Tumblr sucks ass for meta so I'm moving it all here.
This one solitary page is bar-none, my favorite single piece of Yzak-related media and I always end up posting it and talking about it when I start rambling about Yzak.
But page is just a perfect culmination of Yzak’s whole story and his development through the series. Because his growth in the first series was slower, and more strangled than that of the main cast due to his circumstances and while he hits similar beats of having doubts about what he’s doing, he is without the means to do much about it and also without a fuller picture of the situations around him compared to a lot of other main characters. Yzak’s main struggle was his military brain/loyal soldier side versus what he was feeling in his heart/his feelings for his friends/people he respected who were eventually all standing on the opposite side of the battlefield. And it was this moment flashbacked to (the Dearka rescue in the final episode of SEED - manga flashbacks have black page backgrounds btw) and referenced in his words here that snapped him out of that struggle where he realized what he needed - wanted to do. The SEED novels add to this beautifully with his introspection imo:
Forgetting that he ever pointed a gun at [Dearka], the only thing Yzak felt then was the desire to protect the machine behind him.
His actions following that, in defending the Archangel itself further prove that this moment was really the cincher for that realization. The Edge manga has a panel from after the series ended confirming that even for some time after the final battle, Yzak remained with the Archangel for at least a little longer (to ensure they had someone there to defend them, I assume). The panel in question is him and Dearka in the Archangel's hangar with Athrun and Cagalli, shaking Athrun's hand. At that point Yzak had committed to following his heart rather than what his at odds military loyalty brain was telling him. Another line from the novel:
He still had feelings that he couldn't forgive, but those feelings were now put aside - as he now realized what it was that he needed to do. The fighting had to be stopped, not just to protect PLANT - there was no room to be hung up on his own personal feelings.
Like he says in this page, in that moment he realized what it was he should truly defend, which was Dearka who was about to get his ass got, so that speech bubble being said over that panel of Dearka makes me appreciate the hell out of the detail that Kuori Chimaki put into these little things when making this manga. Since Dearka was the main catalyst that sent Yzak over the final, and largest hump of his development as a whole, but especially during that final battle when he was in danger everything just snapped into place for Yzak all at once and he had this absolute moment of clarity and realization to what he needed to do. As Yzak says himself, in those moments one realizes what it is they should truly defend.
And then for some extra rambling, the way Dearka is smiling and looks so proud of him in that panel when he says that is profound to me because again, I'm taking a line from the Destiny novel:
No matter what decision Yzak made, Dearka would follow him. But especially so when his own beliefs lined up with it.
This line I love in general and it's SUCH an important line for both Yzak and Dearka. Because this is a Dearka who once said he didn’t want to return to ZAFT and simply follow orders, but here he is, not just back in ZAFT and following Yzak, but following him regardless of any decisions he made. That kind of devotion and trust fucks me up in the best way. Because I can’t have seen Dearka rejoining ZAFT if he didn’t have Yzak to have that kind of trust in, especially if he was going to be a soldier-that-follows-a-superior again. So this page is also an important reflection of Dearka’s character and how he’s grown from that, as well as how much trust he has in Yzak to not lead him/their team down the wrong path. And much like Yzak’s line on the next page about how being a ZAFT soldier means having no regrets, it shows in his expression that Dearka has no regrets in choosing to follow him. And from that there’s also this whole thing about Yzak growing into and becoming the kind of person that can be believed so devotedly in as a leader, if Dearka so easily returned to the military under his lead after the things he said.
This one manga page says SO MUCH and I love it more than anything. I love the entire Yzak & Dearka Edge manga story it’s from, but god, this page... this page... the perfect Yzak page, I love it so.
This ONE SINGLE GOD DAMNED PAGE
Tumblr sucks ass for meta so I'm moving it all here.
This one solitary page is bar-none, my favorite single piece of Yzak-related media and I always end up posting it and talking about it when I start rambling about Yzak.
But page is just a perfect culmination of Yzak’s whole story and his development through the series. Because his growth in the first series was slower, and more strangled than that of the main cast due to his circumstances and while he hits similar beats of having doubts about what he’s doing, he is without the means to do much about it and also without a fuller picture of the situations around him compared to a lot of other main characters. Yzak’s main struggle was his military brain/loyal soldier side versus what he was feeling in his heart/his feelings for his friends/people he respected who were eventually all standing on the opposite side of the battlefield. And it was this moment flashbacked to (the Dearka rescue in the final episode of SEED - manga flashbacks have black page backgrounds btw) and referenced in his words here that snapped him out of that struggle where he realized what he needed - wanted to do. The SEED novels add to this beautifully with his introspection imo:
Forgetting that he ever pointed a gun at [Dearka], the only thing Yzak felt then was the desire to protect the machine behind him.
His actions following that, in defending the Archangel itself further prove that this moment was really the cincher for that realization. The Edge manga has a panel from after the series ended confirming that even for some time after the final battle, Yzak remained with the Archangel for at least a little longer (to ensure they had someone there to defend them, I assume). The panel in question is him and Dearka in the Archangel's hangar with Athrun and Cagalli, shaking Athrun's hand. At that point Yzak had committed to following his heart rather than what his at odds military loyalty brain was telling him. Another line from the novel:
He still had feelings that he couldn't forgive, but those feelings were now put aside - as he now realized what it was that he needed to do. The fighting had to be stopped, not just to protect PLANT - there was no room to be hung up on his own personal feelings.
Like he says in this page, in that moment he realized what it was he should truly defend, which was Dearka who was about to get his ass got, so that speech bubble being said over that panel of Dearka makes me appreciate the hell out of the detail that Kuori Chimaki put into these little things when making this manga. Since Dearka was the main catalyst that sent Yzak over the final, and largest hump of his development as a whole, but especially during that final battle when he was in danger everything just snapped into place for Yzak all at once and he had this absolute moment of clarity and realization to what he needed to do. As Yzak says himself, in those moments one realizes what it is they should truly defend.
And then for some extra rambling, the way Dearka is smiling and looks so proud of him in that panel when he says that is profound to me because again, I'm taking a line from the Destiny novel:
No matter what decision Yzak made, Dearka would follow him. But especially so when his own beliefs lined up with it.
This line I love in general and it's SUCH an important line for both Yzak and Dearka. Because this is a Dearka who once said he didn’t want to return to ZAFT and simply follow orders, but here he is, not just back in ZAFT and following Yzak, but following him regardless of any decisions he made. That kind of devotion and trust fucks me up in the best way. Because I can’t have seen Dearka rejoining ZAFT if he didn’t have Yzak to have that kind of trust in, especially if he was going to be a soldier-that-follows-a-superior again. So this page is also an important reflection of Dearka’s character and how he’s grown from that, as well as how much trust he has in Yzak to not lead him/their team down the wrong path. And much like Yzak’s line on the next page about how being a ZAFT soldier means having no regrets, it shows in his expression that Dearka has no regrets in choosing to follow him. And from that there’s also this whole thing about Yzak growing into and becoming the kind of person that can be believed so devotedly in as a leader, if Dearka so easily returned to the military under his lead after the things he said.
This one manga page says SO MUCH and I love it more than anything. I love the entire Yzak & Dearka Edge manga story it’s from, but god, this page... this page... the perfect Yzak page, I love it so.