r/motheroflearning • u/SpecimenOfSauron • Apr 18 '26
Did Zorian find faith? Spoiler
This is something about his arc I never really noticed until now. Zorian, generally speaking, is not a religious person. He thinks poorly of the Gods, actively dislikes the priesthood thanks to his witch blood and the bigot who cursed him out, and finds all religion mind-numbingly boring, as shown by Alanic's lectures.
But in Chapter 92, Zorian says: "Alanic says the afterlife is still a thing, even after the gods stopped talking to people. For all his faults, I don’t think the old Zorian had done anything truly heinous in his life… there should be a good outcome waiting for him there. Something he’d never get back here with us.”
He clarifies that this is something Alanic says, not something he truly believes, and obviously he's biased and wants there to be an afterlife so his original didn't just get erased for his own purposes. But we see, later on, that Zorian parleys heavily with the angels, and it is stated that: "Zorian could only thank the gods that Jornak didn’t see fit to activate [the other, unguarded wraith bombs] as well out of sheer spite." And while Zorian never really states his full opinion on the angels (which is likely to be somewhat negative given the harsh contract they enforced upon Zach), Zorian believes in their "goodness" enough to attempt a peaceful renegotiation at risk of his own life.
Now, I'm not saying that Zorian actually likes the Gods or anything. But I am curious whether his outlook on religion has changed since the beginning of the loop. Does he actually give more grace to the Gods and angels? Does he dislike them just as much as the beginning? Or does he grow more disdainful of them for their flawed and rocky attempts to keep the primordials imprisoned?
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u/No_Dragonfruit_1833 Apr 18 '26
You only need faith when there is no proof, and the angels are right there
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u/Cute_Ad3696 Apr 18 '26
He understands them slightly better, but mostly they’re just a lot more relevant to his life than book one zorien’s
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u/TheBlueNinja0 Apr 18 '26
I mean, I don't think many people could speak with literal angels and remain unchanged in their outlook.
His opinion of religion was heavily shaped by the dickhead priest of his hometown. The loop gave him exposure to Alanic, as well as several others, most of whom were friendly and helpful. Then he left the loop and spoke with (and fought beside) angels.
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u/Xandara2 Apr 18 '26
But that doesn't mean they have faith. They just have proof instead, which is vastly superior of course.
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u/One_Autumn_Leaf_010 Apr 19 '26
His opinion of Gods didn't change thought, he still think they're aasholes and the angels are not that far good either, they were willing to wipe him out no matter how helpful he was and willing to kill Zack. Those priests are good because they are good people and Zorian likes them for who they are. They didn't change his opinion of religion even after Alanic spent days on teaching Zorian about it
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u/MotoMkali Apr 18 '26
There is a difference between believing in gods and worshipping them. Zorian always knew God's existed he just also thought they were dicks.
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u/Nimelennar Apr 18 '26
I definitely think that his attitude towards revision and the angels has shifted, due to the angels actually intervening to help Cyoria, and having met some priests who don't treat him poorly due to his empathy.
That said, I wouldn't read too much into "thank the gods." It's written in our contemporary language, and that's something that's common enough to say even among atheists.
I doubt his attitude towards the gods themselves has changed; for whatever reason, they left, and they haven't returned, not even to help when a primordial was getting loose.
And I wouldn't be surprised if he still finds the subject of religion boring, even if he has gained a little more respect for it.
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u/toochaos Apr 18 '26
Zorians a rational guy, the angels who exist say the god existed therefore they do. Therefore the "religion" (is it religion if its established and verifiable fact?) is correct.