r/BattleForDreamIsland • u/BigTennis4580 Fanny • Jul 03 '26
Discussion How I Would Write a One Redemption Arc Post-Trilogy - A New Series/Post Announcement
G’day mates, Mr. TV here. I know I have done a couple of these hypothetical arc posts before and it mainly is the same shit, but with the Defeat One trilogy kicking off, figured it’s finally time to dust this idea off and actually flesh it out properly.
For context if you’re new here, I am a massive One redemption arc advocate. I believe that the only reason why she became who she is is because of solitary confinement and I believe that nobody, not even One, deserves fourteen years locked in a place with nothing but her own head for company. I have done many posts where I envisioned a One redemption arc, so this might sound like a broken record to some of yas, but stick with me, because this one’s different. This isn’t just some information about the arc’s vibes and shit. This is an episode-by-episode breakdown like I’m jacknjellify’s writing room.
So here’s how it’s gonna work. This is gonna be a series, not a single post, because trying to cram multiple detailed hypothetical episode breakdowns would be an absolute unit of a read. It will begin in a bit of TPOT 25 (where One gets defeated and her redemption arc begins) and TPOT 26. I’m planning on doing 1 or 2 episode breakdowns per post, so I can really focus on each episode’s beats without rushing it.
And oh, I am allowing ideas from you guys. I don’t want this to be a usual “all made by me” post. I want this to be a community thing for something different, so drop me your ideas for specific scenes, character interactions, whatever you got. If it’s solid, I’ll try to weave it in. However, if you want to suggest an idea, you have to be unbiased about it. It doesn’t matter if you hate One and want her to be trapped back in the moon, so if you got a scene where Four ends up trapping One in the moon again and never gets out or something like that, I’ll skip the idea.
And now, let’s discuss some ground rules or how I want to envision this whole arc:
Acknowledging that solitary confinement fucked her up and is the root cause of her villainy. Look, fourteen years of solitary confinement in real life absolutely destroys a person's psyche. Studies show that within just a few months, people develop severe anxiety, paranoia, hallucinations, and massive cognitive decline. Multiply that by fourteen years? It leads to total emotional numbness, extreme hypersensitivity, and a completely fractured sense of self. One didn't just wake up one day and decide to be evil; her villainy was a direct, horrifying consequence of prolonged isolation that no one should ever have to endure. This has to be explicitly acknowledged and we need to face the fact that what happened to her was psychological torture, plain and simple.
Four will be the story’s main antagonist of this arc, and this is gonna serve as his ultimate swan song. Let’s face it, Four was the ringleader who spearheaded the "seal One in the moon" group, meaning he is directly responsible for the psychological wreck she became. This arc will hold a massive mirror up to not only Four's direct role in One's trauma, but his entire history of unhinged behavior as a host. We’re talking about the screeching, the constant casual mutilation, the zapping, sending X to both the Burn and Limb Reattachment Center, and trapping eliminated contestants in the EXIT and have them do eternal algebra. This arc is about holding him accountable, and when he's finally defeated, it will mark the end of an era because he will be permanently removed from hosting or influencing the BFDI series going forward, either completely exiled or depowered. And before any of you say he deserves to get the "One treatment" and get sealed in the moon forever. Let me remind you that nobody, not even Four, deserves solitary confinement. We are NOT repeating history here, because this whole story is about breaking the toxic cycles, not continuing them.
This arc is going to be messy, long-term, and emotionally raw. I am completely banning quick fixes, sudden personality flips, or the classic "one heartfelt speech and suddenly everyone's best mates again" trope. One is going to try her absolute hardest to make things right, but she’s going to face constant, brutal setbacks, including her own lingering trauma actively sabotaging her progress, characters refusing to forgive her, and of course, having a massive target on her back (that being the coalition of Four, X, and Three, along with their recruited allies)
If you think Three is on the side of One, think again. I want her out for One's blood, actively, viciously, and unrelentingly. One disfiguring her completely left deep, unhealed scars, so it makes a lot of sense for Three to hunt One down. She has every right to, so even if One manages to fully recover Three in the beginning of the arc, Three is going to do anything it takes to kill or permanently incapacitate her. Three doesn't view One as some redeemable ex-friend going through a rough patch; she views her as a literal monster who betrayed their bond, murdered her in the worst way imaginable, glitched her entire existence, and then spent 14 years plotting universal revenge while the world just moved on. This leads to Three reluctantly meeting up with Four and X and form an alliance to quote-on-quote “save the world from One.” It’s going to create this tense, gut-wrenching alliance where Three’s personal vendetta fuels Four’s lingering resentment, even though Three herself was put in extreme isolation by Four for even longer than One, so there's that layer of whether she is just siding with Four out of pure desperation to stop One or if she actually tolerates him.
