Eleven Years tho
I’ve seen a lot of posts that say “Trent is lying about releasing Bren from the asylum. It makes no sense why he would wait 11 years so therefore he’s lying.”
But we know that Matt plays Trent as one who wields the truth like a weapon. So, what changes if all those things he said at dinner were true? What pieces are we missing from this puzzle? (Side note: Using the name “Bren” because it pertains to the boy he was before “Caleb” existed.)
1. Bren was special above the other two. Maybe they started as equals and Trent saw something more in Bren. Or maybe Bren had that spark from day one.
2. Trent is personally invested in Bren’s growth and wants him as a successor. And it’s no secret—Trent’s right and left hand Scourgers (who have served faithfully for 17yrs after witnessing the fall of their classmate into madness, his 11 year internment at an asylum, and his return 5 years later with a group of weirdo outsiders demanding peace talks) are willing to drop their own ambitions and follow Bren’s leadership. Like, in what work place is that normal advancement? Stupid question, sorry. But these three were groomed, and then Bren was groomed more.
3. It took 11 years before Trent deemed Bren ready for “release,” then orchestrated a “Truman Show”-level farce for his escape. Bren wasn’t left forgotten in a room for over a decade. He was kept in a research facility specializing in the Beacons and human experimentation. “Breaking” was a necessary part of the process. But to what end?
Theories
1. Consecuted Caleb. My personal favorite theory that I’ve been clutching to my chest since we learned the word—Bren is a Consecuted soul. Maybe Trent/Soltryce/Cerberus is finding children that show signs of amnesis in areas of known conflicts with Kryn soldiers and tells the parents they’re potential magic prodigies. Or maybe Trent got lucky and realized Bren alone was Consecuted based on the boy’s reaction to the Beacon.
Matt is almost aggressive in pointing out Caleb’s immediate feelings of familiarity to the Beacon when they first find it—even gave Caleb a dream that required everyone else to leave the table. And the sanitarium is drenched in that same feeling of dunamancy. Whether this is because Caleb is a Consecuted soul or because Trent experimented on Bren with the Beacon during those 11 years I think it’s clear that he’s intimately tied to the Beacon since pre-stream.
2. Bren, the Soul Jar. An excellent theory that is possibly more likely than the first—Trent has done something to Bren that will allow him to take over the young man’s body as his own in the future. Possibly as a contingency plan against assassination. Or maybe it’s the goal all along. Trent’s personal form of Consecution where he picks the body ahead of time. Like Halas building clones except he’d be taking a used body with a soul. The old dude ain’t gettin any younger...
3. Winter Soldier Bren. Break him down, wipe his mind, reprogram. Rinse and repeat until done. Then set him lose to do his work unaware. And when the time is right, flip his switch.
