MAKAI OUJI COUNTDOWN (11/27)
Something you always wanted to share about the series but didn’t
This is not something I have really talked about, though those who know me well in the fandom might be aware of this, but the whole Barton’s reveal as a villain disappointed me when it was revealed a while ago.
Aside from the fact I wished to see William’s only family, the last link to his deceased parents, to be one of the good guys, I found it to be a little cliché. The whole “evil family member who killed the parents because of power and jealousy” is not a new trope, in fact some fans already guessed Barton was evil before it was even revealed. However, I was... disappointed when it was first revealed. I really wanted Barton to be one of the good guys and one of William’s few, very few, human allies (we didn’t see Mycroft a lot, we’re not quite sure Mathers is human, so the only one who’s left is Isaac).
However, I would have been able to buy the whole thing about Barton better if it had been done in another way.
I would have liked a conflicted relationship between Barton and his brother, William’s father. The latter being the first born, the perfect son, the worthy heir, strong and clever and, most of all, a loving brother; and Barton, while not the golden boy and easily prone to illnesses, is intelligent enough, have a great mind, is cultivated and wanting to become a famous archeologist. However, while he’s clever enough, the frequency of his illnesses prevented him to do what he really wanted.
I would have liked to see William’s father and Barton as happy little boys, growing up happily as two close brothers who had their games and their fights, just like any siblings. With Barton loving his big brother, but who can’t help but feel less worthy in their parents’s eyes, who can’t help but feel jealousy even though he hates it because his brother is a good brother.
I would have liked to see Barton having to grow in his brother’s shadow as their parents pressured William’s father to act more like the true heir of the family, while paying less attention to Barton, making him feel insecure; while Barton is struggling with the abilities he got from being the Horseman of Pestilence.
I would have liked to see Barton loving his brother but being so jealous of him he sometimes would wish his brother would disappear, and being sad and conflicted over his death. I would have liked to see Barton still looking for Solomon’s ring, believing it would grant him what he wants.
If I still had to accept an “evil” Barton, I would have liked to see Barton acting like Madam Red from Kuroshitsuji, who lived a life of tragedy and murdered people with her butler and, when discovered by her nephew, tried to kill him only to find she couldn’t do it because he was her nephew, the son of the sister she so dearly loved and of the man she once fell in love with. I would have liked to see Barton still seeking for the ring, and even willing to attack William as he’s driven by the thrist of power but, in the end, finding he just can’t because he’s his nephew and the son of his beloved and late brother.
Basically, I wanted to see Barton as a problematic but not 100% evil character. A grey, very grey character with some humanity (even a small part of it) left in his heart.
