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In late season 1 of The Man in the High Castle, Heydrich dresses Wegener in his uniform and pours him wine before asking him to kill Hitler. He then lets him think on the proposal, threatening that his life is already over but by cooperating he could spare his wife's and kids'. He leaves him alone and upon returning is handed a slip of paper by Wegener listing even more names of his wife's relatives. What is the message implied by this?

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Wegener basically realizes that Heydrich is right and that his life is already over because he has committed treason. He thinks that because Heydrich needs Hitler's trust in Wegener in order to fulfill the assassination that he can barter for more then just the lives of his wife and kids, so he hands him the slip of paper with names of more relatives.

This can be backed up by Heydrich responding with "Ten lives in exchange for yours" after he reads the slip of paper.

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  • I got all of this, but unfortunately I still don't really understand the nature of the gesture. What did the list of names change? As it already stood, Heydrich had already had Wegener by the cojones by blackmailing him with the lives of his wife and son. But what did the further list of relatives change about the dynamic and leverage balance?
    – JosephCorrectEnglishPronouns
    Sep 9, 2022 at 16:34
  • And what was he proposing by providing it? It would have made more sense to me if he had been doing it to make the point that he was so committed to his principles that he wouldn't budge or cooperate to compromise him even at the expense of every person's life on that list, much less merely those of his wife and children. But this doesn't seem to have been the meaning. By volunteering the additional list what exactly was he gaining, or proposing/hoping to gain?
    – JosephCorrectEnglishPronouns
    Sep 9, 2022 at 16:34
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    Was he asking for Heydrich's word that if he cooperated and assassinated the fuhrer, Heydrich would look out for and assure the safety of his listed extended relatives as well as his wife and children?
    – JosephCorrectEnglishPronouns
    Sep 9, 2022 at 16:34
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    @JosephP. he was essentially just trying to ensure that the lives of his family would be protected by doing this for Heydrich. Basically saying I will do this for you if you don't exile/kill my family for my treason.
    – Angesehen
    Sep 10, 2022 at 21:05
  • @JosephP. Its basically a last ditch effort to save his family since he is dead anyways.
    – Angesehen
    Sep 10, 2022 at 21:08

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