WGW Chapter 6- Winter in Combat

[caamora]

Well folks, I had written one the other night when the Watch was down and most of it got lost. Sorry. I will do my best on the second and sorry it was late!

Through the ice, the company is trudging. Covenant is anxious to get to Revelstone to destroy the Clave. Linden has a sense of foreboding. She knows that the arghuleh are following them. The First leads the company with her Giant's sense of direction - as if she is familiar with the landscape. For days, the company fights the cold.

Then the arghuleh decend on the company with webs of ice. Linden sits

"as tense as a scream"

and the company fights. TC's power itches up his arm and he is thirsting for violence. He sees an attack on Linden but is unable to help her because Mistweave blocks his way. Mistweave, torn between Linden and Honninscrave. As a web of ice is hurled at Linden, Cail, whose arm is encased in a block of ice

"the size of a giant's head"

swings his arm and breaks the web of ice, freeing Linden. Linden jumps into action to stop Covenant from releasing the white gold.

Suddenly, a group of small, gray figures comes running into the fray. Waynhim! Led by none other than Hamako. They rescue the company and take them back to their rhyshyshim.

Hamako tells TC that the urviles have destroyed all the Waynhim and that this rhysh is all that is left. It turns out that the urviles wanted to kill the waynhim out of fear that they had told TC what Vain's purpose was. When Hamako asks TC again if he wants to know Vain's purpose, TC wisely replies

"No. I trust you."

(Thank goodness TC finally learns manners! That is why I like him in the second chrons.)

The next morning, the Waynhim go out to meet the arghuleh in battle. The company stays behind and watches, looking for their moment to be of the best help. The Waynhim approach in their wedge formation with Hamako at the point but they are soon overcome by the sheer numbers of the arghuleh and the wedge begins to fail. TC again is itching with power. So much so, in fact, that he mangles his own arm against a rock to try to keep it in check. Linden realizes that the power of the arghuleh is due to a croyel, just like Kasreyn. She stops TC from releasing his power and gives the order to help the Waynhim. As the wedge breaks up, the company engages. Waynhim form a circle around Hamako and begin the blood ritual, giving blood to Hamako. With the power of the Waynhim making Hamako shine like a

"cynosure as he flashed through the arghuleh."

Hamako comes face to face with the leader of the arghuleh with the croyel. It is a firece battle of fire and ice. The croyel is destroyed and the arghuleh leader begins to melt.

The gripping, unnatural cold dissapates and the waynhim are victorious. Hamako is dead.

"..Covenant closed his eyes, hugged his bloody arm to his chest, and listened to the lamentation of the Waynhim rising into the dusk."

Again, SRD shows us the beauty of heart of the people of the Land. Do you think we all like these books so much because they show a world we so desperately long for?

[danlo]

I posted the "read" you emailed me, but alas...Excellent 'system recovery' recovery caam!!! What a chapter! Very intense action...and the last stand of my hero Hamako,

And the double creature under him melted as well. Both arghuleh and croyel collapsed into water and slush until their deaths were inseparable from his--one stained pool slowly freezing on the faceless plain.

With an almost audible snap, the unnatural cold broke. Most of the arghuleh went on trying to kill each other until the rhysh drove them away; but the power they had brought with them was gone.

Linden was sobbing openly, though all her life she had taught herself to keep her grief silent. "Why?" She protested through her tears. "Why did they let him do it?"

Covenant knew why. Because Hamako had been twice bereft, when no man or woman or Waynhim should have had to endure such loss so much as once.

As the sun went down in red and rue beyond the western line of the escarpment, Covenant closed his eyes, hugged his bloody arm to his chest, and listened to the lamentation of the Waynhim rising into the dusk.

Ah poor Hamako! Twice bereft--as is the Land... Such noble Waynhim!

[pietten]

eh - this is a better place to jump in with observations on floating roughly-circular things - kasreyn's hoop attacks, and the arghuleh webs. coincidentally similiar, or intentionally the mark of the croyel?

[Dragonlily]

TC again is itching with power. So much so, in fact, that he mangles his own arm against a rock to try to keep it in check.

This will look familiar to GAP readers.

Do you think we all like these books so much because they show a world we so desperately long for?

Well, I could do without the arghuleh, the Clave, the Sunbane and Lord Foul. For me it's the heroism, and always has been. This was the Stand at Thermopyle for the waynhim, and they accomplished their goal. They cleared away the croyel on the arghuleh. Without them, TC, Linden & company probably wouldn't have gotten to Revelstone.

