Oh, good! It's odd that there seems to be so much to say about a stretch of story that is mostly "And now we wait for Cordelia to show up and Fix Everything" (one of the things I'm currently cursing about is what *was* Ezar's plan if the Convenient Galactic Wife did not appear, since he makes such a point of the fact that the Regent should be happily married...) but...it's a neat thing to play with.

>a communicable disease

That's cool! (and a very neat compliment to get...) It's pretty much always been a thing for me...blame Howard Pyle. The first story I became truly obsessive about--in second grade--was Robin Hood, and the moment I've always loved the most was King Richard's arrival. I get very grumpy at Robin Hood stories that don't give me a King Richard (or relevant king-for-timeline, if the story's been shifted.)