I’m in a Glass Case of Emotion
***Spoilers for The Tawny Man Trilogy through the end of Fool’s Fate.***
Well, friends – I have concluded my read-through of the Tawny Man trilogy. What a beautiful culmination to an incredible series. I was struck by how complete this story felt when combined with the Farseer Trilogy. They may stand as separate series, but they truly feel like necessary companions. While both are remarkable on their own, it’s the arc of all six books that I find almost unbelievably stunning. This ending leaves me with a strong sense of closure, and a deep curiosity about how the Fitz and the Fool trilogy will complement, expand upon, and ultimately conclude Fitz’s story.
Before diving into the emotional conclusion of our tale, I have to address my personal state as I write this post. I debated whether to include this, but what’s the point of blogging if not to show up authentically and share a piece of oneself? This endeavor has always been about connecting across the human experience, and what I’m going through now is something almost everyone can relate to. It also ties closely to the themes of the text, so I’d feel remiss not to include it.
As I write this, I am in the midst of saying goodbye to a beloved companion. My cat of almost eighteen years, Scampi, has reached the end of his life, and I’m making arrangements for a peaceful crossing for him. The timing of this – wrapping up Tawny Man as this occurs – feels almost fated. In some ways, I think I needed this series right now to help me cope with the loss.
Reading Fitz’s experience of losing Nighteyes alongside my own aging familiar has felt like a kind of pre-catharsis. And the wisdom Robin Hobb so beautifully offers about grief, life, and death throughout this saga is something I will cherish as I process my own.
I’m a bit too tender in this moment to dive into the deeper musings on death this series has provided (though I know there’s an incredibly meaningful return to this text in my future, and I will relish the ability to tap back into this moment in time). For now, I will carry with me the wisdom given to Dutiful upon the death of his wit-cat:
“Keep within you the cat tracks she left on your soul.”
Love you, Scampi. Pack forever. 🧡
Thank you for allowing me that moment.
And with that out of the way, let’s get into it.
As Tawny Man comes to a close, we focus on the two most significant relationships in Fitz’s life and their diverging paths. It’s as if one has to recede to make space for the other to flourish. This is the central tension of Fitz’s existence: as the Catalyst, he’s never had the freedom to live his own life or pursue his own desires. Molly represents the life and path he gave up in service of the greater Farseer (and the Realm’s) good.
Let’s narrow in on each, starting with the Fool.
The Fool
Fitz and the Fool’s final interaction is bittersweet- both inevitable and abrupt. They have one last conversation in which the Fool tells him he must set off into the world apart from Fitz. Fitz, ever the optimist, imagines they can all simply move forward together- one big happy family – but the Fool knows better:
“You’ll live among people who love you and have expectations of you. That will make your life horribly complicated and they will worry you sick half the time. And the other half, annoy you. And delight you.” … “Fate has given up on you, FitzChivalry Farseer. You’ve won. In the future that you now have found, it’s almost likely that you’ll live to a ripe old age, rather than that fate will try to sweep you from the playing board at every opportunity.”
Their parting may feel necessary for Fitz to reclaim his life, but it wouldn’t be them without peak angst:
“…I saw you, after my death, taking satisfaction in the things and people you had so long denied yourself. Living the life you were meant to have, after my death. You gave me another piece of life. Shall I use it to rob you of yours?
…I can love you, Fitz, but I cannot allow that love to destroy you and what you are.”
And:
“…I told you I set no limits on my love for you. I don’t. Yet I never expected you to offer me your body. It was the whole of your heart, all for myself, that I sought.”
The Fool wrestles to make Fitz understand the nature of their bond, and the necessity of letting go. Hobb gives us a beautiful metaphor linking their love to the love Fitz shared with Nighteyes. The Fool reminds him that Nighteyes sacrificed his own wild life to share one with Fitz, and he won’t take that same sacrifice from him:
“Fitz. I have thought long on this. I will not take your mate and cubs from you.”
Who is Fitz? On one hand, he’s the boy, who loved a girl and wanted nothing more than to settle down and raise a family. On the other, he’s the Catalyst, and the tool of the Farseer crown. Both roles he didn’t choose, both of which cost him the simple future he once longed for. The Fool sees this for what it is: Fitz’s chance to finally live the life he’s long been denied. But to claim it, he must shed the personas that have bound him. Even to the Farseers- he’s no longer their tool, but a man stepping into his own authority. His destiny now lies in his own hands.
The dawn is rising on a new era for Fitz, and this time, the Fool won’t interfere.
