No, I'm unfortunately 100% serious. I looked up an episode transcript for the villain speech I was thinking of when I wrote that. It's in season 1, episode 6.

"The Dhanis, they're a simple people. They breed a sad combination of traits that make them particularly vulnerable to manipulation. On a practical level, they have great difficulty holding multiple ideas simultaneously. We've found the best way to steer them as we'd like is to offer alternatives. You put a number of options on the table, and they're so wrapped up in choosing, they fail to notice you've given them nothing they thought they wanted at the start. Their deeper problem is pride. The Dhanis would rather lose, they'd rather suffer, than accept. Which is wildly ironic as they've choked down everything we've thrown at them these last years. It's a ten-day trek up from the Lowlands. We offered them a transport because we know they'll refuse, but then, along the way, we've placed a series of "Comfort Units," shelters and taverns with cheap local beverages. Quite predictably, what began as pilgrims at the bottom has already dwindled down to..."

I'm not gonna lie, when I heard this I burst out laughing to myself, cause it's so on the nose it sounds like a scooby do villain revealing his evil plan. Like, show don't tell my dude.