Finally, there’s the fact that he has no interest in giving anyone back their autonomy. He has a planet of slaves, happy to do his every bidding. He knows that no one would have consented to this, yet wants to keep them this way, even knowing that they’ll starve to death. Not great.

Would consent suddenly feel very different if they were trying to force him to become one of them? Why? Is it because he understands perfectly well what it means to be incapable of saying no, and he doesn’t want to lose his own autonomy the way the people he’s using lost theirs?

One interesting thought I had…they need stem cells to assimilate our 12. Could Koumba be impregnating the dozens of women he’s using? If some of those women miscarry, could the Joined derive enough genetic material to get whatever they need from him to join him? What would he think of that?

There are “imperatives” that they have…to assimilate everyone. And then what? What are they ultimately being compelled to do, and by whom?

Are these beings even capable of “consent” as we know it? If one cannot say anything BUT yes, have you consented? Did they all consent to being drones totally devoid of self interest? Carol points out that no one was asked before joining…and now they can’t say no, no matter what.

What if Carol succeeds in unjoining everyone? How will those folks feel then about what he did to their bodies when they couldn’t say no? Would they have consented if they were individuals? Presumably not. How will they feel about what he did? Will that change his perspective on what he’s doing?

Absolutely not. Someone who is physically incapable of saying no cannot be said to have consented. If those women were still individuals, would they consent? Can any of these people be said to have consented to anything they’ve done? Being cogs? Slaves? That character is deeply unethical.

God, the dumbest looking skull on this list too. Dumber than a bag of hammers is so apropos.