It's Your Classic Daredevil/Punisher Disagreement

So the topic of tonight's post is the conclusion of the 22nd episode of Trigun. If you're planning to watch, or are in the process of watching Trigun, and you haven't seen that episode yet, you might want to mosey elsewhere until you have, as this kind of spoils the end. Otherwise, feel free to read on (he said, to the three people who haven't already clicked elsewhere).

The question relates to Wolfwood shooting Zazie the Beast at the end of the episode. At the time, this particular Gung-Ho Gun was pointing one revolver at an unarmed Vash, and another at Meryl, who was somewhat occupied with a kid in her arms. Vash had been talking to him, insisting that he wasn't really the vicious killer he was acting like, and that it was OK to be the kind person Vash believed him to be. We'll never know if Vash was right, because Wolfwood took that opportunity to blindside the kid with hot lead. Vash, in his usual "No one has to die!" mode, gets in Wolfwood's face, while Mr. Nicholas D. insists that if he hadn't shot, Vash would be the one lying dead on the roof.

So who was right?

Even with the seemingly frequent anime convention that The Main Character's Hunches Are Always Right, I'm going to give the nod to Wolfwood. I've got three reasons why:

1) You Don't Know Me!: Zazie is a Gung-Ho Gun. That means he was already renown as a cruel, vicious person, who can kill without remorse, even before he was drafted into Knives' little hit squad. Based on his outward appearance, it seems likely he has had to work very hard to establish such a reputation. To have someone - someone you're planning to kill, no less - tell you that 'This isn't who you really are' has to be jarring, perhaps even maddening. I could see him shooting Vash simply to prove that Vash is wrong about him; that there is no good inside him. That he is, in fact, a beast.

2) Fear: This to a certain extent can tie-in to #1, as it is quite possible Zazie would be afraid to confront what Vash says, because it might be the truth. Thus he lashes out at this person who shows him compassion, using that to prove Vash is wrong. But it's entirely possible that Zazie would be even more afraid of what happens if he fails his mission. There were 13 Gung-Ho Guns (counting a special member, we don't find out about until the episode after this one) : 3 committed suicide, rather than admit defeat, and with the exception of one other (killed by Vash), the remaining 8 were killed by other members of the Gung-Ho Guns. The Beast knows that the penalty for failure won't just be death, it'll be a painful death, especially if Legato or Knives is the one doing the killing. Faced with that, he might see nothing to lose by going ahead with shooting Vash.

3) I Don't Have To Hurt You, To Hurt You: Legato's stated strategy is 'To make Vash the Stampede understand the plan of living'. Well, Vash has been shot, stabbed, blown up, dragged, and just about everything else in his roughly 115 years of life. Getting shot five more times (the number of bullets left in the revolver pointed at him) isn't likely to do much beyond inconvenience him. No, the key to hurting Vash, is to hurt him emotionally. Like I said, Vash believes every conflict can be solved without bloodshed, and when he fails to make that happen, it hurts him. To be honest, I think watching Zazie shoot Meryl point-blank in the face would hurt Vash considerably more than being shot himself. He's proven to be quite willing to accept pain himself, if it will stop others from suffering. And I can't imagine that Legato hasn't made the Gung-Ho Guns aware of that fact. And what better torment than to have Vash watch as someone he cares about dies, for no other reason than they were near him? And unlike Vash, Meryl isn't fast enough to be dodging bullets at that range, especially not when her instinct will be to protect the child she's holding.

So yeah, I'm with Wolfwood on this one. Your thoughts?