[SiriusL]

Hi there. First new thread for me, so I should let you know that I've only read through MoI and "Blood Follows". HoC is on its way to me as I write, so please no spoilers if you can help it.


In Ch. 5 of MoI, we have the first meeting of Rake and Silverfox. This is the fell gathering of the "alliance", and Kallor is imploring Rake to kill Silverfox. Rake sends out some questing sorcery towards her, and this is the result:

"The sorcery frayed suddenly, flung away in tattered fragments to all sides. The Mhybe hissed. She knew enough of her daughter to see, in her reappearance, that she was furious. Power, twisting like taut ropes, rose around her, knotting, bunching." (emphasis mine)

So, clearly Silverfox is capable of using sorcery to defend herself, and confident (or stupid) enough to use it against Anomander Rake. So why, in Ch. 24 when Kallor is rushing toward her with his sword, does she not use magic? Instead, she calls out for the T'lan Ay to defend her (which they don't, apparently because they were mad or too busying being released by Itkovian, or something).

I don't get this. Was Kallor using the Chained One's sorcery to render Silverfox powerless? Why then, did he have to physically fight WJ and the marines? Did the infection of the warrens have something to do with it? I thought that was mostly cleared up by then.

Any input is appreciated.

[drza44]

My first post as well, and I too have only read up through MoI.

That whole sequence of events, being written from the PoV of someone that had just taken a shocking head blow, was a bit confusing. Also, I've never really been sure of the extent of Kallor's abilities. Clearly he has power, but he apparently feels that he would lose against almost any of the other big-time Ascendants. But yeah, considering the power that Silverfox had already displayed as a child (plus the power of all of those that resided within her) it is a little surprising that she wouldn't be able to at least battle (if not thrash) Kallor.

Maybe the shock of being abandoned by her Ay made her hesitate, and if others hadn't stepped in she would have roused herself and attacked at the last minute?

[caladanbrood]

Firstly, welcome to the forums, both of you:)

It's one thing using sorcery against sorcery, but using it against a crazed old man running at you with a sword is probably a different matter entirely. And yes, being abandoned by the T'lan Ay obviously shocked her massively.

[SiriusL]

erisi236 said:

Too stunned by the attack plus the lose of the t'lan ay added with the fact that Silverfox is a total loser is why she didn't defend herself

Well, between the time Kallor starting running at her and the time WJ died and the marines jumped in, it sure seems like she would have been recovered enough to do something else.

I suppose we should take Tayschrenn's hesitation into account--if he waited till Kallor was done with the marines to strike...

I don't know. I'm not convinced, really.

[Red_orbiT]

She obviously wanted to see Kallor in action. He's really cool and it only happens once in the whole series so far. Not anything you would want to miss. Oh, and she got to see Whiskeyjack in action too, that's another one-timer.

[Whelp]

Quote

Well, between the time Kallor starting running at her and the time WJ died and the marines jumped in, it sure seems like she would have been recovered enough to do something else.

I suppose we should take Tayschrenn's hesitation into account--if he waited till Kallor was done with the marines to strike...

The whole affair took only seconds - and since Kallor struck at Tayschrenn and Korlat before he launched himself at Silverfox, I think he somehow blocked Silverfox's sorcery.

[SiriusL]

Whelp said:

The whole affair took only seconds - and since Kallor struck at Tayschrenn and Korlat before he launched himself at Silverfox, I think he somehow blocked Silverfox's sorcery.

Perhaps I don't know enough about SE sorcery, but it seems like there was enough time for her to do something. If sorcery takes more than a few seconds, how did Lady Envy ever survive attacks by K'C C'M (or is it just KC)?

I'm more inclined to go with the latter explanation, and/or the one that Tarapas Amran gave above. I took the moment of vulnerability to mean that she was away from the only two people Kallor's afraid of--Brood and Rake. It's why he wanted to leave Brood right before Coral and go "help out".

Given the confusion of what actually happened to Artantos, and why he couldn't respond either, I guess it's reasonable that she was somehow blocked or rendered unmagic. Just seems a little weird. :Erm:

Thanks for the input, all.

[Keruli]

Hey there Sirius! Nice to see you at the malazan forums.
(It's PS from TL )

I agree that Kallor must've used the Chaos sorcery he had been provided by the Crippled God, to incapacitate Tayschrenn and Korlat, and somehow prevent Silverfox from opening her warrens (or if the CG did that as the "moment of vulnerability" he asked for. I think Kallor got rid of Rake and Brood through his own scheming). I think that Silverfox called for the T'lan Ay only after she discovered she was powerless.

As to why Kallor attacked Whiskeyjack with his sword and not sorcery, I thought he did it that way just because he wanted to cross blades with him and kill him with his sword. Much more personal that way. And Kallor is more warrior than mage.

[Agraba]

Silverfox is known as a very powerful character... powerful in the sense that George W. Bush is powerful. She commands the entire Imass army. I'm not sure much was said about her actual sorcerous power. She obviously has some, but sufficient to fend off Kallor's strike? Remember, sorcerous ability does not imply absolute superiority over someone who's fighting skills are wholly mundane. If someone like Kalam or Brys Beddict attacked someone like Kulp, there's not a damned think Kulp could do about it. And, I believe, Silverfox wouldn't be able to fend off either of those two without the help of her T'lan Ay/Imass.

And putting the above paragraph's argument aside, I believe that Kallor has magic. At least, that's how I think he destroyed his civilization, as opposed to a popular belief that he used K'Chain Che'malle technology.