Mauve
CAUTION! major spoilers ahead!
SECRETARY: A radical sister who came to words later in life. (ch. X)
Mauve, otherwise known as Observant Shell or Capital Red, is a special police officer[1] in the Red Guard.
As Observant Shell, she was a Watcher-type. During Watcher's captivity in Chapter 7, Watcher nicknames the shell "Mauve". The nickname "Mauve" eventually gets picked up by other sisters, much to her confusion. She is recognised as "Capital Red" when Blue first meets her, but it is unclear what the prefix denotes. It is implied she does have a chosen name, however no details are known about it.
Personality[edit | edit source]
As Observant Shell, she is content to stand off to the side, quietly watching. She is irritated when spoken to and prefers to be left in silence. She harbors an obsessive love for Knower and will do anything she asks.
By the time she is known as Capital Red, she has become discontent with the current Provisional Government's failure to completely cut out the old world. She previously admired Knower's ability to make quick decisions, even razing the library on Knower's command; now she despises Knower's current character as the High Minister, regarding Knower as a "keeper of the status quo."
Mauve believes in change through accelerationism, in violently upheaving the status quo – no matter the cost – but has no end-goal in mind.
History[edit | edit source]
In the Orchard[edit | edit source]
Although printed as a Watcher-type, the Observant Shell is most often seen amongst the purple shells in the library. Unlike others of her type, Observant Shell is less forthcoming with sharing her observations. Watcher can try to talk to her in the library, but fails to get a response out of the shell and is told she can leave.
Observant Shell is withdrawn, but not necessarily antisocial: She seems to simply lack interest in anyone other than Knower; who she is obsessed with and constantly orbits. On the ALLMOTHER's birthday in Chapter 2, she follows Knower to the gardens, who is putting together a flower arrangement. Watcher can try to get to know her better, however Observant Shell deflects any questions.
| Menu option | Dialogue | Response |
|---|---|---|
| confidential | WATCHER: But you speak openly to Knower? | OBSERVANT SHELL: ...maybe. |
| cautious | WATCHER: Are you shy? | OBSERVANT SHELL: ...one might say so. |
| curious | WATCHER: Do you have a favorite flower? | OBSERVANT SHELL: ...I did. |
(TK: waaay too big probably move this elsewhere, probably chapter guide?)
Later, on the day of the new Fixer's graduation, she is seen at the bar seated with Knower during the celebrations. Watcher can try to speak to her again. Although the conversation is as awkward as usual, Observant Shell will reveal she does appreciate her shapen sister's attention and efforts to know her.
OBSERVANT SHELL: The more one commits to Watching... The more one commits to being watched. (ch.4)
While at the bar, an alarm sounds signalling Occupant activity. While the other shells flee to the subway tunnels, Knower stops Observant Shell and instructs her to go to the library and burn it down. She carries out the command without question, and still manages to evacuate despite her detour. The sisters shelter underneath the Orchard, and Observant Shell stands outside the Horse Lobby where Knower is. When Watcher checks in on her, she notices there is ash in her hair. Although surrounded by death, the shell is giddy and unusually talkative; she blurts out:
OBSERVANT SHELL: I LOVE SISTER PURPLE SO MUCH, I'D BURN ANYTHING FOR HER. (ch.4)
(TK: replace above with screenshot so we don't have back to back quotes)
Life in Lockdown[edit | edit source]
That night, Watcher takes a train to the Other Side and murders the ALLMOTHER, but is caught in the act and captured by Principal. The Watcher is tied up and put in a cell. Observant Shell guards her, maintaining an around-the-clock vigil and staring at Watcher without saying a word. It is a few days later that they get their first visitor. Knower visits Watcher regularly, keeping her informed about the world outside, and learns from Watcher that their Principal is in fact the sinful Ancient Sister their religion was based on.
Outside of these visits, Watcher is essentially kept in solitary confinement: She tries to talk to Observant Shell, but gets no response. She decides to give a name to her captor, and settles on calling her "Mauve".
Some weeks into what will eventually be known as 1 AA (After ALLMOTHER), the old system of shapen sisters and functions is abolished. Observant Shell's blue suit is replaced with an all-black one, and she begins to add armour to her clothing. Knower accepts a position in the Provisional Government and changes her intentions with the pirsoner. Mauve helps Knower brainwash Watcher, administering drugs to alter her nauseous and disorientated. Knower tells Mauve to let Watcher out of her restraints, but Mauve continues to watch over her in silence.
