Okay I gotta go off cuz I’ve been thinking about this a lot since watching some YoI last night, but I think Victor was planning on retiring after the season that he ended up coaching Yuuri in. Once he decided to coach Yuuri, he’d basically decided to retire earlier than originally planned, but he’d planned it nonetheless.
My thoughts on this started when I really looked at Victor’s face in the first episode. During that short bit where it shows the post competition interview he does not look happy for having won his 5th consecutive title, and when an interviewer askes Victor what his plans are for next season, he has a contemplative look, but he also looks very sad and there’s something about his face that just says “Do I tell them?”.
It’s at this point where he’s heavily thinking about retiring, but hasn’t told anyone yet. I don’t think he tells anyone because he fears the backlash, people telling him he can’t retire because he’s still on the top. He’s heard the rumors of him retiring, and he knows what people think about it.
This brings me to my second point. In the second episode, when the two Yuri’s walk in on Victor skating Eros, and Yurio comments that it was a program Victor was making for next season. He says that Victor was frustrated with it and that he was losing inspiration. From the outside it may look like that, and it may hold some bit of truth, but I think Victor was having problems cuz the programs were supposed to be for his last season. He wanted to go out with a bang, the ultimate final surprise before retiring. He wanted to go out on his own terms, and not by what others said he should do.
This is why Yuuri retiring, supposedly for Victor’s sake, upsets him so much. Victor had already planned and accepted retirement. He was ready to move on.
Also, when Yuuri breaks his record in the Free Skate, I believe Victor actually feared that Yuuri had actually won the gold. Because if Yuuri won, then that would mean he’d retire. Victor then panics, and in that moment, decides to go back to competing. Because if he keeps skating, maybe he can keep Yuuri by his side.
And this is why he looks so sad when he tells Yuuri he’s going to return to skating, he’d do anything to keep Yuuri on the ice, even at the expense of his own peaceful retirement.
TL;DR - Victor Nikiforov is tired and depressed, and planned on retiring the entire time. Yuuri gave him life and love, and just overall purpose in his life again. Him going back to skating is him being unwilling to let go of Yuuri, and wanting to do anything to make sure Yuuri doesn’t give up skating himself, because he knows Yuuri can do amazing things in the future of his career.
Thank you for coming to my Ted talk
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