Okay I know today’s chapter was a really dramatic one, and I’m worried as hell for Anya’s safety, but this panel:
I can’t explain why, but this panel had me absolutely cackling when I read it!! 🤣🤣🤣
Anya’s brain is so weird but at least she knows that she’s “totes adorbs” lmfao!
Bonus:
Everything about this panel is incredible! 🤣
After Loid Forger in false search for his daughter's lost keychain, he not only made contact with Damiand Desmond, apologizing for the incident of the past. He manages to get in contact with his target for the first time, Donovan Desmond.
I think it goes without saying that Donovan is a mysterious and strange guy, not only because of his strange look, but also because everything in his body language is difficult to interpret. Twilight explains that despite his thorough research he has not found anything relevant enough to create a "profile" of Donovan's personality. However, the objective of the Strix mission is to uncover "the war plans
If Twilight and Yor have a "twinge," it's because something bad is happening with these people.
Interestingly, both Desmonds use the same strategy of "ignoring" in a seemingly polite way, minimizing the fact that their son was beaten. Donovan himself explains that he knew about the fight because his employees informed them, which coincides with Melinda's version. However, both do not seem to want to make a big deal out of the matter, making the apology unnecessary.
Is it necessary to describe how sad this page is? The fact that Damiand tries to disguise his pain by saying "it's a foul against the Desmond family name," when his real pain is seeing that his father doesn't care if someone beats him. Without needing to be so explicit, Donovan made it clear that Damiand's integrity is not a priority in the face of his busy political agenda. Clearly, for both Desmonds, continuing to talk about Damiand generates so much discomfort that they get these "inexplicable" expressions of displeasure.
Worst of all, Damiand is paralyzed with fear by the look on his father's face, and decides to swallow his feelings and act as if "it doesn't matter".
It's curious to me, Twilight's serious expression in those panels because his thoughts aren't showing. I know he's obviously sensing how distant Donovan is from his son, but also, I have a feeling he may be feeling uncomfortable watching a father hurt and ignore his own son's feelings.
Perhaps it is too far-fetched to speculate whether this will bring about emotional conflicts in him like those he once had with his own father, influencing their own paternal vision of which I have spoken in the past
It is precisely when Twilight takes the opportunity to confess something that in reality "is true". For him, being a father has not been easy, learning to understand another human being has been a constant process of trial and error. I know he is taking advantage of this moment to extend the conversation with Donovan, but curiously, Twilight did not seek to agree with Desmond and congratulate him on his parenting method as Melinda's friends have done, or as any ordinary civilian would surely do.
It's as if Twilight is looking for a way to debate Donovan's arguments and show that he disagrees, but in such a subtle and polite way, that it feels unnoticeable. Contributing his point of view, when in reality he is demonstrating that Damiand's feelings have validity and that as parents they should be accountable to anything to do with their children., gently placing his hand on Damiand's shoulder
This confession, however, catches Donovan's interest and he ends up expressing, this:
It seems that according to Donovan, even if people have blood affinity or any other intimate bond, they will never be able to understand each other.
If anything, I find it interesting how SxF manages to link such different concepts and make it one, how the parent-child relationship can be an analogy of peace and war.
However, Twilight makes a point to Desmond: Sometimes perfect communication between human beings sounds like an impossible ideal, a utopian world where people can express themselves and agree. From this point of view, peace sounds implausible. Making war the only viable option, imposing your ideals, ambitions and beliefs on the world, so that only one way of thinking reigns.
At the same time, Twilight's words demonstrate a very important lesson:
Communication between human beings should not be ideal or perfect, it is a matter of keep trying and never give up. There will be moments of frustration, it will be difficult and we feel that we should give up or just impose ourselves in a rough and violent way. But, striving to build a good relationship is what can lead us to grow and be better.
There may be parents like Donovan or Melinda, who prefer to turn their backs on their children and act as if they did not exist or were so insignificant as to spend their time on them; or parents like the one Twilight had, people who try to give good lessons, but instead of listening and explaining themselves, they prefer to resort to more aggressive methods to impose their point of view, attacking their children's emotions.
But, there will also be parents who try to be better with effort: It's amazing what a good father Twilight becomes, even if he doesn't realize it himself.
He always tries to understand Anya, even if he doesn't succeed. Sometimes he gets consumed with frustration and becomes somewhat harsh with her, but he has never tried to assault or hurt, let alone minimize her emotions. He was willing to almost-punch a professor for making her cry even if the entire mission was in jeopardy.
