Line #202 Literature/ChildrenOfTheLastDays


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sophia_house.png]]
2	A series of religious novels by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_D._O%27Brien Michael D. O'Brien]]. Termed the Catholic version of ''Literature/LeftBehind'', these stories discuss the lives of an interconnected group of people in Canada and Europe, over the span of a hundred years.
3
4	[[AC:The series currently consists of seven novels:]]
5
6	# ''Sophia House'' (2005)
7	# ''Father Elijah: An Apocalypse'' (1996)
8	# ''Elijah in Jerusalem'' (2015)
9	# ''Strangers and Sojourners'' (1997)
10	# ''Plague Journal'' (1999)
11	# ''Eclipse of the Sun'' (1998)
12	# ''A Cry of Stone'' (2003)
13
14	''Sophia House'', ''Father Elijah'', and ''Elijah in Jerusalem'' are about the life of David Schafer, later Father Elijah, during the Holocaust in the first book, and during the End Times in the second and third, with the first focusing on Pawel Tarnowski, who saves David from the Holocaust.
15
16	''Strangers and Sojourners'', ''Plague Journal'', and ''Eclipse of the Sun'' are about the lives of four generations of the Delaney family in British Columbia. ''Strangers and Sojourners'' discusses the lives of Anne Ashton and Stephen Delaney, how they meet, and their marriage, as well as the life of their son Ashley and the early life of his son Nathaniel. ''Plague Journal'' discusses how Nathaniel and two of his children, Zoe and Tyler, are caught up in, and attempt to escape, the GovernmentConspiracy. ''Eclipse of the Sun'' discusses the life of Arrow, Nathaniel's youngest son, and the people who interact with him as he flees the GovernmentConspiracy.
17
18	''A Cry of Stone'' is about the life of Rose Wabos, a First Nations Canadian artist who interacts with Fr. Andrei.
19	----
20	!! Provides Examples Of:
21
22	* AerithAndBob: Nathaniel and Maya's children are Tyler, Zoe, and Arrow.
23	* AfterTheEnd: In the prologue and epilogue of ''Eclipse of the Sun''
24	* TheAntichrist: In ''Father Elijah''.
25	* AnyoneCanDie: Including the protagonists of ''Strangers and Sojourners'', ''Plague Journal'', ''A Cry of Stone'', and ''Sophia House'', as well as Father Andrei, [[spoiler: Maurice, Alice, and Anna]].
26	* ApocalypseHow: An unspecified level 1 cataclysm that depopulates the globe.
27	* ArtisticLicenseHistory: In ''Eclipse of the Sun'', the truck driver who gives Fr. Andrei a ride comments that the Poles were just as bad as the Germans when it came to the Holocaust. Not according to most serious academic discussions of the matter.
28	* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Mocked in ''Eclipse of the Sun''.
29	* AuthorAvatar: Just read some of O'Brien's non-fiction, which is partially autobiographical, and compare it to excerpts of ''Plague Journal''.
30	* AuthorFilibuster: Plenty of these in ''Plague Journal''. The eponymous journal contains rather lengthy and {{Anvilicious}} excerpts of writing by the AuthorAvatar. Some of these articles have appeared in RealLife magazines, under the author's byline.
31	* AuthorTract: Some of the novels can come across like this. Most especially ''Plague Journal.''
32	* BadassPreacher: Fr. Andrei. He survived UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust and stands up to interrogation by the GovernmentConspiracy, [[spoiler:sacrificing his own life to prevent Arrow from being raped into insanity.]]
33	* BadBoss: In ''Eclipse of the Sun'', Maurice and his superiors think nothing of liquidating employees who have outlived their usefulness.
34	* BatmanGambit: Maurice pulls one of these on Fr. Andrei. It fails.
35	* BigBad: The unnamed Antichrist
36	* BlackComedy: Nathaniel's prank call, in which he pretends to be severely depressed and uses his son's starter pistol to fake suicide.
37	* BlackAndWhiteMorality: Played straight and lampshaded.
38	* BlackHelicopter: The GovernmentConspiracy uses these, particularly in ''Elcipse of the Sun''.
