The Mothercrystals are the world's infrastructure. They distribute aether, power the nations, enable the civilization that the powerful call progress. They are also killing the land. The Blight is not a natural disaster. It is a managed extraction, and the people who benefit from it have decided the cost is acceptable because they are not the ones paying it.

Clive understanding this is the turning point. Bearing destiny in this game means accepting that the system cannot be reformed from within. The Mothercrystals have to fall. The choice that requires is not heroic in a clean sense. It will end things people depend on. It will cause suffering in the short term to prevent extinction in the long term. Destiny, here, is the willingness to be hated for being right.