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queenluaSo I put a vague throwaway reference in lust like remembrance to this random-headcanon-I-made-up-on-the-spot-but-rather-liked, where Shinon left Daein with Greil. Since I made it up on the spot, I didn't give it much thought, beyond a general feeling, and the feeling was: (1) Shinon is pretty bitchy about being with the mercenaries, (2) we're given some heavy-handed hints that the main reason for him bothering to stick around is some intense admiration for Greil, so (3) seems like that sort of admiration may have started young.
I mean, yeah, it's possible that Shinon just met Greil after Greil had already moved into Crimea. Insert some sweet-if-somewhat-predictable scenario where he thinks he's just going to stick around with the company for a bit to pick up some gold and move on, but Greil's uncanny nobility and kindness are striking to him even though he doesn't want to admit it, so he keeps sticking around, bla bla…
..but at the same time, it's not like there's really that much intense stuff going on Crimea for Greil to make that strong of an impression. He's a good leader and a good father, yeah, but I feel like it may take more than that to make an impression on a deliberately-callous-bastard like Shinon—say a wartime scenario or whatnot. But Crimea doesn't have that; it's got them fighting random bandits and rescuing cats from trees or whatever.
So let's go back to the Shinon-leaves-Daein-with-Greil scenario. I dunno, say Shinon's some hotshot young soldier, fifteenish, who's gotten a pretty sweet gig as a minor guard in the palace due to remarkable talent / clawing his way up from some lower-class background. Greil takes a passing interest in the kid and throws out some random protips one day while Shinon's training; Shinon's vaguely intrigued but doesn't think much on it until later, when Greil's fleeing Daein. Some kind of alert is sent out, guards are told to keep on their toes, and lo, Shinon comes face-to-face with the retreating rider, realizes it's Greil—and on an impulse he opts to cover the man's escape instead of killing him, and ends up wrenched along because now he's in hot water, too, and while they're moving he gets to know Greil better, you could go like a dozen different directions at this point but probably some sort of strange pseudo-mentor-y relationship…
It's damn interesting, in any case. (Also gives Shinon's intense distaste for Ike a somewhat hilariously petty edge—lol jelly of Greil's attention? / having to share your mentor?—wow it's so cheesy but I kinda dig it.) (Also if you have him hanging out in Gallia with Greil and Elena and such it does give his racism an interesting new angle.)
Alas, canon, while not directly contradicting such a theory, does throw a sort of obnoxious wrench in by giving us a solid age for Shinon—27 in Path of Radiance, which makes him ten years old at most when Greil flees Daein. We're lucky if Shinon's even holding a bow then, jeez, let alone covering Greil's escape, and Greil isn't gonna drag some kid along with him while he's busy fleeing the country. (if you are willing to blatantly ignore canon though you may be able to get away with him as a precocious thirteen-year-old. it should not be news that i have few qualms with blatantly and selectively ignoring canon if i have decided my headcanon is cooler :P )
I mean, yeah, it's possible that Shinon just met Greil after Greil had already moved into Crimea. Insert some sweet-if-somewhat-predictable scenario where he thinks he's just going to stick around with the company for a bit to pick up some gold and move on, but Greil's uncanny nobility and kindness are striking to him even though he doesn't want to admit it, so he keeps sticking around, bla bla…
..but at the same time, it's not like there's really that much intense stuff going on Crimea for Greil to make that strong of an impression. He's a good leader and a good father, yeah, but I feel like it may take more than that to make an impression on a deliberately-callous-bastard like Shinon—say a wartime scenario or whatnot. But Crimea doesn't have that; it's got them fighting random bandits and rescuing cats from trees or whatever.
So let's go back to the Shinon-leaves-Daein-with-Greil scenario. I dunno, say Shinon's some hotshot young soldier, fifteenish, who's gotten a pretty sweet gig as a minor guard in the palace due to remarkable talent / clawing his way up from some lower-class background. Greil takes a passing interest in the kid and throws out some random protips one day while Shinon's training; Shinon's vaguely intrigued but doesn't think much on it until later, when Greil's fleeing Daein. Some kind of alert is sent out, guards are told to keep on their toes, and lo, Shinon comes face-to-face with the retreating rider, realizes it's Greil—and on an impulse he opts to cover the man's escape instead of killing him, and ends up wrenched along because now he's in hot water, too, and while they're moving he gets to know Greil better, you could go like a dozen different directions at this point but probably some sort of strange pseudo-mentor-y relationship…
It's damn interesting, in any case. (Also gives Shinon's intense distaste for Ike a somewhat hilariously petty edge—lol jelly of Greil's attention? / having to share your mentor?—wow it's so cheesy but I kinda dig it.) (Also if you have him hanging out in Gallia with Greil and Elena and such it does give his racism an interesting new angle.)
Alas, canon, while not directly contradicting such a theory, does throw a sort of obnoxious wrench in by giving us a solid age for Shinon—27 in Path of Radiance, which makes him ten years old at most when Greil flees Daein. We're lucky if Shinon's even holding a bow then, jeez, let alone covering Greil's escape, and Greil isn't gonna drag some kid along with him while he's busy fleeing the country. (if you are willing to blatantly ignore canon though you may be able to get away with him as a precocious thirteen-year-old. it should not be news that i have few qualms with blatantly and selectively ignoring canon if i have decided my headcanon is cooler :P )
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Date: 2013-03-26 07:43 am (UTC)So yeah, I can definitely see a mentor type of relationship between Shinon and Greil! Also agree with you on Shinon's hostility to Ike being very much based on jealousy. Interesting point about Shinon's racism as well...
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Date: 2013-03-27 06:25 am (UTC)petty jealousies
for a guy who's supposedly in his late 20's shinon sure has a lot of teenager in him :P