[Mcardle]

So I'm about a third of my way through The Bonehunters on my reread, and I am struggling to work out what Laseen has been thinking this whole time, and what her endgame plan was? It seems every decision she makes is borderline insane, is this accurate? And then with her death in ROCG,it seems we wont get much more information, anything I have missed that sheds some light on her that shows that she isn't insane and bloodthirsty?

[worry]

It turns out she was a stack of children impersonating an adult.

[Mcardle]

Someone else has been watching Bojack Horseman too...

[Abyss]

Mcardle, on 21 October 2014 - 06:27 AM, said:

So I'm about a third of my way through The Bonehunters on my reread, and I am struggling to work out what Laseen has been thinking this whole time, and what her endgame plan was? It seems every decision she makes is borderline insane, is this accurate? And then with her death in ROCG,it seems we wont get much more information, anything I have missed that sheds some light on her that shows that she isn't insane and bloodthirsty?

RCG. Everything was part of her master plan. Everything.Mostly.

[Mcardle]

Yeah... But I'm struggling to see what her masterplan was, was the unchaining of the CG not Tavore and the Eres Al's plan? It seems her plan was to kill Kell and Damcer, then sacrifice huge amounts of troops in conflicts designed to kill single individuals of the old guard?

[theocean]

She bascially says everything she did was for the Empire. Attacking Kel and Dancer she basically said she had to do for the betterment of the empire as a whole, and Kalam didnt know much about the things behind the scenes. Daseem was an ambitious rival who wouldve struck for her if she didnt strike first. The bridge burners i believe was Tay taking things a little to far in what he was supposed to do i think. Her end game is always to keep the empire going i believe. She seemed like a huge bitch until Kalam got to "talk to her" one on one and lay out her reasoning behind certain actions.

[korik]

I always wondered what Mallick Rel was holding over Laseen's head and why she didn't just squash him.... We never really get a satisfactory answer to this one. I think we have to scratch it down to one of those untold stories. Laseen is a really interesting character, she starts off as a tyrant and gradually see that on the whole she is trying to act in the best interests of the empire without much help from her former friends and makes some mistakes along the way. All without ever hearing from her POV!

Not knowing the Mallick Rel stuff is fustrating but I guess we have to chalk it down to one of those stories never told; was her final mistake believing she could control him and then finding herself backed into a corner??? But I would love to read about how he weaseled his way back into the game, considering he was sent back to Unta in chains....I always found the empire stuff very interesting, when you think about it, most of the action in both Steve and Cam's work takes place beyond the borders of the empire itself

[Abyss]

The Mallick plot was explained... he and Korbolo Dom had enough influence to spin their betrayal and loss on 7C to make it seem as tho they were the heroes of the story. faced with the complete loss of the continent, its resources and trade, Laseen had two choices. Call Dom and Rel on their deception and potentially split the Empire between her loyalists and the Claw on one side, and Rel's Untan supporters and the Black Glove on the other, or allow the deception, blame the Wickans knowing Tavore would get them out of danger, and wait for her chance to retake control.


It turned out that her chance to retake control came just as her plan against the Old Guard was in action, and expanded to deal with the Crimson Guard as well and draw out Cowl in the process... and it worked, it was all working out exactly how she planned and sacrificed... Dom was dealt with, the Old Guard re-enlisted or dead, the Guard driven away, Topper having taken out most of the Black Glove, Cowl exposed and vulnerable... and then Rel's agent killed her.


It wasn't all nice and tidy, but that's not how these authors operate.

[Mcardle]

Ah Abyss that was exactly what I was looking for! Its a lot clearer now cheers!!!

[korik]

But that all happens offscreen, at the beginning of HoC we read Mallick has got chucked out of Raraku by Sha'ik for being too annoying, and Korbolo is in chains on the way back there as well by the end of HoC..... The next thing we hear is that Mallick is head of the city council in Unta. I don't doubt the explanation provided by Abyss but that is quite a turnaround in plans considering that previously they were going to position themselves as the power behind the Sha'ik rebellion one minute and then the next he is seamlessly installed as the second most powerful person in the Empire. That is some turnaround by Mallick Rel and you never see the details of how he managed it....

[Gnaw]

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.