A day in Richard's life - The Greatest Musical of the 2010s & The Loneliest Villain Ever Written of that Era by Dan
The Boy nobody Wanted
After Madalena had her “Date” with Galavant and he rejects her, she sends him back, and this upsets Richard. She also decides to get between Richard and Gareth, who respects strength, but is conflicted between that, and his loyalty and oath to King Richard. In the meantime, Richard doubts his position as King, and wonders why he has this position, which is an important step in his character arc.
The chef Vincenzo is very nervous because Madalena switched Galavant with him, and worried that Richard would accidentally, or sadistically let him hang for no reason, he suggests going to the spiritual guide, Xanax, to find clarity for his place in life. Played by the incredibly funny Ricky Gervais, who plays a very humorous former magician, who essentially lives in a shady corner of town, in a run down clocktower, living in his mother’s attic. He also is dealing in a “Secret Herb” that Vincenzo buys, cause it’s a necessity for his lifestyle.
So yeah, Xanax is a drug dealer, and uses his “herbs” in his “therapy sessions”, getting Richard and Vincenzo high in order to get some clarity, and enhances the effects with his hypnotic spell.
Xanax: Close your eyes.
Open your mind.
Your journey's about to begin.
Relax your karma.
And try not to barf.
As the universe starts to spin.
This sounds like the beginning of a hypnosis opening and deepener, and it is intentional. It mixes in a tidbit of a hippie edge to it, but that’s partially intentional.
Hocus Pocus.
Expialidocious.
Set your aura free.
Petrificus Totalus.
Drink deeply from the chalice.
Tell us what you see!
Ah-ha-ha-ha!
Here is the next part of the hypnotic deepener, but we have a couple of references. Hocus Pocus is an expected spell casting line, common in many tropes and media. Expialidocious is from “Mary Poppins”, from the song “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”, which means good and wonderful. The mention of karma and then setting aura free is a bit more new age in tone, which suits the entire situation of drugs being used. Petrificus Totalus is fairly obvious, as it’s from “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” When Hermione stops Neville Longbottom with a spell at the end of the book before the three protagonists go to confront Quirrel, pretty much freezing him in his tracks. Drinking from the Chalice is a reference from Catholic sacraments, meaning communion and sharing an experience. He ends by invoking a visual memory for Richard.
King Richard: I see a door!
(Chef leans in towards King Richard, lips puckered)
Xanax: Oi! What did I say?
Chef: No...
Xanax: Go through it.
King Richard: It's opening on its own!
Xanax: That's magic.
The first thing Richard says when he is revealed to be high as a kite is a door that appears in front of them. It isn’t stated outright if it’s a magic door that’s summoned, or a mental connection to his past, but there it is.
Chef was told not to kiss before the song, but he disobeyed and nearly kissed which shows Vincenzo is also high. He needs an escape from Madalena after all.
King Richard: This is the day my father died.
Steward: The king is dead, long live the king.
Royal Court: The king is dead, long live the king.
Steward: Where is his son, who'll inherit everything?
And here we start with Richard’s backstory that begins on the day of his father’s death, with the courts that have gathered to determine the next King. This shows us when everything started for Richard.
Chef: Is that you, sire? So handsome.
King Richard: No. It's my much older brother, Kingsley.
Young Richard: I can't see anything!
King Richard: That's me.
Vincenzo comments about Kingsley, thinking it’s Richard, as there are mental associations with greatness when it comes to Kings. But we learn that Richard was the spare, and a short and plump child.
Royal Court: Shut up, you!
Young Richard: I can't see anything!
Royal Court: Shut up!
Chef: Oh, dear.
King Richard: I ate my feelings. And a lot of bread.
And we also see that Richard was the Scapegoat of the brothers, treated more like a nuisance, and never taught about the proper niceties. It reveals why Richard act like a manchild, petty and immature, unaware of proper rulership. We know he can be intelligent and crafty, but unlike Anna from Frozen, he was mistreated badly it seems, and it has given Richard a lot of insecurities, and in a way, wanting to see the best in people.
It also explains his jealousy towards Galavant, who comes across as the perfect strong knight. Children in his position when they grow up, they often become people pleasers, which Richard suffers from, especially when it comes to Madalena.
He also reveals that he was a stress eater in order to cope with the abuse.
Royal Court: The sword, Your Highness, is a royal sword!
Young Kingsley: No one gives me anything.
Royal Court: To be the king, you must receive the sword!
Young Kingsley: If I want something, I take it. And I don't want to be any king.
(Everyone gasps)
Normally this would be a display of strength from a King, especially in a period piece like Galavant. However, he pretty much abandons his duties, and dumps it all on Richard, which shows that Kingsley is not as manly as what he assumes he is. He had a duty and he was raised to be a strong King, but he pretty much ditched and spat on his father’s legacy, leaving the young, uneducated, miserable, abused Richard to become King, and fill his shoes. Richard wasn’t ready, and he was treated as a placeholder.
