The symbol mentioned here is not specified, nor is its significance explained. It has been suggested that, given M's missionary purpose, his narrative accounting for this important shift in official policy is disingenuous — or, to be kind, severely restricted.

Elsewhere, in a fragmentary writing of dubious provenance, the Golias is said to have been so devastated by the aftermath of a particularly savage battle, when the river alongside the conquered city ran red with the blood of the slaughtered, that he renounced conquest and dedicated the rest of his life to nonviolence and peace.

The once-heretical sect to which M belonged is not mentioned in any other source.