I like your optimism regarding Hades and Athena, @MichaelCrank! Though I don’t really share it.
I understand Athena’s reluctance of raising the Bearer to be a living weapon, but I very much doubt that she did it out of love for the Bearer.
For one, the Bearer wasn’t even two, they had very little personality to begin with and mythic Athena was never known to enjoy the company of children. I really doubt she had any strong feelings for the Bearer beside their being the child of Priscilla. There simply wasn’t anything for a person like Athena to love, really.
Personally, I think she just read the room and acted accordingly.
I mean, think about it.
Ares is a step away from killing you in the throne room were it not for the intervention of the Big Three. If the Bearer had stayed on Olympus during their most vulnerable years, who’s to say that an accident wouldn’t have befallen them at the ripe old age of 2 and 3/4, especially when they had half the damn pantheon against their very existence?
So Athena, who seemingly genuinely believes that the Bearer will defeat Cronus (thus ensuring the survival of the gods), makes sure that the Bearer is far away from any such accidents or assassination attempts, and it is only over the course of raising this damn child that she comes to love them, not before. That’s my argument.
As for Hades…
It’s been mentioned that Hades is the…least objectionable of the gods, in terms of…scruples, I guess.
It could just be Hades being Hades, honestly, and with Athena being the Bearer’s guardian, him conspiring with Athena seems to have just come with the territory.
But I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention this one weird bit that stood out to me the first time I played the demo:
The man [Uncle Henry] places his hand on the woman’s [Athena’s] cheek, and a warm sense of love fills the room. You are lulled into sleep by their soft voices.
I’m not sure about you guys, but the first time I played, without knowing their real identities, I immediately thought, “Ohhhhh, riiiiight, he’s Aunt Alive’s friend, gotcha. Wink wink.”
This is much more easily jossed than my other arguments, but I’d say that Hades and Athena may have (or have had)…a thing.
Also, I lied. It was just one weird thing…it’s many weird things.
Exhibit B:
Aeson frowns. “I always did wonder how he did it, you know. How he was in both our lives. I’m guessing when he wasn’t with you and Athena, he was with me and my mother.”
The parallels in that sentence are evident.
EXHIBIT C:
“I need you, Hades,” she says. “You made a promise to me, all those years ago. I am here to collect that debt.”
Hades shakes his head, turning away. “Promises can be broken just as easily as they can be made, something you are no doubt familiar with.”
Athena stares at the god’s back, her eyes narrowing. “It is past time to put personal feelings aside,”
“You know nothing of personal feelings,” Hades turns around to face the goddess, his voice raising. “There is no amount of love that is enough to stir your heart!”
I mean…come on.
EXHIBIT D:
Hades does not reply, but instead looks at Athena with a mixture of hatred and love in his dark eyes. The room is silent. The tension between the god of the Underworld and the goddess of wisdom is one that has been building up with love and betrayal for centuries.
So my guess is…Hades was in your childhood because…I mean…it was probably the closest he’d get to…getting with Athena, and that’s probably why he didn’t betray her location and ended up splitting time between you and Aeson (and presumably, Persephone…perhaps).
Speaking of Persephone… EXHIBIT E, BITCHES:
*disable_reuse #“Did you love her?”
*if dad1 = true
Hades closes his eyes. “Of course.”You stare at the God and the evident pain on his face. “What about…what about Persephone?”
Hades’ eyes open. “I asked myself that same question.”
(Note: This is no longer canon since Hades isn’t our father anymore, but I found this exchange veeeery interesting indeed when I was snooping through the code.)
So yeah…like with Athena, I don’t think Hades necessarily had the Bearer’s intentions at heart when the Bearer was first taken into hiding. It’s only over time that they grew to love the Bearer.
Now, as I was snooping around the code, I also found that Hades tells you that Priscilla’s soul/spirit is in the Underworld, so…yeah, I guess I really was just feeling hungry, lol. Oops, y’all, my bad.
And as for who the Traitor God is…I’m gonna need to do a closer read of the game because that seems to be a more central mystery than whether or not Priscilla is alive in some weird zombie manner or whatever. There’s just so many possible suspects.
Hades could still be the traitor, there’s nothing indicating he isn’t, actually. Zeus is…a garbage god, so he’s definitely a possibility. Ares…I don’t think he is, actually.
But Hermes, that punk bitch, I don’t trust him. He’s too smiley and mischievous.
Hestia, despite being female, would at times have a phallus appear in her flames, representing her male aspect, so she could have a male disguise she takes to interact with humans…plus she hates our guts.
And we don’t know jack about Eros. Where has he been this whole time, hmm?
For all we know, it’s freakin’ Pan, god of rape and Peruvian pan flute bands.
Or maybe even Dionysis? Ancient Athenian philosophers theorized that Apollo and Dionysis represented Order and Chaos, respectively. One could argue that the current dissemination of power through the Essence’s creations (Gaia, Uranus, Chaos, Nyx, Tartarus, and Eros) and the creation’s own creations (the Titans, the gods, humans, etc), represents an imbalance in favor of Order and he instead desires to tip it back into a more Chaotic fold…or something, because Cronus is probably a punk bitch who can’t actually handle the Essence on his own???
…idk man, I’m spitballin’