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Why wait ten thousand years?
- The Emperor has been steadily losing Lyctors for the past myriad. Why didn't he call for more heirs to attempt ascension earlier? Even if he wants to limit the number of Lyctors to eight (either out of sentimentality or worry about them betraying him), replacing losses is basic tactics.
- There's a few plausible reasons in-universe. John knows full well that everyone who's ever performed the Lyctorhood process has lived to regret it, and the fundamental crime of being a Lyctor is something that almost everyone at Canaan House, told explicitly what it entailed, would refuse to perform, even to serve God. John's also spent thousands and thousands of years with his Saints, and bringing new ones into the fold could be painful. He also only lost 3 over 10,000 years out of an original total of 7, with the remaining 4 only dying as the series starts. And also, the Emperor is criticized by several of his Hands as being somewhat derelict in his duties, too willing to be bogged down in minutia rather than make hard choices. All in all, a combination of mixed emotions, reservations, and simple laziness are probably to blame.
- An editorial answer out of universe is a lot clearer: it would dilute what Lyctors mean in the series to have them be a continually replenished elite order of necromancers rather than John's original acolytes plus the modern cast. It would change the tone of what a Lyctoral bond means, and open up more First House politics if it weren't just 10 really old people; valid as a premise certainly, but would remove a lot of the intimacy of "One flesh, one end". More Lyctors would also make the Resurrection Beasts a less credible threat, especially given two Lyctor deaths were direct trades for the deaths of Resurrection Beasts; with a hundred, John could just throw numbers at the issue.
- Although Muir isn't bound to copy Homestuck verbatim, it's an influence on the series, and there is also something to be said about the ways the old Lyctors reflect their modern House counterparts are a close spin on ancestors in Homestuck.
Why didn't John heal Cytherea?
- In Nona the Ninth, we get the reveal that John can use Necromancy to heal cancers, tumors and chronic diseases. If that's the case, why didn't he just heal Cytherea instead of her undergoing the much more painful and ultimately pointless Lyctor process?
- Apparently he thought the Lyctoral process would heal her; Cytherea mentions that was the goal. John being... extremely fucked in the head, he probably thought it was good "motivation." And after she was a Lyctor, it would be extremely difficult to heal her. Maybe he couldn't, without destroying the Lyctoral process entirely.
- It's heavily implied that Loveday only agreed to the lyctor process because it seemed like the only way yo save Cytherea's life, and Cytherea would never have forced it on her if she wasn't willing. John really wanted Cytherea as his lyctor, so curing her beforehand was out of the question. After she became a lyctor and realized that she was still sick, he couldn't cure her without giving away that he could’ve done it without requiring her to kill the person she loved most, which she (and the other lyctors) would've never forgiven him for.
