RShara wrote...
Shadowboxing: I guess we will have to disagree on this. You see it as pathos. I see it as just weird and inexplicable. I mean...sure he wants to stay in shape as much as he can....by boxing in front of a window for half a second, then sitting down and never moving again? Mmmhmmm.
This could go on forever (like arguing religion or politics), but sometimes one can't help but do the rope-a-dope.... I must be a glutton for punishment.
ANYWAY, I've made my best explanation as to how it fits in the NARRATIVE context of Thane's illness and what it's possible implications are in terms of THIS underlying theme--Thane is a diminished man, it's sad,
it's awkward and undignified, but it fits in the context of a man with a terminal illness. As English Cooper pointed out earlier in the thread, death is rarely pretty and graceful a la Hollywood. I don't know how at this point you can say it's "inexplicable." It's further characterization to support this theme. If you don't WANT to accept my explanation, that's fine, but at least point out the fallacy of my interpretation rather than summarily dismissing it because you feel it's "just weird." I can argue on argumentative merit, but there's no point in my having to argue against personal gut reactions--as Capt. Malcolm Reynolds of Serenity fame might say, "That's a long wait for a train that don't come."
In terms of Thane shadowboxing and sitting down, I think animations for when Shepard is in "explore mode" (vs. combat mode or dialogue trees) tend to be pretty limited for everybody. Jacob just stands around at the reception desk until you engage him in a dialogue tree. Dr. Chakwas and Dr. Michel seem to have a never-ending conversation when you first go to Huerta until Shepard interrupts. In fact, I don't think Thane does sit down until you trigger a dialogue conversation. So if you're going to critique this, you might as well critique every "explore" mode character animation. ME 3 was not set up to be like Skyrim where NPCs wander an open world and react to specific triggers.
RShara wrote...
Redeeming himself with KL: Except that the fight was ridiculous. No one who knew anything about martial arts would have done half the things that happened. Why is Shep+Co just standing there, never shooting? Why does Thane impale himself on the sword? Look at the screenshots, there are TONS of places where things could have happened differently. Shepard is a trained soldier, there's no way she'd freeze, and there's no way she'd stand there doing nothing while the man she loved was in a knock-down fight.
I think that's an unfair and hyperbolic assessment to call it "ridiculous." But upon further review of the video footage--I agree that the combat scene was
flawed. But I will try to mitigate. Up until a certain point, Thane is in close hand-to-hand combat. Shep's squad can't risk friendly fire. And Thane is blocking their line of fire. Here's where I agree it's flawed--it's bizarre they never try to flank him. Although even if they did, I'd imagine they still wouldn't want to risk friendly fire. Shep's good, but not THAT good.
Regarding your criticism of Thane rushing KL with a gun. It does seem a little bizarre, but then I got to thinking, maybe Thane was trying to position his gun to a point where the kinetic barrier would no longer be an issue. Thane had shot at him quite a few times and either missed or (I assume) found his bullets repelled by Kai Leng's shields. And we both already know how
absurdly effective Kai Leng's shields are from our boss fights with him. If you notice in time index 46 of the clip below, Thane seems to be using his pistol as a melee weapon.
www.youtube.com/watchThis can't be proved either which way, but my theory is that his intent was to jam his pistol close enough to KL's skull to get past his kinetic barriers. KL just beat him to the draw with his sword.
Of course, before that point in the combat, Thane knocks KL back with a biotic punch. Once KL was down, that's when Shep et all should have run down their thermal clips like there was no tomorrow. For THAT, I can honestly say I have no plausible explanation. I do have a glib one, though--maybe Shepard was thinking in the parlance of the ol' action movie cliche, "This is something he has to do for himself."
RShara wrote...
Romance death scene: Yes a terminally ill drell kicking kL's butt just shows how pathetic and not-epic KL is.
Also, why is Thane still fully clothed? Shouldn't they have at least rolled up a sleeve for an IV? Maybe bandaged the damn wound? Did they even treat him, or just say, "Eh, it's a drell, who cares if he dies? We should concentrate on that human in the next room!"
The prayer being for Shepard: Yes, that is very nice, but again, absolutely identical for friendShep and romanceShep. Unsatisfying.
To deride KL is to dismiss Thane's accomplishment of thwarting his assasination attempt. How can you say he's not epic, he schooled Shep twice and later Shep needed his whole squad to take him down?
But now you're complaining about the lack of authenticity of the medical paraphenalia? Oy, hindsight can sure be a brutal, brutal, brutal, electron microscope. If it makes you feel any better, neither Kaidan nor Ashley had IVs after being brutally beaten into a coma. They also were not given the appropriate medical hospital gowns while on the hospital bed--Kaidan was bare-chested and Ashley was sporting her athletic wear showing off her mid-riff. I chalk this up to the developers prioritizing other matters given time and money restraints and putting future sci-fi medical authenticity at the bottom of their list. And who knows with future technology, maybe necessary medications, fluids, or being inducted up through the bed itself?
As to the unsatisfying ending for romanceShep, I've already conceded that you guys should get options for more intimacy, but I still stand by my arguments for why the scene still works. Done and done!
RShara wrote...
5 stages of grief: Would that prevent THANE from acknowledging the feelings between them? Wouldn't Thane hold her hand or ask for a kiss?
And if Shepard is going to (or about to go through) the 5 stages of grief, wouldn't there be some indication, rather than staring stonily? There is no denial. There is no anger. There is no bargaining, depression or grief. She just sits there and stares. And then walks outside to check on Kaidan/Ashley.
Already explained. He's more concerned about spiritual matters and the spiritual salvation of his loved one...as his final act on this mortal plain before he meets his maker. And, um, call me crazy, but ummm, couldn't one diagnostic symptom of denial be "staring stonily"?
But yes, given your level of investment in the character, I could see how you'd want more closure. It's just that the level of hyperbole I see everywhere on this forum--"this is the worst...", "I'm never buying from BW again," "
my canon version is the only version that makes sense..."--it's all...so...wearying....
Rope-a-dope indeed!
Edit: Various & sundry typos.
Modifié par Captain Kibosh, 09 juillet 2012 - 06:10 .
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