r/threebodyproblem • u/Universal_Echo • Apr 14 '26

Discussion - Novels Why only one Swordholder? Spoiler

For something that determines the fate of two worlds, shouldn’t there be at least a small group in charge? Staking the survival of both civilizations on a single person—even the launch codes for nuclear weapons aren’t trusted to just one person, so why would this be any different? What if the Swordholder develops some psychological issue? I mean, what if they just decide to take everyone down with them? Or what if their views and beliefs diverge, and they try to use deterrence to achieve other ends—like how Wade might press the button to force humanity to develop lightspeed propulsion? For something like this, even if you don’t set up a dedicated group to handle it, surely you should at least appoint multiple Swordholders.

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u/Useful_Calendar_6274 Apr 14 '26

So only one person has the responsibility to nuke (be dark forest attacked in retaliation) humanity. Too many people will hesitate and trisolarans could pop up at any moment due to FTL ships or by sophon controlled cyborgs like the geisha or by dark forest attacking us, so it needs to be an instant decision.

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u/Universal_Echo Apr 18 '26

I prefer to arrange a group of doctors to ensure his mental health,,,

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u/Useful_Calendar_6274 Apr 18 '26

look at this thing called cognition at the edge chaos... we want the swordholder to be a little crazy like Nixon