Jano reveals the City’s energy source

The Council Chamber serves as the stage for Jano’s performance of power and progress. Its vast, walled space—constructed of pale stone and adorned with sweeping arches and elegant columns—evokes an aura of learning and advanced civilization. Yet, the chamber’s grandeur is undermined by the moral weight of the conversation unfolding within it. The light filtering through the arches, once symbolic of enlightenment, now feels cold and clinical, highlighting the sterile detachment of the Elders from the suffering of the primitives. The chamber’s authority is both a shield and a weapon, masking the City’s exploitation behind a facade of intellectual and philosophical superiority.

The City of the Elders is the driving force behind this event, its institutional power and ideological convictions on full display. Jano, as its representative, uses the energy vats to showcase the City’s technological and societal dominance, framing their exploitation of the primitives as an evolutionary necessity. The organization’s influence is exerted through Jano’s calculated words and the imposing atmosphere of the Council Chamber, which reinforces the Elders’ authority. The Doctor’s growing unease reflects the City’s inability to conceal its moral failings, even from an outsider.