Hihiiiiii I saw ur tags on the s3 Ed post and God his actions in early s3 make me clinically insane. Like he’s doing so much all the time and it’s really hard to tell how much of what he’s doing is genuine and how much is performative (poor Oswald right? He never stood a chance)
Personally I think that a lot of the actions that looked like him being in love with Oswald (tbh I think he was genuinely in love with him but that’s besides the point for our repressed king here) were him emulating Oswald’s mother because he knew that was a sure fire way to keep him around and to manipulate him. I’m thinking that it was like he was taking what he learned in Arkham, basically how to read people and turn himself into what they want, and applying it. I Also think going this route gave him an easy excuse to say some of the buckwild romantic shit he’s been actually thinking about Oswald, but since he’s framing it to himself in this way then he can let himself say it
(Sorry if this was a rambling mess, it’s just that s3 Ed is such a nightmare and I think about him constantly)
(Talking about this post btw)
ooh, that's interesting. I also feel like there's an insecurity there. Like, why would you try so hard to manipulate him.... unless you're afraid that if you don't, he'll go?
Like the first episode of s3 Ed is asking "When I think how I treated you... Why are you being so kind?" CLASSIC "why do you even like me?" behavior. His stiffness and discomfort in that scene... like he thinks that logically Oswald should hate him (everyone else does) but clearly Oswald doesn't. And that's very very confusing and stressful for him, because it doesn't align with his view of himself or the world around him.
Oswald goes on to tell Ed that talking with him has been helpful. And it proved more helpful still when Ed tells him he's stronger than Fish. This is where Ed starts to feel more comfortable. "If I am useful, then it makes sense why he likes me" etc.
And that's reinforced over and over. Oswald thinks he's useful, so he literally gets him out of Arkham.
And I think it would've stayed useful in the practical sense if it weren't for what happened with the voting. Ed showed Oswald that he was loved. And holy shit. The response. Oswald literally made him Chief of Staff, lifted him above Butch, made him his right hand man in all things.
Well if that's what happens when Ed makes him feel loved.... why would he ever stop?
So I think one of the reasons Ed loves to parrot Oswald's mother is because, well, he knows it'll work. He's still pretty inexperienced at making people feel loved, so of course he wants to do what works.
It's also in the "I continue to be in awe of you" and the "I still have so much to learn from you". These actually seem to be sentiments Ed would like to hear himself, so he says them to Oswald.
Ultimately, manipulation is a tool. It can be weaponized against someone (the way Ed carefully deconstructed Oswald's reality in his revenge arc) but it can also be used simply to try and stay someone's friend
The problem is that the show sometimes presents Ed's manipulation as if it is purely for selfish reasons. Like when he tells Butch in 3x05 that he was never meant to be no. 2, and he's using Oswald the way Oswald used Fish/Maroni/Falcone. The show fails to back this up with any further evidence, but neither does it attempt to deny it. Ed is sometimes extremely calculated, but at other times seems to genuinely care about Oswald. He wants Oswald under his thumb, but he also is excited to tell Oswald when he's in love. He wants Oswald to depend on him more than anyone else, but he also asks Oswald to be the one to break up with Isabella when he can't himself. We are never told which is real. It is left completely up to viewer interpretation.
Of course, my interpretation is that his coldness and calculated-ness is, as you say, a learnt experience. I think Arkham definitely contributed to it, maybe solidified it as his main tool, but we can also see the beginnings of it in Season 2. Just think of that scene of him and his hallucination "maybe she would like me". And also, after hearing Kristen say "maybe he's too safe" (or whatever it was she said) he actively went and tried to be more dangerous. welp.
He's also used emotional manipulation in other ways. Fake crying so Lee won't ask him more questions about Kristen and his phone calls. Pretending to be Jim's friend even as he plans on his downfall. And probably more that I'm forgetting.
But in Arkham it was his sole source of survival. And, as I'm always saying, if an event is life or death, that's where trauma brews. And where trauma brews, coping mechanisms grow. And would you look at that! Manipulation as a crutch! Isn't that neat.
TLDR: Ed is the embodiment of "I'm only cryptic and Machiavellian because I care".
