#she doesn't seem herself until after she kills Kro

[softquietsteadylove]

I saw this trend on TikTok where "It's not just a girl harmonizing with her fan..." And then I suddenly thought of Thena😭

It's not just a girl harmonizing with her fan. It's the sound of the air on Gilgamesh's funeral, all silence, them watching Thena, if she's gonna get triggered now that his presence is gone, now that she couldn't feel him.

It's not just a girl harmonizing with her fan. It's Thena standing on the riving, holding Gilgamesh's remain one last time.

It's not just a girl harmonizing with her fan. It's Thena immediately believing that it's Gilgamesh's she's talking but it's Kro, the way she smiled hearing his voice and giving her hand out for him.

It's not just a girl harmonizing with her fan. It's Thena walking out of the cave after she killed the creature who killed her protector, her heart, her love.

It's not just a girl harmonizing with her fan. It's Thena seeing the world fall apart as a new celestial merges and she's ready to be gone, to start over and to be with Gilgamesh again.

I swear that scene when she walked out of the cave, the way she closed her eyes, I knew that she accepted the fact that they cannot win. But she's ready to be taken and to die because she knows she will be with Gilgamesh again on another planet.

Okay no but this take is exquisite.

It's the way Thena sits with Gilgamesh in the forest, spooked by the newness, the strange smells and sounds. And he sits with her, assures her that of course she is the Thena they still know.

It's how Thena shouts for Ikaris despite their contention because Gilgamesh is hurt, and she doesn't know what else to do. She smiles at him and says "hey" because that's what they do. She holds his hand, and only once he's gone do her tears start to take over, dragging her head down to his chest.

Thena watching the fire blaze for his funeral pyre in an event none of them are every truly prepared for: the death of their own. She holds his remains preciously, cradles them to her. And all the while she has this look on her face, blank and haunted.

Did the others worry about her state of mind. Did they watch her drag herself to shore, dress soaking and her feet dragging on the shore pebbles. Did they see the look on her face and step aside, afraid to do anything else?

She smiles so freely when that thing says "Thena, it's me, Gilgamesh". she smiles and tilts her head and holds her hand out. And she remains in that daze until he strokes her cheek. Her eyes clear because that touch isn't right. It's not the same, it's not his, it's not him. And she knows it. She hears him say to remember, because Gil is still in there, fighting from the inside to protect her even now.

Thena knowing they have lost but accepting that her war is one (an amazing take). She closes her eyes and accepts her fate because she can be with her Gilgamesh again. Because they would do this again, on any planet. And when that is not what happens, she honours his last wishes: she remembers.