#probably one of my favorite jarlaxle moments tbh

[lawesculape]

!!!Spoilers from latest books below!!! (and bad english I suppose, it's not my first langage sorry I just need to infodump)

This is one of my favorites scenes from Gauntlgrym (of course it's from the Neverwinter saga, did I told you how much I loved these books ?) 

And even more so now since I've been reading the Generation trilogy and the Way of the Drow trilogy. I love it so much. 

Jarlaxle has every right to be pissed here : he has been trying to free every drow he could for centuries, he lost so many people he loved (including Drizzt's father) to Lolth...

He protected Drizzt from his mother and had to endure the death of the person he cherished the most in silence so this boy could run free. He says "I watched you" and he did : no one was more proud of Drizzt than him, no one wanted Drizzt to be free more than him, Jarlaxle ! Who always wished for a better future for his kin. Drizzt always embodied that brighter future. Imagine how painful it must be for Jarlaxle to hear that brat - who lived in Menzoberranzan for what ? 30 years ? And in a noble house, not in the Stenchstreets - spitting nihilistic shit in front of him, who REALLY knows how horrible Lolth's cult is. Jarlaxle saw himself in Drizzt. As someone who always wanted the best not only for himself but for the others ! Someone who, unlike him, leaved Menzoberranzan and had the chance to live the way he always wanted to. 

Sure, Jarlaxle has always been manipulative, greedy and he always putted himself first, it was the only way for him to survive, but he expected better from Zak's son ! 

He could not let Drizzt let himself go like that and forgot that what he did was greater than him. And Drizzt, this idiot *affectionate*, finally heard him. (Jarlaxle is freaking intimidating so how could he not tbh) This is the moment where he understands he's been naive, he is NOT the only one who reject Lolth's politics. Never has been. And starting from here, he's more willing to pay attention to people with dubious morality : Dahlia, Ambergris, Effron and especially Artemis. Jarlaxle walked so Drizzt could fly !

And I love that Jarlaxle he's the one who tells to him to get his shit together. The one and only drow male that Drizzt actually respects at that point and probably the only one in all Faerun who actually understands his feelings to a deep level.

A third son talking to a third son.

i am normal about male drow!!! i am normal about jarlaxle admitting what goody-two-shoes drizzt symbolizes to them!!!! i am normal about jarlaxle the mercenary schemer getting angry that drizzt isn’t living up to what he’s shown he could be!!!!!

[baenre-jarlaxle]

"Do you know who I am," the woman asked. "The way you ask makes me believe that I should." The woman looked past the drow to the female elf. "Commander Ellery, of the Army of Bloodstone, Vaasan Gate," the elf recited without pause. "My full name." The elf stuttered and seemed at a loss. "I am Commander Ellery Tranth Dopray Kierney Dragonsbane Peidopare," the woman said, her tone even more imperious than before. "Labeling your possessions must prove a chore," the drow said dryly, but the woman ignored him.

Promise of the Witch King -R. A. Salvatore