"Mike The Brave" โ The Fascade
I haven't posted here properly in years because I'm so active on Twitter... But I genuinely needed to write this one down *somewhere*. I think I could frame it better, but let me know! <3
Watching season 5 volume 1, I was slightly disappointed by the lack of reaction Mike gave to his family's "slaughtering" and Holly's disappearance. Yes... He did seem distressed (not discrediting Finn's acting, cuz I know he has a huge deal with his eyebrows and eyes), he made lots of connections, and he genuinely helped alongside Nancy. However, unlike Nancy, he did not have the "Macbeth" style washing hands type of distress or rather anything external at all. It was just internal, hard to see.
I thought it was a detail they just missed or didn't want to explore, until I remembered what he said to Holly.
Whenever he got scared, he used this facade to face the world. And that's exactly what he did.
His sadness was shown, but the fear was missing. It's further shown by how Mike's thinking was slightly weak โ the guy who was the first to think out of the box was now being supported by Lucas's link of connections โ it wasn't to torture them, it was because Holly was also a vessel. That's when we see him truly become 'normal' again; otherwise, he was distressed as well. He threw his feelings entirely aside to jump into action. An action similar to Nancy's, but missing the earlier emotional turmoil.
But when have we seen him truly fall apart?
I think we've all seen the memes where Mike finally cares the moment Will becomes hurt, especially at the military base. But those memes are true; there is a difference in reaction when Will is involved.
To emphasise his feelings for Will narratively? Absolutely.
But furthermore, that's the moment his facade also falls apart.
"Mike the Brave" was discovered through D&D โ Mike and Will both founded the party, played together before anyone else joined, and they were all that they had. With the bullies, he'd taken the role of a protector because he had the connection to D&D, which directly links to Will.
This is emphasised by the Painting. As the certainty of his identity as a leader, strategist and protector broke down by the seasons, Will was the one who reminded him of it and made him finally have the confidence to step into it again. Mike's maintenance of this act of bravery is heavily sustained by Will โ whether it's to be there for him in the earlier seasons or help lead plans in season five. It helps him stay stable, even when harmful emotionally.
So when Will is in danger, it entirely crumbles.
In season 1, you could say that we don't see this (that he was very much like a leader even at the loss of Will), but we do. The entire time, he had to hope to find Will and reconnect, but the moment his dead body is found, before El tells him, he shuts down entirely and stays in his basement. It's a small hint of the rolling snowball that would now become his realised feelings (thank you Robin).
Season 2, with El gone and Will being 'alright but not entirely', he feels himself lose himself. Canonically, he was depressed. But when Will comes back to him and trusts him, when he can help, he is back.
In Season 3 and Season 4, he entirely loses this personality. Where is Will then? He's disconnected, they don't trust each other anymore like before, and he then moves to Lenora. Of course, most of its fault was Mike's, but when you depend on an entire personality trait to be interdependent with your best friend, and you now secretly have repressed feelings for, while trying to be what society expects of you, this is bound to happen.
I do believe Mike's v2 arc should be about finding himself, embracing uncertainty and not just *only* relying on other people needing him, but also making this experience a foundation to accept his feelings for Will.
"Mike the Brave" isn't an unhealthy coping mechanism; it's something that's part of him that he fails to give credit to because he believes it to be a facade supported by his earlier days of a game that would help him find an escape from his fear. But it can be unhealthy, especially when he represses all the other parts of himself.
I do believe it began connected to his and Will's connection, shown throughout the seasons, and the finale will show their realised identities and understanding of each other.
It becomes a reiteration of how they need each other to truly be themselves โ The Paladin and The Cleric, The Heart and The Sorcerer.
