In
Defense of Relena’s Integrity
The first thing that must be stated is that this is Relena’s show. As has already been said the purpose of Gundam Wing is to promote connection, especially in relation to the five pilots; and the connection between Relena and Heero is obviously the most often represented. I’m not talking about Relena and Heero as a couple—save that for later. This is just Relena, her ideals and feelings. She is seen so often in relation to her perfect dream or to Heero that she is very rarely a singular person, which is a great disservice to her character.
Relena does not make a good impression on her audience in the beginning. She’s not supposed to. The mistake everyone makes in deciding her character is that they watch her first scenes and are immediately turned off by her. From that point on, no matter what she does, she is still considered to be the self-indulgent, delusional obsessionist that she seems to be within the first section of the show. However, Relena is a very deep, developing character. She changes more dramatically than anyone else in the show does, actually. Her personality is so extreme in the beginning so that it is more obvious when she changes later; however, it is this extremity that forces many fans away.
From the beginning,
what do we know about Relena?
Before the beginning of the show Relena is the daughter of Foreign Minister Dorlian. She has obviously grown up in a very well kept environment, in a wealthy house with servants and chauffeurs and even a fan club. Despite all these luxuries she is not pleased with her life: she complains about not getting enough time with her father, and doesn’t care about the work he’s doing for peace’s sake. She is like a princess in a fairy tale: she has subjects and wealth, but does that mean she has friends? Relena doesn’t seem to associate with her classmates much, other than to treat them politely. This is not a girl that goes mall-trolling on the weekends, or has late night slumber parties with close girl friends. Even in official art she is never pictured with anyone other than the pilots, or occasionally the other female leads. Her “fan club” treats her with such blind respect that they cannot see each other as equals. She is effectively alone.
In fact, her fan club may represent the anti-thesis to the show’s intent: false communication. Relena’s relationship to her classmates is opposite of her relationship with Heero: they treat her with far more grace and outward respect than Heero, and yet they make her feel weak and isolated, while Heero gives her strength and independence.
Okay, so why does she have to be such an obsessive freak?
If Relena truly considers herself to be fairy princess, it only makes sense that at some point a prince is going to come into her life. She has been waiting for something to pull her out of her monotonous and boring routines. When people are unhappy with their lives it is easier to attach themselves to someone else’s—in the beginning she is not trying to help Heero, but merely to add some meaning to her own life. If she can understand and/or assist Heero, then all the loneliness she has suffered will be worth something.
Later on, as Relena suffers from
the loss of her “father” and learns of her new identity, she begins to
understand Heero a little better.
Rather than sit idly by and watch her life revolve around her, she
decides to act. For someone who has
been at an emotional standstill all her life, this is an important step. However, she is still not strong enough
make these changes on her own. Very
suddenly she is expected to uphold a set of perfect ideals. She sees Heero as being the person she
wants to become: strong, uncompromising, and unfaltering in the pursuit of his
dream. In order to be a true
Peacecraft she must be like him, and therefore finds comfort in being with
him. He is her symbol of
strength.
Well, she’s still a
hypocrite for shooting at Lady Une and telling Heero to kill her
brother!
Like I’ve just said, after the
death of her “father” Relena has a lot to live up to. She sees Heero’s way of doing things and
kind of adopts that as her own for a while. She gains strength from him and his
convictions, and therefore assumes that the best way to achieve her goals is
through strong-willed, forceful retaliation. This prompts her attack on Lady
Une. Remember that this event takes
place before she has learned all about her father’s pacifism from Noin, and
before she has assumed her role in the Sanc Kingdom as a total pacifist. At this point in her life, she’s not
quite sure what to believe in, and therefore follows what she thinks is expected
of her.
Even more importantly, Heero and Relena share a delicate position: two young children, bearing the names of legendary peacemakers. Because Heero is continuing the legacy of the real Heero Yuy by gaining revenge for him, that justifies her taking revenge for her father and the former King Peacecraft.
In the case of Zechs this accusation is unfair, as she did not know he was her brother at the time. She knows Zechs as only being a soldier of OZ, the people who killed her father and are perpetuating war. He also resorts to dirty tactics during his duel with Heero despite all his “honor” talk beforehand: while Relena’s jet is between the battling mechas, Zechs uses the distraction to disarm Heero. Again, Relena has not yet developed her ideas of total pacifism, and the only way she can think of to deal with so aggressive and unreasonable a person is to get rid of him. As soon as she is told that Zechs is her brother, she immediately ceases to encourage his death.
