Working theory on Armandâs motives in episode 7:
(Spoilers for the finale, obviously.)
Iâm not sure Armand knows what he was looking for with Louis and perhaps thatâs the point.
I mean it was a ridiculous plan, but thatâs his thing isnât it? Bad idea after bad idea. Succumb to his impulses. Act out of emotion. Donât think it through all the way.
He starts planning this the second heâs thrown into that wall in Dubai. Heâs angry, but at who? Louis? Daniel? Both probably. But he realises he canât kill Daniel, and Louis is gone.
But where should the anger and shame be directed? At himself, realistically, but if youâre going to misdirect it, you go for Louis, right? You canât bring yourself to kill Daniel because you love him, so letâs take it out on Louis. Louis who ran straight back to Lestat. And what is at the root of the destruction of this relationship? Claudia. Itâs always Claudia. He directed the play that killed Claudia. Thats how you get to Louis. Through his guilt.
He eventually finds Regina, pays her, the whole plan unfolds. But was the plan always to cut off Louisâ head and monologue to him in a butcher shop? Seriously, Armand, what was the endgame here? Okay, punish Louis with Claudia. Sure. But if Lestat stopped the tour after your warning, would you still have cut his head off? I donât think so. And Louis happened to be there.
I also still think he genuinely wants to stop the great conversion, so removing Lestatâs head tracks. I donât buy that it was just cruelty. Thatâs not a motive. Youâre angry at Lestat for mocking you? Okay, fair. Thatâs a motive. You know heâll survive so it doesnât matter really. I think heâs mad at Lestat for Paris the first time where he abandoned him, Paris the second time with the trial, for Lestat admitting to torturing him for seventy years. But also for him being ditched yet again by his companion for someone else.
So he can feel all of that and want to stop the great conversion.
But Louis? What is the point of any of this? At the end of the day, this is yet another impulsive idea. He wants to be in control, but once again he did not think this through. I think Louis happened to be in town, Armand realised this and threw the end of the plan together, kidnapping Regina, eventually cutting off both heads and then spinning a lie about how heâd planned it all meticulously from the beginning. He gave his monologue, which I do not believe half of, especially when itâs so obviously Lestatâs retelling. (The slang words! The puns! Armand would never.)
No, you didnât plan this from the beginning. You are very bad at that. Thereâs no way you werenât making this up as you went.
Because he is driven by his emotions when heâs like this. He is a frightened, confused, erratic, mentally ill âvagabond angel child of Satan.â He is a kid and so his choices make no sense and his emotions are big. It was never anger at Louis. Of course not. Not really. Maybe a little here and there but the bulk of it is at himself. Itâs always at himself. And he canât accept it until he hears it from Louis.
âI saw good in you⌠for a whileâŚâ
Being seen. Assad told us. Itâs all he wants. Louis gave him what he wanted and I donât think he knew thatâs what he wanted. Resolution. Honesty. And I donât expect it quells the anger himself, but it gives him closure regarding Dubai. It redirects the anger away from Louis, because it wasnât his fault. They both hurt each other in their relationship, and Louis took ownership of his parts, but Armand has to face himself. He has to accept this was an insane waste of time and take ownership of whet heâs done, what he keeps doing. Why that might might it hard for people to stay. Because they have no trouble sleeping with him, no problem loving him, but sticking around is hard. He makes it hard, because thatâs all heâs ever known.
It makes me think of Lestat after the trial in Magnusâ tower. He went back to his origins to contemplate why he does what he does. Here, Armand has yet another chance to break the cycle, to reflect on why he is what he is, especially because this is not the trial. It didnât fall into his lap and he just went along with it. He went out of his way to do this, even though there was no clear end point for it.
And Louis gave him an excellent starting point to reflect. It all began when he was twelve. The thing they never talked about but they shouldâve. From here, Itâs up to Armand what he does, whether he grows or regresses. I know what I hope he does. I know what he does in the books.
When I think of it this way, it makes sense. Itâs not so out of left field. Of course heâs angry. Of course heâs behaving irrationally. Itâs what he does. But he can change and this is his opportunity. Narratively, growth from here makes sense. Dubai is done. Itâs time to move on. He has to be move on. Heâs the only one still stuck there.
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