Eremis - Do you like him?

"Reflect" on Stephen Donaldson's other epic fantasy

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Revan
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Eremis - Do you like him?

Post by Revan »

Well? What do you think of him? Personally I hate him. And I don't like Terisa to be truthful. The way she wants Eremis really annoys me. I have not even read all of the first book... But it annoys me that she would just go sleeping with him (Or wants to) just because he wants to.
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Post by aTOMiC »

Eremis seemed like he was going to be Geraden's pal at first but quickly turned into a butt head. I don't like him.
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Post by dANdeLION »

No. And keep him away from my wife, or else.
Dandelion don't tell no lies
Dandelion will make you wise
Tell me if she laughs or cries
Blow away dandelion


I'm afraid there's no denying
I'm just a dandelion
a fate I don't deserve.


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Post by Revan »

LOL!

btw... What happens in the second book? Do Eremis and Terisa have sex? Do Terisa and Geredan get together? Can you please tell me?
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Post by dANdeLION »

The answer is 1) a lot, 2) es, 3) yes, and 4) yes; but one of those answers does not mean what you might think it means.


heh.
Dandelion don't tell no lies
Dandelion will make you wise
Tell me if she laughs or cries
Blow away dandelion


I'm afraid there's no denying
I'm just a dandelion
a fate I don't deserve.


High priest of THOOOTP

:hobbes: *

* This post carries Jay's seal of approval
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Post by Revan »

dANdeLION wrote:The answer is 1) a lot, 2) es, 3) yes, and 4) yes; but one of those answers does not mean what you might think it means.


heh.
cheers dAN! Though I have to say... I really don't like Terisa at all. Really hate her actually... But I'm enjoying the books :)

Do anyone else hate Terisa as much as I?
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Post by aTOMiC »

Darth Revan wrote:
dANdeLION wrote:The answer is 1) a lot, 2) es, 3) yes, and 4) yes; but one of those answers does not mean what you might think it means.


heh.
cheers dAN! Though I have to say... I really don't like Terisa at all. Really hate her actually... But I'm enjoying the books :)

Do anyone else hate Terisa as much as I?
SRD has a knack for creating female characters that can be pretty annoying. Terisa was very irritating to me throughout most of MN. :-)
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Post by Revan »

Do you ever come to like her? Or Eremis?
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Post by danlo »

Well like I warned you in another thread the interplay is kinda tuff for a lot of males to get into. Terisa does change but slowly. She's never had anyone in her life b4, she doesn't really even know how to relate to people either... --Eremis may have other reasons for seducing her-Geraden might be part of that reason. Concentrate on other "manly" stuff instead-like the Champion, Imagers, war, or how foxy Myste is.

Yes Eremis is a "lounge lizard" and a creep.
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Post by Revan »

I intend to make many topics on this forum.... many indeed... I already have at least ten... heh... But I will wait until I've finished the books first... otherwise my questions will be clouded by ignorance. And might appear stupid once I've finished the books... btw Danlo... Can I get involved with that Dissection thingie for MN?
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Post by danlo »

Be careful with your topics or they may be deleted. If they're sound and to the point they won't be. I appreciate your interest in expanding this forum though. We do need to be silly in here, but please try to be tasteful.

You can join in on the Group Read anytime you feel like it-but remember it's for serious analysis not goofing...
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Post by Revan »

danlo wrote:Be careful with your topics or they may be deleted. If they're sound and to the point they won't be. I appreciate your interest in expanding this forum though. We do need to be silly in here, but please try to be tasteful.

You can join in on the Group Read anytime you feel like it-but remember it's for serious analysis not goofing...
I know... I can be serious as well. Though some may not think so.

My topics... actually all but a few do have a point. And I don't think their that bad as some people make out. I never post stupid topics such as "Mouse found on Mars" hehe.
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Post by Cord Hurn »

I really hate that despicable Eremis. But I figure I'm supposed to hate him. However, as a Stephen R. Donaldson villain, I like him because I love to hate him. In fact, I love to hate him more than I love to hate Lord Foul, Holt Fasner, and the various villains in the Man Who mysteries. I love to have him as a villain because it's so easy to hate him. Sure hope all that made sense! :S
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Post by Avatar »

Yes, I quite love to hate him too. :D Almost as much as I love to hate Terisa in the first book.

--A
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Post by shadowbinding shoe »

Eremis had an unusual end. (major spoiler alert!) All the other villains die violently but not him. Is it because his nemesis is feminine? Or because she loved that body of his and couldn't ruin it even after everything? Eremis the lover, the charismatic politician and imager didn't deserve violence but the despicable demon residing within him had to be exorcized.
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Post by Avatar »

It seemed quite an appropriate end to me. :D

--A
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Post by Cord Hurn »

Having admired himself so much, it's amusing he is destroyed by really getting to behold himself, truly.
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Eremis - Do you like him?

