foolio, on 02 June 2011 - 07:55 PM, said:
Ok, I am horribly confused about gruntles ending story line. I am going to jumble some questions and comments and would love ridicule, answers, or any sort of wisdom someone can lend me.
1. Was Kilava the black panther he kept seeing in the dream world? Was she raped as he thought?
2. Kilava was responsible for destroying the Kettle Azath, right? She killed it on purpose to...force her children into the world?
3. How did he fight Kilava to a standstill? I mean, we see other mortal swords who are not that tough(krughava gets taken out by a weasel with a knife both intellectually and physically), Kilava seems to think of herself as on par with the badest of the bad. The errant seems scared of her.
4. What happened to the deseased dead warriors gruntl picks up in the dream world that he had trake heal? Was their something significant about the dudes the immediately set upon and killed. It seemed like they were with gruntle one second and were going to play a part, then they were gone.
5. What was gruntles motivation for fighting Kilava? Could he have stopped the dragons from coming through the gate. Kilava enables this? shouldnt draconus now kill her? Why did the dragons(Eleint) ignore her and not kill her?
6. I saw on another thread that Trake was dead, is this true?
7. What exactly did Trake want gruntle to do at the gate. It seems like he was drawn there but I dont know why. Kilava had no intention of stopping them so I dont know why she bothered to stay there in the first place.
This whole story arc made no sense to me, I am hoping someone can make sense of it, and sorry about the rambling statements. I did think it was cool and to find out that Kilava was Trakes mother but the rest just confuses me.
These are really excellent questions. I'm a bit disappointed that folks seem to be making up their own answers to these questions. Yes, it's confusing. But some things we know. I've numbered the questions above and will respond below.
1. Almost certainly. She knew exactly what Gruntle was talking about when he mentioned his dreams. As to rape... good question, I don't understand that part at all.
2. Page 485 -
Quote
There is little time left! Gruntle, do not challenge this! She lifted her arms out to the sides. Look at me! I am Kilava Onass, a Bonecaster of the Imass. I defied the Ritual of Tellann, and my power beggars that of your human gods. What will occur here not even I can prevent do you understand me? It is
necessary
She seems to be trying to control something that is too powerful for her to stop. Why? Don't know exactly. She almost certainly had a hand in the azath's deterioration, but perhaps that was inevitable.
3. Mortal Sword isn't some title that magically conveys the exact same benefits for everyone. In Gruntle's case, his god chose him and forced upon him a great portion of his power along with the ability to shape-change. The book even addresses Gruntle anger over Trake's decision to do so. In any case, Gruntle was supposed to be incredibly powerful. He also seems to have summoned Trake into himself for that battle but I'm not 100% sure on that.
4. No idea, that was weird, where the heck DID they go?
5. This I can answer - page 485
Quote
Gruntle, why are you here? He advanced, feeling the blood within him rise to a boil. Havent you guessed? Im going to fight. Im going to bring your son down here and now. Im going to kill the bastard. An end to the god of slaughter, of horror, of rape Kilava howled in sudden rage, vanished inside a blur of darkness. Veered into a panther as huge as Gruntle himself, she coiled to spring. In his mind, he saw a single, quick nod. Yes. Baring his fangs, Gruntle lunged to meet her.
So he hated Trake and wanted to kill him. Maybe he knew the only way to summon him was to go where Trake wanted him to be and get him really fired up in battle. But in the course of the battle he switches to attacking a dragon, so he definitely wanted to stop them. He probably just wanted to prevent their destructive power from be unleashed on the world, which is very sensible really. He probably just didn't see the whole picture like Kilava. What did she know? Perhaps that the ottatarel dragon was a threat? As to Draconus or the dragons' feelings toward Kilava, we don't know. But we also don't know any specific reason why either should seek her death. Kilava's crime is not on the magnitude of Kilimandaros'. Kilava did not willfully seek to unmake the world. And dragons aren't compelled to kill everything in their path, only those things that oppose them or other dragons.
6. Not sure if we know for sure that Trake is dead. We do know that Gruntle sought to kill him (see above) and died in the process, so it seems likely.
7. Not sure what Trake wanted, but it seems likely that he wanted to stop the dragons. Kilava was clearly guarding the gate to prevent anyone for making the attempt, for whatever reason.