling liked to use parallels in her books, having Draco parallel Regulus would have been a nice touch, two followers of Voldemort who had a hand in destroying a horcrux.
More than anything Draco needed a therapist let alone a redemption arc
as much as i love draco and want him to be redeemed i do kind of think theres something poetic about his ending being unresolved. It's a good reminder that change doesnt happen all at once. Maybe he comes around years after they leave school, or maybe he stays undecided but instills better values in his children and gradually shifts the Malfoys onto a better path over generations. Either way, good to see our boy shedding his instilled beliefs and biases and opening himself up to the world.
This is how i view it. His redemption is subtle. He sees the error of his ways but can not get passed his past with people. But his children are raised without that mindset.
I’ve written a series of essays on why I don’t think Snape was a hero (I ultimately went with antihero and would write another set about the exact same thing for Dumbledore) but I would write a million of them on why Draco was capable of change similarly to how Regulus was (Regulus went to destroy a horcrux and died for it because he realized what he was doing and what his family had taught him was wrong just like I think Draco could)
This is entirely your choice, but could you share those essays? Or at least provide a link to a doc with them? I'd love to read them. I love reading these long character analysis essays lol.
I agree that both Snape and Dumbledore are extremely morally grey characters and Draco definitely had a very similar life to Regulus, who proved he was more than what his family wanted him to be, and I would have loved a redemption for him. Honestly, I chalk up Harry naming Albus Severus after Snape and Dumbledore to just him being forgiving, but neither of those two deserved full acceptance from Harry, at least not with the limited time they had with him.
Draco destroying the diadem would have solidified his want to change, even if that wouldn't be a full apology for all his bullying. Heck, for all we know, Regulus was just as bad a Slytherin, but since he had so little time after he decided to rebel against Voldemort, I can forgive him for literally laying down his life at age 18 to take down Voldemort. Draco, meanwhile, had a whole future for him to redeem himself and we never got to see it. It sucks that we didn't have what could've been great good Slytherin representation.
Draco being roughly the same age as Zuko makes this seems so much more plausible... Books 1-5 are "trying to capture the Avatar for my super awesome family", book 6 is the Ba Sing Se refugee realizations, and book 7 is the "basically got what I wanted and it sucks" arc. If Draco had joined Team Potter when they escape his manor at the end it would have been the perfect opportunity for a "hello, Draco here" moment, but I think Draco's a little behind because he's stuck with Snape instead of Uncle Iroh!
Not only did Crabbe destroy the diadem, he destroyed it on ACCIDENT after losing control of the fiendfyre curse. What a kick in the nuts to Draco's redemption arc.
It’s goyle not crabbe But beyond that he did not destroy it it was the basilisk fang that Hermione and Ron stabbed it with there is no proof the fire would’ve done anything to it
@@76tennboy It's Crabbe in the books, and it IS the fire that did it. Hermione and Ron stabbed another Horcrux, but Crabbe destroyed the diadem of Ravenclaw. Also Hermione says that Foxfire is one of the only things that can destroy a Horcrux
@Kevin Sherrard Bruh go read the books 😡😡😡
@Kevin Sherrard You’re the one who’s wrong 😡😡😡🤬🤬
I feel like Draco could have been the Regulus of his time. I haven’t read the books in quite a while but from what I remember Regulus pulled away from the black family beliefs. That could have been the situation for Draco. We could have got a new age version of Regulus Black. Me and my friend have spoke about this and we think that he should have helped Luna when she was in Malfoy Manor. The most carefree of souls meets someone who grew up taught that everything different is inherently bad. It would have been not only ironic, but almost perfect. Luna is the definition of all good. She loves her friends and is so kind. Then there is Draco. He’s potentially the biggest anti-hero in all of the books. The difference between the two would have made it great. Then after he helps Luna he could have been a double agent just as Snape was. It would have been amazing.
