#apgte

Above seems to take a very active role in being a supreme moral authority- Heroes often working explicitly in the service of the Heavens and being understood socially as on some level acting out the will of the Gods Above on Creation. Priests can wield Light, heal others, and occasionally preform miracles if it makes sense to the Story, a very direct case of Above workings through mortals devoted to Good and who it can be argued they rule over.

Below meanwhile takes a very ‘deadbeat dad who left to get cigarettes, occasionally sending you a check in the mail as child support, possibly only showing up as you take your last breath to moodily go John Wick on whatever killed you’ approach to Creation, empowering those who have a specific vision that they’ll break creation itself to achieve and stepping back to watch the show. The only time I can actually think of that we see Below act directly is with last-breath curses, which is shockingly non-interventionist compared to Above.

I think a clear example of this is the contrast in how we see Angels and Demons/Devils act when they show up.

We see Angels intervening to either directly empower or (attempt to) save Heroes *a lot* in the Guide. William’s whole inciting incident, Hanno whole thing early on with Judgment and ‘I do not judge’, The Gray Pilgrim’s relationship to Mercy, Endurance trying to intervene to save the Stalwart Paladin- Angels are an absolutist embodiment of their choir’s ideal and attempt to enforce the rule of that ideal onto Creation nuance be damned (looking at you, Judgement) even when it’s at odds with the reality of mortal existence. I actually think it’s made pretty explicit that Angels, by being an absolute moral authority, are as a result equally an embodiment of Authority (or at the very least an extension of it) as they are an embodiment of morals hence both the inevitable and inconsolable conflict between them and a certain Hierarch and why they seem weak whenever they go against someone explicitly denying their Authority, or in other words, Above’s right to Rule over them.

(Which now that I think about it might make the Intercessor an example of the Scheming Vizier archetype? Delightful if true)

Demons, in stark contrast, are just as much a problem for Villains as they are for literally everyone else- but I’m more interested in how the Guide characterises Devils, since they seem to be the actual cosmological equivalent whereas Demons are noted as being leftover from a previous iteration of Creation. When Cat is first offered the chance to become Squire all the way back in book one, she mentions hearing about how the real Devils would ‘give you exactly what you want and let you find your own way to hell’ and this seems vary emblematic of Below’s whole approach- to guide mortals (often ironically enough into tyranny, in other words Rulership, on a large or small scale) but stay hands off except at the start when they get the ball rolling and at the end when it crashes into… whatever it crashes into.

I usually start my morning reading one chapter of APGTE and 50-100 pages of my Cosmere novel (which is usually around 4-8 chapters), but my sleep schedule is degrading to the point that I'm becoming too tired to sit through all that

At my current pace, I'll finish the last book of APGTE in around 10 days, but if I just put Words of Radiance down for a few days, I can probably whittle that down to three