This chapter's epigraph comes from a famous line from Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice, in which the king's eye is used to control time. In this passage, the king explains that his own eye is the one that controls time. He says that he has learned how to use his eye to control the time of others, and now that he knows how to control his own time, he can do the same with the king. He tells the audience that he is the soul collector, and that he will return his soul to them if they can still hear him.