#I'm also here for Jimmy being the one to nudge him toward better choices. The voice of reason. If Jimmy himself can stay on the right path.

[wwerasliin-sideblog]

Are they really changing though, and is it enough? —

["I'm not an older brother...""I'm not a Wiseman...""....I'm the 'Tribal Chief'. And that means I take what's mine." —for 4 years taking what's *ours*— "We had it all. [...] everybody feared us....""...I don't like being out of control."]

—This right here pretty much sums it up. Roman doesn't understand, what it is to be anything or anyone other than who he's been, the last 4 years.

We get to see a little more into the inner workings of what drives Roman. What he's not, what he is, what he used to be and what he still wants to be. - He doesn't like that things have changed, that things are different now. He's not in control.

It's going to be hard to break from who he's molded himself into, who he's been for the past 4 years. The success he's had, being the way he is, running things the way he has.. Why would he want to change that? When like he said, it's brought him all the money, power, and respect.

The only question now is, if he doesn't understand what it's like to be different, or why he needs to be different... How's he going to choose better or different, and what's he going to choose? Is he going to change, and does he want to change, how's he going to change? How is he going to become who he wants to be? WHO does he want to be, and what kind of person is that going to be?

It's very simple, Roman might (seems to) be a moving away from his heelish persona now, but he's still got a long way to go. He's still very conflicted, and frankly I don't think he's ever going to fully let go of the core essence; of what built him, shaped him, and made him into being the transcendent and unassailable 'Tribal Chief' that he was is.

He's going to have to start somewhere though—Acknowledging his past, what he's done, done to the people around him, especially the ones closest to him, the ones he's meant to "love". A show of some kind of remorse, a genuine apology. The fact that it's Jimmy that seems to be nudging him down this path...

As I mentioned in my previous post, Jimmy - [compassionate to a point, rightness and integrity, even a bit of kindness, sneaking out; the voice of reason - acting as Roman's conscience. Making Roman a little less evil (at least for now) in this instance.]

I like how Jimmy ends up telling Roman the hard truths - about them NOT being the Ones anymore, that they need HELP (help we surmised was Jey, even before Jimmy showed up at RAW this week - which honestly deserves a whole post on its own), YET, he's in the same breath, explicitly stating that he came back for Roman, that Roman is and always will be his '*Tribal chief*', the only one who's still on his side, the only one in the family that still acknowledges him.

You can see Roman really thinking about the words Jimmy has just thrown at him, clearly contemplating them as he watches Jimmy walk away. The look he's giving Jimmy, it's hard to tell if it's because of the blatantly truthful and factual words of reality he was forced to hear or if it's the fact that Jimmy has just called him out in front of everyone, or, if it's Jimmy walking away from him. More likely, a combination.

We can still see and feel Roman's struggle, to be himself, the *tribal chief* who only takes and takes, the one in power, the one in control, the one who's only ever cares about himself, being on top. Or, to stop Jimmy from walking away, to go after him. — in the end his pride chooses for him - to let Jimmy go.

But, there's a slight ray of sunshine, when Roman eventually comes to backup Jimmy, it's a little late but I guess that's the struggle he has to deal with, the choice he had to make... And, in a way he's answering Jimmy, he's responding to him, reaching out; this time he's come for Jimmy, this time he's acknowledging Jimmy as part of his "tribe".

— On the other hand, I still see glimpses of them seeming to be the very same underneath it all.

Roman acknowledges Jimmy only to a point and Jimmy just takes what he gets. A couple of examples:

- inturrupting Jimmy (his first time back, addressing the crowd) just when he's about to focus the spotlight on himself and Solo, "Solo I plan on kicking your as—", — Roman makes his grand entrance right then, and now all eyes are focused on him. But, he masks it, he masks the inturruption by "sharing" some of the spotlight with Jimmy (acknowledging 'Big Jim') but then immediately turns it back all on himself again. And Jimmy just let's him, because he got some, little bit of acknowledgement from Roman. Forgetting why he was there in the first place - to talk about himself and his brother Solo.

- Roman is still unable to hand over the mic, he gives Jimmy just enough though, to keep him satisfied and by his side - a low-five instead. It's a gesture significant big enough for Jimmy to feel validated and small for Roman to still feel in control, keeping them both satisfied for now. Jimmy's content with the little he gets from Roman, this is enough for him, it's enough for now, just like it always has been. And Roman knows that..