Quote Originally Posted by Kraco
Of course she is. It doesn't matter, however. The world is full of people who think they know better than yourself what makes you happy and they aren't too shy to share their opionions or even force their decisions on others. The saying that the worst deeds are often done with the best of intentions is not rubbish. Ironically enough if you had asked the civilians around the forest for their opinion, they might have shared Maria's view. It's exactly like the populistic politicians that seem to be all the rage in Europe right now. Their promises seem enticing but aren't oft based on realism or are blind to the bigger picture.
I don't quite get what you're trying to say. What I am saying, is that Maria obviously does care about what other people think. She's shocked that people still want to fight, that they think her medicine was poison, and that her actions weren't actually making people happy. She's not self-assured at all.

So if she's so altruistic, she should really listen and think about the feedback she's getting instead of acting on emotion (aptly said, this episode).

My problem with all of this is that her taking action (after some thought) a few episodes ago was supposed to mean she came to some form of realisation. Presumably she decided she was selfish after all and would act on her own terms regardless of what the recipients of her help thought. We're quickly reminded that that's in fact not the case. She does care an awful lot about how her actions affect people. So then, what exactly was the purpose of that whole scene? She's as lost now as she was before her last battle.

Quote Originally Posted by Kraco
What we do know is that Maria has never been going around asking people what they want. She even seemed annoyed by the arrows wish arrows Joseph gathered for her and I don't recall her actually spending lots of time reading them. When others have tried to advice her, she's as stubborn as a mule.
It's work. Everyone gets annoyed at work. Even business owners from time to time.

Quote Originally Posted by Ryll
But there is also something else that doesn't add up. Where did Bernard get this pot of "rape aphrodisiac" to give to Galfa? Where did Gilbert and Bernard get medicine that is as good as Maria's? That's when it hit me.
See, I've always seen Maria as an available healer. Her importance never really struck me as being able to treat diseases that other people couldn't, but either were unavailable to do so or weren't doing it for free.

Everything you said makes sense though.