#that the reason he originally fell prey to the Ark

[firebirdsdaughter]

Okay, so…

… Options.

Will I forever feel like Horobi was jipped character development and a character arc that was owed to him? Hell yes. Will I always disagree w/ certain choices made? Also hell yes.

But there are things they can do that they are maybe doing that could make this work to the degree that it can work. Horobi reaching the conclusion that humans are the root of the problem and therefore HumaGear (and esp Jin, I would love love love if they lean into the family angle on this, the tragedy of a parent willing to do anything for their child to the extreme is a pain I like), bc even if there are a few generally okay humans, their collective malice (bc it’s not like the data the Ark was incorrect) will always lead to something like the Ark, and the Ark is also a threat to HumaGear (and Jin, and specifically caused Horobi to hurt Jin), makes sense, given his experiences, the way his mind works, esp w/ being an AI, and, again, his position as a father (come on guys, lean into the family angle, you know it’ll hurt more!). So him resolving that humans still have to go to make the world safe for his son and for HumaGear at large is in character.

What I’m anxious about as far as that goes is mainly them leaning on the ‘humans are the source of all good’ thing a little to hard and treating Horobi like he’s supposed to be some sort of evil strawman when he… Has a point. Part of this is why I really hope it’s Ark One who blows up Izu or whatever in the upcoming ep bc I feel like ‘Horobi kills Izu’ would just be more fuel on that fire (esp after he very obviously established a position against harming another HumaGear, even the ones still serving humans, in this ep when the Ark pushed him too far). It goes too far to paint him as some ‘awful villain’ esp when the Ark is… Standing right there and has no qualms about killing HumaGear who interfere w/ its interests. So basically, my main fear is Horobi getting reduced to a ‘mere evil villain’ rather than a tragedy of awful circumstances beyond his control that drove him to this point. If that makes sense. The latter is really poetic and tragic and honestly, suits him and his… ‘Style,’ really, while the other is just… Shallow. So I’m hoping they lean on the whole ‘noble goals’/‘the tragedy of a parent who will do anything for their child’ angle rather than ‘he’s bad bc he doesn’t like humans’ or whatever, if that makes sense.

And, honestly, I am prepared for him to die over this. My one conditions are that Jin… Actually reacts (my biggest gripe w/ Graphite’s death was how little reaction it got even when it happened). Like, Horobi dying for this, esp if they lean into the him doing this for HumaGear/Jin thing… I want Jin to actually mourn him. Like. I want him to recognise the tragedy and situations that lead to this, and grieve over the fact that if things had gone differently, Horobi might have been able to make it work (esp if my theory comes true!). I want that to be a lesson he takes w/ him, I want it to be shown Horobi mattered to him. I want him to grieve his father, and be angry about the scenarios that lead to his death. In the preview, he sounds upset that the Ark might kill Horobi (notably playing right after apparently being ordered to kill Horobi himself). I will go wild if it goes something like Horobi protects Jin from Ark One and then dies in his arms and Jin is enraged at the Ark and ultimately resolves to find a way to make a better world for HumaGear and fulfil Horobi’s true ultimate dream of living free. Jin caring. That’s all I’m asking at this point. I would fucking die if they let Fuwa react, but I’ve accepted that suffering. Face still hurts from having a door slammed in it, but as you do. But they feel like they’re building it up far too much for just one deadpan line and then never mentioning it again (then again, I had similar thoughts about Graphite…).

Basically… The poetic, self-sacrifice, noble goals, almost… Kinda samurai ending works for Horobi. But only if they really treat it as such. Additionally… I really want it to impact Jin. I’d love for the personal, core aspect to be that Horobi wants a better world for his son, though he might struggle w/ that personal desire bc he’s been brainwashed out of wanting things for himself for so long, he might see that specific feeling as selfish. It feels like a last words thing, where he dies in Jin’s arms confessing that in the end, what he wanted was a world where Jin could live freely, no matter the cost (again, the tragedy of a parent willing to do anything to secure what they have come to believe is best for their child). For extra angst, maybe him having a last moment where he confesses that, despite that, he also wanted to be part of that world. Starts out just being like ‘I wanted a world where you could smile freely,’ but comes to realise too late that he actually wanted to be part of that world. Wanted to see Jin’s smile (oh my gods, Horobi doing the Snape ‘look at me’ thing only it’s him asking to see Jin smile one more time… TT^TT).

And that’s not even touching on the possibility of leaving it open for resurrecting him. I mean, obviously, there’s fic, but there’s still the chance of the show leaving it open—or, Takahashi does have precedent for last minute rises from the dead.

If… Any of that made any sense?