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Yay, we won! And Sela doesn't get locked up for war crimes! Wait, what?

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    mackbolan01mackbolan01 Member Posts: 580 Arc User
    time for a gorn uprising, it would be a logical bad guy for the next season or featured episode. or a resurgent advance of a buffed up and more dangerous borg......
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    koraheaglecrykoraheaglecry Member Posts: 250 Arc User
    mrspidey2 wrote: »
    snip
    See above.

    The above which responds to nothing?

    The closest you came was a Sokketh quote, except for the fact that you misquoted him initially. And of course he's an ambassador, it's job to respond diplomatically, so even prior to being replaced he'd do so. And one diplomat does not decide the direction of the Federation as a whole... just ask Jiro, he doesn't speak for much of anyone.
    Klingons finding Undine in the Gorn Hegemony is basically what it would of been like if George Bush had actually located them Mobile WMD Labs his administration claimed were in Iraq. No one would of had any legit complaints if he had.

    So then if, without evidence, the cops kick down your door at 3am and rummage through your stuff until they find something they can charge you with (like an improperly stored weapon, or illegally downloaded mp3s) it's all cool so long as they find something?

    Your example doesnt work here....Here Ill correct it for you. Its as if the cops did a thorough investigation after busting a drug addict and then following their information back to your gang, staking out your house where youre dealing drugs until they had reasonable suspicion to get a warrant. After they got that warrant (J'mpok giving the go ahead). They kicked in your door. Had you not been selling drugs, the cops would of never come a knocking.
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    happyhappyj0yj0yhappyhappyj0yj0y Member Posts: 699 Arc User
    Your example doesnt work here....Here Ill correct it for you. Its as if the cops did a thorough investigation after busting a drug addict and then following their information back to your gang, staking out your house where youre dealing drugs until they had reasonable suspicion to get a warrant. After they got that warrant (J'mpok giving the go ahead). They kicked in your door. Had you not been selling drugs, the cops would of never come a knocking.

    Except that J'mpok in this case would be the Chief of Police, not the Judge... he can't give himself a warrant. In order to get the proverbial warrant he'd have to appeal to the body in place to manage the Alliance (the equivalent to the UN in your W/WMD reference). And the evidence he used to acquire the warrant? Not provided. So no.
    arachnaas wrote: »
    This is the part where I get to toss a cup of gasoline on the fire by pointing out that quelling Gorn rebellions was a doff mission.
    I don't think the KDF would be quelling them if they really respected Gorn autonomy.

    So what. Both KDF & Feds have DOFF missions dealing with malcontents, discontent groups residing in the opposing faction, even to the point of "Instigate Defection" DOFF missions. Hell, KDF still has DOFF missions to capture Starfleet personnel so we can sell them off to Orion Slavers or to go to a Forced Labor Batallion / Penal Colony :D

    Difference being we aren't talking about an opposing faction, we're talking about the KDF quelling Gorn resistance. So Gorn fighting back against being KDF vassals. So not opposing faction, but the same faction.
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    orangeitisorangeitis Member Posts: 5,222 Arc User
    Thats one of the things that puzzled me at the end of the episode. A intergalactic war criminal standing in the middle of SFA celebrating victory and not a single security officer in sight to lock her away ?.
    I think that the idea that this event told a lot about her situation stood out to me personally, much stronger than any poor-storytelling implications. The events she experienced is not only punishment enough, the alliance realizes that she's far too broken to pose any threat to anyone right now.
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    dheffernandheffernan Member Posts: 93 Arc User
    Doesn't change the fact that those who gave the orders in the first place would be just as culpable as those who carried them out.

    Kagran, who was supreme commander of the allied forces, gave the order, as you yourself note, and he rescinded it on the mission. Sela acted of her own volition.

    Responding to points from others:
    And the Romulan Star Empire is untouched.

    Uh, no, it's an Iconian puppet. It's also so tiny as to be irrelevant at this point.
    Uh, mens rea doesn't apply in all circumstances, and is out the window in the case of criminal negligence.

    It would certainly apply here. The Tuterans had one of their people working on the project; she helped pull the trigger. She never objected. The idea that there was a criminal level of negligence won't fly. I'd argue that there was negligence in that it was a profoundly bad idea, but that is tempered by the fact that everyone on the project knew the risks and it was thoroughly researched and approved by scientists, military leaders and governments at the highest levels. Reparations for those harmed, yes, but criminal culpability is right out.

