gertrude robinson haunts the narrative because she’s dead, but her actions, especially her mistakes, continue to affect the story until the very end, and her presence can be felt in everything that happens. adelard dekker haunts the narrative because he’s dead, but proof of his life remains, and therefore so does proof that you can get something right, that the fears can be stopped, which only makes it more tragic that jon can’t figure out how to stop them. he knows it’s possible now. just not for him.

adelard dekker isn’t just haunting the narrative. he’s taunting the narrative.