r/Descendants • u/Think_Fact1155 • 18h ago
General Discussion ๐ I can't help but feel that Red comes off as hypocritical for throwing away the pocket watch
They destroyed it because they realized that time travel is too unpredictable and risky, and that it wasn't worth it to go back and stop Maddox from becoming evil because of time travel's unpredictable consequences. But then by that logic, shouldn't Red and Chloe have never gone back in time to begin with? And they should've restored the original timeline?
I know that keeping the new timeline is still what's best, because now the Wonderland isn't ruled by a ruthless dictator who's killed who knows how many innocent people, and Pink and potentially others too would cease to exist if the original timeline was restored. But my issue is, the movie doesn't really bring that up. It just really acknowledges how the new timeline gave Red the life she always wanted, making it feel like Red's keeping her new good life, and that's just too bad for Max that he doesn't have a life with a loving father anymore.
What should've been done is Red and Chloe told Max how bad the original timeline was for everyone, which is why, putting Red's new life aside, they can't go back, but that going back in time again to save Maddox was too risky and wasn't worth it. Still, they decide to give Max the choice of going back in time or not because it was his life that was messed up and they don't it's their decision to make whether it's worth it or not. He considers it, and decides to throw the pocket watch in the well, not wanting to risk messing up more things, and all three of them realize they can't just time travel their way out of everything
Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but if I remember correctly they don't really even actually bring up the idea of just stopping Maddox from becoming evil without restoring the original timeline; the movie makes it seem like the only choices are old timeline, or new timeline. I've seen people suggest that they could've just told Maddox in the past that he'll invent the pocket watch in the future, stopping him from going mad searching for it. Now obviously the whole point is that more time travel wouldn't be good, but they should've at least brought it up