Was Looking At "The Challenge" From The Ithaca Saga Again In The Living Room When My Mom Comes Up At

was looking at "The Challenge" from the Ithaca Saga again in the living room when my mom comes up at the line "I'd rather die than go home without the best of you" and is like:

"what if it's not the best of him that comes home?"

and that got me thinking. because like. it's not the best of ody that comes home. it's a version of him that has killed and sacrificed and chosen to be ruthless and is a self-proclaimed monster. he beats up gods and gives up the life of his brother-in-law. he admits it himself; he's not sure penelope will accept him because he knows it's not him that's coming back. he's begging her to fall in love with him again.

and yet she looks under all of what he's done and sees who he really is. he's still the person she met, the man she fell in love with. she doesn't even deny that he's done what he's said he'd done, she's saying she'll love him anyways because at the core of all of that he's still him. he's still hers. she believes everything he's done is out of love for her and their son and that's the best version of him that she knows. he is someone who is absolutely devoted to his family and the people he loves, and she has such confidence in that thought that she hates to hear him ask if she'll fall in love with him again.

because why would she need to when the best of him is standing in front of her eyes?