Slow Burn
***Spoilers for The Tawny Man Trilogy through chapter 10 of Golden Fool.***
I went pretty hard into Fitz’s sexcapades in my last post. But honestly, the real foreplay is everything happening in Golden Fool right now, leading up to whatever shoe is about to drop at Buckkeep.
In this section of chapters, Fitz is settling into this new version of life in Buckkeep. I wouldn’t say things are going particularly smoothly – the teenagers are being very teenager-y – but nothing major is happening yet. Teenage dramatics aside, it feels like we are on the brink of something.
For me, there are two (presumably) looming events I’ve been eagerly anticipating:
- A Nettle/Molly/Burrich confrontation
I noted in my previous post that Nettle nears- she’s making contact in Fitz’s dreams, and Chade (via Thick’s raw skilling) is aware of her and her Skill ability. How long can Fitz remain hidden from those in his past life?
We also had a near miss with Lady Patience earlier in this book. I feel we are due for some kind of collision soon. (Hell, I’d take Hands recognizing him at this point. Throw me a bone here!) - The Bingtown Brigade appearing
I am ready for the crossover event. To be up front, I did see the next chapter title: ‘Tidings from Bingtown.‘ So predicting a series collision doesn’t exactly make me Nostradamus. But I have been anticipating the stories to overlap in Tawny Man, and so far, it’s been a very Fitzian tale (no complaints!). We are around the trilogy’s midpoint, so surely the merge can’t be too far off.
Robin certainly has me on tenterhooks waiting for either event.
Right now, Fitz is in full sandwich-generation hell, trying to wrangle his “kids” while dealing with an increasingly erratic, aging Chade.
Listen, I know I have been hard on Chade. I would like to inform you that my opinion has not improved.
I would not say he’s aging gracefully. Chade is trying to uncover and develop his own Skill abilities. He’s like, “Didn’t you heal your wolf once with Skill? Cool, I will just learn to do that and live to 300.” Bro. Hang it up. (Side note: Chade would have thrived in 21st-century American politics.)
Eternal life isn’t enough. He also wants Fitz to build a coterie for Dutiful (because the last one went so well!) and unearth the secrets of the Skill-pillars. For someone with exactly zero experience with the Skill, he is awfully dismissive of Fitz’s concerns- Fitz, who’s been completely traumatized and basically had his whole life derailed by Skill magic. When Fitz voices (valid) concerns about teaching this whack job the Skill, Chade has the audacity to say:
“That has been your greatest weakness, Fitz. All your life. Too much caution. Not enough ambition.”
Actually, Chade, I would counter that his greatest weakness was getting mixed up with your user-ass.
Fitz’s feelings towards Chade are complicated. Mine are straightforward: he’s an asshole. We lost Nighteyes but still have this Merlin-wannabe jerk-off kicking around?
Honestly, he’s more irrational than the teens. No wonder Fitz has so many headaches.
(I didn’t even mention his zero qualms about killing Thick as a “solution” to the Skill concerns. Seriously, get fucked, Chade.)
Now let’s get into the rest:
Fitz and Dutiful make quite the father-son pair of quasi-boyfriends.
First, Fitz- if ever there was someone ill-suited for a friends-with-benefits setup, it’s him. He keeps the dalliance with Jinna going but cannot get out of his own head enough to enjoy it. The “relationship” comes to a head when Jinna walks into the local tavern to find Fitz comforting Laurel after the Piebalds killed her horse. Instead of clearing up the simple misunderstanding, Fitz avoids Jinna and it seems like this relationship of convenience has run its course. It may not have been a romance for the ages, but I will always be grateful for the good times we had (namely, one wild afternoon of Fitz unleashing his inner wolf).
Then there is Dutiful, throwing away years of carefully crafted international diplomacy by insulting his betrothed to flirt with some floozy over late-night cards. It’s almost impressive how little he learned from getting catfished (emphasis on the cat) approximately 10 minutes ago. How about we chill with all the ✨ but Lady Vance isn’t like the other girls ✨.
Kettricken needs to get his ass in line. She got married off to a lunatic who wouldn’t leave his tower, then ran away to turn into a dragon, and you don’t hear her complaining. (Actually, she could stand to be a smidge less loyal to Verity at this point. Arkon Bloodblade seems like he could be fun for a night. Live a little!)
Oh, you thought I was done going in on Chade? Nope. As he pushes Fitz to bring Nettle to Buckkeep to learn the Skill, we get this exchange:
Chade: “Nettle should be here, at Buckkeep, where she can be properly taught to master her talent.”
Fitz: “And she can be put into service for the Farseer throne.”
Chade: “Of course. If the magic is the gift of her bloodlines, then the service is her duty. The two go hand in hand. Or would you deny it to her because she too is a bastard?”
Hell is not hot enough.
I loved this stray shot Fitz fires at Civil Bresinga:
“In all the spying I’d ever done, Civil was the most boring subject I’d ever had.”
In less boring spying, I don’t know what is going on with Narcheska Elliania, but the vibes in her chambers are all-time bad. This is not a cohesive team. Everyone seems to agree that Elliania must hook Prince Dutiful, but “the how” is highly contentious. I can’t make sense of the servant woman at odds with Uncle Peottre but still holding some position, apparently representing a mysterious “Her.”
And when an Outislander mentions a “Her,” I can’t help but think of the White Lady from back in the Red Ship War days.
Ok! Keeping this post a bit briefer today. Channeling my namesake, I am sensing a shifting of the tides approaching. See you soon!
wizardwordship 