    @Venture-1. @Venture from City of Heroes if you remember that. Yes, that Venture. Yes, I probably trashed your MA arc. You'll have to be specific; for me it was Tuesday.
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    gofasternowgofasternow Member Posts: 1,390 Arc User
    orangeitis wrote: »
    Thats one of the things that puzzled me at the end of the episode. A intergalactic war criminal standing in the middle of SFA celebrating victory and not a single security officer in sight to lock her away ?.
    I think that the idea that this event told a lot about her situation stood out to me personally, much stronger than any poor-storytelling implications. The events she experienced is not only punishment enough, the alliance realizes that she's far too broken to pose any threat to anyone right now.

    To be quite honest, this has been my thoughts about Sela post-war: the poor jerk is in her own personal hell now, realizing that, in trying to look out for Number One, she brought about her own pain and suffering. There's no honor, joy or closure in arresting her and putting her on trial.
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    leviathan99#2867 leviathan99 Member Posts: 7,747 Arc User
    orangeitis wrote: »
    Thats one of the things that puzzled me at the end of the episode. A intergalactic war criminal standing in the middle of SFA celebrating victory and not a single security officer in sight to lock her away ?.
    I think that the idea that this event told a lot about her situation stood out to me personally, much stronger than any poor-storytelling implications. The events she experienced is not only punishment enough, the alliance realizes that she's far too broken to pose any threat to anyone right now.

    To be quite honest, this has been my thoughts about Sela post-war: the poor jerk is in her own personal hell now, realizing that, in trying to look out for Number One, she brought about her own pain and suffering. There's no honor, joy or closure in arresting her and putting her on trial.

    Plus, she's about the only one in leadership in the Romulan Empire who wasn't working with the Iconians. It seems like everyone else left for the Republic.
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    gulberatgulberat Member Posts: 5,505 Arc User
    orangeitis wrote: »
    Thats one of the things that puzzled me at the end of the episode. A intergalactic war criminal standing in the middle of SFA celebrating victory and not a single security officer in sight to lock her away ?.
    I think that the idea that this event told a lot about her situation stood out to me personally, much stronger than any poor-storytelling implications. The events she experienced is not only punishment enough, the alliance realizes that she's far too broken to pose any threat to anyone right now.

    I don't know about that. Even when Dukat's sanity was destroyed by the death of his daughter, he remained a threat. I wouldn't count Sela out until she's dead.

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    dheffernandheffernan Member Posts: 93 Arc User
    gulberat wrote: »
    I don't know about that. Even when Dukat's sanity was destroyed by the death of his daughter, he remained a threat. I wouldn't count Sela out until she's dead.

    Bingo.

    Sociopaths like Sela don't reform. Nothing is ever their fault. If they stab you in the back it's your fault for turning your back. However broken up she may be now, she'll eventually find someone else to blame it all on and start killing people again.

    But it's been made clear that people at Cryptic (and its former offshoot) believe in some kind of comic-book/pro-wrestling morality where the Heel Face Revolving Door is well-oiled and people go from villain to hero and back and no one bats an eye. I expect we'll see Sela on the loose soon enough, committing some atrocity we easily had the power to stop.
    @Venture-1. @Venture from City of Heroes if you remember that. Yes, that Venture. Yes, I probably trashed your MA arc. You'll have to be specific; for me it was Tuesday.
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    lordinsanelordinsane Member Posts: 274 Arc User
    dheffernan wrote: »
    And the Romulan Star Empire is untouched.

    Uh, no, it's an Iconian puppet. It's also so tiny as to be irrelevant at this point.
    Well, the Tal Shiar is. Whatever was still answering to Sela when she left for the Gamma Quadrant wasn't... although given the relative balance of power between Sela's RSE and the Tal Shiar at that point, so tiny as to be irrelevant is a very apt description (having preserved your fleets doesn't help much if you can't even muster up proper capital ships for your fleet).
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    mustrumridcully0mustrumridcully0 Member Posts: 12,963 Arc User
    starswordc wrote: »
    lizwei wrote: »
    mrspidey2 wrote: »
    The invasion and the subsequent reveal forced the issue. It forced everyone in the quadrant to face this threat for the first time. I doubt that's what the Undine wanted.

    Why not? The entire goal of their infiltration was to weaken the galactic powers, which the Klingons handily did for them by declaring war on the Federation.
    Add to that evidence a key difference between the Dominion and the Undine. The Founders are way better at infiltrating other cultures. The Martok and Bashir changelings successfully replaced prominent figures for months with nobody being any the wiser, a nice trick when you have to regenerate every 16 hours. Also, changelings value the lives of other changelings above all else, so they don't use their own people as bait.
    Actually, something in the shows suggested that more experienced changlings don't need that regeneration. Odo is just not that good at it. But he doesn't have the experience of hundreds or thousands of years shared in the Great Link.​​
    Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
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    mustrumridcully0mustrumridcully0 Member Posts: 12,963 Arc User
    dheffernan wrote: »
    Doesn't change the fact that those who gave the orders in the first place would be just as culpable as those who carried them out.

