[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Yeah, the cause-and-effect of Metal Cluster Hopper is very confusing to me, in regards to Gai's strategy. He definitely got completely beaten up? And accomplished... Aruto being extra mad at him? Like, this episode ends with a big ol' Gotta Have Aruto gag, so I'm not sure it even plays as particularly psychologically devastating. I don't know what Gai wanted to happen?

He wanted to make Zero One go berserk, as an ultimatum to Aruto. Even though Metal Cluster Hopper is super OP, it's under Ark's control. It could hurt people the way it hurt Dynamiting Lion Raider, or worse, which would be bad publicity for Aruto's pro-HumaGear campaign and give Gai more opportunity to play the hero and victim. The alternative is for Aruto to abstain from henshining, at the cost of his ability to protect HumaGears.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I think it's also... Gai doesn't value something like morality, so Aruto accusing his actions as being immoral is like accusing them of being too tall: It's irrelevant to the topic. Gai fed human history to the Ark, which is overwhelmingly violent and cruel, and the Ark drew its own conclusions. Everything afterward helped ZAIA succeed at the expense of Hiden, so it's inherently justified. Gai's worldview doesn't account for things outside his own success.

I think Gai cares about morality to the extent that people see him as moral, which he needs to feel validated. His massive inferiority complex towards Korenosuke and now Aruto drives that desire to prove to everybody including himself that he's the only one worthy of being president of Hiden Intelligence, by provoking others in to making the wrong choices. He's an opportunist.