Kevin's Watch

First time poster, long time reader of the forums!

I've always considered Triock to be one of the more interesting and misunderstood characters of the series, and by the end of the third book found myself liking him a great deal. However the general view among my friends was that he was a bit of a moron and that he should have gotten over the whole Lena thing.

While he probably was a bit too caught up on it, he had had to watch Lena get crazier and crazier with each passing time, while raising Elena, the product of the rape. Yet despite all this, he still got over his anger and hatred for TC by summoning him to the land. Then embarked on a half-suicidal quest. Furthermore, at the Colossus he knocked the ring out of Foulwife Elenas hand and flicked it to Covenant.

Trell and Atarian gave into despair. Lena just got crazier as the time went by. But Triock managed to stand tall when it counted despite having as much reason to hate TC as anyone.

So yeah, just wanted to defend a character that doesnt seem to get much attention that isn't negative

Yes, he's a strong character. But he gets very little air time in the books. Maybe because Donaldson find strong unconflicted characters boring or hard to write?

Triock was indeed strong, and while the rape hurt him, her continued adoration of Covenant even while he cared for her had to have hurt more than most mortal men could bear, given the depth of his love. Triock was truly an exceptional man, and I admit I hadnt given him much though past what I was reading at the time.

shadowbinding shoe wrote:Yes, he's a strong character. But he gets very little air time in the books. Maybe because Donaldson find strong unconflicted characters boring or hard to write?

Interesting view...I prefer to think in terms of the " unsaid". Perhaps the author leaves it to the reader to imagine,, or try to conceive of the depths and expanse of the internal conflicts of Triock..and that Triock overcame or surpassed them. That Triock did, invites the reader to contemplate How...thus exploring the depth and expanse of the individual reader.

Interesting comparison...Triock ate his Gall. The Masters of the Third Chrons are consumed by their Gall.

lurch wrote: Interesting comparison...Triock ate his Gall. The Masters of the Third Chrons are consumed by their Gall.

I see Triock as one who was connected to his land and people. A man who accepted the things he couldn't change and made the most of them.

In other words Triock's capacity for love surpassed his 'gall'

The masters oppose these things in their pride. They are too egocentric to have the connection Triock has with the Land. I don't think the reasoning behind their anger is similar.

Triock kept his Oath.

I remember very well in the first book, when he was on the verge of murdering Covenant. Who could blame Triock for the hate he felt, or his driving need for revenge on Covenant for despoiling Lena?

Atiarian's words to him at that time must have had a profound effect indeed, because I remember Elena at one point telling Covenant that she (Elena) harbored no hate for Covenant, in part because of the way her father, Triock, had raised her, and the lessons he had taught her.

You're right. Triock does not get a lot of attention, but his whole life was an example of The Oath of Peace

Triock did some pretty heroic things in TPTP. I've always felt sorry for his plight. I'm reading through the first chronicles again, and although I can remember Triock yelling at Covenant that he hadn't seen what he had seen, part of me thinks that I wouldn't want to see it either. If it was the writings on the walls of the Unfettered One's cave, maybe some things are best left unread.

I also find Ahanna daughter of Hanna really interesting. How she saw Lord Mhoram's victory. Really fascinating.

Duskfire wrote:First time poster, long time reader of the forums!

I've always considered Triock to be one of the more interesting and misunderstood characters of the series, and by the end of the third book found myself liking him a great deal. However the general view among my friends was that he was a bit of a moron and that he should have gotten over the whole Lena thing.

While he probably was a bit too caught up on it, he had had to watch Lena get crazier and crazier with each passing time, while raising Elena, the product of the rape. Yet despite all this, he still got over his anger and hatred for TC by summoning him to the land. Then embarked on a half-suicidal quest. Furthermore, at the Colossus he knocked the ring out of Foulwife Elenas hand and flicked it to Covenant.

Trell and Atarian gave into despair. Lena just got crazier as the time went by. But Triock managed to stand tall when it counted despite having as much reason to hate TC as anyone.

So yeah, just wanted to defend a character that doesnt seem to get much attention that isn't negative

I hear you.... He is a great character with very little storyline in the books but one of the most memorable characters. I think he is justified and never got over it, and unlike most men in his position would have ended TC, and thought of the loss or cost later. Considering the love of his life was raped and driven mad beyond all hope of him having a normal family with her. ... I feel he is similar for me to Hamako the stonedownor of the waynhim with the loss of everything they loved most.

lurch wrote:Interesting view...I prefer to think in terms of the " unsaid". Perhaps the author leaves it to the reader to imagine,, or try to conceive of the depths and expanse of the internal conflicts of Triock..and that Triock overcame or surpassed them. That Triock did, invites the reader to contemplate How...thus exploring the depth and expanse of the individual reader.

