A profile of Marcus Valerian feels a bit like repeating myself, although more deliberately than I normally do.

A lot of the virtues and values that I wanted to put into Matthias are also present in Marcus which shouldn’t be any great surprise. However, I would have to say that Marcus is by far the more approachable of the two. I suspect, although I’m not sure if it comes across to others, that the circumstances of their birth; with Matthias being the elder and heir that he’s always been the one in charge and making the decisions. Rather than invoking sibling rivalry, which is still there; just look at some of the conversations, or the sparring sequence; my thought is that Marcus is actually quite happy with that arrangement. While I wouldn’t use the word irresponsible, Marcus is considerably more relaxed than Matthias, better able to make (and take) jokes and even, at some points, a bit of a ladies man.

Marcus also tends to be much more open with his emotions; fiercely protective of his brothers, paternal (not sure if there’s a word for being uncle-y) towards Ash and Elizabeth, tender and passionate with Casey. Which leads me to think sometimes, that while Matthias is the better Lord, Marcus might be the better man.