In a message dated Wed, 11 Sep 2002 4:15:36 AM Eastern Standard Time, David Silberstein <davids at kithrup.com> writes: > On Mon, 9 Sep 2002 Gaertk at aol.com wrote: > >> In a message dated Mon, 9 Sep 2002 7:18:22 PM Eastern >> Standard Time, David Silberstein <davids at kithrup.com> >> writes: >> >>> This is a question which I always want to ask Steve every >>> time I read the ending of "Phoenix Guards", and I keep >>> forgetting. Well, this time I'll not forget! > > I was really hoping SKZB would give at least *some* > response, but it appears that he has buggered off (and > perhaps left an oblique nose-thumb in my direction, > although I may be reading too much into it): > > http://www.dreamcafe.com/weblog.cgi > >] Tue Sep 10th, 2002 6:01 AM > >] Off on a long pilgrimage. A few days in central >] California, then Minnesota to catch the last couple >] weekends of the Renfest. I'll be back in early October, >] and maybe then I'll have my thoughts organized for the >] rant in which I explain why I think historical accuracy is >] over-rated in fantasy. Yee-ha. > > "historical accuracy is over-rated"???? > Hmpf. Funny, I read that as being directed towards myself. I guess its aimed at all us nitpickers :) >>> Did Paarfi err? >> >> My motto: when in doubt, blame Paarfi. > > Several hypotheses: > > 1) Paarfi is in fact reflecting a discrepency in the > historical record: Khaavren's (or somebody's) earlier > reports or letters refer to Gyorg Lavode, and the records > of the later testimony mention only Lytra e'Tenith. Paarfi > left this in deliberately, figuring that if *he* was > confused, so should everyone else be. Heh. He does make a comment about not revising the parts he's already written when faced with new information. > 2) Khaavren was the victim of an illusion or shape-shift > (or memory edit spell), perhaps created by Seodra, and he > later found out the truth. Or perhaps the Orb itself > *compelled* him to state the truth? (Interesting thought, > that). Hmmm... interesting, but kinda weak. And remember, Khaavren didn't figure out who it was until G'aereth tells Aerich that Gyorg is upset with them. > 3) Politics: Both Gyorg & Lytra were tied to Seodra, but > Gyorg was, for whatever reason, untouchable, and was left > alone after the plot was uncovered. The discrepency was > Paarfi's way of pointing this out. Ooooo... I like this one. A bit more subtle than normal for Paarfi, but not beyond reason. I still can't figure out if he realised the fort and fortress comment was a joke. > 4) Perhaps Khaavren really did forget about Gyorg in his > rush to get out his accusation of Seodra, and we have > learned something interesting about how you can tell what > you *think* is the truth under the Orb. But then Lytra > should have been able to testify, saying "I was not in that > room with that woman", and that would have been true also, > which would have shown the flaws in testifying under the > Orb. Here you come close to the main reason why I believed Paarfi messed up: if Lytra *had* been in the room guarded by her brother, then it was *really* stupid of her to mention her brother's death. Though, technically, its possible she only saw Khaavren and didn't know the cause of the duel that killed her brother. > Hmmm. Some of the above are simultaneously possible; some > are mutually exclusive. I like the way you speculate; have you given any thought to where Kiera was when Stony died? That one's been bugging me for years, becuase you can't blame it on unreliable narrators or even typoes. >>> Have I missed a subtle clue? What? >> >> Perhaps; let's see if I can find that post Brust made on >> rasfw... well, this isn't the one I remembered[1], but it >> says the same thing [last paragraph]: >> >>http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=526oq3%24g86%40news5.wavefront.com > > But this isn't the same thing at all! We're not talking > about a discrepency of some amount of orbs, or the color of > somebody's garment; this is about who was involved in a > critical plot point of political intrigue! So what are the intentional inconsistencies he put in? --KG