As some readers have picked up on since the comic started, speciesism plays a large role in the overarching story, specifically between the Ermehn and the other races. In the context of the world of Beyond the Western Deep, this can be attributed to their loss against the Canid and the political fallout surrounding it. But like any geopolitical conflict, there are supporters and detractors for the Ermehn. Dakkan and Kenosh’s views could be construed as representing two diametrically-opposed schools of thought on the matter.

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The Ermehn, as has been brought up before in the comic, have a certain negative image that has been perpetuated in the southern lands. A lot of this has to do with selective history, which was one of the big themes of the original 2006-07 draft of Beyond the Western Deep. History is written by the victor, as they say, and that concept is something I’ve always found fascinating; that it’s possible to create events, to manufacture truths that could be referenced for millennia to come, and there would be no way to account for that.

Some elements of that still exist in the script today, particularly Kenosh’s insistence that the “truth” of the Ermehn be known. But as is always the case when dealing with history, how do we know what the truth really is? How about fiction? Who is there to fact check in a world without cameras or journalists?

Let’s just say there’s a reason why the Scholars of Gair take their work so seriously.