Poor Nic, struggling between loyalty to his king and loyalty to his realm. His own mind and the words of those shady creatures are telling him that both loyalties cannot be held simultaneously, and he’ll take a seemingly obvious wrong turn.
I mean, of course, all our comments about morality, consequentialism and that sort of things are ok, but in fantasy, things might be shady or complicated, but never as shady or as complicated as in real life, and we all know to a level of certainty which position is “the right one”. Maybe there’s still some surprises on that matter waiting in Scott’s head, but even if there aren’t, well, Boy this has been and will continue to be such a fantastic journey! Thank ye for it
These guys remind me of the robot elder from futurama for some reason. I keep expecting a fourth one with the intelligence of a walnut to pipe in and tell Nic if Arthur tries it, he’ll have to kill him with this ceremonial kill-a-majig.
awww, damn. and arthur does… poor nic looks so defeated… *sigh*
but of course, the wraiths are pretty much exaggerating the situation. it’s as if they suggest the dreamlanders would be too weak to defend themselves from the humans. I mean, even if arthur brings over more humans, he can’t possibly bring all that many at once. so what real danger would they be?
that thing about arthur being loyal not to dreamland but to his people in his own world makes me wonder why there are kings for dreamland who already have a ruling position in the first place? that is just asking trouble in the long run. if they’d gotten “normal” people like alex before, they could have been sure about their loyalties (well, normally, that is. there’s always the occasional black sheep). was it just because them being kings is supposed to mean they had ruling skills? because that’s not really a reason, as there have always been natural leaders among the normal people, who never made it to an actual ruling position…
I’d be shocked if KING Arthur became King of Dreamland. I think that ARTHUR became King of Dreamland because he didn’t stop coming to Dreamland as a kid, and that his experiences in Dreamland were what gave him the character and vision to make him King in OUR world.
hmmm… okay. sounds like the far more reasonable explanation. didn’t even think that far…
but I wonder who would even want the double stress of being king of two kingdoms? probably only someone with a HUGE bout of idealism. 😉
Hm. Looks like this is going to Nic actually feeling BETRAYED by Arthur (who obviously WILL bring humans to Dreamland). Thus, he will align with “the other side”, or simply give in to their suggestions/demands.
Oh, dammit, I didn’t really want to think Nicky was once the wise advisor they claimed he was. I wanted to think he was rotten to the core.
Of course, it’s been, what, 500 years. A little tiny bit of rot can spread all the way through someone in that time, especially after you spend all of those years trying to justify a betrayal you knew you really COULDN’T justify. I suppose that just makes it worse. He’ll be fighting twice as hard to avoid being brought face-to-face … with himself.
MP, janey, I think you’re both hitting the qualifying conditions pretty squarely. I’m reminded of the phrase “and a child shall lead them”. That innocence and purity of spirit, combined with an idealist’s sense of purpose could make for the traits that cause these individuals to seek a leadership positions in the waking world. It does make me wonder, though. Nic once mentioned Caesar. What was that guy like as a kid, I wonder?
btw, if you think about it, both caesar and arthur are tragic figures who ultimately failed (even if for different reasons). so, to me it seems like trying to serve two kingdoms/empires really is too much.
here’s to hope that alex (and/or dan?) will fare better – because what are the chances they’ll hit it big in our world’s politics? 😉
You see! It’s clear that it was NOT treason at all (and therefore the Dwarves over-reacted). This was a meeting to determine how to best try to change the mind of the Boss.
We do this everyday – meeting between production and research to finalize our arguments to show to the CEO. That’s not treason and it would be stupid if the marketing guy walked out saying we meet “behind the back” of the CEO. This is but preparation and that makes us (and Nick) better advisers because we can advise with a broader view.
So for now my summary:
– Arthur is affectively putting Dreamland into danger to “help” Camelot
– Nick rightfully has concern but may be a poor cominucator
– Nick tries do do The Right Thing by getting advices from other stakeholders.
it will go bad from there, obviously, but at that point in history I side with Nick!
And by the way, the nightmare realm may be a necessity, like a coin has a head and a tail, and not be “Evil”. There IS no war at that time between Dreamland and Nightmare Real, but an equilibrium. Not what we would expect from an Axis of Evil…
I just mentioned that to show that asking Nightmare Realm people is NOT doing something wrong, but just asking the stakeholders – neutrally every stakeholder.
