Unmasking One's Agony: The Story of Roland

Born in the Backstreets of The City, Roland is someone who has become all too familiar with the cruelty, brutality and over unpleasantries of The City. And it is his journey through Library of Ruina that made him one of my favorite characters of all time, I hope this video does him justice!
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BGM: Limbus Company - Reminiscence, Library of Ruina - Lobby Theme, Digital Devil Saga - Hunting (Comrades), Rance X - Arios, Library of Ruina - Keter, Library of Ruina - Tiphereth Theme, Library of Ruina - Chesed Theme, Library of Ruina - Gebura Theme, Library of Ruina - Binah Theme, Digital Devil Saga 2 - Battle for Survival, Digital Devil Saga 2 - Brahaman, Library of Ruina - Keter Floor Realization, Persona 4 - I'll Face Myself, Steins;Gate - Hacking to the Gate, Persona 4 - Corners of Memory

[MetiNotTheBadGuy]

You might have noticed a awkward cut around 1:14:20, this was due to YouTube claiming the video during a lyrical analysis of Gone Angels. I was doing something akin to my Metal Gear Rising videos, but due to Project Mili's songs be part of an album, they are not as open to video usage as MGR's ost. Apologizes for having to cut that segment as I couldn't find a proper way to replace it!

[MegaBichiX]

a cool little detail is that Roland asks Angela MULTIPLE TIMES if she feels any regret, ANY AT ALL. Almost begging her to say she was slightly sorry for what she did so that he wouldn't have to go on with his plans of vengeance. Unfortunately, the bitter machine never did, loudly exclaiming how she did nothing wrong, how she regretted nothing, and how her pain absolved her of any posible consequences of her actions, leaving Roland forced, although begrudgingly, to continue with his revenge

[pxdicli]

Actually, one small detail:
Angelica most likely became a color fixer AFTER she started working with Roland.
Moreover, they were most likely known as Black Silence for their work together - Angelica simply got all of the credit due to the effect of Roland's mask.
As an indirect confirmation, there're two hands on the Black Silence emblem - one is clenched into a fist with a pulse reading, symbolizing Roland, and other is relaxed and has flat pulse reading, symbolizing deceased Angelica.

[lizzzbenoist]

I think in Geburah's Realization, the Smiling Bodies form is probably just a reference to the amount of people he slaughtered both in the Smoke War and after the Pianist incident, and furthermore, it could also represent how at a certain point, he relished in the carnage he caused, becoming more and more unstoppable, desperate and furious with each killing, just like how Smiling Bodies feeds on corpses and becomes stronger the more it consumes.

[steamtasticvagabond]

58:47 I thought it was obvious how the birds connect to Roland’s story. Each of the birds represent an aspect of the law. Big bird with his many watchful eyes is the jury, Long Bird with his crooked scales is the judge, and Little Bird with his beak that could devour anything is the executioner.

The three birds combine into the monster known as apocalypse bird.

When Roland snapped and went on his rampage through the city, he was taking the law into his own hands. He became the judge, the jury, and the executioner.

He became the apocalypse bird.

[LordBape]

Past me, checking twitter: "Oh cool, Meti's playing Library of Ruina. I love that game."
Current me, baffled and flabbergasted: *"THE HOUR AND A HALF LONG ROLAND VIDEO!?"*

[memes_the_dna_of_the_soul]

1:24:02
You have awakened the possibility of a fanfic that I will likely play through all of Library of Ruina just so I can get a perspective on the characters, so I can write this story.

Tiphereth: "So let me get this straight, you've never actually had an education before."

Roland: "Nothing formal, at least."

Tiphereth: "Well then! We start tomorrow."

Roland: "You can't possibly be ser-"

_Tiphereth was shooting Roland a look that would make the Red Gaze look sheepish in comparison, she couldn't possibly be more serious._

Roland: "Okay, Tomorrow, I'll see you then."

[moldinmolders]

its worth noting that in the roland distortion fight, depending on the floor you use, it implies roland had slaughtered entire floors before the floor you picked confront him. the assistant librarians have unique dialogue for this.

