When someone comes along and shatters the illusions of the grandeur of the ruling classes, things can get ugly. Someone brave enough to restore clarity of vision and thought is an enemy to the kings of deception.
In the enchanted land of Veritas, mirrors were once sacred. They reflected the truth, allowing people to see themselves as they truly were. Some gazed into them to understand their past, others to chart their future, and many simply to admire or improve what they saw. But all that changed when King Ordain, fearing the power of reflection, decreed that all mirrors be placed under his control.
"A man who sees himself too clearly may question his place in the kingdom," the king proclaimed. "And we cannot have that, can we?"
At first, the people grumbled but complied. The king’s sorcerers crafted enchanted mirrors that showed only what he permitted - faces twisted into obedient smiles, thoughts bent to match the royal decree. If one dared speak of the old mirrors, they were accused of dangerous thinking.
But Veritas had always been home to those who sought the truth.
Whispers spread of a secret way to see oneself again. In the dim-lit corners of the city, wise folk donned the Cloaks of Obscura - woven with spells that shielded them from the king’s gaze. With these cloaks (Virtual Passages to Normality), they could slip past the enchanted mirrors and glimpse reality in hidden pools and polished metals the king had not yet touched.
Others ventured into the Labyrinth of Echoes, an ancient maze filled with mirrors upon mirrors, each reflecting a thousand possibilities at once. Here, no one could tell which reflection was the original, confusing the king’s watchful eyes. Travelers called this the Path of Many Reflections (Tor - The Old Road ), where secrecy was the only guide.
But even in the depths of secrecy, wisdom was required. The king’s magicians devised counterspells, attempting to pierce the veils of the Cloaks of Obscura. They planted false mirrors within the Labyrinth, leading the careless into illusions of safety while revealing them to the royal enforcers.
And so, the wise learned to move with caution. They did not use their cloaks carelessly, nor did they linger too long in the Labyrinth. They understood that truth, once found, must be carried carefully - passed from one whispering tongue to another, hidden within stories, wrapped in allegory.
For while the king could shatter a mirror, he could not break an idea. And so long as the people of Veritas remembered how to see, they could never be truly blind.
Today's story has some Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass vibes. Both stories play with the idea of perception, shifting realities, and hidden truths within reflections and riddles.
Much like Alice steps through the looking glass into a world where logic is twisted and meaning must be deciphered, the people of Veritas in the allegory must navigate a landscape where truth is obscured and illusions are enforced by power. The Labyrinth of Echoes in the story is reminiscent of Lewis Carroll’s chessboard world, where every step is a calculated move, and the Cloaks of Obscura echo the tools Alice encounters ...seemingly magical but deeply tied to knowledge and awareness.
The Emperor’s New Clothes has strong parallels with modern censorship as well.
In Hans Christian Andersen’s tale, the emperor is fooled into believing he is wearing the finest garments when, in reality, he is wearing nothing at all. His subjects, fearful of appearing ignorant or disloyal, pretend they can see the nonexistent clothes, until a child speaks the simple truth:
"But he isn't wearing anything!"
Just as the emperor's advisors and citizens go along with the illusion out of fear, people today often accept official narratives without question because challenging them can lead to social, professional, or even legal consequences. No one dares to contradict the illusion, much like in societies where people hesitate to express dissenting views due to censorship laws, "hate speech" regulations, or social backlash.
The child who blurts out the truth represents whistleblowers, independent journalists, and free thinkers who risk exposure and punishment for stating the obvious. Just as the emperor himself is caught in his own delusion, governments and media institutions that suppress certain truths may end up believing their own propaganda, leading to policy failures and societal disconnect.
When enough people recognise the illusion for what it is, the spell breaks. In the digital age, despite attempts at censorship, suppressed truths often leak through alternative platforms, VPNs, or word-of-mouth, just as the emperor's nakedness eventually becomes undeniable.
So, the tale of the foolish emperor, the tales of Veritas and Alice in Wonderland aren’t just nonsense - they are a warning.
When a society allows fear and control to replace honest discourse, the truth doesn’t disappear; it just waits for someone brave enough to point out the obvious. And that is why, in so many countries around the world. saying that the Emperor has no Clothes is becoming a very naughty thing to do.
No wonder they hate Trump. He is shattering their illusions of grandeur.
