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longsightmyth · 5 years ago

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Chapter-by-Chapter, The Riddle, Chapter 3

The Riddle

Chapter 3 is titled ‘The Broken Promise’ so we’ll see where that goes.

Maerad sits in the garden outside her room, reflecting on how nice it is to be clean and warm, and listens to the birds.

Birds, she thought, are so brainless. All they say is Mine! Mine! Mine!

Croggon, Alison. The Riddle: The Second Book of Pellinor (Pellinor Series 2) (p. 36). Candlewick Press. Kindle Edition.

First of all, I needed that laugh. Second of all, birds are dinosaurs Maerad and they will kill you and fight over your corpse. Ahem.

She starts worrying about everything because she can sit still and think now.

But now she had a little peace, all these disturbing thoughts bubbled up inside her. Was she any closer to knowing who she was? She had all these new names — once she had been only Maerad, then she was Maerad of Pellinor, and now she was Elednor of Edil-Amarandh, the Fire Lily come to resist the Dark — but what did they really mean? And now she was on a quest, charged to find the Treesong. From the voice in her foredreams, she and Cadvan had decided that they must head north, but here, in this pretty garden, it seemed like the flimsiest of reasons. And what were they looking for? Even Nelac didn’t know.

What are you? she asked herself, echoing Nerili’s question of the night before. A freak?

Croggon, Alison. The Riddle: The Second Book of Pellinor (Pellinor Series 2) (pp. 36-37). Candlewick Press. Kindle Edition.

Cadvan comes in a while later and and asks if the coffee is still hot, explaining that it’s a drink from the Suderain and difficult to get outside of Busk and, well, the Suderain. He says that they’ll stay in Busk for a few weeks for rest and research purposes.

I’m going to have a good look through the Busk Library — it’s the most ancient in Edil-Amarandh, except perhaps for the one in Turbansk — and try and find some clue.

Croggon, Alison. The Riddle: The Second Book of Pellinor (Pellinor Series 2) (p. 37). Candlewick Press. Kindle Edition.

(I have Things to Say, re: the difference in treatment of libraries in Pellinor and ToG)

Cadvan says if they can find a clue in Busk, whose libraries were amongst the few not sacked and burned during the Great Silence by way of being stubborn af and having an ocean, then maybe this whole thing will seem like less of a goose chase. Maerad, who has actually herded geese, finds some humor in that. She says while he researches she’ll sit in the garden and chill.

“No, you won’t,” said Cadvan. “You can use the time to study. There’s so much that you should know, and there are things that it’s dangerous not to know. You really need years to catch up, but we’ll have to make do. I’ve spoken to Nerili about it — she’s agreed to let you have private teaching, so you don’t have to sit in classes with children half your age. You have particular needs, anyway.”

“But I want a rest,” she said mulishly. “I’m tired.”

“And a rest you shall have. For two days. It will take me that long to arrange your lessons. You’ll need some beginner’s instruction in High Magery, which is a bit peculiar, because you have all the abilities, and more, of a full Bard, but you’ve never done the basic lessons. I’ll have to think about who is best to teach you. Me, probably, but I’ll be busy. And, of course, there’s swordcraft, and reading and writing. You’re quick; you’ll use your time well.”

Maerad pouted, but made no other protest. The prospect of resuming study excited her, but she wasn’t going to tell Cadvan that. For all her powers, she was painfully aware that she had very little skill.

Croggon, Alison. The Riddle: The Second Book of Pellinor (Pellinor Series 2) (p. 38). Candlewick Press. Kindle Edition.

Maerad gets to experience the life of a regular Bard for the first time in Busk.

The days settled into a steady pattern: rising at dawn for breakfast, and lessons until the middle of the afternoon, with a short break for a light midday meal. After that, if she didn’t have further study to do, her time was her own; she was free to go back to her room and rest, or to sit in the garden, or to wander down to the town and the markets of Busk, or, as she began to do more and more often after her first week, to join the noisy Bards in their colloquia. She usually ate dinner with Cadvan, either in the Common Hall or in one or other of their rooms, where they would swap news about their day: what Maerad had learned (a voracious amount) or what Cadvan had found (nothing). Or they would wander down to the lower town to meet Owan. They would eat either in one of the many taverns or at his house, which was surprisingly big for a humble fisherman, cementing what had become a fast friendship.

Croggon, Alison. The Riddle: The Second Book of Pellinor (Pellinor Series 2) (pp. 38-39). Candlewick Press. Kindle Edition.

Maerad’s instruction with Mirlad back at the cot, where she was expected to learn everything by ear and after the first time, means Maerad has excellent retention.

But more than that, she seemed to have an innate knowledge of Barding, which her teachers merely had to reawaken. They all commented privately on this to Cadvan; they found her aptitude a little unnerving.

Croggon, Alison. The Riddle: The Second Book of Pellinor (Pellinor Series 2) (p. 39). Candlewick Press. Kindle Edition.

In the more advanced or specialized aspects of bardery, Maerad is mostly taught by the first circle for reasons of discretion (Cadvan is too well known to really hide his identity, but Maerad goes by Maerad of Innail to most people). This means Nerili is her instructor for High Magery.

Cadvan further explains that it’s not so much that nobody in Busk will figure out that she’s Maerad of Pellinor (Bards are smart, there was a lot of hullabaloo about the supposed only survivor of Pellinor, there was more hullabaloo about Cadvan being her only official instructor, etc etc), but going by Maerad of Innail gives an unspoken signal to the Bards that they should be Discrete without having to make a big fuss about it. I really wish we were on Queen of Shadows so I could discuss Super Secret Identities and the Viability Thereof, but alas. We’ll get there eventually.

Her instructor in advanced reading is Intatha of Gent, Dernhil’s school, so Maerad thinks a little sadly of him at first and never manages to make herself ask if Intatha knew him. Maerad gets started on a couple of other writing systems (including the runes Bards leave only for each other and some Dhyllic pictograms). With Elenxi she learns more swordwork and some unarmed self defense. Elenxi also takes Maerad to a Bard gathering where at first she is overwhelmed as all the Bards start asking her questions about Innail in Thoroldian. Elenxi rescuses her by reminding everybody that she’s a young Bard, she hasn’t been in Innail for months, and also she doesn’t speak Thorolodian much at all. Everyone promptly switches to the Speech which has the added benefit of everybody being unable to lie anyway so that’s fun. One of the Bards has an instrument similar to a guitar, and Maerad asks him how to play it, which takes up the rest of the party.

The most demanding studies were those in High Magery. This was something Maerad had never studied formally, although Cadvan had taught her much on their travels together. She went to Nerili’s rooms for her first lesson with a strange reluctance; she hadn’t spoken to the First Bard since the night she had arrived in Busk, and she felt apprehensive, as if she would not know what to say. Nerili took care to put her at her ease.

