with the crumbs we've gotten in searcher in the shadows and traveler's vow i am so curious about the socio-political structure in the blazing world.
like. we know there's a monarchy, obviously they're at the top of the hierarchy (except perhaps the gates are above them)
from what i gather it seems to me travelers have a fairly high status too ("the travelers will do their duty" - the battle of the fog, vow), and perhaps to a lesser extent searchers and gatherers (dakkar being expected to do something else 'good' after giving up on being a traveler and deciding to become a searcher; the paradise research institute BUT "you didn't need extra magic ways to get into the door" - take my hand, vow). but surely there are also people who are none of those three, people with regular jobs with a regular hierarchy, but we aren't shown any of that. and i really wonder just how important those three are, especially travelers. it's framed as though sia, ahlaam, kal and margaret are the only ones, which i find very peculiar. its the people who are supposed to protect the entire blazing world and it's one friend group of 4 people. what's the deal there. are there more? is the blazing world actually just really small? is there also a regular army?
and then what i find especially interesting and have spent far too much time thinking about: the implications of magic ways on social status
there is definitely textual evidence some such hierarchy exists:
the entire fact that not everyone has the same amount of magic ways. there is literally no way that there isn't some sort of discrimination or hierarchy based on amount of magic ways
"number four is dangerous" and "seven, the greatest magic of all" (magic ways, searcher) heavily imply there is also hierarchy within the magic ways. e.g. kids getting bullied because they have illusion and 'it's not like anything good can come from that'
"transformation ... the rarest magic way" (surrounded, vow). some magic ways occur more often than others. again. hierarchy. perhaps people with rarer magic ways thinking they're more entitled to respect and other things
"one of the oldest clans / to the second magic way we have come to understand" (child of the gates, vow). the magic ways were discovered in a particular order. surely there are people from the older clans who think themselves superior to the later clans. unless the order in which they were discovered corresponds with how rare it is, in which the previous argument holds
the separation in clans in general. wdym you're segregating yourselves over magic ways. and not even everyone in that clan has that magic way because "most get one" (magic ways, searcher) so surely that is likely to cause both hierarchy within clans and conflict between clans
shadow powers. obviously they're considered taboo in general but like. we've been told what the shadow forms of transformation and perception are. and i've given quite a bit of thought to what the shadow equivalents of other magic ways would be, and i struggled. i was able to think of healing->poison, presumably movement->moving back in time, but i struggled immensely to think of shadow powers for radiance, illusion and protection. so what if they don't exist. what if only some magic ways have shadow powers. which could have so many implications that i can't all name. feelings of superiority because those without the possibility of shadow powers can't turn evil in that way or get addicted or lose themselves as we've seen in itzal and kal. criminals who can be more effective because of their shadow powers. moral debates about whether it can be used for good
and another thing i wonder about. cyrus and mary katherine married had children. a human and someone from the blazing world. is that common? is that frowned upon? is it even legal? is cyrus shunned by his people, perhaps even his family, because he married a human? were samuel and rose ever able to visit the blazing world or did people think they were freaks of nature, disgraces?
there's so many possibilities in the intricacies of the blazing world and i love thinking about them so much, i hope we get more crumbs in future episodes
