The Manipulation of Darius

Darius, we discovered at the beginning of book seven is kind of acting like Michael Scott the day that he had to just sign that thing on a sheet of paper in the American version of the office. We're getting that kind of neurosis from Darius who just keeps delaying naming a successor until one day, along comes this exiled former king of the Spartans. That's interesting because that's a rival of the Persians, obviously. This seems to have given Darius the language he needed to make his decision. And so Xerxes is the one he chooses. Well, Xerxes is going to know that's how he got picked.