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In 僕の愛したジークフリーデ, by Matsuyama Takeshi, I found this sentence:

すでに手勢はなく、頼みのファーレンベルガーも退場した。ことこの場に至っては『彼女』は一人の非力な少女にすぎない

The main character just arrived with her companion in the presence of the queen, having defeated her soldiers and Farenberga.

It's not the first time I see こと at the start of a sentence, but I'm not sure how I should read it; I tried looking on dictionaries for meanings of the word, and doing a search here, but to no avail.

My best guess is that, at least in this case, it should be read like (という)こと(は), so the sentence translates something like "There weren't any more soldiers, and also the trusted Farenberga was defeated. That meant that at this point [or "place", but I don't think 場 refers the the physical room] she was just a powerless girl", but I'm not sure this is the right meaning.

Is my guess right? Can a starting こと have other meaning?

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    I think it is this koto japanese.stackexchange.com/q/65483/41067
    – Jimmy Yang
    Jul 21, 2022 at 19:36
  • So it'd mean something like "Especially at this point she was just a powerless girl"? It sounds odd to me, since it's the first time ever the queen is shown in such undefended position, so I'm not sure what that "especially" would refer to.
    – Mauro
    Jul 21, 2022 at 21:54
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    ^ The こと in this question is 事, while the こと in that linked question is 殊. Sorry if my answer was not clear. I've edited it.
    – chocolate ♦
    Jul 24, 2022 at 1:26

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+100

I think it's a variation of ことここに至る. The phrase, in the form of -至って, is usually followed by a description of how desperate/inescapable the current place/situation is.

It has a theatrical vibe. It can be more plainly rephrased as このような状況になってしまっては, こうなってしまっては, こうなっては, etc, meaning basically "at this point".

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