Croggon, Alison. The Riddle: The Second Book of Pellinor (Pellinor Series 2) (p. 43). Candlewick Press. Kindle Edition.

Maerad feels awkward around Nerili because Nerili is beautiful, skilled, and competent, and when Nerili gently teases her about how strange it is to teach somebody who has already killed demons and shit Maerad gets embarrassed and mumbles that she doesn’t know how she did it.

“So I understand. Well, we will just have to feel strange about it, no? I’m sure that will disappear once we start working.”

And so, Maerad found, it did.

Croggon, Alison. The Riddle: The Second Book of Pellinor (Pellinor Series 2) (p. 44). Candlewick Press. Kindle Edition.

Through Maerad we also get to learn more about Bard religion, essentially. It’s not called that, and it’s couched in the ethics of using magic, but - oh, here.

It had evolved over many centuries and was centered on the idea of the Balance. The more she learned about these things, the more Maerad wondered that Bards did magic at all: it seemed that drawing on her powers was fraught with responsibilities and implications, and that in most cases Bards practiced their powers in order not to use them. Often, in those days, she thought uneasily of the times when her powers had exploded out of her, uncontrollable and terrifying, and of the wild exhilaration she had felt when she had finally come into the Speech. Serious magery, she learned, was something practiced seldom and only in great need. The Balance was a delicate thing, and the smallest action could have unexpected and unintended consequences. Bards who had turned to the Dark, the Hulls, were those who desired power above all else and eschewed the responsibilities of the Balance.

Croggon, Alison. The Riddle: The Second Book of Pellinor (Pellinor Series 2) (pp. 44-45). Candlewick Press. Kindle Edition.

Nerili says that the trouble with the idea in practical terms is that Bards who turn to the Dark don’t have the same inhibitions, which makes it difficult to fight them. Dark Bards (not hulls? maybe hulls? are they the same thing? I have questions!) like to say that it makes regular Bards weak, but Nerili points out that thus far they’ve managed to keep a balance going despite that so regular Bards aren’t half bad. She also says that falling prey to that kind of thinking means you become like the Dark Bards, and,

“that would be the greater defeat.”

Croggon, Alison. The Riddle: The Second Book of Pellinor (Pellinor Series 2) (p. 45). Candlewick Press. Kindle Edition.

Maerad, as basically all talented students do, immediately begins to question the limitations on her power and thinks about how though she feels badly about killing it has saved her life in the past:

Yet, she thought, there might come a time when the Light couldn’t afford such niceties.

Croggon, Alison. The Riddle: The Second Book of Pellinor (Pellinor Series 2) (p. 45). Candlewick Press. Kindle Edition.

Maerad is obviously being set up for a narrative lesson here, because in Pellinor the main character is allowed to be wrong and sit in her wrongness. Nerili specifically mentioned defending yourself and others as acceptable use of bardic gifts. It is Maerad who isn’t listening hard enough, and takes it to mean No Killing Ever instead of Please Consider That Killing Should Not Be The First Solution And Often Isn’t The Best, and also Please Consider The Consequences of Your Magic Power Use On Others.

Nerili adds that there is a certain kind of power all its own in renouncing Phenomenal Cosmic Power, because it means the power doesn’t control you. She continues that “those who love truly do not desire power” which I don’t actually agree with but will accept as Nerili interpreting the Way of the Heart. (I also think it’s a silly name, apologies to the author but yeah)

The Dark doesn’t understand love or that power might not be your greatest ambition, that’s why they lose, etc etc.

“Love is never easy,” said Nerili. “We begin by loving the things we can, according to our stature. But it is not long before we find that what we love is other than ourselves, and that our love is no protection against being wounded. Do we then seek to dominate what we love, to make it bend to our will, to stop it from hurting us, even though to do so is to betray love? And that is only where the difficulty begins.” She turned to Maerad, smiling a little sadly, but Maerad didn’t respond: she felt too surprised. For a moment she was sure that Nerili was speaking of her own feelings for Cadvan, and that she was aware, too, of the tangle of Maerad’s emotions and sought, obscurely, to comfort her.

Croggon, Alison. The Riddle: The Second Book of Pellinor (Pellinor Series 2) (p. 46). Candlewick Press. Kindle Edition.

They move on, and Nerili teaches Maerad actual spells and stuff, one of which is essentially putting images into another Bard’s mind (with the other Bard’s consent). Nerili shows Maerad the Tree of Light as Nerili sees it and presents it at Midsummer, but says that Maerad’s will look different if she ever does the Midsummer tree presentation because everyone’s tree is different. She asks Maerad to show her something, and Maerad first thinks of the wight but Nerili tells her no creatures of the dark in this house please.

My memories are full of horror, Maerad thought. I can’t help it. Obediently she pushed the wight out of her mind and cast about for another image. Gradually, shimmering a little, the figure of a woman appeared in the room, facing away from them. She was dressed in white robes, and her long dark hair fell unbound down her back. Slowly she turned to look at the two Bards. Her face was full of sadness.

Croggon, Alison. The Riddle: The Second Book of Pellinor (Pellinor Series 2) (p. 47). Candlewick Press. Kindle Edition.

Nerili recognizes her as Milana and thanks Maerad for showing her mother to her.

She didn’t know why she had shown Nerili her mother, and she now wished she hadn’t. Nerili took her hand, and Maerad jumped. If she had said anything to her, Maerad might have started crying, but they just sat wordlessly for a while, until Maerad collected herself.

��Magery, even the slightest, calls on the deepest parts of ourselves,” Nerili said at last, releasing her hand. “And often that is painful. It is the pain of being in the world, where so much that is fair passes into death and forgetfulness. But if we are to know joy, we must embrace that pain. You cannot have one without the other.”

Maerad nodded, her face downcast. Sometimes, it seemed to her, the pain far outweighed the joy.

Croggon, Alison. The Riddle: The Second Book of Pellinor (Pellinor Series 2) (p. 48). Candlewick Press. Kindle Edition.

Thus begins Maerad’s depression spiral, though that’s not super evident until later.

Emissaries arrive from Norloch, calling for the delivery of Maerad and Cadvan. Nerili meets them politely and sends them off to Ghent before she calls a full council of all the First and Second circles and also Maerad and Cadvan. Maerad is surprised when they arrive to see some nonBards there as part of the Circles, including their friend Owan.

