Where things ratchet up…
***Spoilers for The Rain Wilds Chronicles through chapter 11 of Dragon Haven. Mentions of the events of The Farseer Trilogy, The Liveship Traders Trilogy, and The Tawny Man Trilogy are fair game, too.***
I knew these post-flood chapters would deliver, and boy did they. With so much action taking place, it feels only right to start with a character who has not physically appeared on the page since very early in the previous book: Hest. And while Hest may not be physically present in our story, his shadow certainly looms large- never more so than in this stretch of chapters.
Both Sedric and Alise cannot escape his insidious specter. Even as they’re finally free from his direct control – and experiencing real personal growth and self-awareness as a result – his influence still lingers in absentia.
But good news! They’re both making some serious progress.
For Alise, it’s a case of one step back, two strokes steps forward.
Caught in a liminal space – unaware of Sedric’s fate (and not loving the odds) – she discovers a locket bearing Hest’s image tucked inside Sedric’s pillow. I almost shrieked with joy that she was finally being let in on the “secret.”
That joy, however, was short-lived when it became clear we were not getting a moment of realization at all. She had instead reached peak delulu. I’ll let Alise’s thought process speak for itself:
“What did it mean? What could it mean?…
There could be but one explanation. Hest had had the locket made and entrusted it to Sedric to give to her. Why had he done such a thing?”
But one explanation indeed. 😑
If that’s our one step backward, a mere few chapters later Alise takes a giant leap forward by bedding Captain Leftrin in the very bunk of her presumed-dead friend – the same place the locket was discovered.
I was pretty concerned that the discovery of this “love token from Hest,” combined with her anticipatory grief for Sedric, would pump the brakes on her rapidly accelerating romance with Leftrin. Instead, it turns out to be more of a cat’s-away, the-mice-will-play situation – and I couldn’t be happier for her.
Rather than seeing Hest’s image in the locket and feeling a surge of guilt or renewed devotion to her vows, Alise essentially says: Fuck this Chad. He wouldn’t know an act of love if it bit him in the ass. But I do now – and I’m going to get a piece of my river man while I can.
Bravo!
Crossing proverbial paths: Alise entered this voyage with a love of dragons but a cold bed, while Sedric arrived giving two fucks about the majestic lizards and believing he had genuine human love back home.
Post-flood, Sedric finds himself risking his life to save his newly bonded dragon while reevaluating his relationship with Hest through an entirely different lens.
Sedric’s mistreatment by Hest is laid bare alongside his crumbling self-concept as he fights to survive- stripped down beyond even his most basic needs. Circumstances like these have a way of exposing uncomfortable truths:
“When had he let go of his own life? When had he become a bit of driftwood caught in Hest’s current, tossed and turned and shaped by him and then, eventually, washed up here with the other debris? Idly he watched Carson add a piece of twisted white wood to the pot. Yes. That was him. Fuel for another man’s flames.”
As predicted, our two Bingtown babies are deep in their respective journeys of self-discovery. They’ve each formed new intimate bonds – one a lover, and the other a mind-bridge with a dragon – and I’m here for all of it.
Let the Hestorcism proceed!
Okay, make way for MUSINGS!
I’ll admit: I’m a bit of a Sedric apologist. I can’t help but have a soft spot for our wayward boy du jour. Even so, I’m not sure I’ve ever related to a character more (Nighteyes’ annoyance with Fitz aside) than in this self-reflection moment from Sedric:
“He was known in all the better taverns to have a lovely clear tenor for drinking songs, and the wine shops saved their best vintages for him. No one could fault his taste in silk. Given charge of Hest’s itinerary, every voyage under his control went flawlessly.”
Nothing wrong with appreciating a well-planned trip and a fine textile.
From Thymara:
“…Captain Leftrin, who had seemed in an uncommonly generous mood that morning.”
BET.
I know I haven’t given much focus to the recent keeper dynamics (spoiler: they be fucking) and the new world order Greft is trying to establish. It’s not that I dislike the storyline – I’m interested, and always rooting for our girl Thymara – it’s just felt a little one-note at the moment.
That may be slightly unfair, but we’ve been sitting in this space of Thymara asserting her particular brand of willful ignorance for quite a while now, while Greft continues grappling for power.
