What gets me is that Hannibal doesn’t need to keep Will alive to “own” him. He asserts complete dominance over people by consuming them. People he dislikes, people he adores, funny people, rude people, lovely people, intelligent people. He meets you, you’re on his menu. He eats you, and he doesn’t have to own you, because eating you has satisfied his hunger for you. But when it comes to Will, it’s not enough. He could easily chop Will up, preserve him and savour him for years. But he won’t. He can’t. It’s not enough. It simply won’t be enough and he will starve and starve and starve without him. The only way for him to “have” Will is to have him completely. Have his life. Have his mind. He wants Will’s attention, his likes, his dislikes, his trauma, his euphoria and his ecstacy. His tears, his anger, his hate. He needs every single bit of him. And he wants it so badly it doesn’t matter if he crumbles to dust. All he is is his hunger for another.