#in theory I like Izu but there were writing choices w/ her that makes it

[firebirdsdaughter]

…

… It’s way too early in the week to get anxious about it, but I really really hope they don’t make Horobi ‘kill’ Izu, esp after how he literally reacted destroying other HumaGear in this ep. That would just feel over the top. You’ve got the Ark for someone who would do that. Horobi wants humans gone bc he thinks they’ll bring the Ark back bc he wants to free HumaGear from humans. Bc he considers humans to be the threat (in an absolutely wild way I think some Jpn fans are suggesting that maybe he’s being scapegoated eight ways from Sunday). Plus he’s got no reason to want to blow her up. She can’t fight. She can’t try to stop him, he’s got a ForceRiser and backup.

Fortunately, that whole scene in the preview looks rather suspish, even though I l know I’ve said that before and it turned out badly, but… It’s really weird? Aruto’s not transformed, but he doesn’t look injured or dirty or anything. There’s no one else there apparently. There’s a preview image of him holding her but also him running toward her? If they were in the middle of a fight, I highly doubt he’d be given a chance to do either of those things. And there’s also that moment of Azu talking about the Ark reviving over what looks like a smiling Azu, but… Off, and preview pics also confirm Azu is back, so…

We see Horobi fighting at that location, but he’s fighting Fuwa (be still my heart, they acknowledge each other’s existence?!) and is never shown inside? He’s also not shown attacking Izu or anything, and in the preview pics seems quite calm about her presence. He has nothing personal against Izu and (apparently) nothing particularly against Aruto, there’s no reason for him to go out of his way to harm her. Also Ark One is shown at that location. So I’m really hoping it’s the Ark’s ‘big come back’ to kill Izu or something. Assuming she even actually dies.

Like. Literally. It’s unnecessary in general already and would come across as just another attempt to forcibly try to make Horobi out as an ‘irredeemable monster’ even though he’s literally a recently semi-liberated brainwash victim. You have the Ark, it’s right there, it’s literally just announced it considers HumaGear no longer necessary and that it will destroy them. You don’t need to make Horobi do that. It’s out of character and unnecessary. Like I’m cool w/ him having this conclusion and I can honestly work w/ him going to his death over it, but if they try to pull that I will blow gasket.

… I really hope I’m just being paranoid about this, but I’m really touchy about how they’re going to treat this for Horobi. Him wanting humans gone to make a better world for his son and HumaGear at large bc he genuinely believes humans are ultimately evil and that Jin and the others will never be safe as long as they exist is fine, but they have to treat it like the noble, tragic, broken thing it is. That Horobi was driven to this by things beyond his control and even by the actions of humans themselves. You gotta grant he has a point bc humans literally created the Ark (and out of a petty grudge, too!). Making him out to be some ‘awful genocidal monster who kills poor Izu bc she likes humans bc he just can’t see that humans are actually good’ is… Not a great way to treat the literal brainwash victim, esp after what they did w/ Gai. An it’s not like the data the Ark had was lies, Gai gave her real data on humans. Horobi is aware of all that negative info, and has been conditioned to do things to the extreme. What worries me is that I’m afraid of Gai getting handed a (bogus) ‘noble intentions’ card (‘he just really loved Hiden and wanted it to do what he thought was right!’) while Horobi gets treated like some horrid monster for thinking of humans as a threat to HumaGear.