So I've been thinking about Taryon and his mom in the Vox Machina campaign and why their conversation was so impactful for me, and I keep coming back to this exchange.
Up until now, the party has been discussing Howaardt's arranged marriage plot on basis of how it's going to be terrible for Tary and Lydia, that the family doesn't deserve to be helped, and as Percy puts it, "You'll be miserable, and that will make her miserable." And his conversation with his sister, despite them showcasing some care for each other deep down, is still rather antagonistic.
Then comes his mom, who unambiguously loves him and has been working to understand him better by reading his books, who asks for a private conversation to talk about something serious. At this point of the arc, Taryon has spent a year living in a space space, working with friends, and generally growing from the critical inflection point of episode 94. That's when the second layer of his mask, beneath the one labeled "daddy issues", is pulled off, and get finally gets the message that he needs to be himself. So, while we do see his personality change after the timeskip, we don't really have a scene where we sit down as think about it. Mariya walks in and it's a time for Sam the player to really think about what Taryon should do - help the Darringtons? Leave and let the legacy of his family name be one of evil?
It's in this conversation where I believe he decides to take a third route: change things, but as he brings up with Pike and her relatives, see if he can save the family.
Mariya is described as a woman worn down by life with her husband, and the descriptions of the Darrington home as a dreary place with uncomfortable furniture (and it's no wonder Tary spent most of his time in his room), and even it's is a Sam joke, the "playroom" comment adds to the "tyrant of a father" not really caring much about his children's needs over his own image.
There's no need to get into how Howaardt doesn't know his son and how he sees him as a asset instead of his own person. Mariya opens the conversation by complimenting how Taryon has grown, which in turn implies how much...happier and confident he's become after leaving. She's glad one of her children "escaped" this life, as she states:
I have always seen you fight these same circumstances bravely, and I find vicarious joy in your escape from this place this past year. These books are a reminder of that same bravery.
Taryon leaving is the first bit of hope she has for herself and Maryanne, but if these doubts get to him, everything he's learned will be for nothing. The question of marriage is on his mind, and he wonders if his own mother, who was just as much a victim of Howaardt as Tary was, would have been happier never having met him, never became the faithful wife of a rich man. Which out mean he and his sister never would have been born. And if everything would have been better that way.
But it can be salvaged. He can turn this around and make something good out of this terrible situation - and I think back to Kerrek's letter to Keyleth, about hardship transforming into something new. Mariya wants her son to be happy and to not revert to the man he used to me, and having someone externalize the idea of thinking of his own happiness feels just right happening in this point of the story. After this, Tary decides to talk to the Myriad and find a way to do something different with the Darrington resources.
And , of course, they geek out over books. It's adorable until -
"It reminded me of you" can obviously reference Lawrence, but Taryon's favorite novels are adventure, some chivalric and poetic romance nonsense here and there. A tragic love story almost feels out of place until you remember 1) people who love books will reach any genre as long as it's good and 2) Tary didn't have a happy childhood. He would be drawn to something about an unfair but beautiful tale, and I wonder if Mariya was also thinking about her son's wish to be respected while being trapped by the Darrington legacy. It's something I'll have to think about if I want to write some fics about this family.
I'm currently working on a fun dorym fan zine!! If you'd like to see the work done so far and as it progresses you can check it out on my patreon for $3!
The whole zine will be available on my kofi once it's finished 🩵💚
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