Nerili calls everybody to order, informs them of Norloch’s demands and the news that Nelac, among others, has been arrested for treason. Enkir has decided he’s going to be High King over all the seven kingdoms and the Bards. Enkir also sends news that Turbansk will be attacked sometime in the next three months by the forces of the Dark, and he therefore wants every bard and kingdom to give him undivided fealty so they can combat the menace. Maerad is immediately worried about Hem and Saliman (admittedly Hem especially) but consoles herself that an attack doesn’t mean immediate death. Nerili continues,

“And he gave me to understand, in not so many words, that to choose rebellion, and thus to earn the enmity of Norloch, would be to risk the full wrath of Norloch’s might and power.” The final statement nearly caused a riot.

Croggon, Alison. The Riddle: The Second Book of Pellinor (Pellinor Series 2) (p. 50). Candlewick Press. Kindle Edition.

Nerili relays that she told the emissary that such a thing had never been done: even when there were kings in Annar, nobody swore absolute fealty to them, and moreover each nation still had its own laws.

“And he said to me, ‘Nerili of Busk, things change. We have entered dangerous times, and if we are to survive them, we must change our free ways. Thoroldians must obey the new laws or be the victims of them.’ Such is the edict of Enkir of Norloch.”

Croggon, Alison. The Riddle: The Second Book of Pellinor (Pellinor Series 2) (p. 50). Candlewick Press. Kindle Edition.

I am legitimately unsure if this man realized which First Bard and by extension which School he was talking to. This is the school that has historically told would-be conquerors to go fuck themselves, probably in that many words. I guess Norloch’s sexism is biting them in the ass here too.

Anyway, the Bards are like ‘please tell us you literally physically kicked his ass before literally physically kicking him into the harbor’ but Nerili firmly tells them that no she did not: she doesn’t want to go to war because she was insulted, especially when they all know that another war is on the horizon, especially because they don’t know how many Schools have knuckled under.

Elenxi says that was smart, and also says that they should offer Norloch their fealty - or rather, reiterate the old oath of fealty, ie, to the Light, which Norloch is generally understood to be the representative of. That oath has the benefit of allowing them to retain their own laws and independence as they always have.

“If Norloch doesn’t like it, Norloch has to say on what terms our fealty is unsatisfactory. This will take a little time, since we have broken no promises.”

Croggon, Alison. The Riddle: The Second Book of Pellinor (Pellinor Series 2) (p. 51). Candlewick Press. Kindle Edition.

He also says they should feel out other Schools to figure out which ones have sworn, which ones swore under duress, and which ones said ‘fuck you’ so they can all have the lay of the land. During that time, and while Norloch sorts out the particulars, Busk should step up their defenses and training so when Norloch gets tired of being polite Busk can kick their ass if they try anything.

This strategy is so sound and so politically savvy that I, someone who has been subjecting herself to Throne of Glass for who knows how long at this point, stared at the page in blank astonishment. Y’all. This is my happy place.

After the councils agree to Elenxi’s strategy, Nerili brings up the part where Norloch wants them to hand over Maerad and Cadvan if they find them, because Norloch doesn’t know where they are. Nerili vouches for Maerad and Cadvan NOT being enemies of the Light but it almost doesn’t matter.

“I ask you now whether we, as Thoroldians, will hand them over to Norloch, as is ordered. Or do we suffer this risk — to grant haven to Cadvan of Lirigon and Maerad of Pellinor, and risk its punishment?”

The table erupted again. The mood against Norloch was so ugly that Nerili had no need of persuasive argument: to be declared rebels by Enkir was itself enough to ensure their protection.

Croggon, Alison. The Riddle: The Second Book of Pellinor (Pellinor Series 2) (p. 53). Candlewick Press. Kindle Edition.

Nerili says cool beans, then we have to remember to keep them on the down low and ends the meeting. After her official duties are done:

She lifted up her arms, as if in blessing, and said, with a sudden wild joy that sent goose bumps down Maerad’s spine, “My friends — you make me so glad. I expected no less from you. No tyrant will crush the heart of Thorold!”

Croggon, Alison. The Riddle: The Second Book of Pellinor (Pellinor Series 2) (p. 53). Candlewick Press. Kindle Edition.

Throne of Glass

Chapters 14-18. Here we go.

14!

Celaena absolutely hated that it took a fair amount of courage to enter the royal library after coming upon that … thing a few nights ago. And more than that, she hated that the encounter had turned her favorite place in the castle into something unknown and possibly deadly.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Okay.

She thought about Davis all last night and decided to research wyrdmarks and the creepy thing from before in the library.

The size of the place was overwhelming; it was a castle in itself.

What had that thing been doing here?

She craned her head back to take in the two upper levels, both bordered with ornate railings. Iron chandeliers cast light and shadow throughout the main chamber in which she stood. She loved this room—loved the scattering of heavy tables and red velvet chairs, and the worn couches sprawled before massive hearths.

Celaena paused beside the table she had always used when researching the Wyrdmarks—a table at which she’d spent hours with Chaol.

Three levels that she could see. Plenty of places to hide on all of them—rooms and alcoves and half-crumbling staircases.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Why are there half-crumbling staircases in the library? Whatever. Celaena remembers that Chaol said something about a super secret second underground library and decides that must be where the creepy evil thing is hiding. I posit that in a castle full of secret passageways and rooms including forgotten tombs it could be hiding anywhere, but what do I know.

Celaena goes to a wall and draws an X on a desk with chalk because she says the library will look the same after a while. Is there no organizational system of the books by which you can check where you are, Celaena?

I do have to ask how large this library is and by extension the castle as a whole - Celaena loses track of time while walking in a straight line before she hits another wall.

She didn’t know how long she’d been walking when she finally hit another wall: a corner. The bookcases here were all carved from ancient wood, their ends shaped into sentries—guards forever protecting the books held between them. It was here that the sconces ran out—and a glance down the back wall of the library revealed utter darkness.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Somebody left a torch next to the last sconce though, so Celaena decides to keep exploring after a moment of dramatic pondering.

Swap to Dorian’s PoV!

Dorian wakes up when the clock chimes, and his breath steams in the air, which he says is weird because all the windows were closed and his door shut. IDK what to tell you Dorian, castles get cold. If you wanted me to go ‘oh wow how weird’ maybe you should have specified that it was unusually cold or that you had a fire going and still the breath steaming happened. Whatever. He’s mad about Celaena being in danger but gets distracted when he thinks he sees a rim of frost that would have outlined his body. When he looks more closely it’s gone.

Back to Celaena’s PoV!

Celaena hears the clock chime too.

She’d been here for three hours. Three hours. The back wall wasn’t like the side wall; it dipped and curved and had closets and alcoves and little study rooms full of mice and dust.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

She’s about to give up when she sees a tapestry, which she says is the first decoration she’s seen on this wall.

Considering how the last six months of her life had gone, part of her just knew that it had to mean something.

