Was It Their Fault Elena Messed Up?

[BraulioB]

I am rereading this excellent book and just got to the part where Linden and Stave have returned from the Horserite. Linden says that the Ranyhn feel that it is thier fault that High Lord Elena was messed up like she was. Specifically, that they took her to the Horserite at such a young age and that scarred her.

I have to agree. Sure, her home life was already messed up with an obsessed mom, grandparents that seemed to have their own problems, and a step-father who is bitter at the man that her mom was slowly going crazy about.

But at such a young age, the Horserite must have been quite an experience. The Ranyhn showed her the death of Kalibabaolath (how ever you spell it, the Father Of Horses) and how he/it failed to stop the Despiser by giving up and trying to bargain. They also wanted to show her the futility of relying too much on others when you are perfectly capable to handle a situation. But in the end, she didn't and seemed to revere the Father Of Horses' sacrifice, which led her to revere Kevin's sacrifice.

She was one messed up chick!

B

[Variol Farseer]

Well, the idea seemed to me like a real longshot when I read about it. You don't bet the rent money on a 20-to-1 nag if you have the option of not betting at all. One would expect horses to know that.

[MrKABC]

Elena revered High Lord Kevin's DESPAIR, believing it to be a source of irrefusable power. She thought that if he had lived past the Ritual of Desecration his knowledge of despair would have made him more powerful than Lord Foul.

Of course, that was wrong.

[Edelaith]

I would say that the Raynhim are not guilty. Elena made the final decision, not them.

Elena believed in making 'grand' gestures, as it were.
She would wipe out Lord Foul with one great felling blow, invincible and adamant with the Earthblood. It didn't work out that way.
The Raynhim tried to warn her against making 'grand' gestures. But she didn't understand the message. She interpreted the warning the exact opposite way from which it was intended to be heard.

It seemed to me that 'grand' gestures always tended to end disastrously in the Land.
The Father of Horses made a 'grand' sacrifice. It was futile: he was killed, then Lord Foul continued killing the Raynhim.
Kevin made a 'grand' gesture with the Ritual of Desecration, and failed.
The Bloodguard made a 'grand' gesture in taking the piece of the Illearth Stone to personally fight Lord Foul. That was a disaster.
Even Hile Troy made a 'grand' gesture, in his own way. He plotted out the whole Illearth War in advance, as if it were an Axis and Allies game, and figured out how to win the war before the war ever started. Needless to say, Lord Foul didn't follow Troy's rules!
Then Troy made another 'grand' gesture to save his army at Garotting Deep, and paid for it with his life.

[ur-bane]

I would say that the Raynhim are not guilty. Elena made the final decision, not them.

Sorry, Edelaith...but you just painted a picture in my head of a Waynhim cross bred with a Ranyhyn.

Elena believed in making 'grand' gestures, as it were.
She would wipe out Lord Foul with one great felling blow, invincible and adamant with the Earthblood. It didn't work out that way.
The Raynhim tried to warn her against making 'grand' gestures. But she didn't understand the message. She interpreted the warning the exact opposite way from which it was intended to be heard.

It seemed to me that 'grand' gestures always tended to end disastrously in the Land.
The Father of Horses made a 'grand' sacrifice. It was futile: he was killed, then Lord Foul continued killing the Raynhim.
Kevin made a 'grand' gesture with the Ritual of Desecration, and failed.
The Bloodguard made a 'grand' gesture in taking the piece of the Illearth Stone to personally fight Lord Foul. That was a disaster.
Even Hile Troy made a 'grand' gesture, in his own way. He plotted out the whole Illearth War in advance, as if it were an Axis and Allies game, and figured out how to win the war before the war ever started. Needless to say, Lord Foul didn't follow Troy's rules!
Then Troy made another 'grand' gesture to save his army at Garotting Deep, and paid for it with his life.

I tend to agree with you that the "grand" is not necessarily the solution. I don't remember his exact words, but Mhoram said it best when he said that the seer who was not also a prophet was basically doomed.
All those examples you mentioned have one giant flaw: Nobody could have possible known the outcome of their choices. All had to do what they felt was best at the time.
At the same time they all had something in common, too.....they were blinded by despair, and so what we see as the wrong decision, they saw as the best course of action.

[NightBlaze]

I agree Ur-Bane. The statement I believe you are referring to was made by Tamarantha to Mhoram in discussion of Kevin. "lesser souls lose the paradox."
Because Kevin wasnt a prophet, he didnt know Lord Foul would servive the ritual.
The one thing you can see here is that with a grand decision comes grand consequences.

[MrKABC]

Even Triock thought that Elena was "flawed from birth"...

The Ranyhyn are not guilty.