my brain: what if Lestat made that 'i don't sleep with my bandmates' rule bc he never had people who stuck around and enjoyed his company without expecting some kind of sexual favors in return and he just wanted to have friends without having to doubt and ponder if his body is the only thing they're here for and—
I'm just going to say it: I'm suspicious about what is going on with Armand and Daniel after EP305
*stares at Devil's Minion after EP305*
Why do I get the feeling the show (i.e., Rolin Jones) is baiting me with what they are doing? Like he's wanting me -- as someone who knows fully what the relationship between Armand and Daniel is -- to look one way with how the show is presenting all of this, while he's about to swerve in a different direction with it?
And that he's doing so by starting off with not having Armand reveal to Daniel that Armand didn't just watch and love Daniel from afar for 52 years?
Especially because, as I laid out last week, there is a hint, back in Episode 3 of Season 2, that Daniel and Armand's bond predates Daniel's turning:
💬 0 🔁 32 ❤️ 267 · I think we saw a hint of Armand and Daniel's bond, and how it works, back in Season 2 · So, does anyone else remember th
Which is only possible if there was more than watching from a distance going on at some point during those 52 years. Because the two of them being lovers is the only way Daniel could have ever had enough of Armand's blood in his system to form that bond.
So why is Armand piecemealing this info to Daniel? Because IMO, that is 100% what he is doing.
And why only piecemeal that info to Daniel now?
The show is having Armand hide this info for now, IMO. And I ... honestly have a pit in my stomach as to why.
Not that I think the show is going to fuck their storyline up, no, I don't think that at all. I think, in the long run, things will turn out fine with Devil's Minion. More than fine, even, I think it will be absolutely beautiful in the end.
But I do think the show -- Rolin Jones specifically -- is purposely trying to play on my expectations and desires regarding them with what they are doing with their story right now.
That they want me to just take them being together and only pay attention to that... and nothing else surrounding that. As in "Look at this shiny, pretty thing over here, and just ignore the monster that is creeping up behind you, coming to eat you!"
Because the shiny we got in this episode with Armand and Daniel was oh so very shiny. And pretty. And 100% true, IMO. Those specific things, the events Armand told Daniel about, when he intervened in Daniel's life? I believe 100% that every single one of those things happened.
And I 100% beleive Armand had never planned to tell Daniel about loving him in the last episode until he'd "made profound amends" first (as he said here).
But I do think Armand very much planned what he said to Daniel in this episode, in that park. And it was strategically done.
Look, I think the "turned out of spite" thing is dead (thank god), but given what Armand did at the end of this episode (which I laughed my ass off about in delight, btw, because THERE is the gremlin-side I've been waiting to see!) I'm sure that people who don't know about Devil's Minion (mostly reactors on YouTube) are going to -- rightfully, IMO -- question if Armand is telling the truth to Daniel or not.
Anyway, I see how Rolin likes to play. So I do not expect this to be clarified at all by the end of the season. Meaning I do not think they are going to reveal that there was more than just watching from afar going on with Armand and Daniel in the past before Season 3 ends.
Yeah. Unfortunately, I think we're going to have to sit with this until Season 4 before it'll fully be revealed to have been much, much more than just that regarding what was going on between them.
Ugh.
I mean, I knew what the focus of this season would be, so I didn't expect much of Armand and Daniel in the first place this season. Plus, knowing Armand was going to have to be put in the antagonist role -- since that is the role he played in the TVL book -- was something that was always going to have to limit how much Armand/Daniel we got in Season 3, as well.
But it's one thing to know all of that intellectually, and quite another to have to actually watch it in execution.
Yeah, I got my hopes a little too high first by the leaked spoilers about the park scene, and then with the reveal of the bond in EP304. I thought they'd at least clarify their full past relationship in that scene, but I guess not.
And I already feel it in my gut regarding what is coming with Armand in EP307, which is everything that has yet to be revealed regarding the trial at the very least (oh, hi Sam, who is now back and can corroborate Lestat's version of events regarding all of that to Louis).
For the record? I do not think everything Armand is up to has to do with stopping The Great Conversion. I think stopping it is impossible at this point, and Armand knows that.
But I do think he's basically trying to maybe... mitigate the fallout, as it were. And if that means some innocent people like Larry have to die, then oh well, so be it. Armand will kill them with zero hesitation or problem.
And with zero remorse, either.
And while I, of course, do not think Armand would ever want Daniel dead, of course... I do not think he would be above asking Daniel to help him do... whatever it is he thinks he needs to do. In whatever way he needed to use Daniel to achieve what he needed to.
