Quote from: themerchant on July 23, 2017, 09:47:21 pm

Is it weird I don't have anything to ask him?

I think once the series is finished i'll have loads.

I think this is an opportunity to get questions answered that Bakker expected people to be clear on at this point. There's got to be stuff that we are still fumbling around with that he's kicking himself for.

I often think there's nothing worth asking, but when I think on it I can usually come up with a few.

My thoughts exactly. In fact, a good question might be, "What are people confused about that you thought would be very clear by the end of TUC?"

I will gladly elaborate in the future but I think that TAE suffers this unwarranted readerly bias that it somehow needed to tell the whole story, where that same onus was not put upon PON - as Wilshire mentioned, Bakker certainly did a disservice by building up that bias across the past half-decade and more. As I've discussed with others privately a handful of times, there are fairly well-defined and contained narrative arcs in TAE and the individual volumes therein. In my opinion, to fixate on those things that aren't addressed (for instance, Mimara's journey to become a Prophetess - her arc across TAE - versus what she might do with that later) is misreading TAE as it stands alone.

But, as I said, lots of time to get into the minutia of my thoughts once I read TUC in tattooed, dead tree form.

I agree to some extent. However, PON had many, if not most, of its story arcs concluded in TTT. There were questions to be asked, surely, but the main conflict was resolved. That could have been the case for TAE, if not for all of the questions raised by the cliffhanger ending. Looking at Goodreads reviews, it seems that many people aren't even aware that there will be a third series.

This is why I'm hoping for no time jump, or a very small one.

Quote from: codebread on July 24, 2017, 06:15:03 pm

I'm going to toss an opposing idea in here: What if it actually jumps backwards a few days?

As mentioned here, Zeum is one of the most able to defend itself right now. However... it has a Ciphrang coming for it at the end of TGO. There's no way any chaos that results from this hasn't already happened by the time Resumption occurs. Plus, Bakker has said that Zeum will play a role at some point... I'd be interested in having the story continue from Zeum's point of view at the end of TGO, showing the Ciphrang arriving, the No-God being born, and continuing from there.

I just don't think a time jump could be useful unless the final series is about a small resistance after the rest of the world is destroyed. Plus there are too many loose ends at the end of TUC, as opposed to TTT which wrapped up the story arcs nicely. Moe Jr. is now in control of the Scylvendi. I suspect he'll rally them to fight the No-God (they might even have the Heron Spear). What happened to the rest of the main cast? Who knows! A time jump would be awkward, in my opinion, but who knows.

I wouldn't be surprised if it went like that, codebread.  At the very least, we'd need to get some flashbacks, right?

On the topic of the Ciphrang assassin, whether or not the Emperor is killed before Resumption is entirely up to how fast said Ciphrang can move.  I got the impression that it's only a matter of days between Kellhus sending the Ciphrang and Resumption.  And if the Ciphrang had to reach Domyot through mundane means, it would at least take months.  I wouldn't be surprised if the assassination happens a good bit after Resumption.

Hmmm... good point. I was thinking that Resumption was more than a few days, though not much longer than a week. I also imagined the Ciphrang would fly, but that was based purely on their summoned forms, which this is not. Perhaps this assassin is closer to a skin-spy, in a way.

Edit: Reading back, the section refers to her body being "blasted". Yeah, that convinces me that she is gone for good.

I took "blasted" as "blasted by sin / the Mark". I believe Akka is described this way several times when Mimara looks at him with the Eye as well. If this is the way it was meant to be read, I'm inclined to believe she's alive.

Quote from: Anaxophus on July 23, 2017, 06:20:35 pm

Where is this device referred to as the Sun Lance?  Maybe I missed it.  I only remember that they thought it was the Heron Spear but the colour of the laser beam was not the same as in the dreams (meaning it's not the Heron Spear but something similar).

Can't remember if it was in the text, but the glossary definitely mentions the Sun Lance (I'll edit this post later if I can place it).

