Talismanic posthuman childhood in Tales of Arcadia

The conceptual fluidity of narrative in the children’s contemporary fantasy television series Trollhunters , from the Tales of Arcadia universe, emerges from techno-magic and non-human modes of being. Uncontainability and monstrous and object-mediated transformation define both aesthetic and subject matter. Creaturely humans, humane trolls, porous worlds and malleable realities, as well as magical objects transform that with which they come into contact. Contemporary iterations of established fantasy tropes, particularly the catalytic ‘thing’—offer useful insights into key aspects of posthuman childhood. Objects represent our affective orientation towards the world, and their talismanic quality foregrounds relational potential rather than depositing fixed meaning.