Hello fellow Liara fans, I thought I'd drop by and post how I feel about Liara.
Wall of text incoming. Repost from another forum. Word count of over 2k and lots of praise:
I think Liara, even pre-LotSB, is the best written character we've seen. The more and more I look into it the more and more her character depth pokes it's head out. Let's run through this.
ME1: (romance included)
Liara is the daughter of one of the main villains and she is the one to decipher Shepard's visions. This gives her plot ties unlike any other character. Liara was raised well due to her mother's position but always rebelled against what was expected of her. Instead of being a typical asari, she went her own path. Liara is immensely intelligent, and used her education and talents to become a successful archaeologist. (successful enough at least) She's passionate about her work even when everyone around her discriminates against her because of something as trivial as age. Liara discovered the extinction cycle all on her own. That alone is astounding. She knows she is right but no one believes her, but instead of just packing up and going home she keeps at it and refuses to quit, refuses to give up on what she has discovered. So she goes to Therum right back into work, when Saren tries to capture/kill her. So what does she do? She shows she has flaws and gets herself trapped. This is both a way to show that she isn't perfect as well as let the player save her. (something for people who want to White-Knight everyone. I don't like it, but it does what is needed well enough.)
So Liara is saved by Shepard and helps decipher the visions. This forms a bond between Liara and Shepard that no one else can really have with him, she's the only person who understand what he is going through. Liara is the only available asari, the only person who knows about the extinction cycle, and she has knowledge of the protheans that few others have. This makes her one of the few (if any others exist) who can solve these visions and help stop Saren. HUGE plot ties.
Joining with Shepard lets her see a part of him that few others do. She gets to swim around in his/her brain. Combine this knowledge/exposure to him that no one else has, the fact the s/he saved her life, and his/her prothean/reaper/extinction connection that no one else has, and Liara is immediately interested in getting to know Shepard better. Why wouldn't she be? Did you read everything I just listed? That's one hell of a base for a relationship. Problem is, she has been dedicated to her work all her life so she has very little expose to social normalities, much less humans. So instead of being subtle, she is forced ot be very awkward and blunt. This leads to the rambling/flustered opening. Clear attempt to draw in fans of that archetype. And ya know what? They did damn well. There's enough there to DAWW over but not so much that it's annoying or all her characters insists of.
But ya know what? She learns from her mistake sort of and gets to know Shepard through casual conversation and looking him/her up. She didn't want to upset Shepard so she went behind his/her back to learn some more. Another little mistake because of her lack of social interaction. Just enough to display her loner tendencies but not too much to hit you over the head with it. But a time comes where she has to be blunt and ask if you're interested in anything more. She has become absolute drawn to Shepard and she wants to explore that further. So Shepard says yes (for this analysis, she is romanced) and they continue on saving the world. But she gets nervous about the future, and is even mature and level-headed enough to ask Shepard if they can shelve their relationship for now. There's more important things to focus on and she recognizes that. This is a very mature thing coming from a character in such an archetype. Something very few in the same category EVER display.
So let's go to Noveria. She helps Shepard fight through her mothers defenses and eventually confront her. Liara has an emotional outburst with her "WHAT COULD I SAY?!" line. Seeing firsthand how much her mother had changed shook her a bit. But she was level-headed enough to not freak out and break down. She can see that her mother isn't who she was and knows she must be stopped so she helps you take Benezia down. She sees that she was corrupted by Saren, but still wants to save her. She still holds hope that something can be done. Certainly not unreasonable, she doesn't want to just watch her mother die. She cries out as her mother dies and seems almost torn down. But this doesn't stop her from continuing on. Get back to the ship and she's already come to terms with it. She knows that that wasn't Benezia she killed, it was what Saren turned her into. She shows her ability to maturely and objectively assess the situation that is scary almost. She doesn't get caught up in the fact that her mother is now dead. Benezia was effectively "dead" as soon as she was corrupted by Saren and she accepts that. She's even proud of what she tried to do, to try and stop Saren.
As for other stances she holds throughout the game: she always tries to do what is best and she is reasonable about it. Why kill the rachni queen for crimes it did not commit? Why kill the colonists when they can be safely knocked out? etc.
Skip toward the end of the game, and she FEELS BAD FOR SAREN! The same person who has been trying to kill them, has killed hundreds of people, and who basically tore her mother away from her! This is just crazy almost, but it shows how developed she is and how objectively she can asses situations. Just like Benezia was corrupted, Saren was too, by Sovereign. She does something even my Shepard can't do and feels bad for Saren because at one time he was only trying to do what was best but was corrupted, just like Benezia.
