[Ulrik]

Dont forget my theory with raising hands! A second before Nahruk Ion Cannon hit he made same gesture as Pearl using his warren to disappear in HoC iirc. (Ulrik whooping from behind of mob)

[GingerBreadMan]

Ulrik, on 18 August 2010 - 06:44 AM, said:

Dont forget my theory with raising hands! A second before Nahruk Ion Cannon hit he made same gesture as Pearl using his warren to disappear in HoC iirc. (Ulrik whooping from behind of mob)

Which is why I am going to be so upset if he turns out to be Uber Powerful Magus of Dark, we have seen him in sountless situations where he would have revealed his hidden resources but didn't.

So if he reveals "Oh I was just using 1/10 of my power" I am going to wonder about all the scenes where people he cared about died because he lacked the ability to help them or he himself was near death

[Silk]

I believe QB's powers were kinda given a speed boost throughout his journeys and as such the QB from GOTM is not the same QB as in DoD, after all as in the real world experience makes a person today a different person to one they may have been years ago ... in fact this whole point was mentioned by Kruppe to Cutter in Toll

[Tattersail_]

also GingerBreadMan think of Paran. When we first hear about him, he is a boy, then a soldier, he doesn't have special powers, then he becomes Oponn's Pawn. Then he becomes master of the deck. Even when he is master of deck he finds out things about himself that he didn't know before, why would this concept not work with QB? This is plausable. Also didn't he go past what he thought was his maximum strength when he faced Icarium? Was this a turning point in his abilities?

[GingerBreadMan]

Tattersail, on 18 August 2010 - 02:51 PM, said:

also GingerBreadMan think of Paran. When we first hear about him, he is a boy, then a soldier, he doesn't have special powers, then he becomes Oponn's Pawn. Then he becomes master of the deck. Even when he is master of deck he finds out things about himself that he didn't know before, why would this concept not work with QB? This is plausable. Also didn't he go past what he thought was his maximum strength when he faced Icarium? Was this a turning point in his abilities?

Sure, but QB isn't randomly chosen to be an ascendant.

Instead he "grows" in power as he pushes himself, but how does that work.

Wouldn't he have pushed himself to the point that he "levels up" a number of times while serving with the Bridgeburners?

Wouldn't the same thing happen to other Mages like Rake, Icarium and even the smaller mages like Bottle who were constantly exerting themselves during the invasion of Lether?

Mages are constantly pushing themselves as hard as they can(with a few exceptions, like Tays and Quick Ben, especially mages in the army who are constantly healing as many people as they can, burning as many people as they can etc..

Just seems to much like "Experience points"..."You survived a battle with Icarium, here are 2 million experience points you can put into your magic skill"

[Tattersail_]

GingerBreadMan, on 19 August 2010 - 04:17 PM, said:

Tattersail, on 18 August 2010 - 02:51 PM, said:

also GingerBreadMan think of Paran. When we first hear about him, he is a boy, then a soldier, he doesn't have special powers, then he becomes Oponn's Pawn. Then he becomes master of the deck. Even when he is master of deck he finds out things about himself that he didn't know before, why would this concept not work with QB? This is plausable. Also didn't he go past what he thought was his maximum strength when he faced Icarium? Was this a turning point in his abilities?

Sure, but QB isn't randomly chosen to be an ascendant.

Instead he "grows" in power as he pushes himself, but how does that work.

Wouldn't he have pushed himself to the point that he "levels up" a number of times while serving with the Bridgeburners?

Wouldn't the same thing happen to other Mages like Rake, Icarium and even the smaller mages like Bottle who were constantly exerting themselves during the invasion of Lether?

Mages are constantly pushing themselves as hard as they can(with a few exceptions, like Tays and Quick Ben, especially mages in the army who are constantly healing as many people as they can, burning as many people as they can etc..

