#Can you tell I wrote my undergrad thesis about the the symbolic and socio-political implications of theatrical narrative choices

[lifetooshortlovetoolong]

Okay so I know everyone loves our little trifecta of TLT unreliable narrators because the variances of liar/oblivious/in denial are perfect but I think the Peak Combination of all three is embodied by IANTHE in The Unwanted Guest. Oh, and sprinkle gaslighting into that mix, too.

Girlie had Palamedes forcibly enter her head and immediately just starts to absolutely warp the narrative both knowingly and unknowingly.

Oh, you want control of the body she puppeting? Well, she's gonna create a complex scenario in which a stage play is taking place in her literal mind palace where she's gonna sit here and be kissed and attended to by figments of her subconscious while you have to answer her riddles three about where Bab's body is (well, technically one riddle, but whatever).

And she seems so on-top of this narrative, which is reflected in the choice of framing the entire short as a play, a format in which plot/setting circumstances compel a character's story, not vice versa. Ianthe makes it seem as if everything is as it should be, which what “should be” is her in power/control.

And yet, the entire time this trap of her own design is happening, she has no fucking clue what she's doing. She's making the riddle shit up to throw at Pal because she doesn't know where Bab's body is, she doesn't know why she doesn't know that, and she is also scared that not knowing that means that his soul is ultimately hers now. Not to mention the fact that Pal is metaphorically breathing down her neck to take control. She lies, she's oblivious, and she's completely in denial, all to save her own skin.

And so this perfectly lit (or should I say gaslit) scenario of the play comes crashing down around her as the core realities of Ianthe's psyche and soul are deconstructed by Pal. The attendants are gone, the coffins are empty, and Ianthe is left alone on stage while Pal leaves the auditorium altogether when he's figured her out. Her narrative power, in all its lying, obliviousness, and denial, is literally wrenched from her by him leaving the space she's shaped her truth in. It's an absolutely banger choice.

All this to say, Ianthe is the true neutral of unreliable TLT narration. Yes, she does know she's being unreliable, but she has no clue why and that's as intriguing as it a little unsettling and upsetting.