[Abyss]

Lost Marine;207394 said:

On Quick Ben, he's a Bridgeburner, the BBs have ascended. Could this have had an affect on how powerful he is? Maybe his fight with Iccy made him flex more and he realized how much more capacity he had now. It seems that when every other mage in the series over draws they get wasted bad and from the condition he was in after that he should have been done. I think it's his ascendency kicking in.

I suspect it's a combo of all of these things. I ALSO think that when QB identified Talamanadas as the new Mage of HHDeath, he may have missed the actual new Mage, being himself.

Because Hood always has the last laugh.... :cool:

Lost Marine;207394 said:

As for Trull I think it was sadder because he had lost his entire family, but had just found a new one and didn't even know that he was going to be a father before he got killed.

I think SE's desire to tragedy was really clear here, given what happened to all of Trull's people and Seren, directly and by association. In a way, the Errant himself has become the author's dirty little dagger (see Brys in MT).

Trull's kid does have all kinds of potential wrapped up there... a child of the Knight of HHShadow and one of the Mistresses of the Empty Hold... it seems the link between humans and Edur and the warren(s) of shadow are becoming stronger. Plus, the same kid has a half-sibling out there somewhere whose mom is the eres' al (and now that i thinkabout it, the eres'al's saving Trull from Iccy may have been to facilitate Trull sheboinging Seren down the road...)

Given what happened to Kettle, i realize the theories about her being that child are still valid, but it would seem other possibilities are on the table.

- Abyss, also happy when lunch is on the table.

[Zanth13]

guess it is Malazan book of the Fallen.

not Malazan book of the happy Edur.

[Lost Marine]

Yeah you can't expect much happiness in a series that has Book of the Fallen in the title.

I kind of figured it would be a bad scene when I got the first one and saw that. Then again that's why the series is so great, it reflects real life in a way that most fantasy doesn't even attempt. No one is safe and bad things happen to good people.

[Mr.Warren]

SE is probably done with Trull, so even if he had lived we probably wouldn't have seen much else from him. Better to give him an unexpected death just to mess with the readers i suppose.

Still, maybe he isn't done......... you never know with this crafty author

[Crop]

To be hounest i hope Bugg makes roasted Errant or Errant tea, the bastard surely deserves it...err cokked Errant would fit Buggs nature a lot better

I want to join your club

On a sidenote was it TEhol who made that twoheaded bug puzzle?

[polishgenius]

Yes.
Well, iirc it was technically Bugg who made the box, but it was Tehol's idea.

[farengi]

Ok just saw this thread today and so a bunch of questions and replies from the previous 12 pages:
First of all ... for you people posting spoilers - what's with the black text box? Is there something in there, or it's just taking up space?
Regarding Silchas Ruin, I think you have to take into account some factors. He's just been released from the Azath after who knows how many millenia ... so is he really up to full strength? Also, he mentions specifically that he doesn't know some of the magic in use today ... specifically when Seren uses her Mockra. Quick Ben obviously has a lot more magic at his disposal than Seren does. On the other hand, if we go back to the earlier books - we see that Rake along with his Tiste Andii have a hard time against the Malazan mages. So maybe these Ascendants aren't really that powerful.
I really loved how SE develops Karsa ... from being just a brute to someone who learns from his mistakes and is able to figure out what's going on around him. How did he know what to do against Rhulad, esp. when he never even went to see him fight? I'm really interested to see what happens to him now - he clearly isn't dead, so where does he turn up next? And what about his Jhag horse, does it get left behind in Lether?
On a related note, the Adjunct clearly has some idea about Rhulad's sword, given that Withal is with her ... but then why does she ask if the rumors of Rhulad being unbeatable are true? Also where is she headed now that Lether has been conquered? To Assail perhaps? I can imagine the Malazans and the Barghast meeting up, joining with the Perrish ...
I was dissapointed with Mael's role ... he's supposed to be an Elder God, so I would think he should be more aware of what's going on around him. He gets trapped much too easily and isn't even aware that Feather Witch is summoning the demon under the ice ... as compared to Kilava who is aware of events going on in another realm entirely.
I was very surprised to see the Seguleh at the end as well, initially I thought that Rhulad had killed her and was dissapointed that we don't see the fight. My guess is that she sort of figures out the truth about Rhulad's sword and figures that it isn't worth the fight.
I wonder if we're going to see Tool and Onrack meet at some point?
Glad to see Tehol survive, he was a riot and I was thinking along the same lines, Tehol and Kruppe getting together would drive everyone around them insane -

[Aptorian]

Spoiler boxes are made by writting [spoiler] in front of and [ /spoiler] behind the text you want to hide. Only you need to remove the space I made before the / (slash) if you quote a post with spoiler boxes in 'em you'll see what I mean.

Spoilers are read by either pressing ctrl+a or by dragging the cursor over the box with the left button held down.

Spoilers aren't actually needed in the RG forum since everyone who reads this forum should have read the latest book. Unless of course we're talking quotes from ICE novels or the Bauchelin and Korbal book. They should be in spoilers.