39	* BoardingSchoolOfHorrors: Where Binemin goes. A teacher there, Mr. [=McKenna=], is a sadistic pedophile.
40	* BotheringByTheBook: How the Vatican protects Fr. Elijah [[spoiler: after he has been framed for Anna's murder.]]
41	* {{Brainwashed}}:
42	** What the teacher attempted to do to Jack Tobac's mother. Also, what Fr. Andrei and Fr. Potempko fear will happen to Arrow.
43	** This is what the cult did to Colin in the back-story of ''Eclipse of the Sun''.
44	* BreadEggsMilkSquick: Fr. Elijah's description of Eichmann.
45	* CharacterFilibuster: ''Strangers and Sojourners'' and ''Plague Journal'' contain these. Some of them double as AuthorFilibuster.
46	* CloudCuckoolander: Jan Tarnowski, who builds a clock to herald the end of the world.
47	* CrapsaccharineWorld: The goal of the global conspiracy.
48	* CreepyUncle: Or Creepy Great-Uncle. Pawel's Great-Uncle Nicholas molests him when he is six years old.
49	* ComicBookTime: Although ''Father Elijah'' is set around the turn of the millennium, despite picking up where ''Father Elijah'' left off, ''Elijah in Jerusalem'' takes place twenty years later.
50	* CoolOldGuy: Fr. Andrei and Jan Tarnowski. Implied to be Thaddeus Tobac as well.
51	* {{Cult}}:
52	** Colin was lured into one of these when he was young.
53	** The drug commune is also one of these.
54	* DarkAndTroubledPast: Colin, Stephen, Jan, and Pawel all have these.
55	%%* DeadpanSnarker: Maya and Alice.
56	* DepartmentOfChildDisservices:
57	** Played horrifically straight. In ''Plague Journal'', they are involved in falsely accusing Nathaniel of molesting his kids to take them away. Interestingly, the interrogation of Zoe, who is suspected of having been molested, violates the RealLife guidelines regarding interviewing possible sex abuse victims, including not repeating questions and not reacting to what the child is telling you. (Not understanding the significance of the questions, Zoe inadvertently falsely implicates her father as a child molester because her interrogators keep repeating questions and become angry when she doesn't give the desired answers.)
58	** In ''A Cry of Stone'', prompted by Fr. Andrei, they remove Binemin from the BoardingSchoolOfHorrors, but hand him over to devil worshipers, eschewing other alternatives.
59	* DepravedHomosexual:
60	** Averted with Pawel Tarnowski, who is gay and, despite who wrote the series, a heroic figure who hides David, a Jewish teenager, from the Nazis in Warsaw.
61	** Played straight with Count Smokrev, [[spoiler: until his HeelFaithTurn]]. Upon discovering that Pawel is hiding a Jewish teenager from the Nazis, Smokrev attempts to blackmail him into trafficking David for sex. When Pawel refuses, Smokrev makes good on his threats and reports them to the Nazis.
62	* DeusAngstMachina: Rose's life. Her mother abandoned her when she was young to be raised in poverty by her grandmother. She has a curved spine, giving her a hunchbacked appearance. Her childhood friend is separated from her, and her grandmother dies. Although she spends some time with nuns, she is denied a vocation. Ultimately, she succumbs to a terminal illness, dying in her early thirties.
63	* DeusExMachina: Implied to be the ultimate resolution of the conflict.
64	* DiabolusExMachina:
65	** Arrow becomes dangerously ill, and needs to be hospitalized. Beth takes him, pretending he is her son, Noah. Just as he is being released, and it looks like the ruse has worked, a doctor comes out of nowhere, and reveals that Arrow is not Noah Potter.
66	** In ''Sophia House'', Pawel and David are in the eponymous store (which doubles as Pawel's home) after hours, when, out of nowhere, Count Smokrev walks in to discover them.
67	* DirectLineToTheAuthor: ''Plague Journal'' is supposed to be an actual journal of a fugitive, found in the attic of one of the arresting officers.
68	* DisappearedDad: Rose's father. Also, Nathaniel, in ''Eclipse of the Sun''. But then, the government "disappeared" him.
