Board Thread:Series Discussion/@comment-71.200.48.223-20150223062605/@comment-94.173.158.69-20150329160054

Slaine was the best thing about this awful, awful anime. He was the only character with personality, tangible motivations and substantial character development.

In season 1 he risked his life time and again to save Asseylum. He murdered, spied, deceived and lied all for the sake of protecting Asseylum. The catalysm for his downfall was Inaho. It was Inaho who shot him down and declared him an enemy after Slaine risked his life to save the Terrans on the mere chance that Asseylum was with them. If Inaho hadn't alluded to using Asseylum, none of this would have happened. Slaine and Inaho wouldn't have trained their guns on each other and simultaenously fired. They would have ceased hositilities, Slaine would have been allowed to dock on the Deucalion, and everything would have been cleared up.

That, however, would have made for a boring story, and because the writers either couldn't think of anything better or were simply too lazy, they resorted to making Inaho momentarily belligerent. It was a cheap ploy to stir up drama.

Since it was Inaho that was the aggressor in that exchange, which subsequently led to Slaine's capture and torture, Slaine was more than justified in shooting him. He had come hat in hand to the Terrans, risked his life for theirs, and they betrayed him. Why would he ever side with them? Why wouldn't he, in the heat of the moment, help Saazbaum defeat Orange. Saazbaum wanted the princess dead, but he also saved Slaine - as far as he was aware - from Count Cruthteo. Saazbaum was one of very, very few characters to treat Slaine like a human being. He nursed him back to health, fed him and opened up to him. It was understandable that Slaine helped him in the heat of the moment.

Of course he came to regret that decision when Saazbaum rewarded his foolishness by shooting Asselyum, thus forcing Slaine to side with him in order to save her. Even after he exacted his revenge on Saazbaum, the war was already into full sway, and whatever their disagreements they had, Saazbaum was correct. The system was broken. Vers was broken. Conflict with Earth was inevitable. So Slaine embarked on a journey to breaking down barriers and creating a new world as it were, one that had no such divisions, a utopia in which Asseylum could be happy.

Slaine lived his life by the maxim of Asseylum's wellbeing. Once he realised he had lost her, he decided to pack it. He was willing and ready to take his own life to cease all hostilities, and he would have if it weren't for his subordinates returning for him.

Sortieing to fight Inaho one last time was the most selfish thing Slaine had since the beginning. Now, never mind the fact he was nerfed like hell, he didn't deserve the ending he got. He should've been allowed to die. The fate the writers left him with was nothing short of cruel, and I despise them and the entire cast of characters for it - most of all Asseylum, who not only did nothing to stop the abuse Slaine faced whilst he was her attendant, but also allowed all the blame be lain at his feet.