Soap is obsessed with Price and all. Sure. But Price feels just as strongly about Soap. The respect and trust Soap has for Price, Price readily reciprocates, and, in fact, it's Price who initiates that relationship in earnest.
Nothing in their first encounter suggests this will be the case, though.
Price calls Soap a muppet. It's typical military antagonistic banter, which continues as Soap goes through the Cqb test. To Price, Soap is just another green sergeant, fresh out of selection and ready to prove himself. Price has seen dozens of men like him throughout his career, why would this 'Soap' be any different from the others he's commanded before? But over the six days the MW1 campaign takes place, Price's attitude towards Soap shifts completely--he goes from making jabs to trusting Soap with the fate of the world--and his life.
In the last mission, Price orders Soap to punch in the abort codes for the nukes headed for the US. Soap. The FNG. The muppet who fell twice in his first mission with the SAS and who Price has known for 6 days, while more experienced squad members (including himself) are literally there. If that wasn't enough, one of the most important moments in Price and Soap's relationship happens next.
The M1911 is not central only to Soap's character--it has a collective meaning for both Price and Soap (trust) and carries seperate sets of meaning for each of them. For Price specifically, the M1911 signifies agency, control, and mastery. Instead of crawling over to shoot Zakhaev himself, Price slides the M1911 to Soap. By doing so, Price cedes his own agency, control over the situation, and mastery over his subordinate, to Soap. (Soap recognizes the gravity of the gesture, that's why he values the pistol so much)
OK, so we've established that Price recognizes Soap capability and skill as a soldier. He sees something in Soap.
Let's leave MW1 behind. Canon is hazy, to say the least, when it comes to the period of time between MW1 and MW2, OP Kingfish and the origins of TF141, so I'll skip this part and pick up from MW2, specifically The Gulag mission.
During the breaching, Price knocks Roach on his ass. Eyes narrowing in suspicion, he doesn't seem recognize Roach at point blank range--even though he knows him. He keeps pointing the rifle at him, long after he first sees him.
Price's confusion is understandable, though; he has spent the past 3 years locked up in an impenetrable fortress, and he's probably abandoned any hope of getting out. The walls suddenly crumbling down would shock anyone. Plus, going by the scarring on his face, we can assume what he's been put through, physically and psychologically. So the fact that Roach doesn't instantly ring a bell is not that surprising. What is surprising, though, is that Price recognizes Soap, by voice alone, immediately.
Soap holds the M1911, Price's eyes linger on him for a while longer, lips parted--Price is truly in awe as reality starts to dawn on him. Before Price actually grabs the pistol, he blinks at it in disbelief as his eyebrows shoot up. You can actually pinpoint the moment he realizes it's the very same M1911 from years back, because this is as close to smiling as Price gets. When he looks from the pistol to Soap, he's about to say something, unfortunately they get interrupted by an explosion. But for sure by now Price has snapped back into his old self. Not without reason--Soap has just returned to Price what was stripped of in the Gulag and exactly what the M1911 represents for Price. But here Soap grants him something additional--his loyalty.
Anyway, Price is kind of manic for the rest of MW2, there are a few nice moments he and Soap share, like the banter at the beginning of Contingency--but the real big moment happens in the Endgame mission, namely after the fight with Shepherd.
Shepherd's beaten the shit out of Price, to the point of unconsciousness, and the first thing Price does when he comes to is not assess himself, like he should, but call out to Soap.
Soap's in a bad way; he's just pulled out the knife blocking the blood from escaping his body, a real no-no move when you want to survive being stabbed. Price calls out, his voice strained and raw, desperate as he reaches out for Soap, then crawls over to him. But then his tone changes; he seems to brush off the severity of Soap's injury. Keeping his cool he patches Soap up. Nonetheless, By the time they reach the safehouse in India in MW3, that desperation and rawness returns. Price kind of loses it.
He rushes already helping Nikolai, pushes the medic in Soap's general direction when the guy is literally a step away. Later, when Ultranationalist forces overrun the place, Price's priority is not to just simply get the hell out, but defend Soap, which actually becomes an objective in-game. Price takes point and carves a path out. Soap becomes Price's priority.
I'll digress here for a bit.
Price is a man of action. And so the main way we can see Price showing affection towards Soap so far is through actions (while Soap leans the other way, but that's a subject for another time). There are times when Price's affection and care for Soap bleeds through, indirect and curt. Keeping Soap alive and within Price's sight is the repeating theme. The following lines are all from MW3.
Moreover, post-MW1, Price's reaction to the player making mistakes as Roach or Yuri is very different from when you do the same playing as Soap--Price is vastly more forgiving. He simply doesn't get annoyed with Soap when Soap messes up. Obviously the old man has a soft spot for Soap. I can't really convey the tone used in the voice lines through text, so don't just take my word for it, check it out for yourself. It's especially apparent in the Just Like Old Times mission. But let's get back on track.
OK, Soap's been stabbed in Afghanistan, Nikolai picks them up and they escape to India where Yuri joins the team, Soap gets first aid, and then they evac and go off the grid, hiding out in various African countries.
