Regretful Gestures

Canon compliant

Canon compatible

Canon complacent

Canon comparable

Canon compulsive

Canon competitive

Canon competent

Canon compassionate

Canon complementary

Canon comprehensible

Canon companionable

Canon compressible

Canon complexifying

Canon compensatory

Canon complicit

Please imagine with me the potential for The Contessa to make a comeback. Imagine her forcing Penelope into a hypnotic, spice induced state where both her and Bentley’s intelligence and knowledge were stolen/abused for Cyrille Le Paradox’s scheme for time travel. But the only reason The Contessa was on board to work for Cyrille was because she wanted to get back at Bentley. He was the one responsible for ripping Sly, Murray, and Carmelita out of her control. She had some interest in getting back at Sly too, but Bentley was her main target.

If only Thieves in Time was written better. :’( Penelope and Bentley did not deserve what happened… And there were so many cool opportunities WASTED.

Sly 4 was a fever dream and didn’t happen.

Penelope in a Black Baron-ish outfit

I did more guards from Sly 3: The episodes of Australia, Holland and China.

I hope you like them.

Are Penelope's parents still alive and if so, do they approve of Bentley?

Her parents have not met him yet.

Two underrated interactions between Murray and Sly, first from 2:

Sly: “You know how much I love messing with Carmelita.”

Murray: “Yeah…it’s weird.”

And in 3:

Sly: “-pry off that mask of Dark Earth and maybe we’ll get back the Carmelita we all know and love.”

Murray: “I do not love her!”

Usually it’s Sly sneaking some good natured jabs at his friends because he’s a sarcastic little shit, but those two moments are a rare glimpse at Murray’s perspective on Sly’s whole fucked up dynamic with Inspector Fox.

Firstly, that he thinks Sly’s a fucking weirdo about the whole thing, and secondly that it is very important for him that Sly knows that he’s the only one in the group who has this fucking hang up about Carmelita and to leave Murray the fuck out of it. 

Murray is usually all about wanting Sly to think he’s cool cause he looks up to him, but those two times are a rare time of him just looking at his good friend Sly and going “dude what the hell is up with you…” because even a life long friendship is not immune to those moments where you just have to look at your friend and wonder just what the fuck is going on in their head…and deciding that you would really rather not dig that up.

I will never not have immense feels for this ship, even if I don’t necessarily know what they are.

The time has come for Act 3. This covers the final two missions of the episode.

You might have to fill in some of the blanks yourself, but Penelope somehow winds up in a final duel with her impostor, with her signals jammed.

It's during this duel that Robo-Penelope reveals something to the player. The real Penelope designed Le Paradox's blimp. Robo-Penelope did everything else.

With this reveal, we finally understand why Penelope has been behaving so strangely. She's been acting out of guilt. She feels undeserving of the boys' friendship. Even so, she's willing to pull every last bit of her weight to make sure they never get hurt again.

Note: Imagine this playing during the Penelope/Robo-Penelope mirror match.

After defeating her impostor, Penelope, now consumed by an overwhelming amount of guilt, feels the need to confess her treachery to someone. She decides on telling Bentley, knowing full well doing so would break his heart all over again.

Then again, he does deserve to know the truth, does he not?

Cue Penelope's painful confession to Bentley. The only thing she doesn't reveal is her true motive, as she doesn't want to justify anything she or her impostor did.

And that "motive" relating to money, fame, power, and Bentley's potential? All fabricated by her impostor.

After that and a tearful apology, she tries to leave the Cooper Gang forever... only to be stopped. Bentley asks her if any of her treachery was worth it. She says it wasn't, and all she did was lose everyone she cares about.

Guess what? Bentley is satisfied with that answer. He forgives Penelope, believing that being kidnapped, impersonated, and hated by everyone she loves was the perfect punishment for her attempted betrayal. He also refuses to leave her or punish her further, now that she's learned her lesson.

Sly and Murray are spared from learning the truth until after our heroes leave Conquest Island.

Finally, the rest of the Robo-Cooper Gang is destroyed, followed by their creator, Sir Raleigh, getting royally clapped.

Penelope remains reinstated, even after Sly and Murray learn the truth.

As for what happens afterwards... I'm not sure. This is all during Episode 2 of 6.

I want to believe Penelope was kidnapped and impersonated. She still designed the blimp. Her impostor (an evil robot) did everything else. Even her motive was fabricated.

Here's something that could happen in Sly 5.

When the boys (Sly, Bentley, and Murray) eventually find out and take her back, she's going to be a guilt-ridden mess hell-bent on destroying her impostor and her creator for breaking Bentley's heart and making everyone hate her, with several measures of self-loathing for nearly doing the same thing herself.

The reunion scene would need to happen early in the episode in which this story takes place, during the second mission, and no later. That way, the player can get used to her being fully playable for the first time ever before the boss fight.

All three boys, while elated to have Penelope back, will quickly notice that something is seriously wrong with her. They think her impostor did everything, including designing the blimp. When they ask her what's wrong, she refuses to elaborate.

Bentley is especially concerned, but incredibly proud of his reinstated girlfriend for her enduring loyalty.

Cue Penelope pulling her weight several times over during her return episode and defeating her impostor, only to be consumed by all the guilt and confess to none other than Bentley about her treachery by the end. The only thing she doesn't reveal is her motive, saying it doesn't matter because what she did was wrong.

And because I love a good, happy ending, she will be forgiven. She's already spent the entire episode proving herself in spades. As for Sly and Murray's reactions? I'll leave that for you to decide. Would Sly drive himself crazy over not knowing her motive? I think he might.

I realize she will need a very sympathetic motive for this idea to work.

Thieves In Time Redux Meme #19

I did another thing.

That one meme, but with a wholesome twist.

Basically it's Penelope's character arc, but super abridged.