Premier Bromanov wrote...
I don't even know anymore, man. My enjoyment of ME3 Jack is slowly decaying. I agree with Ymladdych, in that Jack has become her own person, and this Jack is fiercely independent. In her own Jack way, Jack will love Shepard. But I don't know how to reconcile this with what we see from Jack in ME2. The romantic connection between Jack and Shepard is more than physical.
(Sorry for the incoming wall o'text, but Jack's too complicated to explain in less than 200 words.)
I don't think Jack's independence is really new - it's just coming from a different place than it was in ME2.
I never divulged this in the old Jack thread because it's kind of a downer perspective, and it's quite different from how most Jackolytes see it, but I don't think even the most venomous player hated Jack as much as Jack hated herself in ME2. IMO, her hatred of Cerberus was an extension of her self-hatred, because she blamed them for turning her into a monster. It's not that she changed for Shepard or for anyone else come ME3 timeline...it's actually a change she had wanted for herself before she even met Shepard. She was just too scared and hopeless to risk it.
Her ME2 romance was awesome in so many ways, and I'll never be able to list all the dimensions that I saw, but another aspect I loved was that Shepard didn't give her a pass on it. In one scene, he basically tells her (paraphrasing here), "Yeah, people have done horrible things to you, but you're ultimately to blame for being the way you are. It's how you've chosen to react over the years."
She gets pissy with him about it, but he doesn't back down, and I think this is where she has her turning point. By accepting some responsibility for her situation, she realizes that she's not just the sum of her past experiences. She can always choose to react differently, but she has to *try*, which means running the risk of more pain.
And yes, if Jack survives the suicide mission, ME3 canonizes this effect that Shepard has on her. It's not the romance that changes her; it's not even really Shepard who changes her - he just shows her how she can change herself, if that's what she wants. And I think the breadcrumbs were laid pretty thickly that she *did* want something more from her life. (Exhibit A: LOTSB poem)
So what we saw in ME2 was a Jack who hated the world because of how it treated her (the source of her independence in ME2). What we see in ME3 is a Jack who's decided to stop complaining about the crappiness of the world, and who now wants to help make it a better place, rather than contributing to its ugliness. Her new independence comes from a fierce desire to give these kids what she didn't have: a mentor who gives a s**t. Someone who won't torture them, or pimp them out, while at the same time, teaching them how to fend for themselves against those who would do those things to them.
This doesn't mean she doesn't love Shepard; it's just something she *has* to do, and it's either something he can accept, or not. Just like any LI has to accept that Shepard isn't going to run away from the Reapers - he's going to keep fighting until the end. And just like Jack, herself, has to accept that Shepard left her to "do the right thing" by going back to Earth.
To me, this doesn't mean they don't have good long-term prospects. It just means they're doing their own things for now, because they're BOTH bound by their natures. If anything, I think it strengthens their bond, because as Scarlett O'Hara once heard from her pappy, "Like goes with like."
Anyway, once the war is over, I'm certain that Jack will bust her butt to find Shepard. If he destroyed the Reapers, I think Jack would spiral into some serious guilt and self-doubt about her decision to stay with the kids, once she'd seen Shepard's condition at the end. I suspect some of her old self-hatred would show up, too. I see lots of tears and a very, very contrite Jack in that reunion scene.
But if Shepard were to die, it would be even worse for her. I think she's grown enough that she wouldn't relapse to the way she was before, but make no mistake, she'd be devastated.
I'm leaving to take a Prozac now, but maybe some of this will make you guys feel more secure about her affections and motivations.
Modifié par Ymladdych, 14 mars 2012 - 02:10 .
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