*Season 2, Week 12* Analysis Threade - Page 38

Thanks so much for pointing this out, Shaavi! It's one of those observations that snaps the whole episode into place for me. Sona was itching for a fight, but was unwilling to take responsibility for starting one, because she is really eager to regain that respect that she has lost in Asha's eyes. That is why she jumped at the chance to instigate Dev, using her defense of Jatin's place in Soha's life. However, as you and DQ both pointed out, Dev refused to give her the reaction she was looking for and later, Jatin stopped her from fighting on his behalf.

When Sona feels insecure about herself, she deals with it by re-arranging her alliances and repositioning herself so that she doesn't have to introspect. I have said in the past that she has a tendency to narrativise her life, so when the narrative doesn't go as planned, she changes the roles and characters while keeping herself the central protagonist. When it was her and Dev's love story, he was her Prince Charming, but after the divorce, he became the villain who, along with his family had oppressed hers. She worked against his accusations and let them define her struggle. Her story became one of a lone woman and single mother, fighting for her family against all odds. The Boses and Jatin all played their parts in validating this heroic vision of herself.

But now, the people she depended on are refusing to validate the roles she casts herself in. Asha showed her how she was wrong, and refused to validate her role as the strong, unquestioned decision-maker of the family. Jatin refused to play the slighted friend in need, and therefore did not validate her as his righteous defender, and Dev didn't rise to her bait and argue directly with her about Jatin, thereby refusing to play the hard-nosed oppressor against whom she was the brave underdog. Even with Bijoy, it's only a matter of time before he finds out that she was complicit in hiding the Mrs. Mandal incident from him -- even he won't be able to validate her as his principled daughter who never strays from the truth. All of these people love Sona very much, but they are no longer willing to keep her on the pedestal she is used to. Each one, in their own way, is recognising how much harm that did her. She took the responsibility so seriously, that in a lot of ways, she became the pedestal and lost herself. 😭

I also think it's important to look at the bigger picture. Yes, Sona said some spiteful things to Dev in anger yesterday, and aggrandised Jatin's role in Soha's life. But that doesn't negate the fact that for the past six years, she has deliberately kept the role of Soha's father sacred to Dev. Who do you think insisted on the clarification that Jatin wasn't Soha's father when they won the race together? It probably wasn't Bijoy or Jatin, both of whom would have been thrilled to make that a reality. Even if Sona didn't want to marry Jatin, she could have entered into a platonic co-parenting arrangement with him to give Soha *a* father's love, but she has always been very clear that Soha should get *her* father's love, and very clear on who exactly that father is. It's to her credit, for setting the boundaries so clearly, that Jatin respects them today, when she is faltering.