imo although he’s being honest and his feelings are valid, using his traumatic experience to influence maxi’s decision, linking it with a severely negative consequence, is considered manipulative.
I know. I mean, I don't think "valid" is even a fair way to judge anyone's feelings, but it is "true" at least. We've seen him absolutely lose it when he fears Maxi is in danger, both from physical and even verbal threats, even when she is literally next to him. He saw her almost die for him in battle, which made her lose their child, and then discovered she had been abused by her father for years. He was about to lose all he owned and had accomplished just so she wouldn't suffer.
He is absolutely certain the world and life itself WILL destroy her, both because he has seen her multiple times in her most vulnerable and frail even when being under his care, his preconcieved notions on women and noble ladies (the princess being the only exception to his rule, easier to break because she literally has an army protecting her at all times anyway), and his overall mindset as a man that is sent to war over and over again and have seen death happen as easily as breathing.
On top of that he knows his family has a background with absolute obsession and suicide? He's completely fucked, tortured by his anxiety and pesimism.
As Maxi said, their love as it is at the moment is currently killing them. He is not lying when he says he believes he would not have the mental strenght to survive the separation, no matter her reasurance. The only way to not impose his needs would be to erase her from his mind completely. He genuinely believes that.
i get that his words could influence maxi’s decision, but i don’t really see him as intentionally manipulating her. he was finally opening up about something deeply traumatic that he’d never really talked about and explaining why the situation scared him so much because it reminded him of what happened with his mother. he wasn’t making up or using his trauma on purpose to make her stay. he was genuinely telling her how he felt and what he was afraid of. his feelings being valid doesn’t mean the way he expressed them was completely healthy, but i think there’s a difference between emotional pressure happening during a vulnerable conversation and deliberately manipulating someone.
yeah exactly, this is how i see it too. his fear wasn’t just an excuse to stop maxi from leaving. he genuinely believed losing her would destroy him because of everything he had already been through, especially her almost dying, losing their child, finding out about her abuse, and everything connected to his mother.
that’s why i have a hard time calling that conversation manipulation. he was finally opening up and telling her what was actually going on in his head. obviously, that doesn’t mean his fear should decide what maxi does or that his behavior was automatically healthy, but i don’t think being honest about how terrified he is means he was intentionally manipulating her.
imo he didn’t try to manipulate her but js told her the truth. cus i read some comments abt him being bad, manipulative and wtv… i mean he got the trauma and the situation is looking similar to his trauma. he alr suffered a lot wanting her, leaving her, longing for her while she didn’t even “know” him. so wtv he is feeling its valid.