This period of Soap's recovery isn't touched upon by Soap in the journal (save for that one angsty entry when he says he owes Price his life) nor is it included in the game. But. There are some entries about the merc jobs they take on to make ends meet as fugitives. There's not much to them, until have a look at the team roles and composition.
Price never assigns Soap to a team with Yuri (assuming Price is making the calls here--but lets be honest, he most likely is). Even though Nik vouches for Yuri, Price doesn't trust him and keeps Yuri away from Soap. Price doesn't want Soap around someone he doesn't trust...
The interrogation of Waraabe which happens in MW3 is very important as well. Here when have a case in point for Soap's being special to Price.
Here Price starts off the interrogation by himself, but then Soap joins in, unprompted mind you--and Price backs off. No negotiation, no hesitation, just like that. Price gives Soap space, Soap does a little bit of advanced interrogation himself, they kind of play good cop bad cop, with Price dangling the gas mask, a promise of safety, and Soap slamming a boot on Waraabe's wound. Anyway they get the Intel out of him.
Notice how Price doesn't slot Waraabe right away. He looks at Soap, Soap looks at him, and they both know they're of the same mind. The choice has been made, Waraabe's fate is sealed--and they even don't have to speak about it. A simple nod from either will suffice. Price asking for permission or confirmation though--very strange for him, isn't it? Especially when we compare this interrogation with Al Asad's from mw1, where Price does everything solo.
Price is fully attuned to Soap, and vice versa. The dynamic between them has undeniably shifted. They go from a rigid hierarchy of leader and follower, to a partnership of equals, built on respect, trust and loyalty.
OK, onto Prague.
Price is at Hotel Lustig while, breaking from the previous team compositions, Soap and Yuri are on overwatch in the church tower. I'd like to draw your attention to the fact that Price puts himself in the hornet's nest in the hotel, while Soap is in the church tower, a safe distance away if anything goes pear shaped. And pear shaped it goes.
The concealed c4 in the church tower and the less concealed one wrapping Kamarov in the hotel detonate. We can see Price has some time to react and escapes unscathed. Truth is, Price could as well ignore the explosion at the church tower, push in deeper into the hotel and try and chase down Makarov solo, finally killing him--at the cost of leaving Soap and Yuri to fend on their own, sure, but in theory he could. After all, he trusts Soap's skill and capability. 'Hard bastard,' in Price's own words.
Instead, Price aborts the mission then and there. Because of course he does, because Soap might be hurt.
The objective switches from killing Makarov to getting Soap to safety in an instant. Soap ALWAYS takes precedence over the mission/objective. Always.
By the time Price patches him up by a dumpster, Soap's lost too much blood already, they're still not in the clear. Soap's a goner. Soap knows this. Price is in denial.
Again. Soap is a hard bastard, Price thinks, he'll make it--not because Soap has a chance to make it, but because Price NEEDS Soap to make it. Price refuses to lose him, partly because he can't lose him; At the time, to the entire world they're still traitors, they're on everyone's shitlist. Only they know the truth about Shepherd, and so only they can make sure the truth comes out and clear their names. Most importantly, Soap is Price's right hand man, he has been there alongside Price from the beginning of the conflict and shared every loss with Price since. Soap knows what's at stake, will support him no matter what, because he's followed Price to the end of the world, on suicide missions, to hell and back, already.
The only person Price could have been truly betrayed by was Soap--because in order to be betrayed, you have to trust someone in the first place.
But those reasons for Price clinging to and relying on Soap sound rather utilitarian. The truth is much more sentimental.
Price and Soap's camaraderie extends beyond the field and crosses over into friendship, too. We know for sure they spend time together off base, they have gone to the races together. They get along very well, as we've established, as the game tells us. Moreover, Price has played an active part in Soap's development, watched him go from a sergeant slipping of a helo ramp to a decorated captain leading an international task force, who brought Price on it, maybe even against Shepherd's wishes. There won't be another FNG that will keep at the CQB test until his name is first on the leader board, who will just in a matter of days change Price's initial opinion of him, impress him to a degree where Price will go from calling him a muppet to handing over his life. No one else will break him out of the gulag, kill one of the horsemen he failed to assassinate in Pripyat, the crooked yank general that had a hand in orchestrating a world war. Whenever Price failed, Soap was there to fix his mistake.
If Soap's gone, a part of Price will be gone too. If Price loses Soap, there's no one else--and will be no one else like Soap.
But Price does lose him.
Before Soap, Price doesn't react so strongly, in fact at all, to anyone else's death. Here, Price snaps. He loses control.
The panic, yelling for a medic that isn't there, denial, telling a dying man to rest, anger, pushing off the resistance leader that tells him to run--he speedruns through all 7 stages of grief in the span of 7 seconds, lol. He manages to contain himself rather quickly, but still, it's uncharacteristic of Price to display so much emotion, vulnerability, and at once. Usually he hides it better, like we can see after the fight with Shepherd.
Price says he's sorry, leaves his M1911 behind on Soap's body, then takes Soap's journal. What a combo.
