Quote Originally Posted by HighlanderClone View Post
The developers wanted to shoehorn in a story about how traditions and cultures should be respected and have hidden strengths and a raison d'etre.

But you're right that throughout the story it has gone so far that we take objectively more inefficient solutions because it's "tradition" over Koana's innovative solutions. The tradition is not merely important. It's portrayed as superior to science.

That kind of mentality is also why we have people eating traditional herbal remedies for tuberculosis and then dying because they refuse to see a doctor.

A more mature story will explore the tension between tradition and innovation, how innovation harms culture and how culture stops people from living a better life. There is no objectively superior choice when it comes to tradition and innovation. But of course, the story is written for 4 year olds so we can't have any of that nuanced discussion as it will fry the two remaining neurons of the intended audience.
A mature story would have had the Reed-eaters reveal that they had a stockpile, most of this was BS, and they wanted to see how the candidates handled it. Koana's solution, and Wuk's solution, are both valid.

Koana addressed the immediate, objective problem. What he missed was that the festival isn't just about the reeds, but about the communal traditions, the unity the festivities bring about. It's half about the food, half about the people who eat it.

Wuk would have been commended for finding the right solution, but chided for her immediate focus on 'We need to make them smile!'. She was focusing on the emotional reaction and not the reason for it. Sure, she was later *told* it was a magical focus, but she didn't draw the connection herself.

The challenge proctor reflecting that between the two of them they'd make 'One fine Dawnservant' would even be foreshadowing that they end up ruling together, forming the two halves of the whole that's required.

But, like you said, the story was almost written for someone who has one braincell pinging around like the DVD screen saver. G'raha's moment was when it hit a corner.