What I see most is people criticizing both Xavier and Queen MC, even though, as you yourself said, their relationship is more complex than it seems! Queen MC's duty as a defense mechanism and Xavier's focus on discreetly wanting to save her.
But now I'm curious, do you think Xavier would have run away with Queen MC if she insisted?👀
that is a shame, because the lightseeker era actually gives a lot of insight to xavier’s personality, and it explains why his persona is so complex!
lightseeker xavier is a prince tasked with carrying the legacy of philos, but he when he finds this legacy is actually bathed in the blood of the woman he loves, instead of choosing one or the other, he decides to explore a third option (which is operation backtrack).
while all the details haven’t been revealed, we do know that xavier has been, for hundreds of years, trying to find a way to save mc from death. but, we also know that he wants philos to prosper (i forget what he says in English, but in Japanese he definitely says “may the planet of Philos last everlasting”). when he leaves mc in the lightseeker era, these are definitely his goals.
however, I also believe that if xavier were cornered into a choice, he would probably choose mc. and, the only person that can convince him to choose otherwise (like choose philos instead) would be mc herself.
hence i think, if queen mc had told xavier very clearly, that she wanted to run, he would have dropped everything and brought her to uluru and they could live until philos’ core expired or until one of them perished. but i also think that both of them know, deep down, that neither of them are that selfish. both of them have a strong sense of duty to each other and to their people, and running would mean abandoning all of that. one of them (likely mc) would probably hesitate and say, “we have to go back”.
their hesitation to abandon their duty is actually what makes them such great characters, because they are so upright and strong but they acknowledge they sometimes waver in their own beliefs.
however, from present time onwards, i feel that there will be a disconnect in how strongly they feel about their responsibilities simply because of how xavier is the same person all throughout time while mc resets as she reincarnates.
i imagine that as time went by xavier’s priorities might have changed and he may be leaning towards choosing mc without thinking of saving philos anymore. some of the anecdotes actually hint at this (that maybe he should just abandon traceback II and settle down). however, he’s obviously still not decided (he told jeremiah that one day, he’ll get them all home).
i’m really excited to see how this will all unfold because so far this story is so wonderfully written, and the complexities only make me hungry for more
again I’d be happy to discuss more cause I do have a lot of thoughts (sooo sorry for rambling)
