Malazan Empire: Thel Akai Allegorical Shenanigans SPOILERS - Malazan Empire

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Thel Akai Allegorical Shenanigans SPOILERS

#1 User is offline   Bemused 

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Posted 22 May 2016 - 04:45 PM

Hi all - I wanted to hop on to share some thoughts about the complementary storyline involving the Thel Akai. Some readers may have found the tonal shift too severe for their liking, but personally, I found it not just an oasis of needed humor but, more interestingly to me, it carries a ton of allegorical weight that speaks to the rest of the book(s).

So SPOILERS below for "Fall of Light"

I was giving some thought as to the Thel Akai storyline, and is often the case with Erikson, there is frequently a great deal of thematic parallels nested through his books. In this book in particular, there are so many macro-themes are addressed through particular scenes or symbolic close-ups- you could say it is a defining feature of Fall of Light. That being said, I had a few Ah-Ha! moments when reading the Thel Akai husbands lamenting their missing wife.

So you have the three husbands: Garelko, Tathenal, and Ravast - their ages run the gambit- for now let's say they represent Men. Why are these husbands upset? They are bound together in search of their wife, and due to the power dynamic with Lasa Rook, it isn't a stretch so say they are searching for their Queen. (Their Mother Dark)

Now where has their Queen gone? Why she has left for reasons they fear and do not understand. They think she wants Death. They fear they are not loved. But really? They don't understand her at all. You could call the husbands a stand-in for the Tiste here. Everything she does is out of love. She sparks the love of her husbands by running off with two other warriors.

And who does she travel with? A fierce young warrior who is too burdened by honor and ideas of "men" so he refuses to stay with love/Lasa. Instead, he runs towards death. Oh, and the other warrior of the men she travels with is now a Soletaken dragon. So yeah, in a sense, the two sides of Draconus.

The more I think about it, having Thel Akai stories carry tons of symbolism makes perfect sense.

I am beginning to suspect this storyline might have some foreshadowing symbolism as well. I may be reading too much into it, but Chapter Five: Erelan's eager words came in a hiss. 'Blinded in the right eye. I but wait until it makes itself blind to the shore.' I couldn't but help to think of The Shore, and the rolls the Shake and future members of Shadow still have to play. And here we have a one eyed dragon. Dragon soletaken mortals. A fight at the shore - an ambush - a blindsiding.

Anyhow, I am sure there is more to unpack - I'l put it to the forum. What do you think? Am I just pointing out the obvious?
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Posted 15 July 2016 - 03:39 AM

I think your analysis of the two Thel Akai storylines and analogy for the Tiste is fascinating and likely correct or close to the mark for whatever SE intended.
I'd be curious to know what you think both groups ultimately joining the War on Death foreshadows.
The Shake analogy is less compelling, altho i agree SE doesn't tend to use words by coincidence. The Shore as a concept for the Tiste and the Shake has various meanings in RG and TCG.
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#3 User is offline   Salt-Man Z 

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Posted 15 July 2016 - 04:01 PM

Nice!

Slightly off-topic, but:

Man, I thought we had the TTT races all figured out. Thelomen, Toblakai, and Tarthenal are all roughly equivalent races, all offspring of the Thel Akai (seems fairly obvious that those first two names derive from that of the ancestral race.) Or so we thought! Now we have Thel Akai existing alongside Toblakai!

Also, it seems like a given now that the Tarthenal race gets its name from Tathenal, but man, with SE who knows for sure? :blink:

This post has been edited by Salt-Man Z: 15 July 2016 - 04:02 PM

"Here is light. You will say that it is not a living entity, but you miss the point that it is more, not less. Without occupying space, it fills the universe. It nourishes everything, yet itself feeds upon destruction. We claim to control it, but does it not perhaps cultivate us as a source of food? May it not be that all wood grows so that it can be set ablaze, and that men and women are born to kindle fires?"
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Posted 08 August 2016 - 06:56 PM

 Salt-Man Z, on 15 July 2016 - 04:01 PM, said:

Nice!

Slightly off-topic, but:

Man, I thought we had the TTT races all figured out. Thelomen, Toblakai, and Tarthenal are all roughly equivalent races, all offspring of the Thel Akai (seems fairly obvious that those first two names derive from that of the ancestral race.) Or so we thought! Now we have Thel Akai existing alongside Toblakai!

Also, it seems like a given now that the Tarthenal race gets its name from Tathenal, but man, with SE who knows for sure? :p


Dunno... the Jheck and Jhelakan appear to be nearly identical races, just different tribes, one smaller and paler the other bigger and darker. The entire Thel Akai split could be little more than that, with Kila just messing around with minor details.

The link between Tarthenal the character and the race... that I'm curious about.
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