#tassyn

Tassyn: Only on Tuesdays. And when beautiful people are involved.

Freelancer: So you think I’m beautiful.

ANTHEM (2019)

Haluk: Yes he does.

Faye: Yes he does.

Matti, Erryl and Sumner: Yes he does.

Lucky Jak: Yes he does.

Tassyn: Yes he does.

- Cyphers usually start their training pretty early, because untreated "Anthem-sensitivity" can cause mental problems later in life

- The training however isn't cheap, so Corvus (among other institutions) gives out scholarships to talented Cyphers

- Those Cyphers have to work for Corvus after finishing their training, and are usually indoctrinated from a young age into even dying for Corvus if a mission requires it (this is also true for non-Cypher Corvus agents)

- As an example, the Corvus agent from the first Monitor mission knew she was going to die from the moment she got the mission from her superior, and she still went without hesitation, as the real goal Corvus was striving for was to lurk the Monitor out of hiding

- Owen had one of those scholarships, as his family was too poor to afford him any training at all

- Another perk was that Corvus managed to get his mother out of prison, which Owen only learned years later

- The first time Owen and the Freelancer met (when he was trying to steal from her) was completely by accident, the second time (after she survived the Heart of Rage) wasn't

- Corvus send spies/ undercover agents to "befriend" every Heart of Rage survivor to get more Intel that "official" questionings might have missed

- Owen was sent after the Freelancer after he mentioned the week he already spent with her, making him easier to trust for her

- The ploy worked and he ended up as her Cypher shortly after reconnecting with her

- Owen did not plan to actually become friends (or even worse, fall in love) with the Freelancer, it just happened

- He was nearly ready to plow his cover when Tassyn showed up

- It was a coincidence that "his" Freelancer became the one to track down the Monitor, as previously mentioned, Corvus kept I track of all Heart of Rage survivors (Tassyn even mentions that in the bar cutscene)

- Tassyn is of course higher up at Corvus than Owen, who is merely an agent paying off his dept

- Side headcanon: You don't ever leave Corvus, you either die of natural causes or in an "accident"

- Owen knew way earlier than the Freelancer that Tassyn only came because of Faye's tip, which is part of the reason he can't stand Faye

- He blames her for setting the wheels in motion to destroy the friendship (and possible relationship) with "his" Freelancer, as any other Heart of Rage survivor could have done the same, hell even any other "ordinary" Freelancer could have done the trials

- Owen hated himself for feeling and acting so unprofessional, but he couldn't help it

- It was Tassyn acting as Owen superior who ordered him to steal the Javelin of Dawn for Corvus research purposes and, if the opportunity presented itself, getting close to the Monitor for further intel

- Owen didn't like his mission in the slightest, but as a Corvus agent he had to follow orders without hesitation

- The way Owen acted when paralyzing the Freelancer and stealing the Javelin of Dawn/ when saving Haluk is his actual "Corvus-self" as opposed to his normal persona

- Please note that Owen's "Corvus-self" is not the same as Leytons' Dominion programming, it's just run of the mill agent training

- When he first went to the Monitor with the Javelin of Dawn, Owen fully expected to die

- Owen desperately wanted to confess everything to the Freelancer when he was apologizing, but was afraid she wouldn't believe his feelings were genuine if she knew the truth

- (because the "agent pretends to like his target and does actually end up liking/ loving her for real" is a nice trope in fiction, but wouldn't really work in real life)

- Owen sometimes wishes the Monitor actually had killed him so he wouldn't have to life with the guilt of betraying his loved one

- Owen can still somewhat see through the Anthem, but it's more like we see through heat sensitive cameras (however they are called, idk) since the Anthem = raw energy = heat

- After apologizing to the Freelancer Owen returns to Corvus headquarters to deliver the Javelin, and he's ordered to stay low

- Owen ends up being monitored himself after that, since there's a chance he'll try to reach the Freelancer after all, and possibly spill other sensitive intel to her

- Side headcanon: If Owen could choose any Javelin for himself, he would pick an Inceptor, since he'd prefer flying fast and doing cool stunts over actual fighting

- His biggest wish is to escape Corvus and make a life of his own, but he knows that's realistically not possible, and even if he tried to do so, he'd have to look over his shoulder the rest of his life as Corvus would hunt him down

- Even worse, Corvus would hunt down the Freelancer and every other person he's ever been friendly with just because they're now a security risk

- Sometimes, when Owen is really depressed, he wishes his father would have killed him or that he had never been born at all

- His dream job would be searching artifacts for arcanists, as he gets to have all the fun and adventure of exploring Bastion and its ruins while also getting paid for it

PS: I got all these headcanons after the last in-game conversation with Tassyn, who says that among other things, Corvus agents have to be willing to be seen as traitors in the eyes of others if it serves the organization. I always found this addition a bit odd in the context of the conversation, especially since Owen gets called a traitor a lot before that, so here we are.