Sasha, Lies, and Trust
Well this episode really cut deep into Sasha. Mainly, her complex relationship with trust. As a person who lies to literally everyone, it’s to be expected that she has trust issues.
And I mean, we see that in this episode. Her lies, first of all. The fact that, the instant she sees Marcy, she lies to her. It says a lot about their friendship, really. Mainly, that she never really saw Marcy as someone of worth.
That could really lead to Marcy’s feeling of being left out, and how that manifests in her habit of working her way up towards the approval of the most important person in the land (King Andrias). She was never accepted by the first powerful person in her life, the first person she was amazed by. That was Anne’s role. So she had to find other ways to be coveted. (Then for Anne to favor her? That’s enough to derail her plans, and loyalty to the proposition).
But this analysis is about Sasha, since that’s the person I relate to understand best. She lies to so many more people in this episode. She lies to herself, which is a given. All of the “pssh, of course I’m the best”–a classic tactic to cover up chronically low self-esteem, self-loath, and guilt issues. Then there’s the cognitive dissonance we’ve seen, the internal conflict between her desire for power and her desire to be admired/respected/trusted by Anne. We’ll get back to that.
What I’m looking at right now is a recent development. Which is that Sasha doesn’t trust Grime.
That’s a big change. But look at this, see her?
Before, Sasha’s stoic actions were a bit of roleplay, pretending to be something that she didn’t hate. But now you’ve seen her interact with Anne and Marcy, you’ve seen who she actually is when she’s relaxed: that girl who makes egotistical jokes and likes to show off to her friends and is a little awkward but fits in with her group.
(Sasha’s literally conspiring to destroy them and has the audacity to say it’s good that she showed up. She’s so awkward)
For her to switch personalities that quickly isn’t normal, and it’s clear which one’s the truth.
Sasha lied to Grime.
She pretended to be okay, pretended to be on his side. She hid her emotions.
And that pairs well with the previous episode, with Barrel’s Warhammer, and with the prediction I’ve been harboring for a while. Grime was talking about how everyone has their limits. And you know who’s going to reach their limit first? Sasha. Grime is going to stick with the fight until the very end—or at least until he and Sasha talk it over, and Grime reveals that he cares about her more than the mission. Which isn’t a given.
We know Sasha is going to go through with the toad invasion. To call it off would be to invite shame, something she has run from ever since Reunion. But she’s going to lie to Grime now. She’s going to act like she’s okay with the invasion when she’s not, she’s not, she’s not.
Why is she not okay with it?
Because this episode also revealed a stunning development, something that we totally already knew, but it’s still incredible to see it onscreen.
Anne is the only person Sasha can’t lie to.
This episode had Sasha being…well, I wouldn’t say happy, since she’s never happy. But she was being herself. Talking to Anne and Marcy, she was a lot less warlike and a lot more…just a normal kid. She let go of the façade she’d been holding for months, the one she clumsily put back on for Grime. And, I mean, look at her!
The thing about Anne is that she sees right through everyone she’s with. Not in the way that she could see Hop Pop’s lies, no. But she believes in people. She sees what people want to be, and she supports and loves that person. She supports people’s motives in a way that few can, because she sees the best in people. She sees not what people can be, but who they want to be.
And that’s why she’s able to deliver that speech in the Temple, even though the rest of the audience was a little confused by it. Anne still sees Sasha for the strong attention-whore (affectionate) that she longs to be, not the headstrong praise-whore (derogatory) she currently is.
Of course Sasha can’t lie to Anne. Anne believes in her. No one else does.
There’s still a long way to go. But Sasha’s on her road to redemption. Sure, she’s going to let the toads invade Newtopia—but she’s also going to have the time of her life while she “keeps an eye on the humans.” Sure, she’s going to have to watch her army crest the hill and watch all of the trust leave her friend’s eyes—but she’s sure going to feel guilty the whole time, and realize that power means nothing to her, when all she really wanted was Anne and Marcy to believe in her.
