and oh, poor atlas; the world’s a beast of a burden

First, an explanation on how I believe Lacie did not have her will broken by Glen. During her first major appearance, chapter 66, where she is a teenager, Lacie says thus:

“If you simply accept what other people tell you, you’ll lose the power to think for yourself [...] you should filter everything through ‘why?’ [...] I hate the idea of ‘common sense.’ Look at the world from every possible angle.”

Aside from this being an obviously critical, strong willed philosophy, it directly contradicts Levi’s from chapter 68 during a flashback in which Lacie is a small child, as follows:

“That’s just the way it is. [...] Don’t think so hard! You’re wasting time asking ‘why?’ [...] Asking yourself ‘now what shall I do about it?’ is much more beneficial [...] Or else convince yourself somehow that ‘that’s just the way it is.’”

He says this specifically in response to Oswald having asked why the Jury controls Glen, and is immediately asked by Lacie why he must throw her into Abyss. That Lacie show opposition to Glen as a child after having just joined the Baskervilles shows her critical philosophy is one which predates her knowledge of her impending execution, and that she show that same philosophy as a teenager shows that her subsequent years of abuse had not changed this. While one could argue that Lacie could’ve changed by the time she was an adult, seeing as she had definitely shown signs of maturing, chapter 67 places great emphasis on establishing that little of Lacie’s fundamental nature had changed.

“But she’s a fickle one. She often finds herself a favorite when she sneaks out of the house, and is nice to them only when they’re together...” “I know that. She didn’t even remember me. She’s a free spirit, and no one can catch her or pin her down. No... No one can do that. I’m happy she hasn’t changed a bit.”

So why would Lacie, so firmly established as so strong willed and critical, so willingly go to her death? Chapter 72 makes it clear that Lacie could have escaped with relative ease, had she so desired. Yet she goes so far as to goad Oswald after he shows hesitation prior to her execution, commanding him to finish her off (chapter 69). Did Lacie, in that case, want to die? I think not. First, consider her the flashback to her early childhood I previously mentioned. It is to the moment she first hears from Levi her impending death, and ends upon his description of her fate-- with Lacie, an adult, jolting awake and Levi asking her what she could’ve dreamed of that would’ve frightened her so much (chapter 68). Consider also her message to Jack (chapter 72), which includes the following lines:

… “Lonely” …? The black mist unfurling in my heart... is what I’ve kept refusing to acknowledge. The thoughts I’ve kept bottled up for a long, long time. That I’m disappearing from this world. That I can’t be with you anymore. That I couldn’t realize it until now. It all makes me feel “lonely.”

The former incident shows terror in the face of death, the latter regret. Both clearly indicate a desire to live, or, at the very least, a reluctance to face death. Another major indicator is a narrative parallel I often see acknowledged, but rarely analyzed in depth: Both of Elliot and Lacie's last words are admissions of fault, with these admissions have substantial parallels in framing. In Japanese, Elliot's last words are わるい、リーオ ("warui, Leo," lit. closer to "my bad, Leo") while Lacie's are 兄様、ごめんね ("Nii-sama, gomen ne," lit. closer to "elder brother, I apologize")- there is no ambiguity of fault in the case of either (and yes, I spent time researching the usage of ごめんね to remove all doubt- it is only used to admit fault). The debate then comes as to why these scenes were framed so similarly, and conclusions are usually structured around Glen.

This is not a bad way to view things, but for this argument, consider the other perspective: the line exists to call attention to thematic similarities in Elliot and Lacie's respective deaths. Elliot committed suicide. His death is called such outright. However, Elliot was not suicidal. In his last moments, he did not want to die, even if he had chosen his death himself. He chose to kill himself because it was the only way to maintain his personhood, the only way to protect the people he loved. It is essential to note: Elliot was right. If there is no similarity between the themes of Elliot's death and Lacie's- that is, if Lacie did not choose to die because it was the only way to protect something she thought essential- then why make the lines, the framing of their delivery, so similar?

The final major indicator of Lacie’s lack of suicidal inclination is her narrative analogy to Vincent. Though Vincent has many of the same critical beliefs as Lacie (for the most obvious example, see Last Dance) and was born under practically identical conditions, he is largely characterized by his extreme suicidal inclination. He states explicitly that he has wished to die since childhood (chapter 96) and that he believes his death is necessary to prevent the Tragedy of Sablier, and thus the sinking of the world into Abyss (chapter 91). He’s also a violent misogynist,* and the message of his character is clear: one who allows themselves to be motivated primarily by self loathing has allowed all expressions of love to be tainted. How can we then argue that Lacie, whose defining quality is her love for the world, would’ve gone to her death out of self loathing?

The final argument which potentially accommodates my previous evidence but goes against my overall thesis is thus: Lacie was not suicidal, did go to her death out of a desire to protect something... and that "something" was simply "the stability of Abyss." To rephrase, this argument is that Lacie died not for some grand scheme, but because she believed her life was a danger to those around her. This argument is reasonable- it's more or less the basis for Vincent's suicidal tendencies, without getting into detail about Vincent as a character. It's also, just... explicitly wrong. Lacie believed the Child of Ill Omen was a benevolent existene. She says as much in chapter 101:

You know, Nii-sama, I've been thinking... "the one" who's always been alone, deep deep down at the bottom of the Abyss... maybe she's just... lonely. Always alone and lonely, without even knowing what loneliness is. Still... "she" kept yearning for someone who would push through the profound, cold darkness and reach her. "She" longed for "someone" who could do that. That desolation and yearning must have birthed Ill-Omened children like me.