[wayfriend]

I'm going to post a long thing about Hamiko, I think, but I'm going to wait and see if posts have stopped disappearing. Losing my arghuleh post, as insignificant as it was, has made me reply-shy.

[SoulBiter]

Good Dissection! Its always intriguing, to me, to see The First go into Warrior mode when appropriate. In this case she hears Hamako say that he and his rhysh were there to give battle. Immediately she goes into warrior mode.

"Battle is my craft and my purpose." Her countenance was sharp in the firelight. " I would share council with you concering this combat."

Plus the Giants in this chapter finally find something to add to diamondraught that would improve it. Who would have thought it would be vitrim?

And that unsurpassable draught will be named pitchbrew for all the Earth to adore

You ever notice how when things are their bleakest, the giants always find humor in the smallest of things and lighten the heart of not just Search but the reader as well?

SoulBiter

[Haruchai]

I have always loved this quote:

Cail had not been able to free his left arm. But he saw the net coming like all the failures of the Haruchai - Hergrom's slaughter and Ceers death and the siren-song of the merewives encapsulated in one peril - and he drew himself up as thought he were the last of his people left alive, the last man sworn to suceed or die. His thews bunched, strained, stood out like bone - and his arm broke loose, still incased in a hunk of ice as big as a Giant's head.

I thought this quote showed how much Cail was suffering in his isolation. Even though he wasn't struggling physically, he was struggling emotionally.
I also found it interesting that he saw Ceers death as a failure of the Haruchai, after all that blaming Linden back on the dromond.

[Myste]

I also found it interesting that he saw Ceers death as a failure of the Haruchai, after all that blaming Linden back on the dromond.

Ooh, I never picked up on that before. That's very cool. Have we figured out exactly when (or if) the Haruchai stop blaming Linden for everything?

I love the Waynhim, and I love this chapter. Hamako is very likely the least conflicted character in the entire chrons, and yet he's forced to suffer some of the most terrible stuff. It's terrible and sad when he dies, but what a way to go--as an icon of the struggles of two completely separate cultures, an alliance of humanity and Demondim, against one of the banes of the Earth. (If the croyel truly are considered a bane, and aren't just natural creatures of some kind.)

[tonyz]

I'd like to ask a broader question:

What is this whole chapter doing here? This whole section? Why don't we just have "and they got back to the coast of the Land" followed by meeting Sunder and Hollian?

Why this whole passage with the _arguleh_ and the Waynhim and Hamako?

[dlbpharmd]

At least 2 reasons that I can think of:

1) The story of Hamako and the Waynhim was a loose end which had to be closed;

2) SRD set a precedent in the 1st Chronicles with the death of the Unhomed - here we have the death of an indigenous race of the Land.

[SoulBiter]

What is this whole chapter doing here? This whole section? Why don't we just have "and they got back to the coast of the Land" followed by meeting Sunder and Hollian?

In the previous chapter they have been blown offcourse. So they are in an unknown area. It would have been disingenuous to just arrive at the coast and be in the land.

There are things that need to be learned here before they

Spoiler

Confront the clave and Gibbon raver

One of those things is the capacity for self sacrifice. Sure there have been sacrifices before now.. but this one strikes a bit closer to Covenant. Hamako goes into this and accomplishes something.. Its not a sacrifice grounded in defeat but one that is grounded in success. Before now, when people made a sacrifice it hasnt been as apparent what the "meaning" if that sacrifice is. Here we have a deeper meaning.. which Covenant recognizes.. and it is very important for him to recognize this.

SoulBiter

[Myste]

[Hamako's] isn't a sacrifice grounded in defeat but one that is grounded in success. Before now, when people made a sacrifice it hasnt been as apparent what the "meaning" if that sacrifice is. Here we have a deeper meaning.. which Covenant recognizes.. and it is very important for him to recognize this.

I think this is absolutely right. In both Chrons, an example of pure unsullied sacrifice is laid before TC --Foamfollower and Hamako both sacrifice themselves for the sake of what they serve. Not to defeat Foul, or to get themselves home, or anything remotely self-serving. Covenant has to want to defeat Foul in order to go after him; but in order to defeat him,

Spoiler

he has to sacrifice himself--not to destroy Foul, but to save the Land.

Without Hamako's example, he might not have remembered what real self-sacrifice means.

