Lorcan Jones

Lorcan is one of the main characters of ORCHESTRA, representing the ideals of supremacy. Both Lorcan's parents were ORCHESTRA members, and so he was brought up inside the organisation. Because of this, he is totally loyal to the organisation and fervently believes in their ideals . He has spent much of his life training to be an operative, but can be blinded by his zeal.

Character Arc

Lorcan's story is one of someone born into a hate group, what flaws that gives him and how he develops out of them and becomes powerful in the group, then how he and the group fall as they become stagnant. At the start of the first book Lorcan is still young and inexperienced, although he has been training his whole life. He is totally brainwashed by them, and has been since he was a child, so is the closest you might come to a manifestation of the organisation itself. The fanatic faith he has in ORCHESTRA has made him a rash and overly aggressive person, who in some ways is still like an angry child who needs to learn restraint. His strong views come across quickly when he is introduced, and the book explores the depths of his fanaticism and the extent to which he is totally brainwashed. What's more, growing up within a closed organisation like ORCHESTRA has left him with minimal social skills, as from knowing few people of his age in childhood he doesn't know how to really interact much. Instead, he is quite cold and distant, preferring to just get on with things and only talk about the job. But by spending more time with his team he comes to be a bit more sociable and able to talk to people about things other than work.   In the second book Lorcan learns to become a more level-headed person. He's become more sociable, but is still a rash person whose eagerness causes him to make mistakes. Assigned to help hunt down the vampires, he becomes frustrated when faced with such an elusive enemy. Throughout the book he gradually comes to learn restraint and when to be slow and careful about things instead of the hot-blooded fighter he was before. The book also explores more of Lorcan's past. With one of the themes of the arc being about family, it explores how it was for him growing up within the organisation, and what it truly means to him.   In the third book Lorcan takes centre-stage, and really comes into his own. With the threat of extra-dimensional creatures Lorcan jumps at the chance to help fight. Having learned to be a better and more level-headed person, the book now demonstrates his true potential as he takes the lead in the fight and makes huge progress in the fight. The book also explores his human supremacy ideology in more detail too, as it lines up perfectly with the current threat. Lorcan's zeal in the fight is unmatched, almost unnerving at times, as he truly gets to fight for the cause he values most without the need for any propaganda.   In the fourth book Lorcan becomes more interested in internal politics. In the years since the third book he has become more mature, and grown into the leadership role he earned in the conflict. Now that there is not much threat around, though, ORCHESTRA becomes more complacent and bureaucratic. With the death of the conductor he turns his attention to internal affairs and power. His ambitions change to that of gaining internal power rather than fighting on the battlefield, though he still does value that. His ambition is dangerous for the organisation, however, as while Lorcan may have mellowed somewhat he is still a fanatic, and it's that same fanaticism that led to the organisation's destruction the first time. Him gaining too much power would be a sign of the organisation degrading internally, as indeed it is. When the new casters appear Lorcan helps fight, but keeps working on his ambitions within.   In the fifth book ORCHESTRA continues to weaken internally, and Lorcan gains more power. But the book shows that his new position is not good for the organisation, as his supremacist ideals no longer work well against what the magical world has become. He, and by extension the organisation, has stagnated while the new magic users are dynamic. Where once he was leading them forward, now he and his ideals are holding the organisation back. Nevertheless, he fights as hard as he can but cannot keep up with such dynamic enemies, and is helpless as Harvus undermines the faith of those who follow him.   In the sixth book, Lorcan falls along with the organisation. Where once he was shaped by them, they have now in large part become shaped by him, and so both of them fall together when they cannot keep up with the times. At the end of the book, ever the fanatic, Lorcan vows to keep fighting until he dies. But the message is that you cannot just keep pushing the same ideals harder when they begin to become irrelevant, you must change with the times or they will leave you behind, and that is what has happened to Lorcan.