ANAYLSIS –– the parallels between the past, young lara and present that called out to me most were all the little animals scurrying about. Young Lara has no inclination to hurt them, and no means too. It’s interesting that she remarks on the “strange beasts” right after killing that jaguar and seeming traumatized by it. It’s obvious Lara doesn’t want to hurt the animals, it’s just another way she’s been forced to become something else, to grow up, to survive. More of her innocence just stripped away.
another thing, is how her whole upbringing in a way, sort of prepared her for the life she was going to lead. she looks at it all through a childlike lens, but it becomes her reality. she remarks her “aim is deadly”, but little does she know just how so. and like!!! it’s everything she dreamed of, but not. it’s kind a nightmare too, because her father was never there, her mother’s gone, she’s started a fucking apocalypse, and so many people she loves are dead (in her mind, because of her). Everything is just… wrong, and if she could go back to when it was all pretend and do it over, you know she would.