# The Endless Thread: Appreciating "Sandman" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 5, 2003, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-endless-thread-appreciating-sandman/179905 "2003-06-05T19:20:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-endless-thread-appreciating-sandman/179905/61 "2003-06-12T23:40:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by A wizard song for thee \* > **If he left, his reasoning went, it might change the cycle. Or not. Either way, he wasn’t going to be in charge of it all anymore.** I think your last sentence sums it up. Unlike Desire, who was quite happy to play with people’s lives like dolls, Destruction doesn’t want to play that game anymore. People are left free to destroy (or not) as they will, but it will be their own responsibility and not his.\*\* > [@](#): > > I also think it’s unfair to say that he didn’t care about the people that had been killed in his siblings’ quest to find him. He was unwilling to be found, and as such, put in place some safeguards to assure that he wouldn’t be found. The only reason his safety measures didn’t prevent Orpheus from telling his dad the location of his uncle was that Orpheus was family, and Destruction was unwilling to spill family blood. I mean, the Kindly Ones are no joke, y’know? Anyway, he didn’t want to be found. But I don’t think you can say that he didn’t care that people got hurt on the way to find him. In fact, I’m pretty sure that, had the seekers not been his family, his safety measures would have merely eliminated the questers, not everyone around them. Plus, y’know, he was in love with the dancing lady, so he’d have to be incredibly callous not to care that she died.\*\* I agree with pretty much all this, **wizard** , although one has to remember that Orpheus _was_ in effect destroyed in the search (albeit afterwards). Furthermore, he was only able to help because he was family AND an oracle. ---
**Author:** ![A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/46a35a/32.png) [@A\_wizard\_song\_for\_thee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_wizard_song_for_thee)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2003, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-endless-thread-appreciating-sandman/179905/62 "2003-06-13T20:08:50Z")
Okay, you guys got me. His safety measures worked in such a way that they would not directly cause harm to any member of his family. Indirectly, both Dream and Orpheus got hurt, and, as someone said (Despair?), Delerium’s been hurt enough. Makes me wonder if Destruction had something to do with her change from Delight, though… Anyway, **Cliffy** , I think Destruction did the only thing he could reasonably do. Was it selfish to leave? Not necessarily. He didn’t want to be in charge any more, but he knew that all of the functions of the Endless were important to the continued existence of the Universe (could you imagine a world without change?). To leave his sigil would have been to foist his mess onto someone else. To not put traps on his trail would be to invite his siblings over any time they missed him to try to convince him to come back, and they might eventually come up with a compelling enough reason. Not something Destruction wants, y’know? So I suppose it’s sort of selfish, but I think it’s more that he was in a no-win situation and found the best way out of it. Plus, I don’t think he has any kind of disregard for the deaths of others. In fact, other than Death, I’d say he has the most esteem for the fact that everyone’s life is _too_ brief for all the things they want to do. I’m pretty sure he said as much in their pow-wow under the stars… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-endless-thread-appreciating-sandman/179905.md?page=3)