[Mentalist]

Hey, everyone, finished the book yesterday, awesome, prolly one of the best.
As for the "loose ends":
-Khundryl and the Perish are off somewhere, where Tavore is going
-Genoes and his Host are gone somewhere
-Kalam is taking a breather at the deadhouse, and will prolly emerge stronger then ever
-Crokus and company are off to Darujhistan, where "A Tyrant" is supposed to be returning (according to Seguleh 2nd)
-Apsalar will prolly go looking for him, once Cotillion informs her that he's alive
-Clip is looking for Anomander Rake and he's not happy
-Icarium went and did... something to himself, and Mappo will have to clear it up, probably facilitating an battle b/w Envy&Spite.
-Tool and his Barghast will want to fight something.
-Somehow, somewhere, Fener will get involved again, tired of sitting in that musty, old temple in Lethereas
-Eres'al is still pregnant with the future ruler of Kurald Emurhlahn

-Toc the Younger is not qite dead, withe the wolves probably trying to pull something on Hood thru him
-QoD has Leomann and dunsparrow and they're waiting to re-join the game..
-L'loric and greyfrog, and somehow Tiste Liosan HAVE to get more involved1!!!
-Back in 7C, the champion of the Wolves, an Enkar'al in a TTT body is still around
-Likewise, we got KCCM and KCNR coming out of everywhere
-Karsa is still around

all in all, LOTSA STUFF DO GO ON!!!!
(and i ddin't even mention the war against Wickans, Korelri stormwall and Assaill where Silverfox went, cause that's ICE's prerogative)

[Skywalker]

kud13;208267 said:

(and i ddin't even mention the war against Wickans, Korelri stormwall and Assaill where Silverfox went, cause that's ICE's prerogative)

Silverfox has unfinished business with Paran I thought... are we sure she's gone off into ICE territory?

Darn it... need a complete series reread methinks

[dando2]

I did not read this whole tread, just because

I did just finish the book this past weekend. All of my thoughts,except one, have been covered, which is why I stopped reading the thread.

My one thought has to do with Toc:

Toc's spirit was promised to Hood by his father... go figure
Toc is a Bridgeburner and has already ascended or should ascend with the rest now that he is dead
Toc is/was claimed by the Wolves

Is the missing eye because he will ascend as a bridgeburner or because the Wolves are not done with him? Or maybe he will be an avenue to bring some of the bridgeburners to help the wolves hold?

Bah, I hate analyzing books... Great read though.

[Aptorian]

dando2;208341 said:

I did not read this whole tread, just because

I did just finish the book this past weekend. All of my thoughts,except one, have been covered, which is why I stopped reading the thread.

My one thought has to do with Toc:

Toc's spirit was promised to Hood by his father... go figure
Toc is a Bridgeburner and has already ascended or should ascend with the rest now that he is dead
Toc is/was claimed by the Wolves

Is the missing eye because he will ascend as a bridgeburner or because the Wolves are not done with him? Or maybe he will be an avenue to bring some of the bridgeburners to help the wolves hold?

Bah, I hate analyzing books... Great read though.

Just started this thread:

http://www.malazanem...read.php?t=8274

Also, who says Toc was a Bridgeburner?

I thought he was a scout for the 9th or 4th or what ever the companies that were assembled at Pale called themselves. If I'm not mistaken none of the BBs ever even mention Toc the younger, he's not one of them... am I right or am I wrong?

[Lancelot]

Right!

[dando2]

hmmm, for some reason I thought he was. my bad

[polishgenius]

He was a Claw if I recall correctly. Or a Talon. But I think Claw. Not a BB though, he was the guy escorting Paran to the BBs if you remember.

[Zanth13]

polishgenius;208421 said:

He was a Claw if I recall correctly. Or a Talon. But I think Claw. Not a BB though, he was the guy escorting Paran to the BBs if you remember.

ohh I think your right... He was the last claw left, in that area.. all the others had been killed (knifed in the back) he was left alive because he was a good soldier if i remember or at least acted more like the rest of the soldiers, but he wasnt sure how much longer that would keep him alive, another reason he left/sent on the mission with Lorn.

[Gem Windcaster]

Ah, the claw...I keep forgetting about them. They're so not gone. I wonder what Cotillion will think when he get that info. Or maybe he already knows?

[polishgenius]

I'm pretty sure that neither Cotillion nor Shadowthrone were assuming that the Claw were wiped out by Sorry - just a lot of them.

[Dolorous Menhir]

You are all getting the Claw and the Talon mixed up.

The Talon were Cotillion's (edit: Dancer's) private army/intelligence organisation. They were assumed to be completely destroyed during Laseen's coup, and only a few characters know differently, Tavore among them. Baudin and Hawl were Talons, but they are both also dead. We don't know of any living Talons as of RG.

The Claw are and were Laseen's equivalent organisation, the basis of her power. They still exist. Toc was the only active Claw near Darujhistan at the time of GotM (the others having been killed by Sorry and Rake).

[polishgenius]

Dolorous Menhir;208477 said:

You are all getting the Claw and the Talon mixed up.

The Talon were Cotillion's private army/intelligence organisation. They were assumed to be completely destroyed during Laseen's coup, and only a few characters know differently, Tavore among them. Baudin and Hawl were Talons, but they are both also dead. We don't know of any living Talons as of RG.

The Claw are and were Laseen's equivalent organisation, the basis of her power. They still exist. Toc was the only active Claw near Darujhistan at the time of GotM (the others having been killed by Sorry and Rake).

Aye, I was referring to the big wipe in tBH.

If Gem meant Talons when she said Claw, then yes Cotillion does know, Lostara gave him Baudin's talon that she found at the place of his death.