Essay time
Now that canon has given a break during which we'll squirm and flail until October, I need to type my thoughts on canon so far so there's a reference to go back to whenever the need arises. This essay-like thing also includes comments on how I'm playing Soma, and my vague speculations on her past.
There will be plenty of spoilers here all the way to the end of the series/season one.
I'm basing most of my headcanon on the bits and pieces the series shows us whenever there is enough screen time, but it mostly concerns the period from the age of ten or eleven to eighteen. Soma is first introduced as a "designer baby", someone who's been specifically enhanced through genetic manipulation and engineering to be the perfect soldier. This suggests flashbacks to jar baby conditions, or at least constant manipulation since conception. However, Soma isn't in active duty until her introduction in episode 4. Before being assigned to Sergei's newly formed special task force, she has been at the Human Enhancement Agency's technical research facility. The agency being kept a secret even from military officers implies that there's been very little interaction between Soma and regular soldiers beyond the course of training. Her dispatchment at this point as the number one soldiers suggests the facility's experimentations have been perfected.
If we make a divide between Marie (the name Soma had before becoming Soma Peries) up until the age of ten/eleven, and between that and eighteen, perhaps I can take a guess at how her personality has changed or formed until then. I would venture to say that young Marie was probably a relatively trauma-free child, (genetic engineering and extensive experimentations aside) but was removed or separated from Allelujah prior to the ship incident. As copied from kyriosly, Lots of kids in a small ship, only enough oxygen for one.They started killing each other. "Kill me, Allelujah. And live, for Marie." Allelujah was both smiling and crying as he pulled the trigger. Which leads me to think that Marie, a more or less guaranteed success of the super soldier program, was never placed on that ship, which was probably a survival test for the children, or that she had been moved to another facility beforehand. I'm leaning towards the former here.
Pubescent/Adolescent Marie has probably spent her life until her introduction away from Allelujah, familiar faces, or emotional support. There are no hints yet that she's been subjected to anything as traumatic as facing the lack of oxygen and having to kill her friends, but I think a valid coping mechanism with the tests and isolation would be repression to the point of near brainwash. (I like to think that Marie has been given the name Soma Peries shortly before being dispatched to Sergei's task force). Soma states again and again that her sole reason for living is to fulfill her role a Super Soldier, so that should make the pain of testing worthwhile. Take away the reason for Soma's existence, and the years of experimentation and torture will reduce her to a test subject that's always at the threat of being disposed of. Including whatever nationalistic views or regime as imposed by the HRL would mold Soma's survival instincts with a strong sense of duty.
Another thing I'm concerned with clarifying is Soma's emotional range. I've seen some fan theories suggesting that genetic engineering may have limited Soma's emotional response, which is something I disagree with. Any restrain Soma shows is mostly as a soldier. Throughout the series, she shows obvious signs of concern for her comrades, the children who were killed in the attack on the facility, and for the state of the HRL under potential threat from Celestial Being. She also speaks up to Sergei when she thinks he's undertaking a mission that's below his level, and volunteers directly (without being prompted) to be one of the GN-X unit pilots.
In short, I don't really think Soma's characterization is that of a blood thirsty killing machine. She is strongly driven by an intense desire to be the perfect Super Soldier, but that is also part of her survival mechanism. The scene in episode 25 shows the growth Soma arrives at at the end of the series:
Sergei: What are you doing! Leave me and fight, Lieutenant!
Soma: I can't do that!
Soma: If I lose you... I'll become truly alone.*
Soma had the perfect chance to take out Allelujah once and for all, but chooses to abandon her unit, and exposes herself to an easy hit by wrenching the entryway of Sergei's unit manually It is probably due to the way Sergei had personally taken her under his wing. I suspect that Sergei is the only person at the HRL who has treated Soma as a person, and perhaps as a daughter, and it did allow her to grow in a way. The only other positive human interaction she could have gone through before was with young Allelujah.
How does the above reflect on playing Soma in camp? Even when removed from military setting, Soma will still act with some trained reserve in some situations. Her scenes with Sergei shows a natural curiosity about things, so expect Soma to ask questions, if not in an overeager fashion. I can see her trying to imitate Sergei's code of honor, and mentally setting civilians aside as not to allow them to get hurt. The point from which I'm taking (episode 24) her doesn't see her putting aside her Super Soldier core for Sergei's sake yet, but I expect an appropriate shift to happen with time.
