Jasper and Edward sure went brain-fried by their mate connection.
Yeah, everyone in the car except for David and Elspeth was completely driven by a single emotional imperative (Jasper: Save Alice! Edward: Find Bella! Allirea: Kill Demitri!) and they were all using their knowledge of each other’s emotional imperatives to try and manipulate each other.
It’s kind of a bleak scene, made possible, I think, by Chelsea. I mean, Edward makes a token noise about how Bella wouldn’t want Elspeth used as a distraction in battle, but he doesn’t feel the need to protect his daughter. If he did, he’d never have agreed to Jasper’s plan. And in fact, if the normal bonds of family still held between Jasper and Edward, they each would presumably have been a little slower to risk the other’s life so casually. But as it is, Jasper, Edward, and Allirea all feel they have nothing to lose, so of course they’re willing to gamble everything on a risky plan.
Chelsea can certainly make people very predictable. If one has a mate, then all they’re going to care about after being Chelsea’d is their safety, and they’re most probably not going to trust anyone else with protecting them until they’ve rebuilt their relationships. If one doesn’t have a mate, then he or she is going to care about his or her safety and no one else’s, and it will probably take them a while to find allies they’re able to trust with their life. If you don’t trust anyone, it will be very hard to make a sensible plan and stick to it.
This makes me wonder if Edward won’t just run away from the battle, if he hasn’t somehow been incapacitated of course. If there seems to be no way to win or get Elspeth out of there, he would want to find Bella and stop her before she can get there.
Yeah, everyone in the car except for David and Elspeth was completely driven by a single emotional imperative (Jasper: Save Alice! Edward: Find Bella! Allirea: Kill Demitri!) and they were all using their knowledge of each other’s emotional imperatives to try and manipulate each other.
It’s kind of a bleak scene, made possible, I think, by Chelsea. I mean, Edward makes a token noise about how Bella wouldn’t want Elspeth used as a distraction in battle, but he doesn’t feel the need to protect his daughter. If he did, he’d never have agreed to Jasper’s plan. And in fact, if the normal bonds of family still held between Jasper and Edward, they each would presumably have been a little slower to risk the other’s life so casually. But as it is, Jasper, Edward, and Allirea all feel they have nothing to lose, so of course they’re willing to gamble everything on a risky plan.
Chelsea can certainly make people very predictable. If one has a mate, then all they’re going to care about after being Chelsea’d is their safety, and they’re most probably not going to trust anyone else with protecting them until they’ve rebuilt their relationships. If one doesn’t have a mate, then he or she is going to care about his or her safety and no one else’s, and it will probably take them a while to find allies they’re able to trust with their life. If you don’t trust anyone, it will be very hard to make a sensible plan and stick to it.
This makes me wonder if Edward won’t just run away from the battle, if he hasn’t somehow been incapacitated of course. If there seems to be no way to win or get Elspeth out of there, he would want to find Bella and stop her before she can get there.
You forgot Peter and Charlotte.
I did, you’re right. They weren’t much of a presence in this chapter.