Post by Cord Hurn »

One of the moments that remind me of just how evil Master Eremis is: when he considers killing the Tor while the Tor is asleep. Only his desire to humiliate the Tor first holds him back from such an evil act.

[quote="In the chapter "Poised for Victory" in A Man Rides Through was"]Surely Master Eremis' interest in any news which might somehow emanate from the King was understandable? Under the circumstances, how could he be confident that his life wasn't in danger, even though he had saved Orison from terrible suffering and inevitable defeat?

This explanation--although Master Eremis would have supplied it with perfect assurance--was no more than a by-blow of the truth.

The truth was that he had come this way by accident several days ago, and had chanced to find the Tor in the waiting room.

The old lord was alone, of course. The waiting room was almost always empty, now that King Joyse had made plain his disinclination to respond intelligently--if at all--to the petitions of his subjects. It was possible that the Tor had been there for hours--and would be alone for hours more.

He was asleep on the floor, with his face pressed into the corner between the floor and wall; his fat made a quivering mountain, and he snored like a sawmill. He was so drunk that Master Eremis might have been unable to awaken him with a Trumpet. The stink exhaling from him was so strong that simply breathing it made Master Eremis feel tipsy and arrogant.

While the old lord's thick flesh shook from his unconscious snoring, Master Eremis paused to think. He considered taking this opportunity to slip an unobtrusive knife between the Tor's ribs. That might be helpful--not at the moment, naturally, but later on. Vagel would do it without hesitation; Gilbur, with glee. On the other hand, it would be almost no fun at all. Eremis wanted to humiliate the Tor before killing him.

In addition, there was only one lord whom Master Eremis feared less, and that was the Armigite, who had already sold his Care to Prince Kragen to purchase a temporary safety for himself and his women and his fresh boys. Upon reflection, Eremis let the chance for murder pass.

But he didn't forget it.[/quote]

Naturally Eremis will not ever forget he had the chance to murder the Tor, because the Tor ends up foiling him three times later.

Firstly, when he furiously swordfights Eremis during the latter's invasion of Orison's audience hall, effectively preventing Eremis from killing an unconscious Prince Kragen.

Secondly, when the Tor restores order in Orison with Norge's help after the audience hall attack, not allowing panic to overwhelm the army and citizenry of Mordant, and making it possible to forget an understanding if not an outright alliance with Alend.

And thirdly, when the Tor refuses Eremis' offer to betray Cadwal in exchange for giving him Terisa and Geraden.

No doubt all these moments cause Eremis to gnash his teeth in frustration at his missed opportunity to murder the Tor when it would have been so easy.

I love it. :mrgreen:
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Post by shadowbinding shoe »

I remember that moment well.

Poor Tor is pushed to this sad state by the king he loves and Eremis is free to do as he wish to him. He's abandoned and vulnerable. It was luck Eremis stayed his hand. That scene could end differently very easily.

I don't think Eremis regretted his decision exactly and even if he did he'd never admit it to himself. He always believes he's all powerful. His ego is overinflated throughout the story. At most he gets frustrated as we see with Terisa (He never manage to complete her 'bedding'.)

Eremis is the Sociopath. His reactions aren't the same as normal people. When his opponents frustrate him he doesn't rage or cry or grumbles. His smile widens. His mood, at least on the surface level, gets colder as he schemes his counteraction. He gets crueler of course and if possible he'll vent those frustrations on a random bystander with his endless well of malice.

I imagine the Tor was a pathetic pawn in his mind. An important pawn but a pawn nonetheless. Did he notice his contributions to the efforts against him? Others like Geraden, Prince Kragen and King Joyce are the opponents who did those things probably.

The Tor is not just an important figure for the kingdom and to King Joyce. Eremis' estate is located on his lands. Did Eremis need to pay taxes to his lord the Tor? Were there Torists on his lands? Did his dead family esteem him? At some point Eremis built a second secret manor and abandoned his old one. I assume he had his people all killed in cruel and unusual manners.

Maybe that scene is a metaphor to their relationship. Eremis does as he please under the Tor's nose and the Tor doesn't notice. Until he wakes up and does.
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Post by wayfriend »

Eremis underestimated the Tor. And for that, among other reasons, he was defeated. And so he was undone by his own pride.

This scene, to me, exemplifies this. Is Eremis evil? Yes. But more importantly, he underestimates his opponents. He cannot imagine anyone as smart as himself. They're all drunken slobs, destined to be his victims.

Think on the notion that Joyse's plan was to be underestimated. It may not have worked, had Eremis not been so underestimating a villian. He fell RIGHT into it. Even when he caught on to Joyse's plan to be underestimated, he STILL underestimated him!

From the author's POV, Eremis had to be a serial understimator because Joyse was a connoisseur of being underestimated. He freed Mordant because, in large part, he was underestimated. It was his strength. And so it needed to be Eremis's weakness.
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