"Zelgadiss and Ameria in the End" "Zelgadiss-san,
when this battle is over, will you come to Saillune with
me?" I believe these to be the two most significant lines concerning the relationship between Zel and Ameria. It sums up their relationship at the end of TRY perfectly. Here's why. You may recall that in episode 26, after Copy Rezo's defeat, Amelia also proposed this idea to Zelgadiss, although her motivations for saying it were completely different than what she meant in TRY. In 26, right after Zelgadiss stated he was going to continue looking for his cure, Ameria said this: "Hey, I know! You can come to Saillune with us! I'm sure we can find your cure there!" When she said "us," she meant her and Phil. There was no romantic intention in her suggestion whatsoever. If there was, I can definitely say that she wouldn't have included her father in the propositon. At this point in the series, Zel and Ameria didn't have the best of relationships; they had met only less than ten episodes earlier, and during those episodes they never really interacted other than casting spells together in battle. As much of an A/Z fan that I am, I refuse to believe that there were ANY romantic feelings between them in the first series. You heard me, NONE. As of episode 26, Zel wasn't exactly too fond of Ameria, and Ameria was only beginning to accept him as an okay person. Thus his reply, "With YOU, huh?" was not a surprise and it doesn't bother me at all (I even admit that I think it's funny!). Then, NEXT came. Don't get me started about what happens here. I could go on all day. I'm here to talk about the end of TRY. Zel and Ameria became good friends in NEXT, if not just a little bit more by mid-to-late TRY. Everybody who has half a brain knows this, even the people who deny the A/Z coupling. In the Slayers day and age, courting and relationships are different than what we're used to today. Want evidence of this? In the end of the Slayers novels, Lina and Gourry weren't sure what they were going to do after defeating Shabranigdo, so Gourry suggested they go to Zephilia, Lina's home. Lina automatically assumed that Gourry was proposing to her (wanting to go talk to her parents). This is the same with Ameria and Zelgadiss. Why would Zel go to Saillune? He traveled there in NEXT, and even though he was caught up in the conspiracy against Phil, he surely would have looked for a cure. Obviously he found nothing. When you first look at what Ameria asked Zel in 77, you might think that if he did say yes, then he would go to Saillune with her. But then what? One of the main themes of the first Slayers series was that you should always have a plan in mind for your future. Zel's not the type of person to go somewhere and then hang around for no good reason. Ameria's the same way- everything she does has a purpose, and even if it's totally absurd to you and me and everyone else, it's still important to her. The bottom line is, Zel and Ameria both have to have a good reason to do something, or else there's no point doing it at all. Ameria's reason in 26 for suggesting Zelgadiss go with her was that she wanted to help her new friend- maybe Saillune would hold a cure for him. It didn't matter that she was speaking to Zelgadiss; she would have offered the help to anyone who needed it. In 77, her reason is completely different. So, if she knew that he wouldn't go there in search of a cure, then what prompted her to ask that question? Of course we know by now that Ameria is in love with Zelgadiss. But to what extent? Taking in Gourry's suggestion to Lina in the novels and her reaction, and looking and the relationship between Zel and Ameria, here's just how significant that line was: What she said: "Zelgadiss-san, when this battle is over, will you come to Saillune with me?" What she meant: "Zelgadiss-san, when this battle is over, please come with me to Saillune, because I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you." Of course, the latter sounds so much more intimidating, so we can understand why she went with the former request. And his answer! "Well, I'll think about it," was never so meaningful! Need proof? Here it is: Like I said earlier, Zelgadiss isn't one to do something without a reason. Up until this point, everyone assumes and knows that Zel's number one goal in life is to turn his body back to normal. As far as we know, everything else comes after that. And he's not exactly the sensitive type, either. If he had no intention of staying with Ameria, he would have said so right away. Phrases like "I'll think about it" and other wishy-washy behavior doesn't seem to fit with the usually straightforward, decisive Zelgadiss. So maybe he had some other hidden goal there. He's intelligent- I'm sure he knew or at least had some sort of idea what her true intentions were. Even though he ultimately didn't stay in Saillune with her, the epilogue of episode 78 left me with a feeling that he was torn between two things- Ameria and his cure. Of course, the latter won out, not necessarily because he didn't care for Ameria enough, but because of the old saying, "You can't love someone else until you can love yourself." Zelgadiss isn't happy with his appearance, and he accepts that he will probably never be until he is human again. Then there is also the theory that Zel saw a little bit of Rezo reflected in himself (desperately wanting a cure for their respective conditions) and didn't want to end up going insane like that, leaving the woman he was closest to heartbroken and ultimately dead. Rezo the human (NOT Rezo-Shabranigdo) was a good person. So is Zelgadiss. Bad things happen to good people, and history repeats itself. Like I said in the last paragraph, Zel was torn between Ameria and his cure. He goes to look for his cure, but still he keeps a part of Ameria with him in the form of her bracelet, which is fastened around his waterbottle. A lot of anti-A/Z supporters will say things like Zel was just being nice by accepting the bracelet (And how should we know it was she that offered it to him? Maybe he asked for it!), but if he was "just being nice," then do you really think that once she was not around, he would have continued to keep it in such a prominent and personal location (Personal because he is the only one who uses and sees the waterbottle, thus the bracelet is something of a special secret that is reserved for admiration and viewing by only him.)? No. Because that would be out of character. Like I said, with Zel, there's a reason for everything, and "just being nice" isn't one of them. So, there's my explanation for Zelgadiss and Ameria's relationship during the final two episodes of Slayers TRY. It took a while to say what I was trying to say, but I think repetition is the best way to get an important point across, especially to people who are skeptical and hesitant. I don't mean to bash or flame anti-A/Z fans in any way; I just wish they'd take the time to understand a different point of view. |