69	* DoubleStandard: In-universe. The state and the media are portrayed as employing these against anyone who disagrees with them, particularly traditional Christians.
70	* TheDragon: Maurice, [[spoiler: before his HeelFaceTurn]].
71	* DreamingOfThingsToCome:
72	** Arrow's dream of the attack on the commune, before it happens.
73	** Tyler's dream, in ''Plague Journal'', of the epilogue of ''Eclipse of the Sun''.
74	** Fr. Elijah and Fr. Ron seem to have these, though we don't see them come true in-story.
75	* EasyEvangelism: Averted, particularly with Anne and Colin.
76	* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: What Fr. Elijah seeks to prevent, by converting the Antichrist. [[spoiler: He fails.]]
77	* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep:
78	** The Antichrist is simply known as the Antichrist or the President of the Europarliament.
79	** The Archbishop of Vancouver is also known simply by his title.
80	** So are the Pope and the Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. However, it is strongly implied that they are John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger, respectively.
81	* EvilGenius: The Nazis, along with the Antichrist's inner circle.
82	* FauxAffablyEvil: The Antichrist, Maurice, and many of the more liberal characters.
83	* {{Flashback}}:
84	** The FramingDevice for ''Eclipse of the Sun'' is that it is a story told by Aaron, now old enough to be a grandfather, of when he was eight years old.
85	** Similarly, the FramingDevice of ''Sophia House'' is David Schafer, now a prominent Israeli politician, recalling his youth hiding from the Nazis in Warsaw.
86	* ForegoneConclusion:
87	** ''Father Elijah'' reveals the ending of ''Sophia House'', nine years before the latter was published.
88	** Also, ''Eclipse of the Sun'' was released before ''Plague Journal''. If you read the books in order of release, you know that Nathaniel is captured.
89	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Arrow dreams of the destruction of his village before it happens.
90	* FramingDevice: ''Eclipse of the Sun'' and ''Sophia House'' are told in flashback form, and ''Plague Journal'' is supposed to be an actual journal.
91	* FreudianExcuse: Mr. [=McKenna=] at Binemin's boarding school.
92	* FreudWasRight: Mocked and defied in ''A Cry of Stone''. Rose's critics have a tendency to wrongly interpret sexual meanings into her paintings.
93	* FromACertainPointOfView: Used ''very'' liberally by Alice and Beth to protect Arrow in ''Eclipse of the Sun''.
94	* GodwinsLaw: Somewhat. The main characters, especially Nathaniel, Fr. Andrei, and Fr. Potempko, do compare the villains to Hitler (and Stalin), but this is justified in that (a) the villains ''are'' planning to kill off a quarter of the total human population, and (b) their leader is literally TheAntichrist, who, by definition, has to be worse than Hitler.[[note]]See [[http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2013/01/25/nra-you-know-who-else-was-an-evil-homicidal-tyrant/ this]] Slacktivist entry on ''Literature/LeftBehind'' for a more thorough explanation.[[/note]] Where this trope comes into play is when Hugo compares Rose's critics to Nazis in ''A Cry of Stone''.
95	* GoodIsNotNice: Lampshaded by Nathaniel in ''Plague Journal''.
96	* GoodShepherd: The Archbishop of Vancouver, Fr. Ron, Fr. Andrei, the Pope.
97	* GovernmentConspiracy: The framing of Nathaniel Delaney and [[spoiler: Fr. Elijah]].
98	* GuileHero: Fr. Andrei. Just look at how he handles his interrogators in ''Eclipse of the Sun''.
99	* HarmfulToMinors:
100	** What Arrow goes through. He is raised in a drug commune where his mother ReallyGetsAround and the medicine man is a pedophile. He escapes, and witnesses, the destruction of his home at the hands of the GovernmentConspiracy. He has to go on the run with Fr. Andrei, and escapes when the priest is captured. After hiding out with Alice, he is captured and sent to a concentration camp, where Maurice threatens to have him raped into insanity.
101	** The abuse suffered by Binemin, both before he is rescued, and at the BoardingSchoolOfHorrors.
102	** Also, the molestation of six-year-old Pawel.
