Thanks for the entries, Arwen and Dovyn :) Both were very interesting, but for this round I'm gonna say Arwen's theory wins, great detail and highly plausible :P Your turn :)
Dreamweavers' Guildmistress
12 years ago
Thu May 17 2012, 09:04pm
Dreamweavers' Guildmistress
Dreamscape Artist
Thanks Fate :)
The Vlar-rei promised the Red Queen that they would aid Elspeth when she spoke Maruman's name. Twice she has called on them when in dire need. In The Red Queen she will call on them again: why?
(these are all alternative options sorry had caps lock on!)SHE WILL CALL ON THEM AGAIN BECAUSE SHE WILL NEED HELP GETTING TO THE RED QUEEN'S LAND CAUSE SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS TO THE WAY THEY ORIGINALLY SET OUT LIKE THEIR BOAT GETS MESSED UP OR ELSPETH DECIDES NOT TO RISK EVERYONE ELSE ON HER VOYAGE TO THE RED QUEEN'S LAND OR SOMEONE FALLS OVERBARD OR THE SHIP GETS WRECKED AND SHE NEEDS THE VLAR-REI TO HELP THEM GET SAFELY TO LAND OR ELSPETH GOES ON A SLAVING SHIP TO GET THEIR AND SHE CALLS ON THE VLAR-REI TO HELP HER GET ON BOARD OR SHE NEEDS THE VLAR-REI TO GUIDE THEM WERE THE SLAVE SHIPS GO SO TO FOLLOW THEIR TRAIL OR JUST TO GUIDE THEM.
Mystic Ward
12 years ago
Mystic Ward
Twentyfamilies Gypsy
The Vlar-rei promised the Red Queen that they would aid Elspeth when she spoke Maruman's name. Twice she has called on them when in dire need. In The Red Queen she will call on them again: why?
As Dragon will is made the new Queen of the Red Land, and the slaves revolt, there will be a number of ships trying to get away, some with slaves on board. The only way to save those slaves is to sink the ships and have the Vlar-rei come to help the slaves back to shore. Elspeth will need to call them as Dragon does not have the ability.
12 years ago
Sat Jun 30 2012, 02:59pm
The Vlar-rei promised the Red Queen that they would aid Elspeth when she spoke Maruman's name. Twice she has called on them when in dire need. In The Red Queen she will call on them again: why?
The Vlar-rei always seem to turn up mainly to help Elspeth get from A to B (as well as save her life). So, one can assume it'll be for transportation purposes, before any other reason (eg, ohrana).
At the very end of The Sending, we see that the expedition to the Redland has taken a turn for the worse; they have no fresh water, and the ship is beached - mast broken and sails in tatters. So the reason for Elspeth calling the Vlar-rei is clear, if she can do it from the Dreamtrails. To save them. To transport some, if not all of the survivors, to a port where they can gain alternate transportation or supplies to fix their ship, or at the very least to a fresh water source.
Dreamweavers' Guildmistress
12 years ago
Dreamweavers' Guildmistress
Dreamscape Artist
Thank you all for entering :) This round I'm going to go with Min's theory, because I definitely see Elspeth calling for aid for the expedition.
12 years ago
Sat May 26 2012, 09:26am
Oh - wow! Okay, thanks Arwen!
Theory...[act]ponders[/act] ...right. Let's try this:
Explain how and why the most important piece of information Maruman has ever told Elspeth is 100% wrong.
The funnier but more legitimate the better.
So. this theory clearly isn't inspiring anyone :P
Does anyone else want a go at coming up with something?
With the one you posted -
Explain how and why the most important piece of information Maruman has ever told Elspeth is 100% wrong.
What do you mean? Do you mean, we have to think of what Maruman has said then decided if it is false then explain our theory, or is there something I have missed... ?
Yeah, that's pretty much what I mean; think of things Maruman has said to Elspeth, pick one that you think is the most important piece of information, then prove that what he told her is incorrect (use your imagination).
It was supposed to be a fun one but I guess the point was missed of noone understood the question :-/
Ashlings' guildleader
11 years ago
Ashlings' guildleader
Dreamscape Artist
I understood it Min, and I thought it was a really good one, I just have exams and theorising generally takes me a while :-/
Dreamweavers' Guildmistress
11 years ago
Dreamweavers' Guildmistress
Dreamscape Artist
I understood it too and think its great, the hard part is just picking Maruman's most important piece of information. I'm working on something though :)
Ah okay - thanks guys - all good then? I had thought for a moment with a single post asking for confirmation that everyone was in the same boat.
