But what if the hallucination Caesar had of Koba wasn't an idealized version of Koba but instead the Koba he remembered before he dived too deep into violence, before he paved that path for him, the Koba who was once afraid of the moon.
It's not the first time Koba's face has softened, because in Dawn there were moments when all his facial muscles stopped being tense, and he suddenly looked soft. For instance, the council scene when Caesar reassured him, the deleted scene when the two embraced, and the campfire scene between him and Blue Eyes.
It's difficult to separate violence, contempt, and anger from Koba when moments of his real self were cut short once Malcolm's group stumbled upon them, and his nervous system went rogue and chaotic afterwards. He can't ever relax and drop his guard when humans are around; despite being 10 winters, it shows that his conflicted relationship with humanity was never solved but instead hidden behind cracked wallpaper, with paint slowly peeling off, hoping it will never be brought up again. He really thought he finally found peace...
