Question about Elena

[rdhopeca]

Yes, you're right - going back, Marthiir's accusations were wrong or at least only indirectly right. My problem there was with Covenant's response or lack of response to what happened to his daughter.

Covenant was grieving. He couldn't speak about her -- he choked up.

I didn't get a sense of that from my reading - in a book filled with Covenant's inner thoughts (and Linden's inner thoughts, of course), we barely saw any sentences concerning his thoughts on his daughter. Or his son. Does he not have any? Or are we not privy to them?

And not only after Elena's latest tragedy, but during - maybe the last book will reveal some hidden plan that will explain why Covenant is able to turn his back on his daughter's ghost as it runs screaming from eternal damnation while he tries to get out of Dodge. But we've always been told the story through Covenant's (and Linden's) eyes and thoughts - I can't recall Covenant ever hiding anything from the reader before.

Covenant had some excuses for getting out of there when Elena first died to Kevin after a prolonged battle - he didn't know how to use his power and he was facing a cave-in. But this latest abandonment of Elena, unexplained, seems as heinous to me as anything he ever did in the Land.

If it is explained, I'm hoping it won't seem contrived - that is, Covenant as our viewport into the story hiding things from us. I thought WGW handled that brilliantly - all of the mysteries were answered elegantly and satisfyingly, and the reader always knew everything that Covenant and Linden did. I have trouble seeing how TLD is going to duplicate the feat.

He actually yells at someone at some point towards the end about how she was his daughter etc etc...as if he's trying to contain his grief...

[aliantha]

SRD doesn't go on for pages and pages of Covenant's self-recrimination for what happened to Elena, it's true. But when Mahrtiir asks Covenant to confirm that Elena was his daughter, SRD writes, "Covenant ached with memories like old wounds. His grief rose like keening. But he kept it to himself."

That would seem to indicate to me that the guy has some regrets over what happened to her.

It must be another scene where Covenant almost mentions Elena's fate, and chokes up. I remember being struck by it at the time, but I can't find the quote now.