Oh my god that would have been such a great idea this is my headcanon now i wish JK Rowling would have written that originally
This would have been so amazing!! As Draco is helping Luna she breaks down things about Draco he's afraid to see. It makes him open his eyes to everything and, even if he isn't a complete saint yet, he at least wants to save this one girl who- for some odd reason- sees a good in him that he's not even sure he's capable of himself.
Ooooh I love this dynamic💕
Earlier he was a rich brat but later he was bad just because of peer pressure. I love Draco and I love Tom playing Draco ♥️
I mean if Snape was redeemed Draco should have been too
If we even agree that Snape was redeemed, which, I don't think he entirely was.
Snape's role is the biggest plot twist of the series, Draco's redemption would have undermined that. For books 1-5, Draco is a bully and not really impactful to Harry's overall story. In HBP, he finally gets some depth and then turns around by the end of DH. Snape has been important since the beginning.
if i had to pick one, i would pick snape over draco
@@FuenteSmoker Snape doesn't have a redemption arc, he's changed sides before the story begins.
Yeah, I think draco deserved it even more
Worry not, the fanfiction writers have given Draco the redemption arc he deserves.. many times over ❤️
@@riirah1010 i like a good draco redemption fanfiction myself but i care more what if in canon.
well not really since i hate the hp canon, but i mean i care more for books that are great in canon.
That's if we ignore the fact that majority of them just go like "oh but draco was secretly a good guy all along and he would never do anything bad or evil" which is the WRONG way to handle it as that destroys any kind of character development he did receive, of which there was plenty.
♥️
Speaking of good people who were Sorted into Slytherin, there was also Andromeda Tonks (nee Black). She rebeled against her pureblood-supremacist family, married a Muggleborn, and aided the Order of the Phoenix.
While you were talking about elementary school, all I could think about was Mad-eye's lecture on elementary wand safety.
'Better wizards than you have lost buttocks, you know.' XD
There was actually a deleted scene where at the end when Harry rolls off of Hagrid's arms, Draco throws a wand at Harry. You can search it up on TH-cam.
that doesn’t make sense
Doesn’t happen in the books though.
The fact that the wizarding world doesn't have a some kind of elementary school really just makes me surprised that any of those kids had any kind of social skills at all
As someone who was homeschooled throughout elementary, middle, and high school, it's actually easier than you expect to develop your social skills at home.
Basically, you just learn what not to do with your parents (and siblings) and then your friends teach you what you should do.
Look at Draco, he has horrible social skills.
@@serenityfortune He does ? He is popular kid. Many socially skilled people are nasty.
@@serenityfortune I would say Draco is the exception that proves the rule. ;)
Homeschool kids do just fine
I feel like Hermione may have actually entered Hogwarts at an advantage because she was Muggle-born....Like, she probably got a really good education in reading and writing before starting her magical education, and that was useful to her.
I agree about the advantage but not about reading and writing - far as I know all the characters portrayed in HP books could read and write
Wizards and Witches before Hogwarts went to Muggle Primary Schools or were educated at home.
yeah and i feel like harry should have had something similar, like Ron probably didn’t have that much of a muggle education but Harry did and so he would probably be used to having essays and stuff like that so it would make sense that he wouldn’t complain as much with the homework that they were assigned but he does
@@angrybirdswithsharpclaws I believe complaining is an integral part of doing homework
@@angrybirdswithsharpclaws Knowing the Dursleys, they probably made Harry do Dudley's homework too.
J. K. Rowling: *writing this scene* Alright, Harry, Ron and Hermione have already destroyed a Horcrux, so that just leaves these guys. How to decide...
eenie meenie minie- OKAY CRABBE IT IS!
lol 😂😂😂😂
J: Explaining how he's special
Me: still laughing at the sliced bread joke
Ikr!?! I laughed TOO hard at that one 😂😂
The jokes in this one... spot on and hilarious 😆.
Last time I was this early we had a "these socks are amazing" feature!
