History has a way of making itself known. In the same vein as the discoveries of the Rosetta Stone and the Epic of Gilgamesh, historians are always digging for information to understand how things used to be and how they have impacted us in the modern day. The incredible advancements in technology of the Muggle world during the 20th century, followed by the Great Unification of Magic and Muggle in the 21st, have led to such an exponential increase in our knowledge of the past that our older historians are always stunned. We are now able to combine magic and science in a way that would have been declared impossible in the 2050s. A mere half century has done miracles for humanity. We now know a lot more about everything- we have solved mysteries that had stumped us for millennia.
The Great Unification was a very tough battle but once it was accomplished, humanity has only kept advancing. There is no question of stopping anymore. Yet, I have never been particularly interested in the future. Yes, the evolution of man from just the Earth to the Solar System is amazing. Much of the population of my age, the youth, are focused on what’s next… but I. I have always wanted to understand how we are here. What came before us. As such, I dedicated my life to studying history. It is quite an unusual career, probably strengthened by the fact that I am at least three decades younger than all my colleagues. Despite all this, the dusty libraries where we find archaic books- books! In this day and age!! There are still a lot of data not uploaded in the Universal Servers. The first time I touched a book was the most surreal day of my life till then. I never could have known that much more surreal days were to come hurtling at me. These libraries have given my life a very different charm.
My mentor and close colleague, Dr Terry Boot, is pushing into his 130s and witnessed the entire Unification. He tells me how much the world has changed since the time he was my age. It is his stories that sparked this particular curiosity in me- what is it that exactly happened with His Imperial Majesty The Emperor and His Highness The Military General? His Imperial Majesty and His Highness, the Rulers of Humanity, have done much for their people. They unified all of us the previous century and have built this prosperous civilisation. Dr Boot is an intimate friend of His Highness, they went to Hogwarts together in their youth. It was a really surprising fact for me when I first learned it- in fact, the entire situation was surprising. Three years ago, Dr Boot and I were discussing some ancient Greek classics over tea one evening and suddenly the Floo flared open and there skipped in His Highness. The readers can understand my absolute bewilderment. I immediately went down to my knees for I had never even conceived of the notion that something like this would happen to me. Dr Boot merely laughed and ushered His Highness onto a free seat and it took a while for me to hear anything over my thundering heart. His Highness, despite my initial rudeness, was very kind to me and seemed slightly amused at my awe. Believe it or not, His Highness agreed to give me an autograph. I do not know what induced me to ask His Highness for it but I am glad to have it.
This meeting awoke an incredible curiosity in me. We, the people, are aware of His Imperial Majesty and His Highness as our protectors and our benevolent rulers. They are incredible to administer such a vast empire so effectively. Their immortality is also just, a known fact. Yet, when I saw Dr Boot and His Highness laughing and bickering like old friends and saw the disparity in their bodies- Dr Boot is very old and frail while His Highness looks younger than me even! It was the first time I realised what immortality really means. Our advancements in technology have led us to know more about history than ever before. We now know exactly how the people of the Indus Valley Civilisation lived and have even discovered the details of the personal lives of the Incan Kings. So why do we not have such intimate information on the greatest event in the history of humanity? Why do we not know exactly what happened inside the lives of our Rulers when they were waging the war that would lead to the Great Unification?
My curiosity was deemed unnecessary at first by my elder colleagues. They didn’t really think it was important and they considered it too recent to matter. Yet, I persisted. I wanted to know. How did all this actually happen? How did the Great Unification take place? We all know the major political moves but this part of our history feels very incomplete. After many pleas, Dr Boot finally decided to concede. He told me that he would ask His Highness directly and I hoped that my wishes would not be shut down. Thankfully, they were not. His Highness was actually extremely agreeable and it seemed as though he was even more excited than me to have everything be documented. His Highness placed a very high trust in me and even advocated for my cause to His Imperial Majesty.
I was granted my wish and I set about collecting documents and interviewing people who lived in those times and documented everything. These past three years have been an absolutely incredible journey. I have uncovered things that I never knew could have even existed. Turns out, the Great Unification is far more murky and far messier than I could have imagined. I am extremely grateful of the trust His Highness has put in me, allowing me access to so many documents and talking with me about everything so honestly.
This book is a compilation of my work, of documenting the history of the Great Unification. I have been led down a dark rabbit hole and have uncovered truths that astound me. In the spirit of the honest historian that I am, I have complied all the truths without any form of censorship whatsoever. I do not know if this book will be published in the form it is present now but it is my hope that it shall. With complete transparency and surrender, I copy this first draft three times. I am sending one to His Imperial Majesty, one to His Highness and one to The Great Enemy, wherever they are. A mere muggle that I am, I know I cannot do much but I have put in a great deal of work here and I cannot unsee what I have seen.
