It’s Fitzney, Bitch.
***Spoilers for the Fitz and the Fool trilogy through Fool’s Quest chapter 26. Mentions of the events of The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy, The Tawny Man Trilogy, and The Rain Wilds Chronicles are fair game, too.***
It’s been a while since we checked in on the many personas of Fitz.
We’ve got our stalwarts: lonely boy Fitz, his close cousin emo Fitz, and daddy Fitz. Then there are the rarer varietals: content Fitz, loverboy Fitz, and properly-valued Fitz.
But here, we get the return of a very specific brand: badass assassin Fitz.
Now, if you were judging purely by the titles that comprise this sixteen-book series, you would probably think assassination was a big part of the story. But despite the titular title bestowed upon our boy, we actually get relatively little assassinating. Even when Fitz recounts past “assignments,” they feel more like footnotes than important moments.
But now? He’s back. (And maybe more assassin-y than ever?).
Assassin Fitz has been unleashed. And we know what our boy is like when he is on a mission.
I first want to give a shoutout to Fitz’s underrated cleverness in using the Wit to bypass the Whites’ Skill-blocking to track Bee and Shun/Shine. (Here we go again with the double-name dilemma. Though, as I wrote that, ShunShine makes for a delightful accidental nickname. An elegant solution presents itself!)
This is such a great example of the interplay between the two magic systems, and how they don’t just exist as cool powers- they actively shape how the plot unfolds in the complex world Robin Hobb builds.
The kidnappers are covering their tracks on multiple fronts. Any humans who come into contact with them are altered and unable to recall what they’ve seen. And they’re traveling off the beaten to minimize the chance of being noticed in the first place. So they’re essentially invisible.
But you know who’s impervious to the Skill and can scour the wilderness with a bird’s-eye view? Birds.
And you know who can communicate with these useful scouts? The Old Blood – to whom Fitz is something of a folk hero.
Our Witted bastard is no one-trick, mind-magic pony. They may have locked off his royal magic, but in doing so, they’ve unleashed the beast.
(Also, I really enjoyed Civil Bresinga popping up as our sort of Wit envoy. Nice to see you, old pal.)
What’s been especially interesting in this stretch is the continued exploration of Fitz’s identity. Of course, this has been a core theme as we’ve followed much of his life, but it feels particularly sharp right now.
“I put the Fool and all his warnings and advice from my mind, and set aside the man that Burrich had hoped I would become. I cut Holder Badgerlock from my heart and banished Prince FitzChivalry to the shadows where he had lived for so many years. I squared my shoulders and closed my heart.
There was another person in the depths of me. Chade’s boy.”
He’s grappling with the part of himself that is a trained assassin – and, thus, kills people 😬. It blurs the line between professional identity and personal identity: something he’s competent at, but not something he wants to define him. And certainly not how he wants others to see him.
As he hunts Bee and ShunShine, and contemplates what he may have (and want) to do to get them back, he becomes very concerned about who might witness it.
I really liked this exchange between Riddle and Fitz. After drugging Riddle, Lant and Per so he can head out alone (a move I personally support- sometimes you’ve got to lone-wolf it), Fitz later explains:
“I didn’t want any of you to witness what I might have to do. I didn’t want you to see me as…what I truly am. What I had to be today.”
“I think I know who you are.”
“Probably you do. I’m still not proud to have you see it. Let alone watch me do it.” I looked away from him. “I’d rather that my daughter’s husband, the father of my grandchild, not be a party to things like this.”
So here’s the question at the heart of it: is this what Fitz truly is?
I’m going to argue no.
There was a line from earlier in the book that really stuck with me, but got left on the cutting room floor of my last post. Fitz asks himself:
“How did Tom Badgerlock intersect with FitzChivalry Farseer?”
Exactly.
How do all these versions of Fitz intersect?
We’ve got Fitz: bastard, prince, assassin, father, changer, Witted, Skilled, husband, holder, frequent die-er, fighter, lover… I could go on.
Which version is the most real? The boy in love with Molly? Chade’s pupil and tool? The Fool’s catalyst and savior of the world? The man in a cabin living a simple life with his wolf and his boy?
I suppose the simple answer is all of them. We aren’t one thing. Different seasons of our lives bring different roles to the forefront, while others recede- but they all remain part of us.
And once again, we arrive at the ultimate truth: Robin Hobb is the master of character development.
Fitz is, of course, her magnum opus, but we see it across her entire cast. She allows her characters be multifaceted- perfectly imperfect and deeply human.
I don’t need a perfectly righteous, untouchable hero. I can relate to the father that feels like he’s getting it all wrong, even when love is clearly at the foundation.
