Ultimately, this book disappointed me, not only because of many points already mentioned throughout this thread but also because it shakes my faith in Bakker's capabilities as a writer. I appreciate a lot of what he wanted to evoke in a lot of different moments throughout the book, but the execution of literally everything felt like it missed the mark. I can't escape the sensation that Bakker cheated himself out of so many moments that could have had a powerful impact on the reader, at the end of this seven book journey. So much of it was because of writing so ambiguous as to become borderline incompetent - and I say that knowing, without a doubt, a lot of philosophy flies over my head, but what does it matter if a fraction of a fraction of his readership actually groks the meaning of what goes on?

IMO, a great deal of TSA's appeal was the incredible sense of depth it offered. I, at least, truly felt like so much was going on behind the scenes that could be better appreciated on a second read through... and in many senses, that is true. Having finished TUC and feeling sorely disappointed, I still think it's a vastly more cerebral fantasy series than anything I've read in the genre. But when so much is left unclear to the readers that we're left theorizing about key plot points, and Bakker's comments seem to indicate he didn't intend for that level of ambiguity, I don't know what to think. If anything, TGO and TUC have gone to great lengths to show that a lot of the depth wasn't ever really there. 

I can't remember the child of Ishual's situation at the end of TGO, but I kept wondering to myself if he would ever be mentioned at all throughout TUC. He is just a single example of so many characters whose arcs were either aborted or felt pointless from the very beginning. Moenghus (Jr), Sorweel (despite the fact that I felt like he had one of the better resolutions in the story), just to name a few... but far more vitally to the story, why the fuck did we get four books of Achamian and Mimara's dread journey to Golgotterath only for them to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING? I like Wert's interpretation that the DunSult led Akka and Mimara there because TJE was key to resolving two parallel timelines, but even if this is true, it should absolutely receive more clarification in the text.

We received six books building up the Consult as the ultimate threat to humanity. Aurang, Shauriatas, Mekeritrig... I can see where Bakker probably intended for Kellhus to effortlessly trounce them, only to be undone by something so small as to pass beneath his notice. I don't think that is a lazy plot device by its nature, but the execution just left a sour taste in my mouth. Between TGO and TUC, it felt like I read five hundred pages about the teeming Sranc hordes and the terrors undergone by the Ordeal to reach Golgotterath, only for the ringleaders to be effortlessly dealt with over the span of a few pages. As a reader I knew that they posed no threat to Kellhus. I had absolutely no doubt that he was outrageously beyond the scope of the antagonists' "power," but it just felt unconvincing. I know he's the prodigal son of an intellectually advanced people, but these are entities who have walked the earth for thousands and thousands of years and who are prodigies in their own right, and they just get handwaved away... in Cet'ingira's case, literally.

Honestly, so much hangs on the suspension of disbelief. On one hand we're led to believe that Kellhus (and maybe the DunSult?) are orchestrating everything, have accounted for every possible contingency or twist of possibility, but on the other... why did Kellhus need the Great Ordeal at all, honestly? In the end he did all the heavy lifting himself. He only engaged with the teeming hordes of Sranc to help convey the Ordeal to Golgotterath, and later to defend it. He could have just used the Metagnosis to jump there, killed the leaders of the Consult and murdered the Dunyain instead of pausing to dialogue with them. Honestly, why did Kellhus just leave Ishual to be plundered by the Consult to begin with? From the very beginning we saw how Moenghus was able to survive captivity with the Sranc. Was it so far-fetched as to be beneath his notice, that maybe some of his brothers would get caught and just manipulate their way to the head of the Consult? 

tl;dr: My thoughts are a little incoherent here, but yeah, I find myself completely unconvinced. I can see the intent but the execution just did not make it happen for me. Characters whose plot arcs and their resolutions felt abrupt, trite or meaningless; questions too big to go unanswered that can pretty much only be explained by having readers peer too deeply into the text, even when we've been shown that many times things were exactly what they seemed on the surface; a handful of red herrings scattered throughout that were either clumsy inclusions or seeds for a series that isn't even confirmed to exist...

I'll continue to adore this series for its beautiful prose, for the cerebral story and the impressive feats of world-building, but this ending did not satisfy me whatsoever.

