You know if you look at human progression as a form of dialectics (in this case it would likely be Hegelian dialectics, where discourse is not in literature or speech but rather events and circumstances) in the context of HDG, then you get this really cool dynamic emerging. There is the duality of establishment versus resistance, feral versus domestic, individuality versus communality, and you can see this dialectic challenge developing in a really unique way.
First there is the progression -
Terrans bind together in a war effort against the Affini, where concepts of domesticity represent their humanity and integration into society. Simultaneously there is the status quo brought about by establishment, where Terran institutions are trusted and faith is placed in them. Communality is valued, though not at the expense of individuality, but through a collective identity of what it means to be a Terran.
Second there is the regression -
After the Human Domestication Treaty is signed, domesticity is refused in favor of feralism. The status quo via establishment is brought down intrinsically (a literal surrender signing human lives away, if you subscribe to the idea that becoming a floret constitutes a removal of personhood). Resistance takes precedence over establishment, as free Terran movements fracture communality to make way for individuality. I admittedly know little of the lore concerning the immediate response of the HDT being signed - but given the common occurrence of feralists being portrayed as individual or tribal holdouts living in comparably more rustic circumstances, I think a reasonable assumption would imply that feralists aligned Terrans did not form a tight bond of resistance, but rather pockets of dissent circumstantially focused on the more immediate self preservation. Faith is lost in institutions as the signing of the HDT is seen as betrayal - and the dialectical inversion of direction in the Terran government (fighting for the preservation of humanity -> surrendering humanity) is mirrored in the regression of humanity (a largely united society against a common goal becoming a tribalized society, individual preservation taking priority over a more humanity-centric drive for progress)
Next comes the rebuilding -
Following a shock to the dialectic phase between “progression” and “regression”, there’s a return to form. Feralist movements find ways to gather and unite in their common goal, a push is made to get back on track in terms of the advancement of humanity with the focus on preservation of the “Terran spirit”. Establishment becomes a status quo, but in a muted form - where adherence to the systems in place are trusted with suspect acceptance. Feralists are depicted to have contingencies in the fallout. Trust exists with the lining of hesitance, but this also sees a return to domesticity. Trust breeds a form of contractualism now built in the paradigm of the feralist resistance, and in that contractualist framework society begins to rebuild and take a recognizable shape. With that rebuilding, communality arises as feralists work towards a common goal of “preserving the Terran spirit” or fighting to remain “free Terrans” rather than individual preservation. This constructs a sort of plateau, where the common assumption of dialectic patterns provide comfort - the concept of conflicting concepts sparring to reach a more perfected reality is seen, and some peace might be found in the observation that hardship for free Terrans has bred resilience and potential.
Finally comes the cessation -
The “rebuilding” phase acts as a microcosm of the progression phase, but muted. Feralist movements create a simulacrum Terran government, mirroring the goals in the initial progression phase. This, in the context of an indomitable foe embodied by the Affini Compact, is going to enter a decaying repetition where the muted feralist movements iterate through their own waning progression and regression phases, until no noteworthy iterations of this pattern can be detected. At the point the cyclical progression/regression phases are unnoticeable, effectively human society ceases to exist.
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What I wanted to highlight here is an insight to how the “horror” (or rather, I would call it suspenseful) elements of the HDG universe take shape. Human experience is suffused with a layman’s understanding of dialectic patterns, “what does not kill me makes me stronger”. The recount of human history, and the assumed progression of humanity to reach the characterization of human society in the Terran Accord, implies a defining dialectic pattern to human existence. The archetypical “dialectic refining” presents itself in the common form. This constructs a narrative that is familiar and comfortable to the audience, because it mimics classical storytelling archetypes (something something heroes journey something something the Iliad and the odyssey).
Consequently, the story takes place in the interruption to the comfort assumed by the “dialectic refining” cycle that is assumed. The introduction of the Affini compact poses the question “what happens if an [assumed] unstoppable force (dialectic refining presented through humanity’s progression) meets an immovable object(presented by the insurmountable war against the Affini Compact)?”
This creates an inversion. The dialectic patterns that strengthened humanity - and narratively construct comfort for the audience - are poised not to be strengths, but to become weaknesses. The “cessation” phase of the dialectic inversion presents a corollary to the adage “what does not kill me makes me stronger”. The very core of dialectics - challenge begets improvement - is eroded. The symbol of progression becomes a symbol of decay, where the items that constructed narrative comfort come to foreshadow the root of the (overarching/environmental) narrative’s discomfort.
There’s a lot of ways I could take this thought, but to sum it up
- the narrative’s dialectic pattern is presented as a refutation to the commonly accepted image of progression. What does not kill the Terran Accord (and feralist movement) only weakens it, to make it that much more susceptible to further decay.
- the narrative techniques to present comfort in a story are reversed, instead used to present the ultimate narrative discomfort
These two observations are what creates such a suspenseful setting. Storytelling constructs an expectation of a protagonist finding some sort of realization, inspiration, or plot-relevant Macguffin that reinforces the narrative pattern of trial resulting in advancement. In HDG, the storytelling continually plays off the reader’s expectation of some miraculous boon (I.E. - the trials a protag faces leading to the strengthening of will to overcome said trials) that precipitates a protagonist’s victory and does not deliver on it - it undermines it. The expectation of Terran progress (the continuation of the Terran accord) is undermined quite literally by the trials not leading to advancement. The expectation of progress in preserving a Terran spirt (even in a waning populace) is attacked as the progression and regression phases cycle within the decaying “cessation” phase. The expectation of a personal triumph via a protagonist is undermined as every avenue to advance from each trial is countered by the innumerable techniques of Affini domestication.
As it pertains to creating that theme of powerlessness that resonates in many of the works in the HDG universe, all of this really contributes to constructing that feeling simply because it takes what people are conditioned to see as a strength in humanity as a whole and reverts it to weakness. The things that we are conditioned to see as the indication of upcoming triumph become symbols of impending defeat. The narrative cycles we expect to present to exemplify success in a protagonist’s goals are met with prescient countermeasures to those patterns. HDG constructs the mood of its setting via the refutation of dialectics, to the extreme. HDG serves itself as a sort of dialectic exploration and counterpoint, positing “if the dialectic pattern of refinement is met with an insurmountable challenge, is there progression in response”. In a way it is tautological, “can an embodiment of perfection be reconciled with flawed understanding to achieve a more perfect understanding” - but in a way it also explores finality. HDG presents the circumstance where, upon meeting the asymptotic approximation of perfection pursued in a dialectic process, the dialectic process ceases to sustain itself but rather destroys itself.