Anyone else have issues with Six's competency being nerfed in the Legacy Chronicles novellas? I don't mean her being de-powered; she makes poor decisions she never would in the original series. Also, how the hell did Earth Garde throw her in prison (on false charges at that) at the end of the novellas? Did they rope Marina into capturing her best friend?!
If I had a dollar every time I wanted to yell at Six for making stupid decisions, I would be Einar in his money room on the skimmer after he robbed all of those Foundation millionaires.
In the Six & Sam novellas, Six seemed more stubborn than she ever was in the main series. It was kind of weird. She made rushed decisions that weren’t clearly thought out, and we saw how stubborn she was when she insisted to stay away from the Academy and do things on her own (and with Sam). She clearly needed help on her missions with Sam, and Nine and Lexa really saved their butts tbh.
I was pissed with Six on multiple occasions, but I think I understand why she was so "incompetent" in the sequel series.
It all starts with her being super against getting involved with all the human garde activity. At first, I thought it was because she grew comfortable with the laid-back vacation lifestyle she adopted with Sam. She liked taking a break from constantly watching her back and needing to fight enemies. She enjoyed taking it slow, seeing the world with Sam on her side. I get it, she didn’t have loads of alone-time with Sam in the main series, and it seemed that she wanted to spend time with him as a lover. I get that.
OK, it’s totally unfair to force Six into being an active heroine or make her feel guilty for staying away from the other Loric, BUT ... none of the other Loric got a break from the reality of the world, so why should she? It sucks that none of them can catch a break, but to be honest, that’s the price of being given a hero’s destiny. Nine felt like it was his duty to raise the human garde students and teach them how to protect themselves like Sandor taught him. John, Marina and Ella were still busy as hell doing whatever it was they were doing on New Lorien (not to mention, John was negotiating with Vontezza & her warship crew). Five, too, was dragged into the reality of Earth. In his view, he was actually protecting the garde from corrupted human organizations seeking to exploit them. Even SAM got a bit bored of all that aimless wandering, and it was clear that he wished he were a part of the Academy too. He’s human after all, and this is his planet and his people.
So Six was stubborn about keeping her distance. But I think there’s another reason she was stubborn too (one she doesn’t want to admit to anyone). It was only after she got close to Nemo, Max & Rena did she feel like she kept her distance all that time because she didn’t want to fear over other teens. She didn’t want to worry about other people, and she didn’t want to feel like she’d failed them anyone if she couldn’t save them... Sarah flashbacks anyone?
I don’t think Six ever forgave herself for getting Sarah injured in her tornado of debris back at the Sanctuary. I don’t blame Six because it wasn’t her fault that Sarah died, but Six never forgot about it. I also realized that Six didn’t have too many scenes with John after Sarah’s death. She was ashamed to even talk to him about what had happened, and I don’t think they ever had a real talk about Sarah’s death either. Then John disappeared after he got healed, stayed in the Himalayas for a looong time, and he never saw Six again. She kept that guilt in her ever since.
I think in a way, although it’s selfish as hell, I get it. Six wanted to stay away so that she wouldn’t see anyone else get hurt — let alone human garde kids — and she didn’t want to feel like she failed them if she couldn’t protect them. Because of these feelings, she was rusty. She was hasty and angry and stubborn, and she wasn’t thinking straight anymore. She wasn’t the strategist she used to be, and she refused help from the rest of the OG gang because she wished reality could be different. That she could have a normal life with Sam.
But that’s just my opinion on her competency issues.
P.S. *GASP* HOW DARE U DRAG MARINA INTO THIS??? 😭😭
P.S.S. UGH I was hoping they’d caught Marina in the prison too. That way Einar’s gang would rescue her and she’d have a face-to-face encounter with Five again. Would’ve been awesome.