Just seems to much like "Experience points"..."You survived a battle with Icarium, here are 2 million experience points you can put into your magic skill"

Spoiler

being Magi of house dark is being chosen to be an ascendant though. mother dark also being back would also give him extra power. He has always hidden his true ability and maybe he didn't know how strong he could go. Also he has so many souls inside him, maybe these allow him to stretch himself, they where all mages wheren't they? Maybe he thought of his power only stretching so far because he didn't realise the souls allowed him to go further than even he could imagine? If this was the case he may have only strained to go far as he dared, but when left to no choice he excelled himself?

[GingerBreadMan]

That's my point though, wouldn't he have pushed himself to the brink a number of times?

He was constantly in the thick of battle, taking on the best of the best with the Bridgeburners..

He couldn't "hide his true self" because he had to do everything he could to stay alive and keep his friends from dying..

[iRFNA]

Perhaps his body simply can't handle the power all of his souls possess, such as with silverfox. He probably hadn't pushed himself as a combat mage nearly as far until icarium (based on what BBs typically say about him), then realizes his body really can handle that sort of magic, so now he uses it. That would mean he's not "leveling up" so much as becoming able to endure channeling more magic through sheer punishment and/or merely finding his body can manage more than he thought.

[Theotendo]

If he's soletaken, he's a snake. Desert Snake (named so by the old witch of Tennes in Pale) or the snake (less significant considering the name came from his squadmates) is a handle he is given on multiple occasions.

I like the Chaos theory, since the original source of his power and knowledge was that particular warren. It would help to explain the Magus of Dark connection since Kurald Galain is closest to the borders of Chaos (if you don't count Starvald Demelain).

Tays is a High Mage, perhaps even a Magus. While he hasn't shown any specific affinities or knowledge related TO Chaos, I wouldn't count out the possibility of an extended wait in the warren for Quick to make his appearance.

As for him not showing his full potential, let's consider the facts. Mages that openly display or flaunt their power don't tend to fare all that well in MBotF. The ones who keep their heads down, though, linger. Or MAlinger as Pust put it. His power may have grown, but only because he made sure to remain beneath notice. Hah! For all we know he might have gotten himself zapped over to the Shake. The Queen of Dark is already there, after all. As is Mother Dark herself.

That's my crazy theory. He's in Kharkanas. About to land smack dab in the middle of another Tiste war.

[Hellian's Keg Lid]

Yea, he shall return, riding upon a chariot pulled by Donkeygoth, and at his right hand shall be Kalam "Nine to One" Mekhar; and at his left hand shall be Trull "If I Have To" Sengar.

And together, they shall RULE THE WORLD.





Or something.

[WhiskeyJackDaniels]

Theotendo, on 20 August 2010 - 10:29 AM, said:

Tays is a High Mage, perhaps even a Magus.

This is kind of a nitpick, but as far as I am aware, there is no difference between the terms mage and magus, is there? I think that in a world as rich and complex as Malaz it is just that there are a number of different terms that can be applied to a magic user. Mage, magus, ceda, wizard, shaman, etc...

[SpectreofEschaton]

WhiskeyJackDaniels, on 22 August 2010 - 12:14 AM, said:

Theotendo, on 20 August 2010 - 10:29 AM, said:

Tays is a High Mage, perhaps even a Magus.

This is kind of a nitpick, but as far as I am aware, there is no difference between the terms mage and magus, is there? I think that in a world as rich and complex as Malaz it is just that there are a number of different terms that can be applied to a magic user. Mage, magus, ceda, wizard, shaman, etc...

I would imagine he was referring to a sanctioned position within a High House, a la Magus of Dark. Though I don't personally see any reason why Tayschrenn would hold such a position.

[Tarcil]

Has D'rek a card in the deck of Dragons? I cant remember, dut it would seem weird if she doesnt. Seeing as Tay was the only one of her priesthood she left alive (save Banashar) maybe Tay could have a role connected with that card.

Or maybe he is now Destriant to D'rek or something. Magus is a card in itself. Tay does not have to be a card like QB. He can be something like a high priest, destriant,... or just a plain high mage.

