@sinistralsatria

my question about your reply is this: who is "his liege" in this scenario that seems to want him to slaughter and/or orphan all of the landdwellers?

It's not his ancestor Dualscar, who died long before he landed on Alternia. I mean, I suppose he could have some kind of Mindfang journal posthumously influencing him, but we never see that.

It's not Condy, who needs subjects in order to keep the gears of her empire turning.

It's CERTAINLY not Feferi who is constantly scolding him for being a casteist shithead to all their friends, and it's probably not his horsedad either.

He was raised by a wild animal in a civilization with borderline-0 adult influence. Any idea he might have of what he is "designed" to do would be a direct result of propaganda telling him that he is inherently better than the people around him.

You've written a very long post as though Eridan is some kind of tragic figure who has been objectified by his duty to the throne or something but ultimately every line of dialogue that comes out of his mouth shows that he is in fact the one that treats others like objects.

You're saying "everything he believes in is mere aesthetic" and then in the very next paragraph that "wanting to commit genocide" is "his own agenda" - something that is not at all part of his "obligation to the highest caste"

To me Eridan is a very simple minor antagonist. His purpose is to show that incels are dangerous. That they treat the people around them like possessions. And that if they aren't willing to budge in that regard, then they shouldn't be suffered, because they will cause severe damage to people around them if they're allowed to keep acting that way. He's a very successful piece of writing in that regard, but I have a hard time understanding any other interpretation

Now IF the liege in question was Lord English (via his influence on society), that could be interesting, but personally I find Condy and the Handmaid as much more compelling tragic victims of Lord English in that dimension, considering they actually meet the man personally. Or similarly, Vriska as a tragic victim of his Doc Scratch aspect.