31 October 2007: An unanswered Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha question about Fate Testarossa
Fate Testarossa makes an offer.
Something has been bothering me about the ending of the first season of Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha. (Naturally, the rest of this post involves some considerable spoilers, so avert your eyes if you haven't finished watching the original series.) During her final confrontation with Precia (in episode 12), Fate Testarossa makes one final bid to gain her mother's acceptance—not even her love, just an acknowledgment. Fate basically offers, "Even if you won't accept me as your daughter, I will still protect you—from anyone—because you're my mother."
Search your feelings. You know it to be true.
But how sincere is this offer? From the scene's context, there is no reason to think any duplicity is involved. Likewise, this is not hyperbole; Fate obviously chooses her words carefully and makes a genuine attempt to reach out to her mother. So what happens if Precia accepts? Doesn't this mean Fate would have to turn against the Time and Space Administration Bureau, Nanoha, and potentially Arf? Okay, Arf would probably back Fate unconditionally after making token attempts to talk her down, and as far as Fate is concerned (at least at this point), the TSAB is staffed by a bunch of pinheads, but would she really betray Nanoha?
Fate tries to look Nanoha in the eye.
I believe she would. Fate was willing to suffer her mother's abuse her entire life. Desperately trying to gain Precia's love was all Fate knew. And Fate is visibly devastated when her mother rejects her again. I believe Fate was willing to sucker-punch Chrono and help Precia make a break for it, plowing through anyone the TSAB put in their way, including Nanoha. Sadly, the series never explored this possibility. In less than two minutes, we discover that Fate is willing to go to very dark places and confirm that there are fundamental differences between Fate and Nanoha. Nanoha may be willing to beat people down until they submit to her friendship, but we don't even know what sorts of things Fate did before she met Nanoha.
It's clobberin' time.
Personally, I think we need a Mahou Shoujo Fate Testarossa prequel to the Lyrical Nanoha series—one that highlights all the fucked up things Fate did for Precia before she met Nanoha. Bear in mind that when we first meet her in Nanoha, Fate is remorselessly smoking the Bejeesus out of a kitten. I assume Fate is likely responsible for numerous atrocities. She's too young to have Vita's body count, but there has got to be some shit Fate doesn't like to talk about. A 13-episode series, with no episodes about training. (Are you kidding me? There's no way Precia bothered to train Fate.) Just wall-to-wall mahou shoujo whalings with maybe an episode to reveal where Fate got her Dracula cape. We're there.
