[Gintokian]

Hi everyone!

This is my first post here, I found the malazan books a couple years ago and have just now finished reading through them all. I often came to this forum when I was confused about something and it's always been super helpful so thank you all!

So I just finished reading FoL yesterday and while I was reading I found some interesting quotes relating Grizzin Farl to the broken up Forkrul Assail god in TMBoF. This takes place in the section when he is remembering his murder spree of the Forkrul and mentions how some of them now worship them as a god.

Page 408 of the Bantam paperback version:

Quote

He had stepped out from the Great Court as a child from a bloodied womb, painted in all the hues of justice, gasping at the shock of cold air as it swept in from shattered windows, with stained glass crunching under his feet and distant cries from the streets below.

Page 411:

Quote

A brief flash clouded Grizzin's mind as he saw himself reflected in broken glass, staggering from a place of slaughter.

Page 413:

Quote

Outside the tavern, in the street surrounded by the brittle city, the sky above looked strangely shattered, with dark and light and colours splaying out like shards, as if made by stained glass cast awry.

Now I never really bought into the whole Grizzin Farl is the Forkrul D'ivers god in the desert thing before but when I read these parts it changed my mind. He mentions shattering multiple times and the Forkrul god was shattered into the D'ivers bugs. He also mentions shattered glass, the D'ivers god was in the Glass Desert. He sees himself reflected in broken glass, possibly foreshadowing his future self. He also mentions shards, which is one of the words Badalle uses to summon him in TCG.

Let me know what you guys think.

[nacht]

It is a good argument.
The first one is an obvious connection but the last few are interesting in that they are clues placed by the author either knowingly or unknowingly.

It would be ironical if the seed of "justice through annihilation" was planted into the mind of the Forkrul Assail by the so called "Protector" himself.

[Gintokian]

Now that's an interesting thought. It seems like he was a pretty violent guy before he started calling himself the Protector. If he is the d'ivers god in the glass desert this could also be planting the seeds for his own eventual destruction at the hands of the FA.

The shattered stained glass could also be seen as a symbol for the shattering of civilization I suppose and the repetition of it could be just Erikson's elliptical writing style. Grizzin Farl seeing his reflection in it could relate to how hr mentions later he's in Kharkanas to witness the end of things, like the shattering of the Tiste civilization.
Or something like that.
Or it's both. Or neither and I'm reading into it too much.

[Pherikus Nul]

This is also expanded on in the scenes of Grizzin Farl in the Citadel before all of these events. Particularly, in the chapter that Grizzin Farl internally goes through his old life among the Forkrul Assail, he's going through the Citadel and has similar reactions of seeing his past (or future) in the stained and coloured glass. This is around the time that he talks about the tapestry with Rise Herat. (Sorry to zombie a post)

[Gintokian]

Pherikus Nul, on 24 May 2019 - 03:58 PM, said:

This is also expanded on in the scenes of Grizzin Farl in the Citadel before all of these events. Particularly, in the chapter that Grizzin Farl internally goes through his old life among the Forkrul Assail, he's going through the Citadel and has similar reactions of seeing his past (or future) in the stained and coloured glass. This is around the time that he talks about the tapestry with Rise Herat. (Sorry to zombie a post)

For sure, I think my first quote there was in that part when he's thinking about his old life with the forkruls.
Whether SE did all that on purpose or not it's still a neat connection if it turns out to be true ha