#/AND SJUR BEING ONE OF THE ONLY PEOPLE TO EVER TRULY UNDERSTAND MARA

[eggsmuses-a]

/the sovs are such complex characters i could talk about their mentalities all day

[ceo-of-sloppy-men]

Why Mara Sov Killing Spider is Fucked Up

TW: mentions of abuse

Okay hear me out but what if the seasons displaying more patterns of abuse than we're seeing. Spider, Variks, and Misraaks have been stated to be a former members of the House of Wolves; a House formerly connected to Mara Sov.

Spider left with the reason stated in his destinypedia being that he saw it as a "bad investment". We don't ever get actual context as to why, but we do get the context that the House of Wolves wasn't a good house by far. Mentioned numerous times by its members being bound by fear and loyalty, "Could not understand House Wolves tactics... bad tactics." (Variks), and the fact many were held in the prison of elders later on. Misraaks' backstory also states that he didn't have the greatest upbringing, and during his meeting/capture with Sjur it's repetitively stated that he's terrified of what his mother will do to him when he gets back, going as far as to attempt suicide.

Now, why is this important? This surely wouldn't lead to any patterns of abuse. Aren't both Eliksni who left fine? No! Putting both Misraaks and Spider side by side, comparing them by how it's stated in lore on their treatment of other Eliksni and their houses, there are actually similarities. As stated in the Destinypedia for the House of Spiders "He (Spider) rejects any notion of being a Kell and is an astonishingly generous employer by Fallen standards.". He's the kingpin of the Tangled Shore, and could probably get away with not even feeding his house if he tried, but he doesn't. In fact, he goes as far as to make sure they are taken care of and well-fed. Ring any bells? Misraaks goes as far as asking *the Vanguard* for help to save members of his house from a downed ketch at the beginning of Season of the Splicer. Even though they don't have the best supplies, he does his extraordinary best. Both Houses work with guardians to further their goals, making deals that benefit not just the leaders, but the rest as well. Ie: Misraaks having a home for the House of Light; Spider getting the Scorn off the shore which are the biggest threat to his house.

Signs of abuse are hard to pinpoint and determine, and I’m no psychologist, however, the need to possess and control in ways such as the Spider does don’t typically form naturally. They’re learnt behaviours employed to keep himself safe. Especially with the way that he’s driven to know everything that happens on his shore. Mirsaaks himself personally escorts refugees for the House of Light, as seen in the Season of the Splicer opener, putting himself in direct danger. He even goes as far as to trust Crow when he brings supplies that he stole from the Spider, rather than questioning him, he accepts the supplies and views Spider as an unlikely, but not an entirely unwelcome ally. People who’ve often gone through traumatic experiences, such as the same abusive experience, tend to trust one another far more than expected. This rings true with the way that Misraaks sees Spider as a potential ally, though we can’t see how Spider reacts to this as he doesn’t have any recorded dialogue referring to the House.

How does this relate to Mara Sov and the House of Wolves? Well, we’ve clearly seen through Misraaks’ backstory that the House of Wolves wasn’t a nice House, to begin with. From that, we can infer that Spider probably left on more than just “a bad investment” and potentially could’ve seen an opportunity to get out of an abusive situation. Though there’s something to be said about keeping so close to the Dreaming City, as well as Mara. If this was anyone else, you could write it off as naivete, or perhaps even hopeful stupidity, but Spider knew what he was doing. For a start, the Prison of Elders was nearby, at easy access for him to dispose of anyone who didn’t agree with him. Keeping himself safe in a way he could’ve easily learnt from the House of Wolves. Keeping Mara Sov close could’ve accomplished the same thing; keeping himself safe in learnt behaviour. If he had an alliance with the Queen, there’d be less of a chance of her retaliating or seeing him as a potential threat when the House of Wolves betrayed her. Especially since probably around the time he left, she would’ve been or would eventually become, the Kell of House of Wolves. Having a powerful ally in charge of past abusers - or even more likely; a past abuser - could grant him more protection than his guards. So when Uldren Sov takes over the reef and his palace, Spider runs and hides and does everything in his power to help as very little as possible so that it can scarcely be traced back to him in case the guardian fails. When he finds Crow and Glint wandering the shore, he sees more than a business opportunity, it’s a chance for revenge on the people who’ve wronged him. He captures them and seems to know exactly what to do to control both of them. Using them as his pawns, rather than the other way around like how House of Wolves/Mara Sov most likely did.

I could go on and on about the signs and signals, and all the ways that their treatment of their Houses and connections to others signify abuse, but I’m going to get to the point instead. I started this by saying how this season was showing us more patterns of abuse than we might realize. Is all the evidence I presented concrete? Sort of. It can be explained in many ways, but as someone who’s been in a few shitty situations I’d rather not detail, it struck a chord with me I couldn’t ignore. Neither Spider nor Mara’s actions are justified in the story. We don’t know if Mara Sov is truly Mara, if she’s acted like this in the past, or what she was like with the House of Wolves for sure. What we do know is that she and Petra continue to treat Crow lesser by repeatedly seeing him as nothing more than Uldren, and only looking for reasons to justify violence rather than directly asking if Crow himself thinks violence is justified (see Mara asking Glint about what happened to Crow. That was something for Crow to admit when he was ready, but for Mara to go behind his back for). What Spider did to Crow was wrong from an outsider’s perspective, but to him, it was justified and earned. Mara planning to kill Spider is - and I hate to admit it - justified from her perspective, yet still wrong. It’s not her place to decide what happens to Spider just because Crow went through it. It’s Crow’s place. Killing Spider will do nothing more than perpetuate the cycle of abuse, deeming violence to being the only solution, rather than looking for other options and seeking out other’s opinions.

This has been my ted-talk.