| “ | Jason: The few, so cleans’d, to these abodes repair, and breathe, in ample fields, the soft Elysian air. Then are they happy, when by length of time, The scurf is worn away of each committed crime; No speck is left of their habitual stains, But the pure ether of the soul remains. Lanna: Homer? Jason: Virgil. Space is Elysium, Lanna. The place where heroes go when they die. The Varvax and the others, they’ve fought and bled, just like we have. They finally overcame all of that—they paid their price and have earned their peace. I want to make certain their paradise remains such. |
„ |
| ~ Jason explaining his motivation to Lanna. |
Jason Write is the protagonist of Brandon Sanderson's short story Defending Elysium. He is the head operative of an organization known as Phone Company, which was responsible for all dealings Earth had with extraterrestrial life. Jason believed that humans were too violent to interact with other species and prevented them from doing so. To this end, he sought to transform Earth into a perfect society, like he believed all other life in the galaxy lived in.
His Good Ranking[]
What Makes Him Admirable?[]
- In general he is very idealistic and works tirelessly to help humanity live in a perfect society with aliens. Although this is impossible, he gets points for trying.
- He works to make humanity less aggressive, particularly changing the education so that the next generation becomes more tolerant.
- He is a good husband to his wife Lanna, and clearly loves her very much. Despite sometimes claiming the contrary, he truly enjoys working with her, is amused by her teasing, and sunk into a depression he was never able to get out of when she died.
- He kept the secret to FTL technology from humanity because he knew it would start a war with the aliens if he gave it to the government. Although the aliens showed themselves to be not as perfect as they acted like they were, Skyward shows that humanity getting FTL technology started a horrible series of wars the ended billions of lives, so keeping the FTL technology hidden was the right thing to do.
- He has helped stop various xenophobic terrorist groups who tried to start wars with the aliens.
- He tries to find Denise Carlson, a Phone Company operative who disappeared. After finding her and discovering that she has lost her memories, he tries to help her.
- He saves Coln Abrams when he is being shot at, despite the young man working for a rival organization.
- When he believes that some human organization is plotting to steal Varvax bodies so they can infiltrate them and steal their technology, he tries to stop this from happening.
- He kills Edmund, since Edmund had murdered several people at that point, tortured Jason, Coln, and Denise, and was trying to start a war.
- Upon discovering that the aliens murder and imprison anyone who disagrees with the government or shows any signs of aggression at all, he declares war on them which, while not the best course of action, saved humanity from being condemned to a similar authoritarian government.
What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]
- In general, he is cold and unfriendly to almost everyone he meets unless he is trying to get something out of them.
- He is a bit lethal, since he killed Edmund in a brutal manner. However, as mentioned above, Edmund was not a good person, so this is a minor prevention.
- He is prejudiced against other humans, believing that they are too aggressive, and that all other species are better than them. After discovering that this is untrue, this prejudice turns into a general misanthropy, and he decides that all creatures too aggressive to live a perfect society.
- Although it did save humanity from living in the same dystopian society the other species live in, Skyward shows that him declaring war on the universe led to breath-taking amounts of bloodshed on both sides. Jason knew this would happen but was so angry at being lied to and learning that a perfect society was impossible that he ignored it.
External Links[]
- Jason Write on the Coppermind