Self-sacrifice is a willingness to forgo one's personal pleasures in the pursuit of the increased good of others. Humans have an innate habit of satisfying others' needs more so than we do unto themselves, the more we prolong this seductive illusion of ours, the deeper we stray into a downward spiral, losing sight of our truest identity and passion.
Maelstrom's survival depicts the moment before the first breath of identity drawn — the dawning of one's sudden epiphany after being immersed in dark waters for too long, back into the surface where the dweller should rightfully be.