Queens Gonna Queen
***Spoilers for The Rain Wilds Chronicles. Mentions of the events of The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy, and The Tawny Man Trilogy are fair game, too.***
Well, I am gobsmacked. What a conclusion. The way all of the pieces fit together at the end to complete the puzzle Robin has been building throughout this series.
I know The Rain Wilds Chronicles often get labeled as the weakest of RotE. And it’s tough when you’re interrupting the Fitz-centered series and your competition is Tawny Man, Liveship Traders, et. al. But damn. It really cannot be overstated how excellent this series is. I mean, if the criteria is “slightly less good than the greatest stories ever written,” then sure.
And it’s such an essential part of the larger saga. I’ve spent a decent amount of time discussing how RWC expands the worldbuilding and lore, but it is absolutely mind-boggling to think where we started – with Fitz fucking around in Kelsingra back in the Farseer trilogy, memory stones activating while we had no clue what was going on – to where we are now.
Have I mentioned Robin Hobb is the GOAT? I’m truly in awe of the world she’s created.
So where to even start?
I’m going to the scene that took my breath away: Thymara and Rapskal (🥺) heading down the well.
To me, this was the culmination of our whole tale. The moment our dragons’ and Elderlings’ place in the world was finally secured – the age of dragons and Elderlings restored.
And there were so many threads throughout this story that led to the opening of the well. From the time spent establishing Rapskal’s immersion into the memory stones and surrender to the tale of Tellator and Amarinda, to the numerous moments Thymara insists she will never go down the well (talk about famous last words), all the way back to our very first scene with her in Trehaug- where we learn of her climbing prowress. This was her destiny all along.
And as she unlocks the seams, filling the well with Silver once again, she saves baby Phron, Tintaglia, and unlocks the key to Kelsingra’s future.
But this triumph is not without sacrifice.
And I have to say, in an ending full of joy and satisfaction, losing Rapskal to the memory of Tellator devastated me. He’s long been a favorite here at WWS. His endless optimism and goofy demeanor were such a welcome, necessary presence in an often heavy, slogging journey. He was a light in some of the darkest moments. A beacon of faith and hope.
And he gave himself entirely in the pursuit of knowledge and skills needed to restore the Elderling race.
Tellator mostly sucks, and it’s hard not to share Thymara’s detestation of him – we mourn Rapskal too! – but it’s difficult to deny his utility in rallying the Elderlings to their potential and unlocking the Silver.
And though it’s sad, it also feels narratively necessary in freeing Thymara’s heart fully to Tats. In the end, she doesn’t have to deny her love for Rapskal or choose between them. Her love for him remains, and ultimately becomes something shared with Tats, even as she moves forward knowing he’s gone to her as she knew him.
I don’t think his contributions can be overstated.
- He alone had the enduring faith that the dragons would fly- and his dragon was the first to take to the skies.
- He and Heeby survived the flood and found Kelsingra, ultimately shepherding the others there.
- And he gave himself completely to learn what was necessary for the dragons and keepers to prosper.
He was brave and good. And I hope a glorious statue is raised in his honor.
Damn. I’m sad as hell.
Oh, Hest. You beautiful disaster, you.
In Hest’s downfall, we get to see what happens when Bingtown’s Prince of Privilege enters an environment where his social status holds no weight.
He thinks he can deploy all the familiar tools and tricks of his past to get his way, but fails to realize his superficial source of power doesn’t exist amongst the societal down-and-outs founding Kelsingra.
And, appropriately, his downfall is his delusion. Cut from the Kennit cloth, this one.
We get faceoffs between him and Alise, and him and Sedric. They are satisfying, but in some ways almost anticlimatic, because Alise and Sedric have moved so far beyond him.
Alise is briefly rattled when he first confronts her – thinking he can simply woo her back to him – but quickly regains her conviction that her life with Hest is over.
He makes a final attempt at gaslighting and coercion, but when Sedric steps in to assert he will back up Alise’s claims of Hest’s infidelity, he effectively defangs Hest’s hold on the marriage.
We later see him dip back into the playbook he once used on a young, vulnerable Sedric to try to woo Davvie. Once again, he misreads the situation (and overestimates his appeal) and ends up getting physically rejected.
No worries for Hest, though – this buys him some precious time with Sedric. And, not one to learn, he assumes they can finally cut the crap and Sedric will fall back into line under his thumb.
Au contraire! Sedric is not the same man you shipped up river in a petulant rage.