103	* HaveYouToldAnyoneElse: Twice in ''Eclipse of the Sun'':
104	** The first time, when Andrei is calling emergency services to report the massacre at the convent, the police ask him this question, giving the reader a subtle hint that all is not what it seems with the government.
105	** In the flashback, Maurice asks Nathaniel this, to see how many other people he has to eliminate.
106	* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler: Maurice, the official of the GovernmentConspiracy who kills Nathaniel and Fr Andrei, but has a conversion experience when he is trying to trick Arrow into revealing his benefactor, and lets Arrow go free.]]
107	* HeelFaithTurn: What Fr. Elijah tries to do to the Antichrist. [[spoiler: He fails. He is successful with Count Smokrev.]]
108	* HeelRealization: This seems to begin for Maurice in ''Plague Journal'', when he surreptitiously contacts Nathaniel and advises him to run from the GovernmentConspiracy.
109	* HeroicBSOD:
110	** Arrow has one of these when he finds out his parents have been murdered.
111	** Euphrasia has one of these when she finds out [[spoiler: that the love letters she was receiving were actually a cruel prank.]]
112	** Fr. Elijah comes close to having one of these when the Pope tells him the Apocalypse is near.
113	* HeroicSacrifice: Fr. Andrei and Pawel Tarnowski. [[spoiler: Also, Maurice and Alice.]]
114	* HitlerAteSugar: According to Fr. Elijah, Eichmann liked Mozart and roses.
115	* HollywoodAtheist:
116	** Somewhat subverted. Fr. Andrei ''thinks'' Maurice is an atheist, but he is actually a member of the ReligionOfEvil.
117	** Ashley plays this trope straight, however.
118	** Averted with Anne and Colin, who later convert to Catholicism.
119	** Averted entirely with Anna, in ''Father Elijah''.
120	* HollywoodHistory: In discussing the crusaders who tried to expose the global conspiracy, Peter -- and by extension, the author -- undermines his position by including [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Thomas_McFadden Louis McFadden]], who, according to UsefulNotes/TheOtherWiki, was a rabid anti-Semite whose statements appeared in German Nazi and American Fascist publications, and whose conspiracy theories were inextricably linked to his anti-Semitism.
121	* HumanSacrifice: The shaman at the drug commune does this.
122	* IdiotBall: Maya remains in the drug commune with Arrow despite the fact that the medicine man has admitted to performing human sacrifices, and has made some thinly veiled threats against her.
123	* TheInfiltration: What Anna tries to do to the Antichrist's inner circle in ''Father Elijah''.
124	* InnocentInaccurate:
125	** Arrow's view of life at the drug commune.
126	** His perception of the attack counts as well: his belief that the black helicopters are giant beetles persists throughout ''Eclipse of the Sun''.
127	* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: What a lot of the more liberal characters, including Cardinal Vettore, Sister Connie, and Ashley do.
128	* KickTheDog:
129	** When Maurice coerces Fr. Andrei into looking at pornography -- by threatening to drag a real woman in and rape her if he refuses.
130	** Also, when Maurice gives Fr. Andrei the SadisticChoice of publicly denouncing his religion or watching three depraved men rape Arrow into insanity.
131	** In Count Smokrev's back-story, as a child, his playmate rejected a sexual advance. In response, Smokrev killed the boy's pet rabbit, right in front of him.
132	%%* KnightInSourArmor: Pawel, Alice, Nathaniel.
133	* LawyerFriendlyCameo: The Pope and the Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. No names are given; however, it is implied that they are John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger, respectively.
134	* LaResistance: The Underground in ''Sophia House''.
135	%%* LikeBrotherAndSister: Rose and Binemin.
136	* LuddWasRight: The series is partly a diatribe at how modernity and progress leads ''to the Antichrist.'' The trope is also crossed with some heavy NostalgiaFilter and AuthorFilibuster. However Fr. Ron, one of the characters the author intends us to sympathize with points out that he is not opposed to modern technology ''per se'', such as the polio vaccine, but we have to watch how it affects us as a society. O'Brien seems more interested in modern media and culture than modern technology.
137	* MamaBear: Implied with Beth Potter, given her reaction to Alice's dump story.
