over at @dailysilvers this post was recently made (image below)
This suddenly made me want to yap about this moment in the manga, and share my interpretation of what that panel might be telling us. I'll allow myself to yap a little about Gold and Silver, as a treat
The chapter this panel is found (chapter 113) is the chapter where Gold and Silver fight The Masked Man at the Lake of Rage. To me this fight and the stuff that happens in it are really significant to both of our protagonist's characters.
!! Spoilers for the GSC Arc of Pokespe ahead !!
Also keep in mind I don't know how to analyse I'm basically just talking out of my ass
Click/tap on the images for better quality
Previous to this fight, a few chapters before, Gold and Silver had battled each other at the tin tower's remains, after it being affected by an earthquake caused by team rocket in an attempt to call forth ho-oh.
Silver all this time has always made an attempt to flee from Gold... Or anyone, for that matter. He never once challenged him or tried to win any battles, all he had in mind was escaping and continuing with his missions. He has much bigger goals to accomplish, he doesn't have the time to have "fun" with anyone. Then comes long Gold, who challenges him to a battle. An actual battle. "about as fair of a playing field as you're ever gonna find" in his own words. And he agrees.
And they both have a lot of fun !! Silver especially looks very happy and engaged, something rare for him up until this point
from the moment Gold saw Silver, he was determined to catch him and turn him in to the police, under the impression that he stole his backpack (later resolved) and because he stole the totodile from Elm's lab. His goal was that: catch Silver with his own hands. This goal changes at the end of this battle, since Silver had agreed to tell him what his deal was after he had proven himself
...after this information, Gold changes his view on Silver. He still doesn't fully like him, but he has a newfound feeling of respect and admiration towards him. He wants to get to know him, to know who he is, what he is fighting towards... And he wants to fight alongside him.
And so he continues to pursuit him, but this time, it's to help him out
After this, in chapter 112, Silver is at the Lake of Rage, working on his new mission: look what the weird pokemon activity is there. Here, Gold eventually finds him among a crowd of people and offers to help him. Silver is not very enthusiastic about this, but that doesn't matter at the moment, they have to fight. They both work together to take care of the red Gyarados causing most of the uproar at the lake... And after this, Silver seems rather annoyed at Gold's attempts to help him or contribute anything to his situation
Let's remember, Gold still doesn't know what is the end goal of all of these missions. He doesn't know Silver is doing all of this to get more information about The Masked Man so that he can eventually get revenge. He will not know this until a lot later on. In Silvers eyes, he is just some random kid getting in his business (very dangerous and personal business too, mind you). Silver warns Gold for roughly the 3rd time to leave him alone, and to stop following him
Gold refuses. Since this involves team rocket, and he has already encountered them so many times already, he claims that this is also his fight, and he will not leave until they have both defeated them all. Silver once again wants him about the danger of the situation, and they almost begin another (not so friendly) battle over this, before...
The Masked Man appears
Gold has already faced off the Masked Man before, and Silver obviously has his past with him, being kidnapped and training under him and all that. Now they are both in his presence, at the same time. Gold throws himself immediately into battle, not succeeding much and almost being impaled by ice thorns, while Silver analyzes his position and attacks in a much more strategic way. As Silver and the Masked Man are fighting though, he suddenly changes his target and attacks Gold instead
Now I'd like to make a pause from analyzing the text itself, and analyze the art of the manga, more specifically the panel composition of these few pages
As you can see, most of the pages before the one I showed earlier roughly stay within the blue border, and if they do go outside of it, most of the panels still continue to basically be rectangles and squares. They are rather.... Normal, considering who the protagonists are in the presence of. Panels with diagonal lines are rare in these few pages, visually telling us there is not much action or tension yet. Instead the straight vertical and horizontal lines give us a sense of stability, and them remaining mostly inside this blue border makes it feel a lot more grounded
... In this page, however, almost all of it is taken up by the panels, not paying much attention to the blue border, and diagonal lines finally have a presence that is really felt (the second closest to this is the page directly before this one, which builds up Gold getting attacked)
This arrangement now tells us the situation is dangerous and should be taken seriously. Action is finally taking place at a level worth considering. I especially like how it frames Silver's reaction to Gold being hit: we see him in the background at the start, looking shocked; then below that we see a close-up of his face, and then we see him getting hit and fall to the ground back to back. The diagonal lines forming these three panels make it very clear how quickly these three things happened, maybe in a matter of seconds. After that, we go back to staying inside the blue border and exclusively having horizontal and vertical lines, taking a break from the action and leaving space for dialogue
Now back to analyzing the text
Silver is clearly shocked to see Gold take a hit from the Masked Man. Silver was expecting him to fight him, not Gold. He already knew Gold had encountered the Masked Man earlier in this volume at the Ilex Forest, but he never thought he'd get so involved. Silver would've been startled if anyone had been hit like that as they were fighting, since he wouldn't want anyone innocent to be involved in this battle. But the Masked Man would've never done that. He would never just, attack a random passerby to distract Silver, that'd be stupid of him to do. But as soon as he saw the chance to both hit one of them, and distract the other, he took it. This was not a thoughtless move, this was very intentional. He knows Silver is beginning to get attached to Gold, even if he will not admit it. And so Gold falls, and in the few seconds Silver is distracted, he takes the chance to knock him out and overpower him like he had always done years ago
After this tense moment, the Masked Man doesn't take a long time to reveal Silver's past to Gold (maybe even against Silver's own wishes). Gold is, of course, horrified at the revelation Silver was kidnapped and then forced to train under this man (as any normal person would be). This, once again, makes his view of Silver change. He wanted to get to know him, and now he has... Knowing his past now makes him see him in a less mysterious and antagonistic way, and makes him have more sympathy for him than anything.
Silver is hearing all of this while he is still on the ground, and he tries to release his pokemon to attack, but the Masked Man threatens to once again hurt Gold (possibly in a much worse way than before) if he moves
Again, Silver would've refrained from attacking even if the person being threatened was a random passerby. He, once again, doesn't want any innocent person to be harmed. But, once again, the Masked Man would've never done that. It would never have the same effect on Silver. He knows that by threatening Gold, he can get Silver to do whatever he wants him to do.
Silver here looks angry, he looks powerless, impotent. He is angry that the Masked Man is manipulating him using people as tools as he has always done, and he is angry that it is working so well. He hates being under his thumb again (I've gone so long without saying this but god do I hate this guy oh my goooddddddd). He is also angry because, in part, he feels guilty. Guilty for not keeping Gold at arms length and preventing this from happening, from getting him hurt
The Masked Man taunts Silver by saying that if only he had remained under him, he would've been the perfect trainer free of any weaknesses... Including compassion for people. Gold then suddenly breaks into the conversation and defends Silver
Does the bottom panel look familiar?
That panel comes right after the one where Gold praises Silver for his accomplishments and his strengths, strengths that he himself has seen during all of the time leading up to this point. Silver looks expressionless, something which is not new for us... But the order in which they are shown, to me, makes it clear what this panel is telling us the readers. While he may not show it, Silver is touched by this. He hasn't met anyone new in a long time, since he hides and distances himself from people for safety reasons. Gold is the only new person he has bonded with in a long time, and he really came out of nowhere. Hearing Gold say such positive things about him, even if they have not known each other for much, has to mean something to him.
So yeah
That's what that small panel says to me
Yeah it was necessary for me to do a whole analysis IM NOT SORRY
Anyways thanks for reading if you've come this far please tell me what you think or stuff youd like to add in the reblogs/comments byeeeeeeee