Book 4, Chapter 30: The Strength Of Unity
While there was no shortage of voices in the aftermath of the founding of the Grand Thing complaining that the Citizenship Conclave had gone too far, or not far enough, it should be noted that the majority of the population it governed found the structure it offered acceptable. Certainly there were firebrands and reactionaries, radical egalitarians and staunch authoritarians, all of whom had their issues with the new social structure. But while accounts of these are easy to find in the historical record, a counterpoint must also be raised before it is taken as given that these viewpoints were normative. And it is quite simply the fact that they were not. The majority of the populace of the Kingdom of Berk, and later the North Sea Empire, that was governed and regulated by the Conclave’s output had no substantive issue with it. Standards of living were rising for all classes, and while some reactionary authoritarians grumbled at giving any voice to the general masses, they found amassing any general following beyond a few likeminded individuals difficult.
Of course, these factors are difficult to separate out from the events that immediately followed the Conclave, but a general look at the data collected by the royal government paints a clear picture of most of the populace accepting the compromise as a generally beneficial decision for everyone involved, even if they themselves had their individual sticking points.
The typical counterargument to this is that the populace was cowed by the military force available to Berk in the form of dragon-riders. However, this is not supported by the data, as there are records of protests, strikes, lawsuits, and other such actions which show that the general populace had faith in the rule of law...
—Origins Of The Grand Thing, Edinburgh Press, 1631
Tropes that appear in this chapter:
- Crazy-Prepared: Played with. Fishlegs is praised for his foresight in proposing proportional representation of the Allied Clans instead of guaranteeing at least one seat per clan due to it coming in useful when the Jorgensons splintered, but he stamps down any feelings of smugness since he knew the clans were going to splinter due to Bladewit telling him.
- Elective Monarchy: Discussed. Padraig proposes a modification to the voting system since as things stand, getting a vote done is hard, and to elect Hiccup's own heir when he takes the throne, every adult in the Kingdom of Berk is eligible to vote, and counting who's in favour of one candidate or another by counting raised hands is simply unfeasible. Instead, Padraig proposes a ballot paper where all candidates are listed and the voter picks who they want.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Harald cannot see the logic in Hiccup's charitable acts, thinking him a fool for doing them.
- Genghis Gambit: In order to ease internal tensions, Kelebek suggests to Drago that they remind their forces that the Pechenegs have external enemies and deploy them against the Romans and the Song. If nothing else, it'll at least give the Pechenegs something else to talk about then their civil war.
- Internal Reveal: Musa learns about the Food and Bed Rights in this chapter, having not been told about it when he first arrived.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Because Musa was immediately introduced to and put to work under Gobber in the middle of a state of emergency, no one got around to telling Musa about the Food and Bed Rights.
- The Pardon: Drago officially gives full clemency to every surviving rebel.
- The Reveal: Jonna finds out she is two months pregnant.
- She's Not My Girlfriend: Hawiz stutters that Jacob is not her man when Sunach says as such.
