Rayno ... the ultimate YES MAN

Does anyone else see Rayno as anything but a weak willed, weasel of a yes man? I would like to think that there cannot be anyone of this type outside of the pages of a novel but I am too much of a realist.

On page 616 of HFQ after thinking things like 70% fatality is no sign of giving up too quickly and that the inquisitors in Dohlor also thought the escort was adequate based on estimates of known strength. After recognizing the fear and uncontrolled anger he has seen in Clyntahn, the irrational behavior, he continues to enable him and meekly says "Sure Boss! You are right again! Anything you say!"

What a sniveling snot!
Makes me want to reach into the book and slap him!!

Stand up for your convictions especially if you have a chance to correct injustice.

You would be too if you reported to a man that would kill you (and very painfully) if you did not give him what he wanted to hear. The megalomaniac killed 1/3 of the vicorate and ordered the incarceration of thousands (millions) just because they did not do enough (like die) to stop the ICA.

C. O. Thompson wrote:Does anyone else see Rayno as anything but a weak willed, weasel of a yes man? I would like to think that there cannot be anyone of this type outside of the pages of a novel but I am too much of a realist.

On page 616 of HFQ after thinking things like 70% fatality is no sign of giving up too quickly and that the inquisitors in Dohlor also thought the escort was adequate based on estimates of known strength. After recognizing the fear and uncontrolled anger he has seen in Clyntahn, the irrational behavior, he continues to enable him and meekly says "Sure Boss! You are right again! Anything you say!"

What a sniveling snot!
Makes me want to reach into the book and slap him!!

Stand up for your convictions especially if you have a chance to correct injustice.

I don't wholly agree. I see Rayno as not so much weak, but more as an amoral clever conniving manipulative rat-b*****d who is delighted to ride Clyntahn's coat-tails to a position of power.
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Peter2 wrote:

C. O. Thompson wrote:Does anyone else see Rayno as anything but a weak willed, weasel of a yes man? I would like to think that there cannot be anyone of this type outside of the pages of a novel but I am too much of a realist.

On page 616 of HFQ after thinking things like 70% fatality is no sign of giving up too quickly and that the inquisitors in Dohlor also thought the escort was adequate based on estimates of known strength. After recognizing the fear and uncontrolled anger he has seen in Clyntahn, the irrational behavior, he continues to enable him and meekly says "Sure Boss! You are right again! Anything you say!"

What a sniveling snot!
Makes me want to reach into the book and slap him!!

Stand up for your convictions especially if you have a chance to correct injustice.

I don't wholly agree. I see Rayno as not so much weak, but more as an amoral clever conniving manipulative rat-b*****d who is delighted to ride Clyntahn's coat-tails to a position of power.
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I see Rayno as a Lavrentiy Beria analog to Clyntahn as Stalin. Beria was a very close confidant to Stalin, a fellow Georgian, since 1935. Beria was active in the various secret police organizations from age 20 on and by 1939 he was effectively the leader of the NKVD (predecessor to the KGB) and stayed close to Stalin until Stalin's death in March of 1953.

Given that Stalin was using tried and true purge tactics (The Jewish Doctor's Plot) at the time he died, Beria thought his position of power would be enough to make him the next leader of the Soviet Union. Less than 4 months later, Khrushchev and allies proved him wrong by arresting him in a meeting of the Presidium and then having him and his allies executed by pistol shot six months later.

Totally agree with the Beria and this is not a yes man position. He needs to show deference and be practiced at "managing up" but he is not a yes man.

Can't really call him a yes man myself, a yes man in his position would already be dead (painfully) from the reverses in the jihad.
Even Clyntahn, in his own mind, reflects that Rayno is valuable to him because he is the only one who is willing to tell him what he needs to hear on occasion.

