Old cult trick: isolate the person you’re trying to recruit from anyone who might counterbalance your influence on them. Had E-Merl and Scipio not been present, the sisters probably would’ve gotten lost in chatter about the “good old days,” with an excluded Frigg growing bored. Then Blair would start questioning Frigg about her adventures, distracting her into talking her about herself, and leading her away while Hestia and Tamara gave Rachel the pitch.

It still wouldn’t work out in the end, as Blair suspected it wouldn’t, because what Rachel hasn’t yet admitted to herself is that her new group means even more to her than the old one does. But because Rachel hasn’t admitted that to herself, she might have joined for a bit, until she got a sense of what Hestia’s regime is really like. Or until she figured out what really happened to Frigg, after Blair’s story about Frigg getting bored and going home started to show cracks.

As it is, we have some fun. E-Merl and Rachel get a talk that’s been a while coming, while Frigg gets completely ignored by someone she’s threatening and it’s not even Scipio. Also, even if they are thug-emperors, I still get a smile out of Blair and Hestia’s reactions to Frigg bragging about her sexual prowess.