I’ve once again made the mistake of looking at Reddit and getting frustrated with folks just Not Getting It. Like people really are saying the photarch just wanted to insert propaganda into the play and there wasn’t any hidden meaning.
Buddy if she just wanted more propaganda in the play she would’ve taken more than a week before the play to call Hal in. She was looking for Hal since Wick went missing. She absolutely had the time to read the script and ask for edits earlier, giving Hal time to negotiate something decent. She’s fully aware that if her propaganda turns his play into a shitshow it’s not gonna look good for either of them. She’s a professional con artist who just scammed a whole city into believing she was the first resurrection in decades, she knows how to make her house look good. Enraging thespians and a city full of orcs invested in their history is not going to be a good look.
The reason why she was suddenly pressuring Hal into changing the play last minute was absolutely to pressure him into delaying the play. The Why is up in the air, but my current guess is that it has to do with the Sundered Houses Meeting happening at the same time as the play. Since Overture she’s been pondering what the fuck is going on with the Tachonis House, and might have sensed that something nasty is about to happen between the houses. She might not know what it is or how it’ll happen, but if it happens at the show she won’t be able to have a handle on it while in the meeting. Plus given Wicks love of theatre there’s a chance he’ll appear to watch the show, which would be the perfect chance to “save” him from that bad bad lionman.
Anyway she fully expected Hal to pop a vein at the sudden changes and then be more open to agreeing to the delay, giving him poison and then offering the antidote in one sitting. In fact her offer to delay was absolutely diabolical on a meta level, because Hal was just thinking the show needs to be put on pause. Here he’s given a perfect excuse to hide his tail and choose the safer path. She even offers to help release Misha. Isn’t this exactly what Hal wanted? All he had to do was cave and delay the show, and the benevolent Photarch would’ve eventually backed off on at least the most egregious edits. (And then do it again but slower and more deliberately so that no one important notices their influence on the troupe until it’s too late.) Hal’s continuously rolled high with her, and she knows he’s got a high reputation. She’s purposely agitating him to control him, but she’s not trying to destroy her relationship with what could potentially become a new useful pawn entirely.
Too bad Hal’s already had it up to HERE with these Sundered Houses and isn’t willing to play along anymore.
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