Missed the commentary, but saw the character drawing of him (the dogs are soooo cute) and read about how the real Charles Lee loved his pomeranian to bits. Charles Lee has always had a very interesting dichotomy in ACIII for me. He's capable of incredibly rude, annoying and almost outright heinous acts (choking a 4-5 year old boy for absolutely no real reason, his entire attitude for most of the game), but also of amazingly adorable and sweet acts (first meeting with Haytham, his expression and suffering at Haytham's funeral...and the cuteness of his character drawing with the pomeranians). He's at least a character as complex as Haytham, imo, just a lot more subtle about it and with a whole lot less screen time.
I see Connor surviving 20 years of abuse with Charles mostly by adapting himself (and Haytham Lee). Connor, in the game, has always seemed to me to be very straightforward, somewhat innocent but with moments of amazing foresight and clarity. His snark at Sam Adams about the irony of men fighting for freedom owning slaves hinted at this (even if he backed off that train of thought) and his offer to the Homesteaders to stay on Davenport land always seemed both kind and shrewd.
As Charles's forced spouse/captive, Connor is removed from his traditional weapons (hidden blade, tomahawk, network of friends and contacts, position as a trusted comrade/advisor/etc. to the Sons of Liberty, even stealth) and therefore must engage his lesser used weapons of that keen foresight, shrewdness and even his business acumen. In his circumstance, those are the weapons that will allow him to know when to push Charles in the future for a small victory here, a small victory there and, perhaps more importantly, when to back off. Currently, those weapons are rusty, with relatively little use compared to his opponent. But Charles will get used to having the upper hand and will grow complacent, while Connor will only learn more and more about how to make his cage more bearable and how to pick at the lock that bars his escape.
Haytham Lee also plays a large part in his sanity. Charles isolated Connor and took away all his former tools, weapons and contacts. Somehow or other, Charles did not deign to separate 'mother' and son (really his most fatal mistake), and so Haytham Lee is that other source of comfort, of support and expression.
Ultimately, Connor forged a close bond with his son and was able to use 'small' victories (such as suggesting Haytham Lee's placement as recruit trainer and correspondence handler) to put the only person who he felt actually cared about him and his ideals into a position of influence. He probably wasn't expecting Haytham Lee to arrange things so that Charles and the top-ranking Templars all got exposed to a deadly disease and die and then perform a coup d'etat, turning the younger Templars into Assassins...
:)
Although...methinks I have watched too many Asian historical dramas...
Re: Second Fill - The Honey Moon - Part 5/?
I see Connor surviving 20 years of abuse with Charles mostly by adapting himself (and Haytham Lee). Connor, in the game, has always seemed to me to be very straightforward, somewhat innocent but with moments of amazing foresight and clarity. His snark at Sam Adams about the irony of men fighting for freedom owning slaves hinted at this (even if he backed off that train of thought) and his offer to the Homesteaders to stay on Davenport land always seemed both kind and shrewd.
As Charles's forced spouse/captive, Connor is removed from his traditional weapons (hidden blade, tomahawk, network of friends and contacts, position as a trusted comrade/advisor/etc. to the Sons of Liberty, even stealth) and therefore must engage his lesser used weapons of that keen foresight, shrewdness and even his business acumen. In his circumstance, those are the weapons that will allow him to know when to push Charles in the future for a small victory here, a small victory there and, perhaps more importantly, when to back off. Currently, those weapons are rusty, with relatively little use compared to his opponent. But Charles will get used to having the upper hand and will grow complacent, while Connor will only learn more and more about how to make his cage more bearable and how to pick at the lock that bars his escape.
Haytham Lee also plays a large part in his sanity. Charles isolated Connor and took away all his former tools, weapons and contacts. Somehow or other, Charles did not deign to separate 'mother' and son (really his most fatal mistake), and so Haytham Lee is that other source of comfort, of support and expression.
Ultimately, Connor forged a close bond with his son and was able to use 'small' victories (such as suggesting Haytham Lee's placement as recruit trainer and correspondence handler) to put the only person who he felt actually cared about him and his ideals into a position of influence. He probably wasn't expecting Haytham Lee to arrange things so that Charles and the top-ranking Templars all got exposed to a deadly disease and die and then perform a coup d'etat, turning the younger Templars into Assassins...
:)
Although...methinks I have watched too many Asian historical dramas...