Fallen-Garde

I think she’s right.

When Eight died, his soul returned to join the Entity. He became part of the energy that makes Lorien. I think that’s what happens to all Garde: they return to their origin as energies.

This basically means that when the Entity was woken up in the Sanctuary, the energy (aka Legacies) that spread through the earth and bestowed itself on the human Garde is actually the energy that used to be living Garde.

—

"Always against me ... always ... even when I’m on the right side ...,” Five murmured, his words slurred. "Let me show you ... show you what they ... what they did to me." His skin changed. Not back to metal like before. The dark blemishes that covered his skin grew wet and expanded, spreading out to cover Five’s entire body [...]

—

"Calm ...,” Einar said. "You’re calm. It’s okay.”

“I’m sorry,” Five said, looking first at Kopano and then at Nigel. A tear streaked down his blood-crusted cheek. “I’m so sorry.”

—

“Put me out,” Five snarled at Einar. “I don’t want to feel like this.”

—

“I’m ... I’m sorry,’’ Five said. ‘’I lose my temper sometimes.’’

—

"I ... I’ve never been able to control my emotions. It’s even worse sometimes after what happened to me ... what happened during the invasion. I feel pain and rage ... I just lose it. When it gets like that, Einar can help me feel normal again. He helps me forget what a toilet my life has been."

—

Five braced himself for danger and hugged Ran close to protect her, but no one was paying any attention to them.

—

"I need to go back," he snarled. "My friends—my only friends—are in the middle of their own fight. Trying to save your asses."

—

He looked at Ran with wet, fearful eyes. He was afraid for her, she realized. "You need a healer," Five said.

—

She saw John Smith stumble towards her, looking like he might pass out. But somebody shoved him aside. "Not you," Five said to John. "You make this worth it."

—

John was so worried about Henri making them move again after John got his first Legacy during his first day at school, that he dusted, washed, and swept the whole house while Henri was asleep because he believed if the house felt more like a home, Henri would be more compelled to stay.

First, I forgot how close John & Henri were. John had monologues for crying out loud. He opened up to Henri without shame and secret, unlike how Nine said that talking wasn’t really his and Sandor’s thing. There really was no difference between John’s relationship with Henri and a son’s relationship with his father.

ME!! 

I wanted to see more done with Maiken, Lisbette and Anika, but also with our boy Nic who befriends Nigel in the end. Let’s not forget Simon whose Legacy is wicked cool, and Miki whose Legacy blew my mind. And wasn’t there an Omar kid who literally breathed fire?? HELLO WHAT??

I was also hoping to see Nemo, Max, Rena, Lava (& his sister Shaky), Bats and Ghost play a role in Return to Zero. It’s such a bummer that they didn’t, especially considering Nine was involved in Six and Sam’s mission relating to these kids -- and they’re all super cool characters! 

And what the heck happened with shady boi Seamus McKenna? I still haven’t forgotten the threat he made at the end of Out of Shadows:

“Seamus lay back on his cot and wondered if he should have stuck with Freakshow and Spike. Surely they weren’t worse off than he was, trapped here with no way out. Except that there was always a way out. He just had to find it. And when he did, a lot of people were going to be very sorry. Especially his father.”

I thought we would be meeting Seamus in Return to Zero for sure... I even thought Einar & the gang would run into Seamus, Freakshow and Spike in the Garde prison Lucas was in. 

I would honestly love another sequel series. I think the escape to New Lorien and the new Garde initiative carries so much potential for another story. They’re literally vigilantes now, and I wanna see John and the OG Garde interact with the Human Garde more as teammates on missions! 

Seamus and the other rogue Garde MUST still be out there doing God knows what... What if they started stirring up trouble and the New Lorien Garde had to stop them? Let’s remember that there are probably thousands of Garde out there still in hiding, and not all of them are necessarily “good” people... Earth Garde folk like Melanie, Lofton and Jiao are still out there too.

