Exactly. At this point Crystal aren't merely doing what they had been doing for decades to classic/Core Lara by flanderizing her and reducing her to her perceived "aesthetics" (boobs, pistols, shorts) as if there was nothing more to her design or her Core Era personality. Personality that Crystal denied even existed. But now they have upgraded their manipulation and are performing the ultimate act of erasure of everything she stood for in the classic era and implying it was never there in the first place and that the only way she can have "depth" is when merged with her LAU and Survivor iteration. And by merging they mean, predictably, the visuals, since that's what female characters to them are about.
They not only don't see Core Lara as a person/character in her own right, they do not see LAU and Survivor Lara as that either. They are reducing all three iterations to those visuals by creating a Frankenstein. They played a long con with "Relatable and Human" (read: suffering and angry) Reboot Lara by running a decades long campaign and pitting the torture fetish that was the Reboot timeline against the actual empowering and passion driven Classic timeline, claiming woman's passion makes her a "playgirl" and attaching negative connotations to that word.
Meanwhile the gamers at the time were having the time of their lives following the adventures of Nathan Drake who WAS allowed to be a quintessential "playboy" adventurer, dress in comically inappropriate ways for the locations he braved, have present day and past day romances without being framed as promiscuous (Classic Lara who flirted with one - 1 - man in all 6 Classic Games was labeled as a p*rn fantasy). Then the Uncharted series literally wrapped on the note that people, whether men or women, are allowed to have different definitions of a happy ending and that what works for some (settling down, having a family, enjoying quiet life once the adventures become tedious and take more than they give, as ended up being the case with Nathan and Elena) may not work for others (that's how Sam and Sully - Nate's estranged brother and guardian/father figure respectively who spent most of the 4th game fighting for the authoritative position in Nathan's life - found a common ground and bonded over realizing their version of a fulfilling life was in fact continuing on with exploits, dashing and not so much).
But that's man's story, he is allowed to enjoy himself, change things he enjoys and have emotional connections to people (whether platonic or romantic) without being defined by his familial legacy or his painful background.
Crystal D could not "afford" doing that with a woman even though they had a tangible proof this kind of plot sold well with a male lead when handled by a more competent company. Too much Risk TM to treat a woman like a person. What they're doing now is hammering the point that they never saw Lara - ANY Lara - as a person, they saw her as a collection of stereotypes and fetishes. Cleavage fetish (Classic), "sexy violence" fetish (LAU), pain fetish (Survivor). They are not even merging timelines, they are merging those fetishes and calling it a "unification".
And they are doing that to erase the actual humanity and depth of classic Lara, markedly in the wake of the Remasters of the actual Classics. That is, after treating - along with Aspyr - the remaster team just as terribly as they and Eidos/Square treated the Core team.
No wonder the first trailer obnoxiously panned on LoARa's cleavage while her face was not even defined in that frame (here's a brightened up screenshot). It was a blatant mockery of what Crystal has always been claiming we Core fans want even though they know it is not the case:
In the new trailer she looks like a mix of 2013 Laraboot and Anniversary LAUra, not even her body language remotely resembles classic Lara. And I know exactly how Crystal is going to respond to potential backlash:
"You are reducing her to her looks!"
Turning the tables on us and DARVO-ing us in their trademarked gaslighting fashion, accusing us of what they themselves have been doing since 2003.
They're now shoehorning Kurtis into this to manipulate more effectively and even that reference/easter egg is the same flanderized mockery as the screenshot above except without sexualization because Crystal's misogynistic selves only reserve that for women. For Kurtis it is forcing him into the very role his whole arc in the Core timeline was about rising above.
Canon Kurtis was never facing the "unknown", he wanted the very opposite of that: control over his life. He escaped his father's cult, he fended for himself even when his (forced) magical legacy followed him, he used his powers how he deemed fit and by the point of AoD he already had that control and awareness but he also had responsibility he never asked for. Which, being a person with conscious, he set out to fulfill but even in that he had his priorities straight and never embraced his Order and his - now late - father's fanaticism. The moment it was a choice between the ancient and sacred mission TM and Lara's well being Kurtis chose the latter without half-blinking.
I'm sure Crystal would re-imagine that moment as Boaz stabbing Kurtis suddenly in the back in front of Lara (get this, a woman witnessing someone she cares about die is ~empowering and would give her the necessary "anger and strength" to defeat male villains - it's not like she can do it because she has standards and morals and skills of her own). Then and only then would Kurtis give her the Shards because he'd have no better option (as in, it would no longer be a powerful choice in full consent like in AoD where a man sacrificed his legacy and safety for a woman he valued but a forced decision brought about by circumstances, like everything in the Crystal timeline), lament failing his daddy with his dying breath and his "you're wasting time" would be his "redemption" and urging Lara to carry on the important Male Centric mission TM since he, a superior being, can no longer do that. Rather than the words of a truly strong and self aware man who wanted to reassure his female partner that he is willing to do his share of work so she could focus on other, more urgent matters it would be mansplaining framed as a "girlboss motivation Lara needed".
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