Yes, Exile Arc was abuse. I can’t believe I have to say this…

Today, I was having a lovely debate about c!Dream. Now, c!Dream is my joint favourite character, and I was interested to see a viewpoint different to my own (me enjoying c!Dream the most as an irredeemable yet complex villain, them being an an apologist). I was quite enjoying this debate up until I heard this… interesting take.

Exile arc was not abuse.

Now, I’m a huge fan of both c!Tommy and c!Dream, and would consider myself decently knowledgeable on them and their dynamic, it being my personal favourite part of the Dream SMP series. Unsurprisingly from that, exile arc is my favourite arc on the Dream SMP and I’d also consider myself decently knowledgeable on it. This, I have to say, is downright incorrect. Exile arc is *undeniably* a depiction of abuse, and a realistic and tragic one at that.

This isn’t a full analysis of exile arc or c!Tommy and c!Dream’s “friendship”, though as both are major special interests to me I’d love to do a more in depth one someday! In addition, I’m rather peeved by this take so please forgive me for that. In addition, any name from now on will refer to the characters and not the content creators unless otherwise referenced. Trigger warnings for discussions of mental and physical abuse, isolation, kidnapping, murder and attempted murder, suicide and self harm, disordered eating, stalking, and obsessive/possessive behaviour.

Exile, in and of itself, was something planned, likely before Tommy committed his griefing of George’s house. Before that took place, Dream was actively trying to frame Tommy for other griefs he did with Captain Puffy, likely as an excuse to get him exiled or at the very least leave him in a vulnerable position. After Tommy’s grief, he intentionally exaggerated the (fixable within twenty minutes) damage to George’s house and pushed very aggressively for exile.

During his talk with the L’Manburg government, just before Tommy attempted to blackmail him with Spirit’s leather, he was sending Tommy lots of smiley face emoticons in a taunting manner, likely attempting to provoke him into action. After he did, and Tommy threatened to burn Spirit’s leather, Dream forced Tubbo in the position of the imprisonment and slow starvation and inevitable slaughter of his entire country or exiling Tommy.

Such an act wasn’t approved of or pushed for by George. George had already griefed Tommy back, even. They were equal. This was not an act of Dream to get revenge for his friend, because revenge was already taken. This was an excuse to isolate Tommy.

Dream’s actions even just escorting Tommy to exile were unlawful. Tommy was exiled from *L’Manburg,* not anywhere else, and Dream was only ordered to take him away from there. Dream had no right to bar Tommy from anywhere else- not being the de jure leader of the Greater Dream SMP and *absolutely* not having *any* authority in places such as Manifold Land or the Badlands. Tommy wasn’t exiled to anywhere in particular- this crossed the line into downright *kidnapping.*

In exile, Tommy was expected to follow rules that were unfair, humiliating, and oftentimes not even communicated to him. He wasn’t allowed to keep armour and weapons, but he also wasn’t allowed to stop crafting them- Tommy mentions during one of his streams that it made Dream upset. He wasn’t allowed to keep any items away from where Dream could see them, even stuff such as pictures of Tubbo or diamonds.

If Tommy ever broke these unfair and uncommunicated rules, he’d be beaten. The most noticeable examples of this are the cases early on where Tommy refused to put his items into the hole, where he hit Tommy with an axe until he nearly *died,* while he was screaming in pain, but Dream would also hit Tommy with his fists whenever he wouldn’t immediately go along with what he said or displeased him in some way, to the point Tommy barely even reacted as he was so used to it.

Dream would do his best to condition Tommy into not only obedience, but also some fucked up form of “friendship,” along with isolating him and eroding his trust of everyone but Dream. He’d constantly insist he and Tommy were friends, condescending him whenever Tommy expressed that they weren’t, and spending hours “bonding” with Tommy while sprinkling in mental and physical abuse with it casually. He’d lie constantly that no one in L’Manburg cared of him, and involved unwitting and unaware visitors in his abuse (such as getting Lazar to help him blow up Tommy’s supplies). He also spread lies to everyone else that Tommy didn’t want visitors, and sabotaged the invites to his party.

The two people who consistently stuck with Tommy despite this, Ghostbur and Mexican Dream, both of whom Dream either tried to or succeeded in murdering- Ghostbur by sending him into snow that would dissolve him (and only not succeeding since he found Techno’s cabin) and shooting Mexican Dream. He also gaslit Tommy into believing Mexican Dream had an overdose, leaving Tommy to question his own mind.

Dream would try and paint any of his non-abusive actions as a gift, and any of Tommy’s discomfort as simple ungratefulness. He treated the few times he didn’t destroy Tommy’s items as some sort of great kindness, and him allowing Tommy an enderchest as a gift.

These actions had a severe impact on Tommy, leaving him to be severely traumatised and suicidal. Every night, he’d try to drown himself sleepwalking. Any time he was around lava, he’d look into it, clearly considering jumping. He let the explosions of his gear harm him. He wouldn’t fight back against any harm, and refused to eat even when he needed to. The stress and anxiety left him feeling so sick he was convinced he was about to die, and he found *comfort* in that. He internalised the conditioning Dream gave him to the point he saw himself as *owned* by Dream, and that Dream blowing up his stuff was a bonding activity. It’s even possible that Tommy was permanently disabled from this- Tommy’s talk of shaking hands throughout and after exile may well just be trauma, but they’re also symptoms of *nerve damage,* something that could have very easily been developed from the many injuries during exile.

Dream’s actions in exile themselves are a natural but awful progression from his prior friendship with Tommy. Even back in season one, he was focused on Tommy to an incredibly unhealthy degree, going to absurd levels to get the discs back along with having a base that lead to Tommy’s and frequently hiding within his walls observing him, to the point that his stalking of Tommy was a common joke. His actions in exile aren’t inconsistent with his previous ones, and as such almost certainly aren’t an act. After all, the discs represented Tommy’s freedom and right to self determination ever since the disc war, and that’s exactly why Dream wanted them. His friendship with Tommy is possessive and dehumanising, seeing Tommy as a toy to own and play with, and it’s escalated from mildly concerning up until exile and beyond.

So, uh. Yeah. Exile *was* undeniably abuse, and if I ever see someone say it’s not again (this isn’t the first time) I am going to redirect them to this post.