Angel 5x19 -- Time Bomb

[butterfly]

Illyria the God-King reminds me of nothing so much as it does 'God-Emperor'. As in Leto the Second. As Dune.

The similaries between the two are striking, though the goals differed. But like Illyria, Leto II knew that he had to conquer all and never die. He conquered and lived to save humanity, but he still did it. He imprisioned and used and controlled every known world so that they would never be willing to kneel under any one ruler ever again. Illyria conquered and survived because that was what it was born to do. Illyria was a God-King born, while Leto II created himself as the God-Emperor. He ruled for a specific purpose, while Illyria just ruled.

If Angel embraces the idea of being a king, he would do well to realize that Illyria's model will not work for him because Illyria's goals are different.

Leto II, on the other hand, had precisely the same goal that Angel does -- perserve humanity's soul.

Comments

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

If Angel embraces the idea of being a king, he would do well to realize that Illyria's model will not work for him because Illyria's goals are different.

Not necessarily. Illyria's model is independent from her goal. Her model is "RealPolitik" and her goal is domination.

The Realist Practitioner is supposed to do whatever necessary to amass power, so that he or she might put her ideals into practice. Calculations are simplistic for Illyria, because her goal is straight-up domination.

For other leaders, it's more complex, but still a case of caluclating the means by which to amass political capital, and then expending that capital in the service of underlying ideas. Machiavelli. Bismarck. Kissenger. Abraham Lincoln.

The question then becomes - will the RealPolitik approach work for Angel, and how suited is he for the deception, compromise and cruelty it sometimes calls for. Can Angel maintain the rationality and distance Realpolitik calls for and still remain connected to his underlying goals? Or will he lose sight of them, in the quest to attain necessary power to make those goals reality?

[butterfly.livejournal.com]

But part of the problem is that Angel's approach might destroy his ability to use whatever power he gains -- it already has! His high-handed behavior has lost him the trust of Wesley. And he has lost Wesley trust -- before the bombshell of Origin, Wesley never would have lied to him so casually or chosen to work with Spike over him.

And he's lost the trust of the side of good. His apparent actions are ruining his ability to be considered a 'good guy'.

I both hope and fear that he has a plan. Hope, because then at least he's not playing W&H's game and fear because Angel's plans are so often dumb.

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

But part of the problem is that Angel's approach might destroy his ability to use whatever power he gains

That's sometimes true, but not always.

Loyalty, for example, is tested under extreme circumstances. It's measured when a leader, with no explanation, commoands "just do it!". And Angel already knows that in extreme circumstances he cannot count on Wesley's loyalty - so it's sometimes a waste of resource to court him because Angel must always fear that Wes will inevitably betray him.

And he's lost "the good guys" already anyway. He cannot have their trust and the power of W&H at the same time, so better to write them off and consolidate the power he has.

So, he acts as he would, independent of what Wesley or "the Good guys" would have of him in order to cooperate - gambling that unfettered application of power is going to be more effective than the prior effort...

I'm not saying it's necessarily right. Or that it will necessarily work. I just suspect that's the approach. One might expect a bit more PR to co-opt the group rather than the naked power-play with Gunn at the end, but clearly ME has something up the sleeve...