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fullscoreshenanigans · 1 year

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I appreciate that Shirai didn’t think this was a satisfactory conclusion to a conflict that had been simmering in the background for twenty-five chapters, but this was still one of the most disappointing moments of the back half of the series for me, especially when he notes Ayshe contributed to saving Norman in chapter 6 of the mystic code book.

“Recover from the stigma of slaughter” is an interesting way of phrasing it because as @hylialeia concisely phrases it in this post, Norman and the Lambda kids do deserve the chance to do this:

#this is why I feel he's so similar to scar from fmab #like I love the demon characters in tpn but it would have been extremely iffy if the writing had decided they were all suddenly innocent #overall the narrative does a good job of balancing that complexity #without veering off into that self-righteous bs so many stories try to pull #like. the demons commit genocide. actively farmed humans.experimented on them. brainwashed and enslaved a good portion of them.and that happened when there were alternatives! #even the more sympathetic demons are guilty of complacency in the face of this #and the reason I'm still able to root for them is because that sympathy #doesn't require norman or the other lambda kids to be demonized (pun not intended) #so yeah I'm not onboard with the idea that norman didn't ~suffer enough~ for his actions #the kid was raised as food and turned into a human experiment and tortured #the idea that like. musica or sonju should have been meaner to him or whatever leaves such a bad taste in my mouth #(ayshe is valid tho.)

But Ayshe is only given one impassioned sentence in response to her father being slaughtered that’s enough to make her fist clench in anger before the narrative pushes onward.

(Chapter 139 & Mystic Code Book Chapter 6 Q&A)

And it’s made even more tragic because Ayshe’s father was largely reclusive already after a lifetime of being made fun of for his misshapen face

Adopting Ayshe pushed him further to demon society’s outskirts, potentially not speaking to any other demons after quitting his job except possibly at the rare market exchange for goods he might need for her. There was no one he was going to tell about the Lambda escapees.

(Shirai does state he was part of the aristocracy at some point to explain why he knew the demon language:)

(So between that and working at the farm, he did implicitly uphold the system without questioning it, but by the time he leaves his job we can assume he’s only eating humans to maintain his sanity, or he’s somehow related to the group of aristocrats who drank Mujika’s blood 700 years prior so he has no need for it. He wasn’t actively fighting against it, but he wasn’t contributing to it in the last twelve years of his life.)

But while most of the Lambda crew doesn’t know any of this backstory, Shirai also notes that Norman knew the demon language by the point they meet Ayshe thanks to Smee:

So he knows exactly what she’s saying as he stands before her in the wake of her father’s murder. He doesn’t make any attempts to correct the others’ inferences based on their own experiences with the demons at Lambda. Ayshe either quickly composes herself and goes along with them without a fight or another word, or Norman plays her reaction off as her not being in the right mind after being her held captive by a demon for however long as they carry her off to the paradise hideout (I’m assuming it’s the former though because her dogs would likely attack in the latter scenario). And he lets all of this simmer for potentially months (the timeline’s not exactly clear on how long Ayshe has been with them)

(Mystic Code Book Chapter 7)

instead of talking to her about any of this despite knowing they made a mistake. Upon meeting with her again after the events at the imperial capital, he takes a few panels to collect himself before deciding on a single sentence to say to her, and then moves on. Ayshe contributed to saving him per Shirai, but we’re not privy to any attempts at him repaying her or trying to make amends. It’s a shame such a promising, nuanced conflict that should not have an easy, immediate answer was sidestepped to save on page space and expedite the series finale.

I do think it’s interesting that despite whatever he said being infuriating to her, Ayshe is willing to be in physical proximity to him during the timeskip, and her and her dogs allow him to hold a puppy.

(Chapter 181; fucking rip Vincent getting a new scar on his head)

Like many people I’m defaulting to him providing her with some form of a short apology in that chapter 160 exchange. He’s accepted that Ayshe might kill him one day, though after everything he’s gone through in his arc about the flawed thinking of sacrificing your life in pursuit of a cause, I don’t believe he offered her his life in exchange as part of any honor customs, or at least not while he’s still able to do some good in the world. Ayshe has accepted this, albeit not happily by any means.

Finally, all that said,

(TPN Exhibition Booklet: Tracks to the Neverland (Dec. 2020) Interview)

Really fucking glad these didn’t happen ldskfslk

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hylialeia · 3 years

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okay but as someone who's tired of media doing the whole "the oppressed people were too mean to their oppressors" bit I'm thrilled that Norman and the Lambda crew didn't have to give a half-assed apology for fucking up the royal capital. like the narrative still makes it clear their overall plan was flawed and morally Not Good but the characters themselves don't get shamed or condemned for doing it because it's clear that they were the actions of 1) severely traumatized children who, 2) were actively pushed to those extremes by an immensely cruel and fucked up system. and even though it’s a small thing it just. makes such a huge difference to me

and that will always be better than stories trying to pull the rug out from under people and saying "see? they're all just as bad in the end~~" because if anything it goes to show that The Promised Neverland actually understands the power dynamic that it's crafted. even if it makes the choice to portray the complexity of both sides, it doesn’t pretend they're even remotely the same. one group, even if the situation isn’t black-and-white, is ultimately upholding systematic oppression and the other is fighting against it, and within the narrative that context is actually allowed to matter. there's a balance between showing that Norman's plan is wrong in principle while also being entirely understandable in context and it culminates in him being allowed to change his course without being forced to grovel for actions he took against his oppressors. finally some good fucking writing

#tpn #the promised neverland #tpn norman #norman #many thoughts head full #this is why I feel he's so similar to scar from fmab #like I love the demon characters in tpn but it would have been extremely iffy if the writing had decided they were all suddenly innocent #overall the narrative does a good job of balancing that complexity #without veering off into that self-righteous bs so many stories try to pull #like. the demons commit genocide. actively farmed humans.#experimented on them. brainwashed and enslaved a good portion of them.#and that happened when there were alternatives!#even the more sympathetic demons are guilty of complacency in the face of this #and the reason I'm still able to root for them is because that sympathy #doesn't require norman or the other lambda kids to be demonized (pun not intended)#so yeah I'm not onboard with the idea that norman didn't ~suffer enough~ for his actions #the kid was raised as food and turned into a human experiment and tortured #the idea that like. musica or sonju should have been meaner to him or whatever leaves such a bad taste in my mouth #(ayshe is valid tho.)#also just in case #tpn manga spoilers #tpn meta

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