I'm pleasantly surprised that so many people ended up liking Ryan! I sort of didn't expect to see content of him at all and I'm glad I was wrong. I love our golden boy!
OUR GOLDEN BOY 😭
I really can't help it-- I loved Ryan! I couldn't help but smile whenever he was around. He's honestly my favorite type of guy (earnest, kind, conscientious, a little nerdy, and a huge sweetheart) and a few of my irl guy friends remind me of him.
I was really happy that the writers didn't push him aside or reserve the story-relevant scenes for Steph. If anything, he gets more meaningful scenes with Alex and plot-relevant moments, at least in the first half of the game. The scene where Alex experiences joy with him for the first time on the cliff became one of my favorite scenes in the game for how sweet and simple it was.
But I will say, my feelings about him shifted a lot during the game. I gotta be honest, I was pissed when Ryan cut the rope. I wanted Gabe's death to feel more earned somehow, not so sudden and senseless. But after thinking it over, I realized that Gabe was already a goner and Ryan had to make the call that would result in the fewest casualties. After I saw Mac essentially blame Ryan for Gabe's death by cutting the rope, as well as how much Ryan was torturing himself for "not doing enough," I couldn't stay mad at him and he won me over for the rest of the game. It also helped that he believed me in my first playthrough, so he was a real one!
Also, I won't stand for Ryan slander. Like yeah, it's possible for him to not believe Alex, but realistically, she's a girl he met a month ago and the council are all people he's known literally his entire life. He doesn't dismiss the fact that Alex is hurt but just doesn't want to believe his dad was responsible. He does show remorse afterward and understands if you can't forgive him. And if anything, this plus his internal conflict in chapter 2 really adds more complexity and realism to his character. He's not just a sweet birdwatching himbo but a very realistically-written character.
