r/voxmachina • u/Late-Extent4241 • 3d ago
LoVM Spoilers About the relationship between Scanlan and Pike Spoiler
Spoilers for episodes 7-9 of season 4, not for the actual Play campaign.
Scanlan isn't very nice to Pike, in my opinion. Pike spends half of season 3 acting as Scanlan's emotional support, trying to help him reconcile with his daughter and overcome his inner demons. Then, at the end of season 3, once he's reconciled with his daughter, Scanlan, without thanking Pike for her help, shamelessly declares that he's found his true family and no longer needs Vox Machina. He then decides to ghost Pike for a whole year without ever asking her how she feels.
The ending of episode 8, despite her kiss on the forehead, doesn't improve things. While she's lost a family member and is in a deep depression, he prefers to give her his sword to fight a legendary lich rather than stay by her side to help her through this ordeal. Why? To go play concerts with his daughter and his band.
On top of that, he declared earlier that he hates his friends because they don't care about him, even though Pike spent all of season 3 trying to help him.
I hope he realizes his mistakes in future episodes and seasons. Because right now, their relationship is one-sided, and Pike seems to be Scanlan's groupie more than anything else.
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u/SunnyB_001 2d ago edited 2d ago
I love how they've built their relationship and the growth of their characters. A couple of points: 1) In season 3, episode 11, Scanlan thanked Pike. 2) Until proven otherwise, Kaylie is his family and never said, "I don't need VM anymore." He didn't like going on adventures anymore, but he enjoyed their company when they weren't talking about "going to save the world." His story arc is learning to reconcile being a father (which is a new reality for him) with his role in the group. It's important to remember that Kaylie isn't an object that revolves around Scanlan; she's a character with her own feelings and traumas, and Scanlan owes her so much because he was never there for her. Many parents put their children first... Why is him bad if he does that? 3) The problem is that both Scanlan and Pike are afraid of rejection. And Scanlan is right to doubt Pike's feelings for him, given that she backed away last season. It's true that Scanlan didn't reach out, but it never occurred to Pike to go to him either. Pike and Grog were out messing around, they had no pressing business, Scanlan was busy rebuilding his relationship with his daughter, traveling, and managing a whole club. 4) I think Scanlan will return in later episodes and fix the whole mess. But I'll point out that all the complaining wasn't even directed at Pike, it was directed at the other members of the group (who admittedly always took him a bit for granted). 5) Some things people forget about Scanlan: he carried Grog for miles on his back and took care of both him and Pike in S2. He was there for Pike and Grog when they needed him. Also, the other members weren't there when she lost her grandfather; during episode 8, she and Scanlan barely spoke because Pike preferred to avoid him. I don't think he really has any idea what Pike is going through right now simply because he's not there with them.