iamanathemadevice:This argument in The Queen’s Diamonds is one of the tensest, unpredictable* and, t
iamanathemadevice:This argument in The Queen’s Diamonds is one of the tensest, unpredictable* and, to my mind, revelatory scenes in the show. This is brand new for the Inseparables, far beyond any little squabbles they might have had before. Aramis is not as tightly bound to them as he was, the other three are war-hardened to an extent that none of them were before. Athos is questioning his role, and Porthos is tired of Aramis always putting his own causes before those of his brothers and the king.And d’Artagnan is no longer the callow youth even from Season 2. Here’s he’s trying to be peacemaker between the two oldest and most experience members of the team, and doing it calmly and with innate authority.*It’s not at all inevitable that things will go they way they did. So how could this have ended if Pauline hadn’t returned the diamond? I see a number of plausible scenarios:- Athos backs down and walks out. There is no fucking way he would kill Aramis. But he would find it hard to forgive being pushed to that point, and it could have ended their friendship, at least temporarily.- Athos wings Aramis as lightly as possible, fights St Pierre and defeats him, takes back the diamond. Aramis is angry, but knows why Athos did it. Athos is still furious at Aramis for pushing him to that.- Aramis backs down, Athos fights St Pierre, gets the diamond. In previous seasons, I think this would have been the solution. But it would have been ignoring the new dynamic between them, and forcing Aramis back into a subordinate role that he no longer feels comfortable in.- Neither back down, but d’Artagnan pushes himself between them, goes to St Pierre, and takes the diamond back by force or threat. The two older men don’t speak to each other for days. They move neither forward nor backward.Note, Porthos has removed himself from this completely. He has had it with Aramis’s shit. He would back Athos whatever he decided to do. And that’s a significant change - before, he was solidly Team!Aramis. Now, he’s Team!Athos. He is also not Team!Monarchy here, as his actions earlier demonstrates. His loyalty is solely to his brothers. He gives not one fuck about Henrietta-Maria’s sordid dealings, or the war in England, or what the king’s orders are.And neither does Athos, actually. He’s just following orders because that’s the only way he can get through every day, doing this job. Very soon, not even that’s enough for him, and this stand off is part of pushing him to that point.And Aramis reached that point when he left for Douai. Maybe God made him a Musketeer, but a loyal obedient unquestioning servant of the crown he is no longer. And he refuses to be a killer for hire either.Much as the Pauline subplot felt shoe-horned in, it was much more than just an info dump of angsty Aramis backstory. It’s preparing us for the huge changes we will see in the coming eps, and ultimately, the end of the season. (Hell of a waste of Paul McGann though!)What do you all think? -- source link
#character meta#the musketeers