Apt, on 27 May 2010 - 08:02 PM, said:
Returning to the Sorry/Apsalar matter. There is cause to think that Sorry's nasty side comes from Apsalar herself and not Cotillion. Consider that she was nothing but a child when Cotillion turned her into a murderer. In a young age that has a terrible toll on the way you develop. She didn't stop being a nasty bitch when the possession ended. In DG when Fid is masquerading as a Gral and Crukus and Aps play married couple, she is seen slicing people up (going for the balls I believe) and leaving her marks to writhe on the ground in pain instead of just dispatching them. Likewise in BH she is shown to inflict pain on one of the henchmen she attacks in the company with Telorast and Curdle. She does it with no regard for the victim.
As for the debate of the way Kel and Dancer ruled the empire. Yes, they were scary bastards for sure that struck fear and awe in their enemies and allies alike, but it's not like they were incompetent or a danger to their own empire. Kelanved was a mad genious. Easily one of the greatest minds in the modern history of this world. Dassem may have been good with armies but Kelanved was good with EVERYTHING. Military, Economy, Religion, Magic, he had everyone by the balls and he had an accomplice in Dancer that was his equal in scheming and strategy and a much more dangerous man in the field. The Old Guard followed the two not just because they were scary but because they were capable. Nobody was better than those two. Perhaps with the exception of Prince Kazz and his Avowed, but then again RCG painted a very strange picture of the Prince.
Indeed, Apsalar may have had a cruel streak all along.
matc4, on 01 August 2010 - 09:53 AM, said:
I can't remember when or where i read this or even if it actually happenned but i seem to remember Cotillion stating at some point that acted the way he did as Sorry to stop any of the Bridgeburners getting close to her and potentially finding out who she is, as they ordinarilly would have tried to make friends. May have been in HoC at some point but as I said I cannot remember where the scene was.
I recall this as well. In order to ensure she's given a wide berth by her comrades, Cotillion has her act scary enough that they're so terrified of her that they avoid her whenever possible.
Kanubis, on 02 August 2010 - 02:02 PM, said:
Johnny_Phoenix, on 02 August 2010 - 01:56 PM, said:
On another note about Apsalar, did anyone actually enjoy her as a character? I couldn't stand the bitch after DG. I understand why she turned out the way she did, and I was okay with her development from GotM to the end of DG, but from HoC and onward she just pissed me off. There was nothing interesting about her anymore. Just another cold-blooded, emotionless killer. And I really hated how badass Erikson ended up making her. Better than Kalam is one thing, but being a better assassin than the GOD of assassins is just stupid.
She annoyed me a bit in HoC, but I liked her stuff in BH. I think her lack of emotion and general humanity is meant to stir up feelings of tradegy - that what Cotillion took from her she can never truly get back. I also liked the twist that while the ex-BB Bonehunters were incredibly uneasy around her, Paran, the one man who has every right to distrust her is the only one that she manages to have a decent, warm(ish) conversation with
She's basically my favorite character in the series. I loved the little meeting with Paran, who, despite Apsalar noting that she'd killed him once, is the only one to be comfortable enough around her for her to relax her guard a little.
Sinisdar Toste, on 03 August 2010 - 01:40 AM, said:
because she didn't literally stab him in the back. sorry did. the first thing she says to paran after cotillion leaves is, "i killed you, i had your blood on my hands" so he knows. and he's not the kind of guy to hold a grudge against a person used by a god, as he knows all about it. i really enjoyed their little meet up actually
Ganoes Paran is just a cool guy like that and understanding about the whole "life kinda fucked up due to meddling gods" kinds of things.
Sinisdar Toste, on 04 August 2010 - 02:07 AM, said:
NikitaDarkstar, on 03 August 2010 - 06:46 PM, said:
Johnny_Phoenix, on 02 August 2010 - 01:56 PM, said:
Better than Kalam is one thing, but being a better assassin than the GOD of assassins is just stupid.
Honestly, thats where I started to hate her. She was interesting in her own way up until that point, but that ruined her. Sure she's good, and better than most I can defently accept, possibly even the best mortal.. but better than the god of assassins? No. Sorry to say it, but even among all the amazinlgy powerful characdters in these books, that just went to far without any sensible explination.
why shouldn't she be at least as good as cotillion? she has his exact same skill set! ST could have easily meant that 'not even cotillion' had ever performed such a shadowdance, not that he couldn't do it. im sure cotillion could have wrapped up the entire island in time for breakfast if he wanted to.
She might have been innately faster than Dancer was, to start with. There's no reason why all his knowledge and experience, dumped into a new body, wouldn't result in at least the same level of terrifying performance at murderizing people.
Abyss, on 30 November 2010 - 05:48 PM, said:
Roldom, on 30 November 2010 - 04:37 AM, said:
on my read on GotM im sure that sorry was torturing those guys for information, not just for kicks and giggles...WJ was just shocked at how brutal she was considering shes only a teenage girl. admitidly the ball cuttings pretty scary, ...As for her using groin attacks afterwards in 7C, shes just using the instincts and skills that dancer gave to her. maybe the guys she killed (gral?) wore armour everwhere but on their nads
what i want to know is how come she doesnt use a garotte like collition/ the ROPE??
Because she's not The Rope. She's a teenage girl who was possessed by the god of surprise-you're-dead! when she was like fourteen and made to do some fairly horrible things and so she acted out by stabbing men (rapists, btw) in the crotch a lot.
Which says quite a few things about SE's view of teenaged girls, but i digress...
Point being, a confused and possessed teenage girl is given the power of the god of stabby stabby and access to men who thought rape was an acceptable social passtime - no shit she carved their balls off.
As for her choice of weapon, she was a soldier initially, hence, swords and knives. A rope/garrot/whip would have been a wee bit conspicuous. Iirc on Malaz Island she uses shadow as a weapon against the Claw even so.
Yeah, the ones in Seven Cities definitely had it coming. Apsalar of great crotch-dicing justice. She ensures that those who refuse to use their genitals responsibly will not get to use them at all.
Help
Point being, a confused and possessed teenage girl is given the power of the god of stabby stabby and access to men who thought rape was an acceptable social passtime - no shit she carved their balls off.
Point being, a confused and possessed teenage girl is given the power of the god of stabby stabby and access to men who thought rape was an acceptable social passtime - no shit she carved their balls off.
Hard, cold, nasty badassess.
