Hah. Maybe. But they always would need to fend for themselves. Even when I was there, that wasn't really my job, even if they wanted it to be. Not outside where magic made everything truly unfair.

People don't need a defender, or a controller, or to be anything besides what they are. They just need each other, and the freedom to decide what to do.

Whether I live or die doesn't change that. I just want to give them a little more sufficiency before our time is up. If I'd died... well, that's more a final embarrassing wound to my own prideful sham of a legacy than it is a reflection of the people who keep trying regardless.