thinking abt how manipulative John is bc like… he paired them off!!!!! in the beginning, when he had 16 disciples. he was like “here’s your buddy, live with your buddy, study with your buddy, rebuild the universe with your buddy :)” and then he made it so that half of them had to die. The first generation of lyctors were original ressurections, likely with no memory of the people they were before. perhaps not any memory of anything before. So the only person they had in the whole universe was their partner, and John. and John was sanctifying the bonds between them like one raises a sheep for the slaughter.

and on a practical level, that bond was not necessary for lyctorhood. John could have been like “hey, 8 necromantic pals, work on this "how to become immortal” puzzle, and then when you’re done, kill one of these 8 swordsmen that have been training seperatly and that you have no deep emotional bond with.“ like, from what we learned of the megatheorem and the eightfold word, there is no specific need for the cavalier to be a special person to the necromancer?

but John made it so. John created a system where his disciples had to kill and eat the people closest to them, their siblings and partners and lovers, which made him the only one they each had left. the death of the cavalier enshrined him, God, as the lyctors’ next closest confidant. he made them kill the very person they would have turned to with their doubts and fears and second-guesses and in doing so protected himself against mutiny and sealed their loyalty…. at least for a few thousand years before the cracks started to show. but i think they all would have betrayed him much earlier if John had not inserted himself so wholly as the OG lyctors’ only leftover love.

and i think it’s very nice that this manipulation tactic is also John’s downfall. after 10,000 years im not sure the lyctors really care about people anymore. i dont know if they really care about John’s imperialistic goals or whatever other evil shit he’s doing. but what the lyctors DO care about is their long dead and still burning cavaliers. they betray him because of the people he made them love and then lose. get fucked EJG :)