Making sense of Orb: On The Movements Of The Earth
-Badeni's last movement? Letter talk!-
Anyone who scrolled through the Okubade tag in the past months must have stumbled upon my stupidly long essays so, not wanting to disappoint, here's another one. This time I'm planning to refurbish an old theory I posted on the Okubade server and concerns Badeni's rather emotional tone in the letter he left behind for Grabowski, and how it was probably not what he had in mind when he first devised the plan.
I see Orb as a story about causality, and most events that happen are meant to serve a greater purpose whether it is revealed or left to our interpretation. And in this case, the scene I'm thinking about is Badeni's decision to postpone writing the letter when he first planned to. Was it solely to increase the stakes when the Inquisitors were coming for them, or something bigger?
In order to answer that, I'm switching fast forward to the moment we find out what exactly that letter is saying.
Is it something Badeni would have written back then? Probably not. Let's take the events one by one.
He sits at his desk, quill in hand, when Oczy knocks and interrupts him. He's come to take Badeni downtown for their hangout, and Badeni decides he will write the letter later. At the tavern, Oczy expresses his desire to attend university to which Badeni reacts with disapproval. He doesn't seem like someone who would care for some nameless beggars' education, or even to express compassion to his fellows overall, doesn't he?
Indeed we can argue that he has grown as person up until this point, the simple fact that he's been reproducing Oczy's journal in secret being an obvious proof - but, I would argue that while his growth has been in motion, it hasn't been perfected just yet.
So, what happened then? Well, perhaps one last, fateful conversation with Oczy happened. Which provoked one last shift in Badeni's beliefs; and in his person, as a whole.
While Badeni still displayed his former arrogance at the tavern and wouldn't give Oczy much credit, Oczy manages to destroy him from inside out. Not only he stands up to Badeni out of all people, who has been his superior until now, but formulates good enough arguments to both engage his attention and reduce him to silence. And to put a cherry on top (and a kick to his ego), while trying to convince Oczy to let go of his insane plan to attack the Inquisitors, Oczy manages to counterattack his every point and even when Badeni brings up Oczy's own belief against him, it still doesn't work. In the end, Oczy, a peasant, a commoner, someone whom Badeni has lived to see as inferior, manages to defeat him in a battle of wits. If this wasn't a most humbling experience for Badeni, then none of it was.
And that was just addressing the contents of the letter. What about the tone? "I know I'm not held in the highest regards", "I know my words hold little sway", "I beg you from the bottom of my heart". Is this something 'normal' Badeni would have said/written? Does he even have a heart? Good question.
They ring to me as the words of someone desperate. I imagine what his state of mind must be in this moment: his plans failed; the heliocentric theory he'd worked on and the name he'd tried to secure for himself will go to naught; he couldn't persuade Oczy to give up on his plan to die either, even if he's been doing everything in his power to protect him. He's chosen him over, and over, and over again. He told him to leave first, he told him to take a horse and escape, he begged him not to die. He's planned to meet him again some day, yet that turned out to be the last time he saw him before his imminent death. There's no denying the utter distress he feels in this moment.
Therefore, and that's where my personal interpretation chimes in, after witnessing first-hand how he couldn't manage to persuade someone he really cares about using logical arguments, he takes a completely new approach instead: he speaks from heart to heart. Perhaps there's a hint of regret? He didn't do that before and lost Oczy, so he wouldn't lose a second time - if not Oczy, at least his voice, his words to the world.
Therefore, if the first letter might have sounded completely different - logical, neutral and devoid of any consideration, then this new letter brings out Badeni's perfected movement. His last interaction with Oczy shatters him into tiny pieces and reconstructs him into who he is during his last days - it pushes his character development into a brand new tier. And we know how important this letter was to Badeni - after all, Oczy doesn't spare him for the letter's sake, but for his sake. So Badeni could have used these last 10 minutes to flee to safety, but instead, he chooses to use them to make sure the letter is delivered safely via the tunnel.
Here's what I imagine happens:
Badeni sits down, spreads the paper and takes the quill. Then he wastes no time and starts writing, as he already knows what he wants to write. He had this plan for a very long time, he made up his mind earlier that day and he had the text memorized already.
However, he stops for a very brief moment. The same words no longer sit right with him, not after his last moments with Oczy. So he crumples the paper and takes another one, this time the words flowing from his heart rather than his mind. Perhaps even he is surprised to what's happening... And not interested in keeping up a façade any longer.
And writes down everything from his heart as if it were Oczy's.
dailybridgerton
turnnoffyourmind
andulkaphoto
areudirty
vaporwave
titsay
kaledo-art
tangentwithtanner
pixelskylines
