VeryAngryDeer wrote:It looks like the simplest method, in that changing the socio-political situation would require more planning on Pete's part... but transforming everyone into animals is by no means guaranteed to fulfill the promise of equality, especially not in a reasonable amount of time. If Pete puts in the extra effort to make sure its done right first time, he won't have to come back and fix things if it goes wrong.
On top of how convenient it would be for him, a large part about the dispute was how quickly the equalizing would be happening. Pete was of the stance that change should be fast.
fenrirblack wrote:That's still not interfering with the free will as much as the actions taken. It's more complicated than that.
King said that Pete can't override his actions just the physical conditions around him as well as his body but not his mind. That is the difference. Pete could change the biology and even the landscape if he wanted but not who someone is or force them to act against their own desires. It's commonplace in stories for beings such as Pete to interfere with the surroundings and
Influence someones actions but not those actions themselves. What Kitsune is referring to in that scene is that King is part of the Game and stuck as a dog but every choice he makes is still his own to choose. Pete and the rest altered King's situation but not his own ability to choose how to adapt and survive. If he wanted to run away and join the circus he could but he chose not to which again is part of his free will.
Your definition of free will is too narrow.
This is what Rick Griffin said on the matter. Additionally, "the free will and agency rule" was part of the duel. It might not matter anyway if the plan was to fulfill the promise after he won.
fenrirblack wrote:Argent has already pointed out that it was never "equality" in the first place.
Argent wrote:Don't forget that Pete promised "equivocation between human and animal kind", not "equality".
Google wrote:e·quiv·o·ca·tion /iˌkwivəˈkāSH(ə)n/ noun
the use of ambiguous language to conceal the truth or to avoid committing oneself; prevarication.
"I say this without equivocation"
Either he's not the smartest demigod in the pantheon or he was playing shenanigans with his followers from the start.
rickgriffin wrote:Pete’s promise was to equalize man and animal. This is a broad sort of promise, and he had all intention of keeping it; he would not care to make a promise to mortals that he didn’t want to do (even if it’s crazy), because why would he need to.
It must have been slip of the tongue by Pete there because in
other instances (to name a few) they talk about real equality. It's possible the woodland critters misinterpreted Pete, but there's no reason for Dragon to be at odds with Pete about "equivocation".
fenrirblack wrote:Pete chose his wording to get out of any potential legal trouble that he might find himself in
rickgriffin wrote:It’s more a legal obligation than an escape clause.
fenrirblack wrote:Even looking at it from a story telling perspective, changing the socio-political aspect of the world would be terrible stakes for the story and honestly would not be worth fighting against which again was the entire point of the Game story arc was to stop Pete from winning and therefore destroying the world as we know it.
You're thinking to grandiose again. The stakes of the game were never to save the world. As Sabrina says, "Think of it as two sides of a football game. You can take it seriously if you want [but it's not]... Just because there's two sides doesn't mean they're
good and
evil." The stakes were more personal. The reason Heaven's Not Enough, part 3 happened (other than because King would never turn down an opportunity to spite Pete) was only because
King was afraid being Pete's avatar would "irrnversably affect her" It's backwards to assume there must be a world level threat to have a good conflict then make up one and call it evidence.
fenrirblack wrote:Ask yourself this, what possible reason would Rick have for having Keene say that if wasn't true?
It makes it crystal clear that changing everyone into animals was not Keene's plan with the mana as it has been
firmly established keene doesn't agree with what he though Pete's plan was and it also helps take the discussion from talking about the source of Lois and Marion's transformation to the subject of visiting Great Kitsune.