And how much was already in the making. Personally I see the AoL as a bit of a cautionary tale on the pitfalls of an over industrialized civilization. Much like the Roman Empire, which the AoL was partially based on, I believe there was corruption at almost every turn, just slightly under the surface. RJ built many hints about this into the series. We know there were multiple classes and deep rivalries and many machinations even before the Bore, but after the Bore these base emotions became less civilized and the population more decadent.