#I imagine Hannibal is like that friend who will eat anything you won't

[tantamounttoflirtation]

Hannibal and Will having a cute little charcuterie dinner date but Will keeps moving all of the mushy grapes from his plate onto Hannibal's because he can't stand eating soft grapes

[arkashas]

@mitzvahmelting @mousfri

nice discussion!

besides all that you've said here, i think there's two main things factoring into will saying that he doesn't know if hannibal deserved will trying to murder him to margot.

when he sent matthew to kill hannibal, will felt as if he became a killer in that moment. he believes his soul is tainted, that he's no longer innocent. and before this episode he'd just killed randall tier and reveled in it. will sent matthew after hannibal as a response to beverly's death, but how can he judge hannibal for being a killer when he himself is one? saying hannibal deserves punishment is admitting he does as well.

will began to understand that all that hannibal had done to him was hannibal's messed up version of what he considers helping him, especially after hannibal went to the stand to speak in his defense, and framed chilton as the chesapeake ripper to get will out of jail. hannibal wanted to "open will's eyes to who he really is" and that's why will returns to therapy, under the guise of becoming his true self under hannibal's tutelage.

with re: the stagman, i believe the stagman is will's attempt at compartmentalization, because he cannot accept that the monster and hannibal are one and the same. the stagman appears most prominently around savoureux, when will is at the point that he cannot deny hannibal is the copycat killer and the person who framed him any longer. will keeps seeing hannibal as the stagman in s2,

like here ^ when hannibal is saying he's will's friend, will sees him as the stagman because he still sees him as a monster and he doesn't believe him (the way will is glaring daggers at him in this scene is insanely funny).

mid s2 that begins to change, the stagman only makes an appearance when will is trying to deny hannibal's humanity,

like here ^ in shiizakana where he's forcing hannibal to admit he's a monster so he can kill him, and in naka-choko when he is only capable of killing the imaginary hannibal he's superimposed over randall when he imagines him as the stagman.

the dream in shiizakana is about will being aware that what hannibal had done was out of love for him but wanting to ignore that so he can kill hannibal without guilt or remorse. will wants to believe that hannibal is nothing but a monster, so that taking his revenge becomes so much easier, so he won't have to admit that he and hannibal are alike, and so he can keep ignoring what's inside of him forever. it also explains why in sakizuke, will says it's "no comfort" to believe hannibal was doing was what he thought was best for will.

but the more will empathizes with hannibal, the less he's able to deny his humanity. in s3 the last time we see the stagman is a brief glimpse when hannibal is sawing will's head.

in that conversation with alana, i think will's silence is less about him thinking hannibal doesn't deserve what's coming to him, and more about him knowing full well hannibal does deserve all that's coming to him and more, but because of his feelings about him he can't abide the thought of hannibal being tortured. he doesn't say anything because he doesn't exactly want to explain all that to alana and open a whole other can of worms. he manipulates alana into freeing hannibal, saying she has to shed blood, whether it's by her hand or someone else's.

and also, will has accepted hannibal's nature at this point, he went to hannibal's past to better understand him and made the realization that mischa didn't make hannibal who he is, that he was simply born that way. how can you judge and exact punishment on a predator for doing what's true to their nature? i think this quote about sums it up:

"will has got to the point in his relationship with hannibal where he can’t be angry with him for doing what he does. it’s like being angry at a shark for eating somebody. you’re in the water, the shark is a predator. that’s what it does, so you can’t be mad at a shark for being a shark. you have to take responsibility for your role in getting in the water, and will is saying, ‘i acknowledge that I got in the water. I accept that you’re dangerous, i understand how you’re dangerous and I forgive you for being who you are.'"

2.09 | 3.07