Armand

To start this off - Armand is my favorite character in the show and to me he's one of the most interesting characters in the whole show.

One of the big reasons I love Armand is honestly because I feel like he's often misunderstood by fans of the show. I think this is mostly because a lot of the show's watchers come into it expecting the classic structure of a show having a hero and a villain. IWTV doesn't really have that. A big theme of the show is the nuance that's basically everywhere. There isn't one single character who is just purely good or purely evil. So when I say I'm an Armand defender it's not that I believe the things he has done are good or correct BUT I will always fight the people that think he's some evil villain of the show.

If you take his whole character into context you realize that even when you don't agree with him you can understand him.

Childhood

"My first memory? I'm being run down by slavers in Delhi. My second? ..."

I'd say the most significant part of his life is his childhood and early adulthood. Armand has gone through intense and repeated abuse for decades. A child that goes through this sort of stuff doesn't have the space to properly develop emotionally, the only thing he knew for years is that pain and he never had the space to heal from it. It's stated that at a very young age Armand was sold into slavery and ended up working in a brothel. All this before the age of 15. To live through that type of physical and sexual abuse is already horrible but even when he gets "rescued" it doesn't get much better. After the brothel Armand ends up in the possesion of Marius de Romanus, a much older vampire who grooms him to the point that Armand percieves their relationship as loving. He doesn't realize that what was going on was wrong because at least it was better than the brothel. This is the first time we get to see his dependence on relationships forming. It didn't matter that Marius was using him and even "lending" him out to other men. The relationship was painful, unhealthy and gross but to him it felt secure and this is where his view of relationships forms. He's never able to heal from this because at 27 he gets turned into a vampire which is often stated to sort of stunt you in the age you get turned.

Armand & Louis

Then we skip to when Louis appears in Paris. I truly feel like their relationship started very genuienly before the cracks started appearing in it. What I find really interesting is that while Armand is the coven leader in Paris and is an objectively very strong vampire but when he reveals his past to Louis he turns very submisive. The bench scene where Louis calls him Arun is purely him regressing into his childhood trauma and is genuienly really sad to see. He doesn't feel comfortable in a position of power because all he's known in his youth is submission and serving another person. Louis seems to take advantage of this and use it to him own benefit. Later we see how the relationship starts turning sort of one-sided - Louis is still very much thinking of Lestat and while Armand is devoted to Louis he doesn't seem interested in returning that (eg. not wanting to call them companions.) This all culminates in Armand's betrayal. He can see just how fragile the thing between them is so when the choice of picking between a coven he has known for 200 years or Louis who doesn't really seem to care about him as much as he'd like to, of course he chooses the more secure option. He needs something to latch onto, he needs something or someone else to have an identity because he was never able to develop outside the existance of another person. It's possible that he assumed Louis would get killed during the trial but when he got "banished" instead he changed his approach - instead choosing to side with Louis when the theater got burned and the coven members killed. He needs Louis so the reason he lies to him is pure desperation. He probably knows he's building up these lies that are bound to crumble eventually but he can't help himself. He's making irrational decisions out of desparation and out of fear. Armand is terrified of being alone, of losing the only identity he has so when the oppertunity to pretend he saved Louis during the trial appears he takes it. Even then he doesn't really win though as Louis stays with him purely to spite Lestat. Armand is always Louis' second choice but to him, it's better than nothing.

He manipulates Louis over and over, lies to him until the lie itself completely crumbles because inside he's a really terrified child. Even though in the show he got turned at 27 instead of 17 I still feel like they intentionally made him act very much like a bitter teenager who's driven by emotions and impulses. He lashes out, he hurts people but not because he's inherently evil but because he has never known anything different.

Devil's minion

I think a very interesting part of his story is the Devil's minion era which we haven't really seen in the show yet but at least in the book - Armand finally becomes someone's first choice and that's with Daniel. No matter how their relationship gets they really do love one another and this is basically the first time we see him in a situation where he isn't being used by someone. While Daniel wants him to turn him into a vampire it's not the reason he's with him. He loves Armand just because and that makes this relationship so speacial in my opinion.

Claudia

I think this is where I think Armand's biggest sin is and that's his treatment of Claudia. The fact is - he just doesn't give a shit about her and honestly that's something even I'm not forgiving him for lol (Claudia lovers stand up). She's just a means to an end for him and honestly I sort of mourn that they don't get along. In my mind there's a reality where they could really have a lot of understanding for eachother (especially with book Armand given they were both turned way too young.) I'm gonna need an au about this or something because it's such a great idea in my mind. The universe couldn't make them friends because they'd be too strong together I'm afraid. I feel like they have a lot in common from the fact they aren't the first choice for the people they love to things like their relationship to Louis. They both want love but they're held back by their own emotions and impulsivity. It still makes me sad that honestly Armand couldn't care less that Claudia died and he probably enjoyed that he can now have Louis all to himself.