Sela Mathers starts out with a responsibility that sounds much simpler than it actually is. Find somebody who is about to make a terrible choice, show them a story that might re…

Sela Mathers starts out with a responsibility that sounds much simpler than it actually is. Find somebody who is about to make a terrible choice, show them a story that might reach them, and give them a chance to do something different. The problem is that giving somebody a chance doesn't mean they will take it. That is a big part of what makes her early role work. The book can show people something they need to understand, but it doesn't remove their ability to choose. Cindy is one of the clearest examples of how badly that can go. Sela tries to help her, fails to reach her, and eventually has to face her as a dangerous enemy. The consequences come back with a name and a face. Then Sela learns that her work is connected to a much larger struggle over Earth and the other realms. Shang knows more than he has told her. Belinda has been interfering with the people she is trying to reach. The book itself has a history that predates Sela. What looked like a series of separate encounters starts becoming a problem she is standing right in the middle of. Her connection to the Council brings that responsibility into the open. Earth is the Nexus, and she is involved in protecting the place the other realms can use to reach one another. Sitting among people with titles, armies, and knowledge of those worlds doesn't give her the luxury of becoming detached from what their decisions mean for actual people. The invasion around issue fifty puts that to a terrible test. Nissa's ability to open portals is turned against the defenders, and Sela is forced to kill her to stop the invasion. Even her book has to be sacrificed because it can provide another route. These are things and people that have helped her protect others, and she has to destroy them to keep the threat from spreading. The aftermath sends her further into Myst, where her own history and powers become increasingly important. But she also has a very personal reason to keep moving: Erik. Her journey to recover his soul takes her toward Limbo with Druanna, and there she has to contend with the realm's ruler and Jack the Giant Killer. Saving the world doesn't somehow cancel her desire to save somebody she loves. That part of her story is worth keeping beside the larger Council history. She isn't only carrying an assignment. She has relationships that make the danger personal, and she can be pulled between what those relationships demand and what everyone else needs from her. Later, when she returns to teaching in the Jack Frost stories, that earlier desire to help people is still there. The scale of her life has changed dramatically, but she is once again dealing with students who need protection from the things around them and from their own choices. That connection gives Sela some continuity through all the different directions the series takes. Whether she is holding the book, confronting a supernatural threat, or standing in a classroom, she is still trying to reach someone before the damage becomes permanent.