The only hope that sustains me is that His Highness, reading these accounts from the outside, may understand what has happened. The hope is small yet it still kindles my cold heart.
History has a way of making itself known. Hope springs eternal.
Richard de Vries Junior
Professor of Historical Investigations at Göttingen University Council Member of the Imperial Society of Historical Records Honorary Librarian at the Universal Collection of Physical Texts
Spoiler alert for those still reading!!! I mean it, I talk about almost all major plot things. If you are still reading, SCROLL AWAY!!!
alright, after about 5 days of non-stop reading I'm done. done. I was simply unable to put the book- or should I say PDF- down. Literally. I was so stuck up that my folks almost yeeted me for continuously reading. It was just so so so freaking interesting. I actually wanted to go slow and write short reviews and all but that went outta the window. Had to continue reading with the what's next, what's next
i really pity the people back in Dumas' time who had to wait long stretches of time for the next chapter. must have been as hard as waiting for comic updates- OH
well lemme just say that this book blew my mind. i ofc had a vague idea of what happens, this is a classic book after all but damn i hadnt expected so much, so fucking much, character drama. CHARACTER DRIVEN STORY MY GAWD I LOVE IT the characters are so so so so peak like by Saraswati these characters are all so well-written
Edmond Dantes (forgive me but i aint writing the French accents, add em in your head) with his hundred and seventeen disguises has gotta be one of the most complicated characters ever but with surprisingly simple motivations. normally these 1800s books have complicated characters whose motivations are also complicated but nuh-uh, not with our boy Dantes. It's revenge all the way baby. It does become complicated with his extremely convoluted plan but the man behind is still terribly simple. He does seem kinda arrogant in the middle of the revenge plot tho, talking about being the "righteous hand of God" (I am never going to be able to listen to "Hell's coming with me" without thinking of this story anymore) but at least his humanity is still alive. It's actually really sad when Edward de Villefort dies, we'll come back to this later. The scene where Mercedes (oh shit writing this without the accents makes me think of the car company, sorry Dumas) asks for Albert's life to be spared and just- argh. the dialogue of this scene!!! just so so brilliant. and when Mercedes calmly accepts Edmond going "guess ill die" it's just. i love it when authors subvert their own tropes within the same story. i haven't seen it done any better than here. just peak. ofc the whole time in the Chateau d'If is actually really really good. I know that summaries and reviews mostly tend to skip over this part since well, since it's really just a character development arc facilitating by the exposition and money dumping Abbe Faria but we gotta give this time some attention. Probably cause I was reading this part of the book right before an exam, it's completely etched into my mind. The utter utter despair that Edmond fell in and how he was on the verge of suicide before Abbe Faria magically appeared in his life and basically saved him. Faria really was an angel from heaven for Edmond and it's actually really heartwarming their whole relationship. The character and legacy of Faria is also just so realistic (apart from the immense wealth thing) it hurts. How he was declared mad and how everyone thought he was very harmless, when technically through his own immense willpower, hardwork and intelligence he was almost going to be free. But the brilliant thing is that, this old man- pronounced "harmless" by all around him- became the means of transforming the truly harmless Edmond into the vengeful, exceeding dangerous Count of Monte Cristo. If Faria had not arrived in Edmond's dungeon at the time he did, Edmond would 100% have starved himself to death and the people who profitted from his downfall would never have even cared. Only Mercedes would have mourned him, and that too only privately. Faria was the reason Edmond changed. He gave Edmond not just education and the means to escape but also knowledge. Even tho Faria explicitly did NOT want Edmond to kill anyone or to do any vengeance shenanigans, he had already helped Edmond identify his enemies and there was no way Edmond would let them go. I think this capacity for revenge was not created in prison, I think it already somewhat existed in the free Edmond too. Back in his normal life days, we already see that despite being extremely innocent and trusting Edmond is very very competent in his job as a sailor and he had already noticed that Danglars definitely meant ill, even if he could not directly say anything. Even if his life had continued as it were, with the nature of the French sailor in him, I dont think he would ever have let a blatant betrayal go unanswered. I mean, that is obvious right? Edmond was no churchman, to have sworn off violence. He was a sailor, almost a captain and there was no way, even in his normal life, that he would have tolerated betrayal. It's just that he was innocent, in the way inexperienced people are. He lacked experience is all. He could not fathom why he would be sent to jail in this way because his lack of experience, the fact that he had not been betrayed blatantly yet, meant that he could not SEE what was right before him.
