#dad!wifies

beyond a joke about him being "bread boy", wifies being spidey's source of food is actually very significant, because he's now made her rely on him, both emotionally (you can trust me, but nobody else) and also literally. even if it was framed as something charitable in the beginning (if you're running low, just let me know and i'll give you some), not letting spidey have her own supply and deciding how much she gets at a time means she's effectively dependent on him. so by the time he does turn on her, it's much easier to keep her compliant. hitting her over and over (even as she's actively doing what he says) and not letting her eat even when she begs for it is a power move; it reinforces the fact that her life, her health, and even her food supply, is in his hands.

she doesn't have a choice anymore. "i need you" is no longer a reassurance about how where they go is up to her; he needs her, so she will make herself useful.

and wifies can make her scared enough that she doesn't ask anyone else for help and pretends everything is fine, but when jonathan joins the picture? obviously that won't work on him, so he has to be a bit more... drastic. while wifies doesn't seem too inclined towards violence as a first resort, he gets the most aggressive when things close to slipping out of his control.

so now we get to session 8. and as wifies lets go of his mask of friendliness, his behaviour becomes even more hostile, but interestingly he still does keep saying it's up to spidey & jonathan how long they take in the facility... while also using the threat of the katana to remind them what happens if they make the wrong choice. wifies only lets them go once they no longer have a use to him. when he knows they're not a threat, but also not helpful anymore.

so, when they show up later on, asking for the boat, using the code as leverage... suddenly, the balance has shifted. now that they have something substantial to hold over him (more than just being there to show him to the bomb), the stakes are different.

going back to that idea of control, there's one more line of dialogue that i think is important to note; when jonathan asks why wifies wants his sword back so badly, he says: "i don't want to have to worry about that." and when he says this, he's also (i don't think for the first time, but close to it) leading the group. while spidey and jonathan were hostages, he always followed from behind, even when he was telling them where to go--which makes sense! no one can stab you in your back if they're not facing it, so demanding a weapon back when he plans on going in front is only logical... but why IS he in front now? they clearly want the boat bad enough to listen if he tells them to take the lead, but i don't think he wants to risk it now. forget a show of power, he needs to take actual charge before things spiral any further.

and to some extent, you could interpret the entire plan of blowing up the city to be another act of control--just like ish, who wanted to destroy the machine so no one could ever use it, to treat the infection by destroying the city it has tainted every inch of. we don't know the full picture of why yet, but wifies' affiliation with m.o.o.n., his wording of "doing what he has to do", the insistence on not trusting people, and his caginess when asked about his past, it's clear something has driven him towards being this way.