And from saying goodbye to the character with the longest history with Fitz, let’s pivot to the newest.

Girl.

If Captain Kennit was the ultimate red-flag-waving, “I can fix him” man (until he very much wasn’t), here comes his son to pick up where Dad left off.

Enter Prince Paragon Kennitson.

He’s clearly a spoiled, entitled, bragadocious brat. He saunters onto Paragon like he owns the place. (To be fair, he kinda does.) And I immediately was into him.

This time, it’s going to be different!!

But jokes aside, I am actually a bit hopeful that this time, things may in fact be different. We know Robin is willing to play the long game when it comes to arcs and redemption. Just think how much of Tawny Man serves as the conclusion to threads established way back in Farseer.

I spent a lot of time in Liveship Traders wondering where Kennit was heading. He had this perpetual “will he or won’t he break good?” quality hanging over him. And it was crushing to see him ultimately unable to escape his past and break the cycle of abuse.

But with the introduction of his son, I’m cautiously optimistic that Paragon Kennitson may prove to be the satisfying conclusion to Kennit’s story that Kennit himself could never be.

We already see him trying to prove himself. And we get ample reminders from Paragon (ship) and others that he is not his father. He has Kennit’s massive shadow (and tiny face!) looming over him, but I think we may see him ultimately emerge as his own man.

It seems like there will be some tests along the way. We already have the Spark flirtation and beginnings of a love triangle. But if Paragon Kennitson’s weakness is his ego, as it was for his father, I can think of no better parallel prince to have aboard as a role model than Fitz.

I could probably write an entire essay on how Fitz is the anti-Kennit: the subdued to his flashy, the humble to his prideful. If Kennit’s great weakness was that he needed everyone to see him as extraordinary, Fitz’s has always been almost the opposite.

So it’s certainly an interesting dynamic to have him paired with Kennit’s son.

We’ll see how he factors into the endgame. I said I’m hopeful he will be the satisfying conclusion we never got with Kennit, so he’s probably completely fucked.

Lant doesn’t really do it for me.

Which is funny because RotE is full of characters that I love, hate, hate to love, and love to hate. But Lant? He falls pretty flat for me.

He’s fine. But I cannot bring myself to be particularly interested in him. He doesn’t bring any especially compelling skills or qualities to the table, and his motivations for being on this expedition don’t really move me.

He wants to prove himself to his deadbeat father and make up for how he failed Bee? Cool.

I’m not exactly forgetting what a chode you were to Bee back at Withywoods.

And if I’m being honest, the Spark-Lant romance feels pretty shoehorned in. Their chemistry isn’t exactly leaping off the page.

I suppose I should just be grateful he’s moving on from his sister.

But in contrast, you’ve got Perseverance, and I couldn’t feel more differently about him.

He’s as charming as can be. And has chemistry with everyone he encounters, from deckhands to crows.

The two make a fascinating pair. Lant is all insecurity and the need to prove himself, while Per is defined by warmth, curiosity and sincerity. It’s a contrast established way back in their earliest interactions with Bee at Withywoods.

And perhaps there’s something interesting there about upbringing, station, and parentage.

All that to say: sorry, Lant. You’ve inherited my dislike for Chade without inheriting my appreciation for what Chade brings to the table.

Time for some hot prophecy talk.

Listen, full disclosure, I’ve had a bit more space between reading and reacting than normal thanks to vacation, illness, and life. (Can I claim perimenopause without losing all of my loyal follower?). So I worry I’m not going to do justice to some of the massive revelations in this section, particularly when it comes to histories, lore, and prophetic dreams.

So bear with me.

Anyway, I do at least recall Spark letting Fitz know that the Fool has been dreaming of his death.

Which understandably alarms her, but for us – and for Fitz – this feels like old news.

Like, let me know when the Fool isn’t predicting Fitz’s death.

But I did love Fitz’s response as he tries to calm her fears:

“I managed a crooked smile. ‘Remember, when he is the prophet, I am the Catalyst. The Changer. I have no intention of dying or letting anyone else die.'”

There is just something about him asserting those roles that gets me absolutely activated.

The Catalyst. The Changer.

Fuck yes. Clerres is about to learn.

What’s going on with Motley?

Motley is all over the place. Befriending dragons. Getting chummy with Paragon. Being sassy with Fitz.

She catches up to Paragon after they set sail from Divvytown and makes quite the entrance:

“I stared at her. The tip of her beak was silver.”
…
“Be careful with your beak,” I chided her. She turned her shining eyes on me. “I am careful, stupid Fitz. But so tired. Take me to Paragon.”

Motley remains such an interesting addition to the animal cadre of this series. Curious if she ends up more than a pithy lookout.

(Side note: I love how Motley will respond with absurd specificity and then Fitz will wonder if she possesses some higher level of awareness. Uhhh, ya think?)

Truly, I don’t want to reduce the horrors Paragon has endured – both in his creation and all that’s happened aboard him – to mere comedy.

But if there is one thing we can count on in this series, it’s that Paragon is going to be an emotional hot mess.

And he really delivers here. Throwing full-on temper tantrums. Lodging doors shut. Listing dramatically. Making every task ten times harder than it needs to be. Just generally refusing to cooperate.

It’s great.

He never fails to remind everyone aboard that, while his dragon spirit may be trapped in a boat, it cannot be brought to heel.

Love you, Mad Ship.

And speaking of Paragon, I don’t want to skate past the monumental revelation that Amber gives him Silver, prompting him to declare his intention to turn dragon.

The idea of Paragon shedding his ship form and taking to the skies is mind-blowing. And beyond the feat of magic, the ramifications for the liveship families are fascinating. These aren’t just ships, they are their inheritance and legacy.

