[Aptorian]

Pig Iron;306875 said:

Sorry if this has been discussed before.

Ghost Hedge to Emroth in RG:

"You cannot see the truth within me, for the vision you'd need to see it is not within you. You threw it away, at the Ritual. You wilfully blinded yourselves to the one thing that can destroy you. That is, perhaps, destroying your kind even now - some trouble on the continent of Assail, yes? I have vague recollections of somebody hearing something ... well, never mind that. The point here, Emroth, is this: you cannot understand me because you cannot see me."

Hedge seems to be making a connection between what the T'lan Imass lost in the Ritual and the fact that they're being wiped out on Assail. He's being awfully philosophical though, so maybe it's not to be taken literally.

I don't have any clue, but this certainly bares more consideration.

[D'rek]

I just figured Hedge was talking about the T'lan Imass' refusal to ever surrender or retreat. That ever since they went immortal they no longer accept such possibilities. They 'blinded themselves' to the fact that they are not invincible.

[Mentalist]

Well, the Imass lost their "humanity", for the lack of a better word (of course, this is open to speculation, since Hedge may not know that the Imass carry their memories with them--this was revealed to us while he was off dying)

But supposedly, that's what they lost--the ability for irrational actions, since all of their actions must be (according to Hedge, who hasn't met Onrack yet), driven by a single purpose.
Hedge could mean this stubborness and refusal to see alternatives--but this is just wild speculation on my part.
(Or maybe the Tyrants of Assail actually employ some way to attck the T'lan Imass on a level beyond sheer physical damage, hurting their "souls" or something. Who knows? :confused: )

[Nakorite]

Aptorian;306815 said:

I remember that scene where Shurq sets them off and the defenders/attackers come charging at the CriGs. It could either be read like the attackers were giants or that the attackers were wearing a lot of bulky armor and that they were normal humanoids.

Is that scene in Reaper's Gale?

[Mentalist]

Yes. It is the first time we see Shurq, possibly through the PoV of one of her crew members (don't recall exactly)

[Sinisdar Toste]

kud13;307124 said:

Yes. It is the first time we see Shurq, possibly through the PoV of one of her crew members (don't recall exactly)

you mean in RG right? cuz she was a mainstay of MT too iirc

[Seed]

eeek doublepost. Delightful.

[Seed]

Quote

Posted by Pig Iron:

Sorry if this has been discussed before.

Ghost Hedge to Emroth in RG:

"You cannot see the truth within me, for the vision you'd need to see it is not within you. You threw it away, at the Ritual. You wilfully blinded yourselves to the one thing that can destroy you. That is, perhaps, destroying your kind even now - some trouble on the continent of Assail, yes? I have vague recollections of somebody hearing something ... well, never mind that. The point here, Emroth, is this: you cannot understand me because you cannot see me."

Hedge seems to be making a connection between what the T'lan Imass lost in the Ritual and the fact that they're being wiped out on Assail. He's being awfully philosophical though, so maybe it's not to be taken literally.

Hmmm it's possibly something to do with the way the T'lan Imass see. I'm sure there was a point of view from one of the TImass somewhere...It's only due to the ritual that they can see each other as flaming ghostly outlines of the form they had in life overlayed over their shadowy bones. I don't believe can easily perceive you very well if you life/power doesn't burn brightly. There are probably many methods, magics or vows or whatever that might cloud the fire of your life in some fashion or perhaps displace it so that your body is suddenly invisible to the T'lan Imass. Makes it a bit hard to fight then. Maybe the Assail Tyrants are doing a matron thing and sucking up all the power of the armies through twisted ritual vows. Maybe they become some sort of unkillable invisible to undead super soldiers as a side effect.

-Seed ...wonders if a few millenia with no eyeballs in your skull isn't a hint to pick up some real blind fighting skills?

[Carnifex]

One of the things that always struck me about the Imass is that they gave up their faith as part of the Ritual. It's mentioned several times in the series, but the idea of a people outliving their gods (and thus their belief in those gods) is tragic.

Maybe that's what the Assail have- faith. Hedge exists because he _believes_ that he exists. He creates bombs because he believes he can. It's one thing to recognize the power of a god- the Imass certainly do that. It's another thing to nurture that faith and use your creativity/imagination to play "what if" regarding a higher power.

Somehow, the Assail have an essential human quality that the Imass lack. I suspect it's faith- they're winning because they _believe_ they can, regardless of what the odds say.
Something of Karsa in that...

[Ganymed]

Oh my god! Something just struck me: Hedge is Neo, and everything that happens, happens inside the Matrix. :eek:

Ignore me if you will!

[Seed]

You could be right there carnifex, I'm undoubtedly over-thinking things again with my invisible-to-imass soldiers idea. It quite probably is just "My will is strong, I believe I shall win so I do" ala karsa.

[Venerus]

Hedge is a soul without a body, the Imass are bodies without souls. Sort of. Souls seem to be composed of the ineffable "will" that floats around the series and is often invoked to define ascention. He says something along those lines; they're reflections of each other blah blah.

[Lisheo]

The Imass gave up a LOT with the Ritual. Gave up their humanity, their lives, seemingly most of their emotions, their Gods. Who can say what they gave up that gives Hedge that advantage?
The lack of soul is interesting. Everyone else in the series minus a soul really seems sort of dead lol.

[Thelomen Toblerone]

I think it's different than giving up their souls, it seems to me more like they just dont have access to them or wilfully suppress them- after all, Onrack's shown us that they can get them back easily enough, simply by failing the Ritual.

The ritual seems like some sort of memory suppressant, and the soul in SE's world seems to be contained within the memories of the individual. I'm wondering whether this will have more significance, we've already seen with the Silverfox dealy how memories have the power to give life to an area.

[Lisheo]

Their souls have been locked away, essentially. And if memories give existence, I suppose that explains how they are dead lol.