From a place of tentative understanding, the Fool clasps Fitz’s hand and – sneaky, sneaky – withdraws the Skill-bond they’ve shared, silver fingerprints and all. Though done out of love and selflessness, it’s heartbreaking to watch Fitz lose yet another intimate bond.
I love how Hobb handles their actual parting- with this conversation unknowingly being their last. Fitz goes off to collect Skill-scrolls with Prilkop, intending to return to the cave. Instead, he’s urgently called back to Buckkeep and uses the Skill-pillar despite Prilkop’s warnings about overuse. Fitz waves him off with a “yea, yea I’ve got this old man,” and finds himself on a month-long vacation in the Skill abyss, during which no one knows his whereabouts. Yikes!
It’s an effective time jump. He’s spit back out at Buckkeep, where Dutiful and Chade have returned from the Outislands, and the Fool has already departed on his own adventure, having stopped through Buckkeep in search of Fitz. They are ships passing in the night. The Fool leaves behind a memory stone for Fitz, carved with the images of Fitz, the Fool, and Nighteyes, preserving a few poignant memories of the three of them for Fitz to revisit.
When Fitz touches the Fool’s likeness, he receives this parting message:
“’I have never been wise.’ I shook my head over that. His last message to me and it had to be one of his riddles.”
It may have been a riddle to Fitz, but not to me! As soon as I read it, I recalled this exchange from their final conversation:
Fitz: “After I leave you here, will I ever see you again?”
The Fool: “Probably not. It would not be wise.”
There it is – our little cookie crumb trail leading us to The Fitz and the Fool trilogy. Fitz might not pick up on it, but I read it as reassurance: fret not at their parting, they will meet again.
‘Til then, friends.
The Fool’s farewell is hard (if only we had some indication there could be more of these two in the future 🤔). But with the bitter portion of the ending out of the way, let’s move on to the sweet.
Molly
Nothing delights me more than when Robin and I are on the same page. Last post, I closed with “Let’s end things on a horny note…” – and you know what? I must have sensed where Robin was headed all along. Despite what my posts may suggest, this is not, in fact, a particularly horny series (Tintaglia and Icefyre aside, more on them later). So perhaps it would be more accurate to describe our ending as “romantic,” “loving,” and/or “satisfying.” But whatever you call it, this ending felt like a heavenly slice of redemption for our #1 boy, Fitz.
It was a long road to reach this moment, but it had to be. So how did we get to our “fucking under the blackberry bush” moment of bliss?
After his aforementioned month-long Skillville vacation, Fitz returns to some key changes. Nettle now knows her true parentage- and (unlike me) is not ready to lovingly embrace Fitz as Daddy. Additionally, while Fitz is unconscious, Molly visits him in the infirmary, so the cat (Fitz’s existence) is officially out of the bag.
Fitz conveniently wakes up just in time for Harvest Fest, which brings all the key players to Buckkeep. He makes his rounds visiting those who matter most, and his scene with Patience and Lacey is gold. We know the path to a Molly-Fitz reconciliation is fraught, but this moment lays some crucial groundwork, and unlocks Fitz’s first glimmer of hope:
“‘I told her, it doesn’t matter how badly behaved your first love is, he always keeps a place in your heart. And she agreed that was true enough.’
I sat very still.
‘That she did,’ Lacey agreed, and her eyes flickered to me, as if measuring how stupid I could possibly be.”
And then, as they part, we get this subtle gem from Lacey:
“’Well, I suppose we’ve all changed a great deal. Molly, now, I’d have known her anywhere, but I’m not the woman that I used to be. Even for Molly, there are changes, though. She said to me, she said, “Fancy, Lacey, they’ve put me in the Violet Chamber, in the south wing. Me, as used to be a maid on the upper floors, housed in the Violet Chamber, where Lady and Lord Flicker used to live. Imagine such a thing!”‘ Again, her old eyes flickered to mine.
I gave one slow nod.”
What a final on-page moment for Lacey. She deserves acknowledgement- an elite character, instrumental in loving and caring for Fitz. She was a real one.
Now Fitz is equipped with the information he needs, plus a renewed determination to stop pussyfooting around his life. He’s still Fitz, though, so he creeps in the walls for a bit to watch over the festivities before spotting the perfect moment: Molly has retired, but her children are occupied at the party. It’s time to make his move.
I’ve been wondering if and when this reunion would come since the very first page of Tawny Man; even considering that perhaps this may be saved for the next trilogy. But of course, this is where our tale was headed all along. If the Farseer Trilogy chronicles Fitz’s loss, Tawny Man is his long, difficult journey back to what he lost- his first love, whom he vowed would be his only. Say what you want about Fitz: fickle, he is not.