[duchess of malfi]

Yes, the example of self sacrifice was something that both TC and Linden absolutely needed to see.

There is also a sort of parallel going on with the Seareach Mission...the death of a sentient race of the Land, the loss of something precious which can never be replaced, and the death of a great champion in defeating a huge evil. I am talking about the Giants/waynhim and Hyrim/Hamako...

[wayfriend]

Deeper, folks. Go deeper ...

There're more things here than [yet another] self-sacrifice.

Covenant needs to learn that one has the option of spending oneself utterly in order to achieve the meaning of one's life.

But even more importantly, Linden needs to learn that this is a positive choice. As we now know, she has a veto power over anything Covenant might do. Which means that it is critical that she understands the choices Covenant must make.

Spoiler

Thinking of her mother, he added deliberately, "You let him achieve the meaning of his own life."

At that, her head jerked up; her gaze knifed at him. "He died!" she hissed like an imprecation too fierce and personal to be shouted. "He saved your life at least twice, and he spent his own life serving the Land you claim to care so much about, and the people that adopted him were nearly wiped off the face of the Earth, and he died!"

Covenant did not flinch. He was ready now for anything she might hurl at him- His own nightmares were worse than this. And he would have given his soul for the ability to match Hamako. "I'm not glad he died. I'm glad he found an answer."

For a long moment, her glare held. But then slowly the anger frayed out of her face. At last, her eyes fell. Thickly, she murmured, "I'm sorry. I just don't understand. Killing people is wrong." The memory of her mother was present to her as it was to Covenant. "But dear Christ! Saving them has got to be better than letting them die."

"Linden." She clearly did not want him to say anything else. She had raised the fundamental question of her life and needed to answer it herself. But he could not let the matter drop. With all the gentleness he had in him, he said, "Hamako didn't want to be saved. For the opposite reason that your father didn't want to be saved. And he won."

"I know," she muttered. "I know. I just don't understand it." As if to keep him from speaking again, she left the fire, went to get her blankets.

[duchess of malfi]

Looking ahead, I also believe that it was a needful thing for Linden to see Hamako take all of that power into himself.

And yes, both as a legacy from her awful father, and as a physician, it is very hard for Linden to accept the self-caused death of others, even if it is a sacrifice which saves other lives. Both as a survivor and as a doctor, she has been fighting a war against death for a very long time...and she needs to learn that not all self-caused deaths are a result of darkness and despair. In the right circumstances they can bring bring hope and life for others...

As a result of her horrible childhood, Linden has some issues with control...she both fears and desires control (and possession is perhaps the ultimate form of control) and the power it brings. She must learn to allow others to make their own choices, both in death and in life...

[Myste]

And yes, both as a legacy from her awful father, and as a physician, it is very hard for Linden to accept the self-caused death of others, even if it is a sacrifice which saves other lives.

This raises a question in my mind that may or may not be on the same subject--did Linden save her own life by taking her mother's? I mean, looking beyond what Linden suffers because she killed her mother, looking beyond what being locked in the attic with her self-hating father as he died--did these things make it possible for Linden to be who she was,

Spoiler

and to eventually be the person who could heal the Land?

Think about what her life might have been like if she hadn't killed her mother, but had to go on day after day submersed in her mother's death-in-life....

I guess another way to ask the question is this: was Linden's father's suicide a self-sacrifice that unintentionally led to the saving of the Land? Was murdering her mother a similar sort of unintentional sacrifice? I guess in order to say "Yes," you'd have to take it as given that there are larger forces at work here, that even as a child in a completely different reality, Linden was always going to end up being the Sun-Sage...

Anyway, just some thoughts. Great posts, duchess & Wayfriend!

[SoulBiter]

I agree that this is something she needs to recognize but she doesnt. Covenant was willing to destroy the One Tree itself to save his companions. Even after SeaDreamers death and two word warning of "DO NOT!" , Wasnt enough to keep Covenant from trying to get to the One Tree to take a branch. Although he understands that sometimes there is a necessity in sacrifice.. What he really needs to understand is the necessity of not just sacrifice of others

Spoiler

.. but HIMSELF

But seeing Hamako sacrifice himself and find the meaning of his life the way he did.. Covenant does finally understand this.

Spoiler

Again this is EXTREMELY necessary as we find later on in the book.

And he would have given his soul for the ability to match Hamako. "I'm not glad he died. I'm glad he found an answer."