I didn’t kill people in my twenties (my biggest crimes were smoking pot and crimes against fashion), but I can absolutely look back and cringe at who I was- and recognize that I’ve changed.
That’s what’s makes this series so beautiful. It uses a fantastical world to reflect deeply human experiences, ones that trascend time, place, and circumstance.
Bra-fucking-vo.
I’ve given a lot of space to Fitz and what he’s going through, so I should probably touch on where we leave off with Bee.
As tensions between the Whites and Chalcedeans boil over into full-blown chaos – leaving everyone either dead or scattered – Bee and ShunShine manage to slip away on their own.
It’s bleak. but I was (stupidly) filled with hope. They were free of their captors. Fitz wasn’t far behind- with a crow! I genuinely believed we might be heading for a reunion.
It’s as if I get a lobotomy after each book and enter the next with zero recollection of how things tend to go in the Six Duchies.
So of course, they are instead recovered by a misted Chalcedean – the only one they could possibly hope to trust as he had previously sworn to protect them. (But daddy, he’s different!) And he leads them directly back to the Whites.
Fuck!
It gets worse. The Whites have found some Skill pillars. (Didn’t Dutiful say there were none in the area? Get ahold of your kingdom.)
They rush to pull them through before Fitz and company can catch up, but we get a last second stroke of genius from Bee. She bites the Chalcedean’s hand (going to stay true to brand and not learn his name!), breaking his grip on the chain holding ShunShine on the other side.
She can’t stop herself from getting pulled through, but she’s at least able to stop ShunShine from following. Which sets up a crucial line of communication back to Fitz about what’s happened.
So Bee is pulled through the fabric of reality to god knows where. And ShunShine is left behind, presumably to be picked up by Fitz to provide the 411 on the creeps who have taken Bee.
And from there? We should be off. A goose chase across lands far and wide to retrieve Bee and defeat the evil Whites.
So who’s going on this mission with Fitz? Here are my thoughts on a possible squad:
The Locks
- Perseverance – We know he feels sworn to Bee and has already shown his determination to be involved.
- Lant/ShunShine – I would love to leave these two deadweights (particularly Lant) behind, BUT I think the unique circumstances of ShunShine’s Skill block, combined with her knowledge of Bee’s captors, may make her essential personnel. And we know where ShunShine goes, Lant follows, so I think we may be stuck with him too. Also, they are both annoying. We were lucky to not have Starling along for the Asvejal mission, I don’t think we are getting that lucky again.
- The Fool – We know our newest dragon-adjacent is itching to head to Clerres and exact revenge. The dragon blood has been accelerating his healing, but he’s not there yet. Do we think the rest of that vial is going down the hatch to speed things up even more?
- A few random members of Fitz’s guard/the Rousters – Gotta have some muscle and sacrificial lambs for when things go sideways
The Maybes
- Riddle – He’s sort of Fitz’s right-hand man, and he’s invested in getting Bee back. But with a baby on the way, is Fitz really going to pull him away from Nettle? I’m a little worried for Riddle’s survival. I was concerned when he rode out on the current mission with Fitz, and I don’t know, I’m just getting a vibe. His loss feels like exactly the kind of heartbreak Robin would inflict on us.
- Swift and/or Steady – It feels like a Molly/Burrich child will tag along. Could it be Swift for his Wit, or Steady for his strength-lending abilities?
- One of Dutiful and Elliania’s prince sons – We haven’t gotten much time with these two, but maybe it’s time for them to step it up. There are two of them, so maybe the spare needs to set out and make something of himself. We’ve also gotten quite a few hints that news of Bee being taken will reflect badly on the crown- maybe sending one of the princes on the rescue mission helps smooth that over.
The Longshots
- Kettricken – Now here’s an idea! We’ve been on one quest with her, so we know she can hold her own. She could be getting a little bored hanging around Buckkeep without much to do. I’m not sure she would be willing to set off so far from the Mountain Kingdom, though, so I’m not putting money on it. But I would appreciate ample opportunity for charged Fitz/Kettricken moments. What happens in a quest tent, stays in a quest tent. I’m just saying.
- Chade – You just stay in bed, old man.
- Hap – This one’s a wildcard, but mentioning Starling made me think a minstrel could tag along again. And we know he has a connection to Bee. Could Hap wander back in, bored and looking for something to do?
The Dragons/Elderlings/Series Hoppers
- Paragon aka ShipFitz – Don’t tease me with “Clerres is a city far, far to the south of us. Past Chalced, past the Pirate Isles, past Jamaillia, past the Spice Isles. It requires a journey by ship” and then not give me a fucking liveship. I have been calling for Fitz to sail on ShipFitz ever since that beautiful masthead face was revealed. Neeeeeed.
