Someone spots Keira and is like "ooh! Genius mechanic and inventor, and the only adult in the vicinity is that sage Damas dislikes. Hello, genius mechanic, you are being adopted. Please do not run."
Keira: ???!!??
And then there's still Damas thinking Jak hates him now 😭 (I personally think that's why in the game, the instant Jak is back in Spargus that's when Damas tells him "I mustn't lose you like I lost my son". He's in Damage Control mode and Worried Dad mode at the same time. But for all we know, that could be the first time anyone ever told Jak "I'm afraid of losing you". Jak certainly seems more enthusiastically Spargan after that)
Sig would definitely be grabbing Tess, saying she counts, and Tess would be writing a list of all potential new Spargans for them to pick up, both children/teens and some adults that only stayed in Haven because they didn't know where else to go since the only other known cities were worse (Tess is also grabbing as much weapon and liquor stock as she can). It'll take Torn and Ashelin a while before they realize there's a lot of missing residents but mostly because some of their Freedom Fighters are missing as well (Samos is thinking Keira is elbow deep in some machine as the reason he hasn't seen her for a few days. There's a note when he bothers checking that says she's with Jak and Daxter, nothing else because she's realized how bad her adopted father really is thanks to some help from the Spargan who talked to her).
Yeah, still a level of angst because Damas and Jak still need their talk. (And yes, I completely agree with you. I replayed that scene dozens of times because it's so heart touching. {You notice that Daxter doesn't go for a swim until after it's obvious that Damas ain't going to be lecturing/scolding Jak?} Jak's more relaxed in Spargus after that and even more uncomfortable in Haven, not that he ever looked comfortable in Haven. I think only Daxter has ever expressed concern over Jak that wasn't connected to Jak's "usefulness", well except Keira but she sways too easily because of Samos.)
One of the things I love about that cutscene is that Damas doesn't approach that conversation as an authority figure. He isn't standing over Jak like most quest givers in the series, or sitting on his throne. He's just on the stairs, physically putting himself on the same level as Jak. (Jak probably doesn't have enough of an idea of authority structures beyond tyrants and village mayors to understand that this is kind of a Big Deal, and it's unlikely that anyone else would be allowed to sit side by side with the king like this). Like. Even with rushed 2004 animation and writing, it's interesting to see the contrast between Damas’s body language before and after Jak goes to Haven. He's actively presenting a non-threatening front
Oh yes, that, that sums it up so nicely. Damas has several moments where he lets his authority figure posturing slip even before this incident, but during this, and all of afterwards, he drops it completely. Jak is approaching cautiously and Damas is broadcasting that he's not a threat, that he's not angry, and, more importantly, that he's not acting this way to manipulate Jak, something Jak doesn't get from anybody except a few people in the games. And then Damas realizes he's being emotional and two seconds away from verbally telling Jak that he's adopting him and cuts the conversation short.
Yessss
And like
Given how young Mar would've been when he was kidnapped, Damas probably had every reason to believe his son was dead.
I wonder if -- as a father grieving his child -- finding out that Jak never had a father at all triggered something in him? Like, "I didn't get to raise my own son. I lost him so young. And there are men out there just abandoning their sons to raise themselves?! Eff that. Mine now." (Oh the irony)
But then, he's never raised a teen before so he did not handle his first Communication Breakdown with Jak well at all 😅
He's lucky Jak is so starved for kindness that he forgives too fast
AND THEN AND THEN GIVING HIM THE ARMOR HE'D SAVED FOR HIS BABY. Like, he couldn't have been more obvious if he'd started addressing him as "son". And I kind of think Jak knew that on some level.
Considering Sig is back in Spargus when he admitted to Jak and Daxter that he was looking for something in Haven that Damas lost, then it stands to reason that hearing all the destruction caused by Praxis' ego and then the Council's ego, he came to the conclusion that there's no way a toddler could survive on their own and Sig would have found him if someone had him. (so close and yet so far)
I mean that look that Kleiver gives Damas during that conversation gives lots of Daxter's looks to Jak vibes. He knows what the man is thinking, as we all do, and knows this is going to mess up somehow. Kleiver has already tried teasing the pair multiple times, as well as a poor attempt at warning them, and had it taken the wrong way, so he knows this is a disaster in the making.
YESSS! The armor is so significant and it's technically the second piece of armor he gave him since Jak was going to hand over the set he got from the artifact hunt and Damas told him to keep it. The first was given in fatherly-but-denying-it worry, and the second was given in fatherly-and-accepting-it love.
Comment on Plot Bunny for Adoption - Jak and Daxter Edition
ArdentAspen2 on Chapter 5 Fri 07 Jul 2023 07:24PM UTC
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TigressDreamer on Chapter 5 Fri 07 Jul 2023 07:55PM UTC
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ArdentAspen2 on Chapter 5 Fri 07 Jul 2023 08:26PM UTC
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TigressDreamer on Chapter 5 Wed 12 Jul 2023 10:50PM UTC
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ArdentAspen2 on Chapter 5 Wed 12 Jul 2023 11:10PM UTC
Last Edited Wed 12 Jul 2023 11:12PM UTC
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TigressDreamer on Chapter 5 Wed 12 Jul 2023 11:51PM UTC
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