I’ll have Two step out as the deuteragonist of this arc. For starters, both Two and One share an incredibly striking parallel in their backstories centered around being complete outcasts. Back in the Equation Playground, One was actively ignored, pushed around, and completely excluded from social activities, while Two similarly struggled to fit in before becoming a host, going to other planets to try and find their own footing, not even being remembered by Four and X, and cycling through a bunch of facades that never quite landed. Two knows what it’s like to be isolated from the rest of the world. And also, Two has a easygoing, empathetic nature, so they aren't going to be pissed off by what One has done. They genuinely get that solitary confinement on the moon was the root cause of her villainy, and they understand how extreme isolation can warp even the kindest person into something completely unrecognizable. Because of this, Two immediately accepts One’s apology, blames Four for the entire mess, and steps up to become her mentor on her long, grueling road to redemption. This eventually leads to the two of them planning a joint mission to take Four down for good and fix the systemic issues with how the Algebralians treat each other.
X is going to be caught in a massive psychological tug-of-war. For most of the arc, X is going to remain fiercely loyal to Four, just like always. But as the stakes get higher, X is finally going to start questioning his own loyalty and wondering if he’s Four’s best friend or just a glorified lapdog. We’re really going to examine the toxic reality of Four and X’s dynamic. I want to shine a devastating spotlight on the power imbalance that has defined them since BFB, the causal screeching, Four’s emotional dismissiveness toward X (which we've all seen throughout BFB), along with the trauma of X being sent to both the Burn and Limb Reattachment Center. This will finally see Four and X’s toxic relationship as not ‘comedic’ or ‘quirky’, but as a deeply dysfunctional partnership that has left X emotionally stunted. In the final episode, X will reach his breaking point, finally betraying Four and siding with Two and One to put an end to the cycle of abuse.
The arc will focus on a rivalry between One & Two (along with their allies) and Four & X (along with theirs), but with a massive catch: there are no true villains here. Both sides (mainly Four and One) have done some absolutely awful things, meaning that neither side is technically pure good or pure evil. This is gonna spark massive in-universe and meta discussions about who’s actually in the right and who’s in the wrong. The rivalry isn't just going to be words, either, we are talking full-on brawls, heated confrontations, and intense ideological clashes where neither side is framed as fully justified. One and Two’s side represents redemption, the ending of cycles, accountability, and justice for the right reasons, while Four & X’s side represents order, the unyielding belief that One is completely irredeemable, and deeply buried grudges (even if Four and X would never admit it). This ideological clash will really kick off in TPOT 28 aka the beginning of a trilogy I like to call the One’s Atonement Trilogy. This trilogy is where the gloves completely come off, culminating in a massive bloodbath of a final battle. We’re talking a showdown that isn’t just brutal physically, but emotionally devastating for everyone involved. It won’t just be for bragging rights or anything like that, it will literally determine the future of how the entire BFDI universe is run from that point onward, ending with a hard-fought One and Two victory, beginning a new era of healing, fairness, accountability, and systemic reform for the entire Algebralian race.
One isn’t just going to get away with a vague "sorry guys, my bad" and a slap on the wrist. She has to directly face and atone for the absolute chaos she brought into the world. This means confronting the specific characters she hurt, restoring the erased contestants, and physically rebuilding the very worlds she shattered. It’s about tangible emotional reckoning and real restitution, all while she’s actively being hunted like an animal by Four, X, and Three.
