This was the very first thing I meant to post on this blog. I really love this scene because there’s so very much subtext, back reference, and character development in it.
Almost all of this conversation is veiled and subtext, but Vax is clearly telling Percy he knows Percy is smitten with Vex, and gives him his blessing with strings (don’t hurt her). Percy acknowledges this, and tries to explain his actions a little better, but he also tells Vax that while Vax may not agree with him, “You are not her… I’m not saying it’s the truth, but I do believe it’s what’s in her heart.” I doubt anyone had ever before implied that they might know Vex’s heart better than Vax does.
Vax knew Percy’s feelings for sure in Ep45 the moment Percy said, “Her especially- I couldn’t-” That’s explicitly why Vax hit him, and why Percy let him. Because they both knew Percy loved her, but had still fucked up badly enough to hurt her, to kill her, even if they brought her back.
“My penchant for forgiveness when it comes to my sister’s welfare is razor– thin. If you can respect that then we don’t have a problem.” “And in return I ask, never take your eyes off me. Never trust me, and that is the best friend you can be.” Vax and Percy’s relationship has gotten as complicated and guarded as it has almost entirely because of Vex. And that whole scene is them sorting that out, in the indirect way both of them prefer conflict.
Scene runs 1:51:03 to 1:58:46
Matt: “Alright, so [Percy] you go ahead and grab [Vax] and make your way towards the [Shrine of the Raven Queen].”
Percy: “I’ve got something to show you.”
Vax, mildly annoyed: “What is it?”
Percy: “You’ll like-” he rolls his eyes, “well, I don’t know if you’ll like it, I don’t know what you like.” He sighs.
Taliesin: “I’m going to take him to the cemetery, to the crypt.”
Matt: “Yep.”
Percy: “The title I gave your sister doesn’t come with much, uh, but it does come with one, at the moment, tiny plot of land on which a crypt sits. This was the resting place of the father and grandfather, and assorted family members, of the man you killed the first night we came here.”
Vax, looking sideways very dubiously at Percy: “You want my sister to live in a mausoleum?”
Percy, with a slight laugh: “No, I want something else to live in a mausoleum. This is actually for you.” He twitches a smile, and indicates with his head, “Open it.”
1:51:47 Taliesin: “I actually, I go and I light, um, I light the two, the two little torches on the side. It should be- This is a very traditional- and it should open.”
Percy: “Do you trust me?”
Vax, looking very wary and out of his depth: “Uuuh…”
Percy, with a cold smile: “Good answer.” He waves his hand in a welcoming gesture. “I’ll go in first.”
Matt: “Percy enters the building.”
Liam: “I follow.”
Matt: “Ok, as you enter the mausoleum, the gentle flickering of torchlight that was lit by Percy shows the interior, though it is low lit, partially, and your darkvision does catch you, and what was once a relatively decent mausoleum seems to have been gutted, retrofit, and now you see standing before you is a mostly constructed shrine to the Raven Queen.”
1:52:35 Percy, pensively looking at the shrine: “I figured it would be a good idea. I’ve had my fill of gods, but,” he sighs, “I am not so foolish to think we do not need them still. This is here when you need it.”
Vax looks at Percy, his body language shifting from surprise to a wary tenseness: “I am having trouble.”
Percy’s demeanor shifts to forced aloofness, badly masking his pain: “Me too. I do not want to die who I am. I would like to live long enough to be someone else. I think you understand- that.”
Vax, looks away, clenching his jaw, trying to keep calm, he doesn’t make eye contact with Percy again until 1:54:04: “Um, I’ve been really angry. At you.”
Percy, with a cold smile: “I’ve been encouraging it.”
Vax: “I don’t know if it’s entirely fair, but I can’t shake it. And I’m, um, I’m not sure I’m willing to let go of it yet.”
Percy, still cold, aloof, and clearly full of self-hatred: “Good.” Vax’s body language deflates here. “I certainly do not deserve it yet. I don’t know if I ever will.” He flashes a very pained smile, and his tone gains the barest edge of desperation “But- I can’t think of anything else to do with my time on earth right now other than- this.” His tone becomes more resigned, “I am finished with gods. They will not help me.” He sighs. “Maybe you will.”
