I like Bethael a lot - probably because of his incredible autism swagger, probably because he feels like the one mf with empathy amongst all of the chaos marines of the campaign. Mild character analysis and spoilers up to episode 5 under the cut.
Like I'm not saying that the others can't show empathy or anything, but amongst them all Bethael seems to be the only one who can actually feel it, if you catch my drift. Lyphos is too delusional, Sefice is just chilling because he's drowning in the Nurgle juice, and Byzanti can perform empathy if required, but it's not a given with him - it's transactional at best. Bethael feels like the one amongst them all who actually understands what it's like to be the little guy amongst giants, and as such he extends a hand towards Yvgeny like he could help him adapt to the new situation. He speaks softly, he praises the slaughter Yvgeny has done, he defends the guardsman from barbed words with ferocity.
Bethael clings to honor and duty and battle like a lifeline, speaking of righteous slaughter the way one would speak of loyalty to their lord. He has the empathy that his genefather has - he knows how to speak to people, how to make himself more approachable, he knows what to say to make people feel more at ease despite the nails in his skull (look at the first meeting with Yvgeny! He was doing his best!).
When he frenzies, he drowns in the slaughter and the loss of control, and when he comes back to himself he always has to deal with the damage he's wrought. And it's not always salvageable (¹)! Last time, Byzanti took a heavy blow, but he survived - survived to mock Bethael for his disgustingly humane behavior, for his shame and regret.
What if Byzanti hadn't survived? What if? Would Bethael have drowned in the horror of having killed yet another comrade like a rabid dog? Would anyone have ever lent him a shoulder to rest on after the deed? Would his comrades still trust him enough to watch their backs, if being cut down like that was a concern?
Would Yvgeny still be able to talk to Bethael like they used to, even though so little time was spent together?
The answer is yes, probably. This is still a ttrpg in the end - character interactions are how the story moves forward. And Yvgeny is a tough cookie! He's seen worse things than a comrade cutting another down.
To summarize, I love Bethael very much. I do love to see my faves suffer, but holy shit it feels like everyone is playing resident evil and he's stuck in silent hill lmao. Also, 💥💥💥AUTISM💥💥💥
(¹) Helbros comes to mind. I am deadass convinced the man is an elaborate PTSD hallucination, possibly created from one of the more traumatic moments of Bethael's life. No other reason why Bethael is the only one that sees him, and why no one acknowledges him. Also his armor is old. What the fuck did Bethael do....
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