Paladin (Richard Boone) alludes to "The Sword of Damocles" hanging over Tim Decker's (Kenneth Tobey) head because of his bogus fame. Damocles is a figure featured in a single moral anecdote commonly referred to as "the Sword of Damocles," an allusion to the imminent and ever-present peril faced by those in positions of power. Damocles was an obsequious courtier in the court of Dionysius II of Syracuse, a 4th-century BC tyrant of Syracuse, Sicily.