Old Habits Are Hard to Break

Old Habits Are Hard to Break is the ninth episode of Tales of Dikuda. It is also the ninth episode of the first season.

Summary
As memories and emotions from the past come back to Uuzoo, the snake struggles with depression and feelings of being a disappointment to everyone.

Episode in Detail


Ryahno receives a phone call from the Pipa Paradise Bar, asked to pick up "one of her guards" that is drunk in the bar. It is stated that the guard in question to be "the only snake on the island," revealing her to be Uuzoo. Ryahno picks her up from the bar and brings the miserable, depressed and very much drunk snake home, making sure she's tucked into bed as soon as possible, thinking about giving her a day off as she leaves her home.

The next day the two meet up again in the city, where Uuzoo talks about her recent discoveries concerning the guild and its members, as well as the history of the island. She then ends by asking Ryahno if it's true that she is part human and part rat dragon. When Ryahno confirms this, the snake makes a connection towards The Fire, asking if they are related. Her commander evades answering the question directly, by stating that even though they are not related, she is currently the only rat dragon on the island. The conversation goes on, changing topic to The Bringer of Punishment and how Uuzoo does not understand why there are two versions, one where people see her as scary and one where they see her as tough and fair. Ryahno answers the implied question by making a comparison, with which the snake understands that it's a matter of point of view. Bad people see the Bringer of Punishment as scary, good people see her as tough and fair.

The next member of the guild Uuzoo asks about is The Strength, a topic that seems to make Ryahno uncomfortable, as she appears to be quite unhappy about the question. Still she answers it, though she sounds upset as she does so. Quite unsure if she should ask another question, Uuzoo hesitantly wonders if all the guild members started out as normal people, which Ryahno confirms. It leaves the snake wondering to herself if perhaps she could become a member of the guild too.

The two then come to a stop as the conversation ends, with Ryahno asking why the snake is walking with her in the first place. The answer being, that she wanted to spend time with her, something that Ryahno didn't expect to be the answer. Their conversational topic shifts then, to the reason as to why Uuzoo was depressed the night before and got drunk in a bar. It is revealed that ZeChow made some derogatory comments about her and how she is a disappointment to her family. Something that the snake took to heart so much, that she agrees with it. It caused her to drown her sorrows in alcohol. Uuzoo states that she only came to Dikuda because she thought it might be best if it was as if she never existed so her family doesn't have to live with the shame of her existence.

Ryahno tells her that she is working in a city where only the elites gather and that being a guard is one of the more dangerous jobs on the island, indicating that Uuzoo isn't as useless and a disappointment, like the snake seems to think of herself. When the woman doesn't immediately catch onto the compliment, Ryahno rewords it to be more obvious, resulting in Uuzoo bursting into tears and hugging her, something that startled her commander, who is not used to much social interaction.

As the two then head towards Uuzoo's home, with Ryahno offering to accompany her there, HowYu and MuDan are seen watching them, with MuDan stating that she hasn't seen someone get that close to Ryahno in a while. Her teacher however doesn't care much and gives her order to take care of his home, as he will be leaving the city for two weeks.

Characters
The following characters appear in this episode (in order):
 * Kuraz Ryahno
 * Yin Uuzoo
 * The Fire (mentioned)
 * The Bringer of Punishment (mentioned)
 * The Strength (mentioned)
 * SwayHan
 * ZeChow
 * Su HowYu
 * MuDan

Trivia

 * Ryahno mentions that The Strength was born and raised in Dikuda, which is contradicting something SwayHan said in episode 7, when he mentioned that all guild members came to the island and were not actually born there. This is proof that the otter does not have full knowledge of the guild and only knows the folklore, which is not completely correct.


 * Zennore stated that, even though the focus is on the depressed Uuzoo, the episode is also meant to reflect parts of Ryahno's troubles with depression, anxiety and anti-social tendencies. It could be said that Ryahno knows how to deal with someone depressed, because she has experience with her own depression. Her anti-social side for example is obvious when Uuzoo states that she just wanted to spend time with her and later on hugs her.

Links

 * Official link to the post on tumblr.