Comment on Tangled Web

  1. EnderNorrad on Chapter 1 Fri 10 Oct 2025 05:32PM UTC

    I feel bad about continuing the argument, but wiping everyone's memory really wasn't necessary. All Zach needed was for the people who knew about the time loop to no longer know about it. Only those who knew. Only about the time loop. Zach's contract didn't even require him to check every single Aranea, let alone the entire city! Zach only checked the minds of random people to make sure his magic was working properly, and he wasn't under an illusion. He wasn't looking for anything they shouldn't know, just random fragments of their lives (including, probably, from the last month). This was all based on Zach's perception, and Zach knew that no one who knew about the loop was talking about it, so it made no sense to assume that anyone else in the city knew, and that everyone needed to have their memories erased.

    As a final argument, I'll give you this line from Zack's chapter: "He lost track of time. He wandered around the city, checking on people. Anyone who was even slightly familiar with the time loop had lost their memories of the entire month. No exceptions." I think this is a good indication that only those who knew have lost their memories. Meanwhile, in Zorian's chapter, he mentions Xvim, Alanic, and Daimen receiving memory crystals, and araneas having their own means to do so, but says nothing about other people. I think that's because they weren't there.

    Again, sorry, I don't want to sound like I'm nitpicking, and in your fanfic, you can do whatever you want, including inventing a reason why it had to happen the way it did. But I really don't think this is what happened in canon.

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    1. NickMattShar on Chapter 1 Fri 10 Oct 2025 08:07PM UTC

      Your good, no worries. I went ahead and reread the chapters concerning this and... your totally right. I was basing my assumptions on this passage.

      [Sadly, that also meant that when Zach checked people’s minds and saw they didn’t remember anything that had happened during this past month, this was in no way faked. They really didn’t remember anything. Zorian was forced to strip them of their mind blanks through dispelling, and wipe away their memories of the month. He had thought about being more selective about it, but he wanted things to be absolutely convincing to whatever evaluation mechanics Zach’s angel contract employed.]

      I jumped to the conclusion that everyone Zach viewed had lost their memories, but the thing about mind blanks pretty much confirms you're right. I doubt most of the people Zach checked had mind blanks. I also assumed Zach wasn't able to check everyone who knew about the time loop, but he did. I should pay better attention.

      I was really hoping to keep to canon too. I'll have to think on that. Maybe I can figure out something with the Sigils Zorian created all over the city. That could look pretty nefarious.

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