Damn!
Rich/Privileged/Smart/Beautiful
Lady Jaye canonically was a woman who had everything going for her, then had the audacity not to be bitch, but rather be a nice, kind person. Ugh! Isn't that just the most annoying thing ever?
(level of education, background, as well as personality synergy, Flint and Lady Jaye were well-suited as a couple; certainly, both were attracted to one another as well)
She is someone who could have pursued many paths in life. Instead, Lady Jaye chose to prioritize service over personal comfort.
A counterpoint to more blue-collar or combat-driven Joes.
That said, Lady Jaye's background did not alienate her from others. She was not aloof or condescending. Instead, she's grounded, approachable, and respected, just so damn empathetic. Lady Jaye didn't elevate herself above others; rather, she used her emotional skills to connect, protect, and serve as a teammate.
So, just how damn smart is Lady Jaye?
... likely at a genius level of intelligence, she appeared to have some form of eidetic memory, which allowed Lady Jaye to be an expert at a diverse range of skills.
- Academic - Bryn Mawr + Trinity College graduate work
- Cultural - Can pass as native in numerous countries, deep-cover disguise
- Linguistic - Fluent in 9+ languages, dialect mimicry, and Gaelic lilt
- Performative - actress and mime, body language mastery
- Strategic - Intelligence school graduate, covert ops expertise
Her file card was the only one that blended elite academia (Trinity College), advanced military training (Ranger, Airborne), and performative disguise (mime, actress). There's no other G.I. Joe member with those credentials.
Lady Jaye wanted to learn, to evolve. She didn't just dabble in these fields; she mastered them. This was another aspect of Lady Jaye's healthy vanity. Not just in appearance alone, but in the pride she took in her mind, her training, and her cultural fluency.
She's arguably the most polymathic mind in G.I. Joe, with her ability to learn and apply skills across many domains.
Lady Jaye's memory seemed more adaptive and contextual in the recall of information. She'd remember how things sound, look, and feel; then how to use them in social and tactical settings. Lady Jaye could easily have shifted from field ops, diplomatic, and analyst roles if she wanted.
linguistic chameleon, cultural infiltrator, and emotionally attuned operative
Rivals:
Lady Jaye vs. Baroness, vs. Zartan
The typical play pattern loop here for both Baroness and Zartan is the same: disguise, infiltration, exposure.
Spy vs. Spy was a fun, easy, convenient play in my adventures as a child, with homework and chores also on the table.
Staging conflicts at different HQer bases, whether G.I. Joe or Cobra, didn't require all of my hero or villain action figures. Instead, it involved just one character sneaking around, easier to set up as a kid than an all-out "war."
The 50th Anniversary Lady Jaye vs. Baroness two-pack was themed "social clash." Very aptly named.
Both women had privileged upbringings, visuals of grace, elegance, and beauty as spy operatives. Their big divergence was Baroness' education radicalized her; Lady Jaye's only reinforced her moral core.
Several episodes taught me play patterns that I used.
- "Lasers in the Night" Baroness disguised herself as Lady Jaye to infiltrate G.I. Joe HQers and steal a laser guidance system
- "Last Hour to Doomsday" Lady Jaye disguised herself as the Baroness to infiltrate a Cobra base and gather intel on a doomsday weapon
... a Baroness action figure could be Lady Jaye/a Lady Jaye action figure could be the Baroness
The episode "Countdown for Zartan" provided children with an idea of how a Lady Jaye/Zartan rivalry would unfold. It felt like there was more left on the table with these two. I had no issue with Lady Jaye taking on guys and didn't think she should just be fighting Baroness.
Lady Jaye was able to switch between different personas and languages effortlessly, all while remaining focused on her mission. In contrast, Zartan often became lost in the roles he played due to his mental illnesses.
Zartan's actions were primarily motivated by greed (not even a believer in the Cobra cause), and he was unwilling to risk his life when situations became too dangerous. This lack of a greater purpose, any kind of belief system, hindered his skills, and Zartan would flee at the first sign of trouble.
Baroness' flaw was a selfish worldview; Zartan's flaw was no core identity or purpose. Lady Jaye would win against these two because she knew who she was and her worldview was rooted in empathy.
Flint and Lady Jaye vs. Tomax and Xamot
This was given a lot of coverage in the Sunbow animation. The Crimson Twins were untouchable as the heads of Extensive Enterprises, operating within the law.
