So….let’s talk about Janus (A Redo…it’s somehow longer than the first one)
If you’re a Sanders Sides fan and you think you saw this post before, you did! I accidentally deleted the first version like an idiot.
But this does give me the chance to re-word some of my points I made about the latest Sanders Sides episode and how it handled Janus.
So, as I said in the previous version, I’m glad that the topic of Janus’s impersonation problem was addressed. I’m glad it was Patron that questioned him on it, though it’s interesting that no one commented on him impersonating Logan as well. Yet again, a sign of neglecting Logan.
I’m glad Janus was able to talk about it without the sides overlapping him (specifically Roman and Virgil for obvious reasons). If this were pre-anniversary or “Putting Others First” I fear that things wouldn’t have been as civil as it was in this episode. Goes to show how each side + Thomas has improved.
And the fact that Janus apologized to Patton is something to note as well. Janus’s main fiction is to be selfish for Thomas’s sake. So him apologizing is a big step for him. An even BIGGER step is for him to apologize Roman…something I know will take a while to work up to.
And then there’s Janus being the only one to notice Logan’s little “orange eye” moment. It does two things. It reminds the audience of how observant Janus is, and it build up soothing between the two. And no, this isn’t me just being a Loceit shipper. Their relationship has always fascinated me because I get the impression that Janus has a certain level of respect or even fear for/of Logan.
It was exceptionally hard for him to impersonate Logan. With Patton it came easier and it worked better since he’s built on emotion. But Logan (for the most part) is built on the facts. It’s harder to manipulate a side like Logan. And Logan has expressed multiple times that he would be a great foil to Janus. Janus knows that. That’s why he’s so quick to put him out of the picture.
But NOW. Janus has seen a crack in the mask. He’s seen Logan with his orange eyes and based on facial expression, it’s hard to say if Janus expected it. It looks like he was confused as to why that was happening. If this is true, it kinda puts a dent in the whole “Janus sent Remus to fuck with Logan and make him snap theory”. (Tbh, I never liked that theory to begin with. It kinda took away agency from Remus being his own force of nature)
So now the question is…what does Janus do with this information? Will he use it to better manipulate Logan? Will he confront it to him? Will he register it as a threat to Thomas? Will he even use it to better understand Logan? Only time will tell.
But let’s go back to Remus because I neglected to talk about him at all in my deleted version of this analysis. Janus’s reaction to Remus’s rant about doing the nasty with Nico and failed to silence him was so interesting to me. Because it further strengths the idea that Janus cannot actually control Remus. Remus is an unfiltered force of chaos. Janus’s whole thing is about filtering. By that angle, they are opposites. But they’re also arguably the closest to one another than each of them are to the others. (The second closest to Janus would be Patton of course).
But I wonder how they both feel about one another. Because we don’t actually know. The show has made a point to not go into that (or maybe irl Thomas forgot lol) but it’s interesting how logically, Remus and Janus should HATE each other due to their respective jobs. But maybe because of the ““light sides’s”” exclusion of the ““dark sides””. Or maybe that was the product of Janus’s excluding the ““dark sides”” on his own.
Something that adds to the former being true is the “core four” comment made by Janus at the end of the video. He said it sarcastically. Which COULD just be Janus being Janus. But through out the episodes, it seems like he really wants to be included in stuff. He wouldn’t have shared his name if he didn’t. And there being a “core four” is a barrier. And he’s jealous.
Because it means that there are certain sides that are more worthy of being heard than others. But really, the only difference between Janus, Remus and the other sides (besides the actual harm they caused) is the time spent episode wise. Really, the sides that should be considered the main sides are Roman Patton and Logan. But they made “room” for Virgil when he got “accepted” into the group. So does that mean once the others or maybe just Thomas accepts Janus and Remus, they’ll become the core 6? What determines acceptance? How much Thomas likes a side?
This leads to my final thought. I still don’t like using the terms “light sides” and “dark sides” and I kinda hate that it’s been adopted into the fandom and the canon completely. It’s the same with the “core four” thing. Because it creates an unnecessary hierarchy between the sides. They’re all just supposed to be sides of a person. And I hope eventually things lead to those terms being abolished. And a part of me hope it’s Janus that calls this out.