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This is the inquisitor. He prunes away the wastrels, expunges the wretched, and deletes the worthless.
— Kryten · Red Dwarf
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
The speaker introduces a figure whose job is to cull the undesirable, using three verbs that grow steadily more clinical. Pruning, expunging and deleting reduce people to clutter to be removed. The tidy bureaucratic language makes the ruthlessness sound brisk and routine.
Context reviewed