Kevin's Watch

1st Chronicles - Foul's Creche.

2nd Chronicles - Mount Thunder (Kiril Threndor).

3rd Chronicles - Mount Thunder again (same room, even!).

Do you think Foul should have been based in the mountain again, or somewhere else? Vote in the poll.

With the unresolved plot lines (ie She, Cavewights, moksha, ur-viles/Waynhim, etc) it could be no where else than Kiril Threndor.

But, Doriendor Corishev would've rocked.

The gnarled rock we saw among the wonders of the Viles in the Lost Deep during AATE suggested to me that we would be back there. It contrasted so with the beauty of the setting and was reminicient of Foul's seat in the Creche. Along with the proximity to She, I was led to believe the final confrontation would be there.

With the unresolved plot lines (ie She, Cavewights, moksha, ur-viles/Waynhim, etc) it could be no where else than Kiril Threndor.

I agree that someone (i.e. Linden) had to go to Mt Thunder. But (given they split up anyway and TC had a teleporter) there was no need to have the final confrontation with Foul there (or for TC or Jeremiah to go up Defiles Course with Linden.)

dlbpharmd wrote:But, Doriendor Corishev would've rocked.

That's where I wish he would have gone. Change of scenery would have done him good...

With the unresolved plot lines (ie She, Cavewights, moksha, ur-viles/Waynhim, etc) it could be no where else than Kiril Threndor.

I agree that someone (i.e. Linden) had to go to Mt Thunder. But (given they split up anyway and TC had a teleporter) there was no need to have the final confrontation with Foul there (or for TC or Jeremiah to go up Defiles Course with Linden.)

Anywhere but where he'd been before.

Condign wrote:Anywhere but where he'd been before.

I wish some of the people who voted "somewhere else" would have said where.

I'm starting to think that Foul should have staked out the Chamber of the Earthblood just to make sure nothing went wrong there. What could have gone wrong, you ask? Perhaps Linden or Covenant (either of the White Gold Wielders) may have decided in their extremity to oppose the Worm directly with wild magic.

Could even Foul predict the outcome of such a clash? Maybe he'd decide he needed to be present to distract/occupy/oppose the WGW (either Linden or Covenant) while the Worm did its work and gulped down the Earthblood.

Horrim Carabal wrote:

Condign wrote:Anywhere but where he'd been before.

I wish some of the people who voted "somewhere else" would have said where.

Okay, how about this.

Kevin's Watch

Although it is destroyed, Foul is able - through Roger's warping of time - to establish his throne on the mountain, out of phase with the rest of time, in the past, protected by time itself. Thus he is protected by the one thing that is meant to trap him. This is just like the Despiser of old we know and love. From his new eryie he can see the whole of the Land, in the one place that seems to be the gateway between worlds. Only those with the ability to travel in time could find him. ie, Linden Avery, and her betrayal to him becomes only possible because of her ability to travel. "You belong to me, my daughter..."

OR

Revelstone

Deep in the catacombs under Revelstone lie further doorways, like the protected ones in Foul's Creche, and later in Revelstone itself during the end of the Clave. In one of these doors lies a vast chamber from which Foul projects his new subtle power, slowly perverting the Haruchai, turning the heart of authority and power in the land to his own private demesne. Giant wrought walls, and gutrock protect him against his enemies. How can they assail him?

OR

Haven Farm

There is only one place to face the Despiser - at the place that started it all, and the place from which the Despiser first sent tendrils of his power into our world - Haven Farm. Covenant must come to terms with the reality of the Land in OUR world, Linden's death and the fact that he must now possess Jeremiah's body in our world in order to battle the Despiser on his own term and stop the destruction of the Arch of Time in both worlds.

See? There are plenty of alternatives, and these are just the bad ones. I think going back to Mount Thunder was quite underwhelming, even if it did bring back some memories....

Condign wrote:

Horrim Carabal wrote:

Condign wrote:Anywhere but where he'd been before.

I wish some of the people who voted "somewhere else" would have said where.

Okay, how about this.