Okay…you got me Scott. This is the first time I’ve really respected Nic.
All throughout this flashback/storytelling sequence I’ve understood that Nic wasn’t coming from an evil place, but it’s been easy not to respect his methods and arguements because I haven’t agreed with him. I still think that he’s an overly negative species-ist; however, backing out of a meeting he called when certain parties try to make his discussion of options more about an underhanded overthrow than he ever intended takes a LOT of strength of character (I hope that sentence made sense…it’s early and I haven’t had any caffeine).
Unfortunately, as has been mentioned in earlier comments, the wraiths know just how to play to Nic’s fears in such a way that he’ll likely overreact to any moves Arthur makes regarding more connection between Camelot and Dreamland. This would naturally (assuming I know anything at all about how nightmare creatures and betrayed beasties behave) lead to a stronger union between Nic and the Nightmare Realm…which then explains the army he’s got in Alex’s time.
I would also like to question just how much knowledge of the real world the wraiths have. It seems almost too fortuitous for them to make such a comment on the eve of Arthur’s decision to take serious action.
Either Nic is a good liar and actor, or he is really feeling the strain here. I will admit, I’m a bit surprised. Nice tough to the story plot!
Oh, and I may have an idea for explaining how the sword knows this story? One that does not require any “special” powers for the sword, or some other slight of hand. Nic had the sword in his possession, well at least embedded in the stone where he had access. I’m thinking ol’ Nic may have had a talk one night with the sword about everything that went wrong, when it went wrong, etc.
Interesting morality here. Nic played his cards and now find himself pot commited.
We know that in the present time the nightmare realm raides the happy dreamlanders, while this is being tolerated by Nic. Is this a part of the deal Nic is going to close here?
Watch out Nic, the enemy of your enemy is not your friend!
the thing is if your CEO already said to do plan A and the marketing team likes B plan better and goes ahead and does it, that is bad, whether or not plan B is in fact better. it’s not treason in the traditional sense, but you’ll at least get a stern talking-to.
Arthur’s already decided he wants more humans in Dreamland. the fact that Nic is now working against his sovereign ruler’s plan A is treasonous.
if Nic was to walk out right now and say “you know what, nevermind, I’ll talk to Arthur some more about this” would be, well, not good from a leadership standpoint, but better than following through with whatever plan. the sticky part is that now the Nightmare realm is involved, and they see a weak spot (Nic).
You cannot have the good without the bad because if you didnt have the bad how would you know what was good. Just because you know about the bad doesnt mean you are bad, just better informed to try and do more good. I like to think nightmares in general are like little warnings saying hey youre doing something that might not be so good afterall, stop and figure it out.
If my CEO is making a big mistake, I should keep trying to change his mind. Otherwise I’m a sycophant, not an adviser. Ultimately if I don’t agree at a fundamental level, I should resign.
It is not treason to polish the views about Plan B (see it as putting a nice powerpoint presentation with the input of several teams) before trying (again) to convince the CEO that plan B is better than A. Remember Nic is not ready to ACT against the wishes of Arthur.
In present day (Alex’s time) they see to have bad guys. But in Arthur’s time it looked like a civilized agreement between Dreamland and Nightmare Realms…
I find it interesting that a creature of darkness is saying, “it would be the end of all we know.” That screams of a more selfish motive underneath it all. I feel like there is a far worse evil they are protecting, and Nic is simply trying to defend it with subtlety instead of violence. That doesn’t make him a good guy, just sneaky…
[Footnote: This is not actually true. The road to Hell is paved with frozen door-to-door salesmen. On weekends many of the younger demons go ice-skating down it.]
The wraiths are absolutely right about the destruction that adult humans can cause. Kids are willing to work within the rules of Dreamland. The human kings are trusted enough to let Dreamland remain as it is and simply guide it. Random adults would shape the world as they see fit, or perhaps attempt genocide to remove species that they feel are an abomination to God.
It’s amazing to see Nick be so humble here. It gives me the feeling that the wraiths are to be his Wormtongue for a few centuries, feeding him verbal poison and helping him develop into the dragon he is in Alex’s time.
i see your point and if your CEO is about to do something that will destroy the company, by all means the teams should speak up. However, Nic has intentionally gathered the races that don’t like humans. Why did he not also include the Elves or better yet the Centaurs? this is all stuff that should have been done in Arthur’s presence.
