I Accuse Her Of Breaking His Heart

So, no ranting today. I think. War of Kings #1 had one scene that resonated with me, or maybe just produced an emotional reaction. It was the scene where Crystal and Lorna are discussing recent events. Crystal is trying to rationalize the her upcoming marriage to Ronan the Accuser as being a 'symbol of unification', that it's about consolidating power and influence, not love. She goes on to say that neither she, nor Ronan, actually think this represents a personal relationship.

While she's saying all this, Ronan is standing outside below her balcony, looking rather dapper in a nice green coat*, holding a bouquet of flowers. As Crystal says she's not marrying him for love, Pelletier gives us a closeup of Ronan's face, then the next panel shows him walking off, tossing the flowers away as he goes. Aw, that's so sad.

Well, it was for me. I thought about mocking Crystal, mentioning that Ronan's too sane to be her type**, but I can't really fault her for thinking that. One, she was forced into it by her sister, without being consulted ahead of time, which I imagine would sour one's mood towards the event. More critically, this is Ronan the Accuser we're talking about. The man who seemingly only has eyes for the Kree Empire, will fight tirelessly to protect it, and will do what he feels is in its best interest to keep it strong. It's reasonable to expect that he would regard the marriage as just another duty he must perform for his Empire and its people, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I suppose it could be, that Ronan does see it as a duty and/or mission, and is simply trying to do his best at it. He figures men bring flowers to the women they court or marry, so he ought to as well***. Still, his concern for her during the attack seemed a little too genuine for that. I guess you could explain that as his being devoted to serving the new rulers of the Kree Empire, and that would include not letting the Queen's sister get killed by the Shi'ar Imperial Cannon Fodder, but I don't quite buy it.

So, assuming I'm right (big assumption, I know) what does it mean for Ronan? Is he just smitten with Crystal? He certainly wouldn't be the first, and she's pretty, and generally nice, but can be pretty dangerous if you rile her, which I think Ronan might appreciate. He seems to respect people who will stand and fight for what they believe in****, so that might appeal to him. Or maybe he realizes he's getting old, and while his record of service to the Kree Empire is extensive, and I would imagine, damned impressive, he wouldn't mind having a family. Yeah, I know, that's probably ridiculous, we've not seen any sign he's worried about his future or legacy, I'm just throwing it out there. Plus, there's the fact that he came a hair away from using the Kree Sentry robots to wipe out every Kree on their homeworld during Conquest, so maybe that's got him thinking about bringing people together in a happy way. As opposed to blowing them apart with giant killer robots*****.

* Which he's wearing a cape over, which seems excessive, but works for him. Ronan the Accuser will never be underdressed for an occasion, damnit!

** Well, look at the track record. New Avengers said she had something with the Sentry, poster boy for mental problems. There's the Black Knight, occasionally driven nuts by his sword. Quicksilver, who alternates between being good, being evil, being insane, being evil whilst insane, being insane while evil, or thinking he's God's instrument. Johnny Storm's the most consistently sane boyfriend she's had (that I know of), and he's an immature dunderhead.

*** Which reminds me of that Next Generation episode where Data has the relationship with the other crew member, and he just tries to do things that he read are typical of relationships, without grasping the nuance or reasons why they happen. So he has an argument with her, because that's what couples do sometimes, even now really isn't the time for it?

**** Though whatever respect he might feel probably won't stop him trying to kill them if their beliefs cause them to stand against the Kree, but respect can only go so far.

***** Not that there's anything wrong with blowing people apart with giant killer robots, but there's a time and a place for that, and this is not that time. I know, I must have gone crazy to say such things.