Rake's sacrifice of himself to bring back Mother Dark makes sense to me. He merges his essence with hers, transporting the heart of Kurald Galain out of Dragnipur (where he was) to the temple in Black Coral (where her vessel was). Presumably, Rake had to wait for the right moment when the vessel was there, in Black Coral, in the temple, where the connection to Kurald Galain was strongest to spawn her back into existence. Or somesuch...feel free to tell me I've got it wrong.
What I don't understand is why it was necessary for Hood and his armies to be there as well...unless Rake had some massive crisis of faith when it came to murder (which I have some trouble seeing).
With Dragnipur we get all kinds of characters continually commenting on how Rake has stopped killing, so they move slower and slower and Chaos is catching up. As a result, they need Hood to die, and bring his armies with him in Dragnipur to delay Chaos.
But what if Rake hadn't stopped killing? There are MORE than enough wars and causes for him and his Tiste Andii to take up (and a part of me wonders if his continued "search for meaning in the causes of others" served an easy dual purpose - giving the Tiste Andii something to hang onto when Mother Dark left...and also to conveniently feed Dragnipur).
Couldn't Rake have just kept on occasionally killing people until Mother Dark's vessel arrived in Black Coral...and then rigged Dragnipur to fall on his neck? When he places it in its stone niche in Black Coral it's obvious that the weight is IMMENSE.
Why does it require that Dessembrae "kill him" (He's still holding the sword himself).
Is it the massive convergence of Ascendants and Gods surrounding Dragnipur that somehow weakens the barriers of the dimension and allows the Gate of Kurald Galain to escape? Is Hood's entry into Dragnipur "stretching the seams" as it were?
I'm just trying to figure out why it had to happen the way it did...because it seems like there were easier solutions.
Thanks for helping me wrap my head around this! I loved the book...just have some niggling curiosities
This post has been edited by KruppesDonkey: 20 August 2014 - 04:55 PM