I sure wish this was how SRD handled Linden...

Fist and Faith wrote:

lurch wrote:Interesting view...I prefer to think in terms of the " unsaid". Perhaps the author leaves it to the reader to imagine,, or try to conceive of the depths and expanse of the internal conflicts of Triock..and that Triock overcame or surpassed them. That Triock did, invites the reader to contemplate How...thus exploring the depth and expanse of the individual reader.

I sure wish this was how SRD handled Linden...

Well.. the Linden character does take the concept of " anti-hero" in new dimensions.

I really disliked Triock.

He did do heroic things, he didn't break the Oath. He raised Elena in the face of Lena's sick devotion to Cov...honerable man. But, his position in PTP wasn't convincing to me, there really wasn't enough time spent on developing his character in LFB for him to play such an important, albiet fleeting role in PTP.

And the way SRD used him, disappearing 1/3 through LFB, reappearing and playing key figure in PTP, disappearing again 1/3 through PTP, then reappearing, miraculously at the end to muck it up...

...it just didn't feel right to me...though now I see him in a little different light considering your previous arguements.

Triock does also appear in The Illearth War - in fact the story kinda goes out of it's way to give him some airtime, so to speak. So his reappearance in The Power that Preserves isn't that shocking to me, especially since his brief meeting with Mhoram and Troy seem to only exacerbate his hatred of Covenant.

And then there's the fact that Covenant had to make piece with Lena, and he couldn't do so without meeting Triock again, and without some sort of participation, or at least acquiescence, on his part.

Yeah, it seemed very contrived and pretty pointless.

What did - Triock's reappearance? Pretty unavoidable though, unless you want to cut out Lena's reappearance as well.

He's a sheperd, he could have been watching his flock, but of course Elena and Lena are his flock.

Well, maybe I have a deeper qualm here.

Bringing back characters throughout the books was absolutely something that I can't give SRD enough credit for, I absolutely love how it works out bringing back FF, Bannor, Pietten, Triock, Trell, etc.

However, Prothall just kind of disappeared, though we get somewhat of an explination, and I just always wished that it was Pietten with FF, not Triock. I think it would have been more dynamic to have Foul's joke be working against him, then he turns bad, then he turns good, yadayada. I thought Pietten's journey could have been more interesting then Triock's.

I personally found Pietten a lot less interesting than Triock. His story was sad, yes, but it was essentially peripheral to Covenant's journey. I saw him as just another obstacle, rather than a real emotional challenge for Covenant. An emotional challenge for Foamfollower yes, but not for Covenant.

Also, Triock embodied another aspect of the pain Covenant caused because unlike Lena and Trell and Atiaran (perhaps, her mental might be debatable), he didn't have a veil of madness to protect him. Sure, he could have just moved on and gotten over it, but the people of the Stonedowns and Woodhelvens do not seem to have been particularly mobile in that way. That and the fact that he ended up having to raise Elena as there was no one else to do so would have made getting over it pretty difficult.

Okay. I do agree.

But. If he is to play a solid role, wouldn't it make more sense to have his decisions be more integral in the plot?
I can't remember exactly, but didn't he go south for some reason, then find the Unfettered and get Raved?

Covenant asked him to find a way to use the lillianrill rod he was given in The Illearth War to tell Mhoram that he and Foamfollower had summoned Covenant to the Land. So he went south to find an Unfettered One rumoured to understand the language of the Forests to see if he could help, since Triock himself didn't know how to send messages through the high wood.

Was that Unfettered mention in either of the two previous books?

No, most likely because he took his vow before Mhoram's mother Tamarantha even became a Lord (she was Staff Elder when he was at the Loresraat).

The Unfettered One who lived near Glimmermere and interpreted dreams wasn't mentioned before he actually appeared in the story, and neither was the Unfettered One who saved Covenant and Atiaran at the Celebration of Spring. I don't think that made their contributions any less valid. The Unfettered healer in The Power that Preserves is briefly mentioned in The Illearth War (just after Troy meets Triock in fact) and while this is cool, I don't think it makes her contribution any more valid.