How Djana Sees The Merseians

Djana thinks:

"...they did not dream of conquering the galaxy, that was absurd on the face of it, they simply wanted freedom to range and rule without bound, and 'rule' did not mean tyranny over others, it meant just that others should not stand in the way of the full outfolding of that spirit which lay in the Race..."
-Poul Anderson, Young Flandry (New York, 2010), p. 296.

Then why say "rule"? Where is the line between truth and propaganda? The Merseians will not attempt to impose a single galactic government, which "'...'d collapse under its own weight...'" (p. 83), as Hauksberg says, but they do want the galaxy to become "'...a set of autonomous Merseian-ruled regions. The race, not the nation, counts with them...'" (ibid.), as Abrams says. In fact, we know that they conquered and enslaved another race in the previous volume so their "rule" is "tyranny over others."

Djana sees a Merseian Christ leading an army including human beings as junior partners but this is because Ydwyr's reconditioning builds on her childhood Catholicism. Ydwyr says that their ultimate endeavor is "'...to impose Will on blind Nature and Chance.'" (p. 331)

- an endeavor in which all intelligent beings could join but, again, he emphasizes that he means specifically Merseian Will.