The Vision of Escaflowne/Headscratchers

Last episode spoiler: Why didn't Hitomi stay on Gaia? She stated outright that she liked it there, and the man she loves is there...was it explained better somewhere else?
- Because her family and friends that she also loved dearly were on Earth. And even if she liked Gaia, it was Earth that she was raised on her whole life, and she likely wouldn't be ready to leave it all behind just yet.
  - Come on, she's got ONE friend. Girl's gotta learn to prioritize. Plus it's not like she can't come and go whenever she wants IIRC.
  - Who's to say she doesn't have more friends than just Yukari? IIRC, she had some in the end credits. And, more importantly, she has a FAMILY back on Earth, you can't forget that. It's not like she can just LEAVE the place and people she's been familiar with for fifteen years for a place and person she's only known for one year.
  - Sure she could -- happened all the time back before you could ride an armchair strapped to a rocket across the ocean in six hours. This troper likes to think that Hitomi may love Van, but she still wants to grow up before becoming Queen of Fanelia -- she's only fifteen, after all. Give her some space, she just saved an entire planet from destruction before her sophomore year.
  - So, kind of like the end of Inuyasha, then? She'll finish high school, then immediately run off to get married so everyone thinks she's some kind of crazy ko-gal?
  - I personally see nothing wrong with that... she at least would give some time to her family and some time to the guy she loves... though in all honesty, I wish the series just went with the way the abridged series did it. She can teleport back and forth if she wanted to technically, right? So she could still have the best of both worlds... but hey, that's just me. In my own personal head canon that's how it went.
Okay slightly confused here from the final episode, related to the headscratcher above. Okay so can Hitomi ever go back? Maybe the exact details got lost in the insanity of it being the final couple of episodes, and they were trying to rush and get everything wrapped up, but did they reall specify how she gets back and forth? I mean I know it's like if she wishes hard enough and if Van wishes hard enough...is that still in play or does that not work anymore because the atlantis reality warper thing isn't working? Wait okay that doesn't make sense, then how did she get there in the first place? Grrr okay my real question is can she ever go back? Because with the way she was talking to Van, "I'll remember you even when I'm old" and "I'll never forget you" sounds kind of...final. Really makes the ending really really bittersweet to think they can never really be together, despite having this insane love that saved the world.
Here's another one, and spoilers ahoy, because it can't be discussed otherwise. After Folken defects, he comes to Asturia with all sorts of juicy secret information about Zaibach, which he gladly shares. But he obviously neglected to tell Allen and Hitomi that their relationship, in its current state, was at least partially influenced by the stunt he and Eriya pulled with the Fate Alteration Machine. Allen, despite his Memetic Sex God status, is a gentleman, and I can't imagine that he would have proposed to Hitomi so soon if he'd known that she had in any way been unduly influenced. Maybe Folken didn't like the idea of Hitomi as a sister-in-law? That would be sad, since she was by far the person who was nicest to him after he switched sides.
- Maybe he felt guilty? For doing that to Hitomi and Allen, for having his brother's heart obviously broken. Maybe he knew if Van found out, would probably hate him more? Maybe he didn't notice too much going on in the romance life of them, too busy focusing on making things right? Maybe the writers just forgot about it????
  - Possible that some of the more fleshed out reasing and explanations were cut due to budget restraints - the anime was originally plotted out and planned to be thirty-nine episodes long, but had to be shortened and compressed to twenty-six. While the writers did an overall good job of keeping the story consistent despite this, it's not impossible some more complicated explanations and the like had to be cut for time.
In episode 3 what is with Allen's treatment of Van at the start? Van heard Hitomi scream, he comes running towards her and he sees her unconscious and in the arms of an unknown man. What does Allen do to defuse the situation? Does he introduce himself as a knight and officer who might be trustworthy? Does he point out the unconscious man on the ground and explain that it was that man who attacked her? Does he even put her down and offer to let Van watch her? No, he explains nothing, he threatens Van and then he's actually angry that Van didn't listen to him.
Why is Hitomi so confused that Van wants to force his way out of Allen's fortress in episode 3? Allen has told them that Van's country has been destroyed, he hasn't given Van any suggestion that Allen or Asturia will help him and when Van takes Escaflowne and tries to leave Allen is waiting to fight him in a Guymelef. Van is trying to find the remnants of his people while Allen is doing nothing to offer a better alternative. Allen is holding a head of state prisoner for no reason other than Allen is there to be right and Van to be wrong.

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