#one of the messiest metas I've ever written

[florencetheflowerfairy]

Late night thoughts about Sorato, Meichi, and Symbiosis parallels with the Dark Cave episode

I couldn’t go to sleep so I’m back online really fast to type out my thoughts.

Did anyone here see parallels between Symbiosis and Adventure’s episode 51, the Dark Cave episode? Are people talking about that yet? I did, and I thought they were very interesting. I was not expecting that twist at all. I have to give the Tri staff kudos, because the Dark Cave episode is very dear to me. So it was a surefire way to pique my interest.

When the characters were sitting around the campfire, Meiko talked about how lonely and useless she felt. She is especially sad about how she should “have never been born.” Meiko questions why she was Chosen. Her depressing train of thought is reminiscent of Yamato’s train of thought in his Dark Cave, where he also felt lonely and useless.

By the campfire, Sora and Yamato were the first to comfort Meiko. Sora mentioned her past experience about having a “thorn” in her heart. Yamato--I think--said something about how a strong bond between a human and a digimon doesn’t have to be communicated with words, reminding us of his bond with Gabumon, who was able to rescue him from his cave. Taichi comforted Meiko after them; I forget his words but I remember that he was meant to appear dramatic, to establish that emotional connection between them.

Later, there was a clear visual reference to the Dark Cave episode when we saw Maki sinking into the Dark Ocean. She was falling down headfirst, similar to how Yamato was falling in his vision in his Dark Cave.

I think there’s an interesting parallel between Maki and Meiko. They’re foils, in a way. Maki chose her bond with her partner over the fate of the world. Meiko--at the end of Symbiosis--chooses to save the world over her bond with her partner. Both Maki and Meiko are in danger of falling into despair.

In the final confrontation, Meiko falls to her knees and finally decides that they have to kill Meicoomon. An excruciating decision, but Meiko seems self-assured afterwards. She believes it is the right decision. Again, Sora and Yamato try to comfort her and convince her otherwise. But Taichi quickly respects and accepts Meiko’s decision. He is established as being the only one who truly understands her and is willing to act on her choice.

I think that Yamato and Jyou both argue with Taichi at this point. I think Yamato says something like, “We’re putting too much pressure on her,” which is similar to what the two boys said to Sora in her Dark Cave. Jyou says something like, “Even if Meicoomon is doing terrible things, shouldn’t we protect her?” This is reminiscent of the way Jyou phrased his advice to Sora in her Dark Cave, which was something like, “Even if the situation is hopeless, it must be because we can do something about it that we’re here.”

Yamato then starts crying, which he also did in his Dark Cave. It goes against every fiber in Yamato’s being to see “hope” in “killing Meicoomon”, which is how Sora phrased it. Yamato cannot understand Meiko, while Taichi can. Taichi is, after all, the logical one of the pair. Taichi was originally the “cold-hearted” one who wanted to keep hunting down the Dark Masters, even while Yamato had wanted more time to mourn their friends. Taichi has always been able to make cold decisions; it’s why he’s the leader, and Yamato is not. While the Dark Cave scene in episode 51 shows us how Yamato’s personality strengths are uniquely valuable, this climax scene in Symbiosis shows us how Taichi’s personality strengths are uniquely valuable.

Then we see more of the digimon fight. Meiko wants to be close to the fight, just how Taichi wanted to be close to the fight with Piemon in episode 51. Yamato wants to pull her away from that, of course, because Yamato is always the shield.

The fight ends with Taichi being blown away, just like how Piemon blew him back in episode 51. But this time, Yamato is holding Meiko in his arms instead of Taichi. Yamato missed his chance to protect Taichi too.

And Taichi falls into a crevice... Will Taichi fall into his own Dark Cave? Or something like that? Will he meet Maki there? That’s one guess, anyway.

My apologies that I didn’t double-check any of the quotes! I hope that I was mostly correct.

Time to go back to sleep.