[Shadow of Shadowthrone]

So I finally finished The Crippled God. Took me 1 year 4 months to read the ten volumes
And I still don't understand much. But, now I can ask ye more informed fanatics. Thou cannot spoil me! Okay, unless it's got to do with Return of the Crimson Guard, Stonewielder or The First Collected Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, which await me on my shelf.

Anyway, a few questions:

1] Did Kallor's arc have a conclusion? I can't remember. In fact, I believed up until I finished The Crippled God, that Erikson read about Kallor from this tenth book, but I must have gotten it all wrong.
2] So what was Shadowthrone and Cotillion's grand plan? I don't understand at all.
3] What's that about Kruppe having daughters? Aren't they Tool's?
4] Was the Forkrul Assail occupation of Kolanse foreshadowed before book ten?
5] What were the Jade Strangers? The souls of the worshippers of the Crippled God?
6] The guy in the tent, always coughing, wasn't that the Crippled God? Why is he suddenly chained and his heart on an altar etc.?
7] What was the deal with Sandorlath occupying the throne of Kharkanas? Why was this important?
8] Was there a connection between the Otataral Dragon and the Crippled God?
9] Was D'rek physically present, curled up around the barrow?
10] Is Burn still sleeping?

Yeah I'm dumb.

[Kanubis]

Let's see then...

1] Did Kallor's arc have a conclusion? I can't remember. In fact, I believed up until I finished The Crippled God, that Erikson read about Kallor from this tenth book, but I must have gotten it all wrong.

Nope. He may appear in the upcoming Darujhistan novel since we last saw him there.


2] So what was Shadowthrone and Cotillion's grand plan? I don't understand at all.

In it's simplest form, to free the Crippled God. TCG has a monologue near the start of the book, iirc correctly it's actually a dialogue with Shadowthrone.


3] What's that about Kruppe having daughters? Aren't they Tool's?

Nope, the lad is Tools. Before they hook up at the end of MoI, Hetan spends a few nights more or less raping Kruppe.


4] Was the Forkrul Assail occupation of Kolanse foreshadowed before book ten?

Yep, the Snake in DoD were fleeing them, for one thing. And Kayleth's story involved them.


5] What were the Jade Strangers? The souls of the worshippers of the Crippled God?

Vessels of the worhshippers, yes. There's a scene in TBH where Heboric communes with them.


6] The guy in the tent, always coughing, wasn't that the Crippled God? Why is he suddenly chained and his heart on an altar etc.?

Part of the crippled god, or a manifestation of him. It's complicated with Gods. Being able to form a sickly avatar is not the same as being free.


7] What was the deal with Sandorlath occupying the throne of Kharkanas? Why was this important?

Not 100% sure - SE's next books are a trilogy on the history of Kharkansas, we're all hoping we get a glimpse at how things develop there after the battle at the Shore.


8] Was there a connection between the Otataral Dragon and the Crippled God?

Not as such, but she was needed to brake the CG's chains.


9] Was D'rek physically present, curled up around the barrow?

Yeah, the Gods thing again. I'll go with 'Yes.'


10] Is Burn still sleeping?

Last we heard. I guess she can wake up now though. Again, the Darujhistan novel coming up might have Caladan Brood in it, and he'll be interested in what the lazy goddess is going to do.


Answers may be BS....

[POOPOO MCBUMFACE]

I guess we're never going to get any more in-depth explanations for the Jade Strangers, but they're still... bizarre. There's a leap of logic I missed between "Kaminsod's worshippers want to find him" and "Kaminsod's worshippers somehow loaded their incorporeal selves into giant spaceships shaped like big green men, launched themselves towards Wu at sporadic intervals, while apparently forgetting who they are along the way and becoming horribly suffering souls who don't believe in gods".

[Shadow of Shadowthrone]

Thanks guys. Is Wu the name for the world?

[Kanubis]

Shadow of Shadowthrone, on 12 April 2011 - 01:28 PM, said:

Thanks guys. Is Wu the name for the world?

Apparently. I can never remember where we find this out, but apparently yes, Wu is the name of the world.

[Mott]

Sorry if this is not much use or I misremember anything.

1) Not as such, he is still seeking what he has always been seeking it seems but I suspect we might see more of him in ICE's future novels or possibly the Tobalaki trilogy.

2) As far as I understand it they were driving the events towards the release of the Crippled God but I think there might also have been an element of levelling the playing fields and removing a major power source of the pantheon from the game.

