Kevin's Watch

This chapter begins in chaos. Nyle lies on the floor of the Congery’s laborium, apparently killed by Geraden in an effort to silence him. The Masters, Castellan Lebbick, Teresa and Geraden stand as if frozen by the very violence of Geraden’s act. Suddenly, Teresa breaks the malaise, shouting “Geraden! Run!” In spite of his usual clumsiness, Geraden avoids the rush of several Masters and Lebbick, and escapes the confusion of the laborium.

The Castellan runs to the door in pursuit of Geraden. Eremis picks up Nyle, calling urgently for a physician. Teresa goes to follow Eremis, but is stopped by Master Quillon, who wants her to help him help Geraden. Surprised by the fact that he wants to help Geraden instead of arresting him, she quickly follows Quillon.

After tricking the guards into going to the Laborium, Quillon and Teresa enter the area where the Congery’s mirrors are stored. Quillon then returns the way they came, and answers her questioning looks by saying:

”Go! Help him! I will gain as much time as I can. I will be believed when I say he did not come here-at least for a minute or two.”

Teresa soon finds Geraden hiding near the mirror he used to bring her to Mordant. She explains what Quillon is doing to help them, and asks Geraden what Nyle said to him. Geraden answers:

“Nothing. Nothing at all. It’s a trick. Something Master Eremis cooked up against me. Teresa, I did not kill my brother.”

They hear Lebbick shout, and realize they are about to be caught. Geraden uncovers his mirror and starts the translation process. Teresa cries out:

“You’ll be lost! You’ll never get back.” He didn’t heed her. “As soon as I am translated, my lady,” he said as if she were a stranger, “please shift the focus of the mirror. If I am visible in the image, I will be pursued.”

Geraden disappears into the mirror. Teresa needs to do nothing to the mirror, though; he never appears in the image. Impossibly, the glass took him once again to a place it didn’t show. Suddenly, Lebbick appears, triumph written all over his face. He grabs her harshly and growls:

”Now you’ve done it, woman,” he said almost cheerfully. “You’ve done something so vile that nobody is going to protect you. You’ve helped a murderer escape. Now,” he said through his teeth, “you are mine.”

I can't stand this chapter... I mean it's sooo long I mean reading through this chapter in the book is a nightmare...

Yeah... I dislike Lebbick even more in this chapter... I mean he's just nasty.

Darth Revan wrote:I can't stand this chapter... I mean it's sooo long I mean reading through this chapter in the book is a nightmare...

Okay, so I got a short one! So what? I still pored over it for hours! Tom suggested I simply type out the whole chapter and submit it as my review, but he's an idiot.

It is a short chapter, but an intense one. I get shivers up and down my back when Lebbick says that Terisa is his.
You just know he's not going to make life any easier for her.

Oh, I disagree. Lebbick's gift is making people's lives easier, especially his own.

Hard to say anything more, other than we finally completed the 1st book! Good job everyone! Never seen such a small SRD chapter before or after...

Seems like TMOHD ends the same way LFB begins, "You are mine."

dANdeLION wrote:

Darth Revan wrote:I can't stand this chapter... I mean it's sooo long I mean reading through this chapter in the book is a nightmare...

Okay, so I got a short one! So what? I still pored over it for hours! Tom suggested I simply type out the whole chapter and submit it as my review, but he's an idiot.

I didn't mean it in a way that is poking fun at your dissection.

Fine, but Tom's still an idiot, and you're still a git.

Yeah, Lebbick is nasty, but he is being pushed beyond normal limits isn't he? Not that I'm starting a "Lebbick fan club", but the guy has certainly had a crappy life & the only thing he had to hold on to (Joyce/Orison) is crumbling around him.....

One of the things I love about SRD is his ability to write characters who are utterly loathsome--and then he forces you to empathize with them. You might not be able to forgive them, but you end up understanding them, even pitying them, in spite of yourself. Lebbick's like that; so is Angus Thermopyle; even TC is like that to a certain extent.

Yes; it's a talent he shares with Tolkein (remember Gollum?).

dANdeLION wrote:Fine, but Tom's still an idiot, and you're still a git.

LOL! That's a bit mean! I mean he's been your friend for most of your life... heh. I didn't like this chapter that much...

Spoiler

I mean Nyle didn't even die.... so it's not Fratricide

...

Myste wrote:One of the things I love about SRD is his ability to write characters who are utterly loathsome--and then he forces you to empathize with them. You might not be able to forgive them, but you end up understanding them, even pitying them, in spite of yourself. Lebbick's like that; so is Angus Thermopyle; even TC is like that to a certain extent.

I don't find Lebbick utterly loathesome at all. I pity him, to tell the truth. He is a person trying to do his job and being thwarted at every turn. Not that I think his behavior is justfied. And as the Tor points out, he is "prone to excess."

I've always looked at Lebbick the same way MsMary does, Myste seems to be generalizing.

Spoiler

Now Gilbur on the other hand...

MsM! Care to do a chapter? We're starting A Man Rides Through on the 9th!

MsMaryMalone wrote:

Myste wrote:One of the things I love about SRD is his ability to write characters who are utterly loathsome--and then he forces you to empathize with them. You might not be able to forgive them, but you end up understanding them, even pitying them, in spite of yourself. Lebbick's like that; so is Angus Thermopyle; even TC is like that to a certain extent.

I don't find Lebbick utterly loathesome at all. I pity him, to tell the truth. He is a person trying to do his job and being thwarted at every turn. Not that I think his behavior is justfied. And as the Tor points out, he is "prone to excess."

Not to split hairs (well, actually it IS to split hairs ), but when I read these two comments, I only see agreement. Clearly Lebbick does loathsome things, and clearly we all end up understanding why he does it, even if we don't agree at all with him doing it, which leads to us pitying him.

But, wouldn't you say Eremis saw his "timebomb" waiting to explode and purposely set him up to do his most loathsome of things? He was in a pressure cooker situation (no thanks to Joyse) and, as an aside, the Alends did some very loathsome things to his wife...

Yes, but Havelock, Nyle and Lebbick are the one's you're meant to sympyhize with, not Eremis. We can't say much more w/o spoiling things, but certainly you know the difference between these characters.

By saying "his "timebomb" I was refering to Lebbick--

Spoiler

I have NO sympathy WHATSOEVER for Eremis...

(damn, I completely missed the rest of tMoHD dissection)
(I haven't read A Man Rides Through, btw, and since I'm told its temporarily out of print, I don't think I'll get it in time for dissection)

I have to say, Lebbick is my least favourite character in this book, but I don't think too badly of him at this point - it seemed to me that he's been a little mentally unbalanced since his wife died, and he's been getting considerably worse since Terisa came. It was mentioned earlier about his conflicting feelings - he really didn't know what he wanted to do with Terisa, and was desperately trying to find justification for the part of it that he could accept - his distrust of her. He wants her to be a traitor, not just to deny his other feelings about her, but also because it allows him to make excuses for Joyce - he can blame her for his decline instead of being forced to accept that his king has become 'an old dodderer' (he isn't an old dodderer, I'm sure - the augury proved that).
By saving Geraden, she finally tips the balance and he becomes certain of which of those conflicting feelings is right. Of course, I don't expect his doubts to be completely gone, and I'll be expecting his behaviour getting even worse in the next book as he really begins to tear himself up about it...

Check used bookstores! There's bound to be a copy there!