Both are European immigrants. Both young men with great ambitions but without any particular talent.
Wilson wished to become a distinguished man of science, Maxwell a great placoscene wizard; neither is presented to us as such in the beginning.
Then the unexpected, the opportunity, the accident of chance in this chaotic meaningless universe: For William it was a book containing a mystery knowledge, for Wilson it was a demonic radio.
Both were seduced by the opportunity to seize the success they have always longed for and which they thought they deserved. Eventually both of them were overwhelmed by something they did not understand. Eventually, both of them learned to know what lies in the Constant's realm of madness and, in part, to master it. Maxwell was never the real antagonist, but protagonist like Wilson but from a parallel path. The crux of the story is that Wilson took pity because that grieving soul on the throne was but his reflection.
