Kevin's Watch

Mordant's Need series was filled with death scenes of surpassing horror.

Which one was the most horrible for you?

What exactly do you mean by horrible? The manner of death being appalling or the emotional trauma I felt when reading it? Cuz I sobbed like a baby over the Tor and so that was horrible but heroic. The Perdon's was just wrong. I hated Eremis and his crew for disrespecting the Perdon that way and I wanted to see them suffer. Eremis got his just desserts in some ways so I found his end good. Does that help?

More the emotional trauma than simply the mechanics of it. But I mean, while the Tor's fight was heroic, the way he was killed (head crashed with a rock) was really horrible. So I'm not talking about the heroic part because that wasn't his death. I'm talking about the way they died.

Ok then, most emotionally traumatic for me was the Tor and the most horrible actual death was the Perdon.

Well for me it was the Tor, no questions. While the way the Perdon was killed was indeed horrible (and not just him. The way his officers were arranged into a live sculpture of debauchery. Quite the sick touch.) it didn't give me the same impact as what happened to the Tor.

The killing of the Perdon and his men was meticulously planned. It was a triumph for Eremis and Festenn to degrade him so. While horrible, it was obvious that the Perdon was a man that mattered. It was obvious to us (because we see the amounts of planning and effort that went into it), it is obvious to Eremis, Festenn and their gang and it is obvious to the Perdon as well. He may be utterly defeated, he may have been painfully tortured before his death, he may believe that everything he fought for his whole life will soon vanish from the face of the earth but he knows that he dies as a man of worth.

But the way the Tor died was something else entirely. They don't even treat him like a human being. They crash him with a rock like he's a disgusting slug. To me that was much more horrible. He's such a wonderful character. He gave of himself more than anyone else, despite being the weakest of them all physically. He transcended his human limitations. But to his Cadwal killers he's just a pathetic fatso that's gotten in their way.

I think the worst was the Perdon. . . I found myself thinking what their last moments of life were like. *shudders*

While Master Quillon's demise wasn't a devastating event like that of the Tor or the Perdon, I always felt sad that Quillon got cut down so soon in the story -- too soon for my liking. He provided Terisa a certain level of moral support that was lacking in the other Masters, and helped her escape through the tunnels of Orison. All the reward he got was a knife in the back or something from Terisa's pursuers. An unjust fate. But again, not as "operatic" as the deaths of other characters in the story.

this is a hard one, not because of any definition of "horrible" (i will take it on a visceral level), but there are so many that shook me... The Tor... Perdon ... but I think for me, the one that made me utterly frustrated with sorrow and anger was Lebbick. He had all this pent up rage and frustration, wanting little more than to serve his king and strike out against a villain --- any villain he could get his hands on. Unfortunately much of his rage (lust?) was thrown at Terisa. and in the end, when a true villain was to be had, his pent up rage vented unabated, and recklessly, and ultimately he died without dealing any sort of blow...

utterly gut-wrenching sad.

I picked the Perdon. When I did my massive two-part dissection of A Place of Death (see: Casting the Augury) there were times when I almost literally felt I was walking through hell. Eremis took one of the most beautiful places in Mordant's world and turned it into hell, not once, not twice, but three times...

Wow. You are right Danlo. Eremis sucks. I actually got a little choked up reading this thread.

Cameraman Jenn wrote:Ok then, most emotionally traumatic for me was the Tor and the most horrible actual death was the Perdon.

Agree completely with this...

I was also touched by both Saddith and the Castellan's end... Saddith's was horrid; but the Castellan... he died, having been through so much; and he didn't die with his personal issues been fully answered, his needs completed; as is what we usually think should happen in these types of stories. It really reflects real life for me; few people get the answers they need, don't discover that there was a reason they were put through pain. Life is random and ever changing, and Lebbick was the very definition of a tragic character.

And there was the fact that he never did know he opened the way to Mordant's ultimate victory. He died saving the Tor, the Tor performed the right actions which enabled all the good characters to save Mordant.

danlo wrote:"He was a valiant man, " the Prince rasped, "badly betrayed. I hope that he did not learn the truth before he died. It would have been unbearably bitter."

Sorry, what part was this danlo? I can't remember the Prince saying it.

Maybe it would have been unbearably bitter; but it was just as unbearable what was being done to him in the first place.

Hi all I just finished the book and I went for the Perdon demise as the most gruesome death scene of the book he didnt deserve what he got for he showed much bravery against his enemies.

Definitely the Perdon.

Of all the lords, he was the only one who fought the Cadwals, and he fought alone, despite being abandoned by king Joyse.

What did he get for his troubles? A corkscrew for dinner. Drowned on his own blood while pinned to a table, knowing that he'd failed, the Cadwals had won. The Perdon died knowing that Mordant was doomed and everyone had abandoned him.

Who knows what they did to him before killing him, as well.

There are so many horrible deaths in these books. That is part of what makes them such a great read. They draw you in on so many emotional levels and not that many writers can do that so completely as SRD does it.

I felt most overcome by Lebbicks death .. and yes Saddiths death was a vile one.

but I think I felt so deeply for Lebbick and was overcome by his tragic lifes end and was so angry with Joyse. I never bought into his surreptitious plan

Maybe surprisingly, I have to say Master Quillon. His wasn't the most gruesome death, but it was probably the most unexpected one, which made it all the more shocking for me.

For me the Tor's death was probably worse, as he was my favourite Lord. He would be followed closely by the Perdon and Lebbick both vying for second place. I will also mention that though it was by no means the worst, nor the most gruesome, but for me following the Perdon and Lebbick would come Eramis' death. Not for the actual moment of death but for the lack of description and really just the lack of interest. It was a just end for Eramis, but not a fitting one for a man so evil. SRD could have done better.

I voted for Quillon, because I liked him the best and his death was sudden and unexpected. Now I realise that wasn't quite the criteria. In terms of the death I'd least rather live through, it's have to be the Perdon.