Ok but can we talk about how Mapicc is at least a little bit possessive of Spoke as well??
Yes I think the DEGREE to which Spoke needs Mapicc is far beyond unhealthy, but Mapicc also had a few moments of possessiveness in the episode.
The minute Zam started agreeing with them all going off together Mapicc pushes him away from Spoke and tells him to stop talking. When Spoke comes back from setting up his stasis. "the most important thing is you guys"
And as soon as Zam tried to ask if that means him, Mapicc again pushes him away and says "He's talking about ME."
Like sure hes not as codependent with Spoke as Spoke is to him. He doesn't need Spoke to survive. But! He does need to be Spoke's favourite.
Or maybe he expected that they'd cross Spoke's path and pick him up on the journey. Maybe he didn't realise he'd essentially faked his death.
And maybe (ok... Most likely) it's not in a healthy way. Both their cares for one another are twisted and warped.
I don't think Mapicc is a tool as such for Spoke. I do think he's however a piece of "proof" for Spoke that he can keep people alive. He's the one thing reassuring Spoke he's not a completely terrible person.
I don't know if I'm articulating this properly but I'm going to keep talking LMAO.
Spoke needs Mapicc because if he doesn't have Mapicc, he doesn't have anything. Mapicc is the ONLY thing he can rely on. Who's there for him. Who's ready at the drop of a hat to back him up on anything. And I don't think we got here by manipulation and MAYBE. That's the reason Mapicc's so important to him. He is the one person he knows for sure he didn't manipulate into loyalty. Who's loyalty is real.
(but he's about to lose that too! He may not have been manipulating Mapicc. But he finally crossed that line. And not if, WHEN Mapicc finds out, that is when every single thing in this hour of cards Spoke had been building and building and building since the end of the mafia will come tumbling down around him)
Mapicc needs Spoke. Needs to be his favourite. Because Spoke was the first friend he ever had. Spoke was there to help rebuild his house after it was destroyed. Spoke was there for him for everything. So he had to be there for Spoke for everything. He wants to be there for Spoke for everything. And he believes he's he only person Spoke would not lie to.
Which I think was true, right up until he "died". I think Spoke did tell him everything, always.
But then something snaps in him. And he finally steps over that damned line to manipulate the one person he never had and never would have. But he lost him once. And he will not lose him again.
Under any means necessary.