But Armand didn't do that. He didn't ask Daniel for help. Instead, he's using Daniel... and Daniel clearly has no idea he's being used. He's too distracted by the idea of walking in the sun.
(And I'm not going to get started on that right now, even though no, you should not be able to teach that kind of thing -- it comes with age, and no fledgling should be able to do it, period, no matter how powerful their Maker was...)
Armand, in that park scene, was using Daniel to help him achieve whatever he's trying to accomplish without telling Daniel beforehand what he was really up to and trying to solicit his help outright... and that is what has given me a pit in my stomach about all of this.
Because yes, Armand telling Daniel about Sofia and Gabriella being the same person was strategic. It was calculated. Armand wants that info to get out there. But I don't think it is just to hurt or embarrass Lestat. Or just because he hates Gabriella. I think it is because Gabriella is for The Great Conversion. And, moreover, she is trying to position her son to lead it because the voices, the other vampires in the world, have basically chosen Lestat to lead and guide them, because of his music.
Gabriella is basically acting like Margaret Beaufort to Lestat's Henry Tudor.
And I think Armand is trying to undercut that influence she has over Lestat, among "the voices," among the other vampires in the world.
Which makes me think of this specific passage from Blood Communion:
I would be your most faithful counselor, if you allowed it. But you don’t.
Which, btw? Is a book that had Armand advocating to Lestat for the genocide of an entire race of sentient beings, the Replimoids, which Lestat was completely against doing:
(Which, side note? Given the fact that the Replimoids are all coded as looking like black people? Gives reading this a layer I'm not entirely sure whether Anne Rice was aware of or not...)
So yeah, anyway, killing Larry. If Armand thinks it's the correct thing to do, even if Larry is just a regular human who only got involved in all of this by happenstance because Lestat took over the band that he, Larry, originally formed?
Then hell yeah, Armand would do it... and did it.
And like I said, I do not think Armand would be above asking Daniel for help regarding whatever else Armand has planned next regarding all of this.
But Armand didn't ask Daniel. He's just using him.
And no, I do not think Armand is doing so just to protect Daniel either. Because Lestat is just going to be pissed off either way that Daniel knows that info about Gabriella, and could already pull from Daniel's mind, if he wants to, how Daniel got that info.
No, Armand, IMO, still wants Daniel there, within Lestat's circle, for some reason.
And all of that is likely the reason why Armand is only, IMO, strategically piecemealing information to Daniel at the moment.
Because telling Daniel what he did in the last episode about loving him, even though he had never planned to say it to him until he'd "made profound amends" first, likely opened another door, another pathway, into accomplishing... whatever it is he's trying to accomplish when it comes to all of this.
It opened a door for Armand to use Daniel to do that.
And I, as said, have a pit in my stomach about it. And I refused to be distracted by the shiny because of it... even though it was a very pretty shiny.
OKAY JUMBLED THOUGHTS GO (seriously this is not in any order)
ITS NEVER LOUMANDOVERRRR THEY LOOK SO GOOD i had to pause for a minute just to freak out hooooly shit
also piratemand losing an eye and louis losing a leg? i thought pretty quickly that this was a future scene, maybe in tale of the body thief? memnoch? because that raglan was definitely not raglan himself that was so lestat -either way the story up to that point is gonna be NUTS i need to get through the books
short pause to appreciate loumand's luscious gorgeous hair like drop the routines please
also hello i love this whole mess so much?! this blonde, incredibly bisexual, mommy issues having, beyond depressed, high as a kite messy ass mf diva?! it was hilarious, it was sad, it was insanely hot, absolutely ungodly chaotic - i mean we have the CUNTESSAAAA as our narrator hello? this was never going to be as organized, clear and understandable as louis when he told his story and i didn't expect it to be for one minute
again everyone THE CUNTESSAAAA THE USEFUL IDIOTTTT oh my god danstat is at each others throat and i'm loving it so much (hatefuck when?)