“’How well I know that. Ah, well, we’ve both changed, haven’t we? Sweet Sa, if you knew the half of what I’ve gone through to find you and bring you home! Well, someday we’ll share that tale with the fellows, won’t we? And have a good laugh about your sojourn in the wilderness. I’ll wager you’re more than ready for a comfortable home and a glass of good wine. And an evening alone with me.’ He smiled at him, an inviting smile that Sedric would well recall. He licked his lips.
Sedric was meeting his gaze steadily. His mouth was flat, unsmiling, his eyes unreadable. ‘No, Hest. No to all of it.’”
Sedric savagely refuses him and then punches him in the face and walks away without a second thought to him.
Incredibly, Hest still hasn’t gotten the message. He assumes Sedric will come running back, maintaining belief in his power over him to the very end.
So when he reluctantly concedes to go after him…
“Let Sedric think he had won this round. Give him a tiny triumph so he didn’t feel totally beaten. It would make their next encounter even more interesting when Hest brought him back to his knees.”
…Sedric isn’t waiting.
Instead, Hest finds himself in a bathing chamber, mano a mano with a large blue dragon: Kalo.
And listen, when you’re pitching a perfect game of delusion, you double down. And that’s exactly what Hest does. Because of course there is no version of this story where Hest shows humility or admits defeat. Instead, he moves on to his next target of seduction: a dragon.
This scene is the cherry on top. At this point, we are just toying with Hest.
We’ve seen him taken down physically. Reduced to a slave. Rebuffed by his wife and his lover. And now we get to watch him attempt to woo a dragon, while we are fully aware he is the mouse to Kalo’s cat.
And Kalo is quite literally playing with his food.
“That’s better, Blue Glory. The sooner we understand each other, the easier this will be.”
…’I understand you, human. And I think I will give you a special name, too.’
Extraordinary. But an excellent sign of how swiftly they were bonding. Hest smiled at his dragon. ‘Shall I help you, Blue Glory? You could call me Glory’s Master. Or Silver Rider.’
…’No. I think not,’ he said, and amusement shimmered in the rumbling voice. ‘I think I will name you ‘Meat.’ ”
Hest out here thinking he’s choosing his own majestic dragon-tamer nickname, and Kalo calls him “Meat.”
The Realm of the Elderlings rightfully earns its reputation as an emotional heavyweight, but its humor is criminally underrated. This shit can be absolutely hilarious.
And so, without an ounce of pomp or ceremony, Kalo chomps down Hest and goes about his day. He’s so insignificant at the end that his fate is never even shared with the others – destined to remain between us and Kalo forever.
We’re left with the sense that this man, who believed he was the center of the universe, ends as a footnote in the lives he tried to control.
Rest hard, Glory’s Master.
Let’s get to our final RWC Musings!
I should probably touch on the Elderlings riding into battle on their dragons, with the aim of destroying Chalced. That feels like a fairly important plot point to mention.
If there is even the most minuscule opening for critique in Hobb’s writing (and I’m not saying there is), I think it would have to be around pacing. I’m also more than happy to argue that RotE is a work of perfection and any issues you find with pacing are, frankly, your own problem.
But the ending does feel just a smidge rushed for a series that certainly takes its time getting here.
(Also, I am actively fighting myself not to draw comparisons between the battle of Chalced to Dany’s sacking of Kings Landing from dragonback in Season 8 of GoT.)
We spend so much time building up the big bad Duke of Chalced, only for his death to occur off-page and the battle itself to register as a relatively quick blip. Likewise, we get very little follow-up on our post-Duke, post-Hest world.
I wouldn’t have minded seeing Selden’s arrival in Kelsingra. Or what about a bird message showing the relief of our NPC Vestrits learning he’s safe? (Wait… did we get that?)
But honestly, at the end of the day, we don’t really need more.
Our boy is saved. The dragon hunting has been nipped in the bud. And all is well in the realm.*
(*That is, until we head north to see what horrors Robin’s ready to dish out to Fitz.)
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Reyn 👏 is 👏 a 👏 wife 👏 guy.
First we get him being the greatest husband and father to Malta and Phron, and then we wrap up with him riding into battle on Tintaglia’s back. He’s really the blueprint.
Okay, I’ve got to make a little space for Alise and Leftrin. And the fact that I don’t have much to say is a testament to their non-complicated, non-toxic brand of love.
I’ve poked fun at their mushiness quite a bit, but I love the choice to put all the tension in the buildup, and then let their romance be smooth sailing (ba dum tss) once they’re together.
Alise knows exactly what love doesn’t feel like, so it’s no surprise she recognizes the real thing when she finds it.
