I think this episode surprisingly showed us a side of Armand that we haven’t quite seen before.
When we saw Armand’s version of events in S2, he wasn’t optimistic about Nicki’s turning and he told Lestat as such. Lestat in his narrative was already getting over Nicki at that point and gravitating towards Armand as a superior companion. More or less a bunch of lies as we saw in episode 3x3.
In 3x3, we saw exactly how things went down. Armand, Lestat, and Gabriella all observed Nicki after his turning and debated if he would be able to handle the dark gift. Lestat had hopes that he would while Gabriella who had warned him against turning him, immediately shot him down. Armand who very likely agreed with Gabriella instead vocally agreed with Lestat to earn his good graces; a gesture which was not reciprocated as Lestat found it to be a desperate move.
Later we see the vampires continue to observe Nicki’s deteriorating mental state with Lestat panicking over what he was becoming and looking to a more experienced Armand for help. Armand passively watches while Gabriella finds Nicki’s distress to be entertaining. But it was this expression here that defined Armand in the moment.
In all his years of being an immortal, Armand has likely seen several fledglings unable to handle the dark gift. It’s also likely a factor as to why he doesn’t make his own. But even with all his knowledge and history, he’s still genuinely shocked at Nicki’s deterioration. There’s something human behind those eyes as he sees this horrific event unfold. Both as a vampire and the Maitre of the theatre watching his own violinist mutilate his own hands in front of him. It makes you wonder if Nicki’s death was a mercy killing to end his suffering and not an act of jealousy.
But Gabriella? She laughed. Cackled even.
Despite being the second youngest vampire in the room, she is the most detached and separated from humanity. She crosses boundaries that shouldn’t be crossed and her cruelty and callousness is unmatched.
Compared to her, Armand was civil that night. And it gives more reason for Armand to hate her given that she poked at him about Marius despite him telling her already that he was dead.
