#which is either a coldly calculating one dimensional villain or a crazy out of control gremlin

[thedailydescent]

Going back my post about the fight (you guys left so many good tags!)

I'm not completely sold on the idea that Armand purposefully and methodically planned to trigger Louis into a meltdown/suicide attempt (which the rescue of would be delayed) for the purpose of keeping him by his side in a weakened state, not because it would make what he said and did any less wrong, but because it goes against what we know about Armand as a character.

From what Assad Zaman said, Armand is a guy who actually has less control than he appears and wants, and is sometimes without a full/correct assessment of the people around him. Just because one has all the power, that doesn't mean one's own insecurities or overestimation of self can't get in the way of effective control. He did leave his partner and the "homewrecker" alone together this episode thinking everything would be fine, after all; that does not spell out someone with great calculation skills. He also has this pessimistic passivity to him. He will see trouble coming, but because of his past experiences, feel there's no use in stepping in to prevent the situation because it will only delay the inevitable. He then tries to convince you and himself afterwards that he could not have prevented any of it from it happening (as @rosesocietyy said, his commitment to deniability will choke him one day). He's not a man who can prevent an implosion, but he is a man who can commit to the clean-up afterwards (see how controlled he appears during his fight with Louis vs him playing 'nursemaid' afterwards).

I feel like when we talk about abusers, it's pretty easy and even dangerous to see them as ones who plan everything out from the beginning, who always know what's going on/what's going to happen, and are always in control (it goes back to the whole 'Armand planned Claudia's death from the beginning to trap Louis', 'Armand abracadabra-ed how Claudia died who Lestat really was from Louis's head', "Armand has been mind-controlling Louis to stay with him for 77 years" "Armand actually planned this interview because he wants to break up with Louis/get with Daniel' theories). Not only does it paint a portrait of abusers as one-dimensional villains even though anyone could be one, it also misses the point of why something or someone is abusive in the first place. It's not about whether you intended your actions to have consequences or not, whether your past trauma has compromised your skills to self-regulate or connect with others, or whether you have control all the time or not. It's about how your actions have hurt the other/made them feel helpless regardless, and whether they're (rightfully) afraid it's going to happen again.

During that fight scene, I see Armand's facial expressions and behaviour change multiple times during that fight. I see the look of anger slowly turning to regret then worry when Louis runs out of the room. That didn't look like someone who planned any of that to happen or is plotting to delay Louis's rescue, but someone who was coming off the high end of their subconscious/released pent-up emotions. Armand to me is honestly scarier because of that unpredictability and lack of clear thought-process. With Armand it's never really about boiling his decisions down to one reason; it's about the effect someone as powerful as Armand has when he feels he has no control.