#the scepter

Background

Dominic = derived from Dominicus (Latin), meaning "of the Lord" - ironic for a man who believes God abandoned the world

Malraux = French surname, evoking the writer André Malraux (philosopher of absurdity, human suffering, and revolutionary identity)

Born 1952, Naples, Italy

Abandoned at birth - product of rape, never knew his father

Taken in by the Roman Catholic Church and raised in a southern orphanage run by Jesuit clergy

Displayed early intelligence, emotional restraint, and a preternatural ability to observe - traits mistaken for spiritual devotion

Molested by a priest at age 12; when he tried to speak out, was accused of “moral corruption” due to suspected homosexuality (reference Catholic Church sexual abuse cases)

Subjected to corrective discipline and spiritual reprogramming - forced to “confess,” pray, and repent for abuse he suffered

Developed a lifelong detachment from faith - but a deep obsession with systems of belief

Studied for the priesthood not because he believed, but because he needed a purpose, a reason to be wanted

Belief became irrelevant; doctrine, a script; became fluent in Catholic language and ritual - used it to ascend within the institution

Saw his priesthood not as service to God, but as training for something greater: control over the souls of men

Secretly believed saving the world might prove he was worthy of love - even if he would never admit it aloud

Mother:

Sought out his biological mother; found her in a small rural village, impoverished and haunted

She refused to embrace him - his presence reminded her of the man who violated her

Despite her rejection, he begged her to come with him - offering escape, safety, salvation

She refused; said it was “too late for dreams”

Days later, she was murdered by her husband in a drunken rage

The Church refused to bury her; Dominic buried her himself, weeping at a grave no one else would visit

This was the fracture - his final severance from the world as it was.

He realized then: the world didn’t need healing; it needed recreation

Earthquake & Alliance:

1985: Sent to Mexico City as a priest during post-earthquake relief efforts

Met a rescue worker and political dissident; they connected over shared disillusionment

Together, they formed the Council

Miraculous:

As a theology student and later as a Vatican archivist, Dominic dove deep into the apocryphal histories of sainthood - looking for anomalies, inconsistencies, unexplained "miracles" and sudden divine events

The deeper Dominic goes, the more he finds deliberate erasures - scratched-out pages, redacted papal notes, burned letters

He soon learns about the Miraculous; concludes that Miraculous users were the source of many early faith structures, including his Church - and decides that the only way to fix the world is to recreate it using the power of the Gods

Ideological Evolution:

Rose steadily through the Vatican hierarchy; by the 2000s, an Archbishop with international influence

Kept his radicalism secret, hidden behind decades of perfect priesthood

Had heard about Manson when he was convicted in 1971 - had been disgusted by the man and had no interest in him

However, the idea of a cult intrigued him, and he started reading more about Manson, including his own accounts

While he vehemently disagreed with many of Manson's claims and methodology, he found Manson strangely... relatable in more ways than he wanted to admit

He started poring over criminal profiles obsessively; his recruits started becoming case studies; and he himself, a master at psychology

Studied not just criminals, but cult leaders, insurgents, terrorist cells, philosophers

Saw his team as both case studies and family: a collection of beautiful anomalies he could finally understand; extensions of his will; children that owe him everything

His empathy never left - but he used it not for mercy, but for control

The others saw people as machines. Dominic saw people as insects: fragile, complex, and fascinating

“You are not my followers. You are my lambs. I suffer for you. I bleed for you. I would burn the world to give you light.”

Philosophy & Control:

Believes in love - but only the kind that he creates, he defines, he controls

To Dominic, the Council are:

Subjects in his grand experiment

Children born of his ideology

Tools to reshape the world

Found family who exists because of him - and for him

Offers affection, but laces it with guilt

They fear and admire him - not because he’s heartless, but because he still has a heart and chooses cruelty anyway

“A man who kills without feeling is an animal. A man who feels and does it anyway? That’s God.”

Present Day (2016):

Status: Archbishop in Rome with global influence

Publicly, a holy man, educator, philanthropist, spiritual advisor to politicians and leaders

Privately, a visionary megalomaniac who believes the world must be purified through fire to be reborn

Believes the Council is his greatest achievement - proof that human nature can be rewritten

Considers himself the only one who truly loves the Council members, even as he dismantles them emotionally

The other members find him unsettling, a contradiction: a man capable of deep compassion who also engineers catastrophe. His empathy makes them uneasy because it suggests choice - and choice implies intentional cruelty

The other members: "A madman is much more dangerous than a sane one - at least, the latter is predictable... and yet... this madman we all revere, fear, and hate... he is necessary."

Still keeps his mother’s rosary and her death certificate in a drawer beside his bed

“The others burn the world because they hate it. I burn it because I love what it could be.”

Design Notes/Character Study

White cassock - worn during Christmas and Easter to reflect purity, holiness, and light; alludes to the birth of his new world

Wears white in public; black attire when shown with the council

Purple vestments/ornaments - represents penance, preparation, and sacrifice; also a sign of seniority

Lots of gold and gilding

White hair threaded with black - inverse of (older) Victor

Sacrificial lamb imagery

Cincture around neck to resemble noose

Grey eyes that reflect the colors around him - reflects purple in the scenes where he dabbles with magic or shady businesses (purple eyes are often used as a sign of corruption)

Pinned poisonous insects - metaphor for the council

It’s been two years since Marvel confirmed that Loki was mind controlled in The Avengers movie and he is still called a villain. People don’t hold the hero coded characters accountable for their actions under mind control, and rightfully so. But when it comes Loki he is still perceived as a villain since he was portrayed as a villain coded character. Even before Marvel’s confirmation of Loki being mind controlled, it was obvious in the movie that Loki was under duress and threat of torture. There are even visible signs that he was tortured before he came to Earth.

Wanda’s story is a perfect example of people’s double standards when it comes to hero vs. villain coded characters. Wanda along with her brother chose to work with Hydra for revenge. She chose to join forces with Ultron. The way she mind controlled the Avengers and unleashed Hulk on people is a parallel to Loki’s actions in Avengers movie. With the difference that all of her actions was done out of her own free will. She wasn’t under duress, threat of torture or the influence of a mind controlling scepter unlike Loki. In spite of that, People are fast to forgive her as soon as she joined the Avengers. But they don’t do the same for Loki despite the fact that he was redeemed over and over after his wrongdoings (Part 2).

Previous Parts:

Part 1 (Loki faked his death™)

Part 3 (Loki kills people)

Part 4 (Torture)

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