[AlecBGood]

Thank you, Snake Granny.

The Odyssey has a purpose.

[StaryExtra]

The Orphanage thanks Snake Lady, Meti.
The Orphanage thanks her. And Vergilius Thanks Snake Lady too.

[NoRegs]

“Iori is the true mastermind behind Ruina”

Voice of the library: “and I took that personally”

[Peppy]

regarding purple tear, there isn't really any concrete proof that she was roland's gran, ignoring that she's old, she does pick up random fixers and help her, but they call her mentor instead of granma, additionally we dont actually know what age she picked them up, for all we know she just finds tallent and then trains them. also argelia is also picked up by PT so it would open another can of worms :P.

[Emperor-Quill]

I love how you pointed out how Roland is, essentially, a mask that mirrors the world around him. He hates the City, yet reflects it, imitates the violence, continues the cycle.
Roland is a man who mirrored the things around him, and everything he saw was vile, grim, and twisted.
Toward the end, he witnessed Angela CHOOSE to give up everything she'd ever suffered for, and he, in turn, reflected this free will, and chose to do the same.
His great final action was one of his total choice, but was awakened by one of Roland's "survival tools", of reflecting a self that wasn't his own. It went against the self-serving nature that he usually used it for, and that makes it so much more powerful.

Great video!
Roland, as one of the two primary protagonists of LoR, has some incredibly intricate lore, and I'm happy to see it discussed! PM's writing never ceases to amaze me!

Well!
I'm loving the recent character study style of videos regarding Project Moon characters!

For anyone seeking another well-crafted video like this one, but regarding LoR's other main protagonist, Angela, please consider viewing the video "Project Moon's Most Beautifully Written Character: An Introspective of Angela" by the user, "hydrojoy".
The recommended video delves into Angela's side of the story, her own growth, and it's truly lovely! Highly recommended to watch it alongside this one!

[dumbino]

Regarding Purple Tear's motivation, it's probably not as sweet or selfless as you seem to think it is, in the lore for her keypage she says "I saw many people who were lost after losing their precious stuff, just like me. I couldn’t just pass them by. They looked so miserable and pitiful. Well… It wasn’t entirely out of goodwill. The fact that they were worth helping played a big part. Once again, nothing in this world is free. I didn’t quite pity them as much as I weighed up the favors they could give me in return." she also says "All I want is to meet my son, whom I had to part with in the most unfortunate way." it's also stated in her cutscene with the blue ensemble that she had a biological son who died young, with Argalia saying "your son died more than 40 years ago" so her whole thing with Roland is probably some 20d chess ploy to somehow hop into a reality where her son is alive or bring him back from the dead.

[aisir]

First Angela gets 4 hour analysis, now Roland gets 1.5 long, splendid

[jellybunny]

This was a fantastic video on one of my favorite characters in fiction, and as a ProjectMoon fan myself, its nice to see someone go in-depth on the many nuances and details that are put into this game.

One thing I'd like to add and briefly paraphrasing Last Minute Essay's Overview of Project Moon work that he brought up:
The artwork for The Black Silence Reception is the gloves worn by Angelica and eventually Roland, with one being clenched in anger, and the other limp and open. A Heartbeat runs through the clenched hand and flatlines at the open one. if both hands were open or closed, it would form a perfect heart, but the hands as they are now, only show heartbreak.

[thurowaway]

Crying because Meti skipped the deep multi-layered and character-building analysis on why Roland looks way too good in Ozma's dress 😔😔😔😔

[markcukierberg]

I can't believe that moment when Angela said to Roland before he slained her: "Roland, this library is truly in ruina"

[zodaloo]

It's finally time. After all the music, end video pics, and that damned tease from Iori. We're finally at our first Project Moon video. Thank you, Meti. I've been looking forward to this for a long while now.

[AnAbsoluteUnit]

After seeing Roland at the end of your breakdowm on Toji, I had a feeling that "Meti's going to make a video about Roland".