In Aperitivo, thereโs a scene where Will envisions helping Hannibal cut Jackโs throat, which has a lot of interpretations. Many see this as Will fantasising about committing murder alongside Hannibal, but I think it goes deeper than that. By the time Will hears Hannibalโs voice on the phone, he admits that a part of him has fully sided with Hannibal. So, this vision? Itโs more about Will contemplating what might have happened if he had made a different choice, rather than just indulging in a fantasy.
Chiltonโs conversation totally sets this up. When he hits Will with the whole โthis is your best possible world, Will. Youโre not getting a better oneโ line? Yeah, thatโs some heavy truth right there. Will is a pessimist, and what heโs really doing in that moment is thinking: "What if I had sided with Hannibal?" Somewhere, in another universe, Will went full dark mode and betrayed Jack, and Jack ended up dead. But hereโs the thingโWill isnโt fantasizing about the act of killing Jack. Heโs thinking about the consequences โ the inevitable betrayal, horror, and pain Jack would have felt.
Letโs talk about that dinner scene. Will is flashing back to the โsacrificial lambโ dinner, right before the big showdown. Remember when Hannibal was like, โWe can spare Jack, feed the dogs, and leave Alana a noteโ? If Will had dipped with Hannibal that night, Jack wouldโve been fine, technically. But the betrayal wouldโve still hit the same, and Willโs soul? that betrayal would have left him irrevocably changed, soulless.
This is why Chiltonโs words carry such weight. The reality where Hannibal attacked, but they all survived, is the best outcome for Will. Hannibal made the choice for him โ by stabbing him and leaving him for dead, Hannibal prevented Will from becoming the monster he wanted him to be. Ironically, Hannibal saved Will by keeping him from crossing the point of no return.
We all know Will becoming Hannibal wouldโve been the worst version of reality for him. So yeah, this reality? As messed up as it is, itโs actually the least bad. Willโs vision of Abigail in Primavera is all about his desire to run off with Hannibal, but Chilton is there to remind him that thereโs no โbetterโ world out there for him. Itโs bleak AF, but Willโs choices all suck, and he knows it. The idea that doing the โwrongโ thing might actually have been the โrightโ thing? Thatโs a thought too dark for him to even process.