    Kagran, who was supreme commander of the allied forces, gave the order, as you yourself note, and he rescinded it on the mission. Sela acted of her own volition.
    I also think that he couldn't give any commands to Sela. Last I know, she's a fugitive, and the Romulan Empire is not a member of the alliance. She acted on her own accord - we let her tag along, basically. It might have been better to arrest her on the spot, but that might also feel a bit petty...​​
    Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
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    catoblepasbetacatoblepasbeta Member Posts: 1,532 Arc User
    Does the Tal Shiar even still exist at this point?

    I recall that after Hakeev's death, it starts to fall apart. Then the Romulan reputation missions show that Hakeev passed leadership onto Commander Ruul, who subsequently gets captured in the “New Romulus: Mountain Base” mission.... and then I don't recall them showing up ever again.

    Does the Tal Shiar even have a leader anymore? Is it still an active organization after how badly we broke it down?

    Yup. We last see them In the mission that the heralds are introduced. Sela commandeered the remains of the Imperial Star Navy and is at war with them. How they are still around when they are at war with basically everyone in the galaxy remains a mystery.
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    wintermutevreswintermutevres Member Posts: 100 Arc User
    edited September 2015
    Why everyone keep blaming Sela? Imagine that: you were born on some planet, grew up there and then your planet was popped by some antient race. What would you do if you were able to travel back in time and kick their alien butts before they could hurt your entire race? The only thing shes responsible for is her bad shooting skills imo...
    A bit off topic but still =)
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    leviathan99#2867 leviathan99 Member Posts: 7,747 Arc User
    Does the Tal Shiar even still exist at this point?

    I recall that after Hakeev's death, it starts to fall apart. Then the Romulan reputation missions show that Hakeev passed leadership onto Commander Ruul, who subsequently gets captured in the “New Romulus: Mountain Base” mission.... and then I don't recall them showing up ever again.

    Does the Tal Shiar even have a leader anymore? Is it still an active organization after how badly we broke it down?

    Yup. We last see them In the mission that the heralds are introduced. Sela commandeered the remains of the Imperial Star Navy and is at war with them. How they are still around when they are at war with basically everyone in the galaxy remains a mystery.

    I think the new head of the Tal Shiar is probably just secret poker buddies with Quinn and J'mpok and they slipped how THEY managed to stay intact while at war with the whole galaxy.

    What happens to the Tal Shiar and the Empire now probably does call for an episode. My guess is the Republic gets a new batch of defectors and Sela reasserts control over the Empire, possibly with our help. Because for everything she has done, she is still more sane, kind, and trustworthy than any other candidates for the job. Although it would be royally great if we went to a major effort to hand her the reins, facing moral qualms all the while, and, in typical Sela "Nobody can predict me" fashion, she appointed Obisek emperor and said, "To hell with all of you, I'm going to live with my Uncle Data. Have fun trying to keep the empire together."
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    dheffernandheffernan Member Posts: 93 Arc User
    edited September 2015
    Why everyone keep blaming Sela?

    Because she's guilty.
    Imagine that: you were born on some planet, grew up there and then your planet was popped by some antient race. What would you do if you were able to travel back in time and kick their alien butts before they could hurt your entire race?

    Unlike people in Trek, I'd be smart enough not to use time travel in the first place. That trick never works.

    @Venture-1. @Venture from City of Heroes if you remember that. Yes, that Venture. Yes, I probably trashed your MA arc. You'll have to be specific; for me it was Tuesday.
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    legendarylycan#5411 legendarylycan Member Posts: 37,280 Arc User
    time travel always works - just not in the beginning, if there is such a thing​​
    Like special weapons from other Star Trek games? Wondering if they can be replicated in STO even a little bit? Check this out: https://forum.arcgames.com/startrekonline/discussion/1262277/a-mostly-comprehensive-guide-to-star-trek-videogame-special-weapons-and-their-sto-equivalents

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    I gain power by understanding both.
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    I am a shadow, darkness born from light.
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    wintermutevreswintermutevres Member Posts: 100 Arc User
    dheffernan wrote: »
    Why everyone keep blaming Sela?

    Because she's guilty.
    Imagine that: you were born on some planet, grew up there and then your planet was popped by some antient race. What would you do if you were able to travel back in time and kick their alien butts before they could hurt your entire race?

