Talk:Slaine Troyard/@comment-80.121.83.84-20140920195914/@comment-68.228.251.236-20140921134556

All right, let's break this down a little.

1. He's in the middle of a warzone being shot at from all sides. Saazbaum is a lot of things, and he is a threat to the princess. However, he did spare Slaine's life. He did explain his motivations. Slaine at least has some capacity to empathize with this figure - even if he really shouldn't. I consider this incredibly bad writing to set up the WHAM episode that follows.

But between two individuals he perceives as being foes, he at least sees one of them as a human being. He doesn't have this with Inaho - they never reached any form of understanding. In fact, their one interaction had steadfastly negative results because of the failure in their communication. It's not a betrayal, it's an impulsive act borne of having no ideal choice. Again, bad writing, as it seems widly out of place with the character's motivations.

2. In this case, as with most human beings with those pesky things called feelings, Slaine was in shock. Anybody that young really doesn't have business being in a warzone to start with, but there he is anyway. He's overcome with emotion because finally, there's the princess. He's suffered and struggled to find her, to help her, and at last there he is. He starts crying because she's there and she's safe and thank goodness -

And then BAM, Saazbaum did exactly what he said he'd do. Did Slaine know they'd fall right into the room where the princess was? No. Should he have kept an eye on Saazbaum? Sure, he should have. But you're forgetting that Slaine isn't coldly rational. His devotion to Aseylum was based purely on emotional attachment. And again, he seems overcome with emotion at the fact that after all that, there she is. In that one moment, it all goes wrong.

3. There's a difference in his mental and emotional state, between these two events. In this case, Slaine is overcome with a jumble of emotions. His relief is effectively dashed by grief and rage. He's finally found her and utterly failed to protect her - and chances are a part of him knows his mistake caused this. His choice caused this. But in that moment, most human beings can't think about this. They act on impulse, because those feelings are overwhelming. This is exactly what he does. If you're unfocused, if you lose your cool, your aim will suffer for it. So will your judgment.

4. It is in no way obvious that Inaho is trying to help her. There are no contextual cues to tell Slaine this. The last and only exchange he had with Inaho established Inaho's stance that they were enemies, and that they did not trust each other. He's not privy to any of the information he wasn't present to absorb. And so all he sees is someone who he does not trust, who certainly did not engage in any open communication once Slaine's usefulness ended. The princess had shown concern for this person, yes, but again we must refer to Slaine's emotional state. The one person in his life who ever showed him true, unvarnished kindness has either been critcally wounded or destroyed utterly. And his actions helped facilitate it. That's devastating.

And now here's the guy he only knows as "Orange," dragging himself toward her. Slaine doesn't know why. Does he want to use her? What does he want with her? In his clearly compromised emotional state, it's probably all a jumbled mess in Slaine's head. Ideally, he'd find some way to approach this rationally. But then, he's only a human teenager. So he points his gun at Inaho and tells him not to approach her. It's not jealousy - jealousy presupposes that there's something he's actually aware of to be jealous about. It's his open distrust for this stranger. He can't think clearly right now, even long enough to consider why the princess was worried about "Orange."

But Slaine does not shoot. He tells Inaho to move no further. At this time, he doesn't simply shoot, and that can say volumes about his motives. But Inaho's response is to call him "Bat" with something akin to contempt in his tone, and point a gun right back at him. Once this line is crossed, one of them is going to kill the other. One can speculate why Inaho pointed the gun at Slaine, but ultimately the result is that Slaine fires. He doesn't do this until there's a mutual threat posed, and people are neglecting this.

So, did Slaine make a terrible, terrible blunder in helping Saazbaum and then suffer the results of equally bad luck? Yeah, he sure did. But none of this makes him an egotist or a bitch. It makes him a human being. And chances are, Inaho would've taken him down if Slaine hadn't beaten him to it. They didn't know enough about each other to have responded to the circumstances as they were in any other way.

Try to remember that characters are supposed to act like people too.