[D'rek]

Tarcil, on 22 August 2010 - 03:11 PM, said:

Has D'rek a card in the deck of Dragons?

Not that we've seen, but the Deck of Dragons tends to limit itself to the High Houses, so there's no standard card to represent Poliel, Soliel, Fener (pre-HHW and his descent), Jhess, Neruse, etc...

But Oponn has often had a card, and then in TtH there's a Dessembrae card in Tiserra's reading out of the blue so honestly who the hell knows. They are all part of the pantheon, but not members of any "High Houses", so there's no Deck card titled like them, but they can easily still have a reading showcase their influence (ie I'm sure Soliel's influence in an event would be represented by a card from High House Life).

(And I still hate that reference in MoI by Envy to "looting Poliel's Warren")

This post has been edited by D'rek: 23 August 2010 - 04:43 PM

[Theotendo]

In RotCG, they make a clear distinction between a mage and a Magus (in the Spire). It has to do with power, I think. It could be similar to the disitinction between a High Mage and an Archmage (GotM).

All of this is, of course, immaterial. Quick is alive, that much is certain (I hope. Fervently.), so where is he hiding?

[Sinon]

I am in the group saying Quick isn't gone, we haven't even seen his soletaken form yet.
He will be back, but will he be the Quick we know or some new incarnation?

If you will humor me let me give you a bit of background. I received my first Erikson novel by accident, one of those failed to reply in time to a book club of the month selections. Midnight Tides, it sat on a shelf for well over a year before I bothered to give it a gander. Since the day I picked it up i do not think three days have passed without me reading some bit of Erikson, and more recently Esslemont. In truth it has ruined me for most of the writers I enjoyed before picking it up and it is all I have left to keep my interest. Though I have browsed these forums for several years now i this is my first post.

I read a bit most days and I tend to jump around a lot but it is an annual occurrence that i read each book in order to prepare for the new one hoping to glean some bit of the puzzle i may have missed in the past and I found something that struck me that I never noticed before in the very opening of this tale. Perhaps it is just because we are so close to the end and still in the dark on so many things could be I am grasping for straws but this passage caught my attention and got me thinking.

After the battle for pale in the beginning of GotM Tattersail's viewpoint right before the Bridgeburners arrive on the hill where she waits with what remains of Hairlock

".... a Warren unveiled and bristling with power. She'd heard tales from other sorcerers, and she'd read moldy scrolls that touched on moments like these, when the power arrived groaning and deadly, and each time, it was said, a god had stepped onto mortal ground. "

she goes on to think that it would have to be Hood considering the death that surrounded her after the battle but that her instincts said different.

Now the four soldiers who arrived were Whiskeyjack, Kalam, Sorry, and Quick Ben. We can eliminate WJ and Kalam off the bat and I assumed it was Sorry possessed of Cots that she was feeling. However Cots was deep in Sorry and though she possessed his physical skills and temperament she never at any time showed any of his magical proclivities, let alone the total unveiling of a Warren. If any of those abilities had been present someone would have noticed, Quick, Mallet and any other number of squad mages among the Bridgeburners along with the mage cadre of the whole 2nd.

We have all always though Quick was more than he seems and as his story progressed we learned that he was much more than was obvious at the start. We know that he started as a High Priest of Shadow, and that he absorbed/merged with 11 other souls in his flight across Raraku I am guessing that each of these souls was in all probability a high mage or high priest in their own right. We have seen elders masquerading as mages in the past (Nightchill, Krul). Could a god have been hiding in those 11 fleeing mages?

Quick Ben a god in hiding?

Sorry if i rambled a bit not as concise or pretty as i would have liked for a first post but there it is now out of my system. Have your fun with it.

[Tattersail_]

i thought it was sorry too, aren't the bridgeburners wary of her, and quick is smart enough to know what is going on. however I like the new angle!

[ansible]

The god on the field at Pale could also have been Nightchill.

[Tattersail_]

she was dead at this point though wasn't she?

[beru]

well her soul was still there...