Trigun Bookclub: deludedfantasy: Trigun Maximum Volume 13: Chapter 1-4

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Original Tumblr Post: Trimax Vol 13 Ch 1-4

Trimax Vol 13 Ch 1-4

I’m leaving on vacation this week, so I want to get my thoughts out before I go. Unfortunately, I’ll be too busy to really participate in volume 14 next week, but I’ll be reading along and reading what everyone else has to say. But without further ado, part 1 of my thoughts on volume 13!

Ch 1

Legato is back on his killing Vash bullshit. He is so devoted to Knives that he would go against what he wants to give him what he thinks he deserves. There are so many levels of mental gymnastics going on here, I kinda can’t keep up.
Chronica is so past the point of caring about anything except her own revenge. Civilians in the city beneath her? Who cares! She just wants to destroy Knives. I wonder if it’s about more than the fact that he killed Domina, if there’s something about the fact that he’s an Independent that’s causing so much damage and giving Independents a bad name that’s driving her to act like this.
Of all the human villains Vash has faced, Legato is truly the most powerful, the one who he would have the hardest time standing against regardless of his morals. How do you fight a guy who can control your entire body? How do you fight someone who is so obsessed with killing you, he’d do anything to achieve it?
This conversation between Knives and Legato is interesting. Let’s see if I can get my thoughts about it straight. Legato still wants to kill Vash for whatever he did to Knives, even though Knives doesn’t want that and seems to want Vash’s death to be at his own hands. Legato desperately wants to prove to Knives how loyal he is—and Knives flat out tells him he doesn’t care.
That’s such a blow. And I imagine it would only motivate Legato more, to prove that he is worthy, that he can hold Vash and defeat him, to make himself worthy in the eyes of his god, his truest love, whatever Knives is to him.
Knives is so cruel to him. What a thing to say to someone who has only ever followed you and done what you asked of them. It makes you feel bad for Legato.

I personally have never been able to decide if Knives really cares about Legato or views him as a useful tool. Or if it’s a combination of the two, hampered by his ideology which doesn’t allow him to care about humans or see them as anything other than lowly parasites. This conversation just muddies the waters even more for me. He’s so dismissive of him and his powers whereas at other times he’s shown, at least in his actions, that he cares about Legato and his survival.
Then Legato also says, “His beliefs against my loyalty.” Which knowing what I know actually feels like a bit of foreshadowing…
Watching Vash fight Legato’s powers is so devastating. And I thought seeing him purposefully push himself closer to death was bad. This is just…a lot.
Add on Legato’s commentary to it and I feel like I’m chewing on glass. It’s been said over and over again lately, but something about Legato pointing it out and the blank look on Vash’s face fills me with indescribable emotions.
Vash is pushing so hard because he doesn’t want to live anymore. He doesn’t care about the pain or staying alive. Sure, he has a goal to accomplish, but what happens after that doesn’t matter, so he’ll push past the normal limits to do what he has to do.
What a strange moment of connection too, when Legato sees his own face reflected in Vash’s. They are enemies but they recognize this in each other. Usually, it’s painted as a bad thing when a villain says to a hero, “You’re just like me.” It’s certainly not good, but I don’t know. There’s no real moral judgment here. It’s just Legato realizing that Vash is more human than he originally thought. At least that’s the way I see it.
Finally, the reveal of the coins and what they do! It’s…a tool to let Legato have a “fair” final battle with Vash? Vash certainly doesn’t sound happy about that.

Ch 2

Oh, Vash is angry about this. All those deaths, all those people’s lives sacrificed, just for Legato to play this little game with Vash? What a cruel waste of life that spits in the face of everything Vash believes in.
Legato, what the actual fuck. He just…puts Vash’s gun in his mouth??? What a move though, what a way to prove himself right. That Vash won’t shoot him even when he can put the gun straight into his mouth.
Okay, I have no idea what’s happening here other than Legato executing some incredibly complicated maneuver and Vash still not shooting him because he’s Vash. But also how does he not crack his teeth doing all of that and keeping Vash’s gun in his mouth for the majority of it?
Livio and Elendira have the best fight banter. I’m living for it.
It’s nice to see Livio be confident about something, even if it’s his own fighting prowess. He’s been so anxious and unsure up to now, it’s great to see him really go for something.
Livio, why are you being so cute right now? You’re in the middle of battle!

