Link was sent to the time period of the Late Antiquity in order to create what its creators believed would be a better future for humanity. From our perspective - not theirs - it arguably and ironically succeeds:
- Belisarius would have ended his life with a political whimper, slandered by history, out of favor with Emperor Justinian. At the end of the book, Belisarius is arguably the most powerful man in the western world, having made allies out of nearly every major power in existence, and carved a legend for himself in Rome, Persia, India, and Africa.
- Antonina would still, in the original timeline, have been a wealthy and influential, albeit controversial, figure. But this is nothing compared to gaining massive renown as a general in her own right, reforming Alexandria, and eventually being one of the keystone figures spearheading Axum into a new age.
- Khusrau Anushirvan, in addition to his political reforms, would have been hailed for his victories against Rome, Persia's great enemy. Now he is celebrated for his victories alongside Rome, Persia's great ally. Instead of being entangled in a bitter and brutal war with each other, both empires (and Rome even now having a Persian empress) are free to consolidate a potentially world-changing alliance, building on each other's industrial and military strength.
- Justinian would have conquered the Western Roman territories, weakening the Empire, and rendered Europe vulnerable to the plague. True, losing one's eyes and being deposed from the throne is not exactly an improvement. Nevertheless, the series ends with Justinian poised to revolutionize Roman law by introducing legal reforms centuries ahead of his time, potentially improving the life and rights of Roman citizens. Additionally, his cunning, ruthlessness, and legal acumen have been channeled into a manufacturing partnership alongside Calopodius. Coupled with his brilliance in engineering and machinery, Justinian could very well end up as the Late Antiquity's version of Steve Jobs or Henry Ford. Much better than being remembered as an untrusting and untrustworthy emperor, eh?
- Meanwhile, with the Malwa regime greatly reduced in strength, now under new, relatively benevolent management, and curtailed from becoming too powerful by the counterweight effect of Shakuntala's revived realm and the Roman-Persian alliance, India as a whole is well placed to begin the Industrial Revolution as a major powerhouse, instead of becoming someone else's brutally subjugated imperial domain as happened in our timeline.
