Unpopular opinion on G'raha Tia (spoilers)

[Iscah]

Thancred accepted Minfilia was dead. He was distant to not grow attached because Ryne is not the same person. This isn't hard.

And being distant was doing an entirely different sort of emotional damage to Ryne.

[Midareyukki]

And being distant was doing an entirely different sort of emotional damage to Ryne.

"Father dear, wouldst thou please cease dragging me by the wrist and cringing at the mere mention of my name? I cannot help but be who I am. I am who I am and I am who I will always be. Save the off chance we happen to meet my soul's previous incarnation, upon which I shall promptly change my outlook on life, name and hair dye. I did not agree to be whisked away from the dungeons of Eulmore by you for you to now act the same way as Ran'jit but with better-looking physique."

[Allegor]

I do think Thancred was – not deliberately abusive, but still – unnecessarily harsh on Ryne and not good at supporting her, and it could be read as emotionally abusive even though I don't think the writers intended it to come across that way. There are times where he basically refuses to comfort her when she's upset.

Agreed. he wasn't abusive per se, he had his issues, but we also have to consider Ryne was a very mentally and emotionally frail person who was separated from her family and imprisoned in some dungeon at such a young age that she couldn't even remember her original name, so at least from her perspective, the only reason Thancred even looks at her direction is because she's Minfilia - Ryne's entire self worth was based on being someone else and she was failing at even that. I know they went for the "actions speak louder than words" approach but I would've liked if Thancred apologized to her directly, but oh well.


More on topic, at least to me, G'raha was always a goofy WoL simp, even as the Exarch (wee see hints of that as early as 5.0, understandably making some believe he even has a crush on us) and was finally able to 'drop the act' when his job was done and can now enjoy being, what, 150 years younger and not have over half his body covered in crystal? and even still it's ambiguous if he's the Exarch possessing younger G'raha, or younger G'raha who absorbed the Exarch's memories but is still himself.

If anything, I enjoy 'fanservicy' G'raha more because we already have more than enough stoic and mature type characters in the cast, but again, that's just my two gil.

[Iscah]

"Father dear..."

Where the heck do you get that read from?

Ryne needed reassurance that Thancred cared about her, and wasn't simply keeping her around because she was necessary to save the world if this otherworldly champion failed. She felt like he was only grudgingly putting up with her and really didn't want anything to do with her because it hurt and reminded him of Minfilia.

Thancred thought he was doing the right thing by standing back and letting her be her own person, but really what she needed was support. Our character could see it, Urianger could see it, but Thancred himself either couldn't or just didn't know how to handle it.

[Midareyukki]

Where the heck do you get that read from?

Ryne needed reassurance that Thancred cared about her, and wasn't simply keeping her around because she was necessary to save the world if this otherworldly champion failed. She felt like he was only grudgingly putting up with her and really didn't want anything to do with her because it hurt and reminded him of Minfilia.

Thancred thought he was doing the right thing by standing back and letting her be her own person, but really what she needed was support. Our character could see it, Urianger could see it, but Thancred himself either couldn't or just didn't know how to handle it.

Myself. That's my reading of why he made her so uncomfortable.

We all know that she loved and was thankful for Thancred, but him being so distant and lashing out at her did not help.

In case you haven't noticed it, I'm LITERALLY doing satire there. It's me shitposting to the seventh hell and back.

[Iscah]

More on topic, at least to me, G'raha was always a goofy WoL simp, even as the Exarch (wee see hints of that as early as 5.0, understandably making some believe he even has a crush on us) and was finally able to 'drop the act' when his job was done and can now enjoy being, what, 150 years younger and not have over half his body covered in crystal? and even still it's ambiguous if he's the Exarch possessing younger G'raha, or younger G'raha who absorbed the Exarch's memories but is still himself.

Agreed – there are a few scenes and remarks from others that suggest he is trying very hard to keep up the "stoic ancient mage" mask towards us and it's slipping. Nervously bobbing outside our door, the whole passionate speech about going on an adventure and riding the eternal wind together... it's all the same passion tempered by age and secrecy, and as soon as the game is up and his identity is revealed, he's more back to his old self, though immediate events require him to maintain his more formal side as city leader.

I think as much as anything it's acting differently in different spheres of life. He can still muster up that air of authority if necessary, but it was always only a role he was pushed into playing (however well and honestly he played it) and now the burden is off his shoulders. He doesn't have to act like a mature leader and nobody in the Source expects him to, so he doesn't try to restrain his natural more casual state.

I like to think that if they have any separate awareness of each other, the Exarch's consciousness is deliberately taking a back seat. But they may simply have merged perfectly and it is just one person who is and always has been Raha, whatever his title and age.

[SentioftheHoukai]

Where the heck do you get that read from?

Ryne needed reassurance that Thancred cared about her, and wasn't simply keeping her around because she was necessary to save the world if this otherworldly champion failed. She felt like he was only grudgingly putting up with her and really didn't want anything to do with her because it hurt and reminded him of Minfilia.

Thancred thought he was doing the right thing by standing back and letting her be her own person, but really what she needed was support. Our character could see it, Urianger could see it, but Thancred himself either couldn't or just didn't know how to handle it.

Wasn't he? I recall with rather refreshing clarity that Ryne was intended to be the backup plan by the entire party. Cruel perhaps, but when an entire world's at risk....

[Aelin_Ashryver]

I have no clue if this topic has been discussed before. My apologies in advance if it has.

I personally think G'raha's story should have ended atop the Crystal Tower without him returning to the Source.

It would have "cemented" him as a much more awe-inspiring character for his sacrifice (to me) and would have added even more emotional weight to 5.3's ending. Instead, we know in advance that he'll come back and we even get to meet him in the Source just 30 minutes after the fact.

I don't hate him. I think he's a fine addition to the Scions. But whenever I think of him now, I think of fanservice.

On a side note, I don't excuse Y'shtola's many fakeouts either. But plot-armor is a discussion for another thread.

I still like Graha but yeah I agree he should have died in 5.3

His whole sacrifice meant nothing to me because I knew he was not actually going to stay dead. No near death moments or sacrifices of main cast means much of anything to me when they never actually face the consequences of said sacrifice. Their refusal to kill people off just meant I never believed any of it for a moment so I felt nothing.

[Iscah]

His whole sacrifice meant nothing to me because I knew he was not actually going to stay dead. No near death moments or sacrifices of main cast means much of anything to me when they never actually face the consequences of said sacrifice. Their refusal to kill people off just meant I never believed any of it for a moment so I felt nothing.

In the lead-up to 5.3 I was all set to have a good cry over the Exarch's obvious impending poetic-and-thematically-appropriate death and instead I got "no, don't worry, we can transfer my soul, but we'll have a sad death scene regardless" and it just felt hollow.

I'm happy with getting young G'raha as an ongoing companion, but we could have had that without the Exarch surviving.

[dustdjinn]

I'm really a huge fan of Graha and his personality is great. I personally tend to like kind characters. It never felt strange that Graha was a fan boy. His entire life has been dedicated to saving multiple worlds and he pushed through all the trials because he wanted to save the WOL, his hero. Sure sounds like a fanboy from the beginning to me. Lyna literally says he doesnt have be pretend to be someone he isnt. Some may not like him but I promise there are many like myself that do like him.