Did... Did Lena abandon Arika in favour of saving Nina?

This has been bothering me for a couple of days now. I was watching the opening of the first episode again, and for once it actually occurred to me to wonder where Arika is while Lena is heroically floating Nina down the river Nile. Later on we find out that it was Miyu who rescued Arika and brought her to her grandmother, and the episode depicts her as having come across baby Arika crying on the ground beside a dead woman. Which seems to indicate that Lena sent her infant daughter off with someone who was clearly incapable of physically protecting her and with no guarantee of her safety, while she ran off to save someone else's kid and luckily Miyu happened along to rescue Arika. Whatever way you cut it her actions as a parent seem pretty shitty. Clearly she was an outstanding Otome however. I feel pretty sickened tbh.

Lena says "You must live..." but what was going to happen if Nina didn't? They found a suitable stand-in anyway, and if anything, Nina surviving endangered the world considerably more than her death would have. The only thing she seems good for is operating weapons of mass destruction and threatening the lives of friends and family members due to her massive Elektra complex.

Why is this show full of terrible parents. I think I've just traumatised myself.

I think Lena originally intended to come back for Arika, but after being wounded badly she was unable to adequately save either of them, leaving Nina to chance in the sewers and dying before she could return and save Arika.

At least that's what I hope happened,

skan wrote:This has been bothering me for a couple of days now. I was watching the opening of the first episode again, and for once it actually occurred to me to wonder where Arika is while Lena is heroically floating Nina down the river Nile. Later on we find out that it was Miyu who rescued Arika and brought her to her grandmother, and the episode depicts her as having come across baby Arika crying on the ground beside a dead woman. Which seems to indicate that Lena sent her infant daughter off with someone who was clearly incapable of physically protecting her and with no guarantee of her safety, while she ran off to save someone else's kid and luckily Miyu happened along to rescue Arika. Whatever way you cut it her actions as a parent seem pretty shitty. Clearly she was an outstanding Otome however. I feel pretty sickened tbh.

Lena says "You must live..." but what was going to happen if Nina didn't? They found a suitable stand-in anyway, and if anything, Nina surviving endangered the world considerably more than her death would have. The only thing she seems good for is operating weapons of mass destruction and threatening the lives of friends and family members due to her massive Elektra complex.

Why is this show full of terrible parents. I think I've just traumatised myself.

That's why I love this show, nobody is perfect. Especially the mother of our protagonist.

To be fair, Lena didn't know that Nina would one day throw her weight around and kill thousands, if not millions of people with the Harmonium's power. We're only focusing on Lena's questionable decision making, which to me, is based more on desperation than careful planning. Otherwise, baby Arika would of ended up in a safer environment without aid from Miyu. At that point, everything was crumbling around Lena. Sifr Fran and Bruce were brutally murdered and she wasn't the OP goddess she was in My-Otome 0~S.ifr~.

Allow Dr. Helene to clear your trauma. Though, it is almost unavoidable in this series. lol

Zweifel Marguerite wrote:
So, yeah. Horrible parenting on Lena's part indeed, but not unexpected, because Nina was more important to the kingdom that Arika at that point. And if I were in Lena's position, I would do the same, because it would be my duty to the monarchs and kingdom. It is an obligation of an Otome (even a former one) to always prioritize her duty over her personal interests.

This only symbolizes the old ways of the Otome and the way Earl's monarchs, nations and kingdoms governed everything. Up until the arrival of Arika in Episode I, the standards of the Otome have always been traditional. You could say Lena broke that mold first, but Arika's involvement started a domino effect that eventually liberated the Otome from contracts. Even Akane flipped off the old ways by wanting to be with Kazuya.

Point is, had Arika been killed, your chain of events would of occurred. Although, I still consider Arika the bigger threat, and the *slightly* more important character to the overall story, Nina is natural born royalty and essential to governing a stable government. Would of been a nice what-if to see that play out; certainty making Mai-Otome a more political tale than it already was. I'm glad they ventured into the adventure/political drama hybrid route in the end.