Next stop: Normandy lock down. Everything they have done was practically torn down for nothing, they were being forced to sit put while they knew what Saren was actually planning. But Liara holds onto optimism and faith in Shepard at the locker scene. (this isn't unique to Liara, but it's nice and IC nonetheless) She has no real qualms with stealing the Normandy like some other squadmates, she knows it's the right thing she can look past the moral qualms about stealing from the Alliance. But now that they're headed head first toward the fire, Liara reignites the relationship with Shepard. She had previously put it off for the sake of the mission but she realizes that it's now or never.
So Shepard dies and Cerberus comes to her for help. See this through her eyes. AN organization known for sick experiments that she helped combat comes to her and asks her help to get her lover's body back because they may be able to bring him/her back. This has gotta be crazy for her. But her determination to not let a piece of meat fall into the wrong hands drives her forward. She's even skeptical that a resurrection is even possible, yet she goes through hell all for a body. Again strong plot ties.
So ME2 rolls around and she's driven with revenge. She had been mourning for 2 years. In those 2 years she went through hell and back. But along the way, a guy she even mildly disliked sacrificed himself for her and Shepard's body. She eventually chose the body of her dead lover over a living person who had done all he could to assure that Liara got Shepard's body. She had to have been guilt stricken over that choice. She didn't even know if Shepard could be brought back but she DID know that Feron would be killed/taken. Being consumed by revenge is really believable to me. Liara didn't know what was going on with Shepard's body but she did know what she had done. What else was she to do? Wait to see what happened with Shepard's body? No. But she knew she had to avenge Feron so that consumed her life. She built herself up as a really successful info broker to do so as well, that was certainly not an easy feat.
But all of a sudden Liara starts hearing reports about a person matching Shepard's description going around wrecking sh*t. I think she was scared sh*tless, Was it really him? Was he REALLY back? In a way I think she was scared ot find out the truth because of how crushing it would be. So she continues on being an info broker. Might as well stick to an assignment she is positive of. And then Shepard walks into her office. The initial joy of seeing Shep leads to the opening kiss but almost immediately Liara starts treading carefully. It's been 2 years and s/he's suddenly back? She is weary that they could continue their relationship, 2 years is a lot of time and they both have really important jobs to do. What was she supposed to do? Drop her work of 2 years and jump into Shepard's arms not knowing if Shepard would drop her when she jumped? So she played it safe. Just because Shepard was back did not mean that Feron all of a sudden didn't deserve justice or that Shepard still didn't have an important job to do. She trusts Shepard to get his/her job done so they go about their own business. For now at least. Even sends Shepard on a few errands she needed help with. She had a honey-do list just waiting for Shepard. (/joke)
Then all of a sudden Shepard returns (whenever it is) and brings with him/her answers to Liara's work over the past 2 years. Liara's apartment shows how much she truly cared for Shepard with the photo and the destroyed armor; Liara hadn't forgotten about Shepard like many people thought when ME2 released. They immediately get started on it and chase down Feron and the Broker. Liara's determination and desire for revenge show themselves some more in how engulfed she has become in her mission. She eventually breaks down momentarily after killing Vasir. She doesn't know what to feel about Shepard, it had been 2 freaking years after all. Liara even snaps at you if you moved on with her little LI-specific comments. Another flaw rearing it's head. (but she eventually understands if Shepard moves on) So they finally free Feron and kill the Shadow broker. At the climax of her 2 year journey she is rewarded. She knows she can't pass up being the broker. The reapers are coming and Shepard needs all the help he can get. Liara HAS been a info broker for a while now and she is presented with a perfect opportunity. She can't just throw all of the info away; Shepard needs it, the galaxy needs it. So Liara does all she can to help prepare, and eventually fight, the reapers. Liara is now one of the most important people in the galaxy, her role in the upcoming war will be an exponentially large one. Again, we see HUGE ties to the plot.
But all this time she has changed somewhat. She still holds onto part of her old self but she is even more hardened. Liara had accomplished so much yet she is afraid to push things with Shepard. She wants him/her but doesn't want to put any pressure on Shep. After all this sh*t, she is still being selfless. She makes Shepard make the first move but she is overjoyed that he/she wanted her back after so much time. Even if Shepard started another relationship, she refuses to just throw away what they had. She's also an asari so her views on relationships understandably may be different than the average human. After losing almost everything over the course of 2 years, Liara now has everything: the perfect job, her lover, and her friend has been saved. Now that she has all of that, she moves forward to try and do everything she can to preserve that by using her skills and job to defeat the reapers.
TL:DR- Liara may have more screentime and content and anyone else, but it was certainly not wasted. She's awesome.
EDIT for typo
Modifié par tommyt_1994, 28 mai 2011 - 11:09 .
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