In this essay I will explain how the branding scene was in no way Olrox’s character getting bungled but made his character better instead
Spoilers for s2 below the cut
Olrox’s introduction in s1e1 was about getting revenge for a murdered lover.
And Olrox is established to love Mizrak too in much the same way.
He also blatantly refuses to let Mizrak die. Twice. Once in s1e8 and once in s2e2, both of which have Mizrak trying to join a fight that Olrox states will get him killed. He will not let Mizrak die. And to him, that goal is more important than Mizrak’s complaints or the fate of innocents or the fate of the world.
With that half of the setup out of the way, I can talk about Olrox and Erzebet’s first meeting.
They are actively sizing each other up during this and determining what the other wants.
Olrox is flippant, disrespectful, and downright rude because in his eyes, this is a colonizer playing god who blindly expects him to fall in line- even when he says he will never worship her. Hell, he doesnt care when Erzebet shows off her magic tricks. What matters is when Drolta suggests that Olrox has a weakness, implying that it’s something that will be exploited if Olrox doesn’t bow down to them.
And he does bow- pissed as he is- even when he’s directly told that Erzebet and Drolta want him to help colonize the new world.
It doesn’t particularly matter if Drolta actually knew his weakness. What matters is that she’s powerful and clever enough, with enough underlings, to find it- or rather- him and leverage him against Olrox. And that. Cannot. Happen.
In s2e2 however, Olrox gets reckless. He starts lying to Drolta and Erzebet. He ‘didn’t even bother looking for the warrior-monk’ but that’s not true at all. Hell, he finds Mizrak and the whole gaggle of heroes that he ‘definitely didn’t see’.
This is not. a terribly subtle lie. Drolta’s thoroughly studying him and almost certainly picks up on his bullshit but doesn’t call him on it. Not yet.
Now we arrive at the branding scene in s2e3
Drolta points out that Olrox really hasn’t done anything to prove his loyalty and he decides to bow and play nice and tell Erzebet just how much he admires and worships her because that’s the best way forward, even if it’s a bald faced lie because Olrox said he’d *never* worship her
At this point, his bluff gets tacitly called by Drolta, who asks him what he has sacrificed- what will he die for? And Erzebet chimes in with, “or who?”
She follows this up with some *very* specific phrasing, “If you love me Olrox…” and here she pauses to put a thumb to his lips which is Very Intentionally adding the subtext of romantic or physical love. She’s stating that she knows Olrox has a person he loves. And she knows who it is.
This isn’t a vague threat anymore. Erzebet’s telling him that he’s on a much shorter leash now and that Mizrak is going to be put in harms way if he doesn’t behave. Drolta would kill him. And then it would be over. He cannot. Let Mizrak. Die.
He’s been willing to compromise on his morals before for Mizrak, been willing to bow to colonizers and let the world burn for Mizrak. What is a brand that will fade quickly enough? What is the damage to his pride in the face of losing Mizrak forever? He can compromise once more if it means Mizrak will live. He *must* live.
The whole scene is *there* because it shows that when push comes to shove, Olrox will do *anything* to keep his boyfriend alive. It’s what he values absolutely above all else and when he’s forced to choose, Olrox will pick Mizrak’s life every time.
(This does also serve as setup to the s2 finale and the Olrox/Mizrak shenanigans there)
TLDR Olrox let himself get branded to keep Mizrak safe, not because he was just being a doormat. The writers were very intentionally showing that he’d compromise every other moral and belief- including not playing nice with rich colonizer assholes- to the end of not letting Drolta get near Mizrak.
That is all, thank you for coming to my ted talk, and grab a cookie on your way out 🍪
