An analysis post to back up my theory both because I’m cherry picking and I came to conclusions from evidence found :)
Spoilers for the entire series (up to the s2 finale (ep93))
When Ashlyn first attacked a phantom with a rolling cart
At first he was amused. “Wow, this girl can throw a punch!” or something along those lines. Then an idea strikes him. He has no idea if it’ll work, since even most humans aren’t deterred from cleaning chemicals. Not good for the skin, sure, but not lethal or overly toxic. He’s going with whatever he can think of, overly ambitious and much too excited/eager--a pattern we’re gonna see a lot more.
This panel kinda creeps me out tbh, but like, in a good way. He didn’t necessarily expect it to cry out in pain, since he didn’t think a spray of windex would boil that thing’s skin, but he’s confused when it’s supposedly silent. I do think anybody probably would be confused, and Aiden smiling here isn’t very out of the ordinary, but he also looks kinda pissed. Partly because of his eyes--I know Red's style development kinda changed his irises/pupils to be bigger naturally than how she used to draw them, but even this piece shows them smaller than his usual. Could just be personal interpretation, but these next panels just build my belief.
It’s not required that he, or any of them, fight the phantoms at the points they’re at in either of these scenes. In the first, it’s preoccupied and they have time to run away. In the second, they’re safe in a barricaded room. I don’t believe at this point they’ve realized that noise attracts the phantoms, but then again, who wouldn’t want to be quiet in a survival situation such as this? Aiden breaking the bottle was definitely loud, the sfx text and the others’ startled reactions makes that clear, so he essentially put them in another level of danger.
This could just be dissociation, but I don’t think a stable individual would be okay being splattered in ichor after participating in and watching, very closely, a living being brutally lose its life. There’s a level of disconnection since it’s a grotesque humanoid creature and it’s trying to kill you, but it’s still clearly alive. And again, his smile isn’t out of character, but it’s still in a weird situation. He’s talking about helping Logan, he doesn’t even mention the phantom’s blood covering him. He either doesn’t seem to mind, or regardless of whether they’re positive or negative, he’s just very good at masking his emotions (we already know this to be true lol)
In the alleyway of the arcade, even before they started acting like phantoms, Aiden’s first appearance since they turned the corner was him already engaged in a fist fight. He’s the type to do anything for the people he loves, especially if that includes bringing harm to others. I’ve noticed this comes up again later on. After their “phantom forms” emerge and they become more aggressive and violent, Aiden still continues on with a smile. And the move he does is brutal, that shit likely broke the guy’s nose, could’ve knocked him out if it was hard enough. Aiden isn’t just angry, he’s very much enjoying himself, and I don’t remember seeing a significant frame of him either regretting what he did, or being horrified about it. I’m sure he was surprised, but with what this post is about and my personal bias, I think it was a pleasant surprise. Or neutral. Either works tbh
We already know he enjoys killing phantoms. Not much to note there. But the god damn SPARKLES ON HIS TEXT BOX. Guy's smug as fuck. So proud of himself for driving a dagger into a living creature's face. I don't think it's ever shown in the comics, but I doubt he would've gone all this time believing they don't feel pain, Ashlyn likely told him and the group that she can hear their screams, I genuinely believe it would be a huge oversight in the story otherwise 😭
Even though it's in.. "defense" of his friends, he's still extremely willing and ready to seriously harm Alex. From how quick he would've had to react to pin Alex down, I really don't think he cared who it was he was threatening. Plus, this was an ambush, he didn't give Alex any time to even really speak, he had that pen in his hand already, he was just waiting for somebody to enter. Aiden was ready--if not to kill, then to torture.
Nobody gets that up close and personal with a deadly,, SOMETHING just to kill it. He could've used those swords (WHICH IS. SWORDS?? WHY DID HE CHOOSE SWORDS LM,AO) as semi-long distance, could've sliced it's throat and moved on to the next. Similarly to the one they killed in the window of the school bus, he's reveling in it. Even if it directly harms him. Bro doesn't care about himself lol (sidenote, Mike is adorable here)
I don't know if Aiden insisted on helping, or if Logan decided for him, but either way, Aiden is trigger happy as shit. Logan's "no aim" comment makes me think that Aiden isn't even trying to aim, he's just shooting whenever he can in the general vicinity of those ,, workers. Cops? They're probably cops idk I don't remember. Even though the kids are getting more accustomed to shooting people, I don't think Logan would want to kill anyone--when he's thinking rationally ofc, I know there are instances where the group's had intrusive thoughts that've been lead by the phantom dimension integrating with them, but Logan was horrified afterwards. My point being, he's likely shooting legs and arms, or the ground in front of the cops, and god knows where Aiden is trying to shoot. I don't doubt his bullets hit, though.
We've been getting into territory where Aiden's violence is stemming from protection, so I can't say much of it is because he's homicidal per se. These frames stuck out to me because. I mean. Look at that face. He's fucking pissed. Ash got hurt and he's enacting his revenge, and in classic Aiden fashion, going overboard with it. He'll kill for his friends, because he's already accustomed to the thought of ending a life.
I firmly believe he wouldn't kill someone if it directly correlated to his loved one/s getting hurt, but that doesn't mean the thoughts aren't there.
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