Welcome to the debate. There is a very specific
terror, I think, in watching someone build a
house out of glass right in the middle of a war
zone. Oh, yeah, completely. You know, you stand
there watching them polish the panes, pretending
the world outside is just completely peaceful,
and you're just waiting for the inevitable rock
to shatter the whole thing. Which is exactly
what we saw happen. Today, we are looking at
the shattering of the Novus family. This is our
seventh discussion focusing on the expansive
universe created by the author Neogentrix. Right.
And we really have to look back at the fierce
clash from our third discussion, I think. Oh,
we definitely do. Because back then we debated
the family's strict, self -imposed isolation.
We argued over whether their rigid pacifism was,
you know, this beautifully realized ideal or
just a dangerously naive fantasy. And we were
operating with... Completely incomplete information,
which fundamentally changes the landscape of
that earlier conversation. We absolutely were,
because Act 2 delivered just a shocking revelation.
The mother's dying words entirely upended our
previous assumptions. Yeah, it was wild. As she
passed away in Zeonix's arms, she literally told
him, Do not worry, son. We knew about your training.
Finish your training and avenge us. Head north.
There you shall learn the secret of your grandfather.
It forces a total structural reread of the early
chapters, honestly. Exactly. So here is our central
debate for today. Now that it's confirmed the
parents were fully aware of the multiversal secrets,
and the martial arts training all along, was
hiding the truth from Zeonix an act of supreme
love or a catastrophic parenting failure? That
is the big question. And as a secondary point,
how exactly does the sudden appearance of a mysterious
stranger fit into their violent downfall? I think
we are going to find ourselves at opposite ends
of this once again, perhaps even more firmly
entrenched than before, if I'm being honest.
Oh, I guarantee it, because I am stating right
now that keeping Zeonix in the dark was a massive
betrayal that left him totally blindsided. Wow,
okay. And furthermore, I believe their doom was
not a random tragedy, but an inside job orchestrated
by a spy. And I maintain that the parents acted
out of profound love. They made a conscious choice
to break the cycle of the Congo War. And, well,
I believe your conspiracy theory completely misreads
the foundational world building of this universe.
All right, well, let me lay out my stance clearly.
First of all, I have to admit that I was completely
wrong in the past. We both were. Yeah, the parents
were not oblivious at all. I am genuinely shocked
at ourselves for missing the signs in Act 1.
We assumed they were just clueless suburbanites
hoping the violence of Pekadesh would pass them
by, but they knew exactly what was happening.
They absolutely did. However, knowing that, I
am doubling down fiercely on my anger toward
them. I argue that knowing the truth and still
keeping Xehanix in the dark was infinitely worse
than being ignorant. Infinitely worse? Really?
Yes! They left a target on his back without giving
him the knowledge, the context, or the defensive
capability to survive it. And frankly, this brings
up the massive Mrs. Kazuki plot hole for me.
Oh boy, here we go. Hear me out. If the parents
were so fiercely protective and hiding massive
multiversal secrets from Eon Pax, why did the
mother suddenly let this random old friend stay
the night right before the attack? I am arguing
aggressively that Mrs. Kazuki is a spy directly
connected to the attacker, Crater Steve. Right.
Well, I come at this from a completely different
perspective. And I actually feel entirely vindicated
today. Vindicated? How? Because the parents weren't
ignorant fools. They made a highly calculated
choice out of pure love to give their son 19
years of peace. But it killed them. They were
intentionally breaking the generational violence
of the Congo War. A conflict that had already
consumed their ancestors. Even if hiding the
secret ultimately got them killed, it was a noble,
successful sacrifice. I just can't see it that
way. And I want to immediately push back on this
Mrs. Kazuki spy theory. While I understand the
temptation to connect those dots, projecting
a conspiracy onto her ignores the standard narrative
mechanics of how Neo expands this universe. It's
not a projection. It's right there in the text.
She was a normal family friend used to establish
the broader geography, nothing more. I see why
you think that, but let me give you a different
perspective on the implications of the mother's
final breath. Sheer disbelief does not even begin
to cover how I felt reading that scene. Oh, same.
It was a massive shock. The realization that
they watched him sneak out every single night.
They watched him train with Kenjin Sensei in
the woods. They knew the martial legacy of the
Whistling Swordsman was waking up inside their
son. and they said absolutely nothing to guide
him? It is a stunning revelation. It completely
recontextualizes every single interaction they
had with him in those early chapters. Exactly.
Think about the scene in the workshop. Every
time the father told him to focus on whittling
wood and fixing metal instead of fighting, It
wasn't out of ignorance of his potential. No,
it wasn't. It was a desperate plea for him to
choose a different path. It was an active, daily
choice to reject the machinery of war. But I'm
not convinced by that line of reasoning, because
by letting Zeonix think he was sneaking around
a train with Kenshin, the parents denied him
crucial context. They were letting him be a kid.
