I’m not grilling Lyra. I’m grilling the idea that Nauplius is an isolated case. He’s not. He’s enabled by other people, the product of a rotten system, and trying to play him off as not representing the Empire is folly.
I know this because I once did that. I too pushed the argument that he was a blooder who didn’t represent the Empire. But he does. He does because we’ve facilitated his existence. And until that changes, even if you ended Nauplius, more just like him would rise in his place.
We have to acknowledge that Nauplius isn’t something we can just wash off. He’s a symptom of our sins.