It definitely seems like a Kellhus thing to do - letting the abuse continue and not doing anything about it until it became inconvenient for him. Maybe thinking that one or the other would break in a useful way, or kill the other and be done with it. Since neither happened, or since it was clear Theli could be useful and Inrilatas (btw Inri-latas ... Inri Sejenus ...) would not grow out of his madness.
As Moenghus Jr. was a dog for the other siblings to sharpen their claws on, Theli was the sacrificial lamb for the alter of Inrilatas. He had such promise, and another strong son would have been very desierable. Alas, not to be.
Very much so. I can see what Kellhus' reasoning would be for this, but the whole thing just evokes such a raw emotional response and makes me dislike him even more.
Maybe because, as I said in the Quorum, this is something that could and absolutely does happen in real life. Take away the Dûnyain context and all that, and you have a child/young teen being sexually abused by her brother, and their father knowing but not doing anything about it (and likely actively making sure the children's mother does not learn about it). It's just an awful situation that can get to you in a way all the rape and torture involving the Inchoroi, for instance, can't, because it's so much more
real...
Yes, presumably Kellhus just figured at some point that Inrilatas was never going to be a useful half-Dûnyain, shrugged, and salvaged what broken pieces he could by making Thelli Imperial Adviser, since she could still be somewhat useful that way. I know that is sort of speculative on my part, but the timing
can fit if you look at it in detail, so it's not out of the realm of possibility. And I'm not saying that was the
only reason he made her Imperial Adviser, the first reason for that was her intellect and memory, sure. But there could be a "two birds with one stone" situation here.
Kellhus did seem to be very eager to have some balanced and useful half-Dûnyain
sons, didn't he...and then he ended up with only one of those, plus a broken one and two others who also had plenty of issues, but would be too young to be of use to his plans anyway, even if they had been well-adjusted. The joke's on him, I guess?
On Inrilatas' name: we most likely have a case of an ironic name here, since Inrilatas is all about embracing his depravity as a way of reaching divinity. Nevertheless, I'd like to know what the actual
meaning of his name is. I'm assuming it's something along the lines of "____ of Inri". Out of curiosity, do we see the "-latas" particle on any other name in the series (or some similar particle, anyway)?
Yeah, that's brutal, but very much in character for Kellhus. Theli was smart, but as a female and not one of the Few (plus with her... issues) she was of limited utility to him. I could easily see him letting all sorts of abuse occur if he thought it could lead to Inrilatas, with his vast potential, becoming a useful tool. Sometimes you have to break a tool to craft an even more useful tool. The Shortest Path.
Exactly. Just look at the difference in treatment between Thelli and Kellhus' clear favourite, Serwa. A daughter
can be useful for him...if she happens to be of the Few. Honestly, I have a hard time believing Serwa would have been treated the same way she is in canon if she had had the exact same personality but hadn't been of the Few.
We can definitely draw a comparison between Thelli and the Whale Mothers here, despite the differences between them. The Shortest Path, as you said, they all have their one purpose - the Whale Mothers give birth to the new generations of Dûnyain, Thelli is used as an adviser to help guide Esmenet's decisions.