She never fully appreciated that lesson while he was alive, but afterwards she’d been infinitely grateful, for it deadened the impact when the inconceivable news arrived that the invasion had failed. The Shadows, Dust, and Rocks were also fortunate; they may have had this fanaticism drilled into them in the crèche, but in the absence of reinforcement in their mundane daily lives, they soon lost it like a useless appendage. But for the other Stars, and worse, the Lunars? The invasion's failure was considered apocalyptic, and many of them were still struggling, two years later, to come to terms with reality.