“WE PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT ‘EVERYWHERE’ THROUGH A LITTLE MOOOORRR–” shouts Byron, as he falls into outer space, while Rachel materializes inside a wall, Bandit emerges miles underwater, E-Merl somehow emerges inside himself, and Gravedust becomes a ghostly omnipresence.

So it turns out that our records are inconsistent on who Hollinger was even supposed to be. I could swear he was the third young sky elf standing with Clair and Hollister in the original Asallah En-Qu’Lara scene, but maybe he was the guy speaking for the olds there who returned at the start of this chapter? I think Flo and I were sometimes on different pages on this: that’s the only way I can explain the tags. All the more reason not to focus on him, whoever he was.

For a little more about when it can be advisable to give characters similar or identical names, this piece from The Atlantic crossed my desk a little while ago.