Their initial encounter is fairly tepid. He works up the courage and knocks on her door:
“My heart was hammering and I was literally shaking in my shoes.”
Same, Fitz. Same.
Unsurprisingly, she tells him to go away. He worms his way in and gets the chance to explain himself. I was particularly impressed with his opening:
“The first stupid words out of my mouth were ‘He would not have wanted you to cut your hair.’”
Fitz, baby… come on. This is bad, even for you. Things barely improve, but he manages to start the conversation. There’s a long road ahead, but the channel is open.
He leaves feeling dejected, certain he’s too late. But this is Fitz, and when our boy’s on a mission, he’s not easily thwarted. Molly is now a single mother of seven, so finding a quiet moment alone is a challenge (ya think?!). But it helps Fitz see who Molly truly is now. If he wants her, he’ll have to join her whole world; there is no version of this that is just him and Molly. So he approaches her room again, this time while her rambunctious children are there:
“I suddenly realized the size of the promise that Burrich had demanded of me; it was easily seven times what Chivalry had asked of him when he handed me over to his right-hand man to raise.”
Fitz has longed for the idea of parenting, but here he’s faced with the reality, and he seizes his chance to be the man Burrich raised him to be:
“’I promised Burrich that I would look after his sons. I can’t do that if I don’t know them. I’ve come to introduce myself.’ … ‘My name is FitzChivalry Farseer. I grew up in the stables of Buckkeep. Your father taught me all things he thought a man should know. I would pass that on to his sons.’”
They’re not ready to welcome him with open arms, but Fitz is laying the foundation, brick by brick.
Molly’s family returns home and Fitz begins a long-distance courtship, sending gifts and messages via Riddle. It’s heartwarming to watch the ice slowly melt, even as Molly scolds him for sending sweets and toys. He’s patient but frustrated, and it’s Nettle who nudges him to make a bolder move. So he sends a package reminiscent of their picnic date on the cliffs, complete with the sweetest of notes:
“I remember you in red skirts. You climbed up the beach cliffs in front of me, and I saw your bare, sandy ankles. I thought my heart would leap out of my chest.”
Swoon. Three days later, Riddle returns with a reply: a sketched map to her home a note:
“Nettle said you were having a hard time finding your way back to me. Perhaps this will help.”
And with that, the train has officially left the station! Fitz drops everything and heads out through the snow to get to her. He only needed the tiniest of openings, and he won’t put anything ahead of her again. He tells Chade to shove the Calling up his ass (OK, that’s how I interpreted it) and leaves.
He arrives amid the bustle of Molly’s home life and jumps in to help the boys with the barn chores. Once again, he’s struck with the reality of her life: she’s not free to be whisked away to be romanced and finding space to be alone proves difficult.
“I suddenly saw that Molly was no longer someone’s daughter, to be whisked off from her father’s house and become mine. She was the center of a world here, with roots and ties.”
But it’s in this moment we get perhaps my favorite passage of the entire series:
“I looked at her, in her simple, somber-hued robe. Her hands were no longer smooth and slender; there were lines in her face that had not been there when she was mine. Her body had softened and rounded with the years. She was no longer the girl in the red skirts, running down the beach before me.
‘I have never wanted anything so much in my life as I’ve always wanted you.‘
‘Fitz!’ she exclaimed, glancing up at the loft, and I suddenly realized I had spoken the words aloud. Her cheeks glowed and she lifted both hands to cover her mouth with her fingertips.”
I just- this is it. This is everything. He loves this woman. Not for the idea of her, but for who she really is.
Their courtship continues slowly. There are visits, messages, and the gradual rebuilding of trust. Fitz keeps his word, giving her time – though not without increasing frustration – until Nettle gives him the subtlest of clues that the time is right. Fueled by yearning, Fitz makes it to her in record time. Everyone finds somewhere to be, and Molly steals him to go “blackberry picking.”
He gets a few bee stings, which turn into some erotic stinger-removal-by-mouth foreplay. They finally get their moment, and it’s as beautiful and tender as you’d hope. After all the loss, trauma, and longing, there’s finally healing:
“I turned to her, knowing that she was waiting for me. It still took all my courage. Very carefully, I kissed her. I kissed her cheeks, her throat, and finally her mouth. She tasted of blackberries. Over and over, I kissed her, as slowly as I could, trying to kiss away all the years I had missed. I unlaced her blouse and lifted it over her head, baring her to the blue summer sky above us. Her breasts were soft and heavy in my hands. I treasured them. Her skirt slipped away, a blown blossom on the grass. I laid my love down in the deep wild grasses and sweetly took her to me.
