#It's another instance of Eiffel being much more emotionally open than Minkowski

[hephaestuscrew]

I posted recently about how, when Minkowski tries to send Eiffel back to Earth on the Sol in the finale, she doesn't directly express her more personal emotional reasons for this decision (see this post for more detail). But the contrast to that is how Eiffel only gives personal reasons when pleading against her decision.

As he's desperately telling Minkowski not to send him back, Eiffel doesn't say that he wants to help fight against Cutter's plan (although I'm sure it's on his mind). He doesn't try to convince her that he can make an important contribution to that fight. He doesn't attempt to argue the importance of having as many people as possible trying to stop Pryce and Cutter.

Instead, he protests "Not without you!" when she says that he's going home. He tells her "I'm not leaving you behind!" In contrast to Minkowski saying that she wants "one of us... someone" to make it back, Eiffel doesn't shy away from addressing Minkowski directly. He says "you". It's not that he doesn't want to leave the Hephaestus or the crew behind in a vague general way; he makes it clear that he doesn't want to specifically leave Minkowski behind. His attempts to persuade Minkowski not to send him back are largely focused on his bond with her and his unwillingness to return to Earth without her (and the rest of the Hephaestus crew). Those are the most compelling reasons to him.

The only other argument he gives in trying to persuade Minkowski not to send him back is "you can't - you have no right!" This is less about his bond with Minkowski, and more about his own individual agency and his objection to Minkowski making this decision for him. But it's still ultimately a personal reason. None of Eiffel's voiced objections are about the big picture at all (unlike the explanation Minkowski gives to Hera, Lovelace and Jacobi afterwards for why she sent Eiffel back).

In that scene, both of them are acting from a personal emotional place of care for each other as individuals. But in terms of what they actually say, Eiffel expresses this kind of motivation much more directly than Minkowski. He admits to the specificity of it in a way Minkowski doesn't know how to. Eiffel appeals to Minkowski's personal individual motivations, which she hasn't really admitted to. His final plea is to call Minkowski by her first name for the first time.

#Wolf 359 #w359 #I do think the 'big picture' reasons matter to Eiffel #He obvs doesn't want Cutter to wipe out most of the human race #But I also think that even if he fully believed that he had nothing to contribute to that fight #even if he thought the crew would definitely succeed without him #or even if he thought their plan was entirely doomed to failure #he would still be desperate not to leave the others behind #Big picture or no big picture. he wants to be with them #He wants them to stand together against the enemy #(to borrow a phrase from the late Officer Lambert) #And unlike Minkowski. he actually expresses those personal individual emotional motivations #Minkowski leaves hers mostly implied #I think this also links back to a post I posted last week about how Eiffel is the one who verbalises both of their hugs #It's another instance of Eiffel being much more emotionally open than Minkowski #I think that's a way in which he's really valuable for her #Doug Eiffel #renee minkowski #wolf 359 spoilers #w359 spoilers #the empty man posteth #renée minkowski #Eiffel & Minkowski