Annotated 50-13
FB: “I mean, your wife and best friend are RIGHT OVER THERE.”
We’ve got a few things to get to, here. In ascending order of importance:
Clair showing a little humor in the last frame as we set up the issue of Byron’s post. She’s still in mourning, but she’ll recover.
Amnesty for Pardo, who did a few good things and never meant anyone any harm. Ardaic’s a thornier issue.
Tying off what happened to Miyamoto after his escape from the capital. With his defeat, the last of the Altruists has been put to the sword.
Showing what kind of person Reynolds has become. He has 1000% learned his lesson from sitting around and “not causing trouble” when others slight gnomes. He won’t even hold back when it’s his old friend Syr’Nj doing the slighting…which, of course, she would never do on purpose. He will not overlook Ardaic’s role in his people’s suffering. His people certainly won’t. And yet…he has not lost his lovable side, nor has he lost his reason. He does realize there are a couple of qualifiers that separate Ardaic from the true Altruists, and he’s joyous as he turns his speech around into praise for Byron.
Still, there’s a force behind his “We will settle…” Translation: “This is the compromise we’re willing to agree to. Do not push us any further on this.” Having made his point, he can relax. He knows the new administration will take him at his word, because he’s also learned how to tell people who respect him apart from those who don’t.
Put to the sword? So by that implication Bedard was executed?
Pretty sure Bernard just sat there drinking tea writing headlines as everything went to hell in the most madman death style of the all.
Yeah, he could have been executed as soon as he was found, penning a headline about his demise just before it happened. Penk’s government is a republic, starting to bend toward democracy a little, but it’s not much for due process.
On the other hand, he could have lived a little longer. It mostly depends on who found him first. I could see Penk delaying his execution long enough for him to show a fascinated Kur’Ik how the printing press worked and explain the day-to-day operations of his job. Unlike Jarvis, who would never be persuaded to assist the “savages” in any way, Bedard would love his art enough to want to see it preserved. He’d still have to die, but in either scenario, his last few days would be relatively pleasant ones.
Then let’s hope they learn about the reason why due process exists before the whole republic/democracy-ish thing collapses again.
I hear you, but it’s still been only a few months since Penk got them past “Only good human is a dead human.” As the war was ending, the Altruists’ status was probably something like “wanted dead or alive.”
Yep. Jarvis too. Penk’s way was merciful because he refocused the Rebels’ anger from “Kill all humans” to “A people aren’t their rulers.” He’d even go as far as extending amnesty to some recent Heads of Houses who were victimized by those rulers, since, after all, that label includes Syr’Nj. But that always meant that those rulers would have to pay the final price for Gastonian sins. I don’t think anything else would satisfy his coalition…or him personally.
If only they’d known that Ardaic could have potentially ended the whole thing by simply arresting Taro for the murder of his family…
I think this hinges on a definition of “the whole thing” that no one in that room would agree with. Neither Taro–nor even Taro’s father–was behind the “Solates Purchase,” for just one example.
That wouldn’t have stopped HR, and it wouldn’t have stopped the “Altruists”, who created the reason for the whole war. It would actually have put the remaining altruists back int power, which means that Gastonia might have actually put up a more competent fight than it did, and people might have been less eager to embrace the new rule.
Or the altruists could have been knee-deep in infighting, and certainly not shooting hammernukes at point-blank range…
Hmm. The Cast page seems somewhat outdated
Gravedust’s “Mm” interests me. Is he politely scoofing at the idea of Ardaic and Pardo being “not as bad as their masters”? Is he slightly bemused by the collective restraint displayed by his fellow leaders?
Gravedust didn’t really get to know Pardo, but he is deffo no fan of Ardaic.
I always thought that Clair was being personally admiring of Byron’s presence, maybe with a bit of a crush, not alluding to Syr’Ng and Gravedust.
I wanted to remind myself who Pardo was, but Pardo, Bedard, and Taro don’t seem to have tags under those names.
Yeah, the FB jokes are just that…jokes, not to be taken too seriously. Despite her personal loss, Clair retains a lot of admiration for the heroes who ended up defining a lot of her life. As for nursing a crush, it’s not something that I thought of, but it sounds plausible. Like Penk, Clair is well-off, attractive, good-hearted, and more or less emotionally centered, so that I’m not too concerned about her long-term romantic prospects. Love is always a risk, but assuming she’s not ace/aro, she’s got as good a chance of finding a partner as anybody else.
Oh, and the tags you’re looking for are his-grace-pardo, mister-bedard, and taro-iwatani.
Had to look him up, too, and his tag is unfortunately not just “Pardo” but “His Grace Pardo”
http://guildedage.net/tag/his-grace-pardo/
An odd question: what would they have done with the lazy, racist, all-but-useless Admiral Annunziata if they manages to get their hands on him? He was the first one kicked out of the heads of houses, and it seems he that beyond his outspoken bigotry he didn’t actually *do* anything (though not by virtue of any actual… virtue).
Annunziata might be shielded by a sort of double jeopardy. He threatened a coup, escaped custody, and stole his ship to go sailing in retirement…but those were crimes against Gastonia, crimes that the new regime is not as inclined to punish. They certainly wouldn’t be fond of him, but he wasn’t a member of the Altruists and was arguably their first victim, so he’d get a pass…as long as he didn’t make any more trouble. Penk would not make the mistake of putting him in any authority over the Council’s navy. And if he tried to stir up some kind of human counterrevolution, his ambitions would die the same way Miyamoto’s did and more quickly.
I’ve gotten confused. Is all this happening before Gravy and the rest set off, or did he portal in for a meeting?
I think the implication is that everything that’s happening in this chapter that doesn’t include Gravedust in the Solates is a flashback of sorts, being depicted as he remembers it and writes it into his book. Gravedust writes “…And made some youths into elders, seemingly overnight,” and then describes how E-Merl and Frigg are now training the Defiantly Extended Finger. And then he describes the organization of the new, peaceful coalition.
It is a little unclear whether this part takes place before or after the pilgrimage scenes. It could be either. Councils like this one will continue to be part of Gravedust’s life for as long as he leads his people. Street elf portals have done a lot to make Penk’s government a more direct coalition: if not for them, Gravedust would have to do what Faereksch’Nj did and find someone he trusted to act as a stand-in.