#isaye

Getting new nibs today so just doodling :)

The conflict in Sea of Sorrows is primarily between Cobiah Marriner's wife, Isaye, and one of his best and most loyal friends, Macha (as asura who also represents Cobiah's little sister, Biviane).

They each personify and symbolize a different ideal of Cobiah Marriner's life; Macha represents the seafaring life of a pirate, free to sail where he wishes alongside his trusty crew and longtime friends. Isaye represents the steady, relatively mundane life in a city, managing Lion's Arch, a place that had come to represent freedom of life and trade regardless of race to the peoples of Tyria. These two ideals are mutually exclusive; Cobiah cannot do both.

Biviane died from slipping on a dock and drowning, early on in the story. Cobiah was traumatized by her death, this precipitates him leaving his abusive mother and embarking on his new life as a sailor and, eventually, pirate. Everywhere he goes, he carries Biviane's doll with him (despite mockery).

As a pirate, Cobiah built a crew including Macha and Isaye, but eventually settled down to rebuild Lion's Arch and marry Isaye. A misunderstanding caused them to separate, and Macha tried to get Cobiah to return to pirating, yearning to sail the high seas once again.

Cobiah, however, will not leave Lion's Arch, despite multiple attempts of Macha's - some straightforward, such as appealing to nostalgia, others quite devious - to get him to do so. Eventually, Macha learns that it is Cobiah's devotion to Isaye that keeps him ashore.

At one point Macha climbs up on a railing near the sea and Cobiah, having flashbacks to Biviane's death, whisks her down instantly (to Macha's irritation). This shows the connection between Macha and Biviane - Biviane's death precipitated Cobiah's life as a sailor and pirate, and Macha now represents that trauma and is trying to get him to return to pirating, despite Cobiah's more healthy, non-trauma-driven desire to settle down, start a family, and lead something important and worthwhile.

At this point in the story, I found myself sympathizing with Macha because I found the city-based political intrigue boring compared to pirating and fighting Risen, and I keenly felt Macha's nostalgia and appreciated her loyalty to Cobiah.

Macha then sets about trying to negate Isaye's influence on Cobiah (still strong despite their separation and coldness to each other), ultimately attempting to kill Isaye on several occasions - lastly nearly destroying the entire Captain's Council - before Cobiah finds her out.

Macha escaped Cobiah's anger and left him to deal with the fallout in the Captain's Council, also leaving him to work out his issues with Isaye in peace. The story's climax begins with the Great Krytan Blockade - during which Cobiah learns Isaye has a son (by another man, he thinks) - and a full-scale Risen assault, during which Cobiah learns the child is his and allies with the Krytan prince to fight the Risen.

Cobiah's misunderstanding with Isaye is sorted out mid-negotiations, and then he gives his son Biviane's doll - representing his recovery from the trauma of her death - before the battle ensues. The battle seems hopeless due to the activity of a Risen beast known as the Maw.

Macha returns mid-battle to save the day, and apologizes for her actions before heroically sailing off in Cobiah's unique, engine-powered ship to destroy the Maw - killing herself, Cobiah's ship, and the dream of pirating she championed and symbolized.

Sea of Sorrows is a great book and even the political intrigue is great (just not what I was expecting in a GW2 story about pirating and fighting Risen, lol). It's also consistent with the rest of the narrative of GW2 - the emphasis on the ideal of unity and working together, as oppose to individualism.

Macha is my favorite character in this book. I don't normally go for villains, but then, villains aren't normally characterized with the 'loyal friend yearning for the good old days' brush, either. I do desperately adore the way she and Isaye characterize two ideals of Cobiah's life and the way it plays out narratively (though I do wish he'd decided to go with Macha back to pirating... but I would have done what he did in his place XD). I don't often see the 'redeemed villain' type either, and I find I like it.

That scene where Cobiah yanks her off the railing because he's afraid she'll fall and drown - that's what clued me in to all this and it's really great. Macha's just really cool. They even named part of LA after her!