#sam overwatch

[wildissylunas]

WE GOT A LAST NAME REVEAL FOR SAM!!

His full name is Sam English!!!

And he's a Canadian diplomat!!

It's also confirmed that at some point Ana and Sam got divorced, as when they mention him at the the end of Ana's agent focus section, he is labelled as Ana's ex-husband. Which is in contrast to how Martina is mentioned as she is called Gabrielle's wife.

[wildissylunas]

What traits do you think Pharah got from her dad's side?

I get the vibe that Pharah's one of those kids who looks like a replica of one of their parents, but is closer in personality to the other one.

Thing is I can't figure out what she has in common with Sam and what is simply a side effect from parental neglect.

From what we know Ana and Sam separated when Fareeha was in her pre-teens/early teens, as it's stated that by the time they separated she was old enough to choose which name she went by. It also seems that Fareeha was only in her father's custody during holidays, and even then it's stated that their relationship is complicated and that they only recently started working that out. So I think Sam was similar to Ana in the way that he kept Fareeha at arms length. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if he was in the same line of work that Ana was, just not working with Overwatch.

However that doesn't mean I don't think she got any traits from Sam. I personally think that a lot of the stuff she does around the holidays comes from Sam, as that when they saw each other the most. Like the fact they have a tradition and a mutual like of Canadian butter tarts. Food in general is a thing I think they both have a lot in common with.

Other than that though I don't think Pharah got much of her personality from her parents, the traits she did get where more a result of their neglect then anything else.

In all honesty I think she takes more after Cassidy then either Sam or Ana. She became a mercenary, though she has a certain regard for protocol she's willing to look past it for certain things (like throwing a party), she has a more dry way of talking then other characters. Even the traits that could be from Ana are trait that Cassidy also has, off the top of my head I can say the fact that all three of them tend to push themselves to the limit and though they are all sure of themselves and who they are they don't necessarily know what they are doing. Considering that Cassidy was a bigger part of Pharah's life on a personal level (it's somewhat implied that they stayed in touch after Overwatch, she's the one person she calls family that she doesn't have a complicated relationship with, and it's implied that he blended into the crowds to see her) then what Ana was, I am confident in saying that she got these traits from him.

[wildissylunas]

No one has asked for this and no one probably will. I'm also not sure if I've talked about this topic before but I still want to address it.

Why do I talk about Martina but hardly, if ever, talk about Sam or Vincent?

Before I start I do want to mention that I will talk about Sam at some point cause I find what we know about his character interesting.

Now the reason I don't talk about Vincent is mainly because I don't think he's all that important to the story as Sam and Martina, for me Vincent is here as a reminder to Jack on what he gave up in order to keep the world safe, at least that's how Jack views it. To me what we know about Vincent, that he's Jack's ex, that he's married now and living a normal life, is all we need to know. It's implied that he and Jack broke up long before Zurich, possibly even either when Jack got the Strike Commander position.

Again with Sam I do find his character interesting, and I am going to talk about him at some point but I don't talk about him in the way I talk about Martina because we are given hints about his character. The relationship between him and Pharah is stated as being complicated, he's a Public Servant but as far as we know wasn't a part of Overwatch, hell we even know he and Pharah enjoy butter tarts around the Christmas holidays. We know so much more about him as a character outside of his relationship with Ana compared to Martina.

Which brings me to why I talk about Martina, all we really know about her was that she was kind, forgiving, was married to Gabe, has a son, and has since gotten a new partner. Now usually I wouldn't have a problem with the if it wasn't for the fact that in CoV, she used as Reaper's motivation and that's it, she's just used in a very misogynistic trope and that's it. Part of who I am, both as a person and a writer, is that when I see a character with so much potential being written terribly either in canon and in fandom, I want to fix it.

And with the Reaper and Widow interaction;

Widowmaker: Are you ever tempted to contact your wife?

Reaper: No.

Widowmaker: Afraid she would try to kill you?

Reaper: I'd be surprised if she didn't.

It gives me some hope that she is actually more of a character then what we were given in CoV and we might eventually see more of her. Until then I'm going to continue to headcanon Martina as a badass ex-Overwatch agent and no one can stop me!

[wildissylunas]

Honestly disappointed Sam wasn't short for some longer tribal name. On that note, is there anything in there about what tribe he's from and what Pharah is half?

Unfortunately no, there was no mention of what tribe he and Pharah are from. It only states that Sam is of First Nations decent. I was honestly hoping that Pharah would get an agent focus but as she was never an official Overwatch agent until after this book was written, there was no agent focus for her.

I really hope they reveal what tribe Sam and Pharah are from at some point though, maybe we'll see it in a future data log?