[Wolfdrop]

Just had a reread of the last book of GoTM, and Paran's fight with the finnest got me thinking.

The fight was from Paran's PoV and had specific reference to him biting and attacking like an animal. Once the fight was over: "Paran sagged, the fires within him ebbing".

Anyone else think that he was actually in his soletaken hound form here without realising it? I seem to recall after he uses it in the battle within the condor outside Coral he has no recollection of changing. So Quick Ben witnessing it was actually the second time. It would certainly explain the hound kinship in GoTM, that by then he was a soletaken hound, and not just a "buddy" cause he saved 2 from Dragnipur, the hounds in Darujhistan sensed that rather than recognising him freeing the others. Hence it's confusion when it picks him up, to it he was a hound of shadow, albeit the wrong shape.

Any thoughts?

This post has been edited by Wolfdrop: 19 October 2014 - 12:42 PM

[Gorefest]

Paran is not a Soletaken. He never actually veers into a hound, not outside of Coral either.

[Egwene]

I am pretty sure there was a conversation (or someone's - maybe QB's - thoughts) in the books somewhere about Paran not being a Soletaken exactly. If anyone can dig out whereabouts that is, I would be grateful.

This post has been edited by Egwene: 19 October 2014 - 09:20 AM

[Inane Babble]

Since this is in the MoI forums there is an element of Read and Find Out, but as you mentioned this is a reread for you;

Spoilers for a minor element in the rest of the series, do not read unless you have finished series. Seriously.

Spoiler

Tulas tells ST and cotillion that the hounds are the manifestation of the idea that power cannot be unerringly controlled, and that it eventually turns on you. IMO Paran didn't become a soletaken when he became connected with the hounds, but he did get that nature of "fuck you I won't bow down to you" that the hounds embody. This is what makes the hounds consider him kin, despite the odd non-hound shape

[Wolfdrop]

Perhaps using soletaken, for want of a better word, wasn't the best choice of words here.

I know he wasn't but it was something similar, and shadow woven hound shaped manifestation or whatever doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.

I think the quote for what he was is: "Paran almost invisible within a writhing, shadow-woven hound Hound. Not a soletaken - not a veering - these are two creatures - man and beast - woven together somehow. And the power behind it- it's Shadow. Kurald Emurlahn."

I was just putting it out there he might have used this "form" in the fight against the finnest in GoTM.

Quote

not outside of Coral either

Maybe not, but it was certainly around the time that the Siege of Coral took place



I'd always imaged his "hound form" as looking something like this, but with a black/grey hound rather than green.

 boar umbra.jpg (45.65K)
Number of downloads: 0  bear umbra.jpg (34.54K)
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This post has been edited by Wolfdrop: 19 October 2014 - 01:08 PM

[Egwene]

Thank you for digging out that quote, Wolfdrop. Rep given

Where in the books did you find it?

[Illuyankas]

The quote is from the condor fight in MOI, when the Malazans are going in.

And yeah, I'm pretty sure that what Paran does to fight the Finnest in GOTM is explicitly the transformation that Quick sees in MOI.

[Wolfdrop]

Egwene, on 19 October 2014 - 02:46 PM, said:

Thank you for digging out that quote, Wolfdrop. Rep given

Where in the books did you find it?

I've got the Bantam editions so it would be UK MMPB page 1033, Book Four - Memories of Ice, Chapter 24

Hope that helps!

[Egwene]

Wolfdrop, on 19 October 2014 - 04:46 PM, said:

Egwene, on 19 October 2014 - 02:46 PM, said:

Thank you for digging out that quote, Wolfdrop. Rep given

Where in the books did you find it?

I've got the Bantam editions so it would be UK MMPB page 1033, Book Four - Memories of Ice, Chapter 24

Hope that helps!

Got the same edition so found it straight away. Thank you, means I can correct the Wikia as well.