#on nate's part there's also A LOT of jealousy based on him assuming ted likes roy better than him

[lunar-years]

I love your insight into Roy and Nate and think there could've been some great stuff there, but I disagree about Roy thinking Nate has to be protected or at least caring about protecting him. Roy only sticks up for him because of Ted and the book from Ted. Roy was ignoring the bullying of Nate for 6+ months. They barely interact in season two other than when Nate kisses Keeley and Roy doesn't care.

ooh i think this is partially a case of me thought dumping in my post and not exactly being the most clear or concise, lol, because I mostly agree with you about all of this!

I don't think Roy cares about protecting Nate until the time it becomes convenient to him/his journey (hence my line about Roy swooping in when it fits his agenda, and not a second before, lol. Nor does he make any attempt to actually connect to Nate or help him find new footing with the team afterwards. It's very much 'well they've stopped putting their hands on him everyday in the locker room so that's my job well done. back to paying no attention to him!').

I think maybe we're meant to believe that Roy was just sooo checked out as Captain that he wasn't being the leader he *normally* was/had once been, and the book/Ted are what prompts him to reconnect with that part of himself and start caring enough to finally do what he's long known needs to be done.

But I think it's only partially that, and partially that Roy IS a hotshot who generally doesn't pay attention or give a shit about the kitman, and also that there's a very real part of him that thinks Nate is sort of pathetic for not standing up for himself. So when I say "Roy thinks Nate needs protecting" I mean that in a "Roy is being very patronizing" kind of way. I think it is very connected, honestly, to Roy's experience as a young boy at the Academy. I can't remember if there's actually a line about this in canon, so this may be verging into headcanon territory lol, but it feels at least strongly hinted at (imo, given how strongly he hates phoebe's and henry's bullies) that Roy was bullied as a kid by virtue of being the youngest kid there, which contributed to both his early anger and his learning to fight back. He had to harden himself to survive, and he did so by quickly becoming competent at making himself intimidating and unafraid to give as good as he got, making himself the bigger threat by overt macho bravado. I think with Nate in season 1, there's definitely an aspect for Roy of like, "I could stand up for myself when I was 9, and here's this grown man who can't stand up to other adults. how sad."

Him barely interacting with Nate in season 2 despite them literally having the same job and that job being one of collaboration at that is all a part of it! Nate thinks Roy brushes him off and doesn't pay him the time of day because Roy's an arrogant famous asshole who had the job handed to him by virtue of being rich and famous and ted liking him, rather than real merit. Which is sort of true (until the last part!) But Roy's problems are also much deeper than that and are rooted more in insecurity and self-hatred than his ego (he hates his anger, for one, and the ego is largely a mask for the self-hatred). And he tells Keeley openly in s3 (in the scene where they tell Phoebe they broke up) that he doesn't feel competent with the strategy side of things as a coach now that Nate's gone, which is surely something he's also had brewing in season 2.

It's like, Roy doesn't respect Nate because he thinks Nate is spineless and sort of pathetic (an unkind and unfair judgement, because it's not coming from a place of trying to actually understand Nate, but rather projecting his own insecurities), and he justifies that unfair judgement with Nate's very real actions, such as Nate ratting on Ted, running out on the team and going to Rupert, etc, (fully valid reasons not to respect Nate). On the other hand, Nate doesn't respect Roy because he thinks Roy's got this amazing life handed to him, whether it be by luck and innate talent or whatever (looks, money, a great career, a gorgeous girlfriend) and Roy is too stupid to even appreciate that he has any of it (again, an unfair and unkind judgement not coming from a place of trying to understand Roy or where he's coming from, but rather projecting his own insecurities into the situation). And he justifies the unfair judgement in fair criticisms of Roy's actions, like Roy not treating him with equal footing at work and Roy's micro-aggressions in the scene about the Keeley kiss.

I don’t any of these judgements results in overt hatred for one another, either. Obviously that’s not what we see on the screen. It’s more like, indifference/distaste on Roy’s part and stewing bitterness he can’t quite name on Nate’s part. Idk.

So I do think there was enough set-up there for them to do something interesting with them in season 3, even though yes they absolutely don't interact much onscreen.