There was no depiction of Elena, or a stag, or anything lovely and green.

No; this tapestry, woven from red thread so dark it looked black, depicted … nothing.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

I will admit that that would indeed be a weird tapestry. Anyway behind the tapestry is another secret door, though I would argue that it’s probably a service entrance kept out of immediate eye line so nobody wanders back to stuff eons old parchment scrolls in their pockets, YRENE. (Oh we’ll get there in Tower of Dawn. WE WILL GET THERE).

Celaena finds a thing that lets her pour oil down a long thin trench and light it with her torch so she can see now. The walls are carved with battle scenes that look like they’re actually moving in the firelight.

That’s a cool image actually. Also, one of the most evocative sentences in this whole book to date, showing Celaena’s nerves and that she just doesn’t like it:

She stopped looking at the walls.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Celaena sees an old torch covered with cobwebs and decides it means that nobody has been down here in a long time,

Unless that thing can see in the dark.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

...okay but the dust and dirt and stuff on the floor could maybe also be a clue? Just a thought. Anyway Celaena lights the new torch on the stairway light thingy.

Cobwebs hung from the arched ceiling, grazing over the cobblestone floor. Rickety bookcases lined the halfway, the shelves crammed full of books so worn that Celaena couldn’t read the titles. Scrolls and pieces of parchment were stuffed into every nook and cranny or lay unrolled on the sagging wood, as if someone had just walked away from reading them. Somehow, it was more of a tomb than Elena’s resting place.

She walked down the corridor, stopping occasionally to examine the scrolls. They were maps and receipts from kings long since turned to dust.

Castle records. All this walking and fretting, and all you’ve discovered is useless castle records. That’s probably what that creature was after: an ancient king’s grocery bill.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

I mean yeah, like I said it’s probably a service entrance to the stuff not out for other people, like the grocery bill that could let you know how many people were being fed in the castle and the number of guard uniforms ordered that would hint at the size of your force and - oh, sorry, no, apparently there are beautiful carvings of fae on the walls and that’s why it’s definitely a secret passage.

No, the king and his cronies couldn’t know about this place, because they certainly would have defaced these carvings by now. Celaena didn’t need a historian to know that this stairwell was old—far older than the one through which she had just descended, perhaps even older than the castle itself.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

So I don’t know if y’all remember how ToG made a big deal about how Elena was minimized in the legends of Adarlan, but here we have Celaena only considering Gavin.

Why had Gavin picked this site to build his castle? Had there been something here before?

Or something beneath it worth hiding?

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

A breeze comes up from the bottom of the spiral staircase and it smells like iron, so she follows them to the end. The hall at the bottom is empty of everything save one door.

The iron door was unremarkable, though undeniably impenetrable. Its studded surface was like a slab of starless sky.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Celaena ponders why the door is made of iron, thee “one element” immune to magic. I want everyone to remember that when we hit Empire of Storms. Apparently for those with strong magic,

Iron was the one element immune to magic; she remembered that much. There had been so many kinds of magic-wielders ten years ago—people whose power was believed by some to have long ago originated from the gods themselves, despite the King of Adarlan’s claim that magic was an affront to the divine. Wherever it came from, magic had countless variations: abilities to heal, to shape-shift, to summon flame or water or storm, to encourage the growth of crops and plants, to glimpse the future, and on and on. Most of those gifts had been watered down over the millennia, but for some rare strong ones, when they held on to their power too long, the iron in their blood caused fainting spells. Or worse.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Celaena says she’s never seen a door in the palace made all of iron, though she has seen some made of bronze or glass. When she tries to open it it stays shut, and there’s no sign of rust to indicate it rusted shut (though if its hinges are on the other side - I’ll stop, I’m sorry) and no keyhole or lock visible. Then she wonders how the door isn’t rusty if this is an abandoned corridor.

Apparently, though, there is a gap large enough between the door and the wall for Celaena to notice something moving in the dark on the other side.

Okay I’m just going to quote the next move because I don’t have the capacity to describe it.

With absolute silence, she slid the shining dagger under the door. The reflection along the blade revealed nothing but darkness—darkness and torchlight.

She shifted the dagger, pushing it just a bit farther beneath.

Two gleaming, green-gold orbs flashed in the shadows beyond.

She lunged back, swiping the dagger with her, biting down on her lip to keep from cursing aloud. Eyes. Eyes gleaming in the dark—eyes like an … an …

She sighed through her nose, relaxing slightly. Eyes like an animal. Like a rat. Or a mouse. Or some feral cat.

Still, she crept forward again, holding her breath as she angled the blade under the door to scan the darkness.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

She watched the dagger’s blade for a full minute, waiting for those eyes to reappear.

But whatever it was had scuttled off.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Apparently the gap is actually very large? And I misunderstood and it was beneath the door, not to the side? That’s my bad.

Celaena decides to decide that it was a rat and says she has no interest in being proven wrong, which is fair, actually. At least that’s the book showing me, via Celaena’s back and forth thoughts, that this is her convincing herself. End chapter.

Chapter 15!

Celaena is not guarding the king tonight and a famous singer (Rena Goldsmith) is performing for Hollin’s return, so instead of eating in her rooms like she usually does Celaena sits in the great hall.

The royal family dined at their table atop the dais in the front of the hall with Perrington, Roland, and a woman who looked like she might be Roland’s mother.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Not his father, the king’s cousin? I only ask because we’ve met so few nobles.

From the other side of the room, Celaena could hardly see little Prince Hollin, but he seemed to be pale, rotund, and blessed with a head full of ebony curls.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Aaaaaaaaaah now we come to it. Hollin is a fat ten year old. That’s why he’s evil. It all makes sense. (I’m not going to say that Pellinor is better about having fat characters exist, but I also don’t recall it being used as a Sign of Corruption)

Chaol and some off-duty guards sit with Celaena and tell funny stories. Chaol teases her about not liking cold floors, and Celaena says he’s the one who complains about them when she beats him up, to which I can only say: footage not found, and believe you me, I looked.

Rena Goldsmith walks in and starts singing accompanied by a harp and a violin. Everyone is spellbound.

Her voice was soft, ethereal, the sound of a lullaby half-remembered. The songs she sang, one by one, held Celaena in place. Songs of distant lands, of forgotten legends, of lovers forever waiting to be reunited.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Rena says she’s going to play a song in honor of the royal family, and FINALLY we get some legend in summary.

This song was an ancient legend—an old poem, actually. One Celaena hadn’t heard since childhood, and never set to music.

She heard it now as if for the first time: the story of a Fae woman blessed with a horrible, profound power that was sought by kings and lords in every kingdom. While they used her to win wars and conquer nations, they all feared her—and kept their distance.

