Gray vs Cordes

[RyanM]

Minor Spoilers:




Why would Cordes be killed off for creating a stratified society of slaves and masters but Gray gets away with creating a society of virtually the same thing.

Under Cordes' rules, most of the commoners are highly unlikely to ever see a noble, much less interact with one. While they're not exactly free thanks to the genetic tampering, they're left more or less alone.

Under Gray's rules, men are little more than a potted plant the women occasionally have sex with for breeding purposes. They have little motivation to do anything other than stay silent and out of the way; they have no hopes or dreams.

In my way of thinking, Gray's rules are far more evil than Cordes. At least under Cordes, the peasant class can have a life and a family even if they have to live under the threat of a psychotic noble from time to time. Shouldn't she have been killed off just like Cordes long before she became a problem?

[John Baughn]

Read on....

Or do you really want some input now?

[RyanM]

If it's resolved in a future book (reading roughly a book every day and a half or so), then I'll wait for the explanation. I just thought it odd that they would punish him for creating such a society but leave her for doing something worse.

[Ronald Dukarski]

Cordes' demise wasn't only for the system he set up as you'll find out later. As John said - read on

[RyanM]

I get the feeling Cordes initiated a purge that killed millions to force his changes while Gray allowed her changes to occur through attrition.

[Ronald Dukarski]

Close, but not complete. Frankly, not depraved enough. Cordes was really f-ed up. At least the original. Ok, ' nuff spoilers.

[rockhazard]

Even without Cordes' issues, it would make much more sense that Cordes would be overthrown than Gray. Think about it: which society is more militaristic, fuedal, and prone to internal discord? Gray made all her children docile -- the men are simply treated as inferior, but by docile women. The populace of Noram was always more susceptable to rebellion.

[RyanM]

Except that Noram isn't all that militaristic where the rest of the world is concerned. Yes, they have some internal problems, but they've never shown much interest in global conquest. They have some petty squabbles amongst themselves, but nothing that amounts to large scale warfare. Even the rebellion is pretty tame. Hell, the one formal war that we saw (between Austra and Noram) had no battles and was started by Gray through Serges. Even the new War of the Ancients seems to be mostly driven by Gray than Cordes (although I'm only half way through book 12, so that might change as I read more). Too, the docility isn't much of a factor; a nice prison guard is still a prison guard. When you come down to it, the Gray Method of Control is all about eugenics and loss of free will for 10-20% of the population. The males don't get to choose who they marry or live with. They don't get to chose their profession or even receive a rudimentary education. Even their recreational activities are chosen for them. When a woman is done with them, they simply trade them away.

The Cordes Method of Control simply got out of control. The protection aspect warped in a superiority complex. Instead of the nobles viewing the commoners as people to protect they started to view them as servants. While the nobles have ultimate power and wield it at will, most seem to treat commoners with benign indifference. Only a few (that we've seen) are cruel. The commoners can receive an education and are able to choose their career and spouse.

Given Gray's propensity to use viral agents and is recognized as the lead genetic expert, she seems to be the most dangerous of the two. Given Noram's disparity between males and females, I'm inclined to believe Gray has already started on Cordes' territory. They try to rationalize as combat losses, but I don't buy it as both sexes participate in combat.