And let's not even get started on the dragon. Serwa is right, what the fuck does a dragon know about cunny? 

I felt that while there was sufficient in-universe justification for the existence of the nuke at Dagliash, there was startlingly little foreshadowing. It felt like Scott, after waxing on and on and on and on and on for three books about the gibbering tide, needed some kind of expedient way to get rid of it while conserving the grimdark flavor... but there was so much lazy handwaving involved. How did Kellhus figure out the lingering side effects of such an explosion? I can understand deducing it as a powerful Tekne weapon after unearthing it, and I would even go so far as to say I could see Kellhus having studied it beforehand because it seemed like he was very deliberately taking Viri apart to find it... but I felt like there wasn't enough narrative buildup behind it at all. so many other things Bakker could have done to advance this plot that didn't involve so much damn handwaving! Three books of constant descriptions about how, despite constant attrition, the Horde didn't even seem slightly reduced only for it to be wiped away in a few pages and we were left with a few descriptions about there being quite a few bodies, but not more than a few token lines about the scale of the slaughter.

The whole plotline at Momemn was a mess. Again, a whole trilogy of buildup for the Last Cishaurim only for Kellhus to ride in, remark that he was a pretty tough dude, and then overpower him without even a real attempt by Bakker to dramatize their duel. There was so much potential for Meppa, only to have him relegated to a mediocre red herring. At the same time, much like the thread following the Great Ordeal, Kelmomas' POV became rather grating. Like the rest of the Dunyain children, he is a very very thin character, and I almost felt like there was far too much hinting about his association with Ajokli  given how little actually happened... not to mention that, despite a couple references earlier in the book, suddenly pulling the natural disaster card only for Kellhus to appear moments later was another example of juvenile storytelling.

So far Kellhus' children have been a real letdown IMO. Inrilatas at least had some interesting hints thrown around about his true nature and the magnitude of his Strength and how it fed his madness, but Thelliopa? Basically meaningless to the overall story. I'm still holding out for Kayutas and Serwa.

Cnauir's reapparance at the end of the book felt like fanservice to me, even if it wasn't. His whole storyline had been very neatly ended in TTT, and while I think Bakker definitely left himself some wiggle room there, he hasn't done much with it so far. I think this, like a lot of my other grievances, are definitely exacerbated by the fact that TUC was cut in half. If all of these things had happened in the middle of a much longer book as opposed to the conclusion of part 1, and we were able to better see their consequences, then they would feel much less arbitrary. Albeit I can't say that I would ever agree with the decision to throw in the nuke or... whatever Bakker thought he had going on in Momemn in TGO. Also, I really disliked the way he used the character of Oinaral Lastborn: he was basically a living plot device that served to convey Sorweel to his father, spewing exposition along the way, then get killed pointlessly to resolve the tension at Ishterebinth.

The Whale Mothers and the rape of Proyas have already been touched upon elsewhere, so I won't even get into it.

That all sounded pretty scathing, but overall I wasn't that disappointed by TGO, going into it knowing that it was inevitably just going to be part 1 of 2. Ishterebinth and most of Akka's arc (albeit almost not at all because of Akka or Mimara themselves) were very satisfying. I also liked a lot of other scenes throughout the book, including many of the ones at Momemn... what little characterization we get of Thelli was quite interesting, and I liked a lot of the scenes where Kelmomas observed the Narindar. I have to say that Esmenet has really been dropping the ball though. I know that she's been starting to question Kel for quite some time now, but finding him covered in blood and filth sitting on a throne after untold weeks of chaos wasn't a massive tell that maybe he's got a little of his dad in him?

I think it's Locke who postulated that we were getting a taste of the real creation myth of Earwa in the Boatman's song and I absolutely agree. One of the strongest points of TGO was how it began to canonize the Hundred's participation in the world. I actually quite liked Psatma and her brief conversation with Kellhus as the voice of the Dread Mother was interesting. I have to say that I think it's also pretty incredible how many of the theories postulated on this site and Westeros in the years since TWLW's release have been proven correct. Kudos to everyone who anticipated the axolotl tanks and (I think Locke again) Kelmomas' affiliation with Ajokli.

Oh, and Emwama as hobbit slave race was brilliant, thank you Bakker for that gem.