Annotated 38-25
Syr’Nj has not missed the threat behind Jarvis’ last sentence. Things have ramped up so quickly that in that first panel, she’s not even sure if she’s going to have to fight her way out of the hall. Most of the others present are not capable in battle, but Jarvis is probably her equal and has had time to prepare weapons…and if Caneghem is truly loyal to them, then one or two spells from him would most likely end her life. How quickly can she move in this dress? Unless she surprised Caneghem, she would have no defense. And if she did focus on him, then Jarvis would—
But no. Some norms of civility do remain. Iwatani genuinely likes Syr’Nj, and the others, save Miyamoto, feel she can be useful. They won’t hatch any plots against her until she gives them their answer.
What Syr’Nj does not realize, however, is that she gives them their answer on this page and the next. They know from her expressions and actions what she will do. Gifted as she is, she’s not used to this level of subterfuge, and so she does not realize how readable she is right now. That mistake will nearly be fatal.
I also noticed that Iwatani kinda sounds like *he’s* passing the motion to let Syr’Nj sleep on it. A little foreshadowing?
It’s a bit… unusual to see Syr’Nj so absolutely shocked, looking like a reindeer staring at the headlights.
I 100% understand this situation is crazy for her to be in, basically in the lion’s den and being threatened, but she’s the kind of character to face certain death and even when scared, hesitant or doubtful she’d still reach for serum of hers and start hatching any desperate plan on the go.
Hell she faced certain death in Harky’s arena and she just fixed her uniform, stood fast and died after giving a one-liner like the baller she is.
Going into enemy territory with the expectation that a battle might happen if you fail is one thing, but she is surrounded by people who, in theory, are allies. She came in here to talk, to convince them to retract the statements they made against adventurers. The two would require completely different head spaces with entirely different expectations
So, the upcoming assassination attempt is collective?
I thought it was Iwatani cutting down the remaining numbers until he could make his coup, just like with Person.
Likewise. I did not get that there was any sincerity in his indications of liking Syr’Nj in any way, and I figured that as soon as this scene started, he had already decided that he was going to unilaterally have Syr’Nj killed afterward, either concealing it from the others entirely or claiming (e.g.) that she had attempted to expose their scheme, possibly trying to get him to join her.
»They know from her expressions and actions what she will do«
I don’t think I do, but I’ll give it a try: If she was going to leave, she would not have waited until this point. She would have directly argued against Jarvis, rather than holding still for this long. Also … well, at this point, a “no” would be her instant death penalty, so it’s too late for that now.
That said: I’m not convinced that Caneghem would fight her if she were to disagree. His whole body (and regular) language screams that he’s uncomfortable with the way his fellow heads are behaving here, and he finds it very very undignified. My impression was that he might actually help her beat the others, then take over the place.
»Iwatani genuinely likes Syr’Nj«
I have seen no evidence of this in the story so far, and don’t remember any from the first read.
He may like to have her on the council, but personal sympathy? Does he even know what that is, other than a dangerous weakness?
It’s true that Caneghem is far from an enthusiastic supporter of any human endeavor, so he could’ve turend against them, sure. I just wouldn’t bet my life on it if I were Syr’Nj, especially not after learning so many of my assumptions about the Hall of Houses were wrong.
As far as Iwatani “genuinely liking” Syr’Nj, well… what I mean by that isn’t quite “personal sympathy.” He genuinely enjoys being friendly, and he respects and therefore understands Syr’Nj in a way that Miyamoto and Jarvis never will. Far from being threatened by people of ability, he enjoys their company…but he’ll still turn right around and kill them as soon as they appear likely to block him from his goals.
Admittedly, Iwatani is a convincing liar, so it’s hard to point to moments in his story and say which ones show his real feelings, with a handful of exceptions (he seems pretty guileless when talking alone with his son). But to my mind, it’s useful to contrast him with Jarvis. Jarvis does not particularly like Syr’Nj and makes his offer with cold civility, the same kind of cold civility that Iwatani showed to an ally he didn’t like: Brother Tom.
My reading on him was that he’s just trying to appear friendly, in order to set the expectations of those around him. I mean, he just helped orchestrate the attack that nearly killed all of the peacemakers. That doesn’t sound like he had any respect for Syr’Nj. It does sound fair to say, though, that he has nothing against Syr’Nj personally (as opposed to Miyamoto), and he may well find her presence pleasant, which would surely make it easier to persuade her with friendly words rather than threats — but as a politician, especially the type of politician he is, I doubt he forgets quickly that friendly words can be a very efficient tool.
His only “weak” point seem to be his family. Bailing out his son after some incident or another and teaching him all about power grabbing are the only things I remember him doing that were visibly not selfish, and in one of those cases he would even have been aware that it might not be good for his career — except the other case will turn out to have been much worse, career-wise …