こと at the start of a sentence


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?




I think it's a variation of
[ことここに至る](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E4%BA%8B%E3%81%93%E3%81%93%E3%81%AB%E8%87%B3%E3%82%8B/).
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".




I think it's a variation of
[ことここに至る](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/word/%E4%BA%8B%E3%81%93%E3%81%93%E3%81%AB%E8%87%B3%E3%82%8B/).
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".