138	* MeaningfulRename:
139	** Zig-zagged in ''Eclipse of the Sun''. When Fr. Andrei baptizes Arrow, he gives the boy the new name Aaron. Upon discovering the destruction of his childhood home, the drug commune, the boy resumes the name Arrow. [[spoiler: However, in the end, when he reaches the sanctuary, he is once again called Aaron.]]
140	** Also, David Schafer, who takes an unspecified alias when he becomes famous and powerful, and, later, becomes Fr. Elijah.
141	* MissingMom: Maya to Zoe and Tyler (and Arrow in ''Eclipse of the Sun''). Youngmary to Rose.
142	* MistakenForCheating: Anne and the local Protestant minister in ''Strangers and Sojourners''.
143	* TheMole: Cardinal Vettore, who is ostensibly loyal to the Church but is, in fact, a supporter of the Antichrist.
144	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Dragonstongue, the name the medicine man took when he performed the HumanSacrifice.
145	* NewMediaAreEvil:
146	** Interestingly enough, in 1998 O'Brien focused on television, when even then the Internet (from a conservative Catholic point of view) was proving to be more problematic in providing impressionable minds with access to offensive material.
147	** It turned out that he eventually did include the Internet on his moral hit list...''in 2004.'' Needless to say, his response was ''very'' predictable.
148	* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
149	** To cover up their planned intrigue, Fr. Elijah and Anna write fake love letters to each other. [[spoiler: When Anna is killed, these love letters are used as a motive in framing Fr. Elijah.]]
150	** In ''Plague Journal'', as a prank, Nathaniel leaves a deranged message on Doc's answering machine, firing a starter pistol to make it seem like he killed himself. ItMakesSenseInContext [[spoiler: However, Nathaniel's phone is being tapped, and the GovernmentConspiracy uses this prank (which they pretend to take seriously) as evidence that he really is crazy.]]
151	* NoMeansYes: Invoked by David in ''Sophia House'' in references to a zaddik (wise man) -- if you deny that you are one, that is proof that you actually are.
152	* NostalgiaAintLikeItUsedToBe: Zigzagged. Considering the author's conservative views, one would expect him to portray TheFifties, and anytime before, as some sort of golden age. Instead, he criticizes, among other things, the racism and ethnic bigotry, the internment camps for the Japanese, the materialism and lack of concern for the environment, the rumor-mongering and gossip, the lack of awareness of child abuse prevalent in previous times; he maintains that the problems our society faces now are really OlderThanTheyThink, and lurked beneath the surface in days gone by. Still, he seems to hearken back to an age far before the 20th Century and modernity in general, in the "glory days" of "Roman Christendom".
153	* {{Omniglot}}: The Antichrist.
154	* OneWorldOrder: The goal of the Antichrist and his followers.
155	* PaedoHunt: Played both ways. In ''Plague Journal'', the GovernmentConspiracy falsely accuses Nathaniel of molesting his own kids, and in ''Eclipse of the Sun'', Fr. Andrei and Fr. Ron are briefly accused of being pedophiles (because they are priests). However, there are real pedophiles, to wit, Great-Uncle Nicholas in ''Sophia House'', Mr. [=McKenna=] in ''A Cry of Stone'', and the medicine man (and the three depraved men) in ''Eclipse of the Sun''.
156	* ParentalAbandonment: What Rose's mother did to her. Also, what Maya did to Zoe and Tyler.
157	* ParentalBetrayal: Ashley does this to Nathaniel.
158	* ParentalIncest: What Nathaniel is falsely accused of in ''Plague Journal''.
159	* ParentalSubstitute: Alice, to Arrow and Nick.
160	* PeaceAndLoveIncorporated:
161	** The global conspiracy seeks to present this as the public image of their front groups/governments, particularly UNITAS.
162	** In a reverse prank call, Nathaniel answers his phone pretending to be an answering machine for one of these.
163	* PedophilePriest:
164	** It turns out Pawel's Great-Uncle Nicholas was one of these in his back-story.
165	** In ''Eclipse of the Sun'', references to these are made, and Fr. Andrei and Fr. Ron have to deal with accusations of this.
166	* PrecociousCrush: Zoë for Anthony, in ''Plague Journal''.
