Though Eugene’s first priority will always be Rapunzel, he truly wants to save Varian from the uncontrollable volatility of risky decisions because he knows that downward spiral intimately. His extending a ready hand to Varian is his process of healing. Spurred on by his significant other’s love and encouragement, Eugene is able to acknowledge the adverse affects of his childhood on his life and start moving on. He becomes aware that children should not be required to survive on their own like he and Lance had. The process is hastened as Eugene lets himself realize he cares a lot about troubled kids who remind him of himself. Throughout the series, the boys’ relationship with each other transforms from exasperated incomprehension to easy understanding. Varian needs approval from outside sources, which was also Flynn Rider’s purpose in life, once upon a time. A significant portion of his desperation is fueled by fear of his father’s disapproval, because as much as Quirin loves Varian, he wasn’t the dependable voice of support.

Varian throws in everything he has into recovering what he lost, because he’s a child and the best solution he can think of is to return to the familiar safety of his father’s presence. Eugene reinvented himself and buried his desires for a family. They both respond to the helpless state of being young, alone, and powerless by trying to take back power in any way they can. But it doesn’t take long to figure out that Varian is meant to be a parallel for Eugene-these are two people dealing with the absence of parental guardians, struggling to reconcile the lives they previously had with their changing ideals in relation to a less-than-perfect Father Figure. The series’ focus is on Rapunzel, and by association her direct opposite, Cassandra, so the boys get comparatively less screen time. I love what the showrunners did with the main quartet, so I made a very subjective analysis post about it from a Childhood Trauma POV. I can’t believe Tangled the Series really created two incredible antivillains and threw them in direct contrast with the pre-existing golden couple.

Rapunzel figures it out sun gif