There’s a trope in fiction where a character purposely broke the heart of his loved ones in order to protect them. Think of Sanji from One Piece abandoning the Straw Hat crew during the Whole Cake Island Saga, or how Eren purposely ignore and even says hurtful things to Armin and Mikasa in the final season of Attack on Titan, because he doesn’t want to involve them in the bad things that he’s about to do.
While there’s a logic behind that decision, it is still arguably a bad decision. Because the more you try to push someone that genuinely loves or cares about you, the more they will try to find out why you do that to them. Which is precisely what happens in both of the aforementioned One Piece and Attack on Titan story. That is also what happens in this episode, and presumably to the next one as well.
Continuous Rejection
In the last episode, Miorine conspire with Guel in order to defeat Suletta in an official duel and strip her out of her Holder title, therefore nullifying their engagement. Since Suletta is too strong, Miorine has to cheat by adding a program that can instantly shuts Aerial’s system down. At the time, Miorine betrays Suletta because she wants to protect her from Prospera, and the bloody path that she would’ve put Suletta through.
In this episode, Suletta and her friends from the Earth House decided to pay Miorine a visit. They want to confront Miorine about why she betrays Suletta. But before she gets the chance to see Miorine, Suletta meets Aerial and her mother instead. There, in the cockpit of Aerial, she finds out the truth about Ericht Samaya and the fact that Suletta is nothing more than a clone of Eri.
Amidst that stream of shocking truths, Aerial flies into space, and ejects Suletta out of the cockpit. In her cold fuzzy voice, Eri said that she no longer needs Suletta now. And then Prospera appears and says the same thing. Aerial is powerful enough now, so they no longer need Suletta. Once again, Suletta is betrayed and cast away by her loved ones. And just like last time, they also break her heart to protect her and to let her lead a better life. Meanwhile, Suletta is crying her heart out in the middle of the vast, empty space.
In The Context of The Story
Breaking your loved one's heart in order to protect them is such a counterintuitive thing to do. Because as mentioned earlier, your loved ones will try to confront you about it, and they will eventually get caught into the very things that you want to protect them from. It’ll be better if you simply be honest to them and try to find a good solution together, rather than single-handedly decide on your own what is best for them without considering their thoughts and feelings on the matter.
Personal feelings aside, there is a reason why this trope persists within the fiction world. It’s a simple and straightforward way to create an ongoing conflict between the protagonists. Thanks to this, the viewers now have to think not only about the conflict with the antagonist, but also between the protagonists as well. It also forces the viewers to choose which side they should root for. Is Miorine’s decision justified? Does Suletta deserve that kind of treatment? Is Prospera too cruel to Suletta? Is it actually better for Suletta’s future?
As you can see, one action is all it takes to implant all of those questions into our mind. A few lines of words are all it takes for us to choose a side and reconsider the relationship dynamic between the characters that are supposed to be part of the good guys. And when the actual antagonist is finally thrown into the mix, the story will instantly become much more complicated. So as you can see, a lot can be achieved with one simple storytelling trope.
The Future For Suletta
At this point in the story, Suletta Mercury has truly stripped out of everything that she holds dear. She lost her dear first friend, she lost the first guy who said that he loved her, she lost the living machine that has always been there with her, and now she lost the mother that has always been a guidepost to her. The only one she has left are the few friends in the Earth House. So what’s left in store for Suletta? What’s her future may look like?
There are a couple of different ways this story can develop from here. Suletta can regress back into her shell and simply live the life of a regular student with a broken heart. Or she can also try to force her way to meet Miorine or plead to Prospera to accept her back, to let her be part of their life once again. Or we could also get the combination of the two. Suletta will try her best to continue her life as a student, but then something major would come up and either Miorine or Prospera will come to her and ask her to get back into the pilot’s seat. Either way, the future looks quite bleak for Suletta Mercury.