Zafina Li ❄️🐺🐦⬛🍎🐟⭐️@ThePsychoNyxZ
There's obviously a multitude of reasons Zayne appears in Caleb's re-introduction to the plot, but this is not to Caleb's detriment. Zayne's presence if anything highlights the narrative tone of Homecoming Wings and the tragedy of Caleb's new reality.
Both LI from her childhood fulfil different roles and go on to want to support her in different ways:
Caleb is protection. Zayne is healing.
The narrative sometimes flips the script on this but the principles of the characters remains the same. One will do everything to protect her, the other will do anything to heal/resolve errors for her and both prioritise keeping her safe over themselves. The way they go about this is also distinct to their respective roles and also how their romances play out, one is beside her, the other left. Caleb deals with the aspect of "sin" though he has never harmed MC and is configuring who he is after everything that's been done to him as well as where him and MC stand after his "rebirth". Zayne does not navigate the same "sin" or concerns of societal prejudice like Caleb, if anything his relationship is supported by his peers and does not need to be hidden or takes the same development time as Caleb's (before people start twisting this, DO NOT DATE YOUR PATIENT/DOCTOR IRL, HOWEVER THIS IS A SCI-FANTASY GAME AND EXTREMELY EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES-SUSPEND YOUR DISBELIEF), but he is stuck within remorse and recompense for quite literally being a danger to MC outside of his own control.
There's an explicit irony in this:
The one who could not be with her before does everything to keep her safe, putting himself as the sacrificial lamb and re-traumatising himself once more in experimentation. The one who societally has no issues, literally almost killed her before and could be the biggest danger to her existence in the game as the embodiment of universal order.
These are extremely simplified ways of looking at both characters in their relationships towards MC but speak to their most core aspects and positioning, which is why it makes sense Zayne was present in HW. People who twist his presence as a slight against Caleb, whilst allowed their own subjective opinions, need to also remember:
Caleb's story being so tense and thrilling was entirely on purpose. It was not to make Zayne the perfect could-be savior who will do all in his power to help MC, but highlight how dark the reality Caleb has to navigate now which we know from before he was the golden boy and adored and has fallen from that. You are meant to feel how oppressive, secretive and sinister Skyhaven has become. You're meant to feel uncertain about how the dynamic has shifted with Caleb as the reader. Though MC is naturally prioritising her own feelings - this is a man she's grown up with, studied with, ate meals together in their home, quarrelled over chores with etc and was beside her during the most traumatic period of her life in the Shelter - WE as viewers are going to question his new role and what exactly is going on in Skyhaven.
Zayne's relevancy to Skyhaven was already something we could have anticipated as from launch we know he studied and graduated in Skyhaven and worked there. His presence is not a fun cameo and purely because of plot relevance with the hospital, it is also meant to be a reprieve from the oppressive uncertainty that plagues us as witnesses to the story and alleviate some of the tension through the mystery-thriller narrative. His entrance slows down the intensity of the pace and brings a sense of calm completely with intention. You only become more aware of that oppressive tension when you have a moment to catch your breath. Therefore, Zayne feels like calm and safety because the narrative wants you to feel that way. The difference between him assisting you and also highlighting that Skyhaven is not the same as it used to be because of the Fleet validates our feelings as the player. NOT just from the perspective of MC as she was not able to completely see the situation as objectively as she could have, compared to if she was not in such an emotionally intense situation, with her one semblance of family back in her life.
You do not realise how bad things feel until you actually have a moment to sit with it and that's what Zayne's assistance and conspiratorial narrative in HW allowed. However, Caleb is not an instigator of oppression but a victim in the entire situation and this is why blaming him for the state Skyhaven is in or for the oppressive feeling of the narrative is a misattribution on who the actual architects of unease are - the Farspace Fleet, The Professor and EVER.
Caleb's actions within the entirety of Homecoming Wings highlights how he is trying everything within his capacity to help MC, but as we see things through her perspective it's very easy to misalign the frustration with the situation and him getting "in the way" as his fault. The reality is, he's the only one standing between her and getting caught. Zayne may be powerful in his own right, but he doesn’t know the inner workings of Skyhaven in its current state and as the ending of Homecoming Wings highlighted, the regime is significantly deeper than one child who "died" under mysterious circumstances. Caleb didn't want or support what is happening in Skyhaven on principle or to Mia, to blame him for those circumstances is a flagrant misreading and completely erasing his responses to what happened to the children in the story. But Caleb's primary focus is keeping MC safe, and I think a lot of people vastly underestimate the power of the opposition when they keep pushing that the LI could have "done more". To Our Yesterday made it even more clear the "bad guys" in the game are significantly more organised and have more at their disposal than we realise. DAR introduced the creation of weapons that are specifically aimed to work against an LI with Sylus in the antimatter weapons. Furthermore, all LI suffer from some form of inhibitor or restriction from full ability which the enemy group have either proven to be or could be aware of: For Caleb he's reined in by the Toring chip, Sylus's anecdotes highlights he cannot use his full power currently, Xavier (had) his suppressor and Rafayel and Zayne are not fully tapping into their own respective ties to divinity.
