Breathe guys
If I might add my two cents, SkullFaerie has a point. It
is ridiculous how people in the series are treating Relena and I can totally understand the statement of her resembling a Mary Sue. Her portrayal is not her fault though, it's caused by others.
They make her out to be the best thing that has ever graced Earth; Relena herself is quite humble.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SkullFaerie
But- where does she get her credentials from? How come she is recognized and people listen to her? She has no experience, she is a schoolgirl, an airheaded one on top of that. [...]
About Lacus (non destiny)- sure she has her flaws, and she bothers me, but at least she had SOME credentials for why she was able to be an influence- she was famous. Plus, no one ever gave her a kingdom or was silly enough to give her direct political power.
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Actually, Relena
has some credentials. It's her name. Or rather, her legacy. She is a Peacecraft, the synonym for peace, freedom, equality, justice, hope, ...bla. Her father was a badass pacifist who, together with Heero Yuy, was able to convince most of the universe to stop fighting and follow total pacifism. They were such important figures to peace that with them gone, the world was plunged back into chaos and wars again. But instead of the people trying to do something themselves for a change (which they finally do in EW) they caught wind of Relena
Peacecraft's existence and more or less shoved her onto the pedestal she has been since in the series and expected
her to bring about peace
for them.
Okay, I can't blame poor fruit vendors for not setting out on a peace crusade but what about the politicians? What about the influential people? That's what really gets me about the Romefeller folks. Marquis Weridge obviously had a pacifistic mindset but he needed a schoolgirl to join Romefeller to be able to voice his opinions? Same goes for the rest. No one dared speak out to Dermail before but as soon as Relena joined suddenly everyone had an opinion. wtf. They're like five times her age, yet, as Weridge admits, she pwns them all in the guts department.
In that sense it's not far-fetched to think that the ones responsible for instating her as Cinq's leader weren't thinking that they were handing the job to a 15-year-old girl but King Peacecraft's daughter, Earth's Heero Yuy. 'Screw age, she's a Peacecraft'. They were hoping she'd do the same thing as her father and bring about peace. No, scratch that, they were
expecting her to do so.
And the sad part?
Everyone did that. Zechs, Noin, Treize, Quatre, Heero, every freaking person in the Earth Sphere. The people were all at each other's throats and Relena gets tasked to bring about peace in a pacifistic way. And as Quatre, a
Gundam pilot, reminds her in episode 33, she's apparently the
only who can do that. Talk about pressure.
In that sense it's understandable that Relena comes off as a Mary Sue. It's what the people expected. She was supposed to put herself on a moral high-ground and go criticize everyone and everything that was affiliated with war. Peacecraft and all. But she admits herself that she has no idea what total pacifism is. Still, as a leader she couldn't allow herself to waver or even show the slightest insecurities. People were believing in her after all and she didn't want to let anyone down.
That is why I think she's badass. She was torn out of her peaceful life, thrown into the turmoils of war, put under HUGE pressure by everyone and not even given time to rest... and she
delivered. She pulled it off while staying true to her personal ideals. Not the Peacecraft stuff, mind you. And that is the reason I really adore her character. To me, she's a Mary Sue done right
Though admittedly, by the end of the series everyone important was working together toward peace, she didn't solo things. And by the end of EW the rest of humanity got the message, too.
I'm really annoyed about that rest of the world, though. And I bet Relena was, too. That must've been the reason she went back to being a Darlian in EW. She didn't want to be seen as King Peacecraft's daughter, she wanted to be herself. 'I didn't go back to being a Darlian to avenge my father.'
I was just tired of all the crap you were lumping on me. lol
It's admirable that she still wants to help with maintaining peace, that's why she's taking her job as VFM so seriously. But she wants do it her own way, not how people are expecting her to. At least that's what I think. Feel free to argue with that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wingzerosnuggles
But yes, I do agree with you that GW isn't that good with characterization. Everyone in the show seemed to have their development on fast forward leaving the viewer to fill in most of the blanks. That's both a blessing and a curse for a show.
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Truer words have never been spoken.