Rayno is a pragmatist who truly agrees with Clyntahn, for the most part. He is not above trying to manipulate Clyntahn, or go behind his back, when he believes that it is in the interest of the jihad or his own interests (such as his instructions to inquisitors to be less brutal in the wake of Maab's attacks and his attempts to keep the MHOGATA from properly arming and training serfs) and will try to persuade Clyntahn - diffidently - as in the above instructions to the inquisitors or with not having Thirsk killed when he has been one of the only bright spots of the jihad. He also, however, has enough sense of self preservation not to tell his boss, who could have him given to the Punishment, that he is an idiot and that his plan will simply not work, no matter what.

Agree.

Not only will he tell Clyntahn what Clyntahn "needs to know", Rayno is willing to handle matters that Clyntahn "doesn't need to know" but are in the "best interests of Clyntahn".

shayvaan wrote:Can't really call him a yes man myself, a yes man in his position would already be dead (painfully) from the reverses in the jihad.
Even Clyntahn, in his own mind, reflects that Rayno is valuable to him because he is the only one who is willing to tell him what he needs to hear on occasion.

Rayno is a pragmatist who truly agrees with Clyntahn, for the most part. He is not above trying to manipulate Clyntahn, or go behind his back, when he believes that it is in the interest of the jihad or his own interests (such as his instructions to inquisitors to be less brutal in the wake of Maab's attacks and his attempts to keep the MHOGATA from properly arming and training serfs) and will try to persuade Clyntahn - diffidently - as in the above instructions to the inquisitors or with not having Thirsk killed when he has been one of the only bright spots of the jihad. He also, however, has enough sense of self preservation not to tell his boss, who could have him given to the Punishment, that he is an idiot and that his plan will simply not work, no matter what.

OK, I can modify some of my opinion but I don't really see Clynthan as a need to know man as a person who needs to hear what he wants to hear... what he wants to believe and if I ever had an assistant who tailored his/her reports based on what they thought I wanted to hear, they would have been given one warning then disciplinary actions. True, I would not have put them to the question or punishment but they would have contributed to my failure.

Come to think of it, I would rather hear that I was/am wrong than to have my entire program fail because people were afraid to tell me the truth.

DrakBibliophile wrote:Agree.

Not only will he tell Clyntahn what Clyntahn "needs to know", Rayno is willing to handle matters that Clyntahn "doesn't need to know" but are in the "best interests of Clyntahn".

shayvaan wrote:Can't really call him a yes man myself, a yes man in his position would already be dead (painfully) from the reverses in the jihad.
Even Clyntahn, in his own mind, reflects that Rayno is valuable to him because he is the only one who is willing to tell him what he needs to hear on occasion.

Rayno is a pragmatist who truly agrees with Clyntahn, for the most part. He is not above trying to manipulate Clyntahn, or go behind his back, when he believes that it is in the interest of the jihad or his own interests (such as his instructions to inquisitors to be less brutal in the wake of Maab's attacks and his attempts to keep the MHOGATA from properly arming and training serfs) and will try to persuade Clyntahn - diffidently - as in the above instructions to the inquisitors or with not having Thirsk killed when he has been one of the only bright spots of the jihad. He also, however, has enough sense of self preservation not to tell his boss, who could have him given to the Punishment, that he is an idiot and that his plan will simply not work, no matter what.

And I still think he is a weaselly snot

One other important point to consider: Rayno manipulated the votes in order to elect Clyntahn as Grand Inquisitor in the first place. The clear implication is that without his manipulation, Clyntahn would have lost. To me, this suggest that he already had a close relationship with Clyntahn before he became Grand Inquisitor. It also explains why Clyntahn seems to regard him with so much trust.

Henry Brown wrote:One other important point to consider: Rayno manipulated the votes in order to elect Clyntahn as Grand Inquisitor in the first place. The clear implication is that without his manipulation, Clyntahn would have lost. To me, this suggest that he already had a close relationship with Clyntahn before he became Grand Inquisitor. It also explains why Clyntahn seems to regard him with so much trust.

Yes. I remember that and think that brings the old "Be careful what you wish for... you just might get it" philosophy to mind. To me it looks like he continues to enable Clynthan to hold his own position but, if he was more than a yes man, he would put a knife in the Grand Inquisitors ribs or back because he sees the fear and indecision coming forward.