#sorry i was reminded of old nathan takes on a certain blog and was very :/ about it all. woof!

[theytry]

my hot take is that while you’re entirely within your right to hate nathan, the game actively wants you to sympathize with him at the end of it. this is why max’s feelings for nathan remain ambiguous throughout the game ( but she never, ever hates him -- especially after the jefferson reveal ) and why the voicemail exists at all. nathan is an objectively shitty person, he’s done some unforgivable things, it’s true! yet the game makes it clear that he was never the actual antagonist of the game … he was a red herring, a scapegoat, a tool. lis:1 at it’s core is about how the kids of blackwell are failed repeatedly by adults, and how easily these kids turn on each other rather than confronting the problems inherent within the people meant to protect them. nathan is failed by his father and jefferson. rachel was failed by david, her father, and jefferson first and foremost. victoria is failed by jefferson too. kate is failed by every adult in her life, and there has always been a heavy emphasis placed on their wrongdoings rather than victoria’s or nathan’s. and, in many ways, they’re all let down by principle wells for how he handled things. the game gives the kids ( including nathan! ) a lot of grace that isn’t afford to the adults. you can argue that nathan is irredeemable or a truly rotten person, but to act like the game holds him up as an antagonist or villain is rather ridiculous imo.