How do YOU feel about Ginley and the trial? I’d love to hear your thoughts… 

(If you missed it, you can read about it in the Evening in Review here: https://evermorefans.com/evening-in-review-1-25-20/)

…and if you earn points toward our next giveaway with each response, so feel free to keep the conversation going!

I’ll be honest: I liked Miss Ginley… even though I knew she was probably behind the pies. I did not want to be on the jury because I didn’t want to be responsible for making a decision. After seeing how the trial happened, I was *very* glad that I wasn’t in that position!

Personally, I was not particularly thrilled with how the trial was handled, although I understand the need for some of it from a plot perspective. It wasn’t even the outcome that bothered me as much as the way the outcome came about. Some of the points were really bungled. 

For example, it REALLY irked me when Uriah emphasized that the Elves weren’t enslaved because the Elf said that the only consequence was that the pie would be withheld if they disobeyed. Uriah went on to emphasize that the Elves loved the pie because it was delicious… but the point wasn’t whether or not they liked the pies… the point was that they were forced to become addicted to a mind-altering substance, which could be withheld as a method of control. I feel like that should have been clarified better.

It also bugged me that Sykes asked for a conviction because it was the only way to protect Ginley. That isn’t how the law should function. :\ 

Anyway… what are your thoughts? 

It was a bit uncomfortable after the kidnapping and slavery charges were dropped.

I wasn’t here for the pie incidents, but I think I wanted her to be charged guilty with a punishment that allows her to gain trust in the community. Either way, I hope she doesn’t get a ton of crap from others in town. 

I did really feel for Sykes. I know that he was put into a position he didn’t want and he honestly put up a good fight in this, but the objections were too strong.

I agree, dropping the three charges made no sense to me. And what’s worse, those three charges, especially the count of slavery, seemed like the crimes with the most evidence behind them. Why Sephtis, why? Is there some secret romance between Sephtis and Miss Ginley? Did the two foster a forbidden love when they were both fugitives in the forest?

Unfortunately, we were left with just the count of murder, which had no evidence one way or the other. The plausibility for Miss Ginley accomplishing the murder was based solely on her ability to perform illusion magic, which she has never demonstrated, and if she could, I would have expected her to have used it to escape in the first place. Imagine considering illusion magic for any crime committed in Evermore going forward! That will add doubt to every trial from now on. 

Concerning the testimony of Svani, just as Ginley has motive for killing him, he has motive for framing her. Why did the frost lords bring back Ginley and Gafruk instead of dealing with them in Aurora? 

As for the outcome of the trial, either way Miss Ginley is screwed. Due to lack of evidence, I’m okay with the innocent verdict, but now she is vulnerable to be punished outside of the law, and neither Evermore nor Aurora will accept her. I do feel she was guilty of the other crimes, her testimony mentioned her struggle with choosing lesser evils, basically admitting a poor sense of judgement on her part. AND! I saw the evil smile she bore the moment she used the trigger word the night of the dance party, that smile did not communicate making a difficult choice for the greater good. If the wolves, townspeople, or frost lords don’t get to her first, the light elves might. You should have seen their excitement when we discussed eating her. 

I posted this on the Facebook page but this is how I feel like the trial went. 

Accurate as heck

I joked with my friends after that the trial aged me 20 years. It was so exhausting, especially the portion of the trial dealing with slavery. And why did the trial go on for so long? I started going stir-crazy in that room after a while.

Also, if I hear the word “objection” one more time, I’m gonna go feral. 

It was only supposed to be 30 minutes to maybe an hour. Improve and actors man….. 😂😂😂 Objection! Okay Uriah…..

I think we all knew what the outcome of the trail was going to be before it even took place. 

With that being said, there’s obviously some serious tension and backstory going on between the Frost Lords and Ginley. The way she looked back at them before answering questions about their power over people spoke volumes and I don’t think we’ve seen the end of that. 

I definitely think Ginley is innocent of murder but should have been charged with enslaving the elves and the town of Evermore. She admitted to doing it the night when the pie spell was broken! 

Either way, Aria doesn’t want Ginley around at all. 

So kidnapping was dropped. I don’t know the story behind that, but isn’t it still kidnapping even if the victim is rescued or set free? They were still kidnapped, right? As in ‘taken against their will by somebody’, right? How was that voided? I don’t get it.

The kidnapping charge was dropped because the victim (Sykes) was also the prosecutor for the case. Sykes felt it inappropriate to prosecute a charge he was directly involved in so moved to strike it at the beginning of the trial. 

Ah, ok.

So, I was following Uriah’s logic most of the trial, but he lost me at that murder charge. … He claims the Frost Lords could have framed Ginley for murdering one of them because she had knowledge of bad things they have done in Aurora– But the fact that Ginley herself did bad things in Aurora is irrelevant because Uriah already proved that Auroran crimes have no bearings in a Evermorian court, so keeping that in mind, the Frost Lords have nothing to fear from Evermorian justice and therefore no reason to frame her. They brought her back for trial as a sign of good will, there is no logical reason they would think that Evermore couldn’t convict Ginley and would need to add something else to the plate. …Or am I missing something?

I still am tied up in knots about the trial — I think it was the feeling of futility for the prosecution that killed me.  First, Sykes gets appointed, which means he has to drop the kidnapping charge — there was no way around that.  (And I’m not convinced Sykes was the only one who could serve as QC.  Or that Sephtis is the only one qualified to be a judge.  But that’s a different rant.)  Then Sephis sustains Uriah’s objections, which were mostly legal-sounding nonsense, and lets him harass the witnesses.  Uriah was out of control and the judge did nothing — which, how weird for Sephtis is that?  And, worse, Uriah is allowed to move to dismiss the charges mid-trial instead of at the close of the evidence.  Doesn’t work that way.  Sykes was fighting with both hands tied behind his back, and it felt pretty pointless by the end.