 Upon talking to Requin again, Locke is able to fit Stragos into his story as the supposed true identity of the mysterious employer he discussed earlier.A short interlude given from the archon's point of view lets the reader know that - unlike what she had led Locke and Jean believe - Merrain does not work for the archon, but has been sent by her unnamed "masters" to temporarily work with him.In the conversation Merrain also casually mentions that, should the archon's plans succeed, they would result in "more bloodshed than was seen in two hundred years" - an outcome which Merrain evidently considers acceptable or even desirable.