167	* PunchClockVillain: The Nazi professor in ''Sophia House''.
168	* RaisedByGrandparents: Rose is raised by Oldmary after her mother abandons her.
169	* RealityIsUnrealistic: Invoked in the foreword of ''Strangers and Sojourners''.
170	* RedemptionEqualsDeath:
171	** [[spoiler: Maurice, who worked for the GovernmentConspiracy, killed Nathaniel and Fr. Andrei, and threatened to have Arrow raped into insanity, has a conversion experience and releases Arrow, only to be tracked down and killed by the conspiracy he betrayed.]]
172	** [[spoiler:Count Smokrev, who began his career of cruelty by killing the pet rabbit of a playmate who rebuffed a sexual advance, and went on to turn David and Pawel in to the Nazis, repents on his deathbed and is forgiven by David, now Fr. Elijah.]]
173	* ReallyGetsAround: Maya, who sleeps with a number of the men in the drug commune where she lives.
174	* ReleasedToElsewhere: What happens to most of the victims of the global conspiracy.
175	* SadistTeacher: Mr. [=McKenna=], at Binemin's school.
176	* SadisticChoice:
177	** Maurice offers Fr. Andrei a choice between denouncing the Catholic Church or watching three depraved men rape Arrow into insanity. This prompts Fr. Andrei's ThanatosGambit.
178	** When Count Smokrev discovers that Pawel is harboring the Jewish teenager David, he gives Pawel a choice: turn David over to Smokrev to be raped, or Smokrev will turn them both in to the Nazis.
179	* SadlyMythtaken: In-universe. The medicine man in the drug commune uses an eclectic mishmash of various Native American traditions that had nothing to do with one another. Maya calls him on this.
180	* SaintlyChurch: Played mostly straight with the Catholic Church (and some other denominations, but with a few significant exceptions.
181	%%* {{Satan}}: Of course, given the nature of these novels.
182	* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Nathaniel uses this in his writing. Teachers and readers lampshade and call him on this in ''Strangers and Sojourners'' and ''Plague Journal'', respectively.
183	* ShoutOut:
184	** The title of ''Plague Journal'' is one to Daniel Defoe. The books also feature a ShoutOut to ''Literature/SwallowsAndAmazons'', ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', and Creator/GKChesterton.
185	** Of course, given the genre, there are several to Literature/TheBible.
186	* SonOfAWhore: [=McKenna=], the pedophile in ''A Cry of Stone'' was the son of a woman who ReallyGetsAround, and developed misogynistic and sadistic attitudes as a result of having been exposed to her lifestyle.
187	* StateSec: The Canadian Office of Internal Security in ''Eclipse of the Sun''.
188	* StrawmanPolitical:
189	** Judging from what O'Brien pits his characters against, it's pretty clear his stance on many issues. Then again, there's a reason why some people call this a Catholic ''Literature/LeftBehind''.
190	** Ironically, political strawmen appear in-universe in ''Eclipse of the Sun'', in which the mainstream media interviews eloquent liberals, and conservatives who can barely string a sentence together, but who make points that are obviously inflammatory.
191	** In the story itself, just about anyone who's ''not'' a deeply devout and very conservative (mainly Catholic) Christian is viewed with disdain.
192	* ShootTheShaggyDog: The ending of [[spoiler:''Elijah in Jerusalem'' has shades of this. Elijah and Enoch are mistaken for terrorists, captured by the Mossad and tortured to death without even being able to warn the Israeli prime minister about the Antichrist. Worse, it turns out they are not even the prophesied messengers of God that the novel had been building them up to be.]]
193	* TakeOverTheWorld: The Antichrist wants to do this.
194	* TakeThat:
195	** Against liberal Catholicism (or any form that doesn't follow his brand, really), the New Age Movement, the media, and modern society in general.
196	*** Cardinal Vettore in particular, who is in league with the Antichrist in ''Father Elijah'', is suggested to be an {{Expy}} of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Maria_Martini Cardinal Martini]], then the Cardinal-Archbishop of Milan who was known for his liberal views.
197	** If it hasn't already been stated, he also seems to have gripes against just about ''any'' form of liberalism.
