Kevin's Watch

Okay, dANdeLION’s running around chasing his tail, and the entire Mordant’s need dissection is four pages from being complete, and about six months behind schedule, to boot. So, when you’re dAN and you’re stuck in a Wal-mart getting your car fixed and you need someone to bail you out, who do you call? Well, me, Mr. Fixit.

So, here we are. The Good Guys won; the Bad Guys lost, including a particularly poetic loss by the slimiest of the Bad guys, who is forever faced with his own narcissism, as well as the medieval pimples on his bare butt. Joyse has once again proven his brilliance, and as the victor, he sets himself to rewarding all those who made his victory possible.

In a nutshell, here’s how the heroes of Mordant are rewarded; Prince Kragen is now High Regent of Cadwal, and the Lady Elega is his consort.; Nyle replaces Kragen as the Alend Contender. Darsint is now the Castellan and marries Myste. Artagel is the new Perdon. And the Armigite even gets a present; Joyse chooses to ignore him completely, even though Darsint sensibly suggested beheading him.

As for Teresa and Geraden, they are both given the gift of themselves, a gift that showed itself to them each more and more during the whole ordeal. Geraden would never again be the awkward, unsure boy he was when Teresa met him; a boy who seemed to subconsciously know that there was no person for him on the whole planet. Teresa learned how to have passion for her own self and for others; she learned to reach inside herself and find a nearly limitless reservoir of strength to draw from. Oh, and they get married, and live happily ever after, because that’s what happens in fairy tales.

Mordant's Need Rules!!!

OUTSTANDING!!!!

Let the wrap party begin!!!



This is really lovely, Mr. Fixit:

As for Teresa and Geraden, they are both given the gift of themselves, a gift that showed itself to them each more and more during the whole ordeal....Oh, and they get married, and live happily ever after, because that’s what happens in fairy tales.

Thank you!

Mr Fixit is the poet laureate, whatever the heck that means.

I think it means he's a cowboy. Oh, wait, that's lariat.

It's a shame that the people who did the most of all for King Joyse get nothing at all. The Tor, the Perdon, Castellan Lebbick, these people all served the king unswervingly no matter what he did to make them believe he wasn't worth it.

They all died for their loyalty, and the things he put them through before they died were unforgivable. Havelock said that Joyse always lost at hop-board because he didn't know how to sacrifice his pieces. He learnt to sacrifice his pieces, but was the victory worth the sacrifice?

It's the age-old question of the good of the many versus the good of the few.

Lebbick, the Tor, Nyle, the Perdon, even Saddith, all made their own choices. Lebbick and the Tor chose to stay; Nyle chose to turn traitor; the Perdon chose to go. There was simply no way for Joyse to keep them safe without endangering all of Mordant--the Mordant we don't see, the farmers and vintners and ranchers and shepherds and weavers and so on and so on. It was a horrible choice to have to make, and I think Joyse did the best he could. At least he cared about what he'd done to the people who loved and served him. That's what Havelock meant about Joyse being a man "who tries to protect his pieces." Havelock didn't care at all.

So you completyely disregard Havelock's claim that he himself planned the whole thing?

The Tor should have known he was going to die not too long after that kick of Gart's.. He chose to sacrifice himself to help save the Masters, so I'm don't think Joyse had so much to do with his death, though I can't say the same for the Perdon..

Lebbick died in combat against a vastly superior opponent, attempting to save the Tor's head. King Joyse wasn't responsible for Lebbick's death. He put Lebbick through emotional hell, but should Lebbick have seen Joyse's win over the Kigh King, there wouldn't have been a happier man on that battlefield.

Saddith was manipulated my Emeris, Joyse had no involvement in her downfall..

I had read the Earthsea searies by LeGuin just before Mordant's Need, and Joyse seemed almost Taoistic in the way he did nothing for a while there...