[Dancer+]

This battle makes up a few of the best pages I've read for a long time. I went back to read the scene, the flashback at Y'Ghatan is true genius.

p170-174 in my version are a joy to behold.

A few of my choice moments:

Quote

Topper held open the tent flap, with a half-bow of farewell Surly exited. Ferrule and he (Temper) caught each other's eyes. Ferrule, legs flexed, arms crooked, looked like a bear ready to pounce, and he winked, the same old supremely confident brawler. Temper couldn't muster the same relish for this fray. His fears were confirmed when the two Claws guarding the opening stepped in as their commander left. Possum waved as if tossing something down and suddenly the camp sounds from beyond the tent walls ceased as if snatched away.
Shit, Temper fumed...

Quote

Foolishly, perhaps misled by their numerical advantage and Dassem's weakened condition, the Claws chose to finish things here. Not that Temper could blame them. After all, they hadn't fought side by side with Dassem as he and Ferrule had. They had never seen up close just what the First Sword was capable of. That, and Claws tended to overconfidence.
It all registered like slow deliberate dance steps to Temper's fading vision. Ferrule spun aside, spurned by Possum. Blood arched from his wounds as he fell. The other three closed on Dassem who lunged at the nearest. In one motion he simply reached out and crushed the man's throat then turned, holding the corpse before him.
Regardless, Jade and the other closed. Possum - wisely, if belatedly - backed off. Rather than use the body as a shield Dassem threw it as easily as a horseshoe at both lunging Claws. They fell in a heap. Temper could tell how angry Dassem was by the extravagence of that gesture and the way he scowled in disgust.

There's even more, I just was amazed how good the whole Y'Ghatan scene is. Yet again making me think back to the RotCG and the delights held within.

[Aptorian]

Yes Dassem is a champion no doubt about it, the fight scene also shows that Dassem must be ascended by then. Throwing a man like a horseshoe

[Silencer]

@Apt??????????
The man was just stabbed in the chest to bring him back to life!!!!!!!!!!! Not to mention that he was already the Knight of Death.
But from what we've heard that doesn't necessarily mean that he was ascended. He was pretty strong already, holding a position in a house does not guarantee ascendancy (although there may be a difference here to other places, where the person just represents that position, rather than truly holding it), and the stabbing thing had something to do with his feud with Hood....
Despite this, I would say that he was ascended long before this scene.

[Aptorian]

He wasn't stabbed by Temper, he grabbed the soldiers wrist, nearly breaking it, before the knife went in.

Being the Knight doesn't make you an ascendant.

The rest I agree with.

[Dancer+]

Dassem, even in a weakened state, could slaughter two of the best claw and the two guards outside the tent. He didn't even really have to do anything, it was so quick.

I think this is ample to show he was most likely ascended before this point, it had always been my belief. If Dassem was not ascended by this point, God knows how strong he would become when he did in fact take the plunge.

[pastures]

Dassem is ascended since he "rivalled Hood's power" by then. This all happens after the chaining i presume.

[Thelomen Toblerone]

As we've all pretty much agreed that Dassem is Traveller, and Traveller is an Ascendant, a simple comparison between his prowess on Drift Avalli and at Y'Ghatan shows that he's an absolute bitch to kill and can knock seven sorts of sh*t out of pretty much anyone, so is probably Ascended by the time of Y'Ghatan. Recovering from that wound and still being able to take out Claw before making good his gradual and unhurried escape would suggets to me that he's not exactly your avergae bloke by then.

[Quick~]

I definately concur on these bits being great, I really got a feel for things; for the situation they found themselves in during the betrayal whilst they fell back till the regulars could back them up, for their anger at what was being done and for how overwhelmingly strong Dassem was =p

I'm unsure where I stand on the Dassem = ascended by Y'Ghatan issue, it seems likely given the literal worship and the way he manhandled the claw though.

[Silencer]

I still think that he was ascended by then - yes, it was after the latest chaining which took place (remember, pastures, that there have been many chainings). And the reason that he didn't die was because he had rejected Hood. When Temper attempted to stab him Hood wouldn't allow it - and probably neither would Dassem. Possibly it was because Hood couldn't take him - or some such, because by then Dassem was a) ascended, and his rival in power.

I think.

[Abyss]

Temper's kickstarting Dassem by almost killing him was my favourite bit of this... you have to love the rationale... 'Okay, he's almost dead, but if i try and stabby kill him, he's so anti-death that he will fully heal immediately to spite Hood by not dying'. Temper was repeatedly far smarter that he gave himself credit for.

- Abyss, never underestimates a good stabbing as motivation....

[Svaran]

brilliant scene that again depicts Dassem's prowess as does the battle scene where he is wounded before his battle with Surgen

[Zanth13]

Abyss;260748 said:

Temper's kickstarting Dassem by almost killing him was my favourite bit of this... you have to love the rationale... 'Okay, he's almost dead, but if i try and stabby kill him, he's so anti-death that he will fully heal immediately to spite Hood by not dying'. Temper was repeatedly far smarter that he gave himself credit for.

- Abyss, never underestimates a good stabbing as motivation....

I always thought that it might be Hood in fact rejecting him as well...ohh if I let him get stabbed in the heard he will come to me and I dont want the bastard type of thing

[Excellence]

Not to be the cherry on the cake . . . I did not enjoy the scene. Dassem's prowess was no big deal, not after all the enhancement you've read in people over the series. Possibly he faked the injury as part of his plan to fade away. There's a lot we don't know.

Apsalar recognises his daughter in the Deadhouse end of book 2. Badly injured but alive. From the same book, we also know the infamous soletaken Gryllen was at Y'Ghatan, flushed out by fire. Would have liked to have seen that.

It just wasn't a big deal to me, after all the sly mentions of Ultor's fall at the Y'Ghatan. He had a couple of fights, where hs kills people in microseconds. Doesn't make for engaging reading, alas.