Board Thread:The Last Sovereign Discussion/@comment-31113156-20170212105313/@comment-28788537-20170216001146

I interpret the choice as representing the two sides of Simon's personality: pragmatism and idealism. There have been plenty of times we've seen Simon make the pragmatic choice, especially early in the game; he threatened to torture and kill Yarra for information on their first meeting; he was willing to whore out Qum; he murdered the barkeep in Feroholm. He is also an idealist, trying to create a world where succubi and orcs can live happily with other races. This aspect can most clearly be seen with regards to his policies since he's conquered Yhilin.

The choice to support the Old Zirantian League is the pragmatic choice. It will solidify their hold on power. It will increase the effectiveness of their military when the war with Incubus Emperor comes. It will improve their economy with all the benefits that has for the people of Zirantia. It will also solidify the current situation. The nation will remain conservative and xenophobic. It won't be welcoming of outsiders.

The choice to support no one is the idealistic choice. You are allowing their society to completely disintergrate so that you can rebuild it from scratch. You'll be able to recreate the nation as an egalitarian society without discrimination based on gender or integument. On the other hand, this increases suffering now and would mean Zirantia will be of no help during the war.

It is also a bit of long-term vs. short-term. One trades immediate benefits at the cost of long-term progress while the other trades long-term reform at the cost of immediate hardship. So, I generally see it as a choice between prioritizing "pragmatic" issues (political support/economy/battle-ready army) and "social" (conservatism/sexism/xenophobia) issues.

I don't think the OZL is analogous to the Yugoslav Communist Party. First, OZL is not "using brute force and oppression" to hold the country together. Second, Zirantia is not made up of copious ethnic groups with centuries of animosity towards each other. The Serbians and Croats had each had periods where they ruled empires in which the other group was repressed.