MangoFox says: Excorrin’s clan is clearly very male-dominated. Do other foxling clans have the same kind of patriarchal power structure? Does Excorrin’s particularly high level of power through magic exacerbate the difference in social power?

Robin says: Yes, sadly, the other foxling omei are just as sexist as the one we’ve visited. Will they work that out of their system in their society’s future? Who knows?

And as for Excorrin’s magic, it absolutely does give him a greater level of social power. Matías wonders pretty hard at one point why Excorrin can command such loyalty when he treats people so badly… but Matías comes from a society where extraordinary skills and unexpected abilities are far more normal; if he could understand the awe and fear Excorrin’s magical summoning of monsters have caused in the omei (which is comprised of only about 200 people), he might be less surprised that those who joined a usurper (or at least failed to put up any resistance) out of the promise of power and expansion then remained loyal to (or at least continued not to resist) him out of wonder and fear and maybe even a bit of dark hero-worship.