#there's another character death in potfs

[inseasofgreen]

Who gets the saddest ending in your book and why?

I'm going to answer this for only POTO and not the whole series because while I have a general idea of how it ends there's still a lot of things I'm leaving to figure out once I get to later books. Gotta keep somethings a mystery even for myself ya know? 💀

Day 6 of Askmas!

big spoilers for POTO and also content warning for suicide and domestic abuse

POTO taglist

@lord-fallen @inkingfireplace @rhikasa @leahnardo-da-veggie @satohqbanana

@real-fragments @the-inkwell-variable @tildeathiwillwrite @oldfashionedidiot @heycerulean

@sonnetery @wyked-ao3 @fifis-corner

Orahi easily has the saddest ending. He's a horrible man who is abusive to his wife and daughters and actively covers up and often excuses the Emperors more sadistic nature. Though Zevetta, Orahi's wife, often turns the table and lashes out at him. Leaving them in a vicious cycle of being hurt by each other and trying to get "even".

Through out POTO Orahi is trying to cling to his status within the court as many High Lords and Lords come to him in hope that Orahi will control Xorulth, the emperor. Orahi finds himself in a very dangerous position when the start of a rebellion is brought to his attention and he doesn't alert Xorulth immediately. He does however tell Zevetta totally unaware of Zemorri's true parentage and how this information is vital to Zevetta's whole goal - get her son on the throne.

Zevetta proceeds to poke the bear and angers Xorulth and slowly gets more bold in her actions around the royal family. Xorulth grows tired of Zevetta's deliberate attempts at seeing how much she can get away with and tells Orahi to "control" her or Xorulth will do it himself aka kill her.

Orahi manages to get Zevetta to back down. Orahi develops a sense of paranoia but isn't really sure what or who he is actually terrified of.

One of the council members falls ill and his only surviving child is sent for - a bastard fighting in Nivra. Rhiari arrives and is legitimized by Xorulth. Orahi and Rhiari chat for a bit and this is when things really go down hill for Orahi.

Rhiari tells Orahi he should prepare for a war and send his wife and daughters out of the capital. Rhiari says he met Zemorri and knows Zemorri has high ambitions and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Moments later another war dragon appears in the sky and lands with a severally burned High Commander on it. Orahi and Xorulth are both demanding answers but the dude dies before he can say what happened. Orahi and Xorulth have a disagreement over how to respond, Orahi claiming the guy could've been a deserter which Xorutlh doesn't buy. Orahi says he'll get to the bottom of it to appease Xorulth.

Orahi then goes home to Zevetta and asks if she planted the idea of rebellion in Zemorri's head. Zevetta proceeds to drop a baller line "He is as he's always been, a rebel at heart. The fire inside him was not my doing. It was lit the moment he took his first breath, and every breath since has fanned it. ... Who will you chose, the monster you've enabled or the man you helped shape?"

The next day Orahi seeks out Rhiari and asks him what he knows about Zemorri. And begs to know what happened to "his boy" Rhiari tells Orahi that Zevetta married the crown prince in secret and Zemorri was the product of that marriage. That by the laws of god and men, Zemorri is the rightful Emperor and he aims to take back what is his.

Unable to chose a side and not wanting to see what's to come, Orahi interrupts court, stands before Xorulth and commits suicide.

While Orahi is obviously not a "good" guy I still feel bad for him. He spent his whole marriage believing Zevetta's lies and even allowed her to keep what he believed to be a bastard with her and be raised along side their legitimate children. Something that is highly looked down on - no matter the circumstances of who the bastard belongs to or how the bastard came about. Zevetta, in her own way, admits Zemorri is not who he is today because of her. Orahi played a big roll in shaping Zemorri and viewed him as a son he will never have.

It becomes painfully aware Orahi was nothing but a pawn in Zevetta's scheming. And learning that all from Rhiari? This stranger who has no reason to make up a lie, clearly knows Zemorri on some level if he's going out of his way to talk to Orahi and get Zevetta and her daughters out of the capital.

Neither Zemorri or Zevetta trusted him enough to tell him the truth because there was no scenario in their minds where Orahi doesn't betray them. There was no doubt what so ever that Orahi could be anything but an enemy. And honestly Orahi's first instinct to go to Xorulth is enough for him to question it himself. He doesn't know what is leading him to Xorulth, if it's him trying to warn his life long friend, or perhaps try to kill him in an attempt to help Zemorri. And it isn't until he's standing there, all eyes on him that Orahi realizes Zemorri and Zevetta were right not to trust him. He can't condemn them because he knows Xorulth is a monster and that Zemorri not only has the strongest claim but he would be more suited. In the first time for his whole friendship with Xorulth, he admits to himself what Xorulth is. In a mix of shame, anger, grief, and just an over whelming sense of loneliness he makes a split second decision to end it there. The last thing he sees is the boredom on Xorulth's face. The man who's murdered so many innocents because of his fascination watching the last moments of life, and has made Orahi witness these horrible acts. Orahi's last moments leave Xorulth feeling nothing. No joy, no excitement. Not even a hint of shock or grief.

And Orahi's last few moments of consciousness is realizing Xorulth never cared about him either.