By Nic’s own admission he’s being somewhat subversive.
Either this is Nick’s turning point to evil, or the seeds are being planted. I still want to see how this all plays out. t I was surprised that he sided with the dwarfs and not with the wraiths. Some previous comments have been insightful, I wouldn’t have thought the Nightmare realm might be playing on Nick’s fears for their benefit.
Well… in my meeting to polish my power point for Plan A, I won’t invite the Business Unit supporting plan B. Those will be here and vocal when I do the presentation to the CEO…
I just don’t buy it. Either Nick is lying or stupid.
He’s claiming to be thinking only of Dreamland but he calls a meeting where only a select few in Dreamland are even represented to make decisions for everyone else? How is this any different then what he is accusing Arthur of? Surely he can’t expect the very people he said would rebel to be open and un-divisive? I think the “man” either protests to much or is being horribly naive about the results of the actions he is choosing. Considering his own threats to Aurthur I am not sure which to go with.
yes, but that assumes Dreamland is run more like a democracy like a business is (instead of a “my word is law” monarchy)–and considering what we’ve seen of Arthur so far, i wouldn’t disagree. but now this creates a power struggle between Arthur, Nic, and possibly the Nightmare realm since they seem to be dictating to Nic (discontinue this or we’ll…).
Nic isn’t polishing his powerpoint slides at this point, now he’s, even if unintentionally, started the proceeds to get Arthur fired.
i think its more of different shade of evil nic in the pass was trying to show Arthur, but the wraiths are a darker shade evil..
nic was trying to stop arthur from bring more humans, but he may have gone to far and now the wraiths are trying to stop all adult human entirely from setting foot in dreamland that’s my guess and this is what leads to the tablets.
so my guessing is that the final showdown nic will be near death or try to stop from being killed by parleying the whereabouts of nats parents and Arthur will maybe make nic a good dragon again{ is there such a thing}
OMG could Arthur and Alex’s mom hooked up in dreamland? Making them the sons of King Arthur himself!
now that would be a twist. How would this chapter be handled in a movie. Flashbacks are never received well. If you hand it as like a prolouge it might do better overall in placement.
I really like that Nic is showing a more complex range of emotion and ‘morality’ then just straight up evil, rotten, and angry. It makes him a much more fun character. I sort of want to root for him to redeem himself somehow in the end.
Hooded Guy#1: It could be the end of all we know.
Hooded Guy#2:SILENCE!! I concur…
Nicodimus:…
Hooded Guy#3:SILENCE!! They are right…
Hooded Guy#1:SILENCE!! I stick with what I said before…
I think nic has a much more complex personality than just good or evil, he kind of used to be wise, if a bit paranoid. But as he rules for over 600 years his dealings with the nightmare realms will corrupt him to where he is now. I think his hatred of Alex is fueled by his paranoia of humans that was started by his interactions with the shades, that along with his desire to remain in control. The rest of the “evil” things that he does now ar a result of his lust to keep the throne to himself and the bitterness that comes from having betrayed his king.
…. Everytime I read Nic’s speech I keep thinking back to when he first claimed that sword to be evil.
Poor Nic, struggling between loyalty to his king and loyalty to his realm. His own mind and the words of those shady creatures are telling him that both loyalties cannot be held simultaneously, and he’ll take a seemingly obvious wrong turn.
I mean, of course, all our comments about morality, consequentialism and that sort of things are ok, but in fantasy, things might be shady or complicated, but never as shady or as complicated as in real life, and we all know to a level of certainty which position is “the right one”. Maybe there’s still some surprises on that matter waiting in Scott’s head, but even if there aren’t, well, Boy this has been and will continue to be such a fantastic journey! Thank ye for it
These guys remind me of the robot elder from futurama for some reason. I keep expecting a fourth one with the intelligence of a walnut to pipe in and tell Nic if Arthur tries it, he’ll have to kill him with this ceremonial kill-a-majig.
awww, damn. and arthur does… poor nic looks so defeated… *sigh*
but of course, the wraiths are pretty much exaggerating the situation. it’s as if they suggest the dreamlanders would be too weak to defend themselves from the humans. I mean, even if arthur brings over more humans, he can’t possibly bring all that many at once. so what real danger would they be?
that thing about arthur being loyal not to dreamland but to his people in his own world makes me wonder why there are kings for dreamland who already have a ruling position in the first place? that is just asking trouble in the long run. if they’d gotten “normal” people like alex before, they could have been sure about their loyalties (well, normally, that is. there’s always the occasional black sheep). was it just because them being kings is supposed to mean they had ruling skills? because that’s not really a reason, as there have always been natural leaders among the normal people, who never made it to an actual ruling position…
I don’t like where this goes one bit.
