That's part of it, sure, but also all the killing she did. She was a lot more hands on than the boys think. She wasn't a REMF, that's for sure. She thinks it over and over again, that she feels that she and the MC are the same.
Maybe Anastasia was her lover? Either way, that feeling she has about the MC is part of why she's attracted to him. She literally feels that no one else could truly understand her (which is a weird thought, with Alistair also being a special forces veteran with a lot of ugly combat experience).
Yes, at the end of last episode we saw Els, sitting under the rain, with a pistol in her hand. That definitely means that she is a killer. And that certainly didn't sit well for a scholar like her.
I really don't get that bi vibe out of Els, although this is an AVN, which means all the girls are bi, even without actually being one.
I've written this over and over again: Els is by far the best LI for Valentine, to a point of being the best LI of any protagonist of any game I've ever played. She puts it perfectly: Valentine is truely the only one who gets her completely.
Think about it. Valentine killed a guy to protect Viridiana, at a very young age nonetheless. And even though it was legitimate use of deadly force in many jurisdictions, he is still a murderer and it still made him feel like a monster. Els' service also made her a murderer, and for a pacifist, that certainly made her feel like a monster.
Then there's brains aspect. Yes, Els is scary smart, as Valentine puts it, Valentine isn't a dumb dumb like he claims to be. His GDP and LSAT scores aren't off the charts, but still very high.
They are also both drop dead gorgeous.
And their characters aren't that dissimilar. They both put a show daily. They pretend to be one thing, while they are actually not. Valentine pretends like a womanizing asshole, while Els pretends like she's little miss perfect. Yet, deep down both of them are very different. Both of them wants to be loved and accepted as who they truly are, with their faults and vices etc. TBH I think Els is much more open and self aware than Valentine, she's a genius after all. She saw right through Valentine, the moment he let his guard slip: The museum artifact explanation to Amrit, then when he fights. One year, and he only drops the act once, if you don't count the cage. That's commitment to you! Els admitted to Valentine that she was "a little smitten" when she saw the artifact explanation. Valentine isn't a bright, and his luck in women, especially with another trauma of him, Zaina and Verity. Zaina is dead and Verity lied and lied and lied about her, just to make him hurt, probably physically. Even Kana understood that. Feeling like a monster, and having trust issues...
Yes, Els puts her nose where it doesn't belong often. She snoops a lot. She even recorded Valentine's and her father's conversation, while she was using the WC. But she explained why she snoops behind Valentine to Viridiana perfectly: A friend of her (probably Anastasia) was hurting but she didn't think it was her place to deal with that. Then Anastasia commited suicide (not definitive but very probably). And now she is afraid that Valentine may share the same fate. She's literally scared shitless of that happening, since that's her ultimate trauma.
For awhile I expected a curveball, which looks less likely now: Els will heal Valentine if he lets her, if she isn't behind the death of Zaina.
