YMMV / A Cruel God Reigns

• Alternative Character Interpretation
  • Lilya: did she really cheat on Greg with her cousin, producing Matt and kill herself out of shame as Greg thinks? or is Natasha correct in that Lilya was just an innocent victim who had to deal with an insane husband?
  • Greg: A sadistic, paranoid bastard who abuses and manipulates people around him for his own pleasure? Or a Woobie who only wanted to have a happy life and family, but because of the actions of others, had his desires turn dark in pursuit of that life?
  • Sandra: Did she really know about Greg and Jeremy's secret relationship like Jeremy believes, or was she ignorant/in denial of it? If she did know about it, did she have any idea just how abusive and depraved Greg was towards Jeremy, or did she think it was consensual? Aside from that issue, there's also the question of what kind of mother Sandra really is. On one hand, her fragility and mental health issues take an enormous toll on Jeremy, as he feels he needs to be the responsible one and always put her happiness first, even if it means hurting himself. On the other hand, it's clear that Sandra really does love Jeremy and is just as much of a victim of her mental illness as Jeremy is.
• Diagnosed by the Audience:
  • Jeremy is theorized to have a severe form of PTSD. A psychiatrist Jeremy visits, named Dr. Orson notes that his behavior is certainly disordered, but is unable to provide meaningful counsel to him before dying. — No context on why the audience thinks Jeremy has PTSD
  • Sandra is, in a word, unstable, but despite her drastic emotional swings, her only explicitly stated problems are physical; at most, her family seems to consider her a bit fragile.
• Narm: Ian blurting out "I'm planning a cycling trip!" during one of his and Jeremy's intensely angsty arguments. It Makes Sense in Context, but it's still funny.
• The Woobie: Jeremy. He starts the series off as an outgoing, happy teenage boy but his abuse and trauma at the hands of Greg slowly destroys him and ruins his life. After months of physical, emotional, and psychological torture, he finally reaches the end of his rope and decides to kill Greg... only to wind up accidentally killing his mother as well. Even with Greg dead, Jeremy is still haunted by the trauma of what happened to him and the guilt of killing his mother.

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