The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
ahh playing on Nic’s fears, I see.
I’d be shocked if KING Arthur became King of Dreamland. I think that ARTHUR became King of Dreamland because he didn’t stop coming to Dreamland as a kid, and that his experiences in Dreamland were what gave him the character and vision to make him King in OUR world.
hmmm… okay. sounds like the far more reasonable explanation. didn’t even think that far…
but I wonder who would even want the double stress of being king of two kingdoms? probably only someone with a HUGE bout of idealism. 😉
Hm. Looks like this is going to Nic actually feeling BETRAYED by Arthur (who obviously WILL bring humans to Dreamland). Thus, he will align with “the other side”, or simply give in to their suggestions/demands.
Don’t worry guys, this cannot be a spoiler – I have NEVER “nailed it” a single time before. Apart from the Nicole-Felicity bond.
Oh, dammit, I didn’t really want to think Nicky was once the wise advisor they claimed he was. I wanted to think he was rotten to the core.
Of course, it’s been, what, 500 years. A little tiny bit of rot can spread all the way through someone in that time, especially after you spend all of those years trying to justify a betrayal you knew you really COULDN’T justify. I suppose that just makes it worse. He’ll be fighting twice as hard to avoid being brought face-to-face … with himself.
Hooded guy: “It would be the end of all we know…and the beginning of dream lag, gold farming, and complaints about access.”
Did Blizzard buy this comic or something?
ohhh more and more it seem they are feeding on nic fear of what if..
and poor nic cant help himself now. since he already committed to this usurper plan..
now i am feeling sorry for him in the pass,
3 more days of school! What are those Nightmare creatures? A demented version of wolves or something?
MP, janey, I think you’re both hitting the qualifying conditions pretty squarely. I’m reminded of the phrase “and a child shall lead them”. That innocence and purity of spirit, combined with an idealist’s sense of purpose could make for the traits that cause these individuals to seek a leadership positions in the waking world. It does make me wonder, though. Nic once mentioned Caesar. What was that guy like as a kid, I wonder?
Just had an interesting thought. What would happen if suddenly Nic did actually see his transformation through time and decided to recant?
a hard thing to imagine. 😀
btw, if you think about it, both caesar and arthur are tragic figures who ultimately failed (even if for different reasons). so, to me it seems like trying to serve two kingdoms/empires really is too much.
here’s to hope that alex (and/or dan?) will fare better – because what are the chances they’ll hit it big in our world’s politics? 😉
You see! It’s clear that it was NOT treason at all (and therefore the Dwarves over-reacted). This was a meeting to determine how to best try to change the mind of the Boss.
We do this everyday – meeting between production and research to finalize our arguments to show to the CEO. That’s not treason and it would be stupid if the marketing guy walked out saying we meet “behind the back” of the CEO. This is but preparation and that makes us (and Nick) better advisers because we can advise with a broader view.
So for now my summary:
– Arthur is affectively putting Dreamland into danger to “help” Camelot
– Nick rightfully has concern but may be a poor cominucator
– Nick tries do do The Right Thing by getting advices from other stakeholders.
it will go bad from there, obviously, but at that point in history I side with Nick!
And by the way, the nightmare realm may be a necessity, like a coin has a head and a tail, and not be “Evil”. There IS no war at that time between Dreamland and Nightmare Real, but an equilibrium. Not what we would expect from an Axis of Evil…
I just mentioned that to show that asking Nightmare Realm people is NOT doing something wrong, but just asking the stakeholders – neutrally every stakeholder.
Okay…you got me Scott. This is the first time I’ve really respected Nic.
All throughout this flashback/storytelling sequence I’ve understood that Nic wasn’t coming from an evil place, but it’s been easy not to respect his methods and arguements because I haven’t agreed with him. I still think that he’s an overly negative species-ist; however, backing out of a meeting he called when certain parties try to make his discussion of options more about an underhanded overthrow than he ever intended takes a LOT of strength of character (I hope that sentence made sense…it’s early and I haven’t had any caffeine).
