#i put way more thought into analyzing six of crows than i do my essays lakjfklasf

[art-donaldson]

when kaz goes up to inej on the boat after the ice court and tells her to stay in ketterdam, do you think he went up to her with the intention of telling her that? or did it just slip out in that moment?

you know i had never really thought about this until you asked and so i went back and re-read the scene so i can try to give a good answer (which will be under the cut just in case i start to get wordy again)

tl;dr: kaz may have had the intention to tell inej to stay & that he wants her, but it also very much could have been a "now or never" situation for him because he seemed surprise when she tells him she's going to leave.

so, yes and no? yes because he clearly wanted to say it and tell her because she wants to leave, but also no because he's surprised that she is leaving and has to make a quick decision in that moment (a now or never type of decision)

okay so there are a couple of things we need to keep in mind before we talk about the scene: inej has had her character development (the incinerator) and so has kaz (swimming in the ice court and can't think of anything but inej). they're different people than they were at the beginning of the story when this scene happens and i think we should keep that in mind

the other thing it keep in mind: nina has just taken the jurda parem and her powers are still amplified because of it. this is important because before kaz asks inej to stay, nina tells inej this:

"i can hear the change in kaz's breathing when he looks at you." "you... you can?" "it catches every time, like he's never seen you before."

now aside from the fact that that part makes me ABSOLUTELY FERAL, it's important to know that cause this is like the first time inej is getting hard confirmation of the fact that kaz thinks of her as something more than a friend. like kaz, the only person who isn't surprised by inej's presence and the only person who can sense her, still feels like he's never seen her before when he looks at her,,,

okay so after their conversation, nina says she's going to go check on matthias but kaz stops her and gives her a task to do (he's probably telling her she needs to tailor wylan to look like kuwei because iirc, i don't think that's happened by this point)

and then, it's actually inej that goes up to kaz, not the other way around. so she's seeking him out, not him seeking her out. inej tells him that she's going to learn to sail so that she can hunt slavers and that she also plans to seek out her family. then, she asks

"was there no one but your brother, kaz? where are your mother and father?" "barrel boys don't have parents. we're born in the harbor and crawl out of the canals."

inej is kind of just . done with kaz at this point she's questioning what he needs because he's about to be rich and seemingly have almost everything he wants so she's just kind of.... done with him and she asks him "was there never another dream?" after asking him what he'll do when there no more blood to shed or vengeance to take

and that's when kaz takes her hand and tells her stay in ketterdam to stay with him and that he wants her

obviously a big turning point for their relationship going forward cause now kaz is trying to vocalize what he feels and wants and he's trying to be that semblance of a man for her. and while inej wants to say yes, she knows her worth and won't settle for so little, which prompts to say the "without armor or not at all" line

NOW, all of this in mind: do i think kaz had the intention of telling her to stay and that he wants her? maybe. in the scene, he seems surprised that she's going to leave and hunt slavers, so i think it may have been a "now or never" situation for him. maybe if she was going to stay, he would have never said that or would have taken much longer to say that.

it's significant he does say it for multiple reasons like it's a big scene for them, but one of the big reasons it's significant is because it's the first time kaz is able to say what he wants to inej and open up even if it's just like . the slightest bit and it shows that he's starting to change and develop as a character.

and inej wants a reason to stay. she wants him to give her a reason to stay, but he doesn't. and she's not going to settle for so little (which she shouldn't!!!!) and so they both leave that scene hurt.

OKAY SORRY this took way too long to answer your question but i love analyzing six of crows

#six of crows #kaz brekker #inej ghafa #kanej #otp: i think you're worth saving #asks #anon #i put way more thought into analyzing six of crows than i do my essays lakjfklasf