As far as I'm concerned, the best thing by far about the Cursed Child was Scorpius Malfoy and the way it credited Draco's good choice in marrying someone who would help build on his own personal growth and make him a better man was the correct way of redeeming him. Just a shame about the plot making the character development de-facto non-canon (but to me, that will always be who Scorpius and Draco turned out to be).
The cursed child is canon by J.K Rowling.
@@SofiaBerruxSubs Yes, well it's not like she's going to say it's a cash grab instead.
Yup
@@SofiaBerruxSubs yup
I completely agree, but if we’re on the topic of characters who deserved better I’d like to add Cedric. I know his death was to show how ultimately cruel Voldemort is but cursed child literally ruins that and I will be forever mad
I would have loved for Draco to have the diadem, then throw it in the fire, knowing that he is helping Harry, then return and fight for the Deatheaters, really nailing home that he can be a good person - he's just in a no-win situation
To add insult to injury, Ron says in the epilogue that his daughter better beat Draco's son when it comes to magic or grandpa will be disappointed. Almost twenty years later and Ron still thinks like a petulant child. To me it's JKR saying: "No, you won't get your redemption arc and the main characters will continue to dislike Draco". At least Harry has shown some adult behavior in that scene.
Draco almost murdered Ron. But sure, Ron should totally not hold that against him.
JK really likes saying all memorable pure blood Slytherins are bad and that is it
I know, I'm a slytherin and I'm re-reading the books and it just makes me feel so disheartened to see how she made almost all slytherin bad ( and the ones who were good or were muggle born and half-bloods weren't shown much ), it irritates me so much that I make things up to make slytherins look better in my head.
@@janhavishigwan1347
Same, and I'm not even a Slytherin. It just make the book better to make up parts that should be there.
@Ano Sora slughorn andromeda and regulas got little to no screen time and we were convinced that snape was bad for most of the series and no one talks about Merlin since he is dead so we don’t know if his intentions were good or bad
One of the most disapointing thins of the series. I hope future MG fantasy authors will do something simulair like Slytherin but with more good people. And with good people i mean who are not old or dead.
Yes! Have Harry explain it to Draco- This is a piece of dark magic keeping Voldemort alive. If all of the pieces get destroyed, Voldemort can be gotten rid of. Draco's family had suffered so much at the hands of Voldemort that he'd jump at the chance, and it would complete the family's heel-face turn and settle the Malfoys on the good side firmly.
The one that sticks in my craw is how Rowling seem to forget that Ron was a chess prodigy...a skill that could have come in very handy in strategic battle situations. So Harry coulda been the Chosen One, hermione the smart one, and Ron could have risen to be the strategist of the group.
Agreed. Draco was done dirty. He should have either went full evil giving as a climactic battle to the death with Harry, or be fully redeemed
But he just stood there in the middle
Draco Malfoy did get fully redeemed to me in Malfoy Manor. Started his redemption on top of the Astronomy Tower when his wand almost lowered when facing Dumbledore if the others hadn't arrived I bet he would've fully lowered it and let Dumbledore help him. Finished redemption when he attempted to save Harry in the Manor. Added to it with stopping the Avada Kadavra. So I feel he got redeemed. I feel he is the equivalent to Regulus Black a sort of more modern version of him. Raised in a Pure-Blood Wealthy family with a sense of superiority and long lineage. His family convinced him joining the Dark Lord was a good thing but then he realized how wrong it was and tried to do good. Also had a House-Elf though Regulus treated his family's decently unlike Draco. But anyway that is my take Draco is the Modern Wizarding War Regulus. Also on Pottermore I am a Gryffindor with an unyielding flexibility Blackthorn and Dragon Heartstring wand with a Shark Patronus somehow.
