"I hope, in time, you will come to realize how wrong you are about Gotham. It is not meant to be saved. It cannot be saved. Only cleansed. And from the ashes, reborn."
"Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to Hell."
The LORD rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulfurous fire from the LORD out of heaven. He annihilated those cities and the entire Plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation of the ground.
And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, "Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is thy judgment come."
— The Bible Revelation 18:9-10
We've seen our citizens subjected to violence, vandalism, theft and discomfort. The Blackout has threatened our safety and has seriously impacted our economy. We've been needlessly subjected to a night of terror in many communities that have been wantonly looted and burned. The costs when finally tallied will be enormous.
— Abe Beame, Mayor of New York City, 1977
It began as an ordinary day in September, an ordinary day in Raccoon City, a city controlled by Umbrella. No-one dared to oppose them, and that lack of strength would ultimately lead to their destruction. I suppose they had to suffer the consequences of their actions, but there would be no forgiveness. If only they had had the courage to fight...
It's true that once the wheels of justice begin to turn, nothing can stop them. Nothing. It was Raccoon City's last chance, and my last chance... my last escape.
It's true that once the wheels of justice begin to turn, nothing can stop them. Nothing. It was Raccoon City's last chance, and my last chance... my last escape.
— Jill Valentine, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
He was trusted and he was fair, but he was no simp and his revenge could be devastating. All who knew of the Trader knew the tale of the Eastern town that had tried to mess with him, a town of low morals run by an ambitious madman. The exact nature of their mistake had been lost over the intervening years, but the outcome was retained in the memories of most who had dealings with him. The town had been destroyed, razed to the ground, wiped from the face of the earth. He had spared no one. Such had been his fury that he had massacred the inhabitants to a man, woman, child. And animal. He had not even spared the animals, had not taken them for himself but instead had slaughtered the herds and left the carcasses, and then moved on.
It was a lesson. You did not mess with the Trader.
That is not a metaphor, Essun. Not hyperbole. I did watch the world burn. Say nothing to me of innocent bystanders, unearned suffering, heartless vengeance. When a comm builds atop a fault line, do you blame its walls when they inevitably crush the people inside? No; you blame whoever was stupid enough to think they could defy the laws of nature forever. Well, some worlds are built of a fault line of pain, held up by nightmares. Don't lament when those worlds fall. Rage that they were built doomed in the first place.
— Hoa, The Stone Sky
