Dragaera

Great Weapons Redux

Fri Apr 1 13:34:39 PST 2005

On Apr 1, 2005 4:01 PM, Scott Schultz <scott at cjhunter.com> wrote:
> So, I ended my latest re-read of the Vladiad by finishing Issola yesterday.
> After the discussion about what might happen to Vlad if he was attacked
> post-Godslayer, I was tuned into a conversation that took place between Vlad
> and Sethra.
> 
> Sethra implies that it's nearly impossible to kill the wielder of a Great
> Weapon. She accounts for Morrolan's death in Jhereg as a combination of
> surprise, sorcery and bravado. She goes on to say that even if Morollan had
> not been revivified that Blackwand would have continued to guard his soul.
> She finishes by saying that Blackwand (whom I think we could probably
> consider to be a sorceror in its own right) was capable of doing a lot more
> than it did and the Jhereg assassin was a fool.
> 
> Baritt not only died to a Jhereg assassin, he died and went to the Paths.
> However, he also hid Pathfinder, essentially seperating himself from it. He
> may have forfeited its protection by doing so. Perhaps he even have had a
> "falling out" of some kind with it and lost the privelege of wielding it.
> That would help explain the concealment of it. "If I can't have you, nobody
> can..." Hmmm... Baritt was alive when Aliera was recovered from the Paths.
> Some time after that he hid Pathfinder and then was killed. Aliera felt that
> Pathfinder had been trying to come to her. Pathfinder's journey may have
> begun at the end of _Taltos_ rather than at the beginning of _Dragon_. Once
> it "divorced" Baritt he hid it rather than help it travel to its preferred
> owner and the rest of _Dragon_ and _Yendi_ unfolded as a result.
> 
> Digressions aside, that just shows that Baritt probably does NOT qualify as
> an exception to Sethra's "rule" that Great Weapons will do everything in
> their power to protect their owner. This is reinforced at the end of
> _Issola_ when Vlad "gloats" over the fact that Iceflame and Pathfinder are
> powerless to affect the Jenoine because penetrating its defenses would mean
> risking destruction of their respective owners and they would not allow
> that. Godslayer, on the other hand, was designed for cutting through sorcery
> and has no such qualms. However powerful Iceflame, Blackwand, and Pathfinder
> are at their magical abilities, Godslayer is actually a superior weapon in
> comparison to all of them. I digress again...
> 
> Whatever happens to Vlad in Adrilankha, it appears that he's safe from
> physical harm and probably from magical harm as well. Whereas Morollan and
> Blackwand suffered a sorcerous sneak attack, Godslayer would simply nullify
> the spell when it landed.
> 
> 
And there you have it!

-- 
-C

"Many people hear voices when no-one is there. Some of them are called
mad and are shut up on rooms where they stare at the walls all day.
Others are called writers and they do pretty much the same thing."
-- Meg Chittenden,