So it is done

Rat number three lost it's lead

Ozpin watched, carefully, as infantry fighting vehicles and tanks carrying the Glenn insignia swept through the streets. Watched as the voices coming from the speakers chanted a simple set of directives aimed at both civilians, and at any potential enemies still capable of conscious struggle.

About the need not to resist, not to provoke the 'Glenn peacekeeping contingent' and the need to lock themselves in the premises available to them now. To allow the Glenn soldiers to move through the streets, taking control of the city, minute by minute.

"Not bad," Ozpin allowed to note with some hushed approval, of Jonathan's actions. "Not bad indeed."

Jonathan's plan and actions were not perfect. It wasn't even unequivocally possible to say that they were that good – they had some blatant weaknesses.

For instance, Jonathan's very sudden action of introducing troops, no matter what exactly they would be called, a 'peacekeeping contingent' or 'glorious army of invincible conqueror', would raise questions for any outside observer. Whether it was a mere layman receiving news once a week in the form of a printed newspaper courier from town, or the most powerful of the Councilors.

Ozpin was indifferent enough to justify such actions, just as the actions themselves were indifferent – few things could not be justified by saying that they're for 'saving humanity'. Ozpin himself had repeatedly resorted to a variety of moves, all wildly ranging in how palatable they are to the general public, in his perpetual game against Salem.

But as always, the view of ordinary people did not look at any situation by taking into account what it would mean for Remnant. Even less in the context of historical eras. The gaze of ordinary people gravitated towards empathy, towards possible 'human' explanations. No matter how much you prove someone is a danger to all Humanity, having that same person executed would still elicit sympathy, as unearned as it could be.

The less a man saw the big picture – the simpler and more primitive his view of other people's actions became. Decades-long plans and the secret backstabbing of world players became individual actions devoid of a single logical thread, plans, and strategies began to be attributed to the personal qualities of people.

This action on the part of Jonathan, this barely-disguised coup, would not be perceived by ordinary people as a 'chess move in a great political game'. Instead, his allies would see the vague but beautiful goal of 'strengthening Glenn', and his opponents would see the 'madness of a burgeoning conqueror, greedy for more resources'.

A powerful propaganda network was needed to control millions of people. And while Glenn maintained its own broadcast studios and maintained a satisfactory level of credibility with the state and the government, it all rested primarily on Jonathan's personal image as a hero and savior.

An image that is gradually, day by day, melting away. Nine years ago, Jonathan could, relying only on popular frenzy and admiration for him, declare himself king, and years later, this has already become the 'norm' of this world. Jonathan was able to consolidate the 'truths' that the state had laid down at the opportune moment, but gradually, year after year, as his popularity waned, so did his influence.

Such is the nature of people – they are truly fickle beings, this Ozpin knows very well.

Children who were just born at the time Jonathan Goodman was crowned King, were already attending school, already beginning to argue with their parents about their own worldview for the first time. To them, Jonathan Goodman was always king – and so, the coup of Atlas, in this case, was judged by them not as the actions of a 'hero and savior of Glenn', but as 'the actions of yet another man'.