n7axw wrote:What I am really reacting to is the notion of an artificially induced cold war. There was nothing artificial about the real one.
I don't recall saying anything about Safehold's Cold War being artificially induced...
Artificially prolonged, maybe, if Merlin has his way and innovation doesn't progress as fast and as far as he wants, but the Cold War will in no way be "artificial."
n7axw wrote:... That being said, you don't leave Clyntahn or his cronies in place to enforce the proscriptions at all. The are no formally stated war aims on the Alliance side, but the most consistantly stated goals is to purge the Temple of corruption and insist on justice for crimes commited by the inquisition; indeed break the power of the inquisition to coerce. That is how David has told the story so far. In my view, the way you do that is to get rid of that crowd altogether.
The aim of the current war -- as far as Merlin is concerned -- is to remove the threat of the OBS and solve the mystery of the sleepers under the Temple. To do that, the current war cannot end without Charisian forces occupying Zion and the Temple. That implies the capture or exile of the Grand Vicar, Duchairn and Magwair and termination of Clynntahn. But even if the entire Council of Vicars is terminated, there will be Rabid Temple Loyalists remaining in the conquered territories and the Empire of Harchong to play the antagonist role in the initial cold war.
n7axw wrote:If there is to be a cold war on Safehold, it will be because of unresolved conflict, more than likely because there will be those who don't accept the military verdict. It won't be because Cayleb and Sharley go looking for enemies to justify military spending.
You're still confusing a "Cold War" with an "Arms Race." Safehold does NOT need an "Arms Race" such as the one prevented by the Washington Naval Treaty:
The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was a treaty among the major nations that had won World War I, which by the terms of the treaty agreed to prevent an arms race by limiting naval construction.
Merlin told Cayleb (King Harahld?) early on that his goals were not necessarily Charis' goals. Cayleb and Sharlayne won't have to go looking for enemies "to justify military spending" they will have genuine antagonists to deal with thanks to Merlin's meddling. I'm not sure what exactly Merlin's meddling will consist of, but the Church being in possession of plans for a steam engine smacks of the kind of meddling I'd expect.
One of Merlin's goals is to stimulate innovation all over Safehold; by making the CoGA counter Charis' tech advances he forces the CoGA to accept innovation and become innovators like Charis. IOW, Merlin wants to force the rest of Safehold to become like Charis.
Using the fanaticism of exiled temple loyalists and CoGA hierarchy, Merlin gets what he wants in pressuring broad spectrum innovations through a Cold War -- NOT simply an Arms Race -- and undermines the fanaticism in the process.
