salvation and saving face

The Warden, The King

our queer elders are so low in number because in the mid-90s 1 in 15 queer men had died in the epidemic. doctors refused to touch them. men were dying in secret and begging their friends to break into their houses and erase the evidence that they were gay so their families didn’t know. they were dying alone.

*insert animation budget cut joke*

People talk about the religious symbolism in Trigun a lot, for obvious reasons, especially when it comes to the Plants. Vash is often discussed as a Christ-like figure, with Knives being more akin to Lucifer, as well as the comparison to Cain and Abel when discussing their sibling relationship; the whole idea of warring brothers is a very Biblical concept. All this combined with the very explicit angelic imagery.

But what does this mean for Rem as their mother/parental figure? Personally, I've always interpreted her as a stand-in for God in the narrative, and this goes beyond her role as mother to Vash and Knives. She is the one ultimately responsible for human life surviving on No Man's Land/Gunsmoke. If not for her intervention, humans would have never made it to the surface, let alone had the resources to survive it. Not only does she take on a guiding parental role to the twins who are just steeped in religious allegory, she is also the key figure in thwarting Knives' plan, ensuring human life lands safely on the planet and is able to survive there.

It also makes a lot of sense that we view her mostly through Vash's POV, the way he idolises and puts her on a pedestal. She and her philosophy on life are defining features of his morality, as well as the driving force behind many of the choices he makes throughout the story.

But as always, one of Trigun's overarching themes is the critique of religious and faith-based worship. It is a key turning point in the narrative when Vash is finally able to reconcile his idea of Rem with the reality that she was a fallible person who taught a philosophy lacking the context that Vash is currently experiencing; that although she acted the way she did out of love, her philosophy was still flawed, and holding himself so strictly to this idea he has of what she would have wanted is actually holding him back from doing what he needs to do.

Keep your heart to yourself, give your soul to the night… Come to me when you're lonely… Come to me when you need something new… — Fright Night (1985), Come to Me

Sir Ian McKellen shouts: