Draft Picks, Tyrants, and Popes: The Staged Reality of the Vancouver Canucks

This article stems from a recent controversy on Canucks Army regarding the selection of Caleb Malhotra at 3rd overall in the 2026 NHL Draft. While many view this premium slot as a critical rebuilding piece, a dissenting faction of fans—myself and a commenter named BigBA included—see it as a red flag. To us, the pick signals that ownership is quietly blocking the genuine, full rebuild this franchise desperately needs.

Caleb Malhotra, right, puts on a jersey after being drafted by the Vancouver Canucks as NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, left, looks on during the NHL hockey draft Friday, June 26, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y.

BigBA is routinely criticized on the forums for voicing this realistic, albeit pessimistic, outlook on the team’s trajectory; the Kool-Aid-drinking homers simply cannot handle it.

In truth, my goal in posting the thread wasn’t to debate hockey metrics, but to share my broader Source Truth practice and philosophy. The discussion quickly spiraled into my usual territory when another user, Harold Drunken, argued that Commodus was Rome’s worst emperor, giving me the perfect opening to segue from sports into historical illusion and the matrix of elite control.

BigBA: Imagine thinking it was smart to draft what most see at best as another 2C [second line center] when we had the chance to move up to get Stenberg [a center prospect who was drafted 2nd overall by San Jose] or draft one of the group of top-4D [top 2 lines of defensemen, two men per line] who will end up being top-pairing defensemen.

There are a couple with elite number 1 potential, and we decided to pass on them. Why? Because IMO, they will put the C [captain] on Hronek [the Canucks’ current best defenseman], keep him here, and probably extend him. They will keep Marcus [underperforming defenseman Marcus Pettersson], and my guess is we will see at least one more D vet [veteran] added on July 1st.

There is no desire to draft D and develop them to be part of the new core group down the road. I wonder how many vet forwards they will sign on July 1st? [as free agents]

Folks, the plan is to use Demko, Lankinen [the two Vancouver underperforming goalies], a vet D [veteran defenseman], and forward units to get back in the playoff hunt, maybe as soon as next season.

Drafting Caleb [Caleb Malhotra, Vancouver’s highly questionable pick at 3rd overall this year] was Francesco’s [the Canuck’s meddling owner] drafting-Virtanen [a past failed high-number pick in the draft] moment... he loves to find silly PR moves to hype false hope...

I wonder if he was sad when Pittsburgh drafted one of the Ruck twins 2 spots ahead of us? [These young twins in the minor leagues are the kind of players the Canucks owner appears to favor, reminiscent of the famous Sedin Twins, Daniel and Henrik.] My guess is that he was, and he lost out on using twins to sell tickets.

Me: And the spin continues in the bread & circus for the masses. All hail Caesar and love his colosseum games! I wonder which emperor (Canucks owner, Francesco Aquilini) is Aquavelva’s favorite. Could it be Caligula or Nero?

Harold Drunken: Anyone who has seen the documentary “Gladiator” knows that Commodus was the worst emperor, hands down.

Me: You’re right. I forgot about that one. I should research whether Commodus was truly the worst or if that’s just Hollywood hype. He had to have been one of the worst, right? Though it depends on one’s perspective and view of what constitutes “bad.” Perhaps other Cabal members, like Pope Boniface VIII (who issued the infamous papal bull Unam Sanctam and was a member of the notorious Gaetani family), would hold him up as a hierarchical icon. I’ve heard from other sources that Caligula was the king of debauchery, but that might apply only to the after-games toga parties.

Note that his bullet-shaped helmet signifies the pineal gland (long story about this, involving the Vatican’s supposed control of our access to higher dimensions) and is adorned with only one crown, not the later Triple Crown of Ba’al or triregnum (tiara), which represents the three Cestui Que Vie Trusts.

Would be fun researching that. The actor who played Commodus—Joaquin Phoenix—was perfect for that role. I thought that was a stage name, but Google says it’s his real birth name.