If Draco is redeemed at Malfoy manner then why does he try to catch Harry in the room of requirement
@@ljd6711 he didn't intend on harming them seriously rather to try to keep Voldy from harming him and his family he would find the Diadem and in the process maybe get his wand back from Harry
@@morrigankasa570 sure but then he’d do what with the diadem? give it to Voldemort. That would mean Harry couldn’t stop him and Draco is smart enough to know what would happen to Harry if Voldemort won. Also, not retrieving the diadem wouldn’t get his family harmed. We know this because first, Draco was never instructed to get the diadem and he wasn’t harmed when he didn’t get it. He was looking for it because he wanted to help Voldemort.
@@aisha.b.4090 maybe, though I still feel more so that he was trying to save/protect his family. So still feel he got redeemed.
I BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE: TURN IT UP
I did my waiting! Twelve years of it!!
In askaban
I 100% agree with this theory J! That’s why Scorpius is the one part of The Cursed Child I actually like.
Funnily enough I was thinking about the “Tragedy of Draco Malfoy” a couple of days ago. How he goes from a smug 11 year old to a broken young man. If Kylo Ren can be so easily redeemed I see no reason why Draco Malfoy couldn’t be either.
That's nice, but did you ever hear the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis The Wise?
I honestly think most people forget that most of the characters are children, and most children in real life who are bullies grow up and change their beliefs and become a better person. I don't blame any of the children in Harry Potter for their actions as when we see them they are between the ages of 11 and 17 years old and going through major changes and trauma in their day to day life. I think that Draco started to realize what he thought was wrong in year 4, because I have met very similar people and when they have a change of heart like that they go through an identity crisis so he reverted to want he knew how to do, but I think considerably less than the years before . Putting myself in his shoes I don't think I would have reacted very much different. I think Draco should have a redemption arc instead of Snape as Draco was a child and bullied other children whereas Snape was an ADULT and bullied CHILDREN in real life that teacher would have been fired.
i mean he wasn’t NOT redeemed? he was a child bully and ignorant, especially more so in the books (the films he seems much more sympathetic - even in half blood prince where he’s seen crying in the bathroom in the films, where in the books he’s much more seemingly determined until closer to the ‘end’), and though a result of his upbringing, he never outwardly tried to stop his bullying behaviour etc in spite of external positive influences in hogwarts. he should still be help responsible for his problematic behaviours (before Voldemort’s direct influence more so). and i think he was but also forgiven and redeemed at the end in knowing the worst of what he did wasn’t done because he wanted to - he was a bully but not evil. i love draco still and do sympathise with him. i would like to add that even snape didn’t really get cleansed of his past behaviour because of ‘always’. i think the Harry Potter series just shows a dynamic mix of characters, and some morally ambiguous including snape, draco, even sirius. but none of these three for example are defined as evil - and neither perfect too. snape was redeemed to a degree - but to show how he wasn’t fully evil rather than him being a pure good guy. he should still be seen a bully like draco, but his bravery and commitment to Lily was shown to be considerably significant to harrys so that’s why i feel there is much more a focus on him (and the perceived idea that he was redeemed).
basically, it’s all subjective if you consider certain characters redeemed or not, because they’re defined by their actions - and should be judged for both their good and bad actions - but the degree to which someone takes the good as outweighing the bad is down to personal judgement i guess!
TLDR I clicked on read more not knowing how loooooong it would be hhahahaha
@@CookieCat712 Me too. Saw that, awe y?...
@@CookieCat712 i do apologise... 👁👄👁 HAHAHAHA i do ramble sometimes 👉🏼👈🏼
@@marshawargo7238 sorry 🥺
awesome!
Draco's redemption was at Malfoy Manor; he refuses to condemn Harry Potter to death by casting doubt till Harry can act. It's not a full redemption; it's just a refusal to play pawn to Voldemort. So, he's about where Snape got to.
I honestly think Draco deserves a little more
@@erfmosoh Perhaps. But there's no need. I think Draco has come as far as he's going to go, and he will backslide; not all the back, but back to a point where he feels at home. He will never be a friend to Muggles or muggle born Wizards, though he will not go out of his way to be an enemy, either. Recovering his family name, wealth, and prestige will be Draco's goals as he gets older. He will never be a follower, so he must lead from the front.