Gilbert: SHIP!
Dreamweavers' Guildmistress
11 years ago
Sat Jun 30 2012, 03:01pm
Dreamweavers' Guildmistress
Dreamscape Artist
It was very hard to find something that Maruman said that wasn't at least partially true. I'd never really just how wise and amazing he was until I tried to find something false. So thanks Min for causing me to appreciate Maruman in a whole new way :)
Explain how and why the most important piece of information Maruman has ever told Elspeth is 100% wrong.
"Maruman/yelloweyes guards ElspethInnle." (p88, 2007 Ashling)
This was Maruman's explanation for why he curls his mind about Elspeth's. He repeats this piece of information over and over throughout the series, using different variations. Essentially there are two reasons Maruman will acknowledge if questioned as to why he hangs around Elspeth: the oldOnes said to, and he must protect Innle, the Seeker from beastlegend. But it is not true that he must protect Elspeth, because everyone has a choice, for as Swallow said "There is always a choice. But perhaps in some things, no choice is good" (p586, 2007 The Keeping Place). Also, Elspeth's mind shield is sufficiently strong enough to protect herself. Therefore, unless she is on or near the dreamtrails, Maruman's guarding is completely unnecessary. In this situation, Maruman's curling himself about Elspeth's mind is simply his way of showing his affection, all the while pretending to be 'protecting' her. Right from the start Elspeth believes that part of Maruman's devotion to her arises from the simple fact that she feeds him (p21, 2007 Obernewtyn). This is something he will never admit because doing so would be like admitting he is a tame cat, not a wild beast. One of the rare occasions he confesses, in a manner of speaking, his affection for Elspeth, was when they reunited on board The Cutter (p418, 2007 Ashling). Another occasion is in The Stone Key where he tells Elspeth that she shouldn't have left him, "You left Maruman/yelloweyes!" (p761). From almost childlike accusations about Elspeth's 'deserting' him it is obvious he is attached to her. Protecting Elspeth is not strictly necessary in the manner he does it: he chooses to use close contact to remain near her.
11 years ago
Fri Jun 29 2012, 07:17am
Thanks Arwen - Maruman's the best :D
So I guess you're up next? :D
I can't believe that was such a no-show challenge, I had thought its be taken as a joke/lighthearted challenge and people would be explaining why Maruman's 'Maruman does not loll' or 'All funaga are stupid' comments were a) the most important thing he'd ever said and b) wrong...he says a lot of wise things in the series but he also says a lot of stubborn cat things to Elspeth, if that makes sense...
Dreamweavers' Guildmistress
11 years ago
Sat Jun 30 2012, 03:30pm
Dreamweavers' Guildmistress
Dreamscape Artist
Thanks Min :)
In Ashling (p446, 2007) Elspeth's sees and hears the Red Queen (Dragon's mother) say "All the women in my family have it". What did she mean by 'it'?
11 years ago
Sun Jul 01 2012, 03:25pm
In Ashling (p446, 2007) Elspeth's sees and hears the Red Queen (Dragon's mother) say "All the women in my family have it". What did she mean by 'it'?
I remember reading that part and the first thought being the red hair. Dragon had it, her mother the previous Red Queen had it, and I think that it has been shown in either the TSK or The Dark Road that the first Red Queen also had that red hair. It is a very distinguishing feature to have lasted however many generations, and had definitely become iconic to the royal family, seen in the recognition on the face of the slave-trader whom saw Dragon in the marketplace in Ashling. It’s definitely the most obvious thing on first encounter. However, red hair is a recessive gene, and that leads to wonder whether all of the women could have possessed that gene for hundreds of years. And is it only the women? It seems unlikely that no men would have the gene. Perhaps there was some genetic mutation in that family line which gave the extraordinarily red-gold hair dominance over other genes, but only with females? It must be possible, if extremely unlikely. The Great White caused so many mutations, even a long time after it happened, and as we know from TDR, the first Red Queen would have been around a while after the Great White. This would make sense, especially considering the remark the Red Queen made, which if, taken to mean the hair, could have been a pointer towards her relation to Dragon, as that happened before Elspeth knew Dragon’s identity.
Then again however, it really does seem such an ambiguous remark, and I don’t think we can just say “she meant the hair†and get on with our day, considering how many ambiguous remarks and events turn out to (or seem to) be extremely important later on. Obviously the revelation about Dragon was important, but there were hints already placed, before and after, and it seems a trifle overkill (for IC anyway) to put that in just as a hint about Dragon’s lineage.