And it’s not that I want Thymara to submit or be forced into partnership, but she does need to start looking at things through the lens of her new reality. So far, she’s been fairly unwilling to do that.
I appreciate her youth, her sheltered upbringing, and the fact that she’s never really had the opportunity to imagine a future for herself beyond the Trehaug restrictions. But that defensiveness toward everyone around her is beginning to hold back her growth.
Greft sucks – no doubt – but he makes some decent points about freedom. Thymara is earning her rank in the Stubborn Characters Hall of Fame, but I’m looking forward to the cracks in her shell deepening as she comes into her own.
(P.S. Speaking of cracks in her shell- we are getting HEAVY references to this gash in her back that refuses to heal. Methinks an Elderling transformation is erupting.)
(P.P.S. I’m expecting a few Elderling transformations as a result of this journey and the keeper-dragon bonding. We’ve had a good amount of discussion around the original Elderling race, dragons creating Elderlings, and the changes and bonds forming between keepers and dragons. Tintaglia was basically the Oprah of turning Elderlings – “you get to be an Elderling, and you get to be an Elderling” – but I don’t think Malta, Reyn, and Selden alone are going to propagate a whole new age.
This exchange between Sedric and Relpda in particular raised my hackles:
“Sedric my keeper. You will change.
‘I’m changing already,’ he admitted.
Yes. Change.“
Yeah… go ahead and write him in for a spot on the Elderling roster.)
Rapskal and Heeby continuing to be missing continues to be bullshit.
I am choosing to believe that they are surviving on their own at the moment. If ever a pair had a strong enough bond to survive together, it’s these two.
We don’t know a ton about Rapskal, but I went back and dug up these two clues about his upbringing:
“It took so little to make him happy. Her words didn’t have to be kind, even, just not cruel. She tried not to wonder what his early life had been like that mere neutrality seemed like friendship to him.”
And…
“He dug into his porridge with fervor. ‘Never got porridge for breakfast at home,’ he announced suddenly through a full mouth. ‘Grain was too expensive for my family. We always had soup for breakfast. Or gourdcakes.'”
Rapskal is sort of the Scrappy Doo of this world. Yes, he’s annoying. But he’s a survivor. I like his odds. I’m holding on to hope as long as I can.
Last post I stated I wasn’t picking up romantic vibes between Sedric and Carson. Naturally, things immediately shifted in that direction.
I like Carson. He seems genuine and kind. But I’m hesitant to hop on this ship (ba dum tss), because I don’t want Sedric jumping straight from one older man to another.
As Carson rescues Sedric, Sedric is already starting to view him as the more capable caretaker. I want Sedric to feel confident standing on his own feet before finding another man to prop him up.
This line in particular gave me pause:
“He was not, Sedric suddenly realized, that much older than he was.”
I’m open, but cautious.
Let’s stay with Sedric for a moment.
I’m realizing so much has happened I haven’t even touched on the fight with Jess, culminating in Relpda EATING JESS!!!
Fuck, yes. This was so satisfying. Proud of you, Sedric. Your budding relationship with Relpda is helping to fill the Rapskal-Heeby-shaped hole in my heart.
But let’s back up for a second…
Before we get to Relpda munching down Jess, what really struck me in this sequence is that Jess offers Sedric everything he’s been seeking- obstacles removed. All Sedric has to do is stay out of the way, and Jess will slay the dragon and get them safely to Chalced, where he can begin a new life with all the riches he could ever need.
“He could have everything he’d dreamed of. He’d paid dearly already. Would it be so wrong to take some small measure of happiness for himself? …
After all he had gone through, didn’t he deserve something for himself, some small bit of happiness? Didn’t he deserve to finally stop living in deceit?”
Sedric really struggles here and, for a moment, can see the easy path out. I love that he has to face himself there – because when what he’s been seeking is finally laid out on a platter within his grasp, it suddenly doesn’t look so appealing.
Sedric reflects:
“The price was too high. Hest wasn’t worth it.”
I love this gradual growth arc he’s on. It’s not some big aha moment, “I’ve seen the light”-type flip. It’s slow and uncomfortable- and it’s going to make wherever he ends up that much more satisfying (or devastating 🙃).
Alise and Sedric are about to reunite on the Tarman. Can’t wait to see their post-flood personas collide and what’s to come as the journey to Kelsingra resumes.
Onward!
wizardwordship 