SPOILERS AHEAD!In the writer’s room, we called this episode the “bloodbath”. Gruesome name aside, we knew that the real purpose of this episode was to change the game, to remind our protagonists (and readers) of the danger of this mysterious world, and yes, to leave a few bodies in our wake.It was a turning point that required a sacrifice (or several as it turned out). Who lived, who died – that part was fairly easy. The writers had already designated characters who wouldn’t make it to the end of this journey and so it was a matter of deciding who from that list would say goodbye with Episode Five. It was emotional, to be sure. Jing Wei and Wesley were treated with such care by the other writers. And honestly Jing Wei, the maker, was possibly the most valuable member of the group. But the die had been cast, and she had to go.She wasn’t first blood (does anyone remember Thomas? Yeah, we didn’t think so). But Jing Wei and Wesley were the first really meaningful deaths. They were offerings to the chrome machine-gods of blood and chaos, the proof that these caretaker thingies mean business.So in that way the story was easy. What was harder was choosing how to tell it. Whose eyes should we look through to bear witness to the carnage? These characters aren’t exactly strangers but they aren’t all that close yet, either. Who would give us maximum emotional impact? Who would care?In retrospect, I think the answer could only have been Umta. Perhaps the most mysterious of our characters, the odd one out. I’d always known that Umta would be a point of view character, and that I wanted to be the one to tell her backstory (a bit of selfishness on my part but I planted that flag early). Umta the hunter. Umta the mother. She’s as tragic a character as any of them, maybe more so given all she’s lost.I’ll paraphrase one of my favorite writers David Mitchell here and tell you something I strongly believe - that the secret to making a really good story is to create a character you love whom the reader can also fall in love with. . . and then do terrible things to him or her.Well, I love Umta dearly. The poor thing.
