[ColtaineDidNothingWrong]

Malazan has a bunch of great story arcs and characters, but I must say, Tavore is a complete baffling enigma to me. While a lot of the subplots in Malazan require rereading and piecing together context clues and lines to build a good picture, her whole subplot with her plan to free TCG and how she knows what she does just can't be pieced together for me, even after rereads. At best, I get some of the picture but the rest is full of gaps and contradictions. Hopefully someone can help me out here.

Getting Withal (The Bonehunters)


First off, in The Bonehunters, there's the whole subplot with getting Withal, as he ends up being instrumental in RG as he breaks Rhulad's sword. There are two questions bugging me about this subplot:

1. We learn Mael placed Withal in Malaz City to wait for Tavore. How does he know Tavore is coming for Withal?


Either he knew in advance or someone told him. Which one it is eludes me.

2. Who informs Tavore to get Withal?

From Bottle and Kalam's POV, both say it's T'amber's advice/command the Adjunct is following for finding Withal. But if we assume this is true (and granted, it might not be because of unreliable POV), it's odd because how would T'amber (the Eres'al) know what Mael is up to? Did Mael ever contact her? Or do we assume she (Eres'al) knows literally everything about everything? If so this is just kinda dumb because if the Eres'al wanted to really help she could've just informed Tavore about every major roadblock she would face and there should have been no surprises for the rest of the story, yet clearly this is not the case.

Alternatively, perhaps ST + C told Tavore and T'amber merely helped facilitate that goal. I find that a more grounded reason, but even then, there is a missing connection of how ST + C know Withal will be useful? That implies communication with Mael at some point...I can buy that I guess, but is there anything contextual that backs it up?


Orchestration of Convergence (The Crippled God)


Now, at the end of TCG we learn Tavore is a Talon. From that, many assume she is in contact with ST and/or C in some way.

However, we also read in TCG that ST many times does not know what she's up to; even in the first chapter he is unaware where she is or whether she knows what she's doing. This makes it seem less like Tavore works FOR ST and C and more like she either is working alone or tenuously in tandem with them. Is there any evidence for which one it is?


If she's working alone, then perhaps ST + C planned around her, but even then, this is story breaking towards the end because so many things rely in expert timing and coordination with Tavore. I can't believe ST + C, even with their brilliant minds and 4d chess planning, would leave such a pivotal thing to chance, much less have such an important piece (Tavore) unknown to them.

Because of this, I feel ST + C, one or the other, had some communication with Tavore. Perhaps an exchange of intel throughout the books, an agreement of goals, a discussion on certain elements and tactics. Tavore is adamant at not being the gods' plaything, so I don't believe she would let herself be controlled or used by ST + C, but I could see her forging an alliance since the cause was so great, and her loyalty is to the Empire.

But even so, I am still confused if this interpretation is right, as I see many say (whether on Reddit or this forum) that Tavore worked for ST explicitly and was in constant contact, even though it feels many moments in TCG refute this or at least weaken the frequency of said contact. Perhaps we could think Tavore was in constant contact with Cotillion?

[Gorefest]

It has been a long time since I read it, but if I recall correctly, the Eres'al is key to a lot of your questions. The Eres'al definitely communicates with Mael. We even see this happen in the Bonehunters. She manifests as a cloud, or wind, or something ethereal like that while talking to Spite and Mael. This is confirmed by Pust, who is observing that meeting. Some time later that same cloud or wind then pushes Tavore's fleet to Malaz Island where they go to collect Withal. Bottle again confirms that it is the Eres'al.

We know from other plot threads (Kettle, Trull, Bottle) that the Eres'al wanders through time. Hull tells of a Nerek creation myth which claims the Nerek are born of a single mother who was the thief of fire (Prometheus myth) and walked through time. She is also linked to dreaming (e.g T'amber was a concubine in the temple of the Queen of Dreams long before she was possessed by the Eres'al) and traveling the warrens/holds (the Nerek lost their dreams and their ability to travel in warrens after they were beaten by the Edur). She is part of the Bridgeburner ascension (Tanno spiritwalker song). For all I know, the Eres'al and the Queen of Dreams/T'riss might even be one and the same entity. It was also suggested that the Eres'al was responsible/involved in part for making Trull the Knight of Shadow, showing a link to Shadow (perhaps through the Eres'al striking a deal with ST).

This post has been edited by Gorefest: 29 August 2021 - 07:58 AM