#p.k.o

All throughout the show, since TKO’s debut, I had been wondering if he was really his own person, like many seemed to think of him as, or if he was just a metaphor/personification for what KO was dealing with internally. 

While the latter was quite feasible, the former seemed somehow far more appealing, and more logical. This is mainly because there seemed to be some kind of disconnect between KO and TKO, and not just in their appearances and mannerisms, but in the fact that they seemed to act, think, and feel independently. Moreover, each one didn’t seem fully aware of the other’s actions when they were inside and “outside” the body.  Everything seemed to point to the two boys being separate people trapped in the same body together. “Combined KO” was kind of further proof of this, since working together to move, talk, and generally operate was a chore. Only one of them could smoothly do it at a time, until they synchronized, but even then they could accidentally separate, or talk independently. On top of that, TKO always hated being called “KO”, and while the other characters treated TKO like he was KO gone crazy, they seemed to avoid thinking of the two as the same person whenever KO was at the surface level.

Everything pointed to them being separate characters. Even now when I look at them, it’s hard to bridge that gap and think of them as the same person. However, with our final version of KO, fully and permanently fused with TKO, who was indeed him all along, it’s a bit easier! 

HOWEVER, with that knowledge, I am now compelled to overlay the actions of KO and TKO, and really imagine them as the same person. All the things TKO said and did.... that was all KO. The sweet, hard-workin’, spaghetti-slurpin’, mama-lovin’ boy whom we all know and love is also... TKO. He’s the one who called Enid a “wage slave”, who called Dendy “science baby”, who treated everyone around him like they were weak because he was objectively stronger and more powerful than them all along, and no one else seemed to realize it. He did all those things, and genuinely felt all of those things. No more blaming it on TKO, it was and is KO. (Not to mention he definitely murdered Mr. Cardsley when he destroyed the POW Card factory. I mean, the dude was a jackass, but that doesn’t change the fact that TKO/KO kinda killed a guy...)

That makes me wonder.... how does he really feel? About himself, about the people around him, about everything. He treated everybody around him horribly as TKO, and loved it, with no remorse until he returned to being KO. The way he loves and cares about those around him isn’t negated by the fact that he is also TKO, but that brings up a whole new barrage of questions about KO’s true feelings. Sure, he may have just been venting his frustrations, and the KO him is really how he feels. But that doesn’t change the fact that what he did and felt as TKO was also real. He fixed everything he damaged, and everyone he hurt, and kind of made peace with himself, but,,,, has he really?? IDK where I’m really going with this, except that it’s super weird to acknowledge this, especially since no one in the show seemed to do so.