#but fr ikaris is so so so well written and performed and he gets NO CREDIT bc yall hate him

[watchingwisteria]

personally, i think that ajak told ikaris about arishem’s plan at babylon because she knew that his loyalty was shifting to sersi and her interests above everything else. i think she had to get him to commit his loyalty to something “higher” than he and sersi’s relationship because otherwise, ikaris would fight with sersi against the celestials when it was revealed that “help humans thrive” was a cover plan for “help humans thrive so tiamut can be born and destroy the world.” basically, i think ikaris was programmed by arishem to be a good and loyal soldier, and his loyalties had to then be assigned by ajak when his own interests started taking priority.

that’s why, right before he pushes her off the cliff, she says, “i’ve led you down the wrong path,” because her intervention in babylon has led directly to this moment. and that’s why he says, “it’s the only one i know,” because it is. ajak stopped him from putting sersi and their relationship and her love of humanity first 2500 years prior. he gave up everything for a cause he may not have chosen without her redirection, and every part of how arishem designed him demands that the cause be upheld as the highest good before all else, even the lives of other eternals. he stopped thinking of anything else as more important so long ago, and she’s asking him to change loyalties now? when the mission is so close to completion?

that’s why ikaris breaking down, weeping at sersi’s feet, allowing her to finish what she started, is so moving, because it reveals that his true loyalty has always been with sersi. it’s why he had to leave as the emergence approached. it’s why, in spite of everything, when he stands in front of all that he desires most (sersi, her love, her happiness and well-being), he still lets her destroy all he has fought and killed for the past 7000 years. because even ikaris, the perfect soldier, programmed to sacrifice everything for the cause, cannot sacrifice the person who means the most to him.

does that make him a good person? no. but that’s not really the point. i really think ikaris is one of the most compelling, morally ambiguous, and complex characters the mcu has put out so far. it’s just that the reasons he might deserve the viewer’s sympathy are more subtly explained than other morally ambiguous/grey characters (ie. loki, wanda, bucky).

so idk, hate him if you want, but every other complex/grey character whose tragic backstory and whatnot was spelled out for us gets their motives analyzed and defended, just apparently not ikaris. i think he’s a very interesting character who had so much potential to be good but was made villainous for the time being by things beyond his control (ie. his design and ajak’s intervention), and there’s something very tragic about that

#the eternals #ikaris eternals #sersi eternals #ajak eternals #ikaris x sersi #there i go overanalyzing fiction again #not to MENTION his pretty privilege!!!! #but fr ikaris is so so so well written and performed and he gets NO CREDIT bc yall hate him #im sick of the slander!!!! #saw a post that y’all are writing him as aggressive or abusive towards sersi and.. NO! #the eternals spoilers #marvel #mcu #meta #marvel meta #thena eternals #druig eternals #makkari eternals #druig x makkari #character analysis