God though I really do think Gideon was trying to stop her.
Maybe not all of him. Maybe not all the time. We'll have to wait for the DLC to see more of him, figure out what exactly was going on there. But--I always forget how EARLY this is, how immediate. But it's NIGHT TWO (assuming Night One is during the title drop, ie, the literal first night in which Phyre and Fabien first meet in an abandoned basement and then crawl into Dale's place and collapse).
The literal first MOMENT he makes contact with Fabien--within seconds of his childe landing in that Garden--Gideon cannot talk fast enough to tell him Safia's entire plan.
Fabien doesn't understand what he's saying because it's being filtered through Malkavian poetic distortion, a hundred years of isolation and rebar through the brain. But.
[How weary is the wanderer, who treads upon the fertile soil!] {The ichor of the hecatomb} <awakens streets incarnadine.>
This is THE FIRST THING HE SAYS. The literal first words out of Gideon's brain are, roughly translated:
[THE NOMAD OF CONSTANINOPLE IS HERE BUT WEAKENED] AND {THERE'S GOING TO BE A MASS SACRIFICE} TO <UNLEASH AN ARMY OF BLOOD ZOMBIES>.
He then recognizes Fabien and asks a question--Will you not wake? In this context, that could easily mean You're not going to fully take over the Nomad's body, the way the ritual intended?
I just....it seems to take a lot of power and effort for Gideon to communicate this way. Why? Why would he immediately tell the entire plan to ANYONE, let alone an outsider, let alone an outsider he doesn't even seem to have recognized as Fabien until Fabien spoke? It was Phyre's mind he was reaching out to, we can safely assume it was Phyre he thought he was addressing.
Why tell them everything, right away, if not to warn them?
And then as a followup he adds Is the wanderer thirsty? Will they not sup? which, again, roughly translated from Malkavian In A Coma, obviously boils down to
FABIEN THE NOMAD IS MEANT TO DIABLERIZE ME
And I do actually think that Gideon, even if he is on any level trying to stop Safia's plan, DOES intend for Phyre to eat him--especially once Fabien's in place and it's not part of a greater ritual. When that Underground confrontation finally does occur he's CERTAINLY pushing them into it, all but begging--but what he SAYS is that if Phyre goes through with it:
All Marks are yours to hold.
Which....could easily be a lie! But all the rest of what the Gardener has said has been true. It COULD easily be a lie though--promise the Nomad that diablerizing him will give them control of the Mark when in fact it would just let him take over. But the more straightforward explanation given Phyre knows everything else is that he's telling the truth.
He may, by that point, just want to give Phyre their freedom and hope that together, Fabien and the Nomad can put a stop to this. Maybe without hurting Safia--who, I will note, and I don't consider it a point against this theory in the slightest--
Safia, who he never names. Never even alludes to.
I do think he was trying to warn Fabien. Maybe even warn Phyre. But I don't think he was willing to betray Safia to do it. And I'm not at all convinced there was a blood wedding behind that, either.
turnnoffyourmind
areudirty
jacobvanloon
