I believe Armand was turned at 27 in the show- if I remember correctly, when he showed Louis his portrait in the Louvre. he said he was 20 years old, and it was 7 years before he became ill and was turned to save his life.
  I would say that the simplest way of explaining Armand's psychology is that he has been groomed in his formative years to function as a subservient to others' desires, and within that role, control and power can only be exercised covertly by manipulating their vulnerabilities without appearing to openly challenge the power dynamic, so that is instinctively how he operates within relationships and his default mode for approaching conflicts. He has only ever experienced "love" as (perceived) benevolent control and that is the only way that he knows how to show it to others.
 By the way, the name 'Armand' apparently means 'man of the army', That's a huge reframing of identity from 'loved by god'.

This character is very old and powerful and was thrust into power but can’t reconcile it with the sense of powerlessness that developed him. So he rules insecurely and it shows. Assad did a brilliant job portraying this.

I’ve never seen a more relatable character in a fantasy show, it’s like looking at one of the many faces of darkness lurking inside humanity.

Armand was broken so early in life that he survived by becoming whatever his tormentor demanded.

Armand is a character you root for. Especially since everyone else in his life seemingly finds personal redemption alongside another and he is left to figure it out for himself.

There is a type of person without a strong sense of self, so their "self" only exists as it's perceived by others. In the extreme, I think it becomes a personality disorder. I really identified with Armand in my teens and 20's, and people sometimes told me I didn't have any boundaries (though I didn't really understand what they meant at the time). I think it was something I grew out of in my 30's, but some people are like this their whole lives. This is how I see Armand (especially given the traumas of his youth), and find him deeply tragic.

Peak acting for this era of TV. Extremely well written.

Assad being so beautiful that it's distracting is incredibly book accurate!

I fell in love with book Armand when he and Louis were traveling and he did a lot of very funny bullshit. Like, my guy pretended to be a ghost to traumatize a family. He and Louis contrasted so much that I ended up loving them even more.

I do see show Armand as a different character. He's way calmer and more serious and less childish. But I ended up liking show armand even more, because Assad is amazing and I think the things they changed (like his place of origin and age) open up a lot of new and interesting possibilities

Peak Gremlin Armand hours have arrived lol

I really appreciate this video. This whole season was about why lestat does the terrible things he does, but a lot of the fandom won't extend the same consideration to Armand. Part of this is the shows framing of him, but I feel like it goes further than that.

The only thing I don't agree with is that Armand is the ultimate submissive. Was he ever really HAPPY being their submissive? I don't think so. This is why the relationship with Daniel works unlike the rest of the relationships. He isn't Daniel's slave, it breaks the cycle.

He is absolutely gorgeous that face...those eyes

he is arguably the most interesting character in the show AND the books too idk why people tend to favor a ship over all the complexities of these characters they are all vampires what they are doing really doesn’t matter but i guess whatever gets your attention watching

"I couldn't prevent it".
👁👄👁

You and I are very much the same! My interest in Armand shot up dramatically this season.

Like you, I saw him as a foil to Loustat so I didn’t care much about him in the first two seasons. I just saw him as the villain in the story but  learning he didn’t turn Daniel in Dubai peaked my interest. And everything else he did just fascinated me. I want to go back and rewatch S2. I feel like I’ll appreciate him more now as a character in his own right than I did before.

I’m so very interested in Armand, Daniel, and the Devil’s Minion! I hope we learn a lot more about them next season.

Thank you so much for your content. This is exactly the type of content I like to consume online: highly intelligent people overanalyzing the meaning of media that are important to me. Love to spend hours listening to you speak! Thanks a lot!!

I really like your video, I relate deeply to Armand's character and also often feel like "a room with no walls", so listening to your analysis was enlightening, not only in understanding Armand's character, but also for understanding myself.

Assad’s performance in the s3 finale was on par with s2ep5 for me. So nuanced and heartbreaking while also frighteningly unhinged. It’s a good reminder of how inscrutable Armand still is imo, how there are parts of him that remain hidden even from himself. He’s such a fascinating character and I liked your discussion of his relationships, history, and possible motivations.

ASSAD IS BRILLIANT

When I watched the episode, that quote from Armand about being a room without walls immediately caught my attention and I wrote it down. He’s deeply insecure and I can relate a little for different reasons, but when he said that it felt like a gut punch cause I was like “Dang Armand, that’s really how you view yourself?” He doesn’t know to love cause he’s never been shown a healthy, non-toxic and non-exploitative way to express love and doesn’t love himself so he can’t receive it when it’s in front of him 🥀. I hope I’m not thinking too much about it but he’s a fascinating character to attempt to understand.