Talk:A Crack in the Slab/@comment-36170398-20180712204232/@comment-26199726-20180714080908

Yeah, failing to catch the Crown Killer in time (though I'm not sure he did nothing, as you suggest) is definitely a black mark on Corvo's record. And being so completely blindsided by the coup is one of the most embarassing failures the office of Spymaster had to suffer in its entire history, I'm sure (so as to your guess, I'd wager it's closer to incompetence or mismanagement).

But that's precisely the point. Corvo failed as Spymaster and Royal Protector just as much (and maybe more spectacularly) as Emily failed as Empress, it gets brought up repeatedly. Both neglected their duties and need to redeem themselves from that failure as part of their journey.