But, that's about as much redemption as you'll get from Draco, unless there's another crisis and turning point.
@@erfmosoh I think so too
I believe Draco should have gotten even more of a redemption, and he certainly did not get around the same amount of redemption as Snape, who I don’t believe deserved as much redemption as he got. Snape was never on the good side for good reasons, was an immature bully as an adult towards his students (NEVILLE) and had an obsessive and unrequited love for Lily-yet at the end of the story, Harry’s son is partially named after him??? He wasn’t good enough of a person to me to be given such respect imo
No it was not because he went back trying to capture Harry and bring him to Voldermort to be killed out of own free will.
Ao i fail what you are blabbering about.
Draco could've had a redemption arc that would've neared Zuko's
I agree although you could argue that Snape get that redemption ark also zukos redemption ark started much urlea
@@Daisy_human yeah I definitely zukos was better since it was the greatest redemption arc of all time imo but I think if developed properly from the beginning dracos had a lot of potential
The fact that he didn’t is rough, buddy.
@@billysinge8977 🤣🤣
@@Daisy_human *arc *earlier. Not ark, not urlea
When it comes to Draco I think a lot of people are underestimating how hard and lonely it would have been for him to distance himself from his family, particularly because they were undeniably very loving to him.
❤ Very kind comment. I like this.❤
That part about Draco holding the Diadem, then throwing it back into the fire? Yeah, that's my headcanon now.
Actually, I like this better. This is MY new cannon. When I read the books next, this is what happens. You can't change my mind.
Draco's redemption arc should've been like Amity Blight's from the Owl House: A bully from a rich family who sees that they're wrong and changes for the better.
And eventually develops a crush on the main character
Or like Pacifica's from Gravity Falls
@@emilyh9670 I had a feeling that someone was going to mention her.
0:29
“Gets to enjoy the honour of destroying a piece of Voldemort’s soul-“
MrManSir Crabbe died soon after he destroyed the horcrux without even realising he did it. I don’t think he had the time to revel in his accomplishments.
When Draco and Harry give each other that curt nod in the movie I was so confused because I recognized what the act was supposed to mean but of course the story was missing that pivitol moment of Draco getting redeemed so yeah. We were definitely robbed the ending even feels like there was supposed to be a moment of redemption. Without that the nod feels almost random. Like you said after all these years "I don't hate you" is what we end on but that nod was supposed to mean "we see eye to eye and recognize each others as equals."
But that's what fix-it fanfics are for.
I think a really interesting idea for the series would be to focus on the Malfoy family through the years. What his parents went through after Voldemort's fall and then what they went through during his rise like in book 2 and then after his resurrection. Their family relationships, the strains that were put on them, their new priorities, what drive them away from Voldemort, but also how they were stuck in his service. There is SO much to unpack there.
Yes I agree
I actually kind of liked the fact that Malfoy didn’t get a total redemption within the timeline. I think that probably over the span between the end of the war and the epilogue, he would become a better person. I also liked that he did acknowledge Harry and his friends in the epilogue. And it is understandable why he didn’t associate himself with them. Considering that he basically bullied them their entire time at school.