Abbe Faria instantly understood. He was a man of the world and all experienced people can easily see through simple conspiracies. He was the one who brought out the capacity of vengeance that already existed since birth in Edmond, just the volume is terribly increased. In my opinion, even if the treasure never existed Edmond would still have seeked horrible revenge against his wrongdoers- it would just have to be different sort of revenge since he would be poor then. With the help of unlimited money, he was able to concoct a plan that totally ruined his enemies but money was merely the means to increase the level of revenge, it was never the only reason he was able to avenge himself at all. Edmond was a French sailor and in those times, no honourable French sailor would ever have let such an intimate betrayal go unpunished. In the case of poor Edmond, it would possibly have taken more time with more physical violence but since we get rich Edmond, we instead get the most delicious psychological horror alongside romances which range the scale from intense to really not subtle, high society scandal and drama and charming thieves and everything in between.
I adore how in this long story, threads that one never thought are connected are connected- the most blatant being how in the beginning of the story we meet charismatic, extreme Bonapartist Noirtier and are told he killed General Quesnel. We think that's a done deal since this is what induces Villefort to abandon Edmond. But no, this plot comes up hundreds of pages later when Villefort's daughter Valentine is engaged to our temporary POV character Franz d'Epinay and it turns out General Quesnel was Franz's father and Noirtier, despite being completely paralyzed, manages to reveal how he killed Quesnel to Franz to break off the engagement because Valentine is in love with someone else. My god, it's so so brilliant. I mean the way Im writing this you would think it's all linear but no. It's not. By the time this plot is brought up again you are like 95% sure to have forgotten that some General Quesnel even existed lmao. Gods i love this book. This is basically Chekhov's Assassination (actually an honourable duel but semantics)
I actually liked the character of Albert de Morcerf, he's literally the typical rich boy character and it somehow works without causing any cringe. His friendship with Edmond really feels real on his end and it's pretty sad when it all breaks down. Regardless, I think his best moment is when, after having given up all of his wealth he comes up with a budget plan for Mercedes going to Marseilles and damn. I know that is supposed to show how these two rich folk how come so down but it's actually so hilarious to me cause I make those types of budget lists all the time and seeing a "vicomte" do the same absolutely killed me lmao. I bet all the poor people reading this story in Dumas' time must also have felt pretty amused when the story's main rich papa's boy had to come down to this level lol. Also I think Albert's friend Beauchamp is a really good guy and i was impressed when he went himself to confirm the story of Fernand's betrayal in Yanina but then i felt a little less impressed when i realised that this was because Beauchamp didnt want to get killed by his friend. But then again i dont think an investigative journalist's extremely fast and accurate investigation should be put down just cause he was being threatened with his life by an old friend. actually you know what, i cant tell what would be "honourable" or at least the "right thing to do" in today's world in this situation. but then again who cares for today's world? i think in those times too it would have been proper for Beauchamp to actually double down and reveal everything (especially since his paper was in the opposition to the government as stated; tho i would think that ALL journalists and their papers would be against the government. i mean isnt that the whole reason for journalism? to poke at whatever the fuck the government does? oh well i suppose that would only be in an ideal world and we do need multiple perspectives after all) but then i think for the sake of self-preservation he did the best thing he could. he had to save his own life and keeping the secret does that very effectively even if his self-interest for the sake of his friend does compromise his journalistic integrity somewhat. oh well, it doesnt matter much, since Edmond just has another paper print the accusation against Fernand but i just wanted to talk about Beauchamp a bit lol
you will see that i like to talk about side characters much more than the main things, possibly cause people always focus on the really main stuff but ranting about smaller stuff is also really fun especially since this book is so well-written that you could pick an obscure thread and it would unravel into something really long and complicated and this is why classic books are just so awesome.
The random guy who was hired to play Major Cavalcanti, our charming Andrea aka Benedetto's father was like just such a random guy. We dont even know his real name and he literally just takes the money he was given, goes back home and begins gambling in his old place again it's hilarious. we dont even meet him properly more than one time lol. speaking of Benedetto, i cant believe blud was literally born pure evil. i mean i suppose not born pure evil. i mean Villefort's daughter Valentine is a perfectly normal girl but then again i suppose in those times it was more literarily accepted for a son to inherit the father's virtues and vices directly and then again Villefort's other son Edward is seen as a trouble maker but he is also extremely overindulged by his mother Heloise so- oh wait, wasnt Benedetto also indulged by his own foster mother? oh i see. so it's possibly a mixture of nature and nurture. maybe if Benedetto had had a more strict mother he wouldnt have become such a remorseless criminal. i mean Villefort as a character is not actually really bad, he is definitely a human who feels, i might say feels too much even tho it is explicitly stated that he is actually a real cold-hearted judge. what i mean is that- you know what? let's come back to Villefort later. we arent done finishing talking about Benedetto yet. I mean bro doesnt really do much- ok fine he kills his foster mother and Caderousse but in this story that is really quite minimal. I suppose I dont have to say it but the cool way in which he declares his father is just way too cool- i wish Edward had lived and come into contact with his elder half-brother. I'm sure the duo of Benedetto and Edward would have been absolutely charming, fitting for a swashbuckling novel with two charming thieves as protagonists lol. Well, let's do a seg-way. Remember how Benedetto is actually caught when he is trying to flee? Yes, he enters the room where Mademoiselle Eugenie Danglars is sleeping in the same bed with her "very close friend" Louise d'Armilly.
