Best Thing I’ve Read All Day, I Love Seeing People Talk About This Stuff

Best thing I’ve read all day, I love seeing people talk about this stuff

How do you interpret jack and The Boss' relationship?

hi anon :) thanks for the ask!

from what little we know about their relationship dynamic, i was always intrigued by them as a pair. i think during the virtuous mission she cherished those moments she had left before she defected, especially when jack interacts with her over the codec. with her commenting on his tuxedo in a disapproving manner, or on his camouflage (perhaps a lack of.) her maternal nature versus his childish personality juxtapose each other in a way that saddens me. in my opinion that was obviously one of the things that attracted her towards him, which is hardly surprising considering jack has the biggest heart and a charming sense of humour. but as the boss pointed out, she was also attracted to him because he was like her. which in relation to calling him a “child” it’s clear that she’s concerned about how his emotions drive him through his mission (she wishes to prepare him for the inevitable but he’s not ready during the virtuous mission.)

something to mention being that she is teaching jack something despite all of her best efforts to deny it, and in turn teaching him something she had to deal with alone in her own mission with the sorrow, there was no one there to guide her or convince her differently. she is his teacher. she had no choice and he had no choice, there was no control. there’s only the control of who dies or survives to tell the tale between them. but not only is she familiar with how he would’ve been feeling, but she’s felt it before and she has to prepare for every scenario that may happen between them. she knows he’s highly influenced by his own feelings in contrast to the mission, and she can’t tell him otherwise. with her maternal nature she can again only guide him, especially under the circumstances of her own mission. as she pointed out, she couldn’t teach him to be a soldier because she could only teach him so much, meaning that he has to figure it out himself. essentially she has to be “cruel to be kind” to get her point across that he is brilliant, even if her influence is sometimes physical it’s more than likely, in my opinion that she wishes for him to see her own methods during a battle. as in the final fight, she compliments him if he manages to perform a certain cqc move or strikes her down. making her a true mentor and a loyal partner to him.

jacks’ confidence is doused in self doubt because of how much he looks up to and respects the boss, which i don’t think i can even blame him for. though nevertheless in her own way of nurturing, i think she wishes to prove to him that he is better than he even realises himself, especially since surrounding characters observe his skills highly. the cobras help in proving that there are many things he can do to physically and mentally endure an enemy who have their own mission against him. essentially she knows herself that he is worthy, but he has to prove it to himself in order to drive that mentality. confidence is a hard aspect of oneself to master, as well as believing that you can complete a mission. getting the perspective of the entire game once you know the story is like a cruel guilty pleasure, she’s rooting for him to complete the mission so much she’s willing to make him hate her, she has to be his enemy to convince him to do the impossible. the subtle help she favours to him (like the fake death pill she shot into his leg in the torture room), and asking her own son (the perfect candidate) to help the man whose going to take his mothers life? if that doesn’t show love and devotion, i don’t know what does.