Unfortunately, as has been mentioned in earlier comments, the wraiths know just how to play to Nic’s fears in such a way that he’ll likely overreact to any moves Arthur makes regarding more connection between Camelot and Dreamland. This would naturally (assuming I know anything at all about how nightmare creatures and betrayed beasties behave) lead to a stronger union between Nic and the Nightmare Realm…which then explains the army he’s got in Alex’s time.
I would also like to question just how much knowledge of the real world the wraiths have. It seems almost too fortuitous for them to make such a comment on the eve of Arthur’s decision to take serious action.
SILENCE!
i concur with Brent
lol XD
Either Nic is a good liar and actor, or he is really feeling the strain here. I will admit, I’m a bit surprised. Nice tough to the story plot!
Oh, and I may have an idea for explaining how the sword knows this story? One that does not require any “special” powers for the sword, or some other slight of hand. Nic had the sword in his possession, well at least embedded in the stone where he had access. I’m thinking ol’ Nic may have had a talk one night with the sword about everything that went wrong, when it went wrong, etc.
Open to tackling a range of tasks?
Interesting morality here. Nic played his cards and now find himself pot commited.
We know that in the present time the nightmare realm raides the happy dreamlanders, while this is being tolerated by Nic. Is this a part of the deal Nic is going to close here?
Watch out Nic, the enemy of your enemy is not your friend!
“The enemy of my enemy is my enemy’s enemy. No more. No less.”
– rule 29 from Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
😉
Why is Nic even listening to the wraiths. They represent the most wretched hive of scum and villany of all the dreams ever.
he should no better that they are that good.
the thing is if your CEO already said to do plan A and the marketing team likes B plan better and goes ahead and does it, that is bad, whether or not plan B is in fact better. it’s not treason in the traditional sense, but you’ll at least get a stern talking-to.
Arthur’s already decided he wants more humans in Dreamland. the fact that Nic is now working against his sovereign ruler’s plan A is treasonous.
if Nic was to walk out right now and say “you know what, nevermind, I’ll talk to Arthur some more about this” would be, well, not good from a leadership standpoint, but better than following through with whatever plan. the sticky part is that now the Nightmare realm is involved, and they see a weak spot (Nic).
i know i’ve already said it, but this is such a great arc, Scott! i can’t wait to see this week’s pages!
Thank you.
By week’s end…you’ll know how much knowledge of the real world.
Promise.
🙂
Ooh. That’s a really good idea.
I shall ponder this…
Thank you.
Thank you all for the wonderful comments and compliments.
As this world grows…and my writing and art are refined…I am enjoying each chapter more and more.
This particular chapter, I feel, really defines everything and lays the foundation for the final act.
I’m so glad you are all enjoying it.
You cannot have the good without the bad because if you didnt have the bad how would you know what was good. Just because you know about the bad doesnt mean you are bad, just better informed to try and do more good. I like to think nightmares in general are like little warnings saying hey youre doing something that might not be so good afterall, stop and figure it out.
Amen
If my CEO is making a big mistake, I should keep trying to change his mind. Otherwise I’m a sycophant, not an adviser. Ultimately if I don’t agree at a fundamental level, I should resign.
It is not treason to polish the views about Plan B (see it as putting a nice powerpoint presentation with the input of several teams) before trying (again) to convince the CEO that plan B is better than A. Remember Nic is not ready to ACT against the wishes of Arthur.
Anyway…
Was it ever said that Nightmare realms are evil?
In present day (Alex’s time) they see to have bad guys. But in Arthur’s time it looked like a civilized agreement between Dreamland and Nightmare Realms…
I find it interesting that a creature of darkness is saying, “it would be the end of all we know.” That screams of a more selfish motive underneath it all. I feel like there is a far worse evil they are protecting, and Nic is simply trying to defend it with subtlety instead of violence. That doesn’t make him a good guy, just sneaky…
[Footnote: This is not actually true. The road to Hell is paved with frozen door-to-door salesmen. On weekends many of the younger demons go ice-skating down it.]
The wraiths are absolutely right about the destruction that adult humans can cause. Kids are willing to work within the rules of Dreamland. The human kings are trusted enough to let Dreamland remain as it is and simply guide it. Random adults would shape the world as they see fit, or perhaps attempt genocide to remove species that they feel are an abomination to God.
