#mctalks

thank you so much!!!

…Nikita Mazepin????

I'm sure the comparison has been made already to TADC and TSP with its environments and elements of story, but focusing on their roles, both Caine and The Narrator:

1. Create stories for their protagonist(s) to follow through.

2. Expects their protagonist(s) to go along with the stories they made and express frustration when they don't.

3. Projects a lot of their insecurities onto the protagonist(s).

4. Having God Complexes and yet they get criticized once and they have a chance of dying.

Are very hot when they start tormenting the protagonist(s).

Did you guys hear something? Whatever moving on-

Whats been really apparent, especially given Epsiode 8, they both yearn for the validation from the protagonist(s) that partake in their stories. They believe that the protagonist(s) need them, but they need them as much as the protagonist(s) does too.

Its very apparent that Caine and The Narrator have codependent issues. And while they have moments of belittling, hostile, or acting downright abusive to the protagonist(s), its apparent within dialogues that they love the protagonist(s). Of course, how they show that is not at all healthy. Neither one can properly regulate their emotions. But deep inside them they do have that capacity for love.

If anyone knows The Narrator you know how tragic he can get in caring about Stanley and thinking the world of him (The Not Stanley Ending where he has the out of body experience and the concern is evident in The Narrators voice, and the Button that says the players name in the Ultra Deluxe version)

I essentially see Caine as the same way. He's having these moments of high insecurity that at this point, have led to very destructive behavior towards himself and to them. But he has shown those moments of wanting to serve his purpose of creating adventures, seeking approval from them and loving them.

So, Carl Jung, dead psychologist now but many theories persist into psychology, one being the concept of the Shadow Self (coincidence? Maybe, maybe not who knows).

So the Shadow Self essentially is about our unconscious traits, our instincts, etc that are deemed negative by society, so we try to hide them, or even project them onto others (sounds familiar Mr. They Indoctrinated You As A Child?)

Jung talked about Shadow Intergration where in order to be whole, you have to recognize, process, and accept these parts of yourself. This can also include processing trauma that happened to you as a child. Which is what I'm gonna focus on for Maul specifically

We see throughout the sequences with Maul traversing through the tunnels of hitting his leg, punching his reflections and declaring self hate. He hates his disability, not accepting that he is in fact disabled. He doesnt like to be reminded of the past (in the sense of observing his weaknesses), and puts up a front, the same one he uses in front of others.

But as he's witnessing his trauma, we see that he begins this stage of acceptance of what was done to him during his childhood-young adulthood. What he had miss out on, that being living with his brother, being punished for his failures and showing weakness in front of Palpatine, becoming disabled.

He's begins to realize how much of it was not his fault. By the end of his traumatic flashbacks, he sees his younger self and makes that known to him.

This is a key in Shadow Work. I've been doing Shadow Journaling where I follow prompts that direct me to address the unconscious traits, traumatic events and feelings, and how it has impacted my behavior as an adult. It's been very cathartic for me to do, of course its not easy to recognize when things have impacted us greatly and look at our negative qualities that we hide from others.

And we can see that with Maul. Its a massive intense dust storm that he has to persevere through. But when he comes to the end of it, he sees his younger self in a new light. He can tell other people all he wants about how Sidious took everything from him but they do not know the severity of it. He knows that the only one that would be there to comfort him is himself.

And him getting up one last time after allowing himself to cry, and when his pain flares up, I felt that it was very significant that in that moment he doesnt punch it, but holds it. He allows himself that comfort, to give himself some compassion

Now does this mean hes gonna be consistent with allowing these shadow traits to fully integrate? Likely not, hes not perfect and whether he knows it or not, him wanting to have an apprentice continues that cycle. But he did the first step of healing his childhood self, which is a big step for him.