I just love how Jiao haunts her because of how it all ended. Jiao was probably one of the only people who really cared for Iris in a sincere way. It was still motivated by some "selfish" traits, like wanting to fit in and idolizing her to a point that is also unfair. She bit her tongue about quite a bit, whereas love requires authenticity. But... compared to how others have abused and used her, Jiao had so much potential to actually see Iris for who she was and love her anyway in a different world where they got more time together. It's so interesting how Iris just completely blows that up. I think Iris mostly didn't want Jiao to draw attention to her own Otherness, but she also seemed jealous of Jiao's relationship with Clara and uncomfortable with the ways her own internal self or cultural identity insecurities could be reflected by her. On that branch, maybe Iris is sapphic and didn't want Jiao's very obvious crush to draw attention to that either or she couldn't handle those feelings herself. It's also possible that Iris was cruel to her in an attempt to feel some control over someone when her mother treated her so horribly. Iris used Jiao in some of the ways that others used Iris, like having her cheat at that art competition for her. Whatever the cause of this treatment, it's all so tragically beautiful and complex and it's the kind of dynamic that is deserving of haunting the narrative so hard.
Iris cannot escape manipulative authority figures, huh? She fled from her mother into promises of saving the world and being special in more ways than just her immunity. But Mimi was only ever playing with her food. The same thing ahppens yet again when Iris makes a faustian deal with Source. It's so interesting to see these bystanders in Iris's dad and Johnson who could intervene and help her recognize she deserves better, but who would upend their worlds in different catastrophic levels if they did. And Iris is always at the core.
Something also with them is we see that the 50 knows what's happening. An unnamed member at the school talks about it quite some time after the mission's start, and Isabelle is very clearly implied to have been Mimi's last victim. It makes you wonder about the power dynamics at play. Mimi is indespensible as the brightest mind in her field. Iris is indespensible, but really only because of Mimi's research. I want to wonder if, had Isabelle realized and spoken up, could Isabelle had gotten Mimi fired and prevented this from happening to Iris at all? Is this yet another cycle that could have been prevented? It does seem like they knew each other before the Pacific 50 mission. But even then, it still seems like Mimi has always had the upper hand and would never be removed from power because of it... and even if she had been, in such a state of emergency they would have brought her back.
I wonder how Principal had enough DNA left to try again... maybe from the first Jiao clone's remains? Like how all the Iris clones are really Principal's own? It's so interesting to see her change up society by bringing in a new clone type and scapegoat of sorts (in addition to Old Town). It isn't that she's trying to right the wrongs of the ancient past since these Jiaos are all subserviant, but it does seem like a way to take power back over Iris by having the Jiao experiment that ruined her life finally succeed. With Jiao Prime in particular, I love how it sort of echoes the weird intertwinement that Iris had with Youngest, but also the "parentification" that Iris had with Eldest because Jiao Prime is always cleaning up Principal's messes. Really, it echoes generations back to the original Iris and Jiao dynamic. Jiao Prime also has so much intrigue around her: does she feel legitimate loyalty to Principal or does she recognize this position is her best shot at living well in a Knower kind of way? She knows SO much about Principal's true actions and history, which Principal would never let her walk away with... How much does she actually know? Does she think she's better than the other Jiao types? What's her dynamic with them like, since we know at least one not-so-secretly resents her? I wish we'd gotten more of them.
It's so fun thinking about Knower's connections to different Watchers and seeing how they pan out. She may know that Principal once was one and it seems like, while she probably won't ever have the full story about Principal's situation, they have a particular level of closeness because Principal knows Knower would rather remain safe than raise an alarm about her. The most recent Watcher was close with Knower but passed away due to the communions. Our Watcher reminded her of that pain. She got to see that naivety reshape in similar ways until having to be the one to torture Watcher herself. And, while Mauve never rose to that rank, she was of the Watcher function. I imagine that Knower assumed Mauve would be similarly predictable and eternally loyal as long as only the necessary information was drip-fed. It makes sense why she wasn't really on her guard about Mauve enough to recognize her as a threat, especially with everything going on, but it's the one she kept closest to her side that would inevitably put together the pieces and fade from loyalty. Functions aren't inherently accurate, but Mauve's whole life has been Observing. It's in her shell name. And she spent so much of her time observing Knower, it's fitting that it was her. Watchers are so prone to outbursts of feeling, after all! Maybe she assumed there would be more signs then, that Mauve wouldn't be as strategic as Knower can be, but she did learn from the best. I guess my only remaining question is whether Knower pretended Mauve was ever Her Watcher--or any of the others, really--to pretend the past was still alive.
Clara is so unwell and Iris deserved so much better, but man I find Clara SO interesting. She risked her life for a better future for herself and her future family, but she really isn't doing what's actually best for Iris. It's clear why she thinks she is sometimes, or why she can't actually think outside of herself to care in a way that matters more. She tells Iris not to let people see her cry, not to show weakness in yet another world where they're in danger. She pushes Iris to excel in ways that Iris just doesn't have the capacity to when also dealing with her mother's sleepwalking and trauma pouring down. I really adored their final conversation in the mass communion. There is just so much to dig into with them.
Youngest being her favorite!! I love how unhealthy the whole situation is; Iris treats Youngest like a mix of how her own mother was with her, but also how Mimi was with her. Even though Iris is trying so hard not to repeat those mistakes, she doesn't have a frame of reference for what TO do, just... what not to do. And even that is very hard to place, especially in such an incredibly isolated world.
I love how the game mostly shows us Fixer's relationship to Watcher in memories rather than us starting out watching them evolve. Fixer haunts the game in her own intriguing way. I can't imagine how devastating it's all been for her.
Knower and Principal are presumably the only ones who know what happened. The impact that must have had on them both and their dynamic is so much to think about.
Yet another of Iris's situations being ruined by someone more powerful than her. I am just so obsessed with how surreal their communication must have been and how much Source's journey mirrors the diaspora themes.
They have such insane toxic yuri potential. Healer is so incredibly blunt and caring, but Knower is snaky and closed off. I wonder if Healer, in all her big feelings, reminder Knower of her own Watcher at times.
I kinda ship them, tbh. I just really adore the couple lines of insight we get from Healer--"You're not the only one who loved Fixer" in particular, and "Every time I gut a shell, I see her face." I would've loved to see more of their time on the train or after the end.
I love how blunt Healer is with Watcher while also inhabiting this space of older sisterhood responsibility and pure grief. I love that Healer brings out authenticity from Watcher and challenges her over what she did: "I want you to admit that you had a choice. And that you made the wrong one." It's so haunting seeing how the consequences of those actions brought them both to the train where all Healer could do was tell a communion-coma Watcher stories about the past.
I typically really love the shared weight that sci-fi doctors and soldiers understand in one another. We get a quote about that from Healer about how they both need to separate their heartbreak from their hand. I honestly wish I felt more of a pull to ship them due to how often I've felt tethered to those kinds of relationships, but I suppose because BBF herself is such a subversion of the soldier type, it doesn't hit as much for me. I still wish we'd gotten more of their time under the floorboards, on the train, or Healer's grief.