Saturday, June 4, 2011

Amaya - Ep. 5

Kabanata 6 Ang Tanging Pangarap ni Dal'lang
[Chapter 6 Dal'lang's One Dream]

Last episode, Lamitan tells Bugna that Dal'lang died trying to escape her guards; however, Dal'lang was not wounded and washed ashore on another island.

Datu Bugna goes to Amaya's bukot and holds his baby daughter. Teary-eyed, he asks Amaya's forgiveness for failing to save her mother, and kisses her forehead. Aaaaaaawwwwwww.



On her island, Dal'lang gathers banana trunks to make a raft, thinking to return home and see her daughter. Bugna meanwhile lies alone in his bed [o-ho, so he and Lamitan sleep in different rooms] thinking of Dal'lang and remembering the last time she spoke his name. Lamitan enters the room and joins him, thinking to claim her rights as a wife, but he turns away, gets out of bed, picks up his sword and leaves the room.

Dal'lang is paddling her raft, thinking of her child. Unfortunately, she runs into a storm and the raft falls apart. She clings to a banana trunk to keep afloat and ultimately returns ashore, where she screams at the heavens, asking the gods why they permitted her to be separated from her child.

Kabanata 7 Panibugho ng Mag-Inang Lamitan and Marikit
[Chapter 7 The Jealousy of Lamitan and Marikit]

Amaya, now a very pretty little girl of around seven, is taught to sing epics, which was the olden-time way of learning one's history and lore. [The song she is practicing is the Panay epic of Labaw-Donggon, son of Alunsina, which is one of the epics that had been recorded from one of the last binukots of our time before she died.] Bugna arrives at the bukot and listens, then applauds. He and Amaya greet each other and he compliments her voice, saying he is proud of her. Marikit, who had been lurking, comes in to ask him to listen to her and Binayaan as well. He says he will do it later, because right now he wants to listen to Amaya.

Mangubat, meanwhile, chastises Bagani for learning the kudyapi [a string instrument], when his cousin Angaway has already earned his first batuk or tattoo by going with them on their pangayaw. Angaway thus runs to show the tattoo. Mangubat instructs Songil to teach Bagani to hold a weapon.

Bugna, meanwhile, also teaches Amaya weaponry. She asks why he is teaching her when he does not do the same for her sisters. He says that she is special and she should learn in order to make him proud. She answers that even if she is not fond of weaponry she will learn if it makes him happy.

Marikit meanwhile escapes her bukot and runs to her mother to tell her that Bugna is teaching Amaya to hold a weapon but is ignoring her and Binayaan. She asks why he loves Amaya more than them.

Songil and Bagani have a training session; Mangubat watches for a while. When he leaves, Bagani asks Songil why he should need a batuk. Songil answers that it is the mark of a warrior-- the more batuk, the more fearsome the warrior. Bagani answers that he does not want to be feared by all like his father, and Songil warns him that to say that again would be treason.

Binayaan and Amaya play an old version of sungka, and Binayaan wins. Amaya compliments her, and Binayaan says that this is her only accomplishment, for in all other things their father likes Amaya best. Amaya hurriedly reassures her and the two hug, only to be separated by Marikit. She pulls Binayaan away and tells her to return to their bukot; she should not associate with Amaya who is only a slave's daughter and thus of lower status than they are. Bugna meanwhile instructs a slave as to Amaya's food, which is noticed by Lamitan. She asks why he cares for the child so much to the extent of overseeing what she eats-- perhaps if they have a son, he will stop loving Amaya. To which her husband gets in her face and tells her that she will never have a child again, so she should stop meddling with how he is raising Amaya. He leaves his wife in shock. [Bugna, I know you're Amaya's dad and all, but... you bastard.]

Lamitan thus summons the midwife who helped her give birth... then beats up the old woman when the latter admits the truth. She is angry that she had not been told before. Mantal intervenes before she can do any lasting damage and sends the old woman away. Lamitan says bitterly that this is why her husband is no longer sleeping with her. Mantal says that she should accept the will of the spirits. Lamitan says what, and let her husband go on lavishing his love on Amaya, daughter of the one woman he truly loved? Oh how she hates that child! Mantal says, so you hate her, but could you separate her from her father? And Lamitan says why not? after all, I was able to take away her mother.

Amaya tries to make friends by going to Marikit's bukot and offering a golden comb that their father had given her, saying it will look good in her older sister's hair. Marikit dashes it to the floor, and tells Amaya that she cannot be won with gifts; she will never look at Amaya as anything other than a slave like her mother.

Meanwhile, Lamitan goes to meet with the slave overseer in the forest. She offers him his freedom and some gold-- if he kidnaps and kills Amaya.

Commentary:

Well, the tears in Bugna's eyes are genuine-- he thinks Amaya is the only thing he has left of Dal'lang. He was a cold-hearted bastard the way he flung it in his wife's face that she is now barren, though. But then that's all they both do-- try to hurt each other as much as they can, although in Lamitan's case it's more of a plea for attention and in his case it's resentment that she comes between him and the woman he [thinks he] really loves. Well, no one told you to marry her, you know? And in this case the hate gets passed down to their daughters, most notably Marikit.

Squeeeeee, Labaw-Donggon. I had tears in my eyes when I realized what Amaya was learning to sing, as it's probably the first time that epic was mentioned on a TV series. I seem to remember from the "Last Princess" documentary that it was one of the epics recorded from the last binukots. Also we get to see Amaya begin training how to fight, although I hope that's not the last of it-- training to be the best warrior of your time would surely need constant practice, not just a few training sessions in childhood.

I am still wondering where Dal'lang ends up and if she will ever see her child again.

Bagani is still determined not to end up like his father, although I am not clear exactly as to how he got this way. Please don't tell me he was born morally upright, for I shall not believe you.

I love this drama, but some parts are getting repetitive. XD Good thing it has such pretty visuals, but when stuff gets repeated in different conversations with different characters I am reminded of the interminable search for Cardo's diary in Mara Clara that seemed to go on forever. Just saying.

Dear Amaya production, when you do a cliffhanger at the end of the episode, for goodness's sake please don't put spoilers in the preview of the next one. It takes all the fun out of it!

By the way, this week's five episodes will be rerun on Sunday. Not sure what time but reruns are usually in the morning.

No comments:

Post a Comment