Thread by @Psychtaku

TOH SPOILERS

For The Future showed us the dynamic between King and The Collector. We notice the Collector is more of a lonely child who wants to play with friends than a fearsome God. King's similar experiences and situations is the key to redeem the Collector. 👇

The Collector is still scary because of their God-like powers. According to the tomes, he was a part of a civilization that preserved all life but destroyed them if a threat. The Collector has the power to warp reality to their will. Scary for a child to have. +

However, they seem to be youngest of his predecessor and didn't like their violent genocidal tasks. He just wants to make friends and play. The Collector does have the power to preserve by turning everyone into puppets but uses them for their amusement. +

The Collector doesn't see anything wrong with his actions. They think he isn't harming others by turning them to puppets and is just playing pretend. Remember he rewrote the tomes because he hates violence, so by not killing anyone, he doesn't think he does anything wrong. +

However, the Collector isn't evil. He is just a lonely child who craves friends and games. He warped the Boiling Isles to have adventures with King. Adventures similar to Luz's. It seems he wants to escape their loneliness with games. +

He is very similar to S1 Luz in terms of escaping to a fantasy world. However, the Collector controls the games by recreating the BI in his image. Without thinking about the consequences of his actions, he hasn't realized how he is harmful to others. +

There are a few interesting aspects of the Collector that don't make them evil. First in the murals and tomes, he seems to be the outcast of the group. He doesn't want to follow their code and just wants to play. The Collectors probably didn't support this. +

He even wanted to be friends with the Titans. Although they are enemies, we see The Collector with a swarm of baby Titans like King. Although unaware of how his powers are harmful, they just want to play and have fun with Titans instead of killing them.

Then, we notice his fear of being alone. He was trapped in the in-between realm for who knows how long, but this could stem from being outcasted by his predecessors. He didn't follow their code and was probably misunderstood for his behavior. Again, like Luz.+

Lastly, his genuinely cares for King. Despite being uncompromising, he does try to respect King's boundaries like not holding Francois when King says so. They also got mad at Terra for calling King a dog. Although they don't listen to King's advice, he sees King as a friend. +

Sadly, The Collector's fear of loneliness and distrust in others made him easily manipulate by Belos. When hearing King's plans of "killing" him and knowing Luz is back, he feels threatened and afraid he'll lose his only friend. +

Although The Collector is planning to thwart Luz's group, there is a way to convince them that it's not necessary. That answer is King. +

While planning ways to stop the Collector, King tells Eda and Lilith he doesn't see the Collector as a fearsome God but a lonely and sad kid. He doesn't want to trap or kill him. Instead he wants to talk to him because he can relate. +

King knows what the Collector has been through. He is the last of his kind just like the Collector and understands the sadness from being alone. He also used to do things without thinking of the consequences of his actions. King was like the Collector. +

But he had Eda and Luz as his family. They taught him the error of his actions and loved him. He developed because of them. So his idea to stop the Collector is to talk to him as someone who understands them. Like Camila and Luz in FTF.

Both are from species that tried to kill each other. The Collector's saw Titans as a threat since they can neutralize their powers and Titan's were protecting themselves. With that history, it'll be tricky to convince the Collector cuz of Belos and not hearing the whole plan. +

Although difficult, King will get through to the Collector. He won't be alone either since Eda and Lilith are with King and will meet up with Luz's group. King will have time clear up the confusion first while Belos is beside the Collector.+

King will reassure the Collector he has no intention of killing them. Once that happens, King has to call out their problematic and harmful behavior. It may be harsh, but it's necessary since subtle clues have not worked. But King will relate to the Collector this way. +

Relate as in he's done some bad things in the past because he was lonely and sad. The Collector has found someone who understands them. King will reassure the Collector he has no intentions of harming him and maybe wants to keep being friends with them. +

So long as they realize what they do can be harmful and make sure they are careful. Once both establish understanding and the Collector realizes his actions have consequences will he be stopped.+

It's interesting seeing their dynamic as it's not hostile but not friendly either. Both are similar and King's plan to relate to the Collector is key to stopping them and restoring the BI to what it was. We will see in "Watching and Dreaming".