198	* TakingTheKids: Played partially straight. Maya leaves Nathaniel, taking baby Arrow. She doesn't take the older kids because she knows they would put up too much of a fight.
199	* ThanatosGambit: Faced with Maurice’s SadisticChoice, Father Andrei pretends to agree to make the denunciation. During the speech, however, he makes provocative comments designed to incite Maurice to kill him. [[spoiler: It works.]]
200	* ThoseWackyNazis: Prevalent in ''Sophia House''.
201	* TitleDrop: ''Plague Journal'', ''Sophia House''.
202	* TroubledChild:
203	** Arrow was raised in a drug commune run by a pedophile. He witnessed the massacre of the commune by the GovernmentConspiracy, in which his mother was killed. Rescued by Fr. Andrei, he fled into the woods, eventually to take refuge with Alice. Once again captured by the GovernmentConspiracy, Arrow is interned and threatened with rape. Throughout the book, he exhibits bed wetting, extreme shyness and withdrawn behavior, and occasional catatonia, particularly when he is informed of his parents’ deaths.
204	** Binemin is rescued from an abusive home from parents who left him starving and naked, and later sent to a BoardingSchoolOfHorrors. When he is introduced, he is feral; later, he never smiles and seldom speaks.
205	** At age six, Pawel is molested by his great-uncle and experiences lifelong trauma, including suicidal ideation, as a result.
206	* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture: ''Eclipse of the Son'' and ''Father Elijah'' were supposed to have taken place at the turn of the millennium.
207	* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: The global conspiracy's rationalization for concentration camps, liquidation of undesirables, endorsement of genocide and employing people to rape children into insanity.
208	* UnitedEurope: Apparently the Antichrist's headquarters. This is in part, an AuthorTract.
209	* VillainBall:
210	** Perhaps the reason the GovernmentConspiracy is so determined to stamp out an increasingly marginalized group of people?
211	** In addition if, as Maurice implies, the drug commune and the GovernmentConspiracy are both on the same side, why does the Government Conspiracy wipe them out?
212	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: The Antichrist, especially since the media is on his side.
213	* WeCanRuleTogether:
214	** Maurice offers Nathaniel a position with the government in ''Strangers and Sojourners''. Later, in ''Eclipse of the Son''. Maurice states that, had Nathaniel accepted, he would have shared in the global conspiracy's power [[spoiler: instead of being liquidated by Maurice]].
215	** The Antichrist makes a straight version of this offer to Fr. Elijah. He refuses, of course.
216	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We never find out how Ashley's brothers turn out. Averted for most of the other characters of the series, as O'Brien is usually good at tying up loose ends.
217	* WhoNamesTheirKidDude: Twice, Arrow's name is commented upon.
218	%%* WickedCultured: The Antichrist and Maurice.
219	* WishFulfillment: The reforms of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, which begin with Fr. Ron's church.
220	* WritersCannotDoMath:
221	** Played straight. Maurice was listed as an octogenarian in ''Eclipse of the Sun'', which takes place at the turn of the millennium. However, he was a teenager, or pre-teen in the 1920s.
222	** In ''Eclipse of the Sun'', a news broadcast characterized Nathaniel Delaney as being a liberal during the 1960s and 1970s, implying that he was an adult at the time. However, he was born in 1952, making him a teenager during the 1960s.
223	** In ''Strangers and Sojourners'', look at some of the dates and Anne's age at the time. They don't add up.
224	* YouCantFightFate: No matter how powerful the Antichrist's forces are, they are destined to lose in the end. Fr. Elijah tries, [[spoiler: and fails,]] to convince the Antichrist of this. [[spoiler: Fr. Andrei is somewhat more successful with Maurice.]]
225	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: What Maurice intends to do to the child rapists in his employ once the global conspiracy no longer needs them.
226	* {{Zeerust}}:
227	** ''Father Elijah'', ''Plague Journal'' and ''Eclipse of the Sun'' were set at the turn of the millennium, believed to be when the end of the world would take place. Twenty years later, we're still here.
228	** O'Brien's complete disregard of the Internet, even in 1998, is puzzling.

Context Literature / ChildrenOfTheLastDays