#so really it's just bad all around

[edoro]

How much about Hunter's abuse do you think Belos's inner circle knew? It's obvious they knew some degree of it, but did they know only part of it or all? I imagine that it's kinda different for each one.

that's a good question! i do agree i think it varies, just depending on... how close they are, how observant they are, how much they care.

there are definitely parts of Hunter's abuse that largely take place behind closed doors (i mean, i have made my opinions about that pretty clear here (discussion of csa at those links)) - a lot of the one-on-one emotional manipulation does, and it seems like probably a lot of the physical abuse, too.

Belos strikes me as someone who is measured and judicious in his use of violence - he does get angry, sure, but i don't think he's helplessly or thoughtlessly lashing out at all, i think he very much knows exactly what he's doing when he does it.

but the signs are all there. like just for starters, Hunter is a child soldier, although they don't really tend to view that as a problem in this society.

all the evidence we see of how traumatized and isolated and brainwashed Hunter is throughout his episodes, well, that didn't spring up from nowhere, and his fellow teens aren't the only ones who see it. the adults know he doesn't have any friends. the adults know he doesn't have any kind of social media presence or leave the castle except for missions. the adults know he's overworked and exhausted, just look at him.

the adults know that he does what he's told. they see his loyalty, his fearful obedience. they see how absolutely desperate he is for someone else to validate his sense of worth, how he clings to the tiniest crumb of attention and all but begs any passing authority figure to tell him he's justified his own existence today.

they see the scars, the way he freezes and flinches, the way he reflexively defends Belos, the way he looks back on the grueling training with fondness.

there are so many signs that Hunter isn't well, that he's going through something terrible. and these people see him every day, they see how Belos treats and talks to him, they see how he responds to the people around him. s2e13, where he just crumbles in the face of Darius's disapproval and begs Darius to tell him how to earn his position? that's how he's been taught to interact with adults.

they see him getting "special favors from the Emperor" but they know what coming to the Emperor's personal attention means. they know that Belos is not a merciful man.

so, yeah, i mean, they might not know specifics, but it's pretty obvious that he's being abused. i tend to think different people respond to it in different ways.

Adrian clearly knew Hunter would be scared enough of Belos that he could weaponize it against him.

Kikimora and Lilith both hold obvious grudges against Hunter and see him as competition; i tend to imagine that Kiki projects any discomfort she may feel about his treatment onto him rather than Belos, while Lilith i tend to see as just erasing the fact that he's a child in her own mind, and seeing him as a peer whose treatment therefore isn't any better or worse than anyone else's.

Raine we see demonstrate concern for Hunter, briefly, but they can't act on it. they obviously care (and they were a teacher, so, i bet they recognize the signs of abuse and trauma more than a lot of the other coven heads might) but they're not willing to jeopardize their life's work as an insurrectionist to try to break cover and help him in any more personal way.

Darius is very interesting - i've gone into it a bit before, but i like how what seemed at first to be straightforward disgust at the nepotism seems, at least to me, to have quite a lot of like, learned helplessness behind it. i think Darius cares very much, and recognizes how wrong this situation is, but especially after the previous GG, doesn't feel like he can do anything - and, like Kikimora and Lilith, he takes all of that helpless fury and ends up projecting it onto Hunter and blaming Hunter for being traumatized and brainwashed.

the impression i get from him is that he wanted to hep, but didn't think he could, that there was no way he could reach Hunter or break through the programming, but as soon as he saw the tiniest sign that he might be able to, he went for it.

Terra is a terrifying sadist who has specifically targeted children before (her enduring fixation with Raine is very creepy to say the least) and also seems to be in tight with Belos, so i imagine she's probably very aware of how he treats Hunter, more than a lot of the other coven heads might be, and has absolutely no problem with it.

we don't really know much about any of the other ones, but i think it's safe to say that they have plenty of evidence in front of their faces about how this child is being treated, and that they've all chosen to at best ignore him and at worst actively make his life harder.