(heads up: sorry, I’m not good at making metas so this post might be really wonky)
I know everybody and their grandmothers have made an analysis about Victor’s character, but I’ve been thinking about him day and night since last week’s episode, and I have a few things I want to say about him. In particular, I want to address the idea that Victor will return to competitive skating if we ever get a second season/if Yuuri doesn’t win gold/etc etc etc.
To even think about this possibility of him returning to skate competitively, I thought long and hard about Victor’s character arc, the whole narrative woven around him as a character, and I decided that no, I would definitely not want him to go back into competitive figure skating, because that would ruin the purpose of the whole narrative centered around his character.
Let’s go back to the first episode. In snippets, we see that Victor has doubts about what he wants to do for next season. In the GPF, he scored another gold medal, and Morooka commented that it laid rumors of him retiring to rest. Sure he might be in his late-twenties, but he’s still winning lots of medals and he’s still living up to his title as the living legend and Russia’s hero. But a few months later, during the World Championship, he is quiet and thoughtful when asked about his plans in the future. This is after Sochi’s GPF, so it would mean that he’s probably thinking about the option that Yuuri has presented to him a few months before: becoming a coach. It would make sense that he’s mulling it over all this while, because hell, this dude does not know a life outside of competitive figure skating.
In the next episode, Yurio says that yes, Victor indeed had been harboring doubts about where he wants to go next in his career. The thing about Victor is that he’s done it all; he’s been reigned champion almost all of his career, he’s won dozens of medals, he has tons of fans, etc, so nobody is ever surprised anymore when he wins. Heck, what would be surprising is if he doesn’t. And the other thing we know about him is that this sucks, because he loves to surprise others, he thrives off it. He’s formulating new routines for next season, but does he even really want to compete? Will he even surprise anyone anymore? He’s probably only planning new routines thinking that yeah, of course he’s gonna continue to compete, because he doesn’t know what he would do if he doesn’t.
What’s also interesting is that Yakov has said in the very beginning that if he leaves [his skating career] now, he won’t be able to come back. Why? Well it’s because he’s leaving the strict regimen that every figure skater has to stick to in order to win. And episode 10 cements this, telling us that Victor has been neglecting ‘life’ and ‘love’ all his life because of skating. If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have been the Victor Nikiforov that’s revered by the skating world. Yakov knows this, which is why he tried to prevent Victor from leaving. Do you really want to do this? Do you really want to drop your career now? Do you really want to drop the only life you’ve known so far? But Victor’s done thinking about it, he’s had a few months to think about it, and he decided that yes, he wants to fulfill what he has been devoid of all his life. He’s had his run, he’s won and gained a lot, but he’s also lacking a few integral things in life.
Christophe said that this isn’t like Victor. Victor has lived his whole life on the ice, and everybody thought he would continue to do so. It’s “not like him to find someone he wants to protect” – this line by Chris is probably one of the most moving things that’s said about Victor and Yuuri’s relationship I think. Because it suggests that Victor – despite having previous lovers (as he himself implied in ep 2 lol) – had never found someone he’s willing to leave the ice for. Skating, surprising others, winning – these had always been his top priority, and no one else truly mattered. But his commitment to Yuuri is real, and despite what everyone else says about bringing him back to the ice, he won’t be returning. He’s found something else now, something that doesn’t rob him of ‘life’ and ‘love’. He can still skate, but he doesn’t have to sacrifice his personal life now, not anymore.
Sure, there might have been the possibility of him not being Yuuri’s coach anymore (inferred from Yuuri’s monologues, which is a whole different topic lol), but after episode 10, after the exchange of rings, Victor is definitely sticking with this new path he’s chosen for himself. The question of him returning to competitive figure skating is pointless now. And Yurio’s “Victor Nikiforov is dead” line pretty much supports this. The Victor that sacrificed so much in order to win and keep on winning is no longer here, the legendary figure skater Victor Nikiforov is no more, but what exists is Victor who is a person of his own, without having to carry the burdens of skating and whatnot. Because with Yuuri, he can do just that – be Victor and nothing else (recall Yuuri’s line in ep 4: “I want Victor to be Victor!”) (ps: this post is a great one that discusses this idea)
I digress, but some have pointed out that Yuuri had expressed that he wanted to be on the same playing field as his idol in ep 1, but I would argue that this could also mean that he simply wanted to be acknowledged by Victor, not necessarily wanting to compete against him, and boy is he acknowledged now ohohoho. Then there’s also that small part during Victor’s interview in ep 8, about whether he wants to face Katsuki Yuuri as a fellow skater, but his smile and lack of answer (which Yurio noticed) indicates that he’s probably realized, at that point, that he can never go back go that world anymore.
