Thinking about the parallels between Mae and Soona. Noa and Mae share a moment in the observatory; Noa takes Soona to the observatory at the end of the film. In the deleted scene where Noa hugs Mae to mask her scent, the embrace is similar to how he holds Soona after Mae shoots Lightning. Soona talks about “making your heart still”; Mae speaks to Noa about “the quiet part of your heart” in another deleted scene. There are other little things too, like how it’s Soona who hurts Mae with her sling and later is unfriendly toward her (doesn’t return Mae’s hello or make eye contact); feels like classic “love interest subconsciously feels threatened by the presence of another woman” territory. And of course the fact that Proximus made Noa choose between Mae and Soona as opposed to Anaya or Dar. Surely there are narrative implications to Noa and Mae’s interactions echoing those he shares with his “official” love interest???