- Elderlings (Rapskal, Thymara, Tats) – I think we need a proper Elderling in the mix. Could it be one of these three?
- Dragons – Obviously whichever dragon comes with said Elderling. But this raises an important question: whose blood is the Fool drinking? And is he going to need to link up with this dragon to complete whatever transformation is happening?
Very excited to see how wrong I am this time around! Let’s get to musings and then get back to it!
Musings!
There’s a lot to unpack, but I’d like to return to birds for a moment. As Fitz sets off on Operation: Find Bee and Kill Everyone Else, he finds himself, mostly unwillingly, forming connections with two animal companions: his wonderful new horsey, Fleeter, and mercurial crow, Motley.
Now, a mere handful of sentences ago, I was praising the usefulness of birds (especially ones that can talk and find things like, oh, I don’t know, massacre sites). So it’s pretty fucking annoying to watch Fitz repeatedly shoo Motley away and fail to recognize the incredibly useful tool at his disposal.
With Fitz, it’s either strategic brilliance or absolute stupidity. There is no middle ground. At this point, we just have to accept this about our boy.
If you were with me on my Rain Wilds Chronicles journey, then you will surely remember my absolutely hilarious bit about refusing to learn any of the Chalcedeans’ names.
And I’m nothing if not committed to the bit, because I did not even connect Chancellor Ellik, leader of the Chalcedean mercenaries accompanying the kidnapping crew, with Chancellor Ellik, promised successor to the Duke of Chalced pre-dragon destruction.
Wow!
When I said I wanted more crossover with friends from other parts of the world, he wasn’t exactly who I had in mind.
What I do love is that our time with Chalcedeans in RWC perfectly set us up to understand how they operate. We don’t need a full introduction to this band of mercenaries, because we’ve already seen exactly what they are capable of.
(See: reducing Hest to a boot-licking dog. Ahh, the good ol’ days.)
But I should also emphatically say: I was not one bit upset to watch Ellik, and then Hogen, get tortured by Fitz and die.
Fitz might be worried about how others are going to perceive his actions, but all I can say is: you’re doing amazing, sweetie!
I mean, here’s a little snippet of conversation between Fitz and the rapist, Hogen:
“All know women can possess no honor. They are weak! Their lives have no meaning save what men give to them.
…
“Strange,” I said quietly when he ran out of wind. I moved my knife up to his face. “My women gave meaning to my life: I hurt those who hurt mine.”
Goddamnit. I have to talk about Chade. This motherfucker could survive a nuclear bomb.
And let’s circle back to “motherfucker” for a moment, if we may.
I already clocked that ShunShine was clearly his daughter. But now we get full confirmation that not only ShunShine, but also Lant, are indeed his biological children.
Let me be extremely clear when I say: Fuck Chade.
He’s out here boning nineteen year olds – and Huntswoman Laurel?!?! – with wild abandon, siring little bastard’s bastards.
And then has the audacity to lament how they were raised and how they turned out.
Chade makes some wild statements, but this one really made me want to slap the shit out of him:
“When finally I could come out, when finally I could eat an elegant meal, dance to music, and, yes, enjoy the company of lovely women, why would I not? Tell me this, Fitz. Is it not purely luck on your part that you don’t have a child or two from your past?”
What a question to ask Fitz. GAHHH!!!
On top of all that, he also sets up a full Luke-and-Leia situation in the Six Duchies.
We’ve watched ShunShine and Lant drool all over each other. And it is pretty highly implied they moved past flirting 🤮.
I could say more, but I’m going to move on before I have an aneurism.
Chade also nearly loses himself entirely to the Skill-stream after getting injured in the ambush and continuing to utilize Skill-pillars with little regard to the risks. It at least gave us this beautiful line:
“Like a seedhead that, at the whisper of the wind, launches itself into a thousand pieces, so was Chade.”
But just like I can’t handle Fitz getting pushed to the brink of death (okay, technically past) again, I also cannot continue to watch Chade escape death’s jaws by the skin of his teeth.
Let go, Chade. Let the Skill-stream take you. I promise we will be okay.
Also, I’m sorry, but I did not resonate with Chade’s sudden fatherly love and desperation to get ShunShine back. You were barely present in her life. GTFOH with your performative dad bullshit.
Where do I even start with the Fool?
We learn he almost died after panicking and trying to escape Buckkeep when Fitz rushed off to Withywoods. But resourceful little Ash finds an intriguing vial (Chekhov’s vial from last post!) in Chade’s dispensary and makes the rash decision to administer dragon blood to save him.
Let’s go! Ash with the A+ amateur doctoring. Real catalyst energy from this one.