It was a bold song to sing; dedicating it to the king’s family was even bolder. But the royals made no outcry. Even the king just stared blankly at Rena as though she weren’t singing about the very power he’d outlawed ten years ago. Perhaps her voice could conquer even a tyrant’s heart. Perhaps there was an unstoppable magic inherent in music and art.

Rena went on, spinning the ageless story of the years that the Fae woman served those kings and lords, and the loneliness that consumed her bit by bit. And then, one day, a knight came, seeking her power on behalf of his king. As they traveled to his kingdom, his fear turned to love—and he saw her not for the power she wielded, but for the woman beneath. Of all the kings and emperors who had come courting her with promises of wealth beyond imagining, it was the knight’s gift, of seeing her for who she was—not what she was—that won her heart.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Celaena starts tearing up and Chaol holds her hand under the table. I wish the book explored more about the magic inherent in music and art but alas, the most we get out of that is Celaena deciding in Empire of Storms that one day she might conquer the world to spread culture and art, so like. No Thank You, I take the wish back.

Dorian’s PoV!

Hollin was squirming beside him, hissing and grousing about how bored he was and what a stupid performance this was, but Dorian’s attention was on the long table in the back of the hall.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Yeah? He’s ten? He probably wants to go run around. A kid not liking an ancient legend put to song does not an evil person make, book. Dorian ignores him to watch Chaol and Celaena, who are looking into each other’s eyes.

He would move on. Because he would not be like the ancient kings in the song and keep her for himself. She deserved a loyal, brave knight who saw her for what she was and did not fear her. And he deserved someone who would look at him like that, even if the love wouldn’t be the same, even if the girl wouldn’t be her.

So Dorian closed his eyes, and took another long breath. And when he opened his eyes, he let her go.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Cut away to a much farther third person PoV, where the king is executing Rena Goldsmith in the dungeon.

“It is punishable by death to speak of or to encourage magic. It is an affront to the gods, and an affront to me that you sang such a song in my hall.”

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Rena Goldsmith tells him she’s worked for ten years to get famous enough to be the one to perform that particular song for him, and that he can outlaw magic all he wants but people who practice the old ways still exist, fuck you.

The paragraph after is actually pretty effective. She starts listing the names of people she knew who he killed until he has her beheaded.

“My daughter was sixteen,” she went on. Tears ran over the bridge of her nose and onto the block, but her voice remained strong and loud. “Sixteen, when you burned her. Her name was Kaleen, and she had eyes like thunderclouds. I still hear her voice in my dreams.”

The king jerked his chin to the executioner, who stepped forward.

“My sister was thirty-six. Her name was Liessa, and she had two boys who were her joy.”

The executioner raised his ax.

“My neighbor and his wife were seventy. Their names were Jon and Estrel. They were killed because they dared try to protect my daughter when your men came for her.”

Rena Goldsmith was still reciting her list of the dead when the ax fell.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

End chapter.

Chapter 16!

Celaena eats breakfast with Nehemia in the morning. Nehemia gets in a shot, and I’m going to put in a long section here because I want y’all to see what I mean about the books almost getting it sometimes.

“Busy hunting down the conspirators on the king’s list?” A pointed glance in her direction; another bite of toast.

“What do you want me to say?” Celaena stirred the sugar into her porridge, focusing on that instead of the look on her friend’s face.

“I want you to look me in the eye and tell me that you think your freedom is worth this price.”

“Is this why you’ve been so on edge lately?”

Nehemia set down her toast. “How can I tell my parents about you? What excuses can I make that will convince them that my friendship with the King’s Champion”—she used the common-tongue language for the two words, spitting them out like poison—“is in any way an honorable thing? How can I convince them that your soul isn’t rotted?”

“I didn’t realize that I needed parental approval.”

“You are in a position of power—and knowledge—and yet you just obey. You obey and you do not question, and you work only toward one goal: your freedom.”

Celaena shook her head and looked away.

“You turn from me because you know it’s true.”

“And what is so wrong with wanting my freedom? Haven’t I suffered enough to deserve it? So what if the means are unpleasant?”

“I won’t deny that you have suffered, Elentiya, but there are thousands more who have also suffered—and suffered more. And they do not sell themselves to the king to get what they, too, deserve. With each person you kill, I am finding fewer and fewer excuses for remaining your friend.”

Celaena flung her spoon down on the table and stalked to the fireplace. She wanted to rip down the tapestries and the paintings and smash all the silly little baubles and ornaments she’d bought to decorate her room. Mostly she just wanted to make Nehemia stop looking at her like that—like she was just as bad as the monster who sat on that glass throne.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Celaena fesses up that she hasn’t killed anyone the king ordered her to and also tells Nehemia about her plans with Archer (which I am admittedly still unclear on. Celaena does not elaborate enough to clear up my confusion: does she plan to help the rebellion? Turn them in? Wreak vengeance for apparently using her name in vain? Did I miss something?)

When Celaena finished, Nehemia took another trembling sip of tea. “And you trust Archer?”

“I think he values his life more than he values anything else.”

“He’s a courtesan; how can you be sure you can trust him?”

Celaena slipped back into her chair, Fleetfoot curling between her feet. “Well, you trust me, and I’m an assassin.”

“It’s not the same.”

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Why the FUCK is an assassin more trustworthy than someone who has been sex trafficked? Why is an assassin more trustworthy than a sex WORKER? ASSASSINS KILL PEOPLE FOR MONEY (admittedly a zealot assassin might be vaguely trustworthy by way of their devotion to a cause but like what the fuck is this series’ problem with people who have sex for money and why does it so consistently insist that they are somehow worse morally or less trustworthy than assassins I continue to be mad about this what the fuck)

Okay fine, moving on. Celaena shows Nehemia the tapestry and Nehemia evidences surprise that it has Elena on it, that there are secret tunnels, and that there is a secret tomb guarded by a talking door knocker. Nehemia and Mort are apparently oscar-worthy actors.

Celaena finds a secret peephole only visible when you’re standing on the floor depiction of the Stag/lord of the north. She looks through and sees only a blank wall, and demands of Mort the talking door knocker whether it makes sense to him. He says no and gets even more annoying than he was previously, which is saying something.

“No,” Mort said dully.

“Don’t lie to me.”

“Lie to you? To you? Oh, I couldn’t lie to you. You asked me whether it makes sense, and I said no. You must learn to ask the right questions before you can receive the right answers.”

Celaena growled. “What sort of question might I ask to receive the right answer?”

Mort clicked his tongue. “I’ll have none of that. Come back when you have some proper questions.”

“You promise you’ll tell me then?”

“I’m a door knocker; it’s not in my nature to make promises.”