It's the Sister of the Heron Spear. Aurang used it against Ishterebinth. (Glossary - Black Iron Seat)

Sorweel's development as a character was probably my favorite in this series, perhaps the entire 7-book saga so far, despite my initial distaste for him. I absolutely loved that the WLW was brought back in this way-- especially so suddenly that you simply think he's gone insane at first. It makes perfect sense... of course Yatwer would find a new Warrior to use as soon as she could. You just don't expect the WLW to be brought back after its defeat in TGO.

It may have been my favorite arc in the book, actually. Damn, it was good. That being said, I kind of hope that's where Sorweel's story ends. It was so fitting, I think, to have him finally become the assassin he thought he was and ascend to heaven (if that's what happened...).

Well for me as I said the Inchoroi and all the backstory up to the Fist Apocalypse
 was supercool, so this having the Dunyain “conquering” the Consult was quite a letdown. You have the fascination of a multi-millennial conspiracy crafted with great care along 5-6 books, and now these suckers of monks the overtake it in couple of years and a couple of chapters? It was a letdown for me, though I guess it sort of makes sense, it is just my personal taste. Reducing the dreadful Inchoroi and the fascinating Shauriatas/Shauriatis (can we decide his name by the way?) to puppets easily disposed of was a waste of great material I think.

I hate to say it, but I agree with you. The Dunyain being the ultimate bad guys was a big letdown for me. That, plus the ease with which the OG Consult was disposed of. I was really hoping to see a a huge payoff for all of this slow burn surrounding them, but just like Ishual it was destroyed before we had the chance to see it.

That being said, the Ajokli twist and the No-God's rebirth were awesome. I just wish it had been at the hands of Shauriatas and the Inchoroi. I suspect it won't matter as much in the grand scheme of things, but as a temporary finale it was disappointing in that regard.

I don't think Kellhus knew that Ajokli was going to subsume him - though, I am a clear minority on this point

I'm with you here. Just finished my first read today and after the shock wore off I re-read CH 19/20 again. I suspect Kellhus was actually intending to stop the Consult and save the world. Being so close to the Inverse Fire gave Ajokli enough strength to break whatever hold Kellhus had on him (Metadaimos, anyone?) similar to Kakiol and Iyokus.

The question becomes: Why was Ajokli involved at all in the first place? A few ideas...

1) Was Kellhus wearing the Trickster's head on his girdle as a way to prove to the gods that the Consult and No-God exist? If it really is Ajokli speaking the entire time in the Golden Room, it means he was calling himself the Inverse Prophet, which makes sense... a God sent into the world of the Living to report back to the Gods, "Yeah guys Mog-Pharau is a real thing". I don't think this is the case, however, since the Hundred are clearly hunting Ajokli.

2) Ajokli possessed Kellhus while he was staring into the Inverse Fire. I'm simply listing this one for the sake of writing down anything that comes to mind. I'm pretty certain this isn't the case, considering we see Kellhus using Ajokli's powers as he gets closer to the Ark (during the Last Whelming to float, for instance).

3) Kellhus was possessed when he ventured into The Outside, and Ajokli simply continued with Kellhus' plans in order to get to the Golden Room and obtain full power / take over the world.

4) Kellhus has been an evil bastard the entire time and worked with Ajokli willingly, knowing that getting him to the Golden Room would grant him god-status.


Gah, I don't know... there are so many things to consider! Why/how did Ajokli inhabit Cnaiur at the end? Why is it that Kellhus can see Kel, but Ajokli-Kellhus can't?

It's going to be a long wait for whatever comes next.

PS: This is a bit off-topic for the thread I think, but it's tangential... how did Kellhus know about the Mutilated "After Dagliash"? What's the connection there? Maybe it helps shine a light on the rest.

Doing a re-read of TTT right now and the three questions I have off the top of my head so far (that haven't been mentioned yet):

1) What's up with the halos on Kellhus' hands? Other characters have seen them, so it's not something Kellhus is imagining

2) What did Kellhus do when he hypnotized Akka in TTT and "spoke with Seswatha"? How did he know he could do it? It mentions that Kellhus "stared at a point between [akka and Kellhus]" before realizing it was Seswatha that was stopping Akka from yielding the Gnosis.

3) What's up with this "Head on a pole" thing from TGO?