Board Thread:Series Discussion/@comment-71.200.48.223-20150223062605/@comment-68.224.91.76-20150722055717

You don't need to shoot a a fighter's cockpit to kill him. The impact of crashing into the water and/or drowning is more than enough. It is true that helping a man who is trying to kill the person you protect seems like madness, but what you also have to remember is that Saazbaum SAVED Slaine's life, and that counts for a lot. Slaine was constantly reminded during his life on Vers is that he's a lowly terran, and no other martian besides the princess would bat an eyelash to his death. Yet, a Count, and a high ranking count at that, saved his life. Compared to Inaho, I can understand why Slaine would choose to help his benefactor over the person who shot him down and subsequently got him tortured. When the time came to choose, Slaine couldn't allow Inaho to kill Sauzbaam, but he immediately regretted it later. That's what it means to be young and naive; most of us grow out of our naivety with experience, and Slaine's was a  harsh one indeed. Now just because Sauzbaam dies, it doesn't mean the lunar base won't continue to intercept the transmissions; and even if they did sent a transmission, which knights could they trust? It would be a shot in the dark for all they know, and if they sent it to the wrong knight, it's game over. Inaho definetly does act like a chess player, but he lacks the ability to manipulate others to his advantage. The only reason he was able to do what he was able to do and get away with it was because he kept information secret and asking others he could trust for help. Slaine and Inaho are better evenly matched than most people think. Whereas Slaine lacks the scientific knowledge that Inaho uses in his unorthodox fighting tactics; Slaine's ability convince and manipulate people to his side is frightening. With just one speech, he was able to unite the Counts under one banner and defeating a mech that was the counter to his Tharsis was awe-inspiring. Not to mention using Inaho to disable Sauzbaam's Kataphract and using a sneaky tactic to kill him. Like I said before, there are many reasons to hate Slaine just as there are many reasons to admire and like him, and that's allright. Everyone's entitled to their own interpretation., and your points are just as valid. Inaho and Slaine are more alike than we all think; one of the main differences is, Inaho had people who cared about him right from the beginning. Slaine didn't realized that he had people caring about him too late: Harklight, Lemrina, Edelrittuo, and all of the Lunar Base Stygis squadrons. Although Harklight and many other followers of Slaine perished, they proved that Slaine's life IS worth something; just as he gave them the ideal of a better world for people like them. The ending showed that Slaine can learn from his mistakes and move forward, Aoki's twitters and interviews indicate that Slaine won't be there forever as well. Once he has chosen to "live" again and served some time, and with a few strings pulled by either Inaho or Asseylum or both, Slaine can have a new life. That's the beauty of it, and I'm always a sucker for a good redemption story. Anyways, it's been fun debating this sort of thing as it really helped me get a lot off my chest regarding the ending of the series.