...But after looking around online and eventually rewatching it, it does seem like they're different characters. Which is, in my opinion, kinda a worse decision, writing wise? I found the idea of Cyn being the main antagonist more interesting, it gave the character depth. In the flashback episode, it's clear that N is the only person who ever showed Cyn a modicum of kindness. Even Tessa, who loves all the other drones, hates here and immediately jumps to murdering her as soon as it's an option presented to her. Like, even if it was J or N in Cyn's position, I think Tessa may have hesitated a bit before going straight to "yep let's murder a robo-child." What was compelling to me about Cyn's character was that I was under the impression that she started out as taking revenge on humanity, for treating the drones so terribly. She tells Tessa's mom that they can no longer be replaced, implying that she does the whole gala massacre to prevent the Elliots from continuing to mistreat their drones, she seems to have some kind of affection for Tessa—despite the fact that Tessa was at the very least complicit in her abuse, if not an outright participant—since she tells Tessa to stay away from the gala and that she didn't have to see it. Clearly, by the time the story begins, Cyn has become warped and cruel, but the first time I watched MD, I kinda got why she did the massacre, and even destroyed earth. Her entire life (at least after being pulled out of the dump, but probably before that too, since the worker drones were implied to essentially be treated as disposable objects) she had been mistreated by essentially everyone around her for being different, broken, etc. The only outlet or response to anything found unpleasant she had basically ever been shown was violence, and so she decided to respond to something she found unpleasant—her own treatment at the hands of the Elliots—the only way she knew how. With violence. I found it interesting that she was portrayed as essentially a child, a characterization that was actually pretty consistent across her (or the solver's, whatever) appearances in the show, but was most apparent in the flashback episode. To me, it felt like the show was telling us that Cyn only became a monster due to the way she was treated as a regular worker drone. Not only that, but her characterization as a weird, sort of off-putting girl that others view as damaged, avoid, or downright abuse, seemed to me a parallel to Uzi. They're both outcasts even among outcasts, seen as dangerous or annoying, and respond to their mistreatment in ways most would consider immoral or wrong. They both start in similar places, but Uzi manages to avoid becoming like Cyn because she learns to respect and rely on the people around her. This isn't to say she fundamentally changes her personality, just that she better understands people and finds people that understand her. Cyn never got that far. N was nice to her, sure, but it never looked to me like he understood her. He didn't even know they were locking her in the basement. All her other role models abused her, too, which probably didn't help. All this contributed to Cyn viewing others as things for her to use, regardless of their feelings. And yet despite this she still has some affection for J, V, Tessa, and especially N. She calls him big brother, she is always happy to see him, she clearly likes him but doesn't know any healthy ways of showing her affection. She could have easily just removed his personality and made him into a mindless, well, drone, but instead she just keeps resetting his memories. Because she still remembers that N showed her kindness when no one else did.
Or at least, that was my read on the character. But all of that goes out the window if Cyn and the Solver are separate entities. Instead of the flashback exploring the main antagonist, it just showed that the Solver was an evil eldritch nightmare that killed a bunch of people, something we basically knew from episode 2. Cyn becomes a non-entity in the story and the Solver becomes an incredibly funny and threatening creature with no motives, backstory, or explanation beyond "it's evil and eats planets." I'm a fan of Murder Drones, I become a bigger one with every rewatch, but this is the one aspect of it that just doesn't sit right with me. I feel like I'm missing something, because the Solver on its own just isn't as interesting as it being Cyn.
