To me though, I still think there's an argument to be made that the author's viewpoint is flawed. He seems to argue that Aiden and Anna are rehabilitated and deserve to be absolved of their past crimes/intentions, but is that viewpoint valid when even the Plague Doctor (someone with full knowledge of their past selves) is skeptical and the only wholly convinced person is Aiden, someone who at the time is frequently referencing his inability to keep his 'self' clear and distinct from his hosts? The same Aiden that has very limited memory and knowledge of these past atrocities?
I don’t think that’s the author’s viewpoint at all because there were so many things that went into triggering their conclusion. It’s not a matter of them being absolved of their crimes, but of the bigger picture.
This form of rehabilitation isn’t exactly ideal as we’ve already discussed. There was no “winning” to this game before Aiden got involved in the whole thing. He only got involved because the higher ups tampered with the system and found it suitable that Anna suffer even more by getting killed over and over for god knows how long. And at the end of each of her loops she loses apart of herself just like Aiden but not at the same rate as him because of his host swapping mechanic.
But meanwhile Anna is dying over and over and over again from the time Aiden is first introduced into the system and some of that trauma has to have carried over for her.
At one point she decides to try and solve the crime and teams up with Aiden and actually finds a sort of companionship with him.
This shit is crazy to think about lol
Then you have the plague doctor that’s just some old, tired man that has seen all of this going on for years and years. And finally, while helping Aiden, he notices Aiden “aiding” Anna (lmao, at the alliteration) and that transformation is also astonishing. On top of that, Aiden has become this selfless figure now (maybe falling back into the type of person he was before his sisters murder) and puts Anna’s life above his. His original urge of vengeance turns into a story of redemption for Anna.
They are no longer the people they were before they entered Blackheath because all they really know is each other. Aiden’s only memory is “Anna” and Anna’s only memory is of him killing her lol.
She has died so many times. And that brings me to my final point and one I haven’t seen discussed here yet: the pain of death.
The description of the footman’s knife slicing up Aiden in each of his hosts... it’s very real to him. Pain actually hurts in this simulation and it’s very vividly depicted. And those feelings carried over from each host, too. Every time he woke up as Collins, that shit was a terrible experience to endure. Anna experienced such suffering over and over again too.
So it’s not a matter of being absolved, but a matter of is this right? Do people truly deserve this for the rest of their lives?
Will Anna elect to keep her memories? That’s an Inception, top-spinning ending for you