the live performances were so good - i love longface though💔 and the blood cum? oh my god that was certainly something
more of violinstat PLEASEEEE I AM OBSESSED
THE PINK CORSET SUIT AND THE FIT LES WEARS ON THE BUS!!!!🛐 my absolute favourites, i'm so glad they got so much time
straight hair jumpscare? omg
okay he didn't need to be such an asshole to the halloween kids, especially not the peanut comment oh my god, but i kinda also get it a tiny bit? the costumes? claudia's dress?😭 gosh
the first meeting with the band was so iconic though ahaha i get why they went after him
"G MINOR SUS OUT! this isn't 1979. bela lugosi is NOT DEAD. you don't need to finger her for five bars. YOU'RE HURTING HER!" THE WAY I DIED AHAHAAAAA PLEASE DIVA I LOVE YOU SO MUCH
the whole baby jenks thing was a bit strange but i'm not gonna go more into that until i've researched a bit because i'll admit i'm not familiar with her character at all
the flashbacks during his high? the whole sex sequence? MARDI GRAS LOUISSSSS nickistat fcking like rabbits? also please anyone am i going nuts or was there a lesmand scene in between the flashing clips? the diabolicule truly is alive
dee and daniel? "hiii papi" YES QUEEN YOU GET IT
the elevator scene? and the fight sequence immediately after? daniel to the rescueee "heard there was an afterparty on the asshole floor" PAPIIIII
gabi oh i am coming for you the texts were already heartbreaking GOD - when lestat was texting during the power failure (i guess that was one right?) and deleted the whole "i'm struggling" bit? the way he curled up after, leaned his head on the guitar with that little motion? that looked so much like self-soothing oh my heart
i don't think we are ready for lestat's turning god i already lost it from that tiny glimpse we got
dee my love you did not choose a good job for your work life balance but queen i love you so please stay yes? yes
nearly forgot - talamasca drop? the vampire sam? oooh yes yes yes (also rip talamasca series in general you deserved better but thank you rolin for wanting to bring it over here - now bring jasper back 🛐)
the ending oh holy shit, mr reid A WORD FOR BREAKING MY HEART - what was that PLEASEEE i knew it was gonna be gabi but ugh the way he crawled over, the micro expressions, his voice completely breaking halfway through, the stutter coming back? just from her standing there? it's gonna get so much worse and i'm so eager to see the next episodes but also i'm TERRIFIED
more louis, more armand pretty pleaseeee also loustat and devil's minion scenes next pretty pleaseeee 👉🏻👈🏻 or seriously i'll take any ships, let the vamps go ham on each other pleaseeee
i probably missed something but yeah overall i LOVE this mess, it totally has its weird bits but still i need more. desperately. (also i refuse to judge the whole series based on the one episode we've gotten now)
Okay, this is what I think Armand is up to regarding The Great Conversion and the coming Apocalypse (Post EP305)
So, to start with, for the record, I don't think Armand is trying to stop The Great Conversion, as I said here. I think he knows that trying to stop it is long past now, and that there is no stopping it, given what he said about it in EP304 to Daniel.
Nor do I think he's trying to stop the Apocalypse either. (Or, I guess I should say, Akashalypse). IMO, think Armand knows he can't stop that either.
However, Lestat did say that Armand "caused more damage than the Queen ever did" in EP304. And Sam Reid said in an interview that Armand would cause the most chaos.
Well, when does Armand, in the books, actually cause chaos? What are his motivations when he does? It's not because he wants to take over the world or anything like that. World domination is never Armand's goal regarding anything.
No. Armand only ever does the things he does because he wants power and control over his own life. But also… because he's desperate to try and hold onto something in his life… or someone.
And if there is one thing Armand is afraid of, it's death. To quote what he said about it in Queen of the Damned regarding the thought of giving up his immortality:
"I'd give it up. If I weren't a coward when it gets right down to it, if I weren't after five hundred greedy years in this whirlwind still terrified to the marrow of my bones of death."
And I think that is the desire at the center of everything Armand is doing at the moment.
Armand simply doesn't want to die.
I don't think Armand cares anything about the entire vampire population at large. I don't think Armand is interested in saving anyone except himself... and those he directly loves/cares about.
Because the crux of the matter is: when it comes to what is coming, when it comes to Akasha rising and her apocalypses of the vampires in the world, is that you can't kill Akasha without also killing off every single vampire in the world right along with her.
And that is because of Amel.
💬 0 🔁 16 ❤️ 87 · A word on Amel and the lore of the Vampire Chronicles in relation to the show · Spoilers for the upcoming arcs and books
I wish the show hadn't buried Amel's first name drop in Akasha's monologue, but what is done is done. And Marius at least directly established in that scene that if something happens to the Queen -- like what happened in December of 1802 -- then that is something that will affect every single vampire in the world.
And that is why there were only about 100 vampires in the world by the time Lestat turned Louis. However many thousands of vampires there had been in the world at that time were killed off during the December 1802 incident.
And that exact same thing will happen to every single vampire in the world again, that happened in December of 1802, if Akasha is killed to try and stop her Apocolypes, as long as the seed that connects all the vampires to her remains inside of her.
And that seed is Amel.
And yes, at the moment? I think Armand knows this. Just as Lestat knows it.
Because I think the same person told both of them: Marius de Romanus.
