Addendum to my TMNT #26 thoughts
Sep. 26th, 2013 10:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rainwaterspark** as always, spoilers for the issue below **
Something that kind of bothers me is that so far, due to chance or circumstance or whatever, Dark Leo has not been allowed to do something really "bad." He's had two opportunities so far: kill/injure Splinter, and kill Victor of the Savate. Obviously, I'm not advocating for him to have killed Splinter, but at least injuring him would have had a different impact. Killing Victor would be another turning point.
Why am I disappointed by Dark Leo's lack of viciousness? Because it conveniently provides an excuse for Leo to never make a heroic "mistake," and not only that, but the reasons are pretty flimsy and contrived, too. The comic would have a completely different tone if Perfect Leader Leo killed someone while brainwashed, but that would also set up for major internal conflicts that would probably have interesting resolutions.
If the post-City Fall arc has any sense of emotional sincerity, we already know Leo is going to bear a lot of guilt for what happened, even though absolutely none of it was his fault. And I'm going to take yet another opportunity to rant about this again, because it bugs me. My question is, what is Leo going to learn from this whole experience? Yes, it gives him tons of opportunity to angst, but...what's the point? To show him something bad can happen to him, and he can get over it? Was this ever even a problem for him before? The thing is, any one of the turtles could have been brainwashed, and any one of them would feel tremendously guilty after they've been snapped to their senses. The only reason why the brainwashing has more bite with Leo in particular is that he's always been portrayed as the most loyal and most dedicated to protecting his family. And...how exactly is he going to change from the experience? Become loyal and dedicated...again...?
Something that kind of bothers me is that so far, due to chance or circumstance or whatever, Dark Leo has not been allowed to do something really "bad." He's had two opportunities so far: kill/injure Splinter, and kill Victor of the Savate. Obviously, I'm not advocating for him to have killed Splinter, but at least injuring him would have had a different impact. Killing Victor would be another turning point.
Why am I disappointed by Dark Leo's lack of viciousness? Because it conveniently provides an excuse for Leo to never make a heroic "mistake," and not only that, but the reasons are pretty flimsy and contrived, too. The comic would have a completely different tone if Perfect Leader Leo killed someone while brainwashed, but that would also set up for major internal conflicts that would probably have interesting resolutions.
If the post-City Fall arc has any sense of emotional sincerity, we already know Leo is going to bear a lot of guilt for what happened, even though absolutely none of it was his fault. And I'm going to take yet another opportunity to rant about this again, because it bugs me. My question is, what is Leo going to learn from this whole experience? Yes, it gives him tons of opportunity to angst, but...what's the point? To show him something bad can happen to him, and he can get over it? Was this ever even a problem for him before? The thing is, any one of the turtles could have been brainwashed, and any one of them would feel tremendously guilty after they've been snapped to their senses. The only reason why the brainwashing has more bite with Leo in particular is that he's always been portrayed as the most loyal and most dedicated to protecting his family. And...how exactly is he going to change from the experience? Become loyal and dedicated...again...?
