Welp. This fandom is pissing me off yet again with their lack of media comprehension skills regarding Lotus/Natah/Margulis, so here we fucking go. There are going to be spoilers for āThe Old Peaceā Quest ahead (as well as some very brief spoilers regarding one of Roatheās KIM chats, specifically a certain one in which he speaks about Margulis and Ballas, though I wonāt be fully discussing that because I think I want to make another post about it in detail at some point).
Here are a few TWs for some stuff Iāll be talking about in this post:
Memory loss.
Domestic violence/abuse.
So, this post is going to address two main things, and Iām sure that many of yāall likely already know which two Iām talking about. Firstly Iāve been wanting to talk about the whole situation with the Operator, Lotus, and Loid since TennoCon, and seeing as the quest is out and we have the full context, now seems like the perfect time to do so.
Lotus does not act the way that she does because she doesnāt ācareā about the Operator. She acts the way that she does because, among other reasons, sheās a leader. There are times when things need to be done, regardless of how uncomfortable they might be. Thatās the unfortunate reality of her position as the Leader of the Tenno (and itās a reality that Natahāand Margulis, in her own wayāwas also familiar with). She wouldnāt have put the Operator, one of the beings whom she thinks of as her children, one of the few beings that she does care immensely for, at risk if it wasnāt absolutely necessary.
She also knows better than anyone (and far better than Loid ever will) what it is like to have oneās memories taken from them. Yes, at this point, fighting the Indifference is the catalyst for going back and revisiting the Operatorās memories, but they deserved to know them anyway. The choice was theirs all along. Not hers. Lotus didnāt force them into that Pool, she doesnāt force them to continue before theyāre ready (whenever they come out of the memories for a moment, itās always the Operator who signals that theyāre ready to go back under), everything is on their terms (or, as much as it can be with the whole Indifference thing, at least). The Operator deserves to know what happened to them, they deserve to know about Adis, and they even say that to Loid multiple times.
And Lotus is likely just as scared for the Operator as Loid is. That waver in her voice when we go back under one final time (the āMy childā line)ā¦thatās not the sound of someone who doesnāt care. Of course it isnāt. This is the same character who would have gone back to an abusive ārelationshipā (I loathe to call it that, but a better-suited word escapes me at the moment) so long as that meant her children wouldāve been safe (can we tell Iām still not over āThe New Warā yet?). Lotus cares immensely, sheās terrified of the prospect of her child never coming back.
And she also knows that this is necessary. That the Operator needs to do this, both for the System and for themselves.
And, despite what every part of her might be screaming, she isnāt going to take that choice away from them.
This is not a woman who ādoesnāt careā about the Operator. And I donāt think that we can say that Loid ācares moreā when theyāre both worried, they just have different ways of showing it.
Now, switching gears for the rest of this post, Iād like to talk about how Margulis is depicted in āThe Old Peaceā, because despite the quest quite literally spelling it out word-for-word, some people evidently still refuse to comprehend what actually happened.
Margulis did not do what she did because she is āevilā or because she was conspiring with Ballas this whole time.
Margulis did what she did because she needed to.
We know that that relationship was built on a massive power imbalance. Ballas is an Executor, one of the most powerful members of Orokin society (and, as weāve actually learned from Roathe, he was one of the most powerful Executors, possibly second only to Nitokh, at least in his eyes).
Margulis did what she did in order to protect her children as much as she was able to from the person who, at that point, already loathed the Tenno for a) being loved by her, and b) blinding her.
She wouldāve died to save them.
Ballas was always going to do what he did, with or without her. There wasnāt any talking him out of it. And despite the fact that she didnāt agree with it, Margulis couldnāt exactly disagree with him, especially not publicly. Refuse to obey, and it would be her head, her childrenās heads (because letās be honest for a momentā¦Ballas enjoyed playing mind-games. He wouldnāt have gone after herā¦at least not immediately. Harming the Tenno was by far the best way to hurt her and to show her what would happen if she crossed him), on the line. Her hands were tiedā¦and he knew that.