Yes, I've long believed that Armand knows damn well that Marius is alive and well, and that he's known so for decades now.
It is why that painting of Marius' was hanging up in the Dubai penthouse during Season 1 and 2:
💬 3 🔁 38 ❤️ 128 · Can we talk about the Marius' painting in the Dubai penthouse?
Because it's the complete opposite of "The Temptation of
And then, of course, right after talking about Marius' painting, in EP102, the scene continues with Armand saying that he "serves a god" towards the end of it when Daniel starts pressing questions about his working for Louis:
💬 0 🔁 58 ❤️ 227 · Not Armand shutting Daniel up by playing a song from the 1970's so he stops questioning "the Groan" and his relationship
And I do not think Armand was talking about Louis or even Marius when it comes to that "serves a god" line.
Yeah, I think Armand was talking about Akasha/Amel. And more than that... well, walk with me here...
* * * * *
In the books, one thing Armand laments in the final book, Blood Communion, is that Marius never told him about Those Who Must Be Kept (TWMBK). That Marius never trusted him with the full knowledge of it; along with Marius never coming to rescue him from The Children of Darkness (Satan) either, after Armand was taken by them.
These things are some of the reasons that, for as much as Armand does love Lestat, he also deeply hates Lestat as well. Because Marius, in contrast, did entrust Lestat with the knowledge about TWMBK:
Well, in the show, we learn that not only did Marius tell Lestat about TWMBK ... but that Marius entrusted their keeping to Lestat for at least 20 years!
Because it was clear Marius needed a break from it, given how it was his fault that so many vampires ended up dying because of his carelessness back in December of 1802.
Now, I have, for a long while now, believed that it was Marius who erased Daniel's memories back in 1985 -- effectively revealing to Armand that, yes, he is still alive as he split Armand and Daniel apart. And I do still think, if this theory is true, that one of the reasons Marius did it was because Armand kept refusing to fully turn Daniel.
And, if you know the books, Marius is completely of the belief that humans and vampires can not be together long-term in such ways. It is the reason he gives, in the unpublished book Lestat and King Louis, for why he turned Sybelle and Benji.
However, what if... splitting Daniel and Armand up isn't the only thing that happened. What if, to try and... calm a very angry Armand about what he'd done, Marius at last revealed the truth -- revealed to Armand the existence and truth about TWMBK.
And maybe not just told him, but even entrusted their keeping to him as well at some point, just as he did with Lestat for a time.
And Dubai, IMO, is where they were kept when Marius left them in Armand's care for a time.
It would explain the "I serve a god" line he said to Daniel in EP102. And why Armand and Louis had one of Marius' paintings hanging up in Dubai.
And it would explain why, now, Armand seems to know so much about what is coming, as we saw in EP304.
Do I think Louis knew any of this about TWMBK and what Marius had tasked Armand to do for a time? No, I do not. I don't think Louis had a clue at all.
But I think that is one of the many reasons Armand was with Louis in Dubai. Because of the loneliness of that job.
But once Dubai fell apart? That would have meant moving and transporting them again, meaning I think Marius came back to help do so, and took over watching them again.
And also, during all that time, I think they both also knew -- or found out -- what The Great Conversion could bring... Akasha's awakening.
And Marius, being Marius, has likely decided to just stick with the Queen and will end up doing what he did in the books regarding it all, which is trying to talk her out of her plans regarding humanity and such.
But Armand...
* * * * *
For those who don't know, Marius does have a connection to The Talamasca because his Maker was one of the founders of the organization. And in the book Prince Lestat, when the world was being threatened by another apocalyptic event that was killing all the vampires in the world? Marius' Maker, Teskhamen came to Marius to tell of what he knew and urge of gathering to help in figuring out what course to take about it.
And look, I don't know if the show is going to go into all of this with Teskhamen about it. But I do very much think that the two people that Armand was with at Lestat's concert in EP304, and who were out on the street with him, were not vampires.
I think they were Talamasca agents.
And I think what Armand is doing, what his storyline is about, is basically one of the things Anne Rice had contemplated about for his character in Queen of the Damned... which was working with Lasher to figure out how to stop Akasha:
Only, in the show, I don't think Armand is trying to stop Akasha. I think he knows there is no real way of stopping any of it.
The Great Conversion is here, Akasha is going to rise, and she is going to kill off a whole bunch of these newly converted vampires because there are too damn many in the world.
"More deaths than births," as Armand said in EP304.
During Akasha's rule, she made it clear that, as Queen, only she could order the making of another vampire. And, within that, she did not want any other female vampires made -- again, unless she expressly gave permission -- because only she wanted to be worshipped among the mostly male population of vampires.