My main point here is this: Victor’s character development and growth is about him finding something meaningful in life once again at the age of 27, it’s about him finding “a brand new world he’d never known before”, a world that he never thought possible for him. And this is why I don’t think I would want to see him return to competitive skating. This is just my personal thoughts though and I could be completely wrong, but yeah lol
I’ve been getting a lot of questions about this, so here you go, my thoughts on the Victor-Yurio scene from episode 10. I feel like I don’t really have enough information to make a clear-cut statement about it which is why I hesitated to, but you guys really insisted so….
My theory is : this is about Yurio’s Agape.
So, a few things we have established : 1) Victor genuinely means well for Yurio and his growth as a skater 2) Yurio admired or hero-worshipped Victor back in the day 3) Yurio was present at the banquet and had a perfectly good idea what happened 4) Yurio likes yelling at both of them in a tsundere way a lot, and acts particularly resentful to Victor acting like he’s still at Russia’s top 5) Yurio’s Important Person is his grandpa, and he’s skating partly to support his family (this is in his character bio)
I feel like for the most part, despite how we’ve been introduced to him as a self-centered character, Yurio’s primary motivations are more about serving other people. Serving his country. Serving his family and friends. He skates for his family and for Russia, and the thing that means the most to him is being called a soldier—a profession where you lay down your life for your country. It’s not all of him, but Yurio is mostly about love for others, unconditional, giving.
(Yuuri’s motivations were a lot more self-centered, really.)
Yurio’s 15. Victor’s been skating for 20 years, and his gold medal streak (if not his 100% win streak) started when he was 15, so 12 years ago. In his home country, he’s known as the Hero of Russia. So Yurio would’ve spent most of his young life growing up with these tales of the legendary Victor Nikiforov, the great hero who brought glory to his country, the emperor who brought the crown to their homeland. To be Victor is to have a honor that Yurio dreams of, in serving everyone. To shoulder a responsibility he wants to shoulder. This invincible, shining hero of myth is what comes to mind with the words ‘Victor Nikiforov’, and that is everything Yurio wants to be.
And then Victor threw it all away for love.
Victor himself says so. He’s engaged. His boyfriend is going to win the gold—screw Russia’s gold, he wants it to go to his boyfriend—and then they’re going to get married. And then here he is, in the morning, standing there looking at his engagement ring like a lovestruck idiot.
What could be more selfish, to Yurio?
Where is that hero now? And why is this man still acting like he has the right to that hero’s name?
So there’s the resentment of that, and there’s another thing : I feel that Yurio has some mild abandonment issues. We know that his mom was barely around, if at all, during his childhood. We know that he gets very insecure when his grandpa isn’t there (which probably is part of why he grew friendly with Yuuri). And now he feels that he’s been abandoned by this man he admires, too, for completely selfish reasons. Him and his country both.
So being Yurio, he lashes out.
Victor’s actually been having pretty interesting reactions to Yurio’s lash-outs on this subject for a while now. Most of the time, he just smiles this mysterious half-smile and deflect the subject or let it go. Some other times, when Yurio feels frustrated, he goads Yurio on. This is one of those times, apparently.
I feel like Victor’s response to Yurio is threefold : one, this time, he’s also asserting himself. He’s dedicated himself to being Russia’s hero for 20 years. He’s tired. It sucked all the life out of him, life that he only found again with Yuuri. He’s done. And as far as he’s concerned, this is not up for discussion, especially not from a young skater who’s never actually done it and thus never realized what that thing does to you. Second, he’s still coming to terms with his future and what he’s giving up for it—not that he regrets it, but it’s been his life for 20 years and now he’s thinking about how it’s not his life anymore and what that ring means for him from now on—-even if he goes back to skating, it won’t be the same anymore. And Yurio barged in and brought that issue face to face with him. The fact that he has to leave, and others will take his place. So he faces it.
