Yeah, I'm very tempted to let him give in. Especially since his sacrifice and suffering just seems totally useless apart from proving his inner strength, when I know parts of the secret of what Alexi is trying to do. Why can't he just freaking tell him again? It would save them both a lot of trouble.

No, that doesn't make any sense, because what kind of magic would do that? Technological advancements are related to both each other and society, so if you destroy say, all computing technology, then you HAVE destroyed the majority of modern day infrastructure... or even all of 80s level infrastructure, at least in banks, businesses, and governments. And what the hell kind of magical weapon could even do that? I mean, if the magicals essentially had an EMP that was that freaking powerful, they sure as hell shouldn't have lost. Wherever you pull the thread, there would be insane collateral damage. Furthermore, to destroy all the knowledge of how to rebuild, you would have to destroy every place it's written down, and all the people with the knowledge to rebuild it. That makes the weapon in question even MORE powerful, which makes it even more unlikely that the magicals would have lost.

Fine, there's no robotics then... at least not much in the private sector, because "justifiable" slavery replaced the need for it. But that doesn't solve ... well, basically everything I just said above.