ok heres the kyoya thread

first: a lot of this info comes from multiple canon sources, by which i mean im going to be referencing the manga as well as card flavors. second: im going to be drawing comparisons to tasuku a lot to explain stuff bc theyre very similar characters (ill explain that too)

so. lets start off with. so probably the reason its hard for ppl to get a read on kyoya is because he does not, under almost any circumstances, actually show his emotions. i can name exactly three times hes been open with himself and all three times were when he was off guard

1. losing to gao in s1
2. the scene after where he asks if they might fight again sometime
3. after he loses to gao in s3

kyoya is extremely not the type of character to lose his composure, and so if youre not reading between the lines, its hard to read him! so lets Go

first lets remember tasukus s1 character arc. he starts with good ideals in his heart and a significant amount of self hatred (tasuku is also not very open with his emotions) but as hes exposed to more and more corruption his ideals turn into the idea that things are so bad they

have to be fixed by force or not at all, resulting in the decision to betray someone who trusts him so he fix everything on his own. the person betrayed ends up forgiving him, and through this act he gets the chance to reflect on what hes done and how he can make up for it.

this is Entirely Identical to kyoya's arc. you do have to closely read his interactions to get there, but.

while we get to watch in real time as tasuku loses his hope for the world, kyoya lost his waaaay before the start of the show. the anime only gets a small mention of it but

in the manga theres this whole page dedicated to him explaining why hes lost hope, and what he hopes to achieve: creating a peaceful future where no one has to worry about hardship, loss, sadness...

and so again we draw a parallel to tasuku, who joined the buddy police so that he could achieve an identical goal. kyoya and tasukus goals have always been identical, the just execute them in different ways: check out These pages from the volume prior

but again. we only got to watch tasukus fall from grace, not kyoyas, so we have to draw our conclusions from there. kyoya states that this world is already too corrupt to be saved, so it has to be destroyed and rebuilt entirely. kyoyas had to struggle for power with people like

j genesis (literal serial killer who planned on manufacturing a war to profit from it) or people like nobari and shidos dad (the corrupt government executives from s1, who kyoya was happy to try and kill as soon as he was done with them) and you can see where hes coming from

so thats kyoya at the start of the series--someone who has no hope for the future, and accordingly does whatever in the got dang he wants to because ultimately it wont matter in the world hes trying to make. in s1 alone, hes a tragic if rather flat character, But.................

thats where s3 comes in! a lot of s3 is, for kyoya, a rehash of s1. but there is one extremely major difference, which is instead of fighting alongside azi dahaka, he chooses to use his buddy (who trusts him more than anything) as nothing more than a tool to be used,

and then forces azi to merge with him (gold ritter, anyone? spare gold ritter?) because kyoya, like tasuku in s1, no longer has faith in anyone but himself alone.

this act is, of course, portrayed as Absolutely Awful! but once he gets to see azi again, azi basically says to him

"you could have just talked to me, and i would have helped you happily, you silly human child that ive grown fond of"

but unlike tasuku and jack, azi has to take a 10k year nap right after that, and kyoya is never going to see him again. he also gets shelved for almos all of s4,

But just because kyoya isnt appearing in the show doesnt mean hes not still relevant! he gets a host of support cards with that season's legacy support, and... wait ok theres more contexy to explain here got Dang

so. all of azis previous flavor texts were narrated by azi dahaka himself. but these ones, released after azi fell asleep? narrated by kyoya. and what they say is...

(incidentally, these azis card titles are "mark of transgression" and "mark of atonement")

(also while im at it. since these cards aren't narrated by azi and look distinctly different from the average azi, combined with the 'sys' appellation, it can be inferred that these are artificial azis that kyoya created so he could be with his buddy again)

(unlike jack and tasuku, he will never get the chance to apologize, so hes making do with what he has)

next, lets cover the only episode with any amount of emotional weight in x2, the kyoya vs tasuku episode!

to summarize, kyoya tries to communicate to tasuku specifically that hes changed, but he still doesnt know how to express himself properly and makes it more complicated than it needs to be. the message gets through, and thats the last we see...but heres the cards he used!

this is a HUGE CHANGE from the kyoya of season one, who said there was no hope for the world, and also notable is how this gaen looks nothing like any azi dahaka. instead of demonic it is angelic, and the azi symbol on his forehead has become something like a closed eye

its symbolic as h*ck and tbh take the time to reread that first manga page again in comparison. hes come a long ways

and finally, the last two cards released in an ace set, whose flavors speak for themselves, after all of this info:

IN conclusion: the kyoya redemption arc i keep talking about is real and if you liked tasukus arc and resolution you should like this one too! like tasuku kyoya is just a badly hurt child trying to do what he thinks is best for the world, and failing

end kyoya thread. tbis took me an hour and a half to type