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Nehemia says not to listen to him and says old castles are full of bullshit.

intended only to confuse and bother later generations.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

I despair. I hate despairing over Nehemia, but here we are.

Celaena asks Nehemia to teach her wyrdmarks instead of taking morning walks, and Nehemia happily says yes. Celaena feels guilty for not telling Nehemia about Elena’s demand to figure out what’s up with the king’s source of power (?) but does not fill her in because she knows Nehemia would tell her to pay attention.

Nehemia tries to question Mort and gets nowhere she and Celaena go back to Celaena’s room and Celaena tells Nehemia about the wyrdmark book from the masquerade and the line about only seeing rightly with the eye. Nehemia says,

“Sounds like an idle lord’s nonsense to me.”

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

They congratulate themselves on being great friends to each other and Philippa comes in with a letter for Celaena from Archer. It has names of people who might be rebels. Celaena is surprised that Archer risked writing it down, but earlier was not surprised that the king had a literal written list of people he wants dead so I don’t know y’all I just don’t know.

Celaena goes out and takes most of the day to surveil everyone on the list, saying there was nothing useful. ...she surveilled multiple people. In one day. And concluded. There was nothing useful there. Y’all. I despair.

She heads back to the castle because the king wants her on guard duty for the royal ball, end chapter.

Chapter 17!

Chaol’s PoV! He can tell Celaena is in a bad mood and has decided that he’ll wait to talk to her later after she’s cooled down. He’s irritated that she’s,

leaning against the pillar, arms crossed—not hiding in the shadows as he’d told her to.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Oh look more deciding that Hollin is a terrible human despite being ten.

It was something out of a winter dream, and it was in honor of Hollin, of all people. A few hours of entertainment and a small fortune spent for a boy who was currently sulking on his little glass throne, shoveling sweets down his throat as his mother smiled at him.

He’d never tell Dorian, but Chaol dreaded the day when Hollin would grow into a man. A spoiled child was easy enough to deal with, but a spoiled, cruel leader would be another matter entirely. He hoped that between him and Dorian, they could check whatever corruption was already rotting away in Hollin’s heart—once Dorian ascended to the throne.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Anyway Chaol notices that Celaena has snuck off and finds her dancing alone to the music. I will admit that this section has more of Celaena’s actions dictated by her love of music but will argue that it affects the story in no way, which just makes me annoyed with the whole thing. Celaena asks if he’s going to punish her and he asks her to dance with him.

Back to Celaena’s PoV!

She says that Chaol refused to dance with her at Yulemas, and he says that things are different now but does not specify how. They waltz.

“We’ll never be a normal boy and girl, will we?” she managed to say.

“No,” he breathed, eyes blazing. “We won’t.”

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Yeah okay sure that’s… not really a thing that has weighed on Celaena’s mind but we’ll roll with it I guess. They dance beautifully, not a step out of sync, etc etc.

Dorian’s PoV!

He watches Celaena and Chaol dance, and Nehemia steps up next to him.

After months of being scarce around the court due to the rebel massacre in Eyllwe, she’d made an appearance tonight. She was resplendent in a cobalt gown with gold-thread accents, her hair coiled and braided in a coronet atop her head. Her delicate golden earrings glittered in the light of the chandelier, drawing his eye to her elegant neck. Nehemia was easily the most stunning woman in the ballroom, and he hadn’t failed to notice how many men—and women—had been watching her all night.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

I Want. Fashion. Details. Also, I see you, nod to wlw, I see you. I do not however see any actual wlw.

Anyway Nehemia tells him not to cause Celaena or Chaol any trouble. She says she and Dorian have burdens and responsibilities no one else could understand, including Chaol and Celaena, and that she and Dorian will always stand apart.

Nehemia changes tracks to tell him about new bad council policies, ie making sure Calaculla can stuff in more prisoners. Dorian says that Roland, who told her that, had no right to do those things. Nehemia asks if he’ll stop it, and he says he can’t. Nehemia fucking ROASTS him and I am HERE FOR IT.

“You can’t, or you will not?” Dorian sighed, but she cut him off. “If Celaena were shipped to Calaculla, would you free her? Would you put a stop to the camp? When you took her from Endovier, did you think twice about the thousands you left behind?” He had, but … but not for as long as he should have. “Innocents work and die in Calaculla and Endovier. By the thousands. Ask Celaena about the graves they dig there, Prince. Look at the scars on her back, and realize that what she went through is a blessing compared to what most endure.” Perhaps he’d just gotten used to her accent, but he could have sworn she was speaking more clearly. Nehemia pointed at the garden, at Celaena and Chaol, who had stopped dancing and were talking now. “If she was sent back, would you free her?”

“Of course I would,” he said carefully. “But it’s complicated.”

“There is nothing complicated. It is the difference between right and wrong. The slaves in those camps have people who love them just as much as you loved my friend.”

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Dorian says this isn’t the place for this conversation because fuck him, and suddenly it becomes all about the Secret Power Slumbering In The White Dude.

Nehemia stared at him for a long moment before nodding. “You have power in you, Prince. More power than you realize.” She touched his chest, tracing a symbol there, too, and some of the court ladies gasped. But Nehemia’s eyes were locked on his. “It sleeps,” she whispered, tapping his heart. “In here. When the time comes, when it awakens, do not be afraid.” She removed her hand and gave him a sad smile. “When it is time, I will help you.”

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Seriously how did no one in the entire process of publishing this go ‘hmmmmm maybe having the black woman promising to help the son of the white oppressor handle his shit because he is Good Really and will be One of Two (white) People Who Can Save The World is pretty racist actually?’ This was published in 2013. How.

Anyway.

He stared after the princess, wondering what her last words had meant.

And why, when she had said them, something ancient and slumbering deep inside of him had opened an eye.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

I just. I just really don’t like Dorian. End chapter.

Chapter 18!

Celaena waits in Archer’s townhouse the next day having eaten creampuffs and a chocolate torte while waiting for him. Okay, they waltz, they have tortes and creampuffs readily available in stores, they have gas lamps, they have boarding schools, corsets with boning, hair salons that do eyebrows and nails and wax, plumbing, and copper armor. I don’t know what time period this is based off of and I should probably give up. It’s not like this HAS to correspond to any real world time period.

Celaena ruminates on her dance with Chaol and has apparently been distracted since then, including during her wyrdmark lesson with Nehemia. Apparently wyrdmarks are harder than other languages.

Archer returns and tells her to give him a second to ‘freshen up’ and she says she’ll only take a sec.

“If your butler doesn’t stop listening at the keyhole, I’m going to cut off his ears and shove them down his throat.”

