i think a HUGE part of ebony’s relationships not just with griff but with everyone is the fact that she genuinely doesn’t think she’s doing anything wrong in these relationships. she just has the type of superiority complex that makes her actually feel like she’s saving the world just by being herself and that everything she does or says is for the greater good. if she would go to therapy she’d get that NPD diagnosis SO QUICK but alas. this also isnt helped by the fact she’s genuinely veingifted to a vast extent, and not to mention she has a draconic vein. like ok yeah getting powers is pretty sick but it’s not all that rare in holloway bc of the lifeblood system in the ground, right? but she got a strong draconic vein. and she’s already a pretty religious person, so it turns into a thought of halnia choosing her personally to be a leader and protector by gifting her the draconic vein to such an extent. what other reason would she have such power?
i think what makes the valkyries and aberrance so different is the leadership. ebony leads with the kind of stifling, allconsuming air that she thinks she deserves, and is constantly kinda ordering the valks around. even raye who’s like a sister, even cal who’s like a father or brother, even dahlia who’s like a baby sister. doesn’t matter, she freaks out if she’s not in charge. there’s a big argument in an earlier arc where the valks collectively decide to take on a job that investigates a disturbed lifeblood line and whatnot , and it leads to a huge blowup with ebony cursing the team for making a decision without her approval? and it becomes a question of, “what makes someone a leader of a team?” and, can there still be autonomy with you in charge?
aberrance, on the other hand, is “led” by griff with a much lighter touch. he’s genuinely slightly traumatized by his childhood with ebony (she 100% physically abused him a little during their childhood, biting scratching punching even throwing glasses and picture frames at him when he disobeyed her “rules”) so he doesn’t like to be a leader as much as he thought he would. as first he tries to be cruel and all-consuming but it just wears him down, and he sees elora’s reaction as the one he takes it out on and realizes it’s just… not smart… so instead he actually lets the rest of the team work together as well, and the environment goes from stiff and hateful to genuinely friendly like THAT. auden leans in on that motherly figure that they all needed, griff acts as the brains and planner of a journey rather than the forceful hand, elora is a powerhouse who learns to accept herself, and wasabi grows into his strength and learns to balance his desire with the real world. they all forcefully shift out of their “predetermined” roles and rather defy those narrative ideas, adding to the whole original trope of them being forced foils to the valks. aberrance knows they’re not going to match them in any way, so they forcefully shift their narrative aspect to defy the expectations that come with a rivalry.
this all comes to a climax during the halnia arc, where that whole encounter shows the flaws of the valkyries. they’re tripping over each other, ebonys commands are failing, and everything’s going wrong. aberrance, on the other hand, is genuinely synergistic. it’s like a dance, everyone playing off each others strengths and weaknesses in new and unexpected ways, deviating so strongly from the norm.
when the valkyries failure results in Raye’s injury, there’s a whole moment with griff and ebony i’ll get into later that makes griff realize just how far gone she is, and she thinks nothing is wrong. when halnia is subdued and the diseased lifeblood lines are tamed, the second vessel chooses to flee and join the outside world, and it chooses griff. that’s what finally makes ebony break