Kevin's Watch

Although it is destroyed, Foul is able - through Roger's warping of time - to establish his throne on the mountain, out of phase with the rest of time, in the past, protected by time itself. Thus he is protected by the one thing that is meant to trap him. This is just like the Despiser of old we know and love. From his new eryie he can see the whole of the Land, in the one place that seems to be the gateway between worlds. Only those with the ability to travel in time could find him. ie, Linden Avery, and her betrayal to him becomes only possible because of her ability to travel. "You belong to me, my daughter..."

OR

Revelstone

Deep in the catacombs under Revelstone lie further doorways, like the protected ones in Foul's Creche, and later in Revelstone itself during the end of the Clave. In one of these doors lies a vast chamber from which Foul projects his new subtle power, slowly perverting the Haruchai, turning the heart of authority and power in the land to his own private demesne. Giant wrought walls, and gutrock protect him against his enemies. How can they assail him?

OR

Haven Farm

There is only one place to face the Despiser - at the place that started it all, and the place from which the Despiser first sent tendrils of his power into our world - Haven Farm. Covenant must come to terms with the reality of the Land in OUR world, Linden's death and the fact that he must now possess Jeremiah's body in our world in order to battle the Despiser on his own term and stop the destruction of the Arch of Time in both worlds.

See? There are plenty of alternatives, and these are just the bad ones. I think going back to Mount Thunder was quite underwhelming, even if it did bring back some memories....

I agree 100% with your last sentence and in fact your suggestions are all excellent. I can easily see any of the three working in the story.

...and if Covenant had to come back to the "Real" world to stop Foul, we could have seen Linden's body to confirm that she was dead in our world. That would have no doubt been a heartwrenching scene.

The Revelstone idea is the best, though. The Masters allowed Corruption to exist right beneath their noses! Foul would laugh at that.

Horrim Carabal wrote:I wish some of the people who voted "somewhere else" would have said where.

I call upon the jury to note that I did state clearly that I expected the rough-hewn rok formation among the Viles' water sculpture in the Lost Deep that evoked Foul's throne in the Creche to be his new "seat of power"

Otherwise, why did SRD invent something he did not need> Just as misdirection? That is not like him!

Savor Dam wrote:

Horrim Carabal wrote:I wish some of the people who voted "somewhere else" would have said where.

I call upon the jury to note that I did state clearly that I expected the rough-hewn rok formation among the Viles' water sculpture in the Lost Deep that evoked Foul's throne in the Creche to be his new "seat of power"

Otherwise, why did SRD invent something he did not need> Just as misdirection? That is not like him!

Plus the Lost Deep is just...unnerving. Imagining being down there is unsettling. To have to go there to fight? You're right, it would have been an excellent choice.

If the Worm-plus-Earthblood is powerful enough to break the Arch, and Foul himself isn't, do you think maybe the Worm would be a threat to Foul if he got that close?

I'd figure the Worm sensing and wanting to consume SWMNBN would suggest it might feel the same way toward another cosmic being.

Hashi Lebwohl wrote:I would have thought that he would have wanted to be near the Cave of the Earthblood so he could watch the Worm break/shatter/unravel the Arch of Time in person.

Right. Watch and maybe make sure nothing went wrong.

And as for the Worm being a threat to Foul, I doubt it. It would either avoid him the way it avoided my namesake the Lurker, or it would ignore him in its singleminded drive to drink from the Earthblood.

I just think Foul's personality should have caused him to want to be there, at the moment of his greatest triumph.

He should have been hidden in the gutrock under Revelstone. His dire influence should have been the cause of the Haruchai's perversion away from TC's intended service for them. The series should have culminated in a confrontation at Revelstone with the newly enlarged party of Giants and Haruchai approaching Lords Keep, the Giants revealing [as far as possible] the message of the coigns, and a culminating battle/seige with the Cavewights et al. Following the battle he should have had his final confrontation with TC and also the Giants, The Haruchai, the Ramen and the people [who we never met] in the Close. This would have taken the form of a trial where the Despiser would have been revealed as TC and SWWNN as Linden.

Why would the Haruchai need dire influence? Their service as Masters followed pretty straightforwardly from the big speech Covenant gave them near the end of White Gold Wielder (and their complete misunderstanding of it).

. This would have taken the form of a trial where the Despiser would have been revealed as TC and SWWNN as Linden.

Oh wow, you nailed it!