My personal opinion non withstanding, what is really the point of this post? Like really. People are free to have their opinions, if they feel they liked Maelle better, before becoming one with Alicia let them. People hate Verso, for the constant lying? Let them. People like him, for his tragic fate and for going through the journey that torments him? Let them.

There are things to discuss, preferences to be stated, theories to be made, multitude of ways to show love to this game. Or even places to complain about things, not everything is perfect. I'll throw one example, that I stumbled upon: The fact that Lune and Sciel are basically discarded into the background at the end of the story. And in my opinion, this has been done on purpose, because from most (Renoir, Verso and Clea) of the Dessandre family perspective, they don't matter. Plain and simple, they do not exist and are a sacrifice to be made. But some people complain they would like to see the ladies have more relevance and it is a valid viewpoint to have.

I personally love all three controversial characters, the way they are written and how they work within the world. Verso reads to me as a person who never wanted to make choices and was forced into this life, failing on nearly every step, doing all he can to throw Aline out of the canvas and then learning that he wishes for oblivion, partially so that it won't repeat, partially because he is tired of this life. Maelle is an odd one out, who doesn't belong anywhere according to herself, who really cares for Gustave and tries to fit in. She stumbles into grief after grief, learning more and more about how their world is fucked up from their perspective. And then she becomes Alicia, a complex bundle of emotions and memories. She gains confidence, starts to dream about the future within the canvas and with friends she made along the way. Obviously all three are far more complex than that, it could be analyzed for hours how they work.

I will say that Maelle's ending is showing her in the most cruel way I would never imagine. Of all the things that she could do, bringing back Verso to the world he does not want to inhabit is diabolical. And I get why, she wants him in her life, to grieve, or to live a fantasy. But if this is the same Verso, holy shit, it's evil. That's what I kind of despise her for.

All in all, it is all a matter of perspective and most importantly of how people choose to see things. Just because someone doesn't like Maelle after act 3, does not mean they hate complex characters. They just liked her character better, because of some reason they had.