yeah agreed. its simiilar to the way the dursleys dont go full circle. dudley gets a small redemption moment but vernon and petunia cant bring themselves to say anything meaningful when they part in book 7, even though harry saved dudley from the dementors (which petunia at least understands even if vernon doesnt). The dursleys and malfoy might feel slightly guilty for how they treated harry and realise they may have been wrong, but theyre not big enough to admit it and that goes along with the way their characters acted for the entire series
I agree with this. A full redemption would have felt forced in my opinion. I think his unresolved arc hints at further development for the future
@@darthskywalkerclown I don’t think it’s just them not being big enough, I think that’s a really heavy topic to approach with someone that is only appropriate in a certain time and place. So perhaps later if the setting was appropriate they could apologize and ask for forgiveness but JK Rowling doesn’t explore that so🤷♀️
I agree
While snape was redeemed by the end of the book i still dont think he really had too much of an arc over the course of the books. Snapes alleigance was always to dumbledore when he realised he'd set voldemort on lily. even though its perceived as an arc to the reader, ultimately he was always working alongside dumbledore, we just never saw it that way till the end. And whilst he tormented harry this was really rooted in his hatred and jealousy of James at school. I think that had snape survived, it would be unlikely we'd ever see any sort of reconciliation with harry that went beyond anything we saw from malfoy/the dursleys (and also think its the stupidest thing ever that harry named his son after him lol)
Use this as a bring back “These Socks Are Amazing!” button
Don"t tell me what to do punk
@@Collserra3 bruh
I miss that :(
Collserra you have to ask yourself one question: do I feel lucky? Well? Do ya, punk?
@@Louise-vk6gl I agree
I believe this with every fiber of my being. Draco should have gotten his redemption. Should he and Harry have been friends? No that doesn't *have* to happen. Snape was great but Draco, a literal child in all this mess, deserved to be seen as a good person at least in the end. Not just someone who decided not to do bad but someone who chose to do good.
Are we just going to pretend J didn’t call Neville “Big-bottom” in the list of people who destroyed a horcrux? Or is this a patented SCB inside joke I’ve missed?
What, you think he’s a top?
@@felipevasconcelos6736 Better than "fat-bottomed"?
Agreed, feels like a fat-shaming needless cruelty.
I think it was probably just a weird pun. It is kind of a running joke for them to say characters names slightly wrong or replace one word in a name with a similar sounding or meaning word, and “big” and “long” kinda mean the same thing. I doubt they meant anything by it.
i thought he was just saying Neville had cakes💀
Draco absolutely deserved a redemption arc. It was one of my favorite parts of “What if Harry was sorted into Slytherin?”
i feel like the scenario J gave was perfect,
draco doesn't offer to be friends, he doesn't help anymore, he just does the one thing and boom redemption arc completed
but alas it's not like we can bully jk rowling into rewriting the last book...
Was more redeemed than Snape.
Draco: Easily influenced child brought up to believe the wrong things but eventually learned it wss wrong.
Snape: Grown man who still held onto a childhood grudge and blamed their child. But he liked Harry's mum and felt bad after he got her killed.
Nothing in Draco's actions show he knew anything he did was wrong. Everything he did that appeared to be good or help Harry, in the ned, was out of his cowardice, not because he was trying to be good or help Harry.
Snape's character actually affected more than Just Harry. Harry was the one thing he couldn't let go of for whatever reason. However, he didn't kill the professors when he fled the castle, He only killed Dumbledore who was doomed to die anyway as a way to try and thwart Volemort from getting the "death stick." Snape also restrained the Carrows (sp) from killing students as I recall. He switched the sword of Gryfindor. He brought the real sword to Harry. In the end showed Harry the truth when he was dying.
What you missed from the books, clearly, is that Snape was basically tortured by James and Sirius. His actions directly led to the death of the woman he loved and her child looked exactly like the person who tortured him, almost got him killed by a werewolf, but has woman he love's eyes, a reminder of his past literally every time he see's Harry and looks in his eyes. Snape had already been redeemed. Just the one issue with Harry and his past. Which actually is actually quite a real struggle. Not defending his actions here, just pointing out the reason for them.
did narcissa ever show any desire to be on the dark side??
I would have enjoyed a moment where narcissa shows defiance to voldemort, finally giving her son confidence to join her and fight against him
maybe it just bothers me that narcissa is just kind of there, shows so much love for malfoy and wants nothing more than to protect him, yet gets no redemption either. I feel like the end would have been the perfect moment for this. they are essentially serving voldemort for their own safety and so they dont die to his hand - what better time than when everyone is fighting him than to realize they can help end their debt to him?? malfoy only walks over to the death eaters at the end because his parents beckon him and he is always being influenced by his parents and those around him. I wish it went a different way
In retrospect, Crabbe wasn’t actually intending to destroy the Horcrux it just happened to be a happy accident that Feindfyre destroys Horcruxes.