It’s amazing to see Nick be so humble here. It gives me the feeling that the wraiths are to be his Wormtongue for a few centuries, feeding him verbal poison and helping him develop into the dragon he is in Alex’s time.
Loved the comments on this page. And LoLed at Brent – maeverin and Silverwolf comments, just epic!
i see your point and if your CEO is about to do something that will destroy the company, by all means the teams should speak up. However, Nic has intentionally gathered the races that don’t like humans. Why did he not also include the Elves or better yet the Centaurs? this is all stuff that should have been done in Arthur’s presence.
By Nic’s own admission he’s being somewhat subversive.
Either this is Nick’s turning point to evil, or the seeds are being planted. I still want to see how this all plays out. t I was surprised that he sided with the dwarfs and not with the wraiths. Some previous comments have been insightful, I wouldn’t have thought the Nightmare realm might be playing on Nick’s fears for their benefit.
Well… in my meeting to polish my power point for Plan A, I won’t invite the Business Unit supporting plan B. Those will be here and vocal when I do the presentation to the CEO…
I can not think of a better confessor for a usurp king than a sleeping sword locked in a stone were no one can get to it.
I mean you know he has to have need somebody to rant at. Who else is he going to be able to with out totally screwing things over.
I just don’t buy it. Either Nick is lying or stupid.
He’s claiming to be thinking only of Dreamland but he calls a meeting where only a select few in Dreamland are even represented to make decisions for everyone else? How is this any different then what he is accusing Arthur of? Surely he can’t expect the very people he said would rebel to be open and un-divisive? I think the “man” either protests to much or is being horribly naive about the results of the actions he is choosing. Considering his own threats to Aurthur I am not sure which to go with.
yes, but that assumes Dreamland is run more like a democracy like a business is (instead of a “my word is law” monarchy)–and considering what we’ve seen of Arthur so far, i wouldn’t disagree. but now this creates a power struggle between Arthur, Nic, and possibly the Nightmare realm since they seem to be dictating to Nic (discontinue this or we’ll…).
Nic isn’t polishing his powerpoint slides at this point, now he’s, even if unintentionally, started the proceeds to get Arthur fired.
is there any chance of alex and crew going into nightmare realm?
i would really love to see this part of dreamland and i bet that’s where Arthur is with nats father and mother
i think its more of different shade of evil nic in the pass was trying to show Arthur, but the wraiths are a darker shade evil..
nic was trying to stop arthur from bring more humans, but he may have gone to far and now the wraiths are trying to stop all adult human entirely from setting foot in dreamland that’s my guess and this is what leads to the tablets.
so my guessing is that the final showdown nic will be near death or try to stop from being killed by parleying the whereabouts of nats parents and Arthur will maybe make nic a good dragon again{ is there such a thing}
You bring back the MMORPG nightmares!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
……..ok, I’m done. Have a nice day, now! XD
Dunno, but I’ll wager it was Augustus, who instituted the Limes (divine border of the Empire).
Yes
XD
OMG could Arthur and Alex’s mom hooked up in dreamland? Making them the sons of King Arthur himself!
now that would be a twist. How would this chapter be handled in a movie. Flashbacks are never received well. If you hand it as like a prolouge it might do better overall in placement.
I really like that Nic is showing a more complex range of emotion and ‘morality’ then just straight up evil, rotten, and angry. It makes him a much more fun character. I sort of want to root for him to redeem himself somehow in the end.
Oh wow, so Nic was kinda good. O.O
Hooded Guy#1: It could be the end of all we know.
Hooded Guy#2:SILENCE!! I concur…
Nicodimus:…
Hooded Guy#3:SILENCE!! They are right…
Hooded Guy#1:SILENCE!! I stick with what I said before…
I think nic has a much more complex personality than just good or evil, he kind of used to be wise, if a bit paranoid. But as he rules for over 600 years his dealings with the nightmare realms will corrupt him to where he is now. I think his hatred of Alex is fueled by his paranoia of humans that was started by his interactions with the shades, that along with his desire to remain in control. The rest of the “evil” things that he does now ar a result of his lust to keep the throne to himself and the bitterness that comes from having betrayed his king.
I feel like nico was good at first, but these nightmare realm guys did some magicky stuff and corrupted him here