Obviously, Twilight is not going to pass up this opportunity to alter reality, and make it seem that his interest in Damiand and thus in his family are mere coincidence, and it is partly because of Anya's (false) admiration for Damiand.
Apparently, Donovan's response was positive, enough to "memorize" Loid Forger's name. However, their retreating glances indicate suspicion, it seems that Donovan is just as intrigued by this psychiatrist.
In the end, we can see the Forger's words affecting Damiand, him as a father manifesting his efforts to understand his daughter, and Anya having the courage to confront her father despite not meeting his expectations. Filling Damiand with enough courage to speak to her father. Although Donovan's approval is mediocre, poor Damiand settles for these crumbs of affection.
It's interesting, the way Twilight always wants to act as the spy, the cold and calculating man, the heartless one with no feelings. But, in this chapter he shows a subtle but evident empathy towards Damiand despite having no reason to do so, after all, even though he is the target's son, his priority is to gain Donovan's sympathy. He encourages Damiand, giving him comfort and respect for his feelings, as he gives him one last look before leaving. Although he has not really been close to Damiand, these brief moments made him understand a little of his suffering, and although this can be used for the mission, it shows that deep down, Twilight is that emotional man he has wanted to bury.
So, if the Forger family in an analogy to the search for peace, communication, learning, empathy and support that different people can give each other, building a family. The Desmonds may represent the opposite pole, a family that seeks war, they are distant, cold and without any interest in what happens between them.
This analysis was a request from my friend @shiro-s2e2-erukinzu I hope you enjoy it.
You can see the first part here
Let me know if you want me to review any chapter!
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This is an amazing analysis. And I came across the line you wrote about Damian being “the most innocent and he has the most to lose,” and that sent me down a rabbit hole thinking about how that makes yet another direct parallel between him and Anya.
It’s really interesting (and by that I mean really, really sad and fucked up, but in a way that’s great from a storytelling perspective) how Anya and Damian, the children of their respective families and the ones with the least agency over the trajectory said families take and the least amount of blood on their hands, are also the ones with by far the most to lose in the overarching story of Spy x Family.
Take Loid and Yor. As much as we all love them, and we all want them to keep the Forger Family together (for Anya and for each other), they can still “recover” from the Forger Family going under, at least logistically. Twilight and Thorn Princess still have their respective agencies and social networks to fall back on without each other or Anya. Emotionally, though? The sheer toll it would take on them is a timeline I do not want to see explored. My soul would never be ready for that. But on a logistical level, they would be “fine.” Or as close to fine as they could be after that.
The Desmonds? Even if the family was torn apart, Donovan and Melinda have given little indication that they have more than a passing interest in Damian, and they are implied to be actively hostile towards each other, so losing each other and Damian would illicit little more than a shrug (at least externally). And their wealth would basically go untouched unless Donovan had his assets seized or something to that affect. They basically have nothing to lose.
But Anya and Damian? They’re just children. On top of being psychologically crushed, both of them derive merit from their parents’ approval, be it fulfilling the mission for Anya or Damian becoming an Imperial Scholar to get his dad’s attention, and both of those are… definitely not the healthiest mentality, and they’re incredibly fragile things to derive self-worth from.
We see in this chapter (and Mission 67) that Damian needs his parents’ validation on a deeply visceral level. It’s something that’s been all but outright denied to him, and he’s crushed at the implication that he’s just not worth their time. Anya, in the same timeframe, is beyond terrified at the idea that Loid doesn’t need her for Operation Strix anymore, to the point of seeing Yor as some sort of rival now. And we can’t really blame them for their unhealthy need for approval because they’re in the first grade. They’re way too young (Anya especially) to know how dangerous it is to base your worth on the approval of someone else, even a parent. So their sense of stability and parental love are based on a really fucked up meritocracy. Their fathers will forget they exist if they fall behind, and they’ll be abandoned if they don’t get results. It’s not just getting heartbroken at losing family if the Forgers or the Desmonds come apart at the seems, it’s “I wasn’t good enough and they got rid of me.”
Which is… holy shit, they’re six (and four) years old! They don’t need to be thinking like this!!
And on top of that, they’re obviously children. They don’t have any safety nets to fall back on. Their families are supposed to be their safety nets, and they’d basically end up all alone if that went away. Anya’s already been returned by previous foster families, so after this, she might never get adopted again after the fourth or fifth time getting sent back to the orphanage in a row. She might just be seen as a “lost cause.” And Damian has… his brother? Maybe? And an empty mansion and that’s it.
So yeah. Anya and Damian 100% have the most to lose, and that gives me more stress than college ever could.
