There is... a lot to talk about here. I don’t think it’s fair of me to go talking about it until I know more about Essek and his motivations, but... hm.
Did he come up with the plan to steal the beacons, or did the Cerberus Assembly reach out to him somehow and offer to research them for him?
What are his motivations for studying the beacons? Is he doing it for selfish purposes, like seeking prolonged life, or is he straight up trying to understand them better in a way that his religious job won’t allow?
Did he realize that stealing beacons would lead to years of outward wars?
The tensions have been high for ages, even before the beacons were in the picture, so there is the concept of it being ‘just another thing to bicker about’.
But no, he’s smart enough to know cause and effect. And he, effectively, heightened tensions between two military nations who were more than willing to send people to war over a holy d12.
I think Caleb really got it right when he said that the difference between them is razor thin, but they are also extremely opposed. Essek seeks knowledge for himself first, and his sin is essentially ignoring the fallout of thousands of lives for the sake of gain. He’s going ‘this is important to me, and to hell with those who get hurt in the process’. And in a way, Caleb is the same...
Except he’s not. Caleb’s search for knowledge always hinged on protecting things he loved, or thought he loved. He went to school and was brainwashed to love the Empire above all else. He turned away from that through his ability to care for others - pure unconditional love alone - that broke the chains holding him. And then he went on an insane goose chase to gain ultimate power - not for personal gain, but to undo the wrongs that were, arguably, the fault of others, those in power.
And yes, they’re both willing to make atrocious sacrifices to get what they want. They’ve gone beyond caring about ramifications - until they realize that those ramifications might include the few people they dared to come to love.
That’s life, though, ain’t it. That’s how you learn the consequences of your actions.
I kind of really respect Matt in that regard. He created Essek to be quite likeable, but not pitiable. He’s not some hurt, traumatized child driven to madness. He’s a lonely prodigy that’s probably a result of his upbringing - cold, calculating, focused obsessively on the research. And he’s got a century of experience behind him, he has no excuse. He’s strictly selfish because of himself - and Matthew let him be that - and Essek is all the more interesting for it.
I’m curious to see where they go from here.
And as for Veth........ don’t worry. Fanart is coming.
