#capotee

For the most part*, humans are programed to find touch soothing. While there are plenty of people who do not find comfort in touch - especially the touch of certain people or touches in certain contexts - our brains are generally wired want physical contact. Touch has been shown to be essential for our development (even for those who do not enjoy touch): babies who have every need met but are not comforted or held do not thrive and often die (x, x, x); monkeys choose a terry cloth ‘mother’ for comfort over the wire mesh ‘mother’ that feeds them (x). As adults, we still generally crave it and find it comforting and pleasurable (and not just in sexual ways). 

Kit was in an extremely, extremely challenging situation. She was in pain. Olaf was also in pain. They were both dying and were fully aware of that fact. Olaf had wanted to die prior to taking a bite of the apple - he prolonged his death and inflicted a great deal of unnecessary pain on himself to help Kit. Kit may have chosen to allow her life to come to a close in book canon. If anyone would need to find something that comforts them and eases their physical and mental pain, it would be these two. Kit was probably seeking comfort and offering Olaf comfort in that act. They both had a need for it at that time.

People often talk about wanting to die surrounded by their loved ones, and no disrespect to the Baudelaires, but I don’t think that they were quite as comforting to Kit as Olaf was, even with all their history. Think about it - people you just met aren’t going to know how to comfort you. Olaf was probably more a comfort to Kit than the Baudelaires could have ever been, especially if Kit was referring to Olaf when she talked about her “true love.” Her choice of poetry supports this theory.

There’s also an element of reflection on Kit’s part. Their story is coming to an end, and she reaches out to touch the symbol of the organization that brought the two of them together and tore them apart. That seems to be Olaf’s take on the situation based on his choice of poetry. Acknowledging the role that VFD has played in their story is a reasonable motivation for touching the tattoo. If Olaf is Beatrice’s father (or there’s a possibility in their minds) VFD is their family story. Their sigil. Their downfall. Their unifying theme. Of course you’re going to draw attention to it. 

On Handler’s side of the equation, it’s because of a few reasons, I think. First, he wants to show us that there’s something mutual going on with Kit and Olaf. Olaf didn’t just sexually assault Kit - the more and more distant their relationship was and the less and less mutual their present feelings are the more problematic Olaf’s kiss becomes. Kit does feel something in the present day for Olaf, and the moment of intimacy between the two (which as I have said before is arguably the most intimate moment of the series) is meant to show that and support that Kit was talking about Olaf. (The way Netflix does it gets my “consent violation! danger will robinson!” bells going even if NPH and Allison act it well). 

Next, you have the subversion of the eye which has been an omnipresent symbol throughout the books. It has been a mysterious threat, associated with menace and fear. We we first are drawn to Olaf’s tattoo in TBB, it is unambiguously an ominous image. It has haunted the Baudelaires for 13 books. At The End, however, that is turned on its head. The eye becomes something connected to love and devotion. Kit expresses tenderness as she touches Olaf’s tattoo, despite all that has happened. The End establishes that the tattoo is a much more complicated symbol than what the Baudelaires originally thought - sure they realized it was initials and not just an eye a few books ago, but here they realize that the eye means different things to different people. The tattoo, like VFD, is imbued with as many different meanings as it has members. Those who bear the mark have complicated relationships with it and all it represents. 

Kit touching Olaf’s tattoo is therefore a culmination of a theme that Handler was developing over the course of the later books. 

It is not a simple act that just functions on one level. It functions on multiple levels - the character level and the symbolic level and the author level. It is a very, very, very important moment in the series. 

Hello @capotee! 

Thank you so much for your kind words!! ❤️

I’m afraid I can’t say exactly what Bonnet shouted, but it seems to me something like, “Hand me the rings!”

The script of this scene is not exactly the same as the final outcome, and Bonnet reminds me more of book!Bonnet there.

Here is the script:

In the book, Bonnet remains relatively calm and he’s not the one who gets obsessed with the rings:

“The man I had hit, who seemed to be bearing a distinct grudge, seized my hand and wrenched at my ring. 

"Here, let's have that!" 

I yanked my hand away and made to slap him, but was stopped by a meaningful cough from Bonnet, who had stepped close to Ian and was holding his pistol an inch from the boy's left ear. 

"Best hand them over, Mrs. Fraser," he said politely. "I fear Mr. Roberts requires some compensation for the damage ye've caused him." 

I twisted my gold ring off, hands trembling both with fear and rage. The silver one was harder; it stuck on my knuckle as though reluctant to part from me. Both rings were damp and slippery with sweat, the metal warmer than my suddenly chilled fingers. 

"Give 'em up." The man poked me roughly in the shoulder, then turned up a broad, grubby palm for the rings. I reached toward him, reluctantly, rings cupped in my hand-and then, with an impulse I didn't stop to examine, clapped my hand to my mouth instead. 

My head hit the cabin wall with a thud as the man knocked me backward. His callused fingers jabbed my cheeks and poked into my mouth, probing roughly in search of the rings. I twisted and gulped hard, mouth filling with saliva and a silver taste that might have been either metal or blood. 

I bit down and he jerked back with a cry; one ring must have flown out of my mouth, for I heard a faint, metallic ping somewhere, and then I gagged and choked, the second ring sliding into my gullet, hard and round. 

"Bitch! I'll slit your friggin' throat! You'll go to hell without your rings, you cheating whore!" I saw the man's face, contorted in rage, and the sudden glitter of a knife blade drawn. Then something hit me hard and knocked me over, and I found myself crushed to the deck, flattened under Jamie's body.