Author: KA Byrnes

AGNES VAN RHIJN, SIX

The Gilded Age has become one of my delights. The series is engaging, the characters are true to themselves, and the costumes are jaw-dropping. Please try it if you haven’t yet.

On the Old Money side of the street we have Agnes. She is so firm, so determined, so confident in her ideas. Her snobbery towards New Money is unmovable. 

Her compassion is very strict, too. She can spot “an adventurer” from a mile, and she’s always correct. For care of her family, she will cut the rogue to the bone. That her sister or her niece might prefer their illusions is something Agnes would disdain and ignore. Right is right, and the truth must be honored.

This is not a Heart Type, lol. This is a One or a Six. Rules are an iron bound box to her. We never see her step out for a stroll or a turn about the park, so probably not a Body Type. Also, she married a horrible man when she was younger in order to protect and support her family. This is a Trooper.

Citadel: End Game

It’s hard to find a more epic end to a game than this one. The fight up the outside of the Citadel tower is exciting, Geth Destroyers and Krogan Warlords everywhere. Meanwhile, the Reaper ship Sovereign makes it inside the Citadel’s arms before they can close and attaches itself to the station. Like a creepy cockroach it suctions onto the point of the Citadel Tower. We must climb the exterior, coming ever closer to its massive wiggling arms.

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XIALING, NULL

The sister has a lot going on as a character, and seems placed to contribute more in further sequels.

She’s self-taught. While Shaun was trained abusively, Xialing was ignored. On the quiet, she watched and learned.

She’s self-made. After leaving home as a teenager she built a fighting arena in Macau that becomes hugely successful. At the end of the movie, she’s taking over her father’s crime business.

It’s actually a bit awkward. She’s brave, strong, smart — a hero — yet no one ever suggests that she wear the Ten Rings. Even she never questions why Shaun gets the power. It’s canon, or it’s a father/son inheritance, or both. Shaun never even offers her the Rings. I mean, yes, that’s the story — abused boy becomes resolved man — but if sister is going to be worthy of power, then we need to see that discussion.

Oh, dear. She’s much more developed than mom and auntie, but is she just an archetype, too? What does she want? What is her arc and what are her goals? She gets a lot of screen time and is integrated into the main plot. She saves them on the skyscraper scaffolding and in the final dragon battle, but her actions could’ve been performed by anybody. Besides being Sister, she brings nothing specific to these moments. Yikes.

Ilos

We sneak through the Mu Relay to stop Saren in his quest for the Conduit. After fighting his Geth we follow him into an ancient Prothean facility. Although the battles are juicy, the main purpose of this mission is for exposition. We encounter a VI, Vigil, who tells us much.

The Reapers spend their down time in Dark Space until a civilization is ripe. Then they activate a mass relay hidden in plain sight on the Citadel — it’s that silly statue that hums in the water feature — and enter the governing heart of the galaxy. From their they control everything and decimate at their leisure.

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YING NAN, NULL

This is the aunt who lives in the magical realm. If you want a character to enter at the Third Act and dominate with ease, of course you cast Michelle Yeoh. Does she have a number, though, or is she an archetype like her dead sister?

She has a compassion for her niece and nephew, and no flexibility toward her brother-in-law. She reveres her sister’s memory. These are all predictable emotions and reactions. As with Li, the portrayal is so compelling I want to find more than the writers gave these characters. This film is not their story, so great actors are given only a sketch to inhabit.

You know what movie gets this right? Moana. The grandma is like these women, really only an archetype of a wise woman mentor, yet the writers also gave her a specific character, nailed in one or two scenes. I’ll have to take a closer look! I love that movie.

Meanwhile, I’m sorry to say, we have no Enneagram here. The showrunners cast Yeoh, who brings a certain charismatic identity imbued from her other films, and calls that her character.

Virmire

It’s the mission where you decide whether or not to shoot Wrex! I’d forgotten!

Obviously more happens than that, but what a moment. In my first playthrough, and I was a huge Wrex fan, the tension was devastating. Luckily I had enough paragon points to save him.

So, why is this even in contention? The research facility at Virmire, now run by Saren, has developed a cure for the Krogan genophage. This challenges Wrex’s loyalties.

This is also the mission where I must choose whether Kaidan or Ashley dies. Dang! So huge! The stakes are critical and the role-playing is intense.

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XU WENWU, FOUR

The Ringbearer, the patriarch, the villain. Tony Leung’s portrayal is so complex and nuanced, I kept wanting him to be the hero and future Marvel addition! He went from conqueror and crime lord to husband in the blink of a scene, and I believed every moment of it. When his wife Li dies he switches back, becoming even harsher, and again I believed it. At the end when he releases the evil dragon, he thinks he’s releasing his trapped wife. He’s hearing suspicious voices, and again I believe. He breaks my heart with his desire to see his wife.

A Four. Who else could hit emotions on such a spectrum? Who else would find revenge as palatable as bliss?