EXACTLY YES I LOVE GOOD ANALYSIS AND MEDIA LITERACY!!!
He is DYING on the inside at the thought of losing her. He suffered through 3 years of literal hell on earth to get to her, and it's barely been a full year of them together and she has to leave him now for a minimum of three More years??
After she almost DIED and MISCARRIED their child!
It's absolutely natural for him to be distraught.
They both have completely valid feelings, they just have to Both find a way to properly communicate those.
I think people including me read this with the mentality of nowadays and disregard his feelings and trauma because he is shown as violent and controlling on most panels when Maxi is shown as somewhat small and fragile but trying to become stronger. So, I know I sympathize more easily with her (though I don't quite like her character either nor Riftan). We mostly see Maxi trying to be independent and useful and readers want her to succeed in being independent and finding herself. And in that "goal" Riftan is the only thorn. He's in the way of her Independence, that may be the reason why readers also disregard his feelings.
I'm sorry if my English is bad, it's not my first language. And I don't even know if what I said make sense, sorry
I agree. Both riftan and maxi are not wrong with their own decision. I agree with riftan, I will also be mad at my husband if made such important choices without consulting to me first. and i will also be mad at my husband if he ever Decline my plan to change my future without caring about my development as a human being. So both of them are not wrong. They just have to somehow agree to disagree with one another. That is just how marriage life is.. Marriage is very hard..
I absolutely agree, I also feel there is this wave of ML hatred recently, even if it's for a very obvious misunderstanding or like this, a very serious and complicated issue.
Neither of them are wrong in how they feel.
Yes he is not handling it well...
But can we really blame him?
He spent 3 years of war to get to her, has time with her for less than a year... Gets roped back into a war again... Then finds out she secretly went to war too, almost is killed many times, does a very heroic but dangerous act with magic... And in that process gets hurt And has a miscarriage...
And now she wants to leave to protect him and their home.
To him, he could abandon it all of it means to be with her.
He has watched her nearly die and the loss of their baby.
He is deep within grief and terrified of her being hurt.
He isn't handling it well ofc, but that doesn't mean he is some evil abusive man.
He has never hit her, they both have yelled at each other.
His feelings are absolutely valid.
MLs are allowed to have deep emotional turmoil too.
Even if we are reading it with the mentality of nowadays how can we neglect that the beginning of Maxi’s independence started because of Riftan? He was the one who took her out of her abusive home. He was the one who understood, accepted and loved her first. He’s the one who showed her what true happiness is. He’s the whole reason she’s become confident enough in wanting to change and better herself and people think he’s the thorn? He was never the thorn to begin with. Also even if we are thinking with today’s mentality why has it become normal to ignore a man’s pain, his struggles and trauma. It’s simply boils down to seeing what we want to see and ignoring what we want to ignore.
I understand readers sympathise with Maxi and so do I but why is Riftan’s feelings and trauma so overlooked and dismissed? Majority of the readers really can’t critically analyse characters at all and it shows in this comment section. Why do people keep forgetting Riftan spent nearly his entire life fighting and was alone for majority of it? He’s not a noble but a common man and an ex- mercenary. He only became a knight after tremendous effort. He’s speaks roughly because that’s how he was raised and that’s all he’s ever known.Given the time period of the manhwa you can’t expect a man born and raised in that setting to change the way he talks and acts so quickly. He’s rough around the edges but he really does try his best to control that for Maxi. He also deeply cares and loves Maxi. He may not always show it the right way but again that’s all he’s has ever known but he still tries his best. Also many times he’s not all in the wrong either. Like during the war when Maxi came he was right to be angry. She didn’t have any prior experience, she’s a noble woman and a very new mage. Her health wasn’t the best either, she came in hiding and above all she is his wife. It’s his duty to protect her. This idea was the norm in those times. He was not trying to stop her from being independent but he was being practical and reasonable. No man in their right mind would’ve wanted their significant other in that situation given all these facts and his fears proved to be right. Maxi did end up getting extremely hurt and she had a miscarriage. Even if she saved everyone there in Riftan’s eyes her pain was greater than any win they had in that time. His fear that all this happened because she’s his wife also proved to be right. He’s always felt that she was too good for him being the precious daughter of a wealthy and powerful noble. In his eyes, he was not worthy of her. Maxi getting hurt in that situation proved to him that he was right in thinking that because Maxi only came to the war because Riftan’s her husband. Even then the readers were like Riftan is being unreasonable and that he doesn’t want Maxi to be independent and is trying to control her but that’s a ridiculous point to make given the facts and severity of the situation. Even now readers are like he’s manipulating her and not letting her grow but conveniently disregard his genuine grievance over Maxi’s decision. Maxi isn’t going away for a few months but years. She won’t be here for a minimum of 3 years. Who knows what’ll happen to either of them in those 3 years and if it’ll only be 3 years. He won’t even be able to see her face or meet her. Even if they try to exchange letters it’s too far away and there’s no guarantee the letters would even reach them. He’s essentially separating from his wife again for 3 years. He already spent 3 years in hell with no surety of ever seeing her again. He just got her and their feelings finally became mutual after what felt like a painful eternity to him and now he has to go through that all over again. Given all the baggage he carries including his childhood trauma he’s not wrong to be hurt and angry by her decision. He’s not wrong in wanting to stop her. She’s his wife who he deeply loves and she made the decision to leave him without even talking to him first. He does care about others things but Maxi outweighs everything for him. He doesn’t care about losing it all as long as Maxi’s with him. He doesn’t want to be alone again. He can’t be alone again. Him revealing his childhood trauma now is his last ditch effort to try to stop her. He’s tired and can’t go on any longer. He’s hit his limit. He didn’t reveal his past before because he too like Maxi wanted to appear good enough infront of the other but now he doesn’t care anymore. He just wants her to stay and prioritise their relationship instead of everyone else this time. Maxi isn’t wrong either. She’s making this decision for the right reasons and I support her but Riftan isn’t wrong in feeling betrayed and hurt either. They’re both valid in feeling the way they feel.