If it was true today, it might be untrue tomorrow.

In this new world, this day and forever, then, we are not only Thebans - we are all Stepsons. We are all one Sacred Band. If you will have us. And mine will fight by yours, henceforth, as brothers.

You count up your dead, every one. Always. Recall them, each and all - every face, every heart.

We fouled up. I did. He got hurt. Badly, maybe. And the god...is not helping him today.

Go carefully, child of mat, where no mercy can be had, and let your faith lead you on.

Always take responsibility for your past. It is your only collateral in life. Unless you despise yourself now, you cannot despise yourself then. Everything you did is a part of the process that brought you here. All your past is as alive and real as your so-called 'present.'

Ask yourselves if the gods are angry, you who have seen Harmony come among us, walk among us, touch us, look kindly upon us. We are the Sacred Band of Thebes. We fight in the forefront, therefore we bleed first. We live, therefore we die.