    Unlike people in Trek, I'd be smart enough not to use time travel in the first place. That trick never works.

    Guilty? She attemped to undo genocide commited by Iconians against her people. Sela lost everything with the destruction of Romulus, RSE crumbled, most of the romulan population died in a blink of an eye and the rest formed Republic under the watchful eye of the Federation and KDF (and remember that D'Tan is also a result of Federation messing with the RSE internal affairs) and on top of that the galaxy is about to get conquered by Iconians. The situation looks pretty desperate to me and she didin't have much of a choice here. Any possible solution would be worth a shot in that situation.
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    guljarolguljarol Member Posts: 979 Arc User
    Guilty? She attemped to undo genocide commited by Iconians against her people. Sela lost everything with the destruction of Romulus, RSE crumbled, most of the romulan population died in a blink of an eye and the rest formed Republic under the watchful eye of the Federation and KDF (and remember that D'Tan is also a result of Federation messing with the RSE internal affairs) and on top of that the galaxy is about to get conquered by Iconians. The situation looks pretty desperate to me and she didin't have much of a choice here. Any possible solution would be worth a shot in that situation.

    And that shot caused the destruction of Romulus. She's guilty, all right. You may feel sympathetic to her reasons, but it doesn't change the fact: she shot Iconians, T'Ket got mad, which resulted in the destruction of Romulus. Her attempt at undoing the genocide in fact caused it.​​
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    arachnaasarachnaas Member Posts: 118 Arc User
    Even if we don't directly charge her with the crimes that occur because of her actions, you can still charge her for her actions. She opened fire on unarmed civilians, and as she happened to hit L'Miren she can also be charged with attempted assassination of members of the Iconian government.

    It might have been a military mission in the present, but we were not at war with the Iconians of the past. These don't count as warcrimes so much as crimes against the Iconian people. Thus we should be in contact with L'Miren, as she is the recognized Iconian leader, to see if she wishes us to extradite Sela to her custody.
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    ryugasiriusryugasirius Member Posts: 283 Arc User
    remember that D'Tan is also a result of Federation messing with the RSE internal affairs

    That is highly arguable. You can't consider the Republic as a simple RSE internal affair when the Republic has become de facto independent (even more powerful than RSE, with the loss of Hakeev/Tal Shiar to the Iconians). Once a faction uprising becomes a non-transitory event, and that faction has its own army and territory (especially when it borders with you), you can't simply ignore it.
    ryuga81.png
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    mrspidey2mrspidey2 Member Posts: 959 Arc User
    gulberat wrote: »
    I don't know about that. Even when Dukat's sanity was destroyed by the death of his daughter, he remained a threat. I wouldn't count Sela out until she's dead.
    But she used a key phrase at the end. She wonders if she could be better then she is. That right there should send every Starfleet officer into "Help her be better than she is because that's the human way"- mode.
    Striving to be better than you are has been a defining trait of humans (and the Federation in general) in Star Trek, so the fact that Cryptic used that very phrase make me think they're gonna put Sela on an honest redemption arc.

    2bnb7apx.jpg
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    saurializardsaurializard Member Posts: 4,392 Arc User
    edited September 2015
    Some powers helped the Alliance at the very end. Of the traditional powers of the Alpha & Beta Quadrants, only the still weak Cardassians helped. [...] The Ferengi didn't come despite Grand Nagus Rom being friendly to the Federation. Everyone else just let the Feds, KDF, RR just eat it.
    Ahem:
    9900_2015-09-12_00005.png
    Notice the ship at the bottom left.


    #TASforSTO
    Iconian_Trio_sign.jpg?raw=1
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    azniadeetazniadeet Member Posts: 1,871 Arc User
    So if we use the Annorax weapon on Sela, will the war have never happened?
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    dheffernandheffernan Member Posts: 93 Arc User
    Guilty? She attemped to undo genocide commited by Iconians against her people. Sela lost everything with the destruction of Romulus,

    You seem to be missing a beat here...or maybe the entire concerto. Regardless of what you may think about the events on Iconia, Sela is guilty of innumerable counts of murder, torture, attempted genocide and other war crimes/crimes against sentience. She is, basically, Female Space Hitler. There's no shortage of reasons for her to stop breathing.

    As for what happened on Iconia: any reasonable person, or even a Klingon, would have realized that fundamental assumptions necessary to the mission were no longer operational and changed their minds. Sela, of course, was neither.