1:54:04 Vax: “Percy-”
Percy, sharply: “Yes?”
Vax, earnestly: “I’ve always liked you. From the beginning, I’ve always liked you. You-”
Percy: “I’ve always liked you, too.”
Vax: “You are intelligent, and charming, and-”
Percy: “Thank you.”
Vax: He sighs. “And good in a tight spot.”
Percy, smiling nervously, his tone relaxing to that of their old conversations before Vex died: “It’s the open spaces where I suffer. The tight spots I feel very good about. It’s the open spaces…” He flinchingly smiles. “This is a very tight spot.” He sighs.
1:54:42 Vax, rubs his eyes, looking very sad and pained, and then quickly takes his hand away: “I would like to be friends with you again.” His body language becomes wary again. “I just have a condition.”
Percy: “Yes?”
Vax, very seriously, staring hard at Percy: “My penchant for forgiveness with my sister’s welfare is razor– thin.”
Percy, with a curt laugh and smile: “I know. I know.”
Vax: “If you can respect that, then we don’t have a problem.”
Percy, with a grin: “Do you know why I titled your sister?”
Vax, coldly: “I have some idea.”
Percy smiles wistfully as he talks, choosing his words gingerly, Vax looks increasingly stern and irritated: “She thought she was missing something, that-, and I use this term loosely, ordinary people- We have a magic we use to convince people that we deserve the things we get, those of us who are born this way. It was treating her unfairly, and limiting her ability to– see her world for what it was worth. And it was simple, and easy fix. She is going to wake up one morning, not yet, but soon, and realize– that money will not make her happy, and that trying to please that awful father will not make her happy. And the first step in that is realizing– that– he’s weak; and there’s no better way to do that than to be better titled than your parents.”
Vax, shaking his head: “Uh, I don’t agree with that line of thinking.”
Percy, very frank: “I know. But you are not her. And I’m not saying it’s the truth, but it is what I believe is in her heart.” There’s a subtle tension to Vax’s body language and he almost unnoticeabley shakes his head “And I think perhaps that might lift. I will never hurt her. I will never hurt,” he gulps, “anybody intentionally, especially not you, any more than I already have. And in return I ask,” Vax looks over, startled by this; Percy’s tone gets very dire, “never take your eyes off me. Never trust me, and that is the best friend that you can be.” He smiles very sadly.
Vax, looking at Percy with concern, and wariness: “I will commit to that same promise I made.”
Percy: “You can like me. I would love that. But- And in fact I hope that I can earn your like.”
Vax, with a grim laugh: “I do like you, just-”
Percy: “I just never want to earn your trust.”
Vax: Well, then it’s your lucky day.“
Percy: “I, uh. A gentle title will suit your sister well.” He winks and smiles warmly.
1:57:35 Taliesin: “I’m leaving.”
Vax looks a bit dazed, contemplative, and sad after the exchange.
Matt: “Percy walks out. You’re left alone in the silence and darkness, looking at the small shrine before you.”
Vax, looking earnest and resigned: “I’m on board. You have me. Whatever you will. I have something I have to take care of. Which you know. And I hope you will help me with it. But I do not take your gift lightly. You have me.”
Liam: “And I close the door again, and head back to town.”
Matt: Sound of a door creaking and closing with a heavy thud: “And back into town. You guys quietly keep your distance on you walk?” They nod. “You find your way back to the castle, to your respective rooms, and an evening’s rest takes you all. As comforting as it can be.”
1:58:46
If you like this transcript, consider becoming a patron. You can get access to my conversation timestamp files, my works in progress and notes, and can even make requests for transcripts and analysis. Benefits start at just $1.
You can also support me by buying me a coffee or buying a patch from my shop. I’m severely disabled and can’t work. Your donation helps me survive the capitalist dystopia a little longer.
Critical Analysis 