She’s still clingy
and obsessive because she follows Heero everywhere
I’m afraid not. Halfway through the series, Relena changes. By the time she assumes the role of the Sanc Kingdom’s sovereign, she has matured to the point of realizing what her real goals are. She stops looking for Heero. This is not to say that she stops thinking of him, obviously, but by declining from her previously very active search she shows that she has somewhat matured. Rather than drawing strength by being at his side, she is now content to be strengthened by the mere knowledge of his existence. That is, simply by knowing that he is out there somewhere, making his visions real, she is given the confidence to work toward her own goals. (This is somewhat reminiscent of the ideas presented at the end of Escaflowne: “I don’t need promises, because that is the precious strength you gave me…even if you’re gone I’ll continue to live with a smile…” etc).
When Heero does come to the Sanc Kingdom with Quatre, she doesn’t run up and glomp him: she only smiles, watching him. She does not force herself on him, instead asking for permission to be together: “May I sit here?” (I’ll go into Heero’s reaction to this request a bit later ^_-). Though there is no denying that she wants him to stay, she is not so crazy that she attaches herself to him every moment she can.
Once the Sanc Kingdom is taken
over by OZ, Relena then assumes the head position as the Romefellar Foundation’s
chief representative. This is quite
a responsibility for a fifteen-year-old girl, to have hundreds of old men
depending on her. By then she has
given up searching for Heero completely, as her duties are more important. Even afterwards, her first thought is
not to find Heero, but to find her brother and stop him from continuing the
war. On board Libra, Hilde even
gives her the chance to see Heero again by offering that they escape
together. However, Relena turns her
down, saying instead that she must stay and try to convince Milliardo. She even seems surprised when Heero
comes for her. In the beginning she
may have assumed that she and Heero should be together, but now she assumes
nothing. She has grown as a
person.
In the ending episode, she even attempts to make Heero grow a little. By ripping up the letter it places the next move on Heero: if he has something to say, he’ll have to say it directly. And obviously, he has to continue living in order to do this. Though arguably it could be said that she did this selfishly, so that Heero would have to come see her again, remember that by this time she has ceased to assume that he cares for her. She wants him to have the courage to speak to her up front, to do something not because it’s part of the mission, but because he wants to. She is forcing him to have the strength that he gave her.
Even long after the show itself has ended, Relena still believes that "as long as Heero is out there somewhere, [she] can have the strength to do what she must," (Ground Zero). Just by knowing that Heero is alive and well, she can follow his example and lead her own life. She doesn't need to have him with her for that.
Relena is naïve—total pacifism is only a dream that can’t be achieved.
This statement can be disproved simply by watching the end of Endless Waltz: it is declared that, after that point, peace became a reality. Relena came upon the truth she failed to learn from Milliardo and Treize at the end of the 195 battle: that for total pacifism to occur, throwing down weapons isn’t enough. You must also throw down vengeance, anger, hate, and greed. Total pacifism is possible as long as everyone wants it to be that way. Relena wasn’t wrong—only her methods were not developed enough. Considering the fact that she’s still only a teenager, I’m sure that can be forgiven.
Interpretation of
Relena’s image songs
Relena is a very open person, which makes her images songs “Forever a Secret” and “Love Will Not Yet Cry” very easy to interpret. She tells the listener that she loves “someone,” but “I'm afraid to tell you, afraid I'd wreck it and lose the freedom to be by your side.” She also says, “Even if you don't feel it, even if you won't hold me, right now I just want to watch you smile. It will always stay a secret and no one will ever know, but it makes me happy just to love you so much.” She accepts that whether or not Heero is aware of or returns her affections, she is happy to have loved him, and is content to see him happy. (from “Zutto Himitsu, by the way).
In her second song, “Ai wa mada nakanai” (Love will not yet cry), she says:
"I can think of you without crying from the pain.
All I want is to become stronger than I was yesterday.
I want to fight for my dream the way you do.
I won't give in to tears, either."
Which is almost exactly what I’ve been saying all along.
In
conclusion
Relena is a character that changes. She begins as a spoiled child, and grows into a mature and selfless young woman. She progresses through several sets of beliefs before finally realizing her true desires, and even sets aside the love she feels for Heero so that her goals can be accomplished. She is a symbol of hope and integrity with the power to inspire the entire world. In order to appreciate Relena’s character, you must be aware of the changes she makes in her life, because they are the things that make her a very realistic human character.
