I just watched Epic. I enjoyed it, but they mentioned balance in the beginning and then seemed to ignore it the rest of the movie. Prepare for Mandrake to be a different guy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Epic or it's characters. Just in case you were unsure.
The room was dark and humid, nestled in the base of a rotten tree trunk. A baby's wail was echoing in the small room. Mandrake cradled his son in his arms and tried not to cry. He had a son. He had always wanted a son. Or a daughter. He really just wanted a family with his wife.
His wife was amazing. Really. She wore a mouse fur that she had attained when she came of age and had to prove herself. She was large for a Boggan, with dark grey skin and beautiful amber eyes. Mandrake had never seen such sharp teeth on anyone but her.
It was the happiest day of his life.
Dagda was already six years old. He giggled as he touched daisies and they withered with decay. He stopped abruptly when his father towered over him.
You can't go around killing everything you see, Dagda" His father scolded.
"Why not? I like to and that's why we're here, isn't it? To kill the forest," Dagda whimpered. He didn't want to upset his father. His father knelt on the ground so he could look into Dagda's face.
"There's a Balance, son. We're here to maintain the balance. What would be left to decay if we decayed everything all at once? Don't worry, there will be lots to do when Fall comes," Mandrake ruffled his son's head. Dagda just looked more confused.
"If all we're doing is balancing stuff, then why does everyone hate us? And why is The Queen The Queen of the whole entire forest? You're only the Ruler of the Boggan's. That doesn't seem balanced."
"It's natural for them to hate us. It's natural to fear death and we are death and decay, Dagda. And although the Queen has the power to give life, she doesn't fight us. She makes sure the balance is kept. That's why she's Queen of the forest instead of Queen of the Leafmen," Mandrake picked up his son and headed toward home in the Wrathwood. His son would come to understand.
"If everyone hates us, doesn't that mean we're the evil ones? They must be the good ones and we're the evil ones. That would be balanced," Dagda hid his face in his father's chest.
"Good and evil finds it's balance in each and every person, not in groups. Each and every creature has good and evil in them, even The Queen," Mandrake rested his hand on his son's back and kept walking.
That was the day that he went home to find that the Leafmen had attacked and his wife had died in the fight. The Queen made a formal apology. The Leafmen had been acting without the Queen's permission and would be severely punished. It would never be enough.
Mandrake sat with his son in his arms as his wife's body decayed to nothing in front of him. A Boggan's funeral. He wrapped the bat skin tighter around himself. He had killed the bat barehanded to woo his wife. The traditional Mouse skull of his wife's first kill rested on his head, hiding his face as he cried.
The Leafmen pushed and pushed. They had lost sight of the balance, their fear of death overpowering them. They saw him as evil, and Mandrake was sick of it. This animosity and misunderstanding killed his wife. He was done with it, this had to change.
They would take the bud and give it right the hell back to them. Maybe then the Queen would get control of her goddamn army and remind them why there was a life giver and a life taker.
It would have worked. Everything would have been fine if Dagda hadn't died. He needed an heir. He needed a family. He needed his son back. And the bud was going to fix everything.