honestly, the newest episode made me understand victim's characterization more than ever...
the whole thing about names? renaming themself h4ck3r for power, renaming chosen to make them powerless? names are proven to shape identity, and victim is...well, they're victim. they were created to be an object of torment. that's all they were, for over a year
and then victim escaped, and victim met mitsi, and victim...wasn't hurting anymore, or at least as much. they got to found a tech company. they met people, made friends. they managed to live a good life.
and then mitsi died, and that changed everything.
i don't think this is about revenge. not really. i know a lot of ppl paint victim as the typical dead-wife villain, which i used to agree with, but now...it's not about avenging mitsi's death specifically. it's because victim started to believe that they could be more than their name, more than someone made to suffer, and then they were confronted with their helplessness and of course it wouldn't last, of course they would lose her, of course they could feel loss and pain because that is who you are, right?
it's not about mitsi, not entirely. but she had been proof to victim that they were more than a cruel name. and then when she was gone, they thought that they were wrong, they would always be a victim, and that in turn made them desperate to find a way to not be the victim.
and, well. what is the opposite of the victim but the villain?
that is what victim has been trying to do. victim has spent so long trying to escape who they used to be, a thing only meant to hurt, that they've essentially recreated the cycle of abuse, because if they're the tormentor, at least it means they're not a victim. it's not as black-and-white as "victim is an irredeemable monster" or "victim is a sweetheart who deserves to do this," it's the fact that victim is inflicting their suffering on others to prove that they will never suffer again.
in other words: victim does not want to be the victim. therefore, they become the oppressor.
(they become chosen, alike in strength; they become alan, powerful in a new way. they torture chosen because they refuse to be tortured; they burn alan's memories because alan can't stop them.)
(mitsi was the start of it, the death of victim's belief that they didn't have to hurt, the beginning of their belief that there was only one way left to be safe. no wonder victim wants her back now. all the power they carved out for themself isn't enough to cover up who they really are. maybe getting even one piece of their happier life back can fix them.)
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