*Believe translation
I will post something later on what I think Soma's abilities as a Super Soldier and an officer of the military are, in addition to the precognition and psychic link she has with Allelujah.
There will be plenty of spoilers here all the way to the end of the series/season one.
I'm basing most of my headcanon on the bits and pieces the series shows us whenever there is enough screen time, but it mostly concerns the period from the age of ten or eleven to eighteen. Soma is first introduced as a "designer baby", someone who's been specifically enhanced through genetic manipulation and engineering to be the perfect soldier. This suggests flashbacks to jar baby conditions, or at least constant manipulation since conception. However, Soma isn't in active duty until her introduction in episode 4. Before being assigned to Sergei's newly formed special task force, she has been at the Human Enhancement Agency's technical research facility. The agency being kept a secret even from military officers implies that there's been very little interaction between Soma and regular soldiers beyond the course of training. Her dispatchment at this point as the number one soldiers suggests the facility's experimentations have been perfected.
If we make a divide between Marie (the name Soma had before becoming Soma Peries) up until the age of ten/eleven, and between that and eighteen, perhaps I can take a guess at how her personality has changed or formed until then. I would venture to say that young Marie was probably a relatively trauma-free child, (genetic engineering and extensive experimentations aside) but was removed or separated from Allelujah prior to the ship incident. As copied from kyriosly, Lots of kids in a small ship, only enough oxygen for one.They started killing each other. "Kill me, Allelujah. And live, for Marie." Allelujah was both smiling and crying as he pulled the trigger. Which leads me to think that Marie, a more or less guaranteed success of the super soldier program, was never placed on that ship, which was probably a survival test for the children, or that she had been moved to another facility beforehand. I'm leaning towards the former here.
Pubescent/Adolescent Marie has probably spent her life until her introduction away from Allelujah, familiar faces, or emotional support. There are no hints yet that she's been subjected to anything as traumatic as facing the lack of oxygen and having to kill her friends, but I think a valid coping mechanism with the tests and isolation would be repression to the point of near brainwash. (I like to think that Marie has been given the name Soma Peries shortly before being dispatched to Sergei's task force). Soma states again and again that her sole reason for living is to fulfill her role a Super Soldier, so that should make the pain of testing worthwhile. Take away the reason for Soma's existence, and the years of experimentation and torture will reduce her to a test subject that's always at the threat of being disposed of. Including whatever nationalistic views or regime as imposed by the HRL would mold Soma's survival instincts with a strong sense of duty.
Another thing I'm concerned with clarifying is Soma's emotional range. I've seen some fan theories suggesting that genetic engineering may have limited Soma's emotional response, which is something I disagree with. Any restrain Soma shows is mostly as a soldier. Throughout the series, she shows obvious signs of concern for her comrades, the children who were killed in the attack on the facility, and for the state of the HRL under potential threat from Celestial Being. She also speaks up to Sergei when she thinks he's undertaking a mission that's below his level, and volunteers directly (without being prompted) to be one of the GN-X unit pilots.
In short, I don't really think Soma's characterization is that of a blood thirsty killing machine. She is strongly driven by an intense desire to be the perfect Super Soldier, but that is also part of her survival mechanism. The scene in episode 25 shows the growth Soma arrives at at the end of the series:
Sergei: What are you doing! Leave me and fight, Lieutenant!
Soma: I can't do that!
Soma: If I lose you... I'll become truly alone.*
Soma had the perfect chance to take out Allelujah once and for all, but chooses to abandon her unit, and exposes herself to an easy hit by wrenching the entryway of Sergei's unit manually It is probably due to the way Sergei had personally taken her under his wing. I suspect that Sergei is the only person at the HRL who has treated Soma as a person, and perhaps as a daughter, and it did allow her to grow in a way. The only other positive human interaction she could have gone through before was with young Allelujah.
How does the above reflect on playing Soma in camp? Even when removed from military setting, Soma will still act with some trained reserve in some situations. Her scenes with Sergei shows a natural curiosity about things, so expect Soma to ask questions, if not in an overeager fashion. I can see her trying to imitate Sergei's code of honor, and mentally setting civilians aside as not to allow them to get hurt. The point from which I'm taking (episode 24) her doesn't see her putting aside her Super Soldier core for Sergei's sake yet, but I expect an appropriate shift to happen with time.
*Believe translation
I will post something later on what I think Soma's abilities as a Super Soldier and an officer of the military are, in addition to the precognition and psychic link she has with Allelujah.