How Marika was able to “betray” the hornsent

I love the idea that Marika herself was just a successful jar saint. It explains why she was able to rise to such a prominent position in the hornsent civilization despite her not being one of them, they probably viewed her as their ultimate achievement of creating their own divine beings (we know that the hornsent were an extremely proud and arrogant people). Only for her to pull an eclipse on them at the top of the gate of divinity and ascend to true godhood by way of slaughtering the people who put her in that position out of revenge.

This would also explain why the hornsent considered what Marika did a “betrayal” they genuinely thought they were doing Marika and the shamans a favor by subjecting them to this awful ritual. Really chilling stuff.

This also could give us further insight into the nature of Messmer’s curse. The dark flame that burned within Messmer could be seen as the ever burning hatred and sin that corrupted Marika’s once benevolent nature. Snakes are also commonly associated with betrayal so that adds another layer to how Marika’s actions directly resulted in her first born being so cursed on such a deep level.

I plan on making another post talking about what I think each demigod curse represents but for now, tell me what you guys think happened at the top of the gates of divinity and how exactly Marika became a god because that remains the most mysterious part of her story.