lots of thoughts most of which is still swirling around my brain like a blender but i've played up to leon's shopping trip with marian now and stopped right after bc marian was like. btw hugo's back. and im like. oh no im not prepared to see everything go down in flames just yet LMAO so let's think happier things-

leon really grew so much at the end of the journey to pursue greybum and i'm so proud of him. there's a very noticeable difference in how he speaks to the other knights, and he's so much more patient and willing to extend goodwill to others. but mostly i am just here to say that i absolutely lost it laughing during that will and jobs quest where it's like

will and jobs: okay yeah we're assigned to this mission together so we'd better get along now. c'mon lets shake on it

leon, standing off to the side: this is just like that time stahn shook my hand & called me his friend

jobs: i dont want to see you die so i will come back to help you fight!

leon: this is just like that time stahn took the hit for me

jobs: i put my comrades first and care about other people

leon: this is just like that time stahn-

like? my boy was standing there having whole ass flashbacks in sepia colour over a handshake LMAO?? HE TRIED SO HARD TO PLAY IT COOL IN FRONT OF STAHN LIKE "oh its not like i like you but we can be friends...i guess..." but stahn doesnt know leon's over here thinking about That Moment so much that marian had to gently remind him he's already told her the story multiple times 😂😂😂 my god 😂😭 it's so hilarious and adorable and heartbreaking like his first friendship meant SO MUCH to him and he'd been on such a good trajectory to growth and betterment and then 😭

okay so even before cherik, i think the extra fleshing out of the castle scene was really great. from stahn's side all we ever saw was leon saying he's going to report the situation to the king and request a ship, and then...he soon came back with a ship! his report to the king naturally couldn't have been a pleasant conversation, but it was over and done with so quickly that i didn't think much of it.

and then leon's side showed him trying SO hard to plead his case before the king, his frustration at being dismissed and treated like a child, his momentary happiness and triumph when the king finally agreed...only for it to immediately come crashing as hugo comes in and smugly takes all the credit? god my HEART.

so then we sail off from darilsheid with leon under a shit ton of pressure, beating himself up from what happened in straylize and so so SO determined to succeed. it's under these conditions that they arrive at cherik. and they talk to baruk, who points out that it's "rare for leon to get along with people his age" while stahn happily says it's bc theyre friends, which naturally would've made leon feel put on the spot and defensive. and this was apparent when playing stahn's side, but even then, the way leon verbally lashed out afterwards and said he was "disgusted" seemed especially harsh.

still, it's leon, so i'd always just chalked it up to him being judgemental and disliking stahn's attitude + simply not respecting him during this part of their journey. all of which is true to some extent but then leon's side hits me with this additional scene:

and ofc i'd known that leon struggled to deal with people who wanted to use him for his status, but i had no idea that he suspected STAHN of all people to be doing that as well. but in hindsight, ofc he would think that...all this time, stahn was trying so hard to befriend leon, only for all these genuine gestures to be misinterpreted in the worst way possible. i need to go lie down now.

that said, i love the way this recontextualizes leon's bitterness and extreme resistance to friendship early on. stahn's efforts at friendship wasn't just grating to leon bc he thought it was a waste of time. leon's been burned by people lying and using him before. he thought stahn was doing the same, and it was only when stahn took the hit for him in the temple that he realized that wasn't the case...at which point he did warm up to him! that really was the turning point.