To defeat the likes of the Emersons, when it was impossible for Oliver, he had needed to confront it – but that creature was always stronger than Oliver. He was never its equal. He was always beneath it, and would never be able to make it beyond it.
It was a great deceiver. It knew every thought that went on in Oliver's head, all his motivations. And so, to trick it, Oliver had needed to trick himself. That strange dance had done, confusing all his men, when he declared his lack of intentions, and befuddled his enemy. It was never the outside world that he was dealing with, but the great Hydra that had grown up inside Oliver's heart.
