I’m honestly expecting another layer somewhere below this with the nobility having been brainwashed, except that we won’t find out about it until near the end of the story. I mean, in addition to halting most interaction with other kingdoms and all advancement, there are entire classes of luxury goods that a mindless drone can’t produce. No art, no fashion—and those are things that stereotypical aristocrats care about. Plus, how are you going to produce the next generation of drones? Some of those “nobles” might be okay with watching what amounts to the same porn scene over and over again, but how many infant-nappy-changing commands can your average oligarch tolerate giving?

Maybe I’m just too optimistic.