games galore my dearest v

That being said, I still stand by:

Sabal and Mohan cared more about preserving a status quo that benefitted them personally than about actual liberation.

Pagan is not and never was "a good guy deep down".

In turn, it was Pagan that permanently destroyed any kind of chance of Kyrat regaining balance, not Amita or Sabal.

Additionally, I'd like to think that Amita had the potential of representing Ishwari Ghale and what she stood for, and in turn relate more to Bhadra. Near the final part of Act 2, Amita actually calls out Sabal's defense of the traditional practice of child marriage! That is a rare consistency with Amita's skepticism towards religous fundamentalism and its systemic misogyny.

I understand why people don't like Amita. I really do. I'm not a fan of her ending, nor am I a fan of her desire for drug trafficking, regardless of intention. That being said, her character brought some necessary nuance to The Golden Path. Amita's rightful questioning of Sabal's traditional views and goals along with Ishwari's tragic life show how anti-feminism is detrimental to any liberation movement and is therefore a counter-revolutionary ideology. No one can truly be free until everyone is free.

she's asian

as an asian person i can attest to the fact there is no room for softness in asian mothers, but you have to take into account what she was like in kyrat (im ignoring the dlc but honestly the writing on her was okay enough to use as a basis). she's resilient and impeccable and would not hesitate to throw hands because she was made in a war. obviously she'd be very protective of her babies but she won't let them grow up weak.

i think it would've been a very different story if she had her happy ending with pagan, yes i might actually consider that she would've been softer, though i wish there was more parallel in pagan's statement "men only really love you in hindsight" to show that ajay only ever really loved ishwari to the fullest when she died

we literally only know that ajay was a difficult child growing up. lots of things attested to the fact ishwari was too traumatized to talk about his identity, growing up an asian immigrant in a non-ideal financial state in america. remember that ajay doesn't know jack shit about kyrat and still went because he loves his mommy. maybe it's also the only 'i love you' he can say to her now.

and you know. difficult children are due to difficult parents. you can't tell me ishwari was a pushover, was sensitive, was emotionally stable enough to see all of the trouble that's gone through her life and be at peace with it.

ajay probably had to deal with her lashing out randomly, trying to help her constantly as a child but feeling helpless because she refused his help, had to fight with her growing up or even so much as got as angry as she did just to try and understand her. she was a force in his life that he resented but was so desperate to have a relationship with. she was all he had and remembered, his whole fucking life.

can you imagine?

as a guy who was raised by a single mom with an emotionally out of touch person i can barely call my brother, i definitely fucking can.

the emotional distance also lines up with the fact ishwari didn't tell him shit even when he started going straight. but we know they made peace, at least to some extent, because she left her love note and last words to him for ajay to remember, and ajay fulfilled that wish because he loved her too.

If he had been younger and smoother looking nobody would have noticed.

But this man has lived a lifetime. Had a child. He is an older man and there's nothing strange about that. And considering how some games treated Asian characters back then, making an older and surprisingly down to minute details accurate Chinese man was a big thing.

Amita helping Lara, showing the monasteries and shrines. "You can take whatever you want."

Sabal trying to block her approaching the Golden Path members. "She's just a tourist. Don't get too attached, brother."

Lara and Amita getting shit done together, hunting and taking down enemy outposts.

Lara teaching Bhadra how to walk on a rope in balance.

Losing almost everything made her realize that she couldn't stomach the idea of her raising her surviving child Ajay, especially after Mohan killed Lakshmana.

Her biding farewell with Pagan, but his final words were along the lines of "you belong to me". That's when Ishwari realized that no matter how much Pagan might have loved her, he loved himself more. He was always gonna put himself first at the end of the day.

That moment taught her that you cannot just wait for something better to come along. You have to take chances and put yourself first.

So she fled to the US and never looked back. Nor did she bring up the past with Ajay, no matter how heavy it weighed on her.

~ Hilde is discovering her own kind…~ Baldur's Gate 3 (Part 7)

*entire thing collapses the moment he steps on it*