Proxy War and Civilian Suffering

The siege of Troy is framed as a guerrilla conflict between Odysseus’ forces and Priam’s court, but its casualties are civilians and captives like Vicki, Steven Taylor, and Cyclops. Their suffering is incidental to the Greeks’ strategic deception (the Trojan Horse) and the Trojans’ tactical paranoia (execution orders for outsiders). The absence of higher loyalties (e.g., the Doctor’s failsafe claims) highlights that in proxy wars, intellect is expendable but human life is always negotiable.