I adored this quiet moment, perfectly them:
“…’It’s not often that people are offered the chance to just begin anew.’
‘Not often,’ he agreed. He was silent, mulling something. Then, ‘Be my wife,’ he said suddenly.”
They may be corny, but they’re earned.
Boat mom and dad 4eva 🫶
One last Serpent Struggle Bus check-in for the road:
Did I fuck up when I thought it was revealed our old serpent pal Sessurea had been turned into Tarman’s feet? (What a sentence.) I could have sworn that was heavily alluded to.
But then we get this curious observation while flying to battle:
“Mercor led their formation, and Sintara had been proud to fly to his right. Blue-black Kalo had taken his left, and then Sestican and Baliper. Those three, she knew somehow, had been a long time with the golden dragon, perhaps swimming with him as serpents once.”
I’m too lazy to go back and reread the Tarman section right now, but I’m happy if our ol’ pals are out there living their best dragon lives.
Before Hest got munched by a dragon, our villain’s villain, Lord Dargen (formerly known as the Chalcedean) also went by way of dragon snack.
The whole Tintaglia chase sequence was harrowing, and I was genuinely distraught when I thought she might have been killed.
Alas, in this case, the enemy of my enemy was very much not my friend, so I was more than happy to see him go.
(Also, in my memory, I had Spit taking him out, but on a reread, it’s a blue-black dragon. Did Kalo snack on both Lord Dargen and Hest? What a legend.)
Tats-Thymara-Rapskal weren’t our only love triangle to track as we closed out RWC.
We got a late-entry dragon version, with both Kalo and Icefyre competing for Tintaglia’s affection.
And while I found Tintaglia and Icefyre’s unhappy union amusing at the start of the series, I found Kalo’s more modern approach to dragon love genuinely heartwarming.
Let’s be real, after everything our Six Duchies besties went through to free him, Icefyre turns out to be kind of a dud.
I get that he’s our old-school, boomer dragon, but it was rough watching Tintaglia struggle through her sickness alone. And then, in her darkest hour – death seemingly imminent – Kalo shows up with food and keeps her alive.
(Is his motivation just to get a piece of that magnificent sapphire ass? Perhaps. But we can choose romance.)
I also really enjoy the subtle reminders that these dragons aren’t quite typical, shaped as they are by having been forced to herd together and share resources.
They are still grade-A assholes, but slightly more communal than dragons of past. Icefyre may rebuke the young’uns for their modern ways, but I love this new partnership for Tintaglia.
Get a male worthy of you, queen!
I’d feel remiss if I didn’t comment on Chassim and Selden, but we frankly didn’t spend enough time with them to form much of a connection to their relationship.
We do get a small note that, with Chassim’s rise to Duchess, there are rumors she’s negotiating peace with the Six Duchies- so I’m wondering if she’s being set up to be a presence in Fitz and the Fool.
Anyway, I’m glad they were rescued and glad they had each other in their darkest hours.
Wishing Chassim all the best as she tries to reform Chalced. She’s got her work cut out for her.
(And if she happens to find success cleaning up the mess left behind by an asshole, authoritarian tyrant in failing health, please pass those notes this way.)
Alright, I’m trying to get out of here (and back to Fitz!) so I’ll keep this brief.
But I loved the catch-up scene with Alise and Leftrin, and Althea and Brashen aboard Paragon.
Best moment: Paragon (aka ShipFitz) revealing everyone’s fertility and encouraging breeding.
“Do you expect to breed soon?”
Leftrin choked on his tea.
“Not that I’m aware,” Alise replied demurely.
“A pity. It might be productive for you just now.” Paragon was politely enthused.
“Can we please just not?” Althea asked him, almost sharply. “It’s bad enough to have you offering Brashen and me your helpful insights into productive breeding without you extending your wisdom to our guests.”
Oh, Paragon. You silly boat.
I touched on Tats and Thymara earlier, but the final note we leave on (before the egg-laying day epilogue) is such a beautiful, joyous scene.
They’re out exploring – dragon coitus in the air (I’ve had to stop even commenting on the dragon horniness this series, it’s so plentiful) – and a chase ensues.
Thymara takes brief flight across a ravine, but dear, persistent Tats leaps after her. I loved the nod to just how long it took to get here:
“Caught you,” he said.
The impact had driven the breath from her body. She gasped in air and answered, “Yes. You have. At last.”
You know what? I think we’ve done it. We ventured into the Rain Wilds and we emerged triumphant. We move forward with a lot more knowledge and just a few lingering acid water scars.
See you for our final series: Fitz and the Fool.
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