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Celaena seems to enjoy threatening and/or contemplating violence towards servants and women. We’ll see more of that later.

Celaena says she needs more than a list of names and Archer says he needs more time. She says no. He says that because Davis is dead (I find it interesting that this sort of thing is often said passively if it was Celaena doing the murder: it’s not ‘because you killed Davis’ it’s ‘because Davis is dead’) everybody is suddenly being much more careful. Celaena asks if they know Davis was a mistake, and I don’t know if she means ‘do they know I didn’t mean to kill him so they should relax’ or ‘I hope they don’t know I didn’t mean to kill him’.

Archer says she should ask Dorian or Chaol for more info since she’s so close to them. Celaena wants to know how he knows that, and Archer points out that the captain of the royal guard isn’t exactly an unknown quantity and she’s been pulling him around the city with her.

I really wish the world’s best assassin was better at sneaking.

Celaena says she doesn’t want to involve them and Archer asks if it’s because she doesn’t trust them.

She shot to her feet. “Don’t presume to know anything about me, Archer.”

She stalked to the door and flung it open. The butler was nowhere to be seen. She looked over her shoulder at Archer, whose eyes were wide as he watched her. “You have until the end of the week—six days—to get me more information. If you don’t give me anything by then, my next visit won’t be nearly as pleasant.”

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

I’m not sure why she threw a hissyfit at the suggestion of not trusting Chaol and/or Dorian instead of just saying something like ‘I don’t trust anybody’ (it might not be true but would at least save some face) but okay I guess.

Dorian’s PoV!

Dorian is Shocked and Horrified to realize how many slaves there are in Calaculla during a council meeting. Roland has a ring just like Perrington’s now. Dorian gets angry thinking about Celaena’s imprisonment and scars, and decides to speak up and asks about how the slaves are being treated and how the new slaves will be treated when they expand Calaculla. He suggests that Roland and one of the councilors spend a year in Caluclla before hey discuss expansion, and is father says he should be more polite or he won’t get to vote.

Dorian says he votes no and storms out… before the official vote. Great work. He stumbles into an abandoned part of the castle (how many abandoned parts of the castle are there?) and punches a wall. The wall cracks under his hand and a window explodes. His hand is unharmed. He throws up at the magical implications.

Celaena’s PoV!

She and Chaol sit in his room and Celaena says he should have a servant like Philippa to “bring us treats.”

Hey anybody else remember when Celaena was like ‘oh I don’t know whatever shall I do being waited upon, it’s so uncomfortable’?

Chaol goes to get her chocolate cake after teasing her about liking sweets. He comes back and they eat half the cake before he falls asleep.

You know, the courts weren’t always like this, Nehemia had said. There was a time when people valued honor and loyalty—when serving a ruler wasn’t about obedience and fear…. Do you think another court like that could ever rise again?

Celaena hadn’t given Nehemia an answer. She hadn’t wanted to talk about it. But looking at Chaol now, at the man he was, and the man he was still becoming … Yes, she thought. Yes, Nehemia. It could rise again, if we could find more men like him.

But not in a world with this king, she realized. He’d crush a court like that before Nehemia could muster one. If the king were gone, then the court that Nehemia dreamed of could change the world. That court could undo the damage of a decade of brutality and terror; it could restore the lands ravaged by conquest and renew the hearts of the kingdoms that shattered when Adarlan marched in.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Celaena slips out, taking the cake with her, and runs into Dorian in the halls. He says he’s looking for Nehemia but she’s not in her rooms, and it’s shockingly cold in the hallway. Celaena asks him what’s wrong.

For a heartbeat, there was something in his eyes that reminded her of a world long since burned—a glimmer of color and power that still stalked the edges of her nightmares. But he blinked, and it was gone.

Maas, Sarah J.. Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass series Book 2) . Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.

End chapter, end section.

Comparison

It’s just interesting to note that once again ToG pays a lot of lip service to feminism and ladies doing stuff, but it only ever seems to consider the actions of dudes, here exemplified by Celaena thinking about what Gavin was hiding and doing even after having met and discussed this exact issue with Elena. Even Celaena often feels like she’s being carried along on story beats rather than doing things that make the story beats happen. This is the first time Celaena has, of her own volition, taken the initiative to do something (I think she’s marginally better about that in the prequel novellas but wouldn’t swear to it. Is THIS supposed to be the great personality change after Endovier? Discuss)

ToG has a bad habit of not naming ladies. I mean in fairness it has a bad habit of not naming anybody who isn’t royal or noble or magically superpowered unless it’s to slutshame a lady, but it’s especially egregious when you realize we don’t know the names of Nehemia’s parents or Aedion’s mom, for instance. Roland’s mother’s name should be known to Celaena, just as Aedion’s mother’s name should be known to Aedion and Celaena and probably a shitton of other people, but it’s never mentioned in dialogue, narrative, or thought even in Aedion’s PoV later.

The idea that Chaol is the One Decent Man is laughable and even Sarah Janet knew it. He’s fine. He’s better than 90% of the men in these books, I guess. That doesn’t make him good, okay? He’s fine. That’s the best I can say about him. He’s bad at his job and he’ll get his crush cake. There are worse people I guess? He’s fine.

I appreciate that at least Celaena pictures Nehemia at the head of this hypothetical court. That’s something.

While Celaena and the book like to talk about resistance as a new thing that requires Exactly The Right Ingredients, Pellinor understands and shows us that resistance is constant and anybody can do it. Their council has nonbards! Busk has a thoughtful and logical discussion on how to go about saying fuck you in a way that will allow them to continue resisting more effectively. Busk admittedly had the ocean for a buffer during the Great Silence, but I am beginning to suspect they also had the know-how of everybody and the general mindset as a society that you do what you can when you can, and if you can’t right now you take the next shot offered. Nobody is sitting around waiting for One Person to save them, because that way lies never being saved.

On that note, does Dorian never attend council meetings? How as he avoided knowing anything about the slave camp? He literally visited Endovier. I will grant you that Celaena isn’t measurably affected by her experiences, but surely just knowing that she had those experiences should have clued him in before this? I think ToG is trying to show a white man in his privilege realizing how privileged he is, but in a series that at one point says Dorian’s true strength is his intelligence this really shows him in a bad light even if we leave aside how I feel about Dorian apparently somehow just missing the council sessions where slavery was discussed.

