How the hide-and-seek game parallels one of the major themes of ToG.
So, I've been rereading ToG, and I've noticed an interesting parallel in the hide and seek game in S1.
The team A is super coordinated, with a well thought plan and exeptional teammates who trust in each other. Throughout the whole game it's obvious, that they're all giving it their best, and that they have serious chance to win, even though they are going against seemingly impossible odds. However all of their efforts are undermined by a single act of betrayal, which makes the team A ultimately fail.
The team B however, is almost opposite of the team A. A morale and cooperation is from the start extremely low and the members are, apart from few exceptions, average or below average. Their plan is very basic and it's obvious that it wont work as intended. A rate of betrayal is so high, that I don't think there is a teammember which either didn't betrayed or wasn't betrayed by someone else during the game. Nevertheless they won in the end, only because in a crucial moment, two teamates choose to trust each other and not give up, despite that they had a lot of reasons to not to.
I think this game beatifully mirrors the whole theme of ToG narrative and it shows reader for the first time, what kind of place the tower truly is. That the betrayal is an inevitable part of life of regulars and sometimes even one small mistake can cause a loss. However that without trust, it is truly impossible to reach the top.