Spoilers ahead forBorderlands 3.
Borderlands 4is steadily closing in on its release date, and while I am undoubtedly still excited for the game, it hasn’t been an easy couple of years as aBorderlandsfan. Recently, theBorderlands 4pricing controversy dominated online discussion around the series, and just prior to that there were split opinions on the designs of the upcoming release’s new Vault Hunters. TheBorderlandsmovie completely missed the mark,Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands’ painfully short DLC killed the hype around the otherwise enjoyable spin-off, andNew Tales from the Borderlandsfailed to live up to its predecessor. On top of all this, the previous mainline release ofBorderlands 3, while well-received from a critical standpoint, was dubbed a step-down from its predecessor by many fans.
To be clear, I’m someone who appreciatedBorderlands 3more than most. The moment-to-moment gameplay, quality-of-life changes, free updates, and excellent expansions all made it hugely replayable for me, plus it’s one of the first games I played with my fiancée. As her first foray into theBorderlandsseries, many of the criticisms longtime fans had didn’t matter to her, and her loving the game so much helped me like it more too. Still, it’s not as if I didn’t understand the complaints. The lack of replayable, Invincible raid bosses outside of Takedowns meant something was missing, and more importantly, the story was severely lacking. The Calypso Twins were a far cry fromHandsome Jack, key moments like Tannis’ transformation and Maya’s death felt very rushed, cinematics were awkward, and most of all, fans hated Ava - me included.
As Maya’s spunky new teenage sidekick, Ava was clearly meant to be setup for the future, with Maya training her successor to wield thePhaselockabilities when she inevitably passed. Given her age, it’s no surprise that she boasted the usual, frustrating traits that all teenagers too. She lashed out angrily, acted immature, and was quite unlikable for a majority ofBorderlands 3’s runtime. These traits were especially prevalent after her mentor was killed, as she wrongly lashed out at Lilith, and we never really saw an apology. She was more-or-less rewarded for this behavior, too, being handed the keys to Sanctuary 3 and essentially getting crowned as the interim leader of the Crimson Raiders despite doing nothing to earn that honor. With all this in mind, it won’t be surprising if fans are disappointed that she’s likely to play a big part inBorderlands 4, but as shocking as it may seem, I’m glad Gearbox is teeing Ava up for a second chance.
Ava’s Biggest Problem Almost Wasn’t an Issue
Ava’s teenage angst wasn’t the issue; it’s that she lacked character growth and failed to apologize to those around her - and by extension, the fans. Conceptually, Ava is not too different fromKratos’ son Atreus, with the two often compared since 2018’sGod of WarandBorderlands 3launched closely together. Like Ava, Atreus has moments of being genuinely frustrating to be around in his first appearance, like all young people do, but these are balanced out by far more moments where the character is likable. More importantly, there’s an acknowledgement on Atreus’ part for his bad behavior, and he treats his big mistakes as a learning experience. Ava doesn’t do this, meaning that the most important part of her character arc is completely missing - though it almost wasn’t.
As part ofBorderlands 3’s Director’s Cut content, Gearbox released a deleted scene that took place at Maya’s funeral, and it addressed two of the biggest points ofcriticism aboutBorderlands 3’s story. First, it made Maya’s death feel more meaningful, as instead of the handful of characters who cared about her on Sanctuary 3 briefly gathering at the front of the ship, more of her loved ones got together to properly mourn her loss. Secondly, the scrapped scene showcased the missing character development that myself and so many others wanted from Ava, as she has a heartfelt conversation where she owns up to her role in Maya’s demise and actually does something to earn Lilith’s confidence. This scene, and more like it, could have made Lilith passing the torch to Ava feel natural instead of forced.
I won’t pretend that a fully animated version of this bonus content fromBorderlands 3’s Director’s Cut would have fixed every issue with the game’s story, as it wouldn’t have. Troy Calypso’s arc would still have ended abruptly, fans would still have taken issue with Rhys’ characterization, and characters likeTiny Tinawould still have felt underused. However, this one scene would have addressed the biggest areas of criticism, which would have made it easier to focus on the high points ofBorderlands 3. While there would be a long road needed to make Ava a lovable badass in her own right, and win back scorned Maya fans, it’s a path worth taking. Hastily killing her off would not only make Maya’s sacrifice pointless, but in my eyes, it would be a waste of a character who has a fair bit of potential.
Borderlands 3’s Director’s Cutreleased in March 2021 as part of a smaller, second Season Pass. Given this Pass’s lack of the meaty expansionsBorderlandsis known for, and how much time passed between its release and the base game’s launch, many players may have missed out on the Maya funeral scene.
Why I’m So Confident That Ava Can Still Be Redeemed as a Character
While Ava was a poorly executed concept, that does not mean that the concept itself is bad. In fact, I quite like the idea of a Siren being built up to eventually take on the powers of the person they’re learning from, and the idea of a character that gets the endorsement of two ofBorderlands’ most powerful Sirenssuggests they too will be a force to be reckoned with one day. As such, instead of giving up on Ava and caving to the backlash with a quick death inBL4, continuing to develop her and redeem her will hopefully be the path Gearbox takes, as I want the chance to see what Maya and Lilith saw in their successor. Plus, Gearbox already started to address the Ava problem with its finalBorderlands 3DLC, and there’s even a moment in the base game where Ava is likable. Expanding on three specific areas ofBorderlands 3could be all that’s needed forBL4to successfully overhaul Ava:
With Amara mentioning that she’s petsitting for Ava inBorderlands 4’s State of Playfootage, it’s only a matter of time before the blue-haired Siren pops up in the hunt for Lilith. Hopefully, she’ll have developed as a character in the time since and will be given plenty of scenes to make viewers laugh and do things of worth. If she does get some proper time to shine, and earns her glory as opposed to having it handed to her, then the first of many steps can be taken to winning fans over. While spending even one more second with Ava will likely lead to eyerolls from a portion of fans, for any gamers like myself who haven’t completely written Ava off yet, it will be nice to (hopefully) see the character’s potential realized this time around.
