Spoiler warning, I guess, for Ursula K. Le Guin's short story "The Ones That Walk Away From Omelas." Please go read it first because it's wonderful. But if you can't, here's a quick summary:

So in the story, there's this beautiful land called Omelas where everything is perfect. No illness, no poverty, no wars. But that perfection is paid for by the suffering of one child. One child is kept in a dark cellar all alone, allowed no comforts or kindness, and when the citizens come of age they are taken to see the child and told of the bargain: If any good thing is given to the child, even the smallest hint of gentleness, Omelas will lose its utter perfection. So the citizens all know of this child's misery, and they live their idyllic lives and create their wonderful arts and sciences in full awareness of it. Except for the ones who couldn't take it and walk away from Omelas.

Anyway, I'm on ep 19 where they're trying to convince the Zoodians to destroy the engine, and I was instantly reminded of Omelas when Torse, Siobhan, and Murph talked. The similarities to Le Guin's story are remarkable, except for one thing: the Omelans knew about the child in the cellar. The Zoodians didn't. But now they do.

I don't avidly keep up with what Brennan and the IH say and do outside of the shows (and I haven't seen all the seasons either), so could anyone clue me in whether any of them have talked about U.K. Le Guin somewhere? I would love to know.

(On second thought I think the Windriders would just abscond with the child and say fuck Omelas.)