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It is only when Sabal lures Ajay closer and practically spits her name that Sabal realizes that his efforts were entirely in vain. In the end, it didn’t really matter-- whether or not he spun a few too many twisted truths did nothing to change Ajay’s unwavering loyalty, for better or worse. Still, the thought hits him like a train, and he’s almost shocked when he realizes that Ajay has always known the nature of their little game. He sees it in his eyes. Forgiveness. Ajay is taken aback by the whole encounter, and it isn’t as if he’s hiding it, but the expression isn’t one of anger or even hurt. Ajay looks as though he’s recovering from a punch he knew was coming but chose not to dodge, for whatever fucked up reason.
Sabal almost can’t believe it. Perhaps he was losing his touch. He had underestimated Ajay Ghale, who had known from the start. And if he had gotten that far without Sabal realizing that the spell had broken (or that Ajay had seen straight through to the smoke and mirrors from the start), he could have called checkmate right then and there. And yet, here they were, Sabal finally realizing that Ajay hasn’t believed half of a word he’s said to coerce or manipulate, and still holding the upper hand. All of that naive, blind faith was never a ruse, but something Sabal took lazily at face value.
When the information finally sinks in, Ajay has all but turned away and the engine hums to life. He catches the ally’s shoulder in time to get a final word in, and can’t figure out why he still upholds the ruse.
“Do what needs to be done, brother.” It’s all sharp wit and nihilistic sarcasm. The words are empty, because a wall has broken between them, and Ajay doesn’t really have to listen to know what he’s saying.
Amita believed Ajay to be a puppet on a string. Ajay wishes that he could tell her it’s different when the puppet agrees to put on the show. He knows, though, that this is far from the last of it all. Political assassinations might have been a bit steeper of a request than ever before, but Ajay knows and has always known that Sabal will melt and crumble and corrupt and taint when faced with true power. He could leave now, change the course of all this mess, and it isn’t as though he doesn’t see every single problem unfolding before him. The thought almost makes him laugh. Even if it wasn’t too late to change his mind, there’s not a universe where he’d change a thing. It isn’t that he’s fallen for him. Rather, he saw a noose and chose to go down swinging.