seeingteacupsindragons:

One of the most remarkable—and
least remarked on—aspects of the Episode Ten Plot Twist is how incredibly little it changed.

The entire show reads
differently now, true. It triggered a fandom-wide rewatch, and deservedly so.
But that’s all in retrospect. It’s all in prior episodes. Absolutely none of my
expectations for the rest of the series have changed at all. Viktor and Yuuri
are still going to tackle the Grand Prix Final together as Skating’s Cutest
Couple. The other competitors are still going to do their damnedest to win
instead.

Compare that to the “Viktor is Evil and Wants to Break Yuuri’s Heart
Because Reasons” theories (I’m sorry, I have difficulty taking these theories
seriously. My default is to mock). Any of those revelations would have led to
Yuuri and Viktor breaking up, Yuuri trying to deal with his heartbreak in time
to win a gold medal, and my God, I bored myself just typing that. Can you
imagine having to watch that?

Instead, what we have is the same characters in the exact
same situation, with the exact same goals, with an added layer of meaning to
the whole thing.

And that’s amazing to
me.