I’m really fascinated by the work Alex is doing with Occtis in terms of his relationship with his family. It would be easy to have him completely antagonized to all of them, especially with his backstory and leaving to learn wizardry, never mind the later murder. Instead, he’s making the much more interesting choice to show that Occtis still has investment in his family and their mission, and is more philosophically at odds with their current trajectory and leadership. After all, he chose to learn specifically death magic/necromancy - that is not the decision of a man who sees no value in his family’s sorcerous powers.
His conversation with Vaelus about his conflicted feelings regarding Frons’s (apparent) death is therefore especially juicy. He understands and seems to respect Julien’s hatred toward him and the necessity of Frons’s death but he doesn’t feel good about it. Yeah he didn’t know Frons super well because of their family dynamics and the fact that he left home years ago but that’s still his brother.
You get the sense that Occtis would definitely try to talk his siblings around and away from their current mission rather than killing them if that’s ever an option. I’m excited to see where this goes in terms of Occtis’s arc and inter-party dynamics.