Hey guys, hope all is well! So just wanted to take a little break in the story to talk about the set of chapters we just went through and the play a bit. I figured I'd give you guys a bit of an insight into my thoughts and why I wanted to include that in the story. I had originally planned to describe the play in a couple chapters and follow Antares' POV as the realization dawned on him of what kind of "gift" Nero was presenting him. But I decided to change it up because I thought it would be interesting to actually "show" the play as well as have it double as a flashback within the story to see an earlier part of Antares life that has been referenced quite a bit.

What I wanted the play to symbolize was two things. The first being that Antares life is a Greek tragedy for all intents and purposes, and has been that way since he watched his mother die as a kid. The premise of the play being a nineteen-year-old Crown Prince journeying across the sea to rescues his beloved from the clutches of her evil brothers, who are also his mothers older brothers. And the very same people who inflicted a mortal wound that lead to his father dying. All for him to kill said uncles and rescue his beloved, ultimately to loser her anyway years later. I don't know about you but to me that just screams Greek Tragedy haha. I figured rather than talk about it, having you experience it like the characters in the story would be quite thrilling.

The second thing was the symbolic nature of how we (as humans) view conflict and belittle it for the sake of entertainment. Real people fought in the rebellion, people who were fathers, sons, mothers, sisters, daughters. Whichever side they fought for it was something they believed in. Nero mocks their efforts but most importantly of all Nero mocks Antares and the lengths he went to save woman he can never have. The Storm Islands Rebellion is one of the darkest events in Antares life up to this point so far. For Nero to do what he did by embarrassing him and Faye further shows a glimpse into what kind of rule he has had for the better part of a century. To him it is all a game, people's lives are entertainment. The Emperor of Aurum grew up in Iliad, during his father's terrible reign, he knows Stygian culture perhaps better than anyone in the south. He knows this play crosses several lines but dismisses it for his own selfish amusement. Not only do we get a glimpse of the kind of rule he's had but also we get a closer look at his character and what he represents.

To bring it back to Antares, I feel as though the play also highlights how he differs from his father, Barranagan. There are those within the story and those of you reading this who may think Barranagan's actions as cowardly by having his nineteen year old son handle this rebellion. I certainly would not fault you for that line of thinking and depending on the day honestly I would agree with you too. However another reason why I thought it best to show you the play is because if you remember in the second or so chapter when Barranagan and Antares were having their last conversation and Barranagan talks of Antares already surpassing him. In some ways this play was meant to also show that as well.

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When Magni and Modi went on their first rampage after Myrra's death, Barranagan was unable to stop them and was dealt a mortal blow in the process. His inability to rise to the occasion to stop them again, instead sending his son to do so under the banner of proving his legitimacy for the crown of Iliad and the Storm Islands could be seen as the former King of Iliad officially passing the crown to his son. For all the talk of Barranagan's strength and all the great thing he had accomplished, when it came down to it, it was Antares not him who stood against Magni and Modi. He did something Barranagan could not do. Again I wanted to highlight this difference between them. Antares may not have his father's strength or that of his older brother's. But there is something he possess that few others do. As to what that is, please continue to read the rest of the story to find out haha!

All in all, I hope this little insight into my thoughts gave you a clearer understanding of why I chose to add the play into the story. I apologize if this is explains too much of the play but I felt as though that the change in format of the story was quite big and needed some kind of explanation as to why. I know what it's like to read a story and want to know why an author did something and not be able to ask them. I feel like RR gives me the ability to actually talk to you guys which I really like. If this sort of thing isn't your style and you would like to come to your own conclusions and figure stuff out for yourself, don't worry I don't plan on doing this again. Just felt like it I needed to clarify for this specific part of the story. I don't wanna influence how you guys read the story or interpret themes or characters in any way.

I'm also putting a little poll at the end of this so I can gauge what you guys think of the play, and if I should leave it in during my rewrites or if I should take it out and go with my original approach.

As always thank you guys for being here and your continued support, it means the world to me and I will see you in the next chapter. :)

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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