Music is important to both our characters, both literally and thematically for Maerad, whose superpowers are essentially music. Maerad’s music was her only solace when she was enslaved, and even now it is, as Cadvan says, her home. Stories and music are inextricably entwined with the story in Pellinor, and I don’t mean only that Pellinor has poems and history directly on the page. Maerad has to find and/or create the Treesong to save the world, using not only her dual heritage but her… I think it’s triple? Elidhu, Pillanel, and whatever the House of Karn calls their ethnic background. White, I guess. We’ll talk about it when it becomes more explicit in the book. I would like to mention here that Celaena’s mother Evalin Ashryver is from Wendlyn and from whom Celaena inherits most of her fae ancestry, but her mother’s culture is never discussed or relevant to Celaena even when Celaena ends up in Wendlyn in Heir of Fire. I would have expected some mention of Evalin being a foreign princess and what she brought to court somewhere, and while Celaena was admittedly eight years old when her mother died surely something would have made an impression. She didn’t have bardically repressed memories. Remind me to discuss this more in Heir of Fire if I fail to do so later.

Further, it’s not that liking music and singing is a useless trait that can’t be put in to make a character more understandable, but I mentioned somewhere that Celaena’s love of music feels very tacked on, especially in later books. It doesn’t seem to hold any real significance other than being there, and again, while character traits don’t have to have a deep or abiding reason for being there they should inform how a character acts. The scene where Celaena attends the banquet may be the only instance in which Celaena’s love of music makes her do something she might not otherwise?

I’m just sad because there were so many times Celaena liking music could have informed her character or been used to further her development, like a while back when we discussed he gratuitous breaking of Celaeana’s hand on Arobynn’s orders per the prequels (on the blog, not in a chapter-by-chapter, just so one is confused). Not only did her hand somehow heal normally despite the lack of magical healers, it healed to the point she can still play the piano with no difficulty. I’d argue that having Celaena still use the hand but be unable to play the piano with as much facility as she once had would give us the readers a tangible connection to Celaena’s complicated feelings about Arobynn (who despite the abuse - and it was abuse, I’m not going to argue otherwise even before the part he beats her - manages to inform Celaena’s character in almost no way), who would then both give her the ability to play the piano and take away her ability to completely master it. Not only would it inform and affect Celaena’s character, it would thematically be similar to Arobynn pulling her out of the river as an eight year old: he gave her the ability to live, but took away her ability to live as most humans should be able to, with compassion and fun and not being fucking abused by her parental figure. Then THAT could tie into Kingdom of Ash, where Celaena must again sacrifice the humanity she never fully got to enjoy. That would be a lot more bittersweet than what we got, I’m just saying.

Portraying music in books is a difficult thing, because you’re going to have a tough time conveying the feeling you want with songs since everybody has different taste and is affected by different things. I don’t object to skimming over the music or even the lyrics themselves. I object to this thing ToG does, where it will talk about sweeping epic legends or creepy stories and never give any details at all. We could have had something here that gave us more context for the world or mentioned something important from later books (like Mala or Maeve or the stags or idk Brannon and Elena?) so that it didn’t come out of nowhere. Even a song about Gavin Havilliard’s heroics would have given us more context on him and how Adarlan views him or just shown us what Elena meant by her legend being watered down in favor of her husband’s. They didn’t even have to be lyrics, they could have been Celaena summarizing the story.

Hell, it could have been the story of how Righteous Adarlan conquered Godless Terrasen or something, with Celaena commenting on factual inaccuracies and getting progressively more upset, or even being upset that she’s not sure anymore what is a factual inaccuracy. That would have given us context for the entire world and (current) overarching conflict, AND given Celaena a clearer relationship to Terrasen in the eyes of us the readers. There are a few reasons I think Heir of Fire is one of the more effective books in this series, but one of them comes down to exactly one line about how Celaena deflects telling a traditional story of Terrasen because she realizes she can’t remember any and she’s upset about it. That one line did more to sell me on Celaena-as-lost-child-of-conquered-country than literally anything else in the series. I should probably save talking about that for when we hit Heir of Fire. That’s like five posts after this one I guess.

The Rena Goldsmith Thing - I have two questions: why didn’t the king stop her if it’s illegal, and what gods.

No, I’m serious. If you want to have given the king a polite political reason for invasion, you have to have more people believe in it so they can buy into it. The gods have been brought up maybe three times, never by anyone but Celaena as far as I can remember. A successful religious excuse only works if there are religious adherents behind it. The only religious adherents we actually SEE are to Mala and Elide to Anneith. I guess I can give you the witches and their darkness. That’s all later. I’ve seen no evidence of enough religious fervor to allow people to convince themselves it was cool to murder their magic users. Y’all don’t even have a fantasy pope. There aren’t even fantasy bishops. The king doesn’t even seem to be the head of Adarlan’s church. What gods?

But if we accept that law and the religion we haven’t actually seen much of are inextricably entwined and it is therefore illegal to talk about magic, the king has no reason not to stop Rena Goldsmith mid-song. It doesn’t make him look weak. It makes him look tough on crime and heretics. In a nation (if not a world) that apparently backed the king of Adarlan in a religious crusade, that plays well with the masses. Letting her finish might be seen as weak, actually, or at least not getting her immediately afterwards.

Re, the actual dungeonmurder protest: look how effective it is when you use names, book.

I really do hate to be a sourpuss because this was genuinely affecting from a reader’s standpoint, but this is a piss-poor protest. This whole thing should have been orchestrated in the most public forum Rena could pull. Imagine the power of a grieving mother declaring that this man murdered her daughter and countless others in a fucking town square.

I’m sorry the book didn’t allow your motivations and actions to drive the plot at all, Rena. We all know that’s supposed to be Celaena’s role even if the book doesn’t let her do it. (Rena’s death can’t even affect Celaena because Celaena never in my memory learns about it. If I’m wrong I’m wrong, but I don’t think I am)

The Hollin Thing: look, y’all. There are admittedly some unpleasant kids out there. I, however, posit that here Hollin is a bored ten year old at a party thrown in his honor with no consideration of what he as a child might enjoy. Of course he’s eating candy. It’s probably the only fun thing there for him to do. Further, that eating candy is an indication of the corruption rotting away at his soul is ridiculous, not least because Celaena does the same thing multiple times in the series - oh, wait, Celeana stays thin though. Fabulous.

Both of our heroines will at different points long to be ‘normal’, but while Celaena’s pops up more often technically (I think?) Maerad’s has lead up. It’s not just tossed at us because That’s What Us Heroes Do. Maerad has a legit depression spiral and a really rough time coming up that leads to kind of sometimes wanting to not deal with it. Celaena evidences nothing but glee about being somebody who could theoretically murder people in many different ways but on occasion the book tries to walk it back I guess.

That’s what I’ve got for this section. Questions, concerns, discussion welcome as always.

Stats

The Riddle

Pages: 18

Fragments: 8

Em-Dashes: 18

Ellipses: 0

ToG

Pages: 44

Fragments: 97

Em-Dashes: 122

Ellipses: 27