Sagemai (from The Journey)

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(Note: Back to the family movie project, “The Journey.”)

Sagemai (46)

Project: Family movie (“The Journey”)

Known as: No nicknames

Real name: Sagemai (pronounced sage-my)

Group affiliation: The Mothers

Physical description: As one of the Mothers, Sagemai of course looks like Mai (Kana and Eri’s mother) with some differences. Sagemai is a few inches taller, and slimmer. Her hair is cut short and has gray accents throughout. She looks older than the true Mai, with more wrinkles. She is not frail however and moves with assuredness and steadiness.

Personality: Sagemai is calm and reserved, but warm. She is much like the wise mentor archetype without the frequently associated crotchetiness. She delivers hard news with a sympathetic look and a hand on your arm. She is honest and direct, however. Where Okaasan might say whatever she thinks will help someone feel better, Sagemai aims to help the person over the long haul even if it means causing some short-term pain. Sagemai loves her sister Okaasan but finds Okaasan a bit flighty. Sagemai is not above sending Okaasan on an errand so the “grown-ups” can talk.

History: The Mothers have always been as far as anyone knows. While Okaasan has a home in the Nook, Sagemai lives in a system of nearby caves that only she can enter. People believe the caves are filled with books and artifacts and that Sagemai spends her time plumbing the mysteries of the universe. Still Sagemai is not a recluse and she regularly makes herself available to provide knowledge and advice. She is not therefore a knowledge hoarder, but she might be criticized for often wanting to be the gate/filter the knowledge passes through (her motivations here are benevolent; she has had bad experiences where knowledge has flowed into the wrong hands or to the right people but at the wrong moment).

When the Stotherts wake up in Okaasan’s home Sagemai is there having breakfast with Okaasan. After being introduced to them all, she is peppered with questions around how the Stotherts can get home. Sagemai indicates she knows little to nothing of the land that the Stotherts come from but she does know of similar visitors in history. The visitors have always come at a time of crisis, have been challenged to grow and change, and have been of great help. The mechanics of their return home varied but usually it involved visitors finding power within themselves (Sagemai will be making some references to similar stories in the past – to make it clear this is a deliberate homage to these types of stories). It is difficult for Sagemai to give them specific to dos as the past stories have varied greatly in how long the visitors stayed, how they grew, and the power they found within themselves.

She can, however, tell them of the crisis being currently faced by the land. The Order of Stability is a group of knights who aim to make the kingdom more safe and secure. They have been demonstrably successful at this, as the communities under their rule have very low rates of crime and mortality.

Of course, these communities also seem to have low rates of art, joy, festivals and the like.

It seems a key component of the Order’s method involves something called the Union. This is a process where magic is taken from individuals and stored and distributed centrally. People and creatures place their hands on a magical orb and swear their loyalty to the Order. At this point, their magic is syphoned away (this causes mystical creatures like talking animals or centaurs to be transformed into normal humans). Likewise, wizards and witches can no longer independently use magic after the process. Finally, the process also seems to make people generally more amenable to law and order and blunts more extreme emotions and creativity.

Meanwhile, the collected magic is used by the Order to improve the community – provide street lights, help crops grow, heal the sick, etc. As a result, most people join the Order willingly. A few do so largely due to social pressure, but the Order’s successes have caused their cause to spread. Those who don’t want to submit to the Union are pushed out of their communities/relocated. However, people have begun to question if the whole kingdom will ever be safe and secure without everyone going through Union. Plus, those avoiding Union are often viewed as selfish, as Union doesn’t “hurt” you, and declining it means you want to keep your magic for yourself rather than share it for the betterment of all.

Conflict between the Order and those refusing Union is starting to brew. Sagemai is convinced that as the Stotherts find their power, they will be the ones to decide, or resolve, the future of the kingdom.

The first result will be raising issues among the Stotherts. Eri will see the Order as potentially a good thing. Kana will empathize with those declining Union (and knows more of what is going on than she wants to admit). Grant will think the key to this all is discovering their power.

Sagemai will ultimately advise them to visit both factions and consider.

Role in the narrative: Another mentor/call to action character (and honestly, exposition). The Order of Stability reflects Kana’s fears about growing up (being asked to leave behind childish things, choose a responsible vocation, etc.). Kana views adulthood as an evolution into drudgery and the magic going out of her life. Of course, the Order may reflect any number of fears to the viewer – loss of freedom for security, etc. I’m not aiming for political commentary here, in fact I’d like to avoid it (heavy-handed messages often take me out of the story as a consumer). It seems difficult however in the current climate to try to hit on some universal themes without a political layer being applied to it.

Abilities: Sagemai is extremely intelligent and wise.

Inspirations: The name might be a little too-on-the-nose, just adding “sage” to “Mai.” The primary motivation again is thinking about how many different people an involved mother can be to a child. In decomposing someone into multiple people, however, each aspect is a bit more cliched than the whole person. In this case, the mother as the wise person you can always go to with a question (teenagers often seem to forget about this aspect). Sagemai has the calm, even-tempered wisdom of Obi Wan with a bit more warmth. She is more reserved than the “free spirit” grandma trope and doesn’t joke/isn’t comic relief.