Meanwhile, the Earth fleet secretly descends to the planet’s surface. I wonder what they’re planning?

Ch 3

Where in the world did Legato get his giant Iron Maiden mace from? Like, where has he been hiding it this entire time? I know I won’t get an answer because Nightow plays by the rule of cool, but it’s just so funny.
I don’t know why I’m even surprised by Legato at this point. Licking Vash’s blood from the floor? Okay, why not!
So Vash and Legato both want to die, but it’s in very different ways. Vash doesn’t see a place for himself in the world anymore and he can’t see a future beyond this battle. Meanwhile, Legato almost wants to die to prove a point—the ultimate representation of his loyalty to Knives. He’ll die trying to kill Vash the Stampede for him, because his life doesn’t matter, only Knives’s mission. I don’t really know what to make of it, other than it makes Legato a very dangerous person for Vash to be fighting right now. Because nothing will make him stop.
“Tell me, if it were not for you, would he have accepted me?” → Is Legato implying that he’s been trying to act as a replacement Vash for Knives? The trusted brother and confidant Knives supposedly always wanted Vash to be and Legato has desperately been trying to fill that role for years? No wonder Legato hates Vash so much.
Livio, sweetheart, I love you so much. Runs around mid fight to get his hat and cloak back like he’s Indiana Jones, makes the cutest little face when he gets them back. They’re so important to him. He literally just got them and he’s unwilling to let them go! They’re the symbol of the new man he’s trying to become. Truly, he’s stronger with them.

Ch 4

There’s something about Elendira’s new outfit that reminds me of a skeleton. Or more of an exoskeleton. It’s so strange and we’ve never seen her in it before. Who is this mysterious woman and what is she going to do now?
She’s moving so much faster and she’s suddenly smoking? These are some new and unknown powers for her.
These poor soldiers are not having a good night at all. Imagine a giant ship just appearing in front of you while the world is ending. I’d be pretty freaked out too.
But can we trust these new people from the Earth Fleet? Because so far, the Earth Fleet hasn’t done much to help and Chronica has kind of given up helping humanity in favor of revenge.
As Vance is explaining the situation to Luida and co, I suddenly realized that most people had no idea what was going on or what the Ark was. Or who Knives is! One day, a strange ship just appeared on the horizon, looking like nothing they’d ever seen before, and started destroying everything in sight. That makes the past 7 months even worse.
Now, not only is Knives actively a threat, he’s holding so much power he could literally destroy the planet. One being was never meant to have so much power and it seems like it’s inevitable that he’s going to lose control of it.
Can’t get over this description of Vash or Luida’s face when she realizes who Vance is talking about. “For some reason his hair always stands on end.” He does that on purpose because he likes it, Vance. That’s literally it.

But I wonder how the Earth Fleet knows about him. And how they think he can help that isn’t just fighting Knives.
I think the award for most ridiculous gun in Trigun should go to Legato’s oversized Iron Maiden mace. Because what even. How is that a gun. Why is that a gun. Nightow, I have so many questions.
Wait, did Vash’s coat turn black too? Like in episode 12 of Stampede? He’s using up so much of his power that it isn’t just changing his hair color but the color of his clothing. Or is this just Nightow being symbolic and the coat is still red?

Elendira says something about removing her restraints and now I’m wondering if that skeleton suit is her actual body. And who were the other two people she removed her restraints for? Part of me wonders if one of them was Knives and that’s how they met? Elendira, I have so many questions about where you come from and what your powers are.
And Razlo makes an appearance! We haven’t seen him for a while. I wonder if that’s what Elendira senses here. Though I wonder how she even feels him. Sometimes, the theories about Elendira being part Plant in Trimax feel very correct because of things like this.

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