#claudmand

in a way, there is a silent agreement between lestat and armand in that lair scene. some people read it as armand threatening lestat, i don't see it that way -- what the hell can armand really threaten lestat with when lestat already tells you he is nearly impossible to kill (he doesn't burn, has the blood of akasha in him etc). and armand's method of killing has been foreshadowed in the loumand sewer scene with the fire in his hands. he was about to use fire to kill louis but decided against it. and at that point in time, lestat should actually be stronger than armand because he already canonically is admitting to having drunk akasha's blood in showverse.

so for people who say that armand was threatening him in that scene, i really wanna know -- with what? lestat could have killed him right there. the coven was obselete at that point so if lestat just fucked armand up right there and told louis the truth, wouldn't that just be easier? but he didn't. which leads me to believe there is a deeper agreement/understanding between armand and lestat. i'm not saying armand/lestat had contrived a plan or anything. i mean that they both know why lestat telling the truth wouldn't actually have the intended effect.

and armand is very methodical. in fact, as much as i love armand, i am aware that he lacks empathy most of the time. just based on how he talks about his own trauma and also how decisively he uses violence (choking claudia, santiago, allowing santiago to kidnap louis, claudia, and madeleine), he doesn't act on the type of emotion that both lestat and louis seem to. armand had fail safes in this situation. and one of them is louis living through it. and in the event that louis does live through it (which he did), he took the opportunity to spin the story to his liking so he wouldn't have to be left alone.

armand's biggest fear is being abandoned. he may not even admit it to himself but the way he resents lestat is due to him perceiving lestat as having abandoned him. so when the coven no longer trusted armand, he knew he had to find a different person to be with. and he decided it would be louis. and in their 77 year relationship, almost all of armand's actions are to prevent louis from abandoning him because to armand, abandonment means he is unworthy of love, and being unworthy of love is literally a life or death feeling for him. which is why he does so many despicable things to keep people form leaving him. and when people do leave him, he contrives a version of events in his head to cope (lesmand retelling to daniel, it's not entirely untrue, just that it's armand's version).

lestat had the power to come to louis in those 77 years and explain himself. he didn't. people wanna argue it's because of his grieving of claudia -- okay, i get that but that doesn't mean he couldn't have went to louis with the truth while he's grieving. lestat chose not to do it even though he had access to armand the whole time as well (armand 'calling' him when louis was on the brink of death, he did not seem shocked that armand was telepathically speaking to him at all). so in lestat's head, he knows that louis would not forgive him if louis didn't figure things out for himself. he knew if he went to louis begging, they would have the same resentment cycle all over again.

the last thing people will have a gripe about that they want to use to justify the immense hatred towards armand is claudia's death. claudia is a tragic character. even the way her story is told is misogynistic not by the storyteller but by nature for the audience to feel. you don't get to learn about claudia's own agency, ever. her entire story is told in relation to the men who have failed her (louis, lestat, armand, bruce). and as much as people wanna look at lesdaughter and louclaudia with rose-tinted glasses, the truth is, they both failed claudia immensely as parents, sibling, and maker. the making of claudia broke one of the great laws. these great laws are not made up. armand killed santiago's maker for breaking a great law which is the reason why santiago resents armand so much. so this already tells you that armand will enforce rules without remorse (and why would he have remorse? he's a 500 year old vampire who runs the coven with tried and tested rules). so why the hell would armand spare claudia?

and who is claudia to armand but a theater troupe member that joined in at the last few years of his 500 years of running the place? on top of that, armand allowed his actual centuries-old coven die in louis's hands without shedding a single tear. this is not me saying yay kill claudia, this is me putting the whole situation in perspective.

louis and lestat are the two people who have responsibility towards claudia's living/dying. armand killling claudia has been foreshadowed and quite honestly, does not make me feel as though armand is evil because he's literally doing his job as a coven leader.

is it sad? yes. claudia's story is tragic. but armand had no resposibility to keep claudia alive and frankly no responsibility to make exceptions for her when she is walking proof of a great law being broken.

the biggest question mark i have is why armand didn't kill lestat for making claudia when that is the biggest offense. which goes back to my original thinking -- lesmand have an understanding of each other that i think people underestimate and i hope is explored in s3.

all of my questions are from showverse, not bookverse. i know the books explain things differently, i'm choosing to separate them until we see the things adapted on screen. because if i just started talking about the book, the possibilities and speculations are endless. i am only looking at what the show has given us. and there are also a lot of new fans who have not read the book. reading the book is not a requirement to enjoying the show either since they are different.