They knew Eon Pax was a threat. They knew the
forces of the Congo War, a conflict that literally
reshaped the geopolitical borders of Pekadesh,
were still actively hunting the remnants of his
grandfather's lineage. Right, but... Eon Pox
doesn't just conquer territories. He eradicates
bloodlines to prevent uprisings. The parents
understood that operational reality, yet they
let their son wield a sword with a blindfold
on. A blindfold is a bit strong. The mother literally
told him to avenge us with her dying breath.
That is absolute proof she knew violence was
inevitable. If she knew the forces of Eon Pox
would eventually find them, why on earth would
she not prepare him for that reality? Because
preparing him for war guarantees that he becomes
a soldier. I defend the parents' right to try
for peace. Even a doomed peace? Look at what
they actually accomplished. They successfully
kept the monsters of the Congo War away for nearly
two decades. 19 years of safety is an entire
lifetime on the continent of Pekadesh. Okay,
but it was built on a lie. The father fixing
metal instead of breaking bodies wasn't a lie.
It was a chosen way of life. They didn't want
him burdened by the crushing weight of Eon Pax's
regime or the bloody legacy of Xeon clerics.
Until it was absolutely unavoidable. But it was
unavoidable. If they train him from birth, they
are the ones conscripting him into a war he never
chose. It is like building a dam to hold back
a massive river, but never teaching the people
in the valley how to swim. That's not quite the
same thing. The dam didn't eliminate the water.
It just guaranteed a catastrophic flood when
it eventually broke. Because they didn't prepare
him, the fire reached their doorstep and completely
destroyed them. Well, they shielded him from
the fire for as long as humanly possible. And
how did that fire reach them? We have to ask
how Eon Pax's forces found them so suddenly.
If they were perfectly hidden for 19 years, cloaking
their multiversal signatures, what broke their
cover? Oh. I see where this is going. The timeline
with Mrs. Kazuki is highly, highly suspicious.
I think we are risking missing the emotional
forest for the trees here, but go ahead. Look
at the details directly from the text. The mother
introduces this woman out of nowhere. Zeonix
notes explicitly that he has never seen her before
in his 19 years of life. Sure. Kids don't know
all their parents' old friends. She sits at their
dinner table and conveniently mentions that her
son's name is Steve and that his work permits
him to travel across the continent. It's just
a conversation. The very next day, the family
is brutally attacked by a traveling gunman who
reveals his name is Crater Steve. Which is a
complete coincidence. Connect the dots here.
Mrs. Kazuki was a scout. She was a spy who infiltrated
the house, confirmed the grandfather's lineage,
and marked the location for Crater Steve. That
is, that is a massive leap. Why else would the
mother, who we just established is fiercely guarding
a multiversal secret? invite a total stranger
into a home that is supposedly a fortress of
secrecy. I'm sorry, but I just don't buy that.
Let me tell you why. You are taking standard
narrative world building and twisting it into
a sinister plot. It fits perfectly, though. Neil
uses side characters to flesh out the setting
constantly. Mrs. Kazuki exists in that scene
to introduce us, the readers, to the broader
geography of the planet before Xeonyx has to
traverse it. By talking about her son, Steve?
She talks about traveling north to Victory City
and Vargas Prime. She mentions the trade routes
along the Sea of Monmiota. And she just happens
to have a traveling son named Steve who just
happens to be in the area right before a guy
named Crater Steve burns their lives to the ground?
You really think that is a coincidence? Yes,
I do. Steve is a common name, and Crater Steve
is a moniker earned in the fighting pits of the
Congo War, as we learn later. I mean, come on.
You are grasping at straws to blame someone other
than the actual invading force for the attack.
Neo is expanding the universe, laying the groundwork
for locations Zeonix will eventually visit in
Act 3. It is structural worldbuilding. I think
it's foreshadowing. I respect your attention
to detail, but I really think you need to put
on a tinfoil hat and we need to table this conspiracy
theory. It acts as a distraction from the actual
thematic core of the scene, which is the parents'
choices and the consequences of their silence.
I strongly disagree that it's a distraction,
because if she is a spy, it means their policy
of radical trust and pacifism is exactly what
got them killed. Let's focus on what we actually
know for sure. Fine, fine. We will table Mrs.
Kazuki for now. I am keeping my eye on her, though.
