I’ve been thinking a lot recently about how both Mattholomule and Gus were bullied very similarly but these acts shaped them as people very differently.
We get to explore their past with bullying quite a bit in Labyrinth Runners and Through the Looking Glass Ruins:
They’re both familiar with people pretending to be their friends just so they can get ahead. Bria keeps Matt around so she has someone to do her work for her. She makes him help her get the galdor stones but doesn’t let him benefit from it. She knows he won’t try to take the stones from her. He’s learned by now not to challenge her. At Glandus she’s top dog because of this facade she puts on. She’s nice to people she’s not close to so they respect her but exploits and manipulates her “friends.”
Gus also deals with this in a similar way. He’s the prodigy and he’s younger than everyone so people see him as someone they can easily manipulate. When another kid manipulates him into doing this project for him he makes note of the fact that this is not the first time this has happened. And we see him blame himself,
Gus doesn’t recognize that it’s other people’s fault that this keeps happening. He leads himself to believe that he’s the one messing something up. He’s the consistent variable, right? So it must be him. He’s the one messing up somehow.
We seem him consistently misread people and get himself into these types of situations. He misreads Bria and is quick to put himself down because of it,
In reality, Gus isn’t the one messing up and getting himself hurt. It’s not his fault that he gives everyone the benefit of the doubt. This doesn’t change the fact that this is how he sees himself though.
It’s a small detail, but notice how the Glandus students don’t have faces but Gus does? If they have facial expressions you could more easily determine their personality. But Gus can’t do this. He says that he can’t trust himself, that he let himself get tricked. Not that he can’t trust others or that they tricked him. Because to him he’s, once again the outlier in this equation.
People keep leading him to believe this as well. They gaslight him over and over into believing that he’s the one who messed up somewhere and that’s what lead him to getting hurt, rather than their own ill-mannered actions.
Brias facial expression in this shot is one that would lead you to believe she’s saying something helpful or thoughtful. In reality she is absolutely not but her tone really downplays the situation.
Angmar immediately complies, he doesn’t even question this interaction despite being disturbed. Mattholomule looks back but barely reacts and neither does Gavin. Their all used to this behavior. Gus isn’t and he reacts to it how most of us probably would, being rather concerned. But the people around him treat it normally so he doesn’t question it.
Mattholomule looks up to Bria at first. Not because she’s an awesome person - because she’s not lol - but rather because she appears to the world as someone who’s got everything under control and is incredibly powerful.
Mattholomule is not someone who usually bends to peoples will but Bria is somehow able to make him. He doesn’t react to her tormenting people or making people fight for power. He treats it normally. He says it’s normal. He doesn’t like it, but it’s normal.
When he comes to Hexide we see him try to be like Bria,
He pretends to be kind and soft when it helps him out of being exposed by Gus.
But then turns on Luz and Gus when it helps him.
He’s finally the new Bria, he’s finally in charge of something, finally in control of himself.
But in Through the Looking Glass Ruins we see him realize he was wrong apologize to Gus,
When having to face Bria again after being at Hexide for a good while, Mattholomule realizes she’s not actually someone he looks up to anymore. He recognizes her toxic behavior for what it is after seeing an outsider come into their dynamic.
He’s a lot more friendly with Gus after this, their banter is more lighthearted and he seems much more relaxed. No, they are not friends yet but it seems to be a dynamic that could easily become a strong friendship.
These two honestly are just so interesting to dissect as characters. Both examples of how the same type of bullying can manifest insecurity in very different ways. Mattholomule reacts to the bullying by trying to continue the cycle where as Gus tries to mold himself to be more compatible with others. In the end neither solution is right and they both find their own environments that work for them.
They’re both characters I can relate to a lot and it’s fun to see them both in happier healthier enviorments.
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