J: "Draco. Says father too much"
Draco if he heard him: "oh yeah!? Your tired of me?! Wait till my father hears about this!"
He honestly deserved the redemption arc especially with everything he showed
Disagree...he didn't deserve to be put in the situation he was in but he was a thief and a bully otherwise. Even if he DID deserve redemption, for doing absolutely nothing, not everyone gets it and would make for a better story without it.
@@maraudentium2607 i would have liked for him to get redeemed to but i do agree if he wasnt orderd to kill dumbledore he would have still be the same racist bully he was in the first 5 books.
Pigpimples->Hogwarts->Boarblisters
Elementary->GradeSchool->College
Would Kindergarten/Preschool be called Pigletzits?
Pigfarts
@@lextatertotsfromhell7673 I heard at Pigfarts their Headmaster is a Lion, named Rumbleroar. I want to go but you need a rocketship to get there.
@@victoriabryer4710 it's on mars, right, I forgot.
Lex C pigfarts pigfarts here i come, pigfarts pigfarts yum yum yum
I said that for years, Draco deserved better but JK needs to prove her point that Slytherins are evil yadda yadda 😤
I actually feel bad for Malfoy at the end. Snape on the other hand will never have a redemption arch from this momma bear. There is never a reason for child abuse!
Draco is the opposite of Harry for a reason. We need personification of Harry's opposite to relate to Harry more, to empathize with him more. You only understand the success of Harry by seeing the failure of Draco. Draco's story line wasn't about redemption, it was about showing where Harry could've ended up. No, Draco shouldn't have destroyed a Horcrux. Crabbe wasn't great either. (Should've been Ginny, imo)
Pigpimples Elementary School of Witchcraft and Wizardry oh my gosh you guys are genius
I’m a sucker for a redemption arc and Draco definitely needed one.
he kinda did but ...
@@imnotcool9617 Yeah, but not the one he really deserved.
I just want to say that when Draco offered to help Harry in the philosophers stone he was being genuine. His father thought that Harry might be the next more powerful Voldemort, so Draco wanted to be his friend.
13:00 Imagine feeling the pain of being sorted into 3 houses. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. I feel like a brave intelligent ambitious person.
I’ve been waiting for ages for someone to make a video about this very thing. Thank you so much, SCB! My Hufflepuff BFFs (minus me) think I’m crazy for wanting a better redemption arc for Draco. This Hufflepuff is very happy now.
As a Fellow Hufflepuff💛 I feel the same way. My other Hufflepuff friends think he's evol incarnate🤧
Draco did have a redemption arc. It just happens after the end of the books. His ultimate redemption is turning away from his family's pure blood supremacy, falling utterly in love with and marrying Astoria (despite his parents' disapproval), who'd had a similar but less drastic turn and hence could guide him in the right direction for the first time in his life, raising his son in the complete opposite way of his own upbringing and making him a genuinely decent person, especially after Astoria's death as a strong single father, and ultimately helping Harry and his family stop Voldemort's resurrection at the hands of his own cousin.
I mean i agree with the title right off the bat but now I wanna hear the theory
@Mariano Vega ahhhhh
Same
The fact that Draco could have easily been the Zuko of the series, and that they didn't act on it, makes me so mad.
We where talking about this at work. Really think it would make large impact in the story. Like uncle Iroh and Zuko
Rowling just likes the classic black and white world I guess
Ironic
No, I think in the end she was so into main character's endings, she simply forgot about the few strips still hanging... And, in the books, Malfoy's don't run away like cowards, they are in the middle of all the celebration and sorrow, like an isolated island, but still with them. And later on, in the end, they show that they know each other but no more hate in between, Hermione even stops Ron for speaking bad about Scorpius ...
uhhhh snape, james potter, draco?