All that to say, wild development. And fascinating to think we may end up seeing the liveships we’ve come to know fulfill their intended forms. Or even have to grapple with whether they want to at all.

I have to touch down on the insane Paragon-Vivacia scene.

A long time ago, with the reveal of ShipFitz, I noted that Vivacia better watch out. A new bombshell had entered the harbor.

Paragon may share Fitz’s face, but he certainly doesn’t share his demure.

So when he gets the opportunity, under the cover of night to sidle up to Vivacia, he makes his move. Now, his primary motivation is to proselytize Vivacia to his beliefs on transforming into dragons. But his methods are absolutely wild. (Would we expect anything else?)

“Paragon’s laugh boomed out over the cacophony, silencing them all. Except Vivacia. ‘Get him away from me!’ Vivacia barked her command. But Paragon only shifted his grip to the curls on the back of her head and bent her backward so that her bare breasts thrust up toward him. To my astonishment, he leaned down and kissed one.”

Paragon, baby.

This is unhinged. (I was going to say “even for you,” but having some knowledge of your past, honestly, not really.)

So he gets her attention and makes his pitch: We can become dragons and mates. It’s perfect!

After the initial insanity of their interaction, it does turn rather tender. Paragon helps Vivacia tap deep into her dragon memory, and we are left with this image of them:

“…they embraced as closely as they could, as if they were lovers denied intimacy for too long. Vivacia’s head rested on Paragon’s scaled chest, her eyes wide but unseeing. His longer neck had twined around her like a scarf and his dragon’s head rested on her shoulder. Her graceful hands rested on his shoulders. No enmity or uncertainty showed in her face.”

I have no clue what the future holds for these two crazy, sentient, trapped-dragon-spirit ships, but I’m certainly excited for where they end up.

One thing I love about the liveships (which are among the most interesting elements in the entire series) is that lesser stories may have relegated them to the role of interesting magical curiosities. Cool set pieces. Memorable side characters.

Not Robin Hobb.

These ships are legit central characters. And if I had any lingering doubts before, Fitz and the Fool has erased them. As these stories converge, it’s become clear that Paragon isn’t just an important supporting player.

Paragon has major main character energy.

Okay. So I really wanted to write about the interesting magic happening in this section. Liveships transforming into dragons. Serpent spit giving Vindelier his power. Silver. Skill. Prophet dreams.

But my energy and brainpower are waning.

One day, perhaps, I will return with a bit more gas in the tank and write a gorgeous essay on the intersecting magics of this series.

But for now, just imagine I have delivered some breathtaking observations on Robin Hobb’s magical ecosystem.

What I will say is that I love how all of these different magics have been so beautifully built and developed across sixteen books. And what once may have felt like separate systems now feel like interconnected pieces of a living world. And I’m incredibly excited to see how they factor into the endgame.

Especially as Bee begins to tap into the Skill and briefly makes contact with Fitz. 👀

I’m equally curious how the Wit factors into things. The Skill may get a little more time in the spotlight, but the Wit has always felt like such a core Fitz magic.

So, yeah. Magic. 🪄

Bee’s harrowing journey continues.

Once again, we’re given a sliver of hope when Bee manages to escape Dwalia on the first ship and link up with Trader Akriel. Finally, it seems she’s found a genuinely decent person and, if not on her way home, at least out of immediate danger.

But the whole Bee-Trader Akriel sojourn is clouded by a sense of doom. It’s nice to get a reprieve from the sheer horror of Bee’s captivity with the Servants, but we know we aren’t done with them yet.

So, Hobb being Hobb, she takes us to our most hopeful point yet. Bee is off the ship and settled into a luxurious inn room. It’s the safest and most comfortable she’s been since Withywoods.

Which, naturally, makes it the perfect time for Dwalia and company to track her down, have Kerf brutally murder Trader Akriel, and drag Bee right back into the nightmare.

They even cast off Kerf to deal with the aftermath, leaving only Dwalia and Vindelier escorting Bee. And if they were awful before, they have fully crossed over into monstrosity.

After some time on the run, Dwalia has Vindelier glamour her into a beautiful woman to charm a captain and secure passage to Clerres. Strong Ursula-as-Vanessa seducing Prince Eric vibes.

I’m not going to dwell too much on everything that follows. More abuse. Mind-to-mind revelations. The source of Vindelier’s power explained.

I’m kinda hoping for the glamour to wear off at the worst possible moment and for the captain to get a look at who he’s been knocking boots with this whole voyage 🤢.

We know the serpent spit is running low. Are they going to reach their destination without one final disaster?

Whatever happens, I just need this cursed journey to end. Shit’s rough.

Y’all, I’m really limping to the finish line here. But I’m not getting out of this post without (probably inadequately) discussing the dragons.

I absolutely loved this chapter ending:

“There you are! Satisfaction rang in the voice in my head. I am coming for you. Prepare for me.

‘Fitz?’ Lant asked, concern in his voice.

I stood slowly. My smile held back my fear and confusion. ‘Tintaglia is coming for me,’ I said.”

Something about Fitz effortlessly having standing with the dragons is just deeply satisfying to me. He’s just that girl.

And sure enough, Tintaglia arrives in Divvytown with Heeby and Rapskal close behind, causing quite the stir.

Ultimately, they all join Team “Fuck up Clerres.” But not before the dragons take a little vengeance side quest to Others Island. (Fun!)

This is great. But it also puts Fitz’s mission to rescue Bee on a timer. Everyone knows once the dragons arrive in force, carefully distinguishing between guilty and innocent parties won’t be their priority.

Tick, tock.