Hope this isn't a plot-spoiler for tomorrow's installment but as I was reading this I was reminded of the idea that Protagonist & Nemesis are often two sides of the same coin. It further occurs that some of most memorable nemesis, Dr Hannibal Lector, Heath Ledger's Joker and Darth Vader for example, all appear to have a backstory that suggests they have failed to wrestle with their shadow and failed in their transformation. Is it a coincidence that these 3 great villains all have a permanently fractured Jungian psyche by the time the Protagonist meets them?

A most interesting point. While I agree Lecter is a Nemesis figure generally, it seems to me his narrative function in TSOTL is Mentor. The Final Struggle occurs between Clarice and Buffalo Bill, and you could apply the same observation you made to Lecter, JOker, and Darth Vader to BB. That notwithstanding, your main point is, as I said, quite interesting. In a way, it's not only suggesting the Nemesis is a projection of the Protagonist's shadow, but also where they (P) could end up if they failed to go through their transformation-journey. It's like looking at their Disunity state in a mirror, only evolved through the years without correction, and become a kind of monster. I've had this thought about Dorothy in relation to Miss Gulch in The Wizard of Oz. The latter has turned into a mean old spinster. What if Dorothy had not traveled to Oz? Might she have grown more and more bitter, and so could Miss Gulch and her more evil doppelganger the Wicked Witch, represent a Ghost of the Future a la The Christmas Carol, a projection of who Dorothy could become (symbolically) without correction?