Some days I just have rage blackout days about the Vorkosigans and their reckless disregard for the law and you know what, today is one of those days.

And no, this time it isn't about Mountains Of Mourning, aka "let's send a disinterested 20 year old with no legal training to go JUDGE A DEATH PENALTY CASE, and let's not send him with anyone who knows the law, either, this will go well." Like, Miles's decision in that case was unsupportable but it's not like he had a fucking clue what he was doing, he got sent to go be a rich boy and learn a lesson the back of the poor.

This time is about Carl Vorhalas. Because here's the thing. If a kitchen knife is a sword, then proles can't own kitchen knives. Ergo, a kitchen knife is not a sword.

Carl did not duel with two swords. Who is the one who decided he did that? Aral. Why did Aral decide that? Who knows. Aral has no legal background at this level, although if anyone should know dueling law, it's probably him. But, hey, that was a long time ago, and when he murdered those guys, he may have even been sober. It was certainly premeditated. Good for you, Aral, you know how to commit a crime.

The timeline on the Carl thing is just... really awful. It happened at night. The next morning, Vorhalas asks to get the charge reduced to murder. That afternoon, Aral talks to Cordelia about it and convinces himself that it has to get the death penalty.

There is never any real trial. There is never any real investigation independent of whatever security report Aral got. Carl has no legal representation. There is never any indication that anyone ever consulted what the actualfax law is about this at all. Three weeks later, Carl is executed.

And this is supposed to be the Good Version after Ezar spent 30 years getting rid of private law. Citation needed, because this sure looks exactly like private goddamn law. Aral gets away with dueling because Reasons. Carl does not get away with maybe-dueling-maybe-not (who knows, maybe there's case law that you can have 1 sword + 1 knife from the local hardware store = 2 swords!) because Aral finds it more morally convenient.

Why is Aral the one who has the make the decision on this? It's never specified. It should be a crime in the Vorbarra District, there should be people who should be handling this before it gets to the Regent's level. It shouldn't be his decision.

Is there no legal structure that Aral could have trusted to do the job? If he's concerned it looks like favors, could he not just have stepped back and let other people do the job? Why is he so fucking rushed about this? You really need to make a snap decision on an execution less than 24 hours after the crime was committed?

He's acting like this is a ship and he's the captain on it, but it's not. Which falls in with the rest of Aral's blind spots in that he keeps focusing outward at galactic threats and pays no attention to internal problems. But still, for god's sake, Aral.

(And as always, the fact that Cordelia's totally fine with MOM means I cannot understand her character in the slightest.)

(MOM also gets worse in retrospect from Flowers Of Vashnoi where Miles yet again is put in a position where he needs to exert legal consequences for infanticide and chooses not to. I have a never-will-be-finished where the kids from Vashnoi go to Sergyar and lay attempted murder charges on the surviving parent, because EITHER INFANTICIDE IS ILLEGAL OR IT'S NOT ILLEGAL, AND MILES, YOU ARE NOT ACTING LIKE IT'S ILLEGAL.)

(We will also never be over what Miles does to the Escobarans in ACC so that people he cares about won't risk having a financial loss. But hey, we already know that Miles only obeys laws he feels like obeying, and told the Emperor to his face that he'd disobey a direct order if he didn't like it. The question of Miles Vorkosigan and consequences is an open one.)