Even in terms of restriction however, Caleb and Zayne sit as opposites but with parallels. Caleb has a Toring chip which is meant to make him obedient to the desires of higher ups and emotionally numb in their pursuit of perfection. The irony in this is Zayne is also a (what I like to call) mathematically perfect entity who is meant to prize logical judgement over world's to execute Order and Annihilation. Both cases are meant to lead to a prioritisation of Orders within their current incarnations, one through a more Sci Fi purview and the other through a more Fantasy/Spiritual.
The love and prioritisation both also have towards MC also continues their suffering in their respective conditions:
The experiments on Caleb find his resistance something that makes him a fascinating anomaly, thus he continues to be tormented this way because he does not want to lose himself and his love for MC to the chip (Seen in Lucid Dream myth conclusion, but we also see parallels to this in Decoherence myth's first Kindled).
For Zayne, he is suffering from Evol backlash either due to divine punishment (foreshadowed in Foreseer myth) but also his power being too powerful for his current corporeal human form - supported by the fact the enemy faction explicitly do *not* want him to Awaken to his full potential as Emissary because it would lead to the erasure of the world (To Our Yesterday).
Caleb is a victim of child experimentation, almost died in a bombing, who then reverted back to being an experimentation victim and forced into a role that gives him the capacity to step in and protect his most important person. He did not choose this life, but this is the only one he can have currently and uses it to benefit MC and her security by trying to keep eyes on him. At the end of Homecoming Wings he literally even spells this out for the reader; Caleb is doing the best with what he can and actively putting himself on the line for MC. Across his Bond Rain's Embrace and Homecoming Wings we see Caleb prize protecting MC and keeping her out of danger over her own autonomy of choice. And whilst that sounds extremely toxic, when looking at both situations logically she would not have stood a chance especially at her power level at the time. Regardless of whether or not this is your personal romantic preference, this works specifically towards the dynamic we see between Caleb and MC as two traumatised children who found family together within a shelter, were formally adopted together and gave each other normalcy and companionship during their upbringing.
In adulthood and their new dynamics, whilst Caleb does indeed need to grow to trust MC and her ability, he is also restricted in how much he can actively do to help her due to faction alignments. Zayne often does assist and work with MC across the plot and some cards actually highlight their partnership and elevation of one another. Zayne is a Healer and MC is a Protector in terms of their "roles", but both have fought together within an official capacity and this is supported by Akso Hospital being an official partner of the Hunters Association. Meanwhile the Farspace Fleet and Hunter’s Association are clearly at odds, which puts a constraint on what Caleb can do. This directly impacts the capacity with which each LI can navigate partnering with MC, and if anything highlights how the faction "politics" actually contributes to the writing of the characters and the narrative adversity they go through.
We literally see another example of this in Death and Rebirth’s conclusion with Zayne (attempting) to resign from Akso and get away from MC as he failed in his one goal to help heal the woman he loves and only caused her more harm. This is the reason he even chose to specialise in a field to help heal her, to make it up to her and help her flourish. So even seeing Zayne as the position of "safety" within the narrative whilst tonally is intentional, is also playing into the dramatic irony of the overall situation for those who were aware of the childhood incident before Death and Rebirth’s explicit revelation. The Fountain of Atei referenced within Homecoming Wings is DIRECTLY something Zayne is responsible for - thus it is all the more ironic and makes the revelation all the more debilitating, adding weight to the security and peace we felt in previous content with Zayne both in terms of grief of what was lost, but also reframing and adding a tragic undertone to his motivations.
This also then leans into how both characters use their respective power:
Zayne's dynamic was never about using power "over" her for malicious gain, but to her benefit and elevation at his own cost. Foreseer, Master of Fate, God of Annihilation (attempted), Galen Zayne (Immediate Disorder AU) and General Zayne (Aeon’s Canon AU) all support this.
Whilst Caleb uses power as a shield to protect MC (Colonel Caleb, High Marshal Caleb (Imperial Thronesong AU), Perses Caleb (Tainted Cuts AU) and in some cases, he himself takes the brunt of the damage being the shield itself for her (Caleb being experimented on and directing the focus onto himself instead of MC, X-02).
Faction alignment, core themes and both where they parallel and polarise eachothers characterisation and narratives play into why Zayne's presence only strengthened the narrative. Zayne provided a hope in the despair, whilst Caleb was the reminder of protection in the bleak reality. The despair would not be as strong if we did not think we could make it through this and had a chance, and the hope would not have hit so hard if there were not very real stakes at hand through the narrative atmosphere and foreboding tone. Homecoming Wings was a brutal reminder of what can be lost and the reality MC is actively working against, and with both LI linked to her Childhood highlights how much has changed in their respective dynamics. However, it also shows how much the past haunts their current present and, despite hardships, their simple hope they both work towards for a new safer future.