And lastly, and most importantly….he knows that Yurio’s anger can’t touch him, so this time he’s willing to play the recipient of it once again, let Yurio lash out and use said anger to see past him grow further, because he genuinely does want Yurio to grow as a skater in his own right. And if that means Yurio needs to finally kill his own hero for real? So be it. He’ll lend a hand. Act like that invincible hero, let Yurio kill ‘him’ once and for all.
(This is similar to him acting like asshole at the end of episode 2, I think.)
So, Victor Nikiforov the hero is dead.
Here stands Victor Nikiforov the person, a man who hears the cry of seagulls on the shore and think of home in a Japanese seaside town, engagement ring glittering on his finger.
Yurio resents Victor Nikiforov the hero so very much his blood could burn….but that hero is dead. What remains is Victor Nikiforov the person….and he actually rather likes Victor Nikiforov the person. He’s known this man for a while, even if it was only glimpses of him, seen him being outrageous and stupid and silly, and ever since meeting Yuuri Katsuki, seen him being happier than he had any right to be—–and despite everything, and despite not wanting to admit it—-he cares, and he wants Victor Nikiforov the person to continue being happy. Because his love is Agape—-unconditional and selfless towards his fellow man, in the name of a merciful god.
Hurry up and go away already, he says.
If this is your decision, stick to it, the words said, between the lines.
Understanding everything, Victor Nikiforov the hero raises his sword and lets the Russian soldier come and kill him once and for all.
The seagulls’ cry reminds me of the sea in Hasetsu, he says.
I wish you happiness in the path you chose, said the words.
Understanding everything, Victor Nikiforov the person smiles, face flushed in the morning sunlight, and says yes, it does.
Or at least, this is my interpretation.
tl;dr – that conversation was three conversations at once : between Russia’s soldier and its traitorous hero, between an abandoned child and its caretaker figure, and between Yurio the person and Victor the person. It is about Yurio’s love for others and Victor’s love for the self. It is about Yurio’s Agape and Victor’s Eros (for Yuuri). It’s about Yurio’s abandonment and Victor’s compassion. It is, in the end, about how growing up, letting go and reaching understanding comes about in different ways.
When your fiancé forgets not only meeting you, but dancing with you, grinding against you and asking you to be their coach and you’re definitely not still bitter about it.
when you realise that your fiancé had zero (0) context for all your flirting during the first weeks you were together and that you have been a Fool this entire time
I haven’t noticed that accent omg. Victor spent pretty long time with Yuuri and I’m sure he’s fluent at Japanese now, so now it’s Yuuri’s turn to learn husband’s language. You go Katsuki!! We believe in you!!
the creators of the show have stated in an interview that yuuri and victor mostly communicate in english (kubo-sensei was like, yuuri studied in america, so his english is pretty superb!! lol i love her) but this headcanon that they’re learning each other’s language is one i can get behind!!
iirc, one fan made a post speculating that victor probably started learning a bit of japanese ever since the banquet when he Fell In Love, but episode 10 supported this idea of him learning japanese because his camera setting is in japanese now! it used to be in the default english
i wouldn’t say he was fluent when he first arrived in japan though. in episode 4, when yuko and nishigori were talking to yuuri about the qualifiers, victor didn’t understand what they were talking about and asked yuuri what the conversation was (the one where he leaned onto yuuri). but we’ve seen him talking in bits of japanese based on his “i’m talking in japanese accent” as described by makochibana, like the one where he promoted hasetsu in ep 3 right before the onsen on ice competition and in ep 4 when he was “ooh japanese dogeza!!” lol
tldr victor is learning japanese and he’s so precious (and so is yuuri with russian because in ep 8 and 9 he said davai and spasibo which isn’t a lot i know but hey at least we know he’s trying lol)
Nothing but My Aching Soul 