IM SHOCKED MORE PEOPLE DONT NOTICE a detail in Gigi’s (this) animation. When he’s singing to Penelope, Penelope actually rips off Polites’ headband, symbolizing his complete separation from the idea of open arms he had been dragging with him.

About the baby: The animator did that animation before they knew whether or not Ody dropped the baby. Since then, they have released an updated animation where after the screen goes black, it shows a split second of Ody's hand opening to let the baby drop.

I think the seeds of him being the monster was set all the way back in "Just a Man" when he sings "Deep down I would trade the world to see my son and wife."

"Monster to ourselves" and "moster to everyone buy us" is dichotomy that is such a turning point in this story. Since leaving Troy, Odysseus has tried to lead with peace at every conflict. The Cyclops and Posiedon bothe ended in death because Odysseus didn't act, and it almost ended the same with Circe. Now, he has resolved to throw away this peace and is determined to get home no matter that cost to others around him. He will no longer feel guilty or remorseful over his actions.

Also with Penelope and Telemachus, Telemachus is a baby at that point because that’s all he’s seen him as. That’s his only reference for him, which is absolutely heartbreaking.

The baby in the beginning, as others have said, he did drop off the ledge.

When the first animatic came out, Gigi’s “the horse and the infant” and “Just a man” there was no official confirmation yet that the baby was dropped. So Gigi left it ambiguous, later Jorge came out and clarified that Odysseus did drop the infant.

Ody always invokes Penelope before he does something monstrous.

Also him recognizing that the villains are likely the heroes in their own stories too! It’s an amazing song that really sets a turning point for him and the audience.

Instead of change, I would say, he needs to revert back to what he used to be, revert back to what Athena wants him to be.

He uses to be a powerful monster once. He brought 600 men to war, hatched out wooden horse plan, none of his man died in the fricking war! Then he killed an infant, secured a safe future for his family. He just hates being a cold blood monster like that until now. And when he's trying to not be a monster? boom! 557 men died!

A little clarification here, wooden horse is something consider dishonorable and evil for that era, and Ody choose to do it to minimize the loss of his people.

3:53 And now... intermission. Imagine the bathrooms...just super quiet with occasional sniffling.😅

11:05 In another version, the end after the screen goes black, it shows a hand and then it opening to let go of the baby.

Then I'll become the monster......

The merging with the "shadow-self" in monster 😮😮😮

OMG I'm expecting these videos everyday now😅 I love your reaction 😊😊

Oh my gosh I love the next song so much too. Honestly every song just gets better!

I hope we get to see all your reactions to these songs. I'm so impatient I just wanna see it all lol

I think a lot of his decisions on this journey was him trying to prove to himself that he wasn’t a monster for killing the baby.

😢 I need more reaction videos to this. Why none today? Love this musical, and your input!

His first monstrous act was killing every man, woman and child in Troy. Even non-combatants in their sleep. He didn't de-escalate, he dropped a final solution on them. He was already willing to sacrifice innocents to get home, and all the things he tried to tell himself to justify those acts were simply to run from that fact.

His crew shared in this heinous act, and all of them met an end, just as Polyphemus promised him for the gift of wine. He will be the last to die, the answer is when.

Poseidon did not lie when he told Odysseus that he wouldn't kill him that day if he apologized, and Odysseus actually did apologize. To the ancient Greeks, "apologia" was a justifying explanation, not a show of remorse.

Every step of Odysseus' journey is a test of whether he is truly leading men back home from war, or simply trying to preserve manpower so he can leverage them in his journey. He is slowly  revealed to only see them as the means to an end, and not the end itself.

Humans are a type of monster all along, so we must actively think on how our actions impact not just ourselves but others.

How did I miss this? Well, better late than never...