freshwater

On the ark Vash says he's seen the black hair on dead plants before, many times, and understood what it meant. What's interesting about this is that while Knives is always depicted as knowing more about his and Vash's own bodies and powers, Vash ironically seems to know more about their sisters. Arguably the only things Vash is shown knowing about and being experienced with in regards to Plants is related to his sisters, such as him knowing not only how to calm them down and sync with them, but knowing exactly how long he can do it for as shown on the sandsteamer, implying he's done that multiple times in the past. Even the way he talks about his sister on the sand steamer comes across as familiar. The translated line about babysitting in that scene comes across as a bit harsh in English, but in Japanese if you're aware of the fact that the plant is his sibling the line comes across as more playful and teasing in Japanese because it's the kind of way he might speak about a family member or close friend. What he said and the way he said it would certainly be rude and condescending IF she was a stranger, but not as much if she's someone he's familiar with, and we know she definitely isn't what he'd consider a stranger. So it serves to hint at his familiarity with plants before their actual relationship is revealed.

(Personally I wouldn't have gone with what the DH translation went with in that scene, which was a line that went unchanged in the OH version iirc, because I feel like it doesn't properly capture that sense of "seems kind of rude until you realize he's saying it teasingly about a sibling, then it seems more playful" and instead it comes across as just rude or even mean regardless of the relationship he has with her. Also Nightow loves to use meaningful repetition, which often gets lost in translation, and that can mean just as much when there is repetition as when there isn't. It's noteworthy that the term Knives uses when referring to Wolfwood as Vash's babysitter in a different scene is not the same as the term Vash uses for keeping an eye on his sister on the sandsteamer, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's a deliberate difference. The one Vash uses for his sister is 面倒が見る, which means to take care of someone in a general sense. It's a phrase you might see used in reference to taking care of a child, but it's also one you'd see used for taking care of a distressed/sick/injured person, or elderly parents, or someone under your command, a pet, etc. Basically it's not a particularly belittling term to use for someone in this context. Whereas the term Knives uses is "子守" which is the more direct parallel to the English term "babysitter", similar to "nanny", and is used in reference to young children in particular. So Knives uses a term that is more directly infantilizing and belittling, while Vash doesn't, and this difference in how they refer to their own siblings is a great contrast between their characters and intentions that gets lost if the English word "babysit/babysitter" is used as a translation in both scenes imo. Also the idea of Vash playfully referring to his sisters as "お嬢ちゃん" aka ojouchan is actually kinda cute imo, but "little girl" doesn't come across the same way in English. I think the way Wolfwood uses "little lady" for Meryl in the Stampede dub is closer in both tone and meaning. But that's neither here nor there).

That scene plus Vash already knowing about the final run and black hair stuff, as well as the memory we see in the finale of Vash sitting with one of his sisters and casually hanging out with her while drinking and presumably chatting, indicates that Vash not only visited his sisters, but did so quite often. And not only to help them or because he needed something from them, but also to just spend time with them as well. It's too bad that Nightow didn't show him doing it on screen more often, because I feel like some fans don't notice the more subtle references and hints at Vash's relationship with his sisters. I occasionally see people who think he doesn't visit them or even think he avoids them when all signs point to the opposite.

After Knives learns about the black hair phenomenon himself, that's around the time when the dynamic between the twins regarding Vash's powers finally flips, where Vash becomes the one solely in control of them and Knives is trying and failing to stop him from using them. It feels like it ties in well thematically with the reveal of something plant related that Vash knew more about than Knives did. A big aspect of Knives' character is his hypocrisy and how it's woven into his actions and motivations, and this is another faucet of that. His self righteous anger about something he doesn't actually seem to know much about. Unlike Knives, Vash has been there himself and experienced the same desperation and suffering as those he seeks to help. Knives acts like Vash doesn't know or care about their struggle and is just ignorant or naive, when by all accounts Vash would understand what they're going through better than anyone else and has known more about it for longer than Knives has. Unlike with Vash, it's never implied that Knives spent much time with their sisters until he started fusing with them, unless you count him being incubated inside one to recover from July, which resulted in him ripping his way out of her in a way that looked pretty painful, so not exactly a nice visit from her perspective I suspect. At the very least he hadn't spent enough time with any of them to learn about final runs or black hair over the course of 150 years, despite that stuff being treated as pretty commonplace by the human who explains the process. And yeah Conrad has been trying to keep that info from Knives, but he wouldn't have been able to stop Knives from seeing it happen at some point directly if they'd visited dependant plants on a regular basis. Visiting one of his sisters is, in fact, exactly how Knives does end up finding out.

It also makes Knives's explosive reaction to finding out about it and subsequent escalation in aggression make extra sense, not only has he been made aware of a very visceral time limit on his ability to enact his grand plans of human extermination, he's actually finally seen the depths of his sisters' suffering with his own eyes this time. Before that it may have been something he recognized in an abstract general sense, but not something he had actually seen much of in person. That would give him quite the emotional kick in the ass. Tesla's experience was something he had a more tangible grasp of from seeing it personally, and it informs a lot of his behaviour throughout the series, but that was more a result of her being an independent. The plight of dependent Plants would still be easy for him to care about and be enraged about and use as another reason for his stance towards humans, but it would also easier to compartmentalize if it was something he was aware of in a less intimate sense. Which is probably why he spent more time up until then focusing more on learning about his own body and abilities, gathering his human knife collection, trying to use what he'd learned to gain power over Vash, trying to sever Vash's ties with humanity, and trying to get Vash to come back to him by making his life with humans a living hell. After getting a more up front and personal view of what his sisters were going through, that's when he starts finally getting his plans to eradicate humans fully rolling, with or without Vash. On top of that he also has to reckon with the fact that Vash had started exhibiting black hair symptoms, which makes it extra real and personal in that sense as well. It's a harsh reminder that they're not invincible and their powers aren't limitless. And whether Knives wants to admit it to himself or not, HE is the one who forced Vash into starting his final run. I don't think it's by chance that Knives doesn't completely lose his shit and kill Conrad until AFTER it's confirmed that Vash's hair has started turning black. And of course, as a result of that loss of control, that's when he gets his own black streak. Karma is a bitch.

The Eyes of God, 2023, Digital Painting by myself, Liz Pence