W Yap Omg

W yap omg

My vision is evolving

So, I rewatched the GBU yesterday, and I have to say that my sentiment towards Sentenza (Angel Eyes) has drastically changed, and I do in fact ship him with Blondie.  Despite being framed as the bad guy and being the film’s antagonist, he is, eh, not bad. Definitely not much worse than Tuco or Blondie, they all are made from the same mold: opportunistic conmen & killers. During my close watching I was surprised to discover that Sentenza is not only NOT excessively violent despite every descriptions of the film reinforcing this idea, he might be even less of a sadist than Tuco, lol. He is efficient and ruthless, but I can’t brand him unscrupulous. He is generally not prone to excessive violence. And he is no stranger to compassion, e.g. he is deeply moved/disturbed by the sight of the wounded at that embattled Confederate outpost, not unlike Blondie during the bridge episode:

Sentenza kills Stevens because he was paid to and he kills Baker for the same reason - he is ruthless, and certainly enjoys being the best at what he does, but he is also principled and professional that way. Arguably stealing somebody’s money after killing them is worse than being of service to them posthumously?And Sentenza kills Stevens’ son because the other intends to kill him in that moment, which is a rational even if despicable act of self-defense on Sentenza’s part. But he doesn’t go after the rest of Stevens’ defenseless family. Neither does he kill Captain Harper, whom he honestly cant’t stand because of the Captain’s shining idealism, accusations and threats, even though he has the opportunity to poison him out of spite etc. Sententza gives Tuco, what, four chances to be amiable with him before he calls Wallace in? And he doesn’t enjoy Tuco being tortured either. 

He would have killed him if he had wanted to, he would have done many things differently if he had been unreasonable. But Sentenza is just cold and methodical, I don’t think that he relishes in violence per se. He lets Maria go when she gives him the information he needs, he has a spark of compassion for his legless informant and isn’t pissed off when he requires more pay for the information, he leaves the bottle he gives to the Confederate soldier he pities, again, like Blondie when he comforts dying Captain Clinton. 

And I would say that he would honestly give Blondie his half like he promised precisely because 1) he is principled/balanced, 2) he is rational and therefore probably well-aware that 200 thousand in gold is only more difficult to transport and therefore the sum would only endanger him, 3) he genuinely likes Blondie a lot, which can’t be said about his attitude towards Tuco, who, in his eyes, makes things unnecessary difficult and is generally oafish and unreliable. 

Blondie is something very different, and Blondie also at the very least respects Sentenza, although I would go as far as saying that they like each other. The moment when Blondie takes off his hat - before he sees Tuco’s blood on the floor - can even be read as having a flirtatious undercurrent.

So, yeah, if the fandom as a whole is okay with Blondie leaving Tuco behind in a desert and with Tuco’s physical and psychological torture of Blondie as well as his betrayals (or with the fact that he forces Blondie to have his new partner hanged in front of him out of sheer spite), I think it’s imperative to be ready to acknowledge that there is honesty about Sentenza that needs to be respected.