[sigpig]

Happy New Year! I believe this is my first post, so please be gente.
There wil probably be spoilers, so you might want to skip this one.

I have read both the main series and the prequals twice, and am just starting GotM again. With what we now know, the prelude in 1154BS brings up a bunch of questions.
Young Ganoes is at Mock's Hold for some reason, watching a riot in the Mouse Quarter. Up comes WJ and Fid, with Laseen making an appearance later.
Laseen calls WJ "Commander" - meaning higher than a Captain, lower than a Fist. I would assume this is because he commands the BBs.
We all know the BBs have a complete lack of military decoum and courtesy, but the fact that Fid essentially ignores Laseen is interesting. WJ gives him an order "Send Dujek and a wing, and get some sappers to contain the fires - wouldn't do to let the whole city burn." This, to me, makes me think that WJ outranked Dujek at that point in time - as if he was a Lieutennant or Captain, and not a Fist or High Fist. The OTHER thing that gets my Spidy-Senses tingling is that this makes me believe that FIDDLER WAS A HIGH-RANKING OFFICER TOO.
Obviously, we haven't met Fid in this trilogy (that we know of), but we obviously have met WJ. IIRC, he states that he was a Mason's apprentice before joining the army, but obviously that's incorrect. Probably another Malazan character doing their best to hide their past.
Anyhow, I'm sure more things will likely tickle my brain. Take care!

[ArchieVist]

Welcome to the forum!


We know from the GotM Dramatis Personae that Whiskeyjack was once commander of the 2nd Army, so he does outrank Dujek in the prologue. The commander ranking likely is equivalent (or near equivalent) to a Fist. In this early book, some of the Malazan terms and concepts are not quite set in concrete yet. These types of discrepancies appear so often in the first book, they get referred to as GotM-isms.


I wouldn't necessarily assume Fiddler has any official ranking. He's more than likely just a trusted subordinate passing on his commander's orders.


Paran is in Malaz City with his father. House Paran has vineyards on the island and father Paran is said to be in the city to negotiate export tithes at the time of the riots.

[sigpig]

More observations.WJ and crew are mining the intersections of Darujhistan.
Reading "When Crocus met Sorry" at the Phoenix Inn.
I hadn't (yet) realized how much forshadowing is in this book. Mentions of the Pannion Seer, the Founding Races that have disappeared (hah!), Kallor being Kallor, etc. I'm sure there have been a few I missed.
It looks as if Cots is possessing/using Sorry almost from Day 1. Poor girl, but who knows if she would have survived the Hounds in the first place?
Mallet is already frustrated with WJ not giving him the time to properly heal him. Makes me think Hood marked him at an earlier time than earlier believed (WJ's sister?).
I still hold to my belief that Fid was a much higher-ranking soldier than a simple sapper. He was already a grizzled veteran by the time of the Prologue, and that long in ranks would have caused him to be promoted imply by attrition. My theory is that he got busted-down just like WJ (or followed him - maybe more in character). Kind of goes along with him not really knowing his age, but the fact that he doesn't "age" is interesting. More on this later.

Poor Mammot is a bit confused on the number of Jaghut on his continent - both living and undead. As we read at this moment, Raest is a few day's walk away, and Pannion is carving himself out a pocket Kingdom. Of course, with all we know about Mammot now, he probably knew all along and was simply lying to Crocus.

QB is now the most powerful Mage in the 5th Army, now that Tays royally screwed up outside Pale and the loss of Tattersail and Bellurdan. You would think that he would have had a clue about Nightchill and her ambitions - never mind the rest of the Mages. To me, this all goes back to not enforcing a Mage chain-of-command right at the beginning. Too much autonomy and plots thicken like old gravy.

I also didn't realize how close the Malazans were to destroying Moon's Spawn.
Did the BBs begin their Path to Ascension after their little excursion in Raraku? This would go far to explain the lack of aging of Fid.

[Coltaine -]

Yes, SE does a crazy amount of set-up and payoff. Re-reads are always fun because you are noticing those little details.

And Whiskeyjack managed to get an Hood's bad side for stealing Dunsparrow back from the temple. Hood can be overly resentful. The whole situation is also addressed in a later book. Just can't remember where.

Paran actually describes Fiddler as looking only a few years older than himself in the prologue. It's probably a misjudgement and Fid is just looking younger than he is, but from his descriptions through the books I never got the feeling that he doesn't age. The Path to Ascension for the Bridgeburners starts in Deadhouse Gates and is completed with the return of Fiddler to the Raraku in House of Chains.