Erik Holmes and I certianly see the current situation differently:
> Steve Simmons wrote:
> > ...After 200,000 years of war, why have neither the Dragaerans nor the
> > Easterners been able to definitively conquer the other...
To which Eric replied:
> I always thought this was obvious. They haven't had time or the desire
> to. Yet.
The situation today is certianly as you say. But it doesn't explain
why, in 200,000 previous years, nobody ever did.
> . . . Sethra the Younger has been dying to invade for years it seems,
> and when Sethra Lavode hears about it her only comment is:
>
> "... as far as I'm concerned, let her."
>
> Ouch. If the greatest military leader on the planet thinks that there's
> no harm in wandering over and conquering the East, then the Easterners
> chances probably aren't that great. . . .
The full quote is:
... Aliera and Sethra were deep into another discussion.
"Certianly," Sethra was saying. "And as far as I'm concerned,
let her."
Aliera frowned. "We're just getting on our feet, Sethra..."
Without knowing what Aliera said previously, we can't fully understand
Sethras response. Clearly you and I read it in two very different ways.
I took it to be something like (my words):
Aliera: "We could lose this battle big time - Sethra the Younger
could even get herself killed."
Sethra Lavode: "Certianly, and as far as I'm concerned, let her."
Aliera frowned. "We're just getting on our feet, Sethra..."
The impression I worked from is that Sethra Lavode has already advised
Sethra the Younger that this isn't particularly useful, but the Younger
has decided to go ahead anyway. If she's unable to learn from advice
and wants to bang her head against the wall, let her. She'll be the one
who pays the political and personal cost.
--
'Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity.'
-- credited to various people, I heard it from Robert A Heinlein.