    @Venture-1. @Venture from City of Heroes if you remember that. Yes, that Venture. Yes, I probably trashed your MA arc. You'll have to be specific; for me it was Tuesday.
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    gradiigradii Member Posts: 2,824 Arc User
    guljarol wrote: »
    Guilty? She attemped to undo genocide commited by Iconians against her people. Sela lost everything with the destruction of Romulus, RSE crumbled, most of the romulan population died in a blink of an eye and the rest formed Republic under the watchful eye of the Federation and KDF (and remember that D'Tan is also a result of Federation messing with the RSE internal affairs) and on top of that the galaxy is about to get conquered by Iconians. The situation looks pretty desperate to me and she didin't have much of a choice here. Any possible solution would be worth a shot in that situation.

    And that shot caused the destruction of Romulus. She's guilty, all right. You may feel sympathetic to her reasons, but it doesn't change the fact: she shot Iconians, T'Ket got mad, which resulted in the destruction of Romulus. Her attempt at undoing the genocide in fact caused it.​​

    Surprised you're not chiming in with me to counter the ignorance of our "friend" lizwei. I guess its just not worth bothering?

    "He shall be my finest warrior, this generic man who was forced upon me.
    Like a badass I shall make him look, and in the furnace of war I shall forge him.
    he shall be of iron will and steely sinew.
    In great armour I shall clad him and with the mightiest weapons he shall be armed.
    He will be untouched by plague or disease; no sickness shall blight him.
    He shall have such tactics, strategies and machines that no foe will best him in battle.
    He is my answer to cryptic logic, he is the Defender of my Romulan Crew.
    He is Tovan Khev... and he shall know no fear."
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    gradiigradii Member Posts: 2,824 Arc User
    starswordc wrote: »
    huskerklg wrote: »
    What happened to the Imperial Romulans since that failed attack on Vulcan and Sela vanishing anyway? Is there even a faction for her to go back to and would they even take her now?

    According to "Uneasy Allies", the regular RSE still exists, but militarily it's a non-entity. All they could spare to fly escort for their absolute monarch was a Mogai and a retrofitted Tuffli freighter: Sela even outright says the Mogai is one of her last warbirds. Between the Tal Shiar junta and the Republic, it's effectively a defunct state.

    The Romulan Republic is the new legitimate government of the Romulan people, regardless of what jealous Empire sympathizers say about its relationship with the Federation.

    "He shall be my finest warrior, this generic man who was forced upon me.
    Like a badass I shall make him look, and in the furnace of war I shall forge him.
    he shall be of iron will and steely sinew.
    In great armour I shall clad him and with the mightiest weapons he shall be armed.
    He will be untouched by plague or disease; no sickness shall blight him.
    He shall have such tactics, strategies and machines that no foe will best him in battle.
    He is my answer to cryptic logic, he is the Defender of my Romulan Crew.
    He is Tovan Khev... and he shall know no fear."
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    lizweilizwei Member Posts: 936 Arc User
    gradii wrote: »
    guljarol wrote: »
    Guilty? She attemped to undo genocide commited by Iconians against her people. Sela lost everything with the destruction of Romulus, RSE crumbled, most of the romulan population died in a blink of an eye and the rest formed Republic under the watchful eye of the Federation and KDF (and remember that D'Tan is also a result of Federation messing with the RSE internal affairs) and on top of that the galaxy is about to get conquered by Iconians. The situation looks pretty desperate to me and she didin't have much of a choice here. Any possible solution would be worth a shot in that situation.

    And that shot caused the destruction of Romulus. She's guilty, all right. You may feel sympathetic to her reasons, but it doesn't change the fact: she shot Iconians, T'Ket got mad, which resulted in the destruction of Romulus. Her attempt at undoing the genocide in fact caused it.​​

    Surprised you're not chiming in with me to counter the ignorance of our "friend" lizwei. I guess its just not worth bothering?

    I have no idea why you're calling me ignorant.
    I don't necesarilly mind insults, but I do mind insults without another argument, so either explain yourself, or go back to your bridge, you dreary troll.
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    orangeitisorangeitis Member Posts: 5,222 Arc User
    edited September 2015
    gulberat wrote: »
    I don't know about that. Even when Dukat's sanity was destroyed by the death of his daughter, he remained a threat. I wouldn't count Sela out until she's dead.
    He remained a threat because he believed that he still had something to fight for. With Sela, she realized that all her rage and strive for vengeance is what caused what started it all in the first place. Even at her most unreasonably vengeful, she was probably not unreasonable enough to excuse herself out of this blatant evidence. There's no way her mind could twist what she experienced into someone else's fault this time. It was unavoidable, and she realized this almost instantly.
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