Summary

ROUND 6 is the sixth episode of the Alien Stage series.

It shows the round between Ivan and Till, their complex relationship that stems from their childhood until present moment. The episode ends with Ivan sacrificing himself for Till, and the rebels visibly alarmed as Hyuna was injured during their break-in.

Commentary

Unrequited affection can sometimes border on violence, and stubborn indifference can sometimes be cruel. The relationship between these two people, who were never truly honest, cannot be attributed to anyone but themselves. Neither of them ever truly grew up, and no matter what good intentions they may have had for each other, they were destined for a bad ending.^[1]

Till's hairstyle in this episode is flatter, and more solemn. It's meant to highlight Till becoming more compliant to the Segyein.^[2] Unlike ROUND 2, this time Till wears more tight fitting clothing, intended to show Till for once submitting to the Segyein. His shoes are made of metal, revealing Urak's indifference.^[3]

Although neither Ivan nor Till remember it, their first encounter was had before they even met in Anakt Garden. Ivan was walking through downtown after being bought by Unsha in an auction, and Till was being advertised as a very discounted merchandise.^[4] During their time in Anakt, Ivan was always easily able to win against Till due to his childhood in the slums even though he was smaller than him. Till just assumed he was good at fighting, since Ivan never told him of his past.^[5]

Neither of them expected that they would compete against each other on stage under such circumstances, but Ivan had prepared for this possibility to some extent.^[6]

At the beginning of ROUND 6, Anakt Garden's horrifying nature is more clearly emphasized. Experiments are repeatedly done on the children under the facade of education, and it's not considered something escapeable by the pet humans. It's a terrifying place for them.^[7]

In the first scene of the round, it can be seen how Till is faring after supposedly losing Mizi: he's docile, worlds apart from the rebellious Till shown in Round 2.^[8] Even so, he still quietly rebels by refusing to sing during the karaoke scene. Urak chose My Clematis, Mizi's song, to mock him.^[9]

When Ivan is fighting with Till, that's the moment all his held back emotions could finally be expressed. The only one he could show his feelings to was Till. Although his violence may have be seen as threatening by Till, in the perspective of Ivan, Till was a precious person who who accepted entirely and directly all of his emotions.^[10] Since Till was the first person to do so, Ivan felt drawn toward him. Ivan often annoyed Till and clung to him, as if he were demanding for him to recognize his existence. Because Ivan followed him around silently and didn't really express himself, he left Till more confused than anything.^[11] Even after they grew older, Ivan's strange actions remained. He would provoke Till in increasingly sly and calculated ways, which lead Till to attempt to start to ignore him.^[12]

The way Ivan looks at Till unsettles and defies any normal conceptions of 'love': with how twisted and complicated their relatonship grew to be, Ivan's feelings toward Till couldn't even be put into words any longer.^[13] Growing up in Anakt Garden didn't allow the children to understand how to properly handle their emotions. If Ivan had known how to approach Till a little better, their relatonship wouldn't have ended up in such a pitiful state.^[14]

'Kissing', although common to mankind in the past, became something unfamiliar to them. Kissing on the cheeks was an act that became popular in Anakt Garden for a certain time, which remained in Ivan's mind. Ivan's unexpected actions utterly shocked the Segyein. Ivan reached this conclusion after lots of deliberation, so it had to convey a multitude of emotions, and it couldn't be a simple kiss.^[15] Although he appears confident and mature as he checks the scoreboard to see if everything is going according to plan, in truth, Ivan is acting childishly as he lets out all of his emotions on Till one-sidedly.^[16]

As he neared his death, Ivan's facade crumbled. It can't be known what Ivan felt as he smiled while bleeding. Ivan and Sua are similar in the way they one-sidedly unloaded their feelings to Till and Mizi and died, but their realities and contexts were far different.^[17] Till is unable to understand everything that happened so quickly, so he watches Ivan's sacrifice with a blank face.^[18] Within the stage, where sound couldn't be distinguished from rain or from cheers, Till couldn't think anymore and everything seemed to freeze. Ivan's death was something Till couldn't process at the moment. ^[19]

Beta

TBA

Trivia

• Ivan and Till's emotional intensities reach their highest point as they kiss, and they both have a breakdown at the same time.^[20]

References

[1] Alien Stage Official Artbook Pg. 169

[2] Alien Stage Official Artbook Pg. 175

[3] Alien Stage Official Artbook Pg. 180

[4] Alien Stage Official Artbook Pg. 182

[5] Alien Stage Official Artbook Pg. 183

[6] Alien Stage Official Artbook Pg. 185

[7] Alien Stage Official Artbook Pg. 194

[8] Alien Stage Official Artbook Pg. 195

[9] Alien Stage Official Artbook Pg. 197

[10] Alien Stage Official Artbook Pg. 204

[11] Alien Stage Official Artbook Pg. 205

[12] Alien Stage Official Artbook Pg. 206

[13] Alien Stage Official Artbook Pg. 207

[14] Alien Stage Official Artbook Pg. 208

[15] Alien Stage Official Artbook Pg. 210

[16] Alien Stage Official Artbook Pg. 211

[17] Alien Stage Official Artbook Pg. 213

[18] Alien Stage Official Artbook Pg. 214

[19] Alien Stage Official Artbook Pg. 215

[20] Alien Stage Album VOL.2