History YMMV / NikoAndTheSwordOfLight

* IdiotPlot: The entire conflict of the second season hinges on Nar Est being kept on a shelf, out in the open, in the castle's library, which is filled with magical tools and resources to help him escape once his enchanted prison-orb is no longer a factor. If Lyra's advisors had just kept him in a sealed box, a prison cell, or the bottom of a well, any threat he could've posed would've gone right to zero. This goes even further once he's actually escaped, when he manages to evade Carondolet's guards through the simple act of MustacheVandalism. If a single person had been smart enough to see through the ruse, he could've been captured before he ever made it to the Temple of Champions, the Dark Champion would never have been created, and Niko and Lyra would not have had to continue looking for the Forgotten Fortress.

* {{Narm}}: The face Lyra makes at the end of "The Thorn of Contention", after Niko has been knocked onconscious and [[spoiler: the Dark Champion is gearing up to attack.]] It was clearly meant to be dramatic, especially due to the use of slo-mo, but how small her pupils are in comparison to her otherwise-huge-looking eyes just comes off looking a little silly.

** To learn the above-described information, Niko is inadvertently sent to the "In-Between", a purgitorial realm where fallen avatars of the light and the darkness seem to end up. This could have made for a great opportunity for him to interact with some of the past Champions, to see how their personalities have influenced his, and to flesh out and endear them to the audience, but bizarrely, [[TheBusCameBack Aura]] is the only one who shows up. Niko doesn't think to inquire as to the presence of any of his other past lives, and he remains in the In-Between for only long enough to have the necessary exposition imparted to him before Aura sends him back to the mortal world.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The second season promised viewers an exploration of Niko’s backstory and origins, but these are only ever touched upon during the last few minutes of the final episode, where it’s revealed that [[spoiler: the primal forces of light and darkness were each given a consciousness by the actions of Nar Est, Lyra’s advisors, and the creators of the Amulet of Power — in order for one to be permanently banished, the other must go, too.]] It’s definitely an interesting concept if given the time to flourish, but it’s presented at a point where there’s too little time for the characters or the audience to let it sink in.

* AngstWhatAngst: The second season ends off with [[spoiler: Niko banishing the light from within himself so that the darkness will disappear along with it, resulting in a DeathOfPersonality once he's recovered.]] This development is only brought up within minutes of the ending credits, and it's written off almost as quickly by the characters. While the epilogue implies that some time has passed, we don't get a good sense of how Niko has adjusted, the other characters, [[LikeBrotherAndSister Lyra especially]], aren't shown to be upset about it, and it's casually brushed aside as [[spoiler: a chance for him to act more like a normal kid for a change.]]

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
** The second season promised viewers an exploration of Niko’s backstory and origins, but these are only ever touched upon during the last few minutes of the final episode, where it’s revealed that [[spoiler: the primal forces of light and darkness were each given a consciousness by the actions of Nar Est, Lyra’s advisors, and the creators of the Amulet of Power — in order for one to be permanently banished, the other must go, too.]] It’s definitely an interesting concept if given the time to flourish, but it’s presented at a point where there’s too little time for the characters or the audience to let it sink in.
** [[spoiler: Niko’s amnesia]] is another example. It was never hinted to be the final result of the above-described scenario, making it come out of nowhere only a few minutes before the end of the episode, and it’s brushed off [[AngstWhatAngst remarkably quickly]] as [[spoiler: a chance for him to act like a normal kid. None of the people who were close to him seem bothered by the fact that he’s suffered a complete DeathOfPersonality and has no memory of the history he has with them or even who he is, although Sargous does hint that his lost memories could return one day.]]

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The second season promised viewers an exploration of Niko’s backstory and origins, but these are only ever touched upon during the last few minutes of the final episode, where it’s revealed that [[spoiler: the primal forces of light and darkness were each given a consciousness by the actions of Nar Est, Lyra’s advisors, and the creators of the Amulet of Power — in order for one to be permanently banished, the other must go, too.]] It’s definitely an interesting concept if given the time to flourish, but it’s presented at a point where there’s too little time for the characters or the audience to let it sink in.
* [[spoiler: Niko’s amnesia]] is another example. It was never hinted to be the final result of the above-described scenario, making it come out of nowhere only a few minutes before the end of the episode, and it’s brushed off [[AngstWhatAngst remarkably quickly]] as [[spoiler: a chance for him to act like a normal kid. None of the people who were close to him seem bothered by the fact that he’s suffered a complete DeathOfPersonality and has no memory of the history he has with them or even who he is, although Sargous does hint that his lost memories could return one day.]]

* {{Narm}}: The face Lyra makes at the end of "The Thorn of Contention", after Niko has been knocked onconscious and [[spoiler: the Dark Champions is gearing up to attack.]] It was clearly meant to be dramatic, especially due to the use of slo-mo, but how small her pupils are in comparison to her otherwise-huge-looking eyes just comes off looking a little silly.

* AngstWhatAngst: Though it's not clear how accountable she really was, Lyra doesn't show a lot of regret over having led the past 17 Champions to their deaths.

* AngstWhatAngst: Lyra doesn't really seem to care that she led nearly two dozen people to their deaths over the course of 800 years. [[spoiler: In fact Aura is the only one Lyra has any reaction to at all, but she quickly gets over that when its revealed that Aura no longer cares abut saving humanity.]]
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Lyra comes across as almost cruel in her dealings with [[spoiler: Aura]], who understandably is dealing with abandonment issues among other things and just wants to survive.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Lyra comes across as almost cruel in her dealings with Aura, who understandably is dealing with abandonment issues among other things and just wants to survive.

* JustForFun/XMeetsY:
** ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' meets ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''
** Alternatively, it's also ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' meets ''WesternAnimation/KuboAndTheTwoStrings'' .

* CounterpartComparison: The show has a lot in common with ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirBender'' from a cast full of people AmbiguouslyBrown to animals that are a mixture of two real animals. Niko and Aang are both the last of their kind tasked to save the world, Its even hinted that Champions all have a connection similar to the Avatar cycle.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Lyra comes across as almost cruel in her dealings with Aura, who understandably is dealing with abandonment issues among other things and just wants to survive.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Lyra comes across as almost cruel in her dealings with Aura, who understandably is dealing with not only abandonment issues among other things.

* AngstWhatAgnst: Lyra doesn't really seem to care that she led nearly two dozen people to their deaths over the course of 800 years.