Let's return to the main issue, the parenting
deadlock. You claim their silence was a noble
sacrifice. It was. I insist that the secret directly
resulted in the mother dying in front of Xeonyx,
leaving him with a blood -soaked legacy he barely
understands. She died protecting the 19 years
of innocence she gave him. That innocence has
value. At what cost, though? In a universe governed
by multiversal warlords, giving a child a mundane,
boring Tuesday is a massive triumph. But again,
at what cost? He had no idea about the political
realities of Pekadesh. He didn't know his grandfather
was a high -value target for Aeon Pax. He was
safe for 19 years. When creator Steve arrived
with plasma weaponry, Zeonix was fighting with
a practice blade in sheer panic. They set him
up to fail! They didn't set him up to fail. They
were ambushed. If they knew he was training with
Kenshin, they knew he was flaring his Aether
signature. They knew he was becoming visible
to the enemy. To let him do that without explaining
the stakes is negligence. That's a compelling
argument, but have you considered the actual
text of her final moments? Focus on the mother's
peaceful passing. Peaceful? She was shot! Cite
the text, though. She smiled as she passed away
in his arms. That is not the reaction of a woman
who realizes she made a catastrophic parenting
failing. She was dying. People in shock don't
always react rationally. It wasn't shock. She
smiled because she died knowing her son had found
his true path naturally. He sought out Kenshin
Sensei on his own. Well, yeah, but... He picked
up the sword on his own. The heavy burden of
the whistling swordsman wasn't forced onto him
by his parents' expectations. or their unresolved
trauma from the Congo War. He chose it. I don't
know if I'd call it a free choice when he lacked
all the facts. She smiled because she knew his
spirit was strong enough to handle what was coming,
precisely because his spirit wasn't crushed by
the weight of war during his childhood. That's
an interesting point, though I would frame it
differently. I look at her saying, this was the
work of Eon Pax. You must defeat him to save
your grandfather. Right. She drops a massive,
world -altering piece of context on him while
she is actively bleeding out. That is information
he desperately needed weeks, months, or even
years ago. I completely disagree. To withhold
the identity of your family's greatest enemy
until your literal last breath is baffling to
me. How is he supposed to process the grief of
losing his parents while simultaneously processing
that the supreme ruler of the multiverse is hunting
him? Because if she tells him at 15, he goes
looking for Eon packs at 15 and he dies at 15.
Not necessarily. You are assuming that giving
him the information early would have empowered
him. I argue it would have destroyed him. If
she tells him at 15, he starts training properly
instead of whittling wood in the shed. Maybe
he learns the advanced techniques of his bloodline.
He was just a kid. Maybe he is strong enough
to stop Crater Steve from burning their house
down when he inevitably arrives. Knowledge is
preparation. By hiding the truth, they ensured
his first real battle was one he was completely
unequipped to fight. You cannot out -train a
multiversal regime like Eon Pax's by practicing
in your backyard no matter how much context you
have. It's better than nothing. Eon Pax controls
entire planetary systems. The parents played
the only hand they realistically had. They traded
their lives for his time. They just delayed the
inevitable. They bought him time to grow up unburdened,
to develop a moral compass outside the context
of a battlefield. And when the time ran out,
when the rock finally shattered the glass house,
they gave him their blessing to fight. I guess
we'll just have to disagree on whether that was
worth it. That is a tragedy, yes, but it is a
successful parenting strategy in an impossible
situation. We are just never going to see eye
to eye on this. I maintain firmly that the parents'
forced ignorance was a blinding, fatal mistake.
And I firmly reject that. They let him walk into
a war zone wearing a blindfold. They knew his
grandfather's lineage would eventually draw fire.
And instead of giving him a shield, they gave
him a carving knife and hoped for the best. That's
a very harsh reading. The cost of that hope was
their own lives and the psychological scarring
of their son. And I stand by the belief that
it was a tragic but profoundly beautiful sacrifice.
They bought a child a normal life in a universe
that actively destroys normality. Normal for
Pekadesh, maybe? They shielded him from the Congo
War's legacy for 19 years. And because of that,
when Zeonix finally picked up the sword, he did
so as a complete, grounded human being, not as
a child soldier broken by his parents' wars.
It seems we are ending in a deadlock. We're going
to have to agree to disagree on whether hiding
the truth from Xeonyx was the right parenting
move or a strategic disaster. Yeah, I think we
will. We will just have to leave it to the listener
to weigh the evidence for themselves. Which is
exactly why this specific conflict is so engaging.
It forces us to constantly re -evaluate the text
based on new evidence to question the very nature
of protection and preparation. Absolutely. And
speaking of re -evaluating, If the parents were
a shield that ultimately shattered, it forces
us to look at the sword they left him with. Ooh,
nice transition. Thank you. We're going to wrap
up for today, but be sure to join us for our
next discussion, because we are going to take
these massive new revelations and completely
re -evaluate the motives of Kenshin Sensei. That's
going to be a huge one. Is he really just a helpful
mentor who happened to find a promising student
in the woods, or is he playing a much darker
game with the Whistling Swordsman's legacy? I'm
sure you already have a sprawling conspiracy
theory ready for that one, too. You know I do.
Until next time.