It was homecoming, and completion, and a marvel worth repeating.”
What a fucking ride. Bravo, Robin. Bravo.
If you can believe, I do still have some musings to get to:
Well, my big, bold prediction that Chade wouldn’t make it out of Tawny Man alive is officially a bust. We may not have gotten rid of this piece of crap elderly mentor, but that just means Chade Death Watch can carry on into the Fitz and the Fool trilogy!
Fitz and Chade did share some heartfelt moments as we would down Tawny Man, but that doesn’t make a dent in getting him back into my good graces after all he’s inflicted upon us. Can’t wait to read about his creative new ways for pissing me off in the future. In the meantime, I’ll stay hatin’.
Remember when I said this series wasn’t particularly horny? Well, Tintaglia and Icefyre decidedly did not get the memo. They swoop into town for Dutiful and Elliania’s wedding (a little attention-stealy, if you ask me) and immediately start going at it in the air for all to see:
“They coupled in a display of wanton lust that delighted the gathered witnesses as a good omen for their prince and new princess. No one with even a drop of the Skill in them could have been completely immune to the passions of those great beasts. It infected the crowd with a wave of both sentiment and amorousness that made that evening’s festivities a night long and fondly remembered by many.”
You know what? I distinctly recall hoping in a former post that Tintaglia would get laid and lighten up a bit. So I guess ask and ye shall receive with this one.
Of all the predictions I could have made, Hap turning minstrel was one I never saw coming. Conversely, in the easiest prediction of all time, Svenja made off with his money, ditched him, and he lost his apprenticeship.
But all is not lost- he found his calling as a minstrel, surprising both Fitz and me. Fitz gives classic dad energy with a sort of “whatever makes you happy, son” reaction. Still, Hap’s turn minstrel gave us one of the most insightful pieces of wisdom in the entire series, courtesy his minstrel mentor (say that 5 times fast), Sawtongue:
“Sawtongue says that when you let go and follow your fate instead of trying to twist your life around and master it, a man finds that happiness follows him.”
Our young loves, Prince Dutiful and Narcheska Elliania, get a very sweet happily-ever-after moment. After Dutiful delays the wedding so Elliania can remain with her family a bit longer, she surprises him by showing up unexpectedly, unable to wait any longer to be together. He might not know Fitz is his biological father, but there’s no doubt who he got his charisma from – the rizz is in the genes!
We’ve come a long way from Fool’s Errand, where we were chasing down Dutiful as he was lured off by that creepy cat woman. I’ve loved his development throughout this series and am excited for more Fitz-Dutiful dynamic in the future.
We learn Starling is going to have a baby, so she has to give up her old ways and buckle down as a proper wife and mom.
Ah, Nettle. Molly’s daughter indeed. She’s cold toward Fitz when he first wakes, but like with Molly, we get some beautiful openings as these two work to figure out what their relationship can look like moving forward.
I loved the full circle moment of Fitz opening the secret door in her chambers that leads her up to his workroom. She joins him, and they begin the process of getting to know each other. She notes that Fitz’s lack of relationship with Chivalry sounds like them, leading to this hopeful exchange:
“Except that I have a chance to know you now. If we are both bold enough to take it.”
“I’m here,” she pointed out, settling deeper into the chair. And then she fell silent and I could not think of anything to say. Then she pointed at the Fool’s carving. “Is that your wolf? Nighteyes?”
“Yes.”
She smiled. “He looks exactly like I thought you would. Tell me more about him.”
And so I did.
I won’t go too into the epilogue, which gives a sweet and tidy accounting of where everyone landed after our tale. As with Assassin’s Quest, it offers a sense of finality, but I trust Robin to skillfully open the story right back up.
Still, I do have to mention the heart-bursting joy of reading that Fitz and Molly wed, surrounded by loved ones and settled into life together in Withywoods.
And that closing line just sums it all up:
I have Molly and she is enough for me, and more.
I am content.
Oh my. I can’t believe this journey has reached its end. Tawny Man will forever hold a special place in my heart, and sharing my reactions along the way is an experience I will treasure. I’m going to take a brief breather and will be back soon to document my journey through the Rain Wild Chronicles.
If there’s anything I remember from our time back in Liveship, it’s that we can count on things getting weird in the Rain Wilds – and I’m ready to match their freak. See you there!
wizardwordship 