like. obviously not quite the same situation, but the way Mael blames Marius for "corrupting" him and then Marius being full of guilt and anger at the way Amadeo proves "irresistible," denying the reality of Amadeo's vulnerability as a child just as Mael denying Marius's vulnerability as a captive. there's something about the way victim blaming gets passed down in this situation, with the key difference being that Marius has the vocabulary to determine that Mael's accusations are wrong and Amadeo doesn't.

Mael provides, as he always does, a repository for Marius's own anger and guilt and shame (and internalized anti-Celtic xenophobia? maybe. he hasn't mentioned that he and Mael both have Keltoi/Celtic blood all book despite mentioning it in TVL and keeps presenting himself as purely Roman here) that he always does, saying the harsh things Marius usually confines to his diary or ignores entirely. It explains why Mael never destroyed Santino despite his habit of crushing satan worshipping vamps like flies, something Marius himself acknowledges makes no sense during their "conversation" which is basically Marius using Mael as a mental sounding board for his own doubts, his fears re Santino, and of course his endless theorizing about the state of art in the western world. everything Mael says about Avicus and Zenobia leaving him is stuff that Marius already assumed would happen when he left them (and it doesn't hurt how they reflects his own fears with heartbreak via Amadeo and Bianca). and once Mael has provided a face to absorb or explain away Marius's issues he can be moved neatly out of the narrative once again.