"When the Collapse happened people very quickly went back to letting fear rule them," Ikora said with a small shrug. "All the magic in the world, all the Light... and fear of the Darkness can still win. And does every day."

That was why fighting it was so important. Why there had to be a spark of fight, of spirit no matter what. The Darkness may reach a place first but the Light would always push it back.

"The Traveler, which gave us the Light, abandoned many races before it reached my Earth. It left them to their ruin. We know this about it because of the Fallen, the Eliksni. It left them to the destruction of their planet." Ikora spoke of this like she was lecturing students. She had accepted the flaws of the Traveler a long time ago. "It is a great hero to us and saved us, but it doomed others. Just like you have. We are all Light and Dark. We all make choices we are not proud of. I'm sorry, Jon, you're not special in that way."

He could feel guilty, if he liked, but she didn't judge him as harshly as some others might. Did she think he should have found another way? Yes, absolutely. But she knew that great people made great mistakes. He was still, in many ways, human.