And likewise, Margulis knew that the Tenno were in danger, especially if Ballasās plan went awry (again, he already hated them. It wouldnāt have taken much to cause him to get angry enough that she couldnāt talk him out of killing them). She knew that he and the rest of the Orokin would spin the narrative and paint the Operator as a ātraitorā.
Weāve seen time and time again that, unfortunately, Margulis is not the one with the power in that relationship. Unfortunately, try as she might to change Ballasās mind, she canāt, at least not the majority of the time. Hell, weāve seen this happen regarding the damn Tenno. She fought until her death to protect them, and he still spun that around to use against the Tenno after her death.
Even the Operator realized that.
They donāt blame her for what happened, and even if they do, that thought disappears immediately after Margulis answers them with āYou already know the truthā. The resignation in that line tells us far more than the words themselves doā¦They both know how Orokin society works. Margulisās words arenāt an admission of guilt, theyāre an āI had no other choiceā.
And the Operator knows that.
Theyāre clearly aware of at least some of the reality of Margulisās situation, judging by their response to her plan for them:
āBut Ballasā¦if he did thisā¦heāll kill y-youā¦ā
They know that sheās in a very dangerous situation, even as a child, and even with everything that has happened, theyāre scared for her.
And then, moments later when they awaken in the present-day, the Operatorās immediate reaction towards the Lotus system isnāt betrayal or anger. No. Itās an apology. A genuine one. One that weaves itself into every line of their expression and one that we, as the viewer, can hear run even deeper than the seemingly-simple words that they say.
And Lotusās response?
āYou were used. Just as she was.ā
The game directly spells it out for its players and that still isnāt enough for some people. There was a choice made to not only show the reality of what was going on through actions, but to also tell us verbally that Margulis was not doing this because she agreed with Ballas or because she wanted to.
The moment that I realized what was happening in the quest, my immediate thought wasnāt āOh my god, Margulis betrayed usā. No. It was āOh no, please donāt give this fandom something else to misinterpret and hate her character forā. And then, they spelled it out. That she was used. That she didnāt go along with Ballasās plan willingly. And a part of myself was relieved, because the game was acknowledging what I knew would be the nonsense that some players would spout.
But even all of the confirmation in the world canāt convince some people. Even stating it point-blank wonāt stop some from ignoring the facts of what happens within the game. Theyād rather condemn a character who was being used by her abuser than take the time to think about why she did what she did.
And thatās what I dislike. Ignoring the facts presented in front of oneself in order to perpetuate another version of the story that is not the truth.
The core of Margulisās story is unfortunately close to reality for many women. Domestic abuse is frighteningly common. Power imbalances are even more-so. There is only so much that someone can do when theyāre with a partner who has all of the political, financial, and social control in the relationship. Sometimes, that means that (for the safety of themselves and any others who might be impacted by the abuse, such as children), instead of arguing or trying to change their partnerās mind, they need to try to mitigate the damage done. Sometimes itās safer not to rock the boat, itās safer to avoid making the other person angrier so that their anger doesnāt come back to cause even worse harm. And thatās the reality for many, many people.
Abuse isnāt always bruises or screaming matches. A lot of the time, itās walking on eggshells, making plans to navigate pain that maybe hasnāt even happened yet, because one wrong move and the tensionās going to snap. A lot of the time, itās a concession masked as agreement just to keep that veil of peace for even a moment longer. And most of the time, itās making choices that no one would want to make in order to try to keep themselves (and potentially others) as safe as they can.
And personally, I applaud DE for giving us so many layers to Margulis, as well as Lotus and Natah, to make it feel real and to make them such well-written characters outside of what theyāve been through. Because most of the time, abuse is quiet. It contains things that look different to everyone besides those who know. But that doesnāt mean that the control isnāt there. It doesnāt mean that the danger wasnāt still lurking above Margulisās head no matter what she did.
At the end of the day, peopleās opinions are their own, of course. But if my post does anything at all, I just hope that it makes someone think. Thatās all. Just think about the reasons why someone might do something like this, and the reasons why Margulis had very little choice in the matter.
