Part 2 of the book = new characters. 
It seems to me there is a contrast between the rather self-serving and self-interested realpolitik of Xerius (and Skauras), and the far more altruistic aims of Achamian and Inrau in the previous section.

We learn that human sacrifice is a thing - victims are burnt in the Cmiral when Calmemunis arrives in Momemn.  The Nansur at least also seem to be quite heavily into the reading of omens and astrology.  Fantasy Christendom this is not - despite the analogues to the Pope, the Bible and the Crusades and suggested in Part 1.  Clever and subtle world building - one of the great strengths of PON

Xerius seems a slightly pathetic figure.  He is addressed as 'god-of-men', and describes himself as "the face of one divine emperor" in order to try and claim the various provinces of Kian for himself.  He is of course not divine, and looks ludicrous given the existence of the Holy War, and religious element in Sumna which we have seen in Part 1.  No-one looks him in the eye and therefore he doesn't know any of them - quite sad.  His own mother very evidently prefers her grandson to her son.  His chief advisors show so little respect that they start bickering amongst themeselves in front of the Kianene envoy.  His imperial intelligence is shown to be lacking when Skauras reveals to him that Maithanet has enlisted the Scarlet Spires.

In this chapter he gets shitted on by what he says are his own birds.  We have of course seen a 'bird' at the end of Part 1, and we know from later in their series that the Consult are very deeply entrenched in the highest levels of the Nansurium.  There is nothing as yet to imply the presence of skin-spies.  Are the Nansur being manipulated, and by whom?  Skeaos and Cememketri seme to think that the Nansur own, or can posses the Holy War, which is an interesting pointer to later events, in both the delusions of the Ikurei and the fact that someone does indeed end up possessing the Holy War.

Xerius as a character, seems to reflect the status of his Empire quite nicely.  The Empire is far less important than its leaders might think, and is under the clear threat of being wiped out by its enemies north and south, with Maithanet as a further factor whose interests are not necessarily aligned with those of the Ikurei.

We learn of the Scylvendi as the People of War - some sort of unvanquishable horde, who will inevitably ride into town and cause havok.  The very fact that Xerius has sent an army north to fight them, seems doomed to failure in the eyes of both Istriya and Skauras.

We also get some reinforcement of what we start to learn in Part 1.  People are shit-scared of the Cishaurim.
And so Mallahet turns up. He is the number two Cishaurim, and it strongly implied that he would be number one if he were of the right ethnicity.  He is described as shockingly pale, and Xerius recollects that he is said have arms scarred like a Scylvendi. 
From various things we learn in subsequent chapters, this is essentially a big flashing sign telling us who Mallahet actually is, and as we know that Maithanet is 'pale as a Norsirai' and arrived from Kian himself, also gives some pointers as to what the new Shriah is all about.  However, as far as I can remember, Mallahet is barely mentioned after this chapter, and hence this clearly very powerful actor falls out of our minds - I know I didn't pick upon on who he was until the in-text reveal.

Closing point from Xerius "everything now hinged on his nephew far to the north".  Who is Conphas and what is he doing?

Quote from: ThoughtsOfThelli on May 04, 2018, 01:07:14 pm

Quote from: TheCulminatingApe on May 03, 2018, 08:04:15 pm

I genuinely have never picked up on this before.   Whatever he did find, he gave his life to prevent the Consult getting hold of it.

I think that the general consensus is that there was something he found and he's not just thinking of Maithanet likely not being what he seems. Unless I'm having a "Mandela effect" moment here like DoraVee did in the previous chapter...
He certainly did.

There isn't any direct implication that he found anything though...it certainly only seems, by what is said, that he arrives at the Temple and make no mention of having been anywhere else.

I think the "final revelation" is that Maithanet, at the very least, is not quite what he seems, which is devesating to Inrau because he had absolute faith in him.  The thing that the Mandate taught him, that he wishes he could forget, is doubt.  What confuses the scene, of course, is the building up on the possibility of Maithanet's Consult allegiance.  So, the scene is deliberately vague to build the idea that the Consult is behind it all.  That is only ratified by the end of the scene with Aurang attempting to interrogate him.  But, we know full well there is no Consult involvement, we know Inrau didn't really know anything more than what he learned from Akka.

Inrau dies to not expose what he knew about Akka.  That's why he repeats "any price" before jumping, earlier he says that what Akka did, in allowing him out of the Mandate was worth "any price."  Dying was his repayment to Akka, knowing that Aurang would get the information out of him somehow if he didn't.

That's a pretty good call.  And seems better than Inrau actually finding info about Maithanet.

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Inrau lowered his face, tried to grimace away his weeping. If only he could forget. If only . . .
The Shriah. But how could it be?

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Please! Let me forget this!

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If he could only have forgotten . . . forgotten what the Mandate had taught him. If he could've done that, then this last heartbreaking revelation would have been meaningless to him. If only Achamian had not come. The price was too high.