The next thing to strike me when I read TSK was the ability to beastspeak with animals under the water without physical contact. It is a very remarkable ability, and is likely hereditary as the first Red Queen is mentioned having it in TDR. However, I realised shortly after that that couldn’t be it, seeing as Dragon lacked the ability (as far as we know anyway), unless for some reason Dragon was the first not to have that ability through some genetic twist? Anyway, we have no proof of that, so that theory doesn’t have much weight in the end.
What she could have meant was Power with a capital P. Every member of the family from the first Red Queen onwards that we know of has possessed some form of Talent: empathy, coercing (and the vaguely labelled enthralling), beast-speaking, and the speciality of beast-speaking which allows them to communicate with underwater animals.
Another possibility is seemingly ridiculous compassion towards all, shown in dragon’s memory of her mother. It makes sense if you consider how long the family has been in control of the Red Land, and how the subjects seemed to adore and immortalise the Red Queen after the family was gone. Dragon did not seem to have that, though the memory might have just been subject to hindsight in which she saw the fault in her mother’s compassion.
All of these are possible, but the one I think most likely is the last. How else could a single line keep control of such a big place over hundreds, maybe even over a thousand years? It just makes sense to me, and through experience of reading the other obernewtyn books it is the most oblique and vague theory, and therefore probably the most likely reason for IC to place it in the books.
11 years ago
Sat Jul 07 2012, 10:27pm
In Ashling (p446, 2007) Elspeth's sees and hears the Red Queen (Dragon's mother) say "All the women in my family have it". What did she mean by 'it'?
The thing that the Red Qeens all have is a curse, saying that they will lose the two things they care about the most. If we think about it, the only three we know anything about are the first Red Queen, Dragon's mother, and Dragon herself. The first Red Queen lost both her her husband and the friend she thought of as a sister (Cassie). Dragon's mother lost her crown/country and her daughter; and Dragon lost her mother (inclding her memories of her) and Matthew.
Only by aiding the Seeker in her quest are they able to break the curse; hence why Dragon has completed her part of it so young.
Any men in the family are safe because they are not eligable to be a Red Queen.
11 years ago
Sun Aug 05 2012, 12:46pm
In Ashling (p446, 2007) Elspeth's sees and hears the Red Queen (Dragon's mother) say "All the women in my family have it". What did she mean by 'it'?
I always thought that the quote refered to their red hair--I feel kinda stupid now but honestly I still think it is that simple.
Dreamweavers' Guildmistress
11 years ago
Dreamweavers' Guildmistress
Dreamscape Artist
Sorry for the delay.
I'm going that say that Sionainn wins this round. I'm inclined to think that the line refers to their red hair, because it does make them stand out, as from what I remember in Ashling, Dragon's red hair was part of what made her 'strange' in the marketplace.
11 years ago
Sat Aug 04 2012, 12:48pm
(Ack, sorry guys, didn't realise this had been ended yet ~:| )
'I meant the shape is wrong for a sword,' Dameon said. 'You see? A real sword would be the same on both sides, but this side is shaped like a sword with grooves while the other is rounded' [The Sending, pg.704] So, what is the significance of the shape of the stone sword?
11 years ago
Thu Aug 30 2012, 01:31pm
'I meant the shape is wrong for a sword,' Dameon said. 'You see? A real sword would be the same on both sides, but this side is shaped like a sword with grooves while the other is rounded' [The Sending, pg.704] So, what is the significance of the shape of the stone sword?
I think that it is a key, not a sword. A key made of stone. It would fit with the name of the book that it first was given to Elspeth and the shape is right.
A key has grooves on one side and is rounded on the other.
'I meant the shape is wrong for a sword,' Dameon said. 'You see? A real sword would be the same on both sides, but this side is shaped like a sword with grooves while the other is rounded' [The Sending, pg.704] So, what is the significance of the shape of the stone sword?
I think that it would be a key but not in the conventional sense of keys like one that would open a door. I think it would a key as in maybe a code. In the Red Land when Elspeth ends up going to in the Red Queen, there will be something on a wall, something Cassy had carved in her time there that Elspeth would need that key to figure out. Maybe by putting the ‘blade’ into a groove in the carved wall with the grooves facing outward, and it spells something out, or something. The point is that the key/sword will be needed to decipher something carved by cassy in the Red Land.
Just confirming that this theory challenge will run up until the end of Moonfair (so, 31 October), in case anyone's wondering.