Queen: Oh, but, Kingsley, it's your destiny. We literally named you "Kingsley." God told us to. It's not like we were being trendy.
Young Kingsley: My destiny lies beyond the castle walls, mother. I'm going to conquer and kill and spread bastard children throughout the land, like wildflower seeds. Somebody else can sit on their ass and rule.
The Queen worked hard to prepare Kingsley, but we see that Kingsley himself is far more immature that Richard is. He is more focused on self-pleasure, than actually fulfilling his responsibilities, perhaps due to spoiling too much, being deemed as the Golden Child.
The creators wanted to display the Queen as foolish and backwards, but she was right. And in a way, the Kingdom was lucky to have Richard, and not Kingsley as King.
Queen: But who?
Royal Court: Who?
Steward: But who?
Royal Court: Who?
All: But who?
(Young Richard farts)
(Everyone gasps and moves away from Young Richard)
And here we see another reason why he acts so immaturely and self-consciously. He is forgotten, even as the spare. He pretty much had to raise himself, so he had trouble coming into his own.
Queen: Dickie?
Chef: Dickie. (Chuckles)
King Richard: *as he sees his younger self shuffle back and forth in place self-conciously* Brillian!
This childish and immature nickname shows how much respect Richard got as a child, and him playing with a little blanket can really display what kind of self-soothing tendencies, not being developed socially due to isolation and neglect. If the only comfort a child that is closer to about 10 from the looks of it, is his blankie, it really tells us that he had a miserable childhood.
It’s a very sad image, with an ironic form of sad humour, showing that his immature tendencies started from the crib, with no one paying attention to him.
Steward: Gareth
Young Gareth: Aye.
Steward: You shall be the king's guard.
Young Gareth: I'm only 10, but... all right. I'm Gareth, and I'll faithfully serve you, my king.
And we now see Gareth’s origin as well, who was told to essentially be a bodyguard to Richard, in order to be raised together to help bond with the king to encourage Gareth to self-sacrifice himself for Richard when the time comes. This also explains why Richard is very clingy to Gareth, as he was Richard’s only friend and family, always there for him, despite Gareth judging Richard as effeminate.
Royal Court: The sword, your highness.
Is a royal sword.
To be the king, you mu-
Young Kingsley: Actually, I think I will take the sword. *pulls the sword away from Young Richard*
(Royal Court gasps)
Young Kingsley: Good luck... Dickie.
As the Court is ready to acknowledge Richard and give him the Sword of the King, Kingsley decides to take it for himself, showing he is far more entitled than Richard, as well as very arrogant. He deliberately walked away and pretty much swore off his claim to the throne in favour of Richard, but he backtracked because he wanted the sword, that rightfully belongs to Richard now. And his last line, “Good luck… Dickie” is very much that of a bullying older brother, even implying that Richard isn’t as big down there as a double insult.
The dynamic truly shows that Richard always had to clean up after Kingsley’s messes, and he lived a miserable life, entirely cleaning up after him. This is the kind of tragic dynamic that does put a lot of focus on why Richard is the way he is, and part of Hero’s Journey, with him wanting to figure out who he himself is not just as King Richard, but as Richard himself.
In the Soundtrack, there’s the added line right here, when Kingsley takes the sword from Richard
'Young Richard: But it's the king's sword! And I'm the king!
'Young Kingsley (nastily): If you want it, then by all means, take it from me!
Kingsley is a spoiled brat, and thinks the world owes him everything. Typical bullying Golden Child, and lonely, maladjusted Scapegoat seems to be the dynamic of Richard’s family, and the only good thing that happened in his life was Gareth.
Richard is then reminded of what his entire life was stuck in, and how humiliating it was, how he was treated as everyone’s second choice, which is a powerful motivator for growing into a better and more grounded and passionate character, which gets Richard angry, and focused, wanting to take his Kingdom back.
And the saddest thing… Young Richard amidst the stress and humiliation does the one thing that helped him relax and comfort himself… Sucking his thumb and blankie. Sad and horrible really. As much as some of it pushes the humour about immaturity and unfit Kingship, it also is a bit of black humour. The Queen failed both her sons, and is a horrible mother. She had good intentions for the Kingdom, but she failed to scold Kingsley, and she failed to find even a Nanny to care for Richard, and it shows that not just how infantile Richard is, but it also tells us he had to raise himself, and why he wants some form of nurturing.
Richard became a tyrant because the entire Kingdom failed him. They rejected him, abused him, and the result is what they got. Why should he be fair to his courtiers, to his nobility, to his people?
This is a sad song at the end of the day, and one can’t help but pity Richard, and get angry on his behalf. We see how unfair the world is, and there’s another reason why Madalena is a horrible woman. She chose him and his money, and she sidelined him as well.
But Kingsley made a point.
If you want it, take it.
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Also Crown of Blood has a new edition, with maps, character bios and more!