War is Hell: The narrative parallels between Gabriel and V1 and what that means about Ultrakill's overall message
(At this point a lot of other people have probably brought up similar points in their analyses of Ultrakill, but I've had this post in my drafts for more than a year so I'm gonna post a version of it because I really need to express this somewhere)
These two beings are so dedicated to their code that they violently execute it even after the death of their creators who made that code in the first place. They kill those who have already died, they punish those who have already been punished.
Their attempts to follow the will of their absent creators could be seen as a twisted, unintended version of that will, or alternatively, an exact performance of it, making you question the creator’s intentions.
Humanity's justification for making V1 parallels Gabriel as well. Because it's a weapon, its creators must have seen the bloodshed it was designed for as necessary and justified. Gabriel believes at first that his violence, even his killing of beloved leaders in Hell, is a just punishment.
I think Gabriel himself started to see all of these similarities he has to V1, a mindless killing machine following orders, when it matched his own strength, and upon self-reflection it caused him to realize his own lack of free will and break out of it. Part of why I see it this way is because his epiphany occurs to him after he literally consumes blood like V1.
In terms of overarching themes, it's already obvious to a lot of people that Ultrakill is a criticism of the entire concept of sin and of Hell, but I'm gonna add to this. The parallels between V1 and Gabriel are suggesting that the constant escalation of military technology and attempts at calling it "necessary", "justified", and "honorable" are a kind of worship and punishment too, and layer 7 emphasizes this the most (so far).
Both the torture of sinners in Hell and a military's endless cruelty towards opponents require the fabrication of a "dangerous other" so unquestionably bad that both their humanity and all possible mercy should be forgotten. These both result from ideologies convincing their followers that a group of outsiders is completely disposable and must be destroyed at all costs.
tl;dr my analysis of Ultrakill's big themes is a very direct interpretation of the phrase "War is Hell"
