Kevin's Watch

Personal preferences?

Mine is unquestionably Bannor, and not just because the name "Brinn" seems feminine to me. I liked the relationship Bannor had with TC much better. Much better to fight for someone's respect rather than inherit it. I sometimes imagine TC thinking "what does Bannor think of me doing this?" And although SRD does not show it -- at the very end of TPTP, in my head I picture Bannor standing on a hilltop after a recent battle, witnessing the subtle change in the air that signifies TC's victory over Foul, and stoicly thinking something like "I'll be damned. He did it. He was worthy after all."

Bannor all the way.

I prefer Brinn.
Brinn seemed more flexible and more "passionate" than the other Haruchai and Bloodguard that we got to know.

Bannor was a sad character.
Brinn just wanted to kick ass.

I like to switch those two characters in my head and imagine how each of them would have done in each other's places.

Brinn thought Bannor failed. He would have followed TC to confront Foul. Maybe even got Foamfollower out alive too. I wonder if he would have taken the Oath?

On the other hand I can see Bannor just out and out killing every member of the Clave no matter what TC wanted to do.

No question. Bannor was by far the richer character.

As much of a badass as he was in LFB and TIW, I loved his part in TPTP.

It's really hard for me to compare the two - I feel like we got to know Brinn better, and there's the thing about how he proved himself against AhKA. I'm giving the edge to Brinn.

High Lord Tolkien wrote:Brinn thought Bannor failed. He would have followed TC to confront Foul. Maybe even got Foamfollower out alive too. I wonder if he would have taken the Oath?

I saw that belief as arrogance on Brinn's part. Also I thought that everything within miles of the destruction of the Illearth Stone was destroyed.

The Bloodguard didn't take the Oath either, did they?

I think he means The Vow.

Bannor. I'm biased though, because he's the reason I fell in love with TCoTC.

Cail wrote:I think he means The Vow.

Thank you, yes I meant the Vow.

Gotta love Bannor, the Haruchai with regrets. He had a real character arc, that contributed to the story. Whose to say if Brinn's victory over Ak-Haru was more important to Covenant's victory than Bannor's example of turning his back on vengeance, "the sweetest of all dark sweet dreams". Yes, Bannor failed, but Brinn doesn't realize that he is better for it; Cail does. Bannor took the Vow, broke it, and saved Covenant from Elena.

Banor

Bannor rules all! Of course his breaking of the Vow has lead us to where we are now. I'm not saying where because it's the worng tread and I don't want to use spoilers

Bannor by a country mile.

Cail wrote:No question. Bannor was by far the richer character.

Agreed. There's no contest between Bannor and Brinn, as far as I'm concerned. Bannor was developed better, he grew and changed; Brinn didn't, or at least not to anywhere the same extent. Also, expressionless or not, both Bloodguard and Haruchai do manage to convey personality - and Bannor's personality elicits both more fondness and more respect from me.

Sorry to run across the grain but, Korik--especially in Gildenfire

Remember that Korik is the prototype for those 3 masters. Korik failed his vow.

Brinn was not hampered by over 2000 years of being a bloodguard. So he didn't have the years of experience that caused Bannor to be like he was. Bannor has those two thousand years to develop a real stone cold appearance, where Brinn was in his first lifetime.

Bannor appeared in four books(Three and one half). I believe Brinn appeared when TC landed in Revelstone and saved the Haruchai. Then he leaves when he become the guardian.

But trying to compare the two, shows how SRD developed Brinn and Bannor.

It like trying to compare Ruth to Maris. Two different eras.

Buckarama wrote:Bannor rules all! Of course his breaking of the Vow has lead us to where we are now. I'm not saying where because it's the worng tread and I don't want to use spoilers

Actually Korik , Sill and Doar caused the breaking of the Vow -- their attempt on Despite allowed Foul to master them; and then, corrupt, they were sent to Revelstone to cause despair. This action caused the bloodguard to turn away, realizing that they no longer had attained perfect service -- but remember the Vow was a thing of Earthpower, their simple decision to quite would not have sufficed; rather, the act of despite and the illearth stone's influence on the three allowed the Vow to break, not any decision made in despair.

Actually, that's debatable. Did Bannor break the Vow when he put TC's hand on the Staff of Law in LFB? How about when he revealed the name of the Seventh Ward?

The Vow had issues for centuries, the events surrounding TC's appearance in The Land were just catalysts for its demise.

the thing about how he proved himself against AhKA

My vote goes to Brinn too.

I might also add that Bannor had a chapter written from his POV. IIRC Brinn did not. Bannor was more involved in the plot of the first chronicles than Brinn ever was in the second, IMO.