Leaving the M1911 is the real kicker. Price could have just taken the journal, he's worse off without the M1911--but he knows how much the gun means to Soap. Pragmatic Price prioritizes a sentimental gesture over practicality, his own safety. Let me stress this: he's under heavy fire in an active war zone and Price leaves behind a fully functional firearm swapping it for a journal. Metal for paper. Hard for soft.
Price lets go of Soap's hand--but he doesn't, not really--he takes what Soap's hands made. Leaving behind the M1911, Price abandons his agency, freedom, and control. Taking the journal, he takes over Soap's role, trading mastery for servitude, becomes an instrument, a weapon, like Soap when he handed over the M1911 to Price in the Gulag. But unlike Soap, Price is in the service of a dead man.
When Price confronts Yuri after Soap dies reveals a lot again...
Yuri knows Makarov -- it's a game changer. But Price doesn't ask about it first. More than anything Price is mad that Yuri would betray Soap's trust. To earn that trust from Soap, then abuse it, a huge offense the way Price sees it. Like he says so himself, Price was finally coming around to Yuri, he finally caved and put Soap on overwatch with Yuri in the church tower. So here I think here Price is mad at himself as well--maybe if Yuri hadn't been in the tower with Soap, things would've gone differently.
Later when Price talks to Mac about Prague:
Notice Price's word choice. Not we were ambushed/betrayed/Makarov escaped. HE killed SOAP. Price doesn't name Makarov, doesn't want to say his name in the same breath he says Soap's. And it's not like Makarov was there in the tower and pulled the trigger--but to Price he might as well have been.
It's Baseplate, his handler, but it's Mac, his old captain, so it's a preamble to a debrief as much as it is a chat between mates, but still, Price saying that Soap is gone twice is telling as well. And the absolute devastation in Price's voice... It lasts for only these 2 lines but his higher-pitched than usual tone, almost whiny, defeated, part disbelief, mostly grief... a total 180 from what he sounds like in the next line when he's back to business... Price has mastered compartmentalization, but Soap's death is affecting him so deeply he slips time and again, revealing just how much Soap means to him, how much Price relied on Soap emotionally. (Billy Murray's delivery here--chef's kiss)
The conversation is accompanied by a shot of the investigation map we keep seeing throughout 141 missions cutscenes. Again, it's overwhelmingly Soap. Price hangs up Soap's tags, his patch of St Andrew's Cross, a photo of the Hereford clocktower, a closeup with Soap's name already engraved on it, and another 3 photos, all including Soap. None are found in Soap's journal--all are Price's. Price keeps Soap on the same board, just next to battle plans and headshots of eliminated targets. When he asks Mac for Intel in this scene, and whenever he preps to head out in the field--Soap is always within his view.
Also, notice the way those photos have been folded. A horizontal folding line on the 2 pics where there's only Price and Soap in the shot, versus the vertical on the pic with Ghost and Sandman--the line clearly separates them from Price and Soap. If you folded the photo in half, or tore it, you remove Ghost and Sandman from the picture. That's not the case with the other photos, where you can't separate Price from Soap.
Finally, there's Dubai.
Yeah, this line is pretty self-explanatory. But the implications are not. Here, Price crosses the line, goes against orders. He forfeits his freedom, because when he's caught, he won't be let off. This is the end of the line for Price. All for Soap.
The cut scene before the Dust to Dust mission and Price's conversation with Makarov is worth a mention. Makarov taunts Price--by bringing up Soap.
Makarov doesn't bring up the 141 as a whole, or the victims of the gas attacks in London, nor Delta team, who Price had to leave behind in the diamond mine and who are the most recent loss. Makarov knows to cut where it hurts most. And he succeeds--the question at the end makes Price go silent. Price doesn't have a riposte. So even Makarov knows Soap is Price's Achilles heel. Price's attachment to Soap is that apparent.
Yuri telling Price to leave him parallels Soap doing the same in Prague. If this were Soap, Price wouldn't leave him. He would have done everything to keep Soap alive. Makarov would have escaped, of course Price would have gone on the hunt again, but he would not let Soap die alone. But Yuri isn't Soap, so Price leaves him.
Piece by piece--and Soap was the last piece holding Price's world together. Soap held Price back in a way, judging by what Price does next. I won't go into detail, but shooting up a hotel with civilians still inside? It wouldn't have been allowed. Price goes rogue precisely because he has nothing to lose anymore. He doesn't care about anyone's opinion anyone, the only thing that matters is revenge. So, in a way, taking Soap from Price is the last mistake Makarov ever made, and Soap, in a roundabout way, is what killed Makarov.
Summing up--there's more to Soap and Price's relationship than just Soap's pov, and while Soap's admiration for Price is more overt, their bond is most definitely not one-sided. Price values Soap as a teammate and trusts Soap just as much as Soap trusts Price. Price comes to care about Soap deeply. They are teammates as well as mates. Soap is the only person we see Price relenting some of his control to. Price loses it when he loses Soap.
So yea I hope this was more than enough.
