I SAID I WAS GONNA TALK ABOUT IT SO HERE I AMMMM.
"There are no friends in Hell, Vincent. I thought that was something you understood."
There's really a lot to say about this entire interaction, but nothing speaks about their past and relationship so loudly like that quote.
First of all, Vox was being extremely vulnerable in that whole interaction. More vulnerable than we have ever seen him (His expressions, his body language, his tone of voice, his use of language, literally him emoting with his antenna like they're ears. But I wanna focus in on the quote, so-).
I've been seeing people say that this is Vox's first (and last) time being vulnerable, but that is not true at all.
Simply because of the fact Alastor called him Vincent.
See, we know for a fact he already had the name Vox at the time. Alastor literally calls him that in this flashback. And he's also an Overlord already (which we can deduce from his dialouge). And while he's still a relatively new Overlord, he would have established himself as Vox.
So the fact Alastor knows his real name speaks volumes. It means he placed a lot of trust into Alastor. It also leaves you with two options. Either, Alastor met him really early in his death before he had the name Vox (though that seems way less likely for both of them), or they met as Overlords and by now Vox had already opened up to Alastor about his life. And i'm inclined to choose the latter.
They've already known each other for a few years at the time of the conversation (and were a known "team" sorta), and seemed kinda close (Vox gets a genuine laugh and easy smile out of Alastor with just an impression and Alastor is totally fine with Vox constantly in his space and even touching him. Though it's worth noting that while Vox projects all his body language in Alastor's direction, Alastor himself doesn't fully face him until he confronts him. But back on topic lmao-). If Vox had opened up about his name already, it's no wonder he thought they were friends.
Of course, Alastor doesn't seem to grasp the concept of friends in hell. (Alastor and his prominent relationships parallel Vox in that way. BUT I'M NOT HERE TO TALK ABOUT THAT EITHER LMAO). He sees it as Vox trying to grab more power, as being too weak to rise on his own (hypocrite). It's a fundamental misunderstanding between the both of them (Alastor might also be projecting hehehe).
So when Vox tries to voice the idea that they were friends (which he does so to combat his current hurt feelings. It was a failed attempt at re-establishing the conversation-), Alastor shuts it down immediately. Wording here again btw! "I thought, you know, since we were friends-". Not, 'I thought we were friends' but 'since we were friends'. There's certainty in Vox's dialouge. He was certain they were friends. Which makes Alastor's response of 'there are no friends in Hell, I thought that was something you understood' that much more interesting. How does a miscommunication like that even happen.
Now, personally i believe those two idiots just never talked about their relationship to each other and let assumptions go fucking wild. They would just do that. And Vox assumed they were friends while Alastor assumed Vox wasn't in it for something as 'frivolous' and 'weak' as friendship. And that's the thing. They never really properly communicate with each other. So the moment it does happen all the fucking cars crash in the unlit intersection.
There's also things to say about both the immediate and the future aftermath of this. Like, how this hangs over Vox's relationships like an anvil always ready to drop (do the Vees know his real name? Val knows about the cult, so he does talk about his life with them -> really big for him because lowkey I would never share a personal detail with anyone after what happened. -> Though he might also just talk about his successes and nothing too personal? Who knows. Not me rn). And Alastor's relationship with the hotel and its residents (i'll leave that for the Alastor fans lmao kisses). And then the immediate aftermath of that "tantrum" Alastor mentioned (we know he's an unrealiable narrator in that sense. Vox was on the verge of tears in that scene, and like we don't see him cry often tbh can this man genuinely cry in the finale please, so I wonder if the tantrum was a physical crashout or an emotional meltdown, or something of both).
BUT AGAIN. This was supposed to be about the quote and i'm gonna cut it off here. Because lowkey I am unable to be coherent in this post anymore. I keep trying to walk off into other topics as you can tell. Maybe after the finale tomorrow i'll get started on a massive Vox analysis on my part, or i'll procrastinate it into oblivion. Let's see.
Also I hope yall enjoy my ramblings, it's kinda different from what I usually post on this account, but I'm feeling chatty lately.
