I don't believe that Ukoku is trying to get Sanzo to kill himself. I think that he's interested to see if he will, but that's not quite the same thing. Ukoku is the kind of guy who doesn't hesitate when he wants something, so if he wanted Sanzo dead, Sanzo'd be dead already.
But that's not how the bet goes, you see.
The bet was Koumyou versus Ukoku (and dammit, I could be a lot more specific than that, but all I have is scans, and I can't remember where their conversation is!). Ukoku's already seen that Koumyou was the self-sacrificing sort, and now I think he's trying to find out if Sanzo is the same... if he'd give his life to undo all the pain he's caused everyone in the past couple years. (Of course, the answer is "no, fuck you, now die", but the question has to be asked! Science demands queries, after all.)
Because even though Koumyou smiled a lot, and was fatherly to Kouryuu, and Zen and tranquil and all that, he was still a bastard of the finest Zen bastard tradition. I mean, here's this teenage kid, and he's smart, and really strong, and almost entirely amoral, and all he really wants is to get eaten (interpret how you will). So what does Koumyou do (in between moonlit nights of sake drinking (from a single cup omg)? He bets his son. Morality never enters into it.
But love does, which is why neither Koumyou nor Ukoku is a complete bastard. I mean, there's one thing that Kenyuu wants. One thing, and then there's Koumyou, who's all zen and unattached, and what do you get the guy who holds nothing? How about the one thing you want? How sweet is that? So Koumyou dies, and Sanzo gets sent out to power up on his quest. It isn't a guarantee that he'll kill Ukoku. It's what they both want, but a) Ukoku isn't just going to lie back and think of England. He's going to fight back, and b) if there's one shining moral of this story, it's that clinging to anything too hard will fuck your shit up.
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Date: 2008-06-01 09:41 pm (UTC)I don't believe that Ukoku is trying to get Sanzo to kill himself. I think that he's interested to see if he will, but that's not quite the same thing. Ukoku is the kind of guy who doesn't hesitate when he wants something, so if he wanted Sanzo dead, Sanzo'd be dead already.
But that's not how the bet goes, you see.
The bet was Koumyou versus Ukoku (and dammit, I could be a lot more specific than that, but all I have is scans, and I can't remember where their conversation is!). Ukoku's already seen that Koumyou was the self-sacrificing sort, and now I think he's trying to find out if Sanzo is the same... if he'd give his life to undo all the pain he's caused everyone in the past couple years. (Of course, the answer is "no, fuck you, now die", but the question has to be asked! Science demands queries, after all.)
Because even though Koumyou smiled a lot, and was fatherly to Kouryuu, and Zen and tranquil and all that, he was still a bastard of the finest Zen bastard tradition. I mean, here's this teenage kid, and he's smart, and really strong, and almost entirely amoral, and all he really wants is to get eaten (interpret how you will). So what does Koumyou do (in between moonlit nights of sake drinking (from a single cup omg)? He bets his son. Morality never enters into it.
But love does, which is why neither Koumyou nor Ukoku is a complete bastard. I mean, there's one thing that Kenyuu wants. One thing, and then there's Koumyou, who's all zen and unattached, and what do you get the guy who holds nothing? How about the one thing you want? How sweet is that? So Koumyou dies, and Sanzo gets sent out
to power upon his quest. It isn't a guarantee that he'll kill Ukoku. It's what they both want, but a) Ukoku isn't just going to lie back and think of England. He's going to fight back, and b) if there's one shining moral of this story, it's that clinging to anything too hard will fuck your shit up.