#but no i'm sure the revolution will result in a smooth transition of power from bayaz to the people 😌

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So...The Wisdom of Crowds? Whose character arcs by the end do you think will hit hardest? Do you see think Joe is going for a straight up *bitter* sweet ending the way he did with The Last Argument of Kings? I love the first trilogy but wow did the ending turn me off of re reading it again (he said having read it 6 times). Vic is the dark horse of the Age of Madness so I want to see how her tale ends and I am so, so scared for Orso.

Oh, I would bank on TWOC being hella bittersweet. Probably moreso than LAOK, if anything, and he might cut back on the sugar a little bit.

I keep thinking about how we felt about the characters in BTAH compared to with how we felt about them at the end of LAOK. It gives me vertigo, honestly. And having just finished the Shattered Sea, it's clear that Joe loves stuffing the last volume of his trilogies full of mind-bending revelations that alter the reader's perspective on everything that came before.

I am also more emotionally invested in AoM's characters than I was in most of the characters in TFL. Orso and Rikke are genuinely likeable people, so I think their arcs will be the hardest hitting. They both started out as soft, warm cinnamon rolls, but I don't see either of them ending that way.

Where Leo's story is going is still a mystery to me, but his arc has already hit me harder than anyone else's save for Jezal, so Lord Grimdark only knows what awaits him (and me) in TWOC.

And Savine is such an awful person that it will hit me hard if she squirms her way to the top. Savine's success is everyone else's failure.

Clover is fairly neutral, he thrives amongst change. I am making no bets with him. Will he be the backstabber or the backstabee? I have no clue.

And likewise, Vick is adaptable. She seems to have allies on most sides, has the broadest insight into the truth of what's going on, doesn't have too much beef with Bayaz, and also seems to have sympathy for the Breakers' cause. So despite her having to make some tough choices and possibly suffer through some shit where Tallow is concerned, I predict that she will last as the most 'morally good' of all the AOM POVs.

Broad is the dark horse, I think. He really hasn't done much thus far, but he can't keep a lid on himself forever, and I get the sense Joe's been holding him back for a reason.

Then there's the old guard, who are all likely to die. Shivers, Glokta, Calder, Finree, and Gorst are all faves, and they could all have some major tearjerk moments in TWOC.

And then you have to factor in Bayaz and the Magi. As exciting as the revolution is, the presence of magic renders comparison to real-life revolutions moot, IMO. Eaters are lurking around, and there's the House of the Maker stuff, presumably Rikke's prophecy will be subverted somehow... Whaddya know? Turns out there could be fantasy in my fantasy.

The possibilities are endless, it's kind of daunting to think about.