From overhearing Knower and Watcher's discussions, including Watcher's confession, Mauve is one of the few clones who knows the truth about Principal's identity, as well as the truth about Iris and the Occupants. Having learned that most of the old teachings were false, and being responsible for destroying those records, Mauve supported the Provisional Government's aims of reforming the clone society to serve the sisters instead of Iris.
In 3AA, Mauve replaces her black armour with those of the Red Guard, and her posture changes from being relaxed and bored, to more alert and militant, likely indicating her receiving training. Mauve puts Watcher back into chains after she refuses to confess. Mauve is seen wearing the full Red Guard armour, including changing her old mask when Watcher acquiesces to Knower's strategy. This was a ploy however, and once the camera is on, Watcher tries to tell the sisters the truth.
Knower makes several attempts to get Watcher to confess, and during this time Mauve changes her armour again, this time to the white armour worn by Capital Red. She is the only clone with this armour. Capital Red does have authority over regular Red Guards, but is not their commander. Likely, her role is akin to special operations, as she seems to report directly to the High Minister, and she seems to have access to covert surveillance and intelligence.
Mauve/Capital Red is operating the video camera as usual when Knower brings Secretary into the cell, including the shard used to kill the ALLMO. Knower gouges out the Watcher's eyes using the murder weapon, and screams out to Mauve that she would suffer the same fate. Mauve does not respond. She does not seem to be present when Fixer and Bang Bang Fire break Watcher out of captivity.
An Agent of Change[edit | edit source]
Several years into the Provisional Government's reign, Capital Red was unhappy with the progress they had made. She did not believe enough had changed, and furthermore grew jaded with Knower, who she believed to have lost her drive and was now nothing but a puppet for Principal. She thought the problem was the old sisters, who were unable to imagine a different society and not be able to move forward. She was disappointed with the continued veneration of Iris, who she knew was not a godlike figure like they had been taught.
Whether due to her disillusionment with Knower, or a result of training alongside the Red Guard, Mauve comes out of her shell and is a lot more talkative when she is seen in 7AA. Sisters from before AA continue to die under suspicious circumstances, heavily implied to be orchestrated by members of the Red Guard. Mauve is certainly aware of this, if she is not behind the plot herself. When Bartender is shot and killed in Old Town, Capital Red knows exactly who was behind the trigger.
The Bartender's assistant, a Miscellaneous numbered Forty-Eight appears at the crime scene, and openly challenges the High Minister when she declares the death a suicide. Consequently, she informs Capital Red who monitors the Miscellaneous and stops her at the entrance to the Orchard.
Parallel to this, Capital Red had been in contact with a resistance movement run by Kris, and helped to plan an attack on the Provisional Government by planting a bomb at the play commemorating the ALLMOTHER's passing. Whether informed by Kris or from her intelligence network, Capital Red learns that the replacement Bartender has chosen the name "Blue" for herself. On the night of the play, Capital Red visits the bar and confronts Blue, revealing she knows everything and that she had been working against the Provisional Government herself. Although Blue is wary of her, Capital Red delivers the explosives to her, and promises to put the bomb into position herself.
BLUE: You would turn on the Provisional Government?
CAPITAL RED: Turn? It is they who turned on us. They who promised us a cut from the past. Yet here we are - commemorating some ancient god. Old sisters mix with the new and before you know it, we're all ordering an Inside Sunrise like nothing ever happened.
CAPITAL RED: The Ministers-so many of them, cut from rotten cloth. The High Minister- a shadow of her former self. (ch.6)
CAPITAL RED: All these old sisters are so tired... They need to see fire. (ch.6)
After the attack, Capital Red can be seen managing traffic to keep sisters away from the site of the explosion. Although Blue was holding the trigger when she activated the bomb, this is missing in the aftermath and the Red Guard do not seem to know it was her until she tries to flee. The attack is only partially successful, as while most of the ministers are killed, Principal survives and the High Minister was not in attendance.
Capital Red's alliance with the Miscellaneous was only a temporary one, so she is unaware of Watcher's plan to initiate a mass communion. Knower also does not reveal that she had co-ordinated with her former shapen sisters. When they begin, with resistance in Old Town and a strike by the Jiaos, Capital Red realises that Knower has diverted all of the Red Guard out of the Orchard. She points out the flaw in the plan, but is shot down by Knower, which confirms to her that Knower is up to something.
She seeks out the most vulnerable point, and goes to inspect the space above the inside sky with a fellow Red Guard. When the elevator opens, however, she finds Bang Bang Fire who immediately shoots down the exposed guard. Hiding behind cover, Capital Red is shocked by their presence, and calls them all insane. When BBF tells her to stand down, calling her Mauve, she shouts back that her name is not Mauve and outguns BBF. This causes Fixer to abandon their plan and blow up the entire ceiling.