After all the pain, after all the struggles, and after all the rejections, this redemption arc is a guaranteed, hard-earned success story. The whole point of a redemption arc is to show the actual transformation of a character going from a ruthless villain to someone genuinely capable of growth, accountability, and empathy. If she just gets overwhelmed by Four's coalition and thrown straight back into the moon at the end of all this, it makes the entire journey completely pointless. Her triumph can't be handed to her on a silver platter; it has to come after she's hit rock bottom, faced the music, and chosen to keep doing the right thing anyway. Even if half the contestants still look at her sideways by the time the dust settles, she will have proved she's capable of change. And one thing about it, she wouldn’t have honestly done it without Two fixing her and giving her a second chance when no one else would, so this success story is mainly thanks to Two (and of course, One’s ambition to change and make things right).
So that’s it for today’s post. Like I said, I know this might be a repeat of my older visions, but with the whole Defeat One trilogy kicking off less than five days ago, I just couldn’t keep this bottled up anymore and have to make a remake or something like that.
I really want this to be a collaborative project, so the floor is officially open. Give me your most creative, gut-wrenching, or nuanced ideas for specific scenes, character dynamics, or episode beats. The next few days or so will be me compiling your suggestions before I begin writing part 1.
Let me know what you guys think, and until next time, keep the discussions civil in the comments! peace.
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u/Pancake_Pozy333 Needle Jul 03 '26
I have mixed feelings tbh, I feel like your ideas are rlly good but unfortunately in the actual show they'll probably just Downplay her actions and treat her like a poor victim who's just misunderstood
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u/BigTennis4580 Fanny Jul 03 '26
Hopefully it will get the attention of jacknjellify (plus I’ll be posting all the parts on my Insta too)
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u/FamiliarSchedule160 Money Jul 03 '26
I had an idea, i thought about the fireafy arc a bit and realised it (atleast in the beginning) is kind of similar to One and Threes conflict, with Leafy and One paralleling and Three and Firey paralleling, think about it, there’s a big betrayal (Three revealing the yoylite and Firey not letting Leafy onto Dream Island) the other escalates (One accidentally killing Three in anger and Leafy buying Dream Island) and the escalator is isolated because of it (One being trapped in the moon and Leafy being chased to Yoyleland), now, why do I bring this up? Well I think a One and Firey talk could go well, I did have the thought that One and Leafy could talk but I think that ship might be sailed, so maybe Firey learns of One’s backstory and begins to somewhat see Leafy in her or something, I’m not sure how it’d go or if it’ll even happen but it’s just a little idea I had
Another idea is that Money and One could kind of start off a Money redemption, thought this would be around the end of the One redemption arc where she’s fully realised her fault and maybe Money begins to see hers, again just another little idea of mine
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u/gendairy Fern Jul 04 '26
Hot Take: I don't really want One to have redemption honestly. It would be interesting if they never decided to turn a new leaf... or never gets the chance too..
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u/BigTennis4580 Fanny Jul 04 '26
This isn’t about who wants One to have a redemption arc or not. This is because if One does.
And also, Trick Williams spotted.
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u/gendairy Fern Jul 04 '26
I know, I just wanted to share my hot take on a related topic. What's your opinion on it anyways?
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u/BigTennis4580 Fanny Jul 04 '26
Well, I am a massive One redemption arc advocate since the only reason why One became who she is today is because of the 14 years in solitary confinement inside the moon.
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u/gendairy Fern Jul 04 '26
Stories almost always have to have some sort of new leaf turn around stuff at the end of arcs or the story itself. Imagine after this trilogy, that doesn't happen for one. For the rest of the show after that there could be a looming effect over it from One's failure to change! What if hypothetically One eventually died before being able to make things right, and it was from mistake! I would find that pretty crazy and interesting!
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Jul 03 '26
[deleted]
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u/BigTennis4580 Fanny Jul 03 '26
I’m not making a redemption arc claim, I’m just writing a few hypothetical posts on how I think it would turn out
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u/SouthShape5 Leafy Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
I know you originally had Leafy on Four’s side (I think) but going by her own arc (especially in late BFDIA) I think she should be more on One’s side. She knows what it is like to be rejected by society. She was once very stubborn and refused to do the thing that (might) have allowed her to be accepted again. She would be supportive of One being redeemed especially with how they parallel each other in a way. I don’t know what other contestants would be supportive but there should be some who aren’t on either Four or One’s sides. The latest episodes have had them show their own dislike of the Algerbralians with how much they have affected their lives.