#gotta rant

At this point in the game, I feel like the parallel between Aloy and Helis weirdly mirrors Elisabet and Ted Faro when it comes to the “predestined and preordained” vs “screw you, I’ll change the outcome myself” mentalities. Faro was so caught up in selling robots that he accidentally doomed the earth to die, while Helis is so enslaved to HADES that he can’t see the fact that he is actively dooming earth in the same way. Helis and Faro both believe that they have “preordained” for life to fail, but only Helis has fully accepted his role with pride.

At first, I felt unsatisfied with the inability to make a positive response. In the “Proof of Justice” OVA, Ren came to the conclusion that he and Akechi were friends in the end. Why not here too?

Then I quickly realized... the first option is very appropriate. Ren really wouldn’t know how he feels about Akechi yet.

They didn’t simply end as friends, partners, or even rivals in Royal. Something else happened - something which the blatant lyrics of “Our Light” suggest may have been a night of raw passion before the final battle with Maruki. It would make sense that they didn’t get enough time to totally comprehend what was happening between them. Sure, they possibly had sex that night, but I imagine that it was fueled by pure desperation rather than soft, melancholic love towards one another. It was (in their minds) their last night together and all of the premature emotions that had been bottled up and were bubbling inside probably just burst. It’s a lot to process for both boys. Hence, Ren’s hesitant “I don’t know” is perfectly understandable.

Immediately after the answer, Ren finds something in his pocket: it’s Akechi’s glove - a symbol of hope. And after promising to pass on Munabe’s message to Akechi, Ren wonders if they will ever be able to fulfill their promise made on that night.