Can we actually talk about how insane it is that Simon removed his mask for the 141? Everything he’s been through has caused him to disassociate entirely from the person he is. He cannot bear to BE himself; to have Simon Riley be someone who exists and is acknowledged by others. He uses the mask to create his nonexistence; to become a weapon only focused on finishing his mission. With the mask, Simon Riley is dead. The only thing left is his “Ghost.”
By creating this barrier, he distances himself from his teammates emotionally and can convince himself that only the objective matters (see: abandoning Soap after Graves betrays them and calling it “a force of habit”).
Simon is not good with expressing his feelings. For example, he’s extremely worried about Soap during “Alone,” but shows it through jokes and talking to keep Soap calm. Any time Soap insists Ghost cares, the man immediately deflects and insists they are only “teammates” and that Soap needs to focus on his own self-preservation.
But we see afterwards that Ghost wants to make an effort to connect emotionally to his team; to show the 141 who “Simon” is, not just Ghost. For example, after Rodolfo assumes that Ghost would wait for his men and Soap begins to express his doubt, Ghost immediately jumps in and asserts that, yes, he would wait for them. He lets Soap know with his own words that he is there for his team. This is a rare instance where Ghost allows himself to be emotionally vulnerable and open, and it sticks out immediately to the player.
And finally, the ultimate showcase of trust: the removal of the mask. Simon rips away that last barrier of distance between himself and the 141. He affirms HIS existence and allows his teammates to see the true person underneath the mask. Price’s “Good to see you again, Simon,” only adds to the fact that this is “Simon” standing with them. In that moment, there is no “Ghost.”
Anyway, I just thought it was really touching. Simon is a deeply traumatized character, but he’s also someone who has bottled up that trauma so well that it can be hard to separate his two identities and their wants. I really hope his backstory gets touched on more in the next game (and please don’t fucking kill him right after that Activision lmao).
