Written and Edited By: Ryan
WARNING! Spoilers Ahead! Return to Earth To Avoid Spoilers!
PS: This blog is based on my personal opinions, please do not take this seriously.
SolarBalls is a British edutainment web series created by Youtubers and animators Alvaro Calmet and Oliver Gilpin. First created in 2022, it has gained a traction of followers and viewers and currently has 3 million subscribers.
The series is a a spinoff to its sister show, MrSpherical. Unlike MrSpherical, who focuses more on Countryballs, SolarBalls focuses more on the Planetballs fandom, a sub-genre of Countryballs.
The show features talking planets and celestial bodies as well as an astronaut named Astrodude, interacting with each-other about astronomical facts as well as discussions and dialogues related to the a recurring arc.
When the channel first began, it started off with short educational skits about astronomical and geological facts before diving into longer episodes and full-on story arcs. Currently, the show has 4 major arcs, with one of them still ongoing and in-progress, and multiple mini-arcs.
What not many people realize is that the storyline of this series is severely underrated with great character development, story progression, themes, and heartful moments. Here, I will give a summary of each of the major arcs and will explain why these arcs contributed to the series being underrated.
The Moon Revolution Arc
SolarBalls first-ever major storyline arc, the Moon Revolution centres around the moons of the Solar System rebelling against the planets. Led by Ganymede and Europa, and formerly Titan, they led and convince the moons to rebel against the planets after the Earth unintentionally offended Titan saying: “Moons should know their place!” This arc has so many great moments and pivotal moments such as Earth’s redemption mini-arc as well as Pluto’s subplot.
I really enjoy this arc not because it is the show’s first ever major storyline but how it kickstarted future major storylines. I also like the character development in this series. The biggest example is the Earth, whom from the start of the series acted as a pompous and narcissistic planet to a reformed, more kinder one. Titan’s character development is also impressive in this story, he went from an easily manipulated moon to stand up against others and eventually, turning his back against Ganymede and Europa for taking his original plan to the extreme.
However, the crown jewel definitely has to be handed over to Pluto. Surprisingly, Pluto’s development is unsuspecting, throughout the arc, there is also a mini-arc focusing on Pluto and the dwarf planets. From the get-go, Pluto felt insecure, neglected, and forgotten by the other planets after being demoted from the Planet group back in 2006. He attempted to do a dwarf planet uprising, separately and unknowing of the moon uprising, but was convinced by the other dwarf planets and his moon Charon to accept his current title as a dwarf planet. He and Charon played a part in stopping the revolution from going any further by convincing the satellites using their own background as arguments.
Planet X Arc
The second arc of the series. This arc focuses on a vengeful planet from Jupiter’s past who wants to exact revenge on Jupiter for getting him expelled from the Solar System billions of years ago.
This arc was my favourite arc of all times before being overtaken by the ongoing Rogue Planet Arc. I really enjoyed the backstory segments as well as callbacks to the previous arc. Planet X’s true colours was shown around the second half of the arc and finally broke after being confronted by Proteus. What really stood out in this arc are Ganymede and Europa’s redemption arc, where, from the previous storyline, were ruthless and power-hungry characters. After they have proven themselves in the Solar System Trials and regained the trust of the other moons and the planets, they were still banished by the Sun as punishment due to their actions in the Moon Revolution.
After hearing about the legend of Planet X, a hypothetical planet, from Makemake, a dwarf planet, both moons decided to agree to find this hypothetical celestial body since they are expelled from the Solar System anyways and actually found him.
This arc also has an emotional ending to it where Planet X revealed to his former enemy Jupiter that, after seeing how Ganymede evolved from the Moon Revolution to actually becoming a great leader for the Moon Club, he became inspired to become a “Jupiter” somewhere else, before leaving the Solar System.
Earth’s Origins/Theia Arc
The Earth’s Origin Arc, otherwise commonly called the Theia Arc, is SolarBalls third storyline. One of the most profound and heartbreaking arc in the series in its history. After hearing Theia’s name for the first time in billions of years, the Earth lost his mind and drifted unconsciously into the Kuiper Belt. Meanwhile, the other planets are also having similar problems, especially Uranus, who now prefers to be called Caelus, the roman equivalent of his namesake, after being persuaded by Planet X. During his trance, the Earth finally got to meet Theia as well as Proto-Earth in a dream-like environment.
It is revealed that before the birth of the Earth, Theia was in the middle of a love triangle between Proto-Earth and a Proto-Venus. However, the former won over her but were forcefully separated by the Sun, who is in complete disagreement of their relationship. Thousand of years later, they finally reunited and kissed for the first and last time of their lives, as they died from colliding with each other during the kiss scene.
This arc surely is an emotional one, largely due to the fact it is the first time the series presented a full on-screen death. It is also emotional due to the fact we got to explore Venus’ backstory and character development, as well as the origin of his hotheaded personality and violent personality.
Rogue Planet Arc
The most recent arc and still ongoing, the Rogue Planet Arc follows Planet X’s adventure outside of the Solar System trying to find a new home. However, he encountered a mysterious civilization called the Rogue Planet Kingdom, led by SIMP J0136 (presumably). He is initially hesitant to join them but soon agrees after being convinced by SIMP due to Triton and the dwarf planets seeking their help after the Sun went crazy and become overly controlling of the planets and moons.
Because this arc is still currently ongoing, I will not say much here.
I really enjoyed this arc and, as stated in the Planet X section, is currently my favourite due to the introductions of so many new characters, from the dwarf planet candidates: Sedna, Quaoar, Orcus, and Gonggong, to the rogue planets like WISE 0855, OGLE-2016-BLG-1928, OTS-44, PSO-J318.5, and others.
I also like how the Rogue Planets, under SIMP, have a hidden agenda as well as a general vendetta against stars.
I honestly have such high hopes for this series and could not wait for what they have to offer.
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