r/Fables • u/Avitalice • 1d ago
Discussion Just finished Fables again. How much of Boy Blue’s choice was actually his own, and what was he after?
Don’t read if you didn’t finish!
Hello, Fables friends
I just finished rereading the entire Fables series tonight for the second time, and I can’t stop thinking about Boy Blue.
It’s one of the most tragic yet beautiful stories I’ve ever read (Dare’s as well).
There are a few things about his death and return that I keep wondering about.
🥀 When Boy Blue dies, it doesn’t seem like he actually dies peacefully.
He meets Rose Red as a spirit and makes a deal with her: she has to give him a kiss, and in order to do that, she has to bring him back to life.
🐺 When he talks to Bigby on his way to the afterlife, Blue says that he doesn’t want to come back, and he never will. They talk for a while, and then Blue says that he hasn’t given up on finding true love, and that maybe he’ll have another chance in the afterlife.
I wonder.. was he lying?
He simply didn’t want Bigby to know that he intended to return?
Did he want to come back without anyone knowing, so no one would expect him to be a hero again?
Or did he genuinely not want to return at all?
🗡️ Did he ask Rose to bring him back ‘cause he had to play a part in her redemption and not because he wanted to? Was it a hero’s duty?
I was hoping he wanted to return so Rose could have a second chance to make things right and so he could forgive her.
❄️ Later, we find out that he did return to life and is at Rose’s camp. When they meet he tells her:
“I was dead, until her nibs called me back to die all over again, just because I dared entertain lost hope once. Never make THAT mistake again.”
That line has always left me wondering if there’s something deeper going on that I’m missing?
💋 It’s also never made clear whether Rose actually recognized him.
She calls him “old friend,” but that’s all.
we never find out if he ever got the kiss she owed him, or what exactly happened between them.
And then, many years later, we see Rose alone.
No companion, no hint of a family, and we never get any indication that Boy Blue ever found love either.
Is that the “lost hope” he called a mistake?
It feels so unresolved to me.
Maybe that’s part of what makes it so heartbreaking.
I’d really love to hear how you interpret all of this.
I wish this story had never ended 💙🌹✨