Epilogue[edit | edit source]
The Mass Communion is started, and an Occupant is summoned. During the impossible conversations, Capital Red can be seen conversing with the Smoking student/boy in the bathrooms from Iris's high school. If approached by Blue while deciding who lives and who dies, Mauve will coolly tell her she will not beg. She challenges Blue on siding with the old sisters, part of the system which had oppressed the clones for so long.
SECRETARY: She is an agent of change. No matter the change and no matter the cost. (ch.X)
If left alive, Mauve leads the Red Guard and kills Fixer, Healer, and Blue (in a small oversight, this happens regardless of whether the Red Guards are left alive or not). Therefore, in either of the "true" endings, Capital Red is killed by the Occupant. She is not given an epitaph in either of the endings.
Relationships[edit | edit source]
Knower[edit | edit source]
WATCHER: I always see you with Knower.
OBSERVANT SHELL: ... (ch. 2)
In the Orchard exploration segments in Chapters 2 and 3 Observant Shell is always seen close to Knower, observing her. Watcher notes in Chapter 2 that she always sees Observant with Knower, implying this is the norm. Observant Shell offers no elaboration on their relationship, but does state in Chapter 3 that "Silence is the best way to admire the beauty around us," though whether she specifically means the garden's beauty, Knower, or is just trying to get Watcher to leave her alone is left up to interpretation.
OBSERVANT SHELL: I LOVE SISTER PURPLE SO MUCH, I'D BURN ANYTHING FOR HER. (ch. 4)
Chapter 4 has Observant Shell be the most candid about their feelings for Knower. After returning from burning the library, she is in an ecstatic mood, enough to break her silence.
CAPITAL RED: She's paralyzed. Nothing but a keeper of the status quo. (ch. 6)
From Chapter 6 onwards, Capital Red has grown discontent with Knower's stagnancy, and aids the Miscellaneous rebellion in taking down the Ministers, including Knower. After the bomb, she is shown still answering to Knower, though still harbors enough distrust to go off on her own and find Fixer, Healer, and Blue.
Watcher[edit | edit source]
Prior to Iris's death, Observant Shell is indifferent and aloof to Watcher. She often responds with silence or curt phrases. Though in Chapter 4, when Watcher asks if Observant Shell is offended at being called stiff, Observant Shell says she is actually pleased to hear it.
Over the course of Watcher's 3 year-long imprisonment, Observant Shell retains her silence, but slowly dons more and more of the Provisional Government's Red Guard color. She never speaks to Watcher, but Watcher fills the silence with one-sided conversation. Watcher gives her the nickname "Mauve."
Watcher speaks to Capital Red out of boredom, out of frustration, out of desperation throughout the course of her captivity. During Knower's torture, Watcher cries out to Mauve, asking if she's "just going to stand there." In one of the dialogue options, Watcher can cry out to Mauve "They'll get you too" before Knower carves out her other eye. Mauve never responds to any of Watcher's pleas.
Blue[edit | edit source]
Their relationship is one of mutual convenience; they temporarily work together to bring down the Provisional Government. Capital Red is the final Shell that rendezvous with Blue in the bar before the play. She brings the "filling" of the cake, providing the explosives.
Blue is appalled that Capital Red would betray and even kill her own comrades, but Mauve states that no change ever comes without sacrifice.
Gallery[edit | edit source]
Observant Shell
Observant Shell talking to Watcher (ch.2)
Observant Shell talking to Watcher (ch.3)
Capital Red at the bar (ch.6)
CAPITAL RED: They need to see fire. (ch.6)
CAPITAL RED: WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF US? (ch.X)
Capital Red intercepts Blue as she enters the Orchard(ch.6)
Close up on Capital Red's armour, note the red scratches or stains visible on her armour. (ch.6)
Capital Red can be seen managing traffic in the aftermath of the bombing. (ch.6)
A disinterested-looking Observant Shell guards Watcher (ch.7)
Mauve's black armour, worn from 1AA-3AA (ch.7)
Partial red armour, as worn in 3AA (ch.7)
Mauve can briefly been seen wearing the full Red Guard uniform before settling on her final design.(ch.7)
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- Her nickname "Mauve" is likely based on Iris' description of the 50 staff ("their faces glowed mauve, the colour of disinterest"), which Watcher witnessed in her communion with Healer.[2]
- Capital Red's white armour was repainted by herself [3]
