Longwinded Quicksilver Analysis Post

I said I wanted to discuss the interactions between Pietro and his hallucinations, and here it is. The first thing I notice is that his cellmate explains to his recently incarcerated buddy that Pietro has been huddled in the corner, muttering the same names over and over. So I wonder whether he's had the conversations we see several times already, an endless, pointless cycle of guilt, self-loathing, etc. Except this time, for whatever reason, what his mind is telling him sinks in, like Thor breaking the Ragnarok cycle at the end of his last series. It would be fitting since Pietro has seemed to endlessly cycle between villain and hero, being a dutiful son and hating his father, wanting to be a good husband and father and being absent from their lives, thinking he can dictate how others live their lives, only to be left with regrets when it blows up in his face. Hmm, that sounds like meta-commentary on the cyclical nature of serial character's personality arc (see: every writer ever deciding they'll be the one who matures Johnny Storm/Bobby Drake, only for it to fall apart later).

On to the actual conversations.

Scarlet Witch: Figures Wanda would be the first. Before everyone else, before he knew who his dad was, starting off that generally wild cycle of love and hate, he had his sister. Pietro's ready to give up, and she appears, telling him that the hardship is almost over, and he's passed the trials. Pietro doesn't believe he could be found worthy, given his current state, but Wanda assures him that he's always acted out of concern for the greater good of those he cares about. Yet, Pietro isn't buying it. This is the sister he hasn't seen since he lost his powers, but he makes no attempt to embrace her. He stays on the floor, and Wanda has to stoop down to talk to him, and try to reassure him that he did mean well, but there's still no contact between them (other than her touching his chin which started the whole thing). She's another attempt to justify the things he's done, and he is finally at the point where that won't work, as everything he's done has dawned on him. Using his unstable sister to remake reality, being willing to kill for the power of the Terrigen crystals, even stealing them from his wife's family, taking no responsibility for the people who died because of the powers they received for them, because it's "God's will". Finally though, he's recognized he isn't an instrument of God's will, that he's just been screwing up a lot.

Magneto: Not surprisingly, Magneto opts for a different approach. Rather than gently trying to excuse Pietro's actions, Mags begins barking commands and judging him. In every panel they share, either Magneto occupies more of it, or he looms over his son, even as Quicksilver rises to his feet. Magneto turns his back on Pietro in the first panel of page 6, but by panel 4, Pietro is the one with his back turned. The problem is, he misses what might be a smile on his father's face as he discusses Pietro's mother. I think it emphasizes that to Quicksilver, his father was more abstract concept than actual person (notice Magneto only refers to himself as "Magneto" or "your father", and Pietro is strictly "Quicksilver"). In the majority of the panels, either Magneto's face is in shadow, or Pietro isn't looking in his direction. They don't appear to make eye contact after the first panel. Pietro doesn't really understand Magnus, and that's why Pietro felt himself superior to his father. He doesn't understand the reasons for the choices that were made, nor does he understand his father did care for him. Now they've each made mistakes, hurt loved ones because they thought they were doing good, and it's notable that in the last two panels both of their faces are in shadow. Of course, in the last panel, Pietro's face is partially in the light, and that probably refers to the next section.

Magneto has no time for Pietro's comparisons of himself to Hitler, or his self-pity. The first is overblown (Pietro may be partly responsible for millions of mutants being depowered, but he lacked intent), and the second is useless. Pietro was born, can't change that now, just have to live with it. It's not a surprise, though. Magneto was never much for self-doubt, and even when he was, he didn't allow it to paralyze him. He moved, in some direction, any direction. It's part of Quicksilver telling him that he can't hide behind good intentions, but he can't fall to "woe is me" either. I wonder about the birds in panel 5. One's mostly black, one mostly white and smaller, but with its shadow in the panel as well. Is the white one Pietro, the other Magneto, and does the shadow mean Quicksilver is more like his father than he realized? Probably.

Crystal and Luna: Unlike Magneto, Pietro does still have family, and here they are, something to keep him out of the dark, if he'll let them. They show up as Pietro admits to feeling trapped under the weight of expectations. At least he's standing up now. These two he probably owes more to than Wanda or his father, under the "you can't pick your brothers, but at least you can pick your bros" theory. He's related to Wanda and Magneto, like it or not, but he fell in love with Crystal and married her, with all the implications and promises that brings, and they had a daughter, who he has responsibilities to as well. When he sees them, he tries to hide himself, allegedly on account of how bad he looks, but Crystal points out they only care about what's inside, which I think Pietro knows, and that's what scares him, because he hasn't been doing so well in that department either. He stole from Crystal's family, put them at war with the U.S., took his daughter without really letting anyone know first. But his family goes to him, and Pietro actually responds to contact from them (Wanda touching his face didn't get much of a reaction from him). I think at this point he's realized that even without his powers he was still pretty well off, being the husband of a member of the Inhuman royal family, and he finally had all sorts of time to spend with his daughter, and he misses that. It's kind of harsh his cellmates had to come along and remind him of the reality of his situation, but he's not going to get anywhere stuck in a dreamworld.

Layla Miller: This is the first time where Pietro really seems like himself. The only denial is his attempts to pretend he really wanted to kill Layla. He's more clever, bantering with Layla and taking a humorous attitude to his current state of affairs. It helps. He almost seems relaxed as he sits against the wall and listens to her talk about butterflies. Layla doesn't deny any of the stupid stuff Pietro's done, she just helps him to try and find a positive, that he found his limit when he didn't kill her. He suffered a bit more for the attempt, but he's past that, and it's time to do something. I don't think it'll be to make amends, because that seems to lead to him making decisions for others without consulting them and we've seen where that gets him.

What's curious is that at the beginning of the story I was sure that Pietro had accepted his fate, but it doesn't seem that way now. He had to talk with some of the people he'd wronged, his sister for using her. His father, to at least try and settle some of their myriad issues. His wife and daughter, who he frequently is separated from. And a young girl he tried to kill because she helped screw up his attempt to use his sister to change the world. I don't know what conclusions he might have come to inside his mind. His sister was completely supportive, but he didn't seem accepting of that, so he may have steeled himself for an unpleasant meeting down the line. I think he'll look at his father differently after this certainly, maybe with understanding, but not in the sense of "Oh, I see why you had to do that, but I wouldn't have to resort to such methods". I don't think they'll be close, though. Hopefully he's more invested in being a husband/father now, assuming Crystal and Luna didn't die in that Silent War mess (how does that fit with Secret Invasion? Does it? I'm so confused). As for Layla, if/when she comes back, I could see Pietro trying to help her through any post-traumatic stress she experiences from being trapped in your typical hellish X-Future. Not saying she (or X-Factor) will accept the help, but I believe he would want to offer it. The critical point would be whether he would back off if asked to, or if he would insist on helping. If he tries to force the issue, he's back on the same path. If he's willing to leave it be, he might have actually learned something.

That's just my speculation, though.