i stand by the fact Aaron in MCD could've been one of the best characters ever in the right hands.
Because he's a stereotypical male fantasy mc in a story not about him. This is not centred on how cool and tragic and brooding he is. He is all of those things, but like, off to the side. His side quests, his revenge plot, that's all secondary, because the world does not revolve around every sad guy. The people who do real change are the people who do it with joy and whimsy and put all else aside to do good in the world.
Aaron could never have been the protagonist of MCD because MCD is a story about doing good even when it all looks hopeless, about someone who seems powerless gaining the power to make real change solely because they stepped up and did shit to make the world better even when these thing seemed small in the grand scheme.
And if Aaron was fully fleshed out and well-written I think his place in the story would be really meaningful. Especially if it put emphasis on the importance of the balance between them. Sometimes you need to do the ugly, bad thing, and sometimes it shouldn't fall upon the Good Guy to do it. Sometimes the Good Guy needs a Bad Guy on their side to do the shit they never would've had the evil in them to do.
That could have been Aaron. Aarmau could have gone so hard.
But noooo. He did nothing, he fucked, he died, and that is his legacy. forever.
EXACTLY
I've been saying it for years and I'll say it again-
Aaron works as a counterweight off Aphmau because they are each others "what if" scenario.
What if Aaron had been able to live happily ever after at Falcon Claw? He would have been Aphmau.
What if Aphmau had been driven by her need to avenge the time she lost with her family post-timeskip? She would have been Aaron.
And I wish he hadn't been written as an endgame romantic subplot because it sours that parallel in favor of the much less interesting trope of a man being fixed by the love of a good woman. Aaron was a better character in early season 2 when he was written as a mentor. When he was nudging Aphmau off the path he was on because he knew what it would do and he needed to still believe people could be good.
Aphmau herself was fascinating when her loved ones were in tangible danger and she nearly tore the thieves guild apart brick by brick to bring them home. She and Aaron are both driven by a deep love for their families and that parallel would have been great to explore.
But no. Aaron did nothing. He fucked. He died. He came back. And the story is so much worse for it.