Here is a Google Gemini AI comparison of the three most famously evil Roman emperors:

In the historical hierarchy of depravity, Commodus universally ranks in the “Big Three” of the worst Roman Emperors, sitting alongside Caligula and Nero. However, when it specifically comes to officiating and participating in the most heinously spectacular Colosseum games, Commodus ranks as the undisputed Number One.

The Arenas of Madness: A Direct Comparison

To see how he matches up against Rome’s other premier tyrants in debauchery and spectacle, the breakdown is stark:

Commodus
(Reigned 180–192 AD) Megalomaniacal Harem: Kept 300 women and 300 boys; believed he was the physical reincarnation of Hercules. The Gladiator Emperor: Fought in hundreds of fixed matches; slaughtered amputees, tethered beasts, and charged Rome 1M sesterces per appearance. Top 3 Worst: Ranked by modern historians as the most undignified and narcissistic.

Caligula
(Reigned 37–41 AD) Socio-Political Perversion: Turned the imperial palace into a brothel; allegedly committed incest with his sisters. The Circus Obsession: Obsessed with chariot racing; famously threatened to name his racehorse, Incitatus, a Roman Consul. Top 3 Worst: The gold standard for chaotic, unstable madness.

Nero
(Reigned 54–68 AD) Hedonistic Cruelty: Executed his mother and wife; castrated and “married” a slave boy named Sporus. The Stage Performer: Forced the elite to watch his tedious, hours-long lyre and poetry performances; used Christians as human torches. Top 3 Worst: The ultimate symbol of tyrannical self-indulgence and neglect.

Why Commodus Takes the Colosseum Crown

While Caligula and Nero watched horrors from the luxury of the imperial box, Commodus disgraced his royal status by stepping onto the sand. To the Roman elite, a citizen entering the arena was considered infamia—the lowest legal and social status, on par with a slave or prostitute. Commodus didn’t care. He was addicted to the frequency of absolute, manufactured adulation.

• The Fixed Cleansings: He held 14 days of continuous games. He lined up Roman citizens who had lost their legs to illness or accident, tied them together in the center of the arena, and clubbed them to death while pretending they were mythological giants.

• The Beast Slaughter: He shot 100 lions in a single day with arrows from a protected platform and sliced the heads off running ostriches with crescent-tipped arrows, famously waving the bleeding bird heads at the terrified Senators to signal they were next.

• The Imperial Ransom: He forced the city treasury to pay him an astronomical fee for every arena appearance, single-handedly bankrupting the Roman economy.

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Beyond history, I’m a philosophical idealist rather than a materialist, and I go past the simulation hypothesis. Because of that, I view history as illusory. Let’s just say I’m the quantum idealist Bohr, Planck, or Heisenberg to his analog, materialist Einstein. Ol’ Albert was stuck spinning like an outdated mechanical record player while we, the advanced Source Players (SPs), operate on a completely different wavelength.

Simulation pundits like Neil deGrasse Tyson and Elon Musk are just fearmongering disinformation agents who work for the Cabal. Unlike their superficial spouting, to thoroughly know a principle and how it operates, one must verify it in all cases, not merely believe it in part. Tom Campbell gives a nice overview of the simulation hypothesis in his YouTube videos.

In this timeline, reality is presented to us instantly and situationally as data and frequency, including the NPC mass download that constitutes the public consensus and “common knowledge.” None of the mainstream authorities and experts, nor progress and accumulated knowledge of “our” entire civilization, carry weight with me.

The personally delivered perceptions are designed to make us believe that ‘reality’ is objective and populated by real people — the materialist viewpoint. An unawakened SP, like NPCs, who are in the majority, has no doubt that everything is normal and that they’re just another human.

Additionally, my practice holds that SPs experience each timeline in isolation, in which nothing external is real. It’s all subjective. History is ultimately whatever I want it to be—not that I care all that much about it anyway.

Ok, enough rambling. I appreciate that your comment prompted this line of thinking. I will place it on my Substack. Though we’ve clashed in the past, I generally regard your comments on CA as insightful.