I thought TSL's ''source material'' is King's Quest?
And the source material for King's Quest....?
Weren't you arguing, basically, that this was too dark and angsty for what is, essentially, a collection of fairy tales smooshed together?
I mean, have you read the original Rapunzel, for instance?
You have this girl locked in a tower by this repulsive witch who coos over her and constantly brushes her hair. While the witch is away, a prince traveling in the woods finds the tower. Since there's no non-magical way in or out, he asks Rapunzel to allow him to climb up her hair. And, yes, in the original version, this tears some out. That's how the witch realizes that she is having daily visits from someone else -- so the witch waits in the shadows for him to come visit, blinds him and banishes him to a desert to die and then cuts Rapunzel's hair and leaves her abandoned in the woods with no experience taking care of herself.
Then, simply because even the depressing stories are meant to have happy endings, the prince and Rapunzel miraculously and inexplicably find each other, and Rapunzel's tears (which are both at happiness and the shock of seeing him all scarred, beat up, and blind -- no longer such a hottie) heal his blindness.
Gosh, doesn't that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
And that's not even the worst one.
