Playing Astraeus’s route with Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” and “Turning Tables” on repeat. Goddamn, I did not ask for these feels.
I’ve seen people dismiss Hades’s villainization here as lazy writing, and I beg to differ. You could see traces of this even in his own route, and elsewhere.
Remember Season 1, how dismissive Hades was of the titans’ plight? He didn’t even consider that they had a valid cause, in spite of their terrible methods. So does the MC, but keep in mind that she grew up learning that H.E.R.A. was right about everything. That the gods were to be revered. If they paint the titans as antagonistic, what other reason would she have to believe otherwise? Until Astraeus she had never met any for herself – and the “good ones” she does meet later on, she’s told are an exception to the rule.
But Hades has lived through it all. He was there when they sealed the titans’ fate. He has met their descendants. He knows what Tartarus is like, he knows that there are innocent children born there doomed to an eternity of darkness for no other reason than that they share the same blood as their parents. Does that bother him? Maybe. He certainly doesn’t come across as the heartless sort.
—-But still, he believes it best to stay on the safe side. As the gods have always done. So he continues to paint them all with the same brush.
Remember Season 2, how Hades responded to MC’s concerns about his – and the rest of the pantheon’s – attitude to humans? He keeps denying that he sees humans as inferior, yet his behavior throughout the season suggests otherwise. That humans are weak, inapt of judging for themselves; that the gods know better, and should decide what’s best for them without their input. Just like he does to MC.
And when MC keeps pushing him about the issue – that maybe he sees her the same way as Olympus perceives humans in general – he finally drops the bomb: that MC is not just a human. She’s special. Did he have ill intentions when he put it that way? Probably not. Hades is friendly with humans; he cooperates with them, and thinks fondly of them.
—-But still, he believes it best to stay on the safe side. As the gods have always done. Humans should be kept in the dark. MC should stick to the sidelines and be stowed away in a gilded cage for her safety, as long as she’s still (just a) human. Outwardly, if nothing else.
Remember how Hades responded to Hydra’s cooperation in Hydra’s Season 2 route, and H.E.R.A.’s involvement in Cerberus’s Season 2 route? Part of his initial antagonism and continued dismissiveness towards Hydra could be chalked down to Hydra’s own attitude, true, but he rejected his cooperation first and foremost on the grounds that he wasn’t part of H.E.R.A. In other words, not sanctioned by the gods themselves. Never mind the fact that Hydra had already signed a temporary joint contract with Cyprin, or that a field agent (MC) vouched for him. Never mind the fact that the godly monsters are on the frontlines for taking the consequences of whatever decisions Olympus make, good or bad, without being able to voice their opinions or otherwise partake in the progress. Unless the pantheon calls the final shots, no one gets to have a say.
And again, we see it with Cerberus. MC has no business getting involved with the goings-on with the underworld unless she’s the fiancée of its lord. Even when it falls under the jurisdiction of what H.E.R.A. normally deals with, Hades stubbornly insists on overtasking Cerberus and his brothers instead of letting other godly monsters fill in or allow MC help with the source of the problem. At least not until it becomes evident that it’s too much for him to deal with through his usual channels.
Is that because Hades is incompetent, or an irrational tyrant? Is he simply too emotional to make proper judgments in times of need? Definitely not. We know Hades as the cool-headed strategist among the Top Tier Gods. Most likely he saw the benefits of the alternate methods proposed.
—-But still, he believes it best to stay on the safe side. As the gods (or he alone) have always done. Because, at the end of the day, they know better. That’s their part as gods.
And so we arrive at Astraeus’ route, the alternate timeline in which he decides to cave to the rest of the pantheon and let Hera take MC’s place. Is it so surprising, really? Hades doesn’t want this, either. But this is what they’ve chosen, and he can’t deny them the right to overrule a single human’s desire. He tries, in the beginning. Tries to make MC see. This is the safe choice. This is how things have always been done. It might not make her happy right now, but she’ll see in the long run. Especially when she becomes one of them.
And when that fails, when MC rebels against the system and beliefs he has spent centuries helping to build, helping to maintain? When she goes to take refuge with the most unpredictable antagonist of them all, gambling the safety of them all in the process? He fights back. As he should. I get that Hades is the fandom bae, but let’s not pretend he’s perfect and infallible, incapable of making the wrong call even for the supposed love of his life. Because he isn’t. And honestly, I can’t blame him for it. Ideologies centuries in the making don’t fold so easily.
Doesn’t stop me from raging half the time while playing this route about how we could’ve had it all, though. And soaking in all the delicious angst the other half. And listening to this:
“Next time I’ll be braver / I’ll be my own savior / When the thunder calls for me…”
