LUTHER HARGREEVES DEFENSE POST
Ok there’s a lot of hate against Luther that can EASILY be rebutted, let’s see…
1. “DaD sEnT mE tO tHe MoOn” first of all I don’t actually remember him referring to the moon for an entirety of S1 until Ep6 when he broke down after finding out that his 4 YEARS ON THE MOON was for nothing. If anything, he’s more than allowed to feel absolutely destroyed. 4 years of complete solitude for no reason at all… and might I remind you that he literally just got his body transformed for the worse without his consent (life-saving but still horrible)… if y'all actually know what does it feel like to have your body transformed without your consent, you know what I’m talking about here. No amount of time can actually heal you. You learn to adapt with the pain as time goes on, but no it won’t go. To adapt you actually need to talk with someone, both to help you cope with the stress and to give pointers on your ‘new’ life, which he doesn’t have.
2. “He threatened to throw Dolores out!” Might I remind you that Five was scribbling murdering plans on the wall. Yeah it’s horrible that he threatened to throw Dolores out but Five was planning to kill someone who he didn’t ACTUALLY know was innocent or guilty, the only clue that he got was the fake eye. Yes it’s not a good approach and all but it shows how good-hearted Luther is, trying to minimalise casualties as possible. As much as I love Five I can’t deny the fact that the boy has no moral values at all and only sees the end of things, not the process.
3. “He choked Vanya and locked her in a place where it’s very traumatic to her!” Might I remind you that at that time, she cut Allison’s throat and killed two thugs (accidentally, continue to see the explanation). Logically speaking, Luther SHOULD lock Vanya in that sound-proof room. Vanya in that moment is like a toddler with a machine gun. She couldn’t control her powers fine. Yes all the other siblings said she should leave, but yet again, that is sentimental talking and not logical talking. None of them knew how to help Vanya with her powers, not even Vanya knew. How do you deal with a lethal power that you can’t control and no one else knew how to control it too? You lock it away. She killed two people and nearly killed one, if I was there I would lock her away too at least until I have a vague idea on how to control it. Vanya was apologetic- yes, which should’ve been a clue that letting her out would be a BAD idea! She killed the two thugs and harmed Allison when she was emotional! The place serves her deep trauma- yes, but also WHERE ELSE WOULD BE SAFE TO LOCK HER IN? She can destroy shit with just sound!
4. “He said 'is there any way to silence the voice in your head that screams out to be the centre of attention?’ to Klaus!” Might I remind you that the Academy was just destroyed by their own sister who also cut the throat of another sister? Yes he could’ve said it kinder but given the stress they were under, he was right. No one there but Klaus knows that Ben is there and Klaus couldn’t prove it (it was proven wrong later but in that moment). They NEED to find Vanya and a way to stop the apocalypse SHE would cause! Klaus *is* distracting the team’s attention by saying that Ben can have a physical form, which is a preposterous idea for the rest of the Academy and something he couldn’t actually prove (for that moment). Luther could’ve said it in a kinder way, but he wasn’t wrong.
* in that note I’d like to say that Allison calling Claire in the middle of meeting is also distracting, but I won’t go there rn
5. “Luther always screams that he’s Number 1, when it doesn’t matter!” Remember that Luther NEVER left the Academy and he grew up being the leader of unleadable pack, that’s ought to be stressful. Truth be told, the fact that he was named Number 1 + the fact that he never left the Academy would’ve inflated his ego by miles. He should’ve grown up- yes, but I need to remind you that he was Number 1 until Reginald’s death. I know I wouldn’t be able to move on that quickly.
5.5. The fact that Reginald wouldn’t call Luther by his name even when it’s just them SCREAMS that Luther doesn’t know what he is other than Number 1. Everyone else grew up and “found” who they are outside the Academy, but Luther never had the chance. Everything he did was at Reginald’s orders, of course he’d do anything to remain Number 1 (self promo: that’s the backing idea of my fanfic 'Number One’, available in Wattpad and AO3!)
6. When Klaus could prove that Ben was really present, Luther immediately asks for his voice when talking about going back in time. For all everyone knows, it’s a very risky thing (even Five knows that!) but they literally had no other choice. Still, he attempted to include all voices in deciding the fate that would involve all of them. Considering that his body was transformed without his consent (life-saving, but still), this truly hits where it hurts for me.
6.5. I SHOULD ADD that when they had a vote about keeping Grace on or not, he tried to include Vanya but Diego tried to exclude her because she “doesn’t have any powers” and Diego only includes her voice when her voice aligns with his. Idk about you but as a person with disabilities it TRULY hurts when someone excludes me from shit because of my disabilities. I really appreciate Luther for trying to include her here.
7. I will not try to justify LutherAllison because that’s incest. When Klaus outed Luther being not-virgin to Allison and she stormed out, I got angry right then and there. It’s so hypocritical when she’s literally divorced and has a daughter! She had NO RIGHT to storm out in anger! They’re not dating, they kissed yes but kissing doesn’t really mean anything.
7.5. If I’m being negative here, I’d say that Allison rumoured Luther to love her (I have no canonical evidence other than the fact that she said she hurts so many people in the past with her powers, so I will not comment on that). From the canonical evidence, I say that Luther and Allison “fell in love with each other” because they don’t actually know the difference between sibling love and romantic love and thought it’s romantic love when it’s not.
S2 SPOILER ALERT
8. Luther tried to apologise to Vanya because he realised that his actions were wrong, and that takes guts. I don’t know about you but I find it really hard to apologise to the people I’ve mistreated in the past, so props to Luther for doing so. It is SO IMPORTANT. People aren’t instantly on the good side, and this shows that message perfectly, that you must (and can) learn from past mistakes and do better.
Luther Hargreeves is flawed, but a lot of his actions are actually understandable/redeemable.