However, along with all of that ... when there are too many vampires in the world, then the seed that created them and connects them, Amel, becomes stretched too thin because of the connection every vampire has to him, and Akasha, the body that he himself is connected to.
Long story short? I think the Talamasca are trying to find a way to extract, basically remove, Amel's spirit from Akasha, for whatever reasons they want. (And given that it is the Amsterdam Motherhouse that is behind all of this stuff? I don't think the reasons that they want Amel's spirit have to do with sunshine and rainbows and just wanting to "save the world.")
And Armand, IMO, is working with the Talamasca to try and do so, too. But for only one reason:
Because if Amel isn't extracted from Akasha? That means that if Akasha is killed during her attempted world takeover, then he is dead too. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
And one thing Armand does not want? Is to die.
So I think everything Armand is doing is just him trying to delay the inevitable. Soptting The Great Conversion is not possible. Stopping Akasha's rise and the subsequent apocalypses is impossible.
The only thing left that can be done is to delay it.
* * * * *
And trying to delay it? I think that is what The Fang Gang was about.
I think Armand was the one who set them up, basically molding them -- and likely some other covens -- in the form of his old coven, the Children of Dakness. And I think he did so as a way to try to slow down, even possibly stop, the Great Conversion, if possible.
The Great Laws. "Only the coven master can order the working of the Dark Trick." All of that.
I think that was his way of trying to slow down the number of vampire births that were starting to ramp up more and more, likely even before Lestat started his rock tour thing.
And that, IMO, is what "Armand told the truth" is about. He knew that too many vampires in the world would reach a breaking point of some sort. And so, trying to get vampires like the Fang Gang back on the old coven laws was, IMO, one way he was trying to slow down what was happening.
However, the Talamasca, in contrast, very much want The Great Conversion to happen. Because, as I said, I think they want Akasha to rise so they can get their hands on Amel for ... whatever reason.
And that is why Raglan James has Louis go and take the Fang Gang out -- to squash any and all vamps who could potentially stop The Great Conversion from happening.
And I think Armand has either only recently started working with the Talamasca to find a way to extract Amel, in a kind of "quid pro quo" about it all, after all the dissenting voices/vampires have now been killed off or switched sides... or he's been playing both sides of all of this the whole time in quietly working with the Talamasca but, behind their backs, doing things like influncing the Fang Gang to try and stop it, or at least slow it down.
* * * * *
Anyway, the longer Armand can keep Akasha from rising, the more time he has to figure out -- with the help of the Talamasca -- how to extract Amel from her and save his life and the lives of those he loves and cares about.
Which, look, for Armand, isn't a lot of people. But despite all the ways Armand may have to really hurt those people he loves -- Daniel, Lestat, Louis, and yes, like or not, Marius is also included in that group for him -- Armand will do so for whatever larger goal he has.
We saw that here with him killing Larry.
And no, Armand will never have any remorse about doing that either. He didn't love or care about Larry. If Larry has to die to help Armand do what he feels he needs to do, then Larry dies, the end.
Because the only thing that keeps Armand from killing you is if he loves you. And he, of course, 100% didn't love Larry.
* * * * *
So yeah, at the moment, I think that Armand's goal regarding everything he's doing in the present day is to make sure that, no matter what happens, he and they survive this. And, the only way that is at all possible is if Amel is extracted from Akasha before she might have to be killed.
And I know what some people are thinking: "Well, why doesn't Armand just tell Daniel, Lestat, and Louis all of this?"
Yeah. I think EP307 is going to show explicitly why Lestat would never listen to or believe Armand... and rightfully so.
The end of Season 2 already shows why Louis wouldn't listen to him. And I think after EP307, Louis will have even more reason not to want to have anything to do with him, never mind believing Armand about anything.
And as for Daniel, well, I explained in this long post already what I think is going on there:
💬 2 🔁 3 ❤️ 49 · I'm just going to say it: I'm suspicious about what is going on with Armand and Daniel after EP305 · *stares at Devil's Mi
So yeah, if this theory I have is what Armand is up to? Then he is on his own. And, frankly, it was an isolation of his own making, due to his past actions -- at least wrt Louis and Lestat.
P.S. Don't also take it for granted that, in EP302, Daniel said that the Talamasca had him "on retainer," and are the ones who are producing Daniel's documentary. Along with being the ones who published the IWTV book.
As I said, I think Armand working with the Talamasca has basically become a "quid pro quo" thing for him, and that's all.
My lord, I think there are a lot of moving pieces wrt all of this. No wonder RJ said he wasn't going to change anything he had planned...