3) No in MoI Kruppe and Hetan got it on and she alludes to being pregnant at the end of the book, the twins are her and Kruppe's children, I think it is explicitly stated in DoD, Hetan muses they are trying to 'steal' her husband and how devious they are.

4) It was hinted quite heavily in DoD, especially in the snake storyline. I'm not sure about before that I really need to do a full series re-read, it is so easy to forget about little details.

5) Yes, they contained the Crippled God's worshipers who were traveling towards Wu to rejoin their God.

6) Yes it was. I think though that he could project parts of himself and he wasn't always (or wasn't at all) physically present in the real world in that form, I think he might have been in a warren, thinking back to Munug's meeting with him in MoI and his tent on the beach which Karsa accesses from the Letherii tournament ground. I think his physical body was scattered, but the crows feasted on his flesh and preserved it that way. It would have been too dangerous for him to be fully physical before that in Wu, he would have been in danger of being killed by an arrow etc like any other ascendant/mortal, when he physically manifests his chains are there because he is chained to burn proper. Sorry that is a bit garbled.

7) She was of the royal Andii'an line but she was a political prisoner since she belonged to a noble family. It was important because of the implications it mentally had on her to occupy the throne once more.

8) I'm not certain on this point, the otataral dragon was the opposite of magic (abnegation) and the Crippled God was a magical being but his magic was foreign and so did not react in the same way to her. I think it was said that he himself was anathema to Wu's magic but I'll need to go look up tCG to make sure I'm not pulling that put of my ass. She was essential for breaking his chaining though.

9) I took it to mean that D'rek was physically present which was why there was so much danger in her being there.

10) Yes. I assume so anyway since humanity hasn't been totally wiped out. I imagine she'll need time to heal all the damage that was done since it was so prolonged. They managed to find a third option to save her without having to resort to the hammer and wake her up.

Hopefully this makes some sense. I wouldn't worry about it there is so much to understand and no doubt I've clumsily pieced certain things together erroneously.

[MTS]

1] Nope. He should appear in the Darujhistan novel though.

2] The way I see it is that they tried to thwart the ambitions of (most) of the pantheon in regards to the Crippled God, and gather as much influence as they could in the process.

3] Nope, they're Kruppe's. It's often stated how clever they are and that their 'real' father should come and deal with them.

4] It was alluded to as far back as Midnight Tides, I believe. There's talk of supposed civil wars and isolationism IIRC, and we find out there's famine over there in Reaper's Gale. It is made almost blatantly obvious in Dust of Dreams.

5] Indeed. I believe it's mentioned somewhere they were drawn to him. They were the souls of his worshipers (like when priests go to their gods), and so when he was ripped down they ended up following him. Or something.

6] The Crippled God claimed a wandering fragment of Emurlahn in which he could manifest himself and channel his power. That's how he came to influence the Edur I'm fairly sure. He wasn't in the mortal realm and thus wasn't chained, although he was confined to his island.

7] Didn't really get this one either on my first read (haven't gone back yet).

8] Not directly. Heboric was the common denominator there, although massive amounts of Otataral were created around the Jade Statues when they fell.

9] I'm going to say 'yes.'

10] I assume so. The world didn't end, right? She'll have a few bruises, certainly, but I'm pretty sure she's fine. Although I wonder if the Otataral Dragon being chained directly to her flesh will have any impact (I'm pretty sure she wasn't previously).

[Ceda Cicero]

Wu isn't in any way the official or canonical name of the world. It's a nickname that's etymology is something of a hodgepodge - stems from an interview with SE and, additionally, Wu seems to be the author of a few poems we see preceding chapters. It's really just fan shorthand.

[worry]

The Jade Giants aren't just the CG's worshipers. They are his dead worshipers, who have nowhere to go in death after CG was ripped away. Which is why there's so much diversity in their beliefs, and some don't even seem to believe in their god anymore. They're the souls amassed over millennia, I suppose. And they aren't the first group of Jade Giants to arrive, but they do seem to be the largest (and potentially most harmful).

What's neat about Kaminsod being from a world where all gods are Shield Anvils is that it's in such contrast to the world of Wu, where the gods use people and generally give them nothing in return, thus the need for Hood. And of course it's what Hood suggests the gods start doing after he gives up his role as lord of Death.

[Tatterdemalion]

worrywort, on 12 April 2011 - 08:17 PM, said:

What's neat about Kaminsod being from a world where all gods are Shield Anvils is that it's in such contrast to the world of Wu, where the gods use people and generally give them nothing in return, thus the need for Hood. And of course it's what Hood suggests the gods start doing after he gives up his role as lord of Death.

Responsibility.