That's exactly the opposite of the books' ending. Draco is left as grayish, not quite redeemed yet, but he'll make it there in a few years.
@@diyavatsavai5778 Yeah but that’s the point. She left him as neither a good or bad guy, implying he wasn’t fully capable of redemption. He definitely didn’t want to help Voldemort by the end but he also never helped Harry, which feels like such a miss on Rowling’s part. He was on his way to switching sides but then he was never able to fully do something meaningful before the battle was won. I’d have been fine with him just completely leaving the battle and deciding not to fight for either side but no, he didn’t get any sort of completion at all. The battle just ended without him making any decision at all.
Draco was robbed of a redemption. The environment he group up in led him to antagonize the golden trio but he did acknowledge their feats as you mentioned him using their ideas.
In addition to him pretending not to have recognized Harry, he should have been the one to destroy the diadem.
That scene example you gave of him tossing the diadem into the fiendfyre fire would have sealed the deal that he was completely done with Voldemort.
I will say that this theory is where I thought Draco was heading as I read the books for the first time. While Draco was redeemed, I feel like you have to think about it through subtext to see it. What I mean by this, it’s that his redemption isn’t fairly obvious.
That father compilation is legendary
Draco could be the chosen one…
1) Dracos family have thrice defied volermart. Defied can mean challenge. In this case, they made voldermorts plan a challenge.
2) Lucius fails with Tom riddles diary and the prophecy and Narcissa lies to voldermort about Harry being dead.
3) Voldermort Marks the malfoys as his equal. They are his trusted death eaters and equal to voldermort’s cause.
4) The power Draco has that voldermort knows not, is family. The malfoys are willing to lie to voldermort so they can save each other.
5) Either voldermort or the malfoys survive. For neither can live while the other survives.
6) Draco was reborn as a death eater by the end of July.
😂😂😂
That “Cat’s in the Cradle” usage was mean three seconds of that songs and I was already in tears 😭
Draco definitely wasn't as bad as people like to say he is. I personally think he didn't get a redemption arc because JK Rowling is openly biased against Slytherin as a whole.
Book Draco was though, but agree
That's a great point. She really had a think against Slyrherin💔
@@slytherinsheir299 technically Hagrid almost got Buckbeak executed. He should have known better than to have a dangerous animal around a bunch of untrained kids. His past experience with his giant spider didn't teach him? His awareness of wizarding culture's view on other magical creatures as being lesser to them didn't clue him in?
This isn’t even a theory, it’s just a fact.
Well, in my mind, all SCB Theories turn into facts😂
Headcanon rules!
A thousand times YES!! One of the things that's most annoying to me in the series is the fact that people forget that most of the characters are literal CHILDREN. Children are not to be judged by adult standards. Because Harry and the Gryffindors are all so heroic and right and Good(TM), people set this standard that if you're not capable of critical socio-economic analysis at age 12, you're evil.
Yes a lot of what Draco does is awful and he's a bully, but that's still schoolyard things. It shouldn't be glossed over but it can and should be analysed within the correct frame of a child, nearly brainwashed by his parents (lets be honest, the pureblood society is like a cult at this point) that slowly (very slowly) realises that his whole worldview is wrong. And unfortunately he realises too late and has no choice but to persist to protect his family and try to do the least possible damage in the meanwhile (and maybe help a bit aka not identifying Harry &co).
To me, Draco is a Zuko. The story only stopped before he could completely come back around.
I always thought that it's easy to say right from wrong when all the terrible people in your life say the wrong things, and the kind ones are the goods - aka Harry. The terrible bullies raising him were wrong, the kind Weasleys were good. Okay. But for Draco? All the kind people who loved him and were kind for him, taught one thing: of course a kid thinks that's the good way! I wanted him his redemption.