... just so happened one of their "clients" was Cobra, and they couldn't be held to account for the things Cobra Commander did (all the while, the twins were financing every big Cobra scheme to take over the world, lol).
These two pairs couldn't be more different.
greed/self-interest/corporate dominance vs integrity/loyalty/personal sacrifice
Tomax and Xamot, on paper, were the perfect pairing as villains within Cobra.
Complete loyalty to one another, a significant advantage within Cobra (filled with all sorts of backstabbers and, well, snakes). However, the Crimson Twins were in all ways an echo chamber, "mirrored" and hollow. Stagnant with no risk involved, no growth, only mutual reinforcement.
While, the intimacy Flint and Lady Jaye shared was earned through being emotionally vulnerable with one another. Not "mirrored"... rather, as a couple, as soldiers, they complemented one another, balanced one another.
Typically, the twins would be involved in Cobra schemes in my adventures, they'd get their hands dirty, being outright thugs underneath the performative business man stuff, and as Cobra plots unraveled, they'd be punched out by Flint and Lady Jaye, then go back to their offices with their tails between their legs.
(seemed, also, at least once or twice, a bit of subtext that the twins might have been eying Lady Jaye as a pretty prize to collect or at least visually admire, which worked as a play pattern, Cobra had captured Lady Jaye, Flint had to rescue her)
This one is another that got plenty of coverage in Sunbow as well. Many episodes have all four encountering and in conflict with one another, part of that was built into the show's DNA. They all got starring roles, plenty of screen time, after all.
The episode "Eau De Cobra" even played around with the romantic tropes surrounding the four, jealously as the motivating factor.
The two couples have a clear color palette contrast. Flint/Lady Jaye in earth tones; Destro/Baroness in black, red, and silver.
All four attractive people, but children understood Destro and Baroness were the villains. They have a "gleam" that was typical for bad guys... uninviting, guarded, twisted.
Baroness and Destro's dynamic was also much different. Destro said, "Only a madman like Cobra Commander would want to rule alone," and both Destro and the Baroness envisioned a future with them together, ruling as a couple atop the world.
Shared passion/aristocratic justification for their evil, yet their affection for one another... "competitive" almost in a way?
... built on gaslighting, emotional manipulation.
Their relationship loop goes: Baroness offended by Destro's cold logic and unavailability; then countered with seduction, sabotage, and her own emotional withdrawal, playing Cobra Commander against him.
Flint and Lady Jaye may have argued, but their disagreements were constructive, and they had a partnership built on emotional transparency. In contrast, Destro and the Baroness were addicted to their power plays, petty arguments, and gaslighting. They got off on it. They had an unhealthy, volatile romance.
Then, in "Skeletons in the Closet," it is shown that Lady Jaye and Destro share a common ancestor, distantly related (far-off cousins, I assumed), thus having the same aristocratic heritage, and in Destro's mind, the privileged right to rule.
Destro found it "distasteful" to be related to a G.I. Joe agent. I'd guess if Lady Jaye's aims aligned with Destro's, wishing to dismantle law and order on a global scale, he'd have a different perspective.
That episode taught me a wonderful play pattern loop as a child. Destro and Lady Jaye in conflict over family locales, objects, secret supernatural items, and even Lovecraftian monsters. They both had their claims. Destro had control of the family legacy for so long, now here's this Joe butting in on things.
Teaching children how to create and use McGuffins was important; without a framing device, a reason for the conflict, there's no battle.
My vintage MotU Castle Grayskull shifted in nicely as a Castle Destro or other ancestral locales as needed. Destro also would typically want Lady Jaye dead in my adventures, her presence as a "family member" an embarrassment and affront to everything he believed in.
Shared lineage, conflicting loyalties. Their rivalry could be tragic, even Shakespearean if G.I. Joe got that grim, but we learned in Devil's Due, no one wanted Lady Jaye to actually die. Man pain does not really work too much as a story beat in G.I. Joe in my view.
Don't worry, Flint! Shipwreck will show up and tell you what a hottie your new girlfriend is eventually!
I like the movies G.I.Jane and a Few Good Men, because Demi Moore would fit the part for her well. but also Nicole Kidman in Peacemaker was a lot how I imagined her too.
ReplyDeleteyeah, Free Good Men Demi Moore, that's a good one too... the Lady Jaye in Rock's GIJoe movie... horrible imo lol
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