This IS the defining moment for Covenant as he realized that Hamako died for a higher cause and that by this sacrifice you are not necessarily surrendering in defeat. Sometimes sacrifice, if for the right reasons, is a victory.

With all the gentleness he had in him, he said, "Hamako didn't want to be saved. For the opposite reason that your father didn't want to be saved. And he won."

Linden still doesnt understand even after Covenant tried to explain it to her.

"I know," she muttered. "I know. I just don't understand it."

Linden still doesnt understand even after Covenant tried to explain it to her.

I agree that she NEEDS to understand this but it hasnt sunk in. But it finally has for Covenant. Finally he understands the need and that sometimes the choice to sacrifice oneself for a higher cause is the right course of action.

Spoiler

She doesnt even understand later when they are in Revelstone and he walks to the banefire a few chapters from now. But when he put his feet to the stairs, a hand closed around his mind, and he stopped. Another will imposed itself on his, taking his choices from him. please. Please don’t.

Covenant recognizes Lindens grasp on him.. on the white gold. She clenched her will to his with a white grip and would not let him go She is trying to save him from himself. She knows what he is up to and has taken it upon herself to take this choice from him.
She doesnt understand even 3 chapters from now that sometimes it is necessary. But Covenant has finally figured it out.

SoulBiter

[wayfriend]

I agree that she NEEDS to understand this but it hasnt sunk in.

Indubitably. What is important is that what happens to Hamako now makes this possible later.

Hamako is very likely the least conflicted character in the entire chrons

And how important that is. He cannot impart any lesson to Linden or Covenant if there is any question about the truth it conveys.

Hamako goes into this and accomplishes something.. Its not a sacrifice grounded in defeat but one that is grounded in success.

Well, I take issue on this point, because, at the time you make the sacrifice, you don't know the outcome.

The way Hamako spends himself is indeed different, and indeed significant to Covenant. But we've seen lots of heroes up until now give their lives to save the Land. That's not what's different.

What's different is what is pointed out by these words: "You let him achieve the meaning of his own life." "Hamako didn't want to be saved. For the opposite reason that your father didn't want to be saved. And he won."

Hamako found an answer.

An answer to the pain; an answer to the sorrow; and answer to a life as warped by Foul and the Sunbane as any of the villiagers he once cared for. Not an end - an answer. He viewed the sacrifice needed to end the thread of the croyel as the way to complete his life - to end it in a positive, fulfilling, and regretless way. By this means, he considered the books of his life to be settled in the black; he gained more than he lost; he came out on top in the end; he quit while he was ahead; he won. If he is ever in a position to look back on his life, he would be content with the way it turned out.

That's what Linden's father didn't have.

That's the example Covenant needed to absorb.

That's the possibility Linden had to discover.

[SoulBiter]

He viewed the sacrifice needed to end the thread of the croyel as the way to complete his life - to end it in a positive, fulfilling, and regretless way. By this means, he considered the books of his life to be settled in the black; he gained more than he lost; he came out on top in the end; he quit while he was ahead; he won. If he is ever in a position to look back on his life, he would be content with the way it turned out.

That's what Linden's father didn't have.

That's the example Covenant needed to absorb.

That's the possibility Linden had to discover.

Very good Wayfriend and most elequently put!! I absolutly agree. This is exactly the success that Hamako achieved and its the deeper meaning that Covenant needed to learn. and now the wall that Linden has built around herself is being chipped away.

She had raised the fundamental question of her life and needed to answer it herself.

The sacrifice of hamako and the meaning that Covenant tried to explain to her.. has her taking that first step.. Realizing that she needs a better answer than the one she has had her whole life.

SoulBiter

[kastenessen]

A fact that makes Hamako's fate so much more tragic and heroic is that all he had been working for with the Waynhim is that the ur-viles destroyed it all. They destroyed all the rhysh because they believed Hamako told Covenant the purpose of Vain which we all know he didn't do. So many dead, without purpose, meaningless, based on wrong assumptions...

Wrought our ruin. Our ruin across the Land. Covenant was no longer looking at Hamako. He could not. All that beauty. Gone to grief, where all dreams go...

A sordid tale. To come back to the Land and even that hope gone, for nothing.

Hamako, there is something with him,so proud, such a beautiful soul, at times he reminds me of Lord Mhoram.

A grin momentarily softened Hamako's tension. "Thomas Covenant," he said in a voice like a salute, "I would that we had met in kinder times." Then he raised his scimitar, turned on his heel, and started toward the throat of the cavern.

Kastenessen