Okay, so this is where I am a little confused. I remember it being mentioned in earlier discussions that this points to Inrau having found something incriminating in Maithanet's apartments, right? (The first time I read this, it didn't even register.) I suppose it's not just the fact that Akka and Esmenet have pointed out to him that there is something suspicious going on with Maithanet.

I genuinely have never picked up on this before.   Whatever he did find, he gave his life to prevent the Consult getting hold of it.

BFK's ARC: TDTCB, Chapter Three
Then, the scene in the tavern with Achamian, Inrau and Sarcellus. TheCulminatingApe thinks that Sarcellus = Consult is strongly hinted here. The hints are very subtle:

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The man [Sarcellus] between them, his face slack with upper-caste arrogance, met Achamian's eyes and nodded.

and

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The white of his elaborate tunic seemed to shrug off every shadow, but for some reason, his face did not. [italics added]

and finally

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Sarcellus smiled, but his large brown eyes remained curiously dead.

Just enough to plant some unease.

I was actually thinking of the bit after Sarcellus beats Akka up, and then whispers to him - something like "how I've longed to do that, pig" - seems over the top for the common or garden meathead, and suggests there is more going on than just Sarcellus being a bully who randomly batters people for a laugh. 
But yes, the stuff about his face and eyes do point skin-spy-wards, given what we later find out

Quote from: MSJ on April 19, 2018, 03:01:32 pm

I do truly wonder how long Simas was a skin spy. My intuition tells me for years at least. But, I don't think he was when training Akka.

Perhaps he didnt start as Simas either. Hard to believe he could replace one of the Quorum on a first bet.

I don't think it has been Simas for so long, but maybe its been in the Mandate for decades. Maybe even as that peer/student Akka loved early on who later died...

Either the skin-spy has been Simas for some time, or it has been someone else in Atyersus that would have access to the whereabouts of Mandate agents/ informers.  It's very unlikely to have been another sorceror, because their absence when it switched to Simas would be a red flag.  I'm pretty sure we never get told anything about the organisation of the Mandate other than that the Quorum is a thing, but they must have servants, lackeys etc. 

Simas describes Akka as open and weak, whereas Akka can think of few places more heartless than Atyersus.  Early suggestions that Akka is gay, before further detail tells us about the nature of his relationship with Inrau.  We then learn that Akka might love a woman - 'were he a man, and not a sorceror and a spy'.  Inrau never ceases to see beauty and can forgive the blemishes in other men - Akka helps him escape to protect his innocent nature.  He doesn't want Inrau to be affected the way was when he became Mandati, and he knows how cruel/ ruthless/ manipulative his fellows are.

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“It comes to this,” Simas continued. “Achamian befriends the people he uses, Nautzera. If he knew his contacts might be hunted, he would hesitate. And perhaps more important, if he knew that Atyersus itself had been infiltrated, he might censor the information he gave us in order to protect his contacts. Remember that he lied, Nautzera, risked the Gnosis itself, to protect that treacherous student of his.”

"But", Nautzera interjected, "we all know that faith is no friend to reason.  The distinction between rational and irrational mean little when one speaks of The Thousand Temples"

"This man is more than simply shrewd.  Far More" "Maithanet is shrewd, a man of intellect"

"the "mandate"...was.. to learn, to live from the past, not live in it"

"Besides," Nautzera added, "if you refuse to go, you merely force us to send someone - how should I put it? - less sentimental"

"ignorance is a potent tool. "As is knowledge"

Contradictions between rationality and emotion are set out here.  There is an implication that faith or feeling can be manipulated by intelligence or cunning - both in the quotes about Maithanet, and in the way Akka is 'convinced' to go to Sumna. 

We also learn that Akka is an open, caring man, perhaps to some appearing soft, or lacking ruthlessness.  Seswatha's Heart is first mentioned here, but it seems that Akka has retained his own as well.

There are echoes of some of the themes set out in the Prologue, where Kellhus appears to experience emotion and irrational sensations for the first time, and also realises that he can manipulate the world using his superior knowledge and intellect.

But, at this point in the story, be a easy thing for a skin spy to suss ya out. Their unheard of.

Not necessarily.  Just because he's not aware of them doesn't mean they know what he is.

The rest of the chapter is somewhat unremarkable, aside the fortuitous timing of Akka's being recalled.  Although, in light of us knowing that there was a Skin-Spy in the Mandate, possibly even at this point, was this really a coincidence?  On first reading, my presumption is the Akka has a "narrow miss" with the Skin-Spy, but considering that already knew of him, knew his location and his identity, Akka was allowed to continue the whole time.  Akka being recalled and Geshrunni being killed is not a coincidence at all, or just some manipulation of "fate" but rather a direct Consult plan to use Akka to garner information.

However, I forgot about the skin-spy in the Mandate, in which case they would know what he was - and where. 

Wouldn't a skin-spy Geshrunni give access to the Scarlet Spires rather than to Akka?