So now the Fool is healing, plus possibly taking on some dragon-y characteristics, as we know tends to happen.
Once again, we benefit from our vast knowledge of all things dragon from our RWC days. Take, for example, this description of the Fool’s post-blood experience:
“But a little while ago, my guts were burning inside me and I wept on Kettricken’s shoulder as if I were a dying child.”
Well that sounds very familiar- just like Sedric back on Tarman. And we saw how that turned out: it transformed him into a full-on Elderling and also forged a strong bond with the dragon whose blood he drank. (What up, Relpda?)
Is the Fool next in the Elderling downline? Does dragon blood affect Whites the same way?
Stay tuned!
There’s quite a bit more going on with the Fool this section.
We also get him and Fitz finally piecing together the whole “Bee is the unexpected son” situation. And once one piece falls into place, the rest comes together very quickly.
The Fool realizes that Bee is both his and Fitz’s child, a result of their joining (and just whatever bizarre White magic is at play here.) But Fitz is a little slow on the uptake, so the Fool has to spell it out:
“No, Beloved. Of course I was never with Molly.” His fingertip tapped the table, once, twice, thrice. He smiled gently. Then he said, “I was with you.”
This was a little cheeky for such a heavy moment, for my taste. When you’re partially claiming another man’s child, perhaps not the time for salacious innuendo. But, Fool gonna Fool.
And poor Fitz. His mind goes to the same place mine did (when I, naturally, put this together many, many chapters ago):
“An unwelcome memory intruded. Dutiful had been conceived by Verity’s use of my body. Did Dutiful have two fathers?”
Double-dadding twice in one lifetime. What a wild ride.
Where is this Bee/Wolf-Father (Nighteyes?) connection heading?
I’ve mostly just been assuming that the wolfish “father” presence in Bee is Nighteyes, but what is actually going on here?
Is this simply Nighteyes’ psyche reaching her from the great beyond? Or is this tied into the whole Nighteyes-Fitz-Fool soul-melding situation?
Fitz merged with both Nighteyes and the Fool, which resulted in the Fool partially fathering Bee. Is that how Nighteyes essence has also come to reside within her?
“I’m right here, Wolf-Father said. I’ve never left you.
My other father.
We are one.“
I’ve kind of just been accepting this without thinking too hard about it, but I’m starting to get curious about what it actually means.
There has to be a reason this presence exists within Bee.
Okay, folks. I’m losing steam and want to finish out Fool’s Quest post-haste.
One of the hazards of reacting to such a large chunk of book is that there are a lot of important things to touch on, and I just cant do them all justice.
So here are a few moments that I want to acknowledge briefly and keep it moving:
Vindelier
The White’s magic-man secret weapon. He has some staggering mind control powers.
Skill Shit (in general)
Post-Fitz and Chade’s harried journey through the pillar back to Buckkeep, we get some really fascinating Skill revelations. We learn more about Chade’s reckless experimentations and travels (shocking), and Fitz is leaking his thoughts and feelings all over the castle.
It leads to a fascinating moment where Nettle gets a glimpse into Fitz’s inner world, and just how much of himself he’s concealed over the years:
“I’ve never really known you, have I? All these years. The things you kept hidden from me, lest I think less of Burrich or my mother. The reserve you held because you felt you did not deserve to intrude into my life…Has anyone ever really known you?”
So yeah… some good stuff there.
Chade and Fitz Getting Ambushed
This was pretty gnarly. I talked about the return of badass Fitz, and it really starts here:
“Assassins take no pride in fighting fairly. We take pride in winning. As I spat out a piece of finger, I told myself Nighteyes would have been proud.”
Withywoods
I left off last post where Fitz was uncovering what happened at Withywoods and using elfbark tea to break the Skill-fog over the residents.
This was fucking harrowing. As they came back to themselves, they were flooded with memories of the attack and those they had lost.
One thing I love about Fitz is that he doesn’t shy away from hard things, he faces them head-on. And this line captures the devastation perfectly:
“Like a travesty of Winterfest, the gathering was a dance of sorrow and horror, a feast of bitter tea and tears.”
Fitz’s Ragtag Guard
Fitz doesn’t have a lot of wins lately, but I found the formation of his guard very charming. He even reconnects with Foxglove, who steps in to take command.
“’Sit down, you idiots. It’s still just the Fitz,’ Foxglove announced. … ‘He may sit at the high table now, but he was raised on guardroom rations.’
And so I sat, and someone poured a mug for me, and I wondered how this could feel so good and so strange and so terrible all at once.”
So good and so strange and so terrible all at once… The Realm of the Elderlings experience, ladies and gentlemen!
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