Armand wants absolute control, to the point of paranoia, which is precisely his downfall.
We are presented with two puzzles regarding Armand’s decisions, because logically, they are unnecessary: 1/ his killing of Claudia (indirectly or directly), and 2/ his memory wiping Louis in San Francisco. Armand doesn't have to torture Daniel over Louis' faintest interest, nor does he have to eliminate Claudia and Lestat from Louis' life through the orchestration of the trial, nor is he forced to wipe Louis’ memory in San Francisco. These actions ironically had the unintended effect of causing a rift between him and Louis. Here I want to argue that Armand took drastic, unnecessary, even risky action out of paranoia and his deep need for control.
1/ The part where Armand wiped Louis' memory of the San Francisco night - let's assume that he wiped Louis' mind without his consent. (This is up for debate - the show so far leaves enough ambiguity for it to go either way.) But why? Armand already won the fight. Louis apologized to him repeatedly, renewed his vow to Armand, and rejected Lestat by begging Armand not to call Lestat. That makes Armand’s memory wipe so puzzling at first to me, since I think there would be no need for such a drastic measure.
My best explanation is down to Armand’s personality - he doesn’t want even a slightest crack in the relationship, when what he wants is perfection. He doesn’t want Louis to remember the hurtful things they spoke to one another, and definitely doesn’t want Louis to remember that Armand’s words pushed him to go out to the sun. He doesn’t want Louis to recall all the cruel behaviors he exhibited while Louis was incapacitated in the bed - torturing Daniel, taunting Louis, calling Lestat. Armand was also extremely jealous of Louis’ slightest attention to Daniel, so that he also wiped that part where Louis begged for him to spare Daniel’s life. Those are why he wiped Louis’ memory.
2/ Another way Armand exhibits his paranoia is through the trial. The narrative shows us there is no need for him to kill Claudia to “unburden” Louis of her. Claudia was gone, off with Madeline, and had to be away from Paris out of necessity, effectively removing herself from Louis’ life. Armand, again, does not have to eliminate Claudia, especially if he doesn’t care about maintaining power in his coven and coming off as weak and ineffectual as coven maitre.
Yet Armand feels threatened by Claudia nonetheless, because she is competing for Louis’ love and attention. It definitely doesn’t help that Louis’ slit his wrist and let himself bleed out on the couch the night he turned Madeline because Claudia left him. (recalling the moment he contemplated sitting on the bench waiting for sunrise in S1) Louis can get suicidal and depressive over Claudia, but so will he if Claudia is put to death over the trial.
The trial serves a dual purpose - to eliminate Claudia (through death) and Lestat (through betrayal) from Louis’ life. It’s killing two birds with one stone because Lestat caused Claudia’s death by showing up at all, and then testifying against them. I think there is no world in which Louis would return to Lestat, if he ever loved Claudia at all. That makes Armand’s cowardice for inaction come off as a much better alternative.
Armand’s decision is not so much out of physical, circumstantial necessity but out of a psychological, internal necessity. Armand doesn't just want control, he wants complete control, absolute annihilation of the opposition to his goals and wants, which ironically will forever prevent him from ever achieving his desires.
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