Well shit, remember when I said I had concerns about what the police were doing with the Evolvers they had taken in? Looks like my concerns were completely valid because sure enough, every single Evolvers the special task force had taken in has gone missing. The hot guy Shaw who decided to swing by to pass a message to Gavin to keep his nose out of Black Swan’s business. Although he affiliated with Black Swan, he isn’t an official member of the organization (if anything, more like a freelance agent), nor is he really a “bad guy”, at least not to Gavin anyways. They seem to have a past relationship of their own. It was probably because of whatever history they shared, he advised Gavin to leave the Special Task Force if he wanted to protect those he cares about. And when he realized that he was not aware of what happened to the Evolvers they take in, he didn’t leave him in the dark and straight up told him the Task Force is serves to execute the Evolvers, and he should watch his own back too. If what he said is true, that would be incredibly disturbing. Not to mention, Gavin would be plagued by guilt and trauma of his ignorance and how he played a part in their deaths. So I hope for his sake they are alive (since the system said their whereabouts are unknown) so he would have the opportunity to save them. If not… buckle up, this is going to get ugly real fast…
Meanwhile, they confirmed that Lucien is affiliated with Black Swan. Today he capitalized on the opportunity to take the heroine out of the city so he could attempt to bring back her memories without any interference so he could awaken her true powers. However even without external disruptions, things didn’t go completely according to plan because it was not a complete awakening. The culprits that threw things out of whack was none other than the Heroine’s younger self who shaken him when she said he wouldn’t be around for much longer. What is unclear however is whether it was the heroine’s powers hijacking the dream, or Lucien’s heart that unexpectedly taken them to the tragic night that changed his life to answer why he couldn’t meet her under the tree again. He mentioned her power is beginning to blossom and he was unable to keep things in check and control her. Although it is the kind of traumatic event that would catapult her awakening, the horrific accident wasn’t something he wanted to show her. Even afterwards, he seemed so shaken by the turn of events that he tried to have her forget about it, insisting it was only a dream and sent her home on her own.
And that night was truly a tragedy. Not only he lost his parents, but instead of being rushed to the hospital, he was immediately taken into Black Swan’s custody, and became their first man-made Evolver. But it came with some side-effects, such as losing his emotions and sight of color, at least until the Heroine came back into his life, which leads to another series of complications.
In light of that, it does point to reason why she is the only one with color in his world is because of the bond they share. And because of that he is starting to feel again. We saw that when things didn’t go according to plan how shaken he was, and the internal conflict he is experiencing when he reviewed his actions he carried out on behalf of Black Swan while clutching to the charm she gifted to him.
However his ability to manipulate dreams really surprised me because he had me thinking he had more defensive abilities of creating barriers. It would be interesting if it turns out, because he is among the first man-made Evolvers, he has more than one type of abilities. If not, I will certainly laugh it turns out the barrier he had used when he and Gavin had their confrontation was actually an illusion in attempt to bluff the enemy since the bullet had pieced through it.
Needless to say, it is good that the Heroine is aware that Lucien is acting off. But she’s a little off the mark, just a tad to think Lucien is facing some kind of danger from Black Swan. That is why I can’t help but laugh when the Heroine says, “I don’t know what Black Swan is plotting, but I won’t let them do that.” Oh honey, if only you knew that your traumatic experiences and memories are the key to your awakening… Well this certainly puts Victor in an even bigger pickle considering he is looking for ways to restore her memories too. At this point, the only way to even things up is to do a give and take.
Speaking of which, this is really the first time we see them really touch on the subject of “man-made” Evolvers. It leads me to believe Black Swan’s operation involves kidnapping both children who are natural born Evolvers and those who are not. If that’s the case, there are two factors to take into consideration. One of them is that there may have been a point where Black Swan didn’t have an ‘organic’ way of producing Evolvers, so that’s why Lucien was their first successful “man-made” Evolver. This also points to the possibility whenever they captured the Heroine (indicating to have been a natural born due to her awareness of her own powers when she was younger), she may have led to a breakthrough where they end up discovering she has the ability (or it’s simply in her genes) to naturally draw out one’s powers. If so, this may explain why Kiro was paired together with her.
Overall I thought this was a fantastic episode. Lucien definitely won some points of interest with me this episode, which should come as no surprise considering I am a sucker for his character types. Oh man did it hurt my heart when she was showing him the ribbon colors, asking which ones he would like. It’s not her fault, she doesn’t know since he hasn’t told her yet. I also enjoyed their interactions with each other. Even though it was part of Lucien’s mission to bring back her memories, it was nice to see them discuss about pursuing the ones they can’t remember. In a way, it did feel like he was trying to give her a chance to back out, but at the same time, I’m not really sure if he would have allowed it. Had she said she was scared and didn’t want to face it, what would he have done then? Honestly, I think he would have gone forward with it anyways.
Then there is a curious thing about his chest pains. Last week I thought it might have been a sign of his health deteriorating. And truthfully, it very well could be that because we now know more about his circumstances related to his health. However when I think back to the scenes when his chest pain occurs, I noticed they are usually when he is thinking about the Heroine. So now I am under the impression it might not necessarily be a health problem, but a sign of his inner turmoil of betraying her. We know he cares about her, but he is still struggling to connect with his emotions again, so it would make sense why he wouldn’t fully understand the pain he is experiencing at the moment.
Although he Lucien has certainly pique my interest (more so than Victor at this point), I would say it still not enough to rank him higher than Gavin and Kiro, so the list has been more or less unchanged. I also haven’t committed to any ship yet, but varying on how they plan to play with Lucien’s character, I can see myself rooting for him in the future. But if it turns out that he really does have a serious health condition, man I am in for a world of pain and suffering. And if that wasn’t enough of a concern, the heroine’s younger self unfurled a freaking death flag on him by pointing out he doesn’t have much time left. God damn it, just when I’m getting into his character! Man this sucks… Regardless, it’s an understatement Lucien’s future is looking bleak and I fear he may be in for a tragic end if the charm or miracle doesn’t come around to save him from it.
Last but not least, here is some food for the thought: I thought it was interesting how the head of Black Swan refers to Lucien as “Ares”. I don’t know if it’s really a code name/title or not, but it does make me wonder if the name might be hinting to a more significant role he is supposed to play later on. After-all, Ares is the Greek God of War, and it also means “ruin, bane”.
With the story is ramping up and with Victor’s episode next week, it looks like the final piece of the puzzle that Black Swan has been waiting for. I am excited for the next development!
