I'm relistening to the book and I'm struck by how blind Ryland is to his own position. Like yeah, he doesn't realise he's important, but he also doesn't realise how much Stratt relies on him as a mediator. She needs him to translate science concepts, sure, but there are also multiple examples of him calling her out for going too far, being an ass, or not having enough compassion.
No one else does that to Stratt. He's the only one she'll take call-outs from.
She relies on him to be her honest checks and balances.
From the moment that Stratt realises Grace is driven by compassion rather than ego — when he DEMANDS to work on the project despite it proving him wrong, not to save face but because he realised his kids were going to suffer and die the second they exited childhood — she takes him into her confidence. He’s barely landed on the Gansu and she pulls him aside to be her sounding board about the decision to put the crew in comas. She trusts him because she recognizes that he actually cares about wider humanity, outside of himself and his family. She looks at him and sees her own motivations reflected back at her, but in a man with the capacity to be kinder. To save humanity, she believes she needs to get rid of her conscience, so she uses Grace instead.
And her final act for the project is to kill him.
Using him as an unwitting sacrifice is also her FIRST act for the project.
She sends him in to be the first and only scientist working on astrophage because it might be able to infect humans and he might die over it.
She didn't warn him that time either.
I wonder if, when he came back and demanded to help and she made him her conscience, it was also because some part of her noticed that Grace forgave her for doing what was necessary.
