I just don't agree that Orion was really getting arrogant. The only time where he was even remotely arrogant was in the alley with the junkies and even then his reaction was perfectly warranted, if some bum comes demanding change from you punching them in the face is the correct choice. If anything his only screw up was by not taking it farther and making sure the enemy was down for the count. The only reason the situation went pear shaped is because a junkie who likely didn't have 2 eternals to rub together SOMEHOW had a gun. If they were proper gang members then sure I can see that, but junkies? At most they would have a knife or a broken bottle. Also if you're going to mug someone and you have a gun you pull that out first, much more likely to get the money without having to fire a shot.
I mean the entire chapter Orion was constantly questioning himself and his enemies. With the werewolves he was confident but also respected the enemy enough to be wary of him and while I haven't seen the vampire route I'm sure it's pretty similar. He even questions if what he is doing with the girls is right and after thinking about it comes to a logical conclusion, it's probably not the right one but the fact that he even stops to question it shows that he is aware of his actions and not just assuming he is the god king and that everything will work out.
All in all I don't think Orion earned that shit from Idriel. If you wanted him to earn it then the werewolf/vampire parts would have had him just assuming he would win without challenge. You would have removed the part about him being excited that Coyote was an actual challenge and replaced it with something more like "Coyote is better than I thought but still a chump not worth mentioning" you would have him NOT questioning his relationships with the girls and just assuming he is so badass it's obvious they would fall for him. Having a single encounter where he shows a level of earned arrogance that goes sideways in a kind of stupid way does not warrant the "You deserve this because you were being arrogant" speech. At best it deserves a "This is not how things were supposed to happen, someone interfered with your destiny" or "You were unlucky"
If you really wanted to hit us with the consequences for arrogance trope then there should have been small moments where he truly was getting arrogant, then have Idriel chide him in one of her talks, something like "You are doing well but be wary of arrogance and do not let it cloud your judgement" then hit us with what we got and it would feel earned and right. This feels like Cari wanted to have a morality moment and threw it in because it would make a good cliffhanger not that it made sense to the story and character.
If you take it as a culmination of his journey beginning with the wrong intentions, it kinda makes sense, though.
From the very beginning, Orion's goal was to have fun in Kredon, change his luck and score babes and possibly get laid. Then when he learned of the prize awaiting those who got the gems, he starts fantasizing in Ekabar what life he would have if he becomes CEO of Ulysses. He also takes shit from no one, given how the correct response in dealing with Axel was to punch him (instead of confronting him or grabbing his hand away when he tried to fondle Annie). These show that he has always had this "brash and confident" streak in him.
Then through the course of the story, he continues to keep on "winning" without much setbacks (the only one being when he lost his gem and the fight against Thanatos in Ogygia): He gets his first gem at the Red Herring, he pulls off the Heist without much of a hitch, he takes Wagner's gem and curbstomps most of his army in the process, he starts becoming physically buff without going through the Mikaela workout routine, every LI starts falling for him, he even manages to seduce a powerful being like Caly despite her arrogance, he starts making a name for himself as the Huntsman as his still-unexplained powers continue to grow unabated...
Granted, most of his successes are also thanks in part due to help from the girls, and that's where he mostly shows his more compassionate and nice guy attitude. But his behavior this update, in my opinion, is simply a culmination of all the things that have been happening in the story so far while also showing the glaring flaw that Orion has had since the beginning. A flaw that is starting to cloud his better self, as seen in how he basically was gung-ho with the gem hunt and set Nova aside before Nan chastised him. Too bad that alone wasn't enough to really set him straight.
Which is why I think this ending is warranted. As I said before in this thread, Orion still has options to get himself out so I'm not worried about his survival. But he needs time to self-reflect and put himself in the right mindset. Right now he's still in the mindset that all of this is just a game (figuratively speaking) and he is "the hero" who will save the day, bed all the women without consequence, and become god. With that mindset, he essentially is no different from The Founder, and that's not what the dead needs.
No, what he needs is to actually BE the hero that the dead and the girls deserve. He needs to come clean and express his intentions with all of them and make them realize he loves them all equally. He needs to adjust his attitude and his goals and actually start taking shit seriously. He needs to understand why things that are happening in Eternum are happening and not just go about them like some sort of Main Story Quest in a VRMMO (granted Ekabar is a good start but that seems to have been initiated by one of the LIs rather than something he himself should initiate).
Like Idriel keeps saying, "you're not asking the right questions." Mayhaps the reason she is saying that is because Orion isn't changing how he's looking at all these things based on his current lifepath and attitude. Hopefully
some time being a wandering soul in Eternum (or perhaps Limbo) will change that.
*This post was brought to you by the Church of Nova.
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