Yves Between Science and Obedience

The Moon and the Sun

This thread follows Yves’s rise as a royal natural philosopher, his concealment of the sea people’s humanity, and his painful acceptance of responsibility.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The Successful Expedition The Successful Expedition from "The Moon and the Sun". The King’s Natural Philosopher Achievement Yves locates and captures sea people, fulfilling the commission that brought him royal favor.

The Successful Expedition from "The Moon and the Sun". The King’s Natural Philosopher Achievement Yves locates and captures sea people, fulfilling the commission that brought him royal favor.

The King’s Natural Philosopher Achievement Yves locates and captures sea people, fulfilling the commission that brought him royal favor. His method relies on observation and collected reports. Blindness within success He regards the captives as specimens, not people. His confidence in inquiry does not yet protect him from the assumptions that shape his conclusions.

The Dissection The Dissection from "The Moon and the Sun". Anatomy Under Royal Eyes A demonstration Yves dissects a male sea person before court and visitors.

The Dissection from "The Moon and the Sun". Anatomy Under Royal Eyes A demonstration Yves dissects a male sea person before court and visitors.

Anatomy Under Royal Eyes A demonstration Yves dissects a male sea person before court and visitors. Marie-Josèphe records the anatomy as the living female’s cries disturb the proceedings. Discovery A peculiar lung lobe attracts the King’s interest. The finding draws Yves deeper into a search for immortality than his natural philosophy can justify.

The Father’s Demand The Father’s Demand from "The Moon and the Sun". A Priest Under Scrutiny Religious discipline Pope Innocent questions Yves’s neglected religious duties and considers sending him to a monastery.

The Father’s Demand from "The Moon and the Sun". A Priest Under Scrutiny Religious discipline Pope Innocent questions Yves’s neglected religious duties and considers sending him to a monastery.

A Priest Under Scrutiny Religious discipline Pope Innocent questions Yves’s neglected religious duties and considers sending him to a monastery. Yves fears that losing royal patronage would end his research. Conflicting authorities The exchange exposes the tension between scientific curiosity, priestly obedience, and the political need to please the King.

The Lie of Immortality The Lie of Immortality from "The Moon and the Sun". A Claim Without Proof False assurance Yves tells Louis XIV and Pope Innocent that the sea person’s organ has the hoped-for effect.

The Lie of Immortality from "The Moon and the Sun". A Claim Without Proof False assurance Yves tells Louis XIV and Pope Innocent that the sea person’s organ has the hoped-for effect.

A Claim Without Proof False assurance Yves tells Louis XIV and Pope Innocent that the sea person’s organ has the hoped-for effect. He has no proof, but the claim protects his own position and keeps the question open. Immediate damage The lie makes the sea woman’s life more precarious and weighs on Yves’s conscience. His pursuit of royal approval has displaced the honesty on which inquiry depends.

A Penance of Preservation A Penance of Preservation from "The Moon and the Sun". From Discovery to Repair Confession Yves admits that he lied.

From Discovery to Repair Confession Yves admits that he lied. Pope Innocent assigns him the task of finding and correcting records that misrepresented the sea people. Secret archive In the epilogue, Yves preserves forbidden books, letters, drawings, and the sea monster’s remains. His research becomes an act of historical restitution rather than royal advancement.

Midsummer Day and the return to Le Havre

The first public scientific session at Versailles

After the Pope’s arrival at Versailles

During the Carrousel performance

The final judgment and the later Paris epilogue