So. I'm new. I don't really lurk. I just stop in from time to time to satisfy the "OMG!! DIDYOUSEETHAT?!?" reflex.
I finally have something to say.
Let me, further, preface this by explaining that I am a lapsed writer. Despite all the words written about how you are no writer if you aren't writing, I still claim the title. I never stop thinking about how to write, about how elements of story, theme and character come together. And I still write stuff. I just never finish anything. I'm not claiming any authority here. Just explaining that what follows is coming from a place of story analysis. A place that exists only in my head, admittedly.
But enough about me. There's a point!
The reason Marten's behavior seems sudden to some, and inevitable to others is that Jeph is a damn fine storyteller.
There's a certain looseness to the way he crafts this stuff. That's not a surprise. He draws without a buffer. It's also not a criticism. I wish I could craft like he does.
I point that out to note that his method allows him the freedom to change direction if he choses to. So I am not going to make the case that Marten and Claire was part of a deep plan going back to Claire's introduction.
Jeph is the only person (I know of) qualified to speak to that.
Rather, I would point out that everything that has happened is consistent with the outcome. (I just read everything since Claire's first appearance this last weekend.)
There are a lot of moving parts here, so I am not going to make a forensic discussion of my first post. Claire is definitely more into Marten than he is into her. The rapidity with which she trusted him points to that. But that is pretty much how relationships go. It's a nice myth, the idea that people in love are equally into each other, but it is just a myth.
Marten has been fairly self involved of late. On the other hand, he actually seems to have learned something from his post one night stand melt down. Specifically, that his problem wasn't that big a deal. More over, he has been his usual contentious self, especially towards Claire, even during the self involved phase.
Maybe that was foreshadowing. Maybe it was just Marten being Marten.
Sometimes, in real life, a person will find themselves looking at another person in a new way. Maybe that is what happened to Marten, though I think this is more a case of realizing he.d been looking at Claire in a new way since the wedding.
I think Marten surprised himself, and us. To borrow a phrase from the armchair military strategists, "surprise is what happens when you misinterpret something you've seen all along."
I, personally, choose to think that Jeph planned it that way. As a writer, the one night stand arc looks to me like a classic misdirection. It provides the impression that we are all up in Marten's head and know everything he's concerned with. By outing Claire's crush, through Faye, the emotional focus stays with Claire. It's a great build up and it was executed perfectly. Go Jeph!
We've only been allowed back in Marten's head in flashes, since. That's also effective storytelling. Sometimes the audience only learns whether a character's actions are growth, or more of the same old, after the fact. Getting the audience involved in asking, "what is going on here?" is tricky business.
I could be wrong. It could be that Jeph is about to drop the ball. But I have watched him grow as an artist and writer for years, now. I will take the leap of faith, simply because he's done a good job getting to this point.
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.