“I honestly feel like its the opposite of metagaming. Murph saw the actual conversation, saw all the nuances involved, and he saw how Ruby and Caramelinda were both the bigger forces in the argument, while Amethar was passive, just like his father Jadain. But instead of basing his reactions on that, he gave a believable response to the information he heard thirdhand (from Saccharina from Swifty from the Rocks). He found out that the Rocks, who he’d protected for decades, were conspiring against the crowned Queen who he swore to protect, and that they received vital information about Catherine Ghee that they neglected to share with him despite years of loyalty. And its not like he can’t keep a secret! He kept Lapin’s secret from Calroy, he secretly trained the twins in magic for Lazuli, etc. Despite the fact that he resented Amethar for being a terrible king who was so much worse than his sisters, despite the fact that Ruby has treated him like a nuisance and a servant when he would have laid down his life for her, he obeyed and protected them as best as he could, and they still pushed him out. He could excuse Amethar’s foolishness in the past because Amethar “loves his family”, but now it sounds to him like Amethar is plotting to murder the Queen, his eldest daughter. And so he makes the choice to pledge his allegiance to Saccharina, the Queen of the common people (like him, because Theobald was not nobility), who respected and trusted him enough to let him in on what was happening, despite the fact that pvp would not be the most optimal choice for everyone. I feel like it was extremely in character and not metagaming at all. It would be metagaming for Theo to arrange a group sitdown where they could calmy discuss their issues.”