P.S. I need to find out. Will John get the romantic happy ending he was hoping for since I Am Number Four? Will Taylor ever leave Kopano for John? Will Rabiya and Kopano be canon? Will Nigel and Nic be canon?? DOES NINE FINALLY GET A LOVE INTEREST? I NEED TO KNOW THESE THINGS.

He deserves all of life’s happiness.

I never realized that actually, but it’s cool that you thought about it!

I don’t think that elemental Legacies would necessarily make the girls stronger than the guys. For example, (this is in the sequel series), Nine used his anti-gravity Legacy to ground himself when there was an earthquake. It was like he was running on normal ground, with complete speed and agility. I think being ‘powerful’ really depends on the individual’s Legacy and not whether the Legacy was elemental or physical.

If I had a dollar every time I wanted to yell at Six for making stupid decisions, I would be Einar in his money room on the skimmer after he robbed all of those Foundation millionaires.

In the Six & Sam novellas, Six seemed more stubborn than she ever was in the main series. It was kind of weird. She made rushed decisions that weren’t clearly thought out, and we saw how stubborn she was when she insisted to stay away from the Academy and do things on her own (and with Sam). She clearly needed help on her missions with Sam, and Nine and Lexa really saved their butts tbh.

I was pissed with Six on multiple occasions, but I think I understand why she was so "incompetent" in the sequel series.

It all starts with her being super against getting involved with all the human garde activity. At first, I thought it was because she grew comfortable with the laid-back vacation lifestyle she adopted with Sam. She liked taking a break from constantly watching her back and needing to fight enemies. She enjoyed taking it slow, seeing the world with Sam on her side. I get it, she didn’t have loads of alone-time with Sam in the main series, and it seemed that she wanted to spend time with him as a lover. I get that.

OK, it’s totally unfair to force Six into being an active heroine or make her feel guilty for staying away from the other Loric, BUT ... none of the other Loric got a break from the reality of the world, so why should she? It sucks that none of them can catch a break, but to be honest, that’s the price of being given a hero’s destiny. Nine felt like it was his duty to raise the human garde students and teach them how to protect themselves like Sandor taught him. John, Marina and Ella were still busy as hell doing whatever it was they were doing on New Lorien (not to mention, John was negotiating with Vontezza & her warship crew). Five, too, was dragged into the reality of Earth. In his view, he was actually protecting the garde from corrupted human organizations seeking to exploit them. Even SAM got a bit bored of all that aimless wandering, and it was clear that he wished he were a part of the Academy too. He’s human after all, and this is his planet and his people.

So Six was stubborn about keeping her distance. But I think there’s another reason she was stubborn too (one she doesn’t want to admit to anyone). It was only after she got close to Nemo, Max & Rena did she feel like she kept her distance all that time because she didn’t want to fear over other teens. She didn’t want to worry about other people, and she didn’t want to feel like she’d failed them anyone if she couldn’t save them... Sarah flashbacks anyone?

I don’t think Six ever forgave herself for getting Sarah injured in her tornado of debris back at the Sanctuary. I don’t blame Six because it wasn’t her fault that Sarah died, but Six never forgot about it. I also realized that Six didn’t have too many scenes with John after Sarah’s death. She was ashamed to even talk to him about what had happened, and I don’t think they ever had a real talk about Sarah’s death either. Then John disappeared after he got healed, stayed in the Himalayas for a looong time, and he never saw Six again. She kept that guilt in her ever since.

I think in a way, although it’s selfish as hell, I get it. Six wanted to stay away so that she wouldn’t see anyone else get hurt — let alone human garde kids — and she didn’t want to feel like she failed them if she couldn’t protect them. Because of these feelings, she was rusty. She was hasty and angry and stubborn, and she wasn’t thinking straight anymore. She wasn’t the strategist she used to be, and she refused help from the rest of the OG gang because she wished reality could be different. That she could have a normal life with Sam.

But that’s just my opinion on her competency issues.

P.S. *GASP* HOW DARE U DRAG MARINA INTO THIS??? 😭😭