is this subtle? no. no it's not.
i mean bro, Eugenie literally disguises herself as a man and Louise even says smth like "now it looks as though you are taking me away" and Eugenie is like "any doubt". i mean brooooo. girl best friends dont go this far, those two are 100% dating and it's not even a question and i love that they get out and they definitely get their happy ending and they even have Edmond's silent blessing and this is so good yaaaay. this is one of the romances in the book and it's nice. really wholesome and the whole running away is not even difficult my gawd. it's so easy to run from Danglars' house- i mean he himself runs away so it's not like it was a problem. Another thins is how Danglars just tells everyone, i think he just tells that one guy who came to ask donation for the orphanage lol, that she couldnt bear the shame of Benedetto's antics and just went with her friend to become a nun. Danglars is totally aware that she aint returning and at least he's covering it up pretty nicely. His own running away is not so covered up tho lol (the part where he has to pay a million for one meal is peak burglary, i love it when the thief is creative like this lol. Edmond really meant to hammer home the death of his father into Danglars' head didnt he?). haha and now about Madame Danglars.
so just to be clear, Eugenie and Benedetto both share a mother in Madame Danglars soooooo they are half siblings and they were almost going to marry. sooooo that's smth. that's really smth and im glad Edmond never meant for that marriage to take place, im glad it never did. also using one guy, Benedetto, to ruin both Danglars' and Villefort's reputations is really a masterstroke. two birds with one stone.
well despite her numerous affairs, you cant help but feel bad for Madame Danglars in the end. not only is she coldly turned away by Debray, who does give her her cash but she was really seeking some emotional consoling and finds a cold man instead. like c'mon Debray. cant you see she doesnt just want the money!!! and then in Benedetto's trial she literally has to hear her long lost son go "i dont give a fuck about my mother". argh, who cares for dishonour? Villefort should have handed the child to Hermine and she should have run away to raise him or do some shenanigans to get Danglars or some other man to accept the baby come on!!!! reading classics only has one problem- the intense talks of honour and dishonour. but then again even in modern day it's not like reputation is still not an important part of our lives. argh. all this is just so unnecessary and that's what makes the tragedies cut so so deep
now, Edmond says that he deliberately waited to rescue Ali because he wanted a mute servant and that is idk what. like is this supposed to be a call-back to Athos from Three Musketeers, Monsieur Dumas? like what. why Edmond, why? you can just tell Ali not to speak im sure he wont mind. is it cause a mute servant is just unable to ever spread secrets? but idk about that. i suppose Ali's utter devotion to Edmond is more cemented cause Ali already got his tongue cut out and it's more like a Saviour saving when you're just waiting for them to chop off your head next? i suppose that would work. and again, Edmond's manner of dealing with his household is really really weird- i wouldnt really say abusive but just problematic. ofc him warning Baptistin to not go around talking is ok, that's normal stuff but then Edmond once tells someone that he technically owns Bertuccio's life? that is weird and same with Ali too. i think he calls both of them slaves and ofc that's not even talking about the whole thing with Haydee. Like no. THIS is utterly problematic. I know that Edmond does indeed tell Haydee that she can do whatever she wants and can talk all his wealth too but of course she only has eyes for him. We're told Edmond bought her when she was eleven and when we meet her she's i think, seventeen? at least she's around that age and it's not a good look. i mean, yes i know that 1800s had different standards and this is just how things were. i mean even Heloise is only 25 or smth while Villefort is way older than her. but still man. Edmond says that Haydee had only ever met her father and him as proper men (i suppose we are not counting Edmond's servants) but like why? Edmond declares her his slave pretty happily and only says that she's free now that she's in France? like why? you could have let her go anytime, i mean even if there is some slave branding on her (which we are never told but i would suppose it exists tho im not sure) Edmond says she is like his daughter and what father isolates their daughter??? i mean i simply cannot think that Edmond doesnt have some devious plan here. ofc he wants to use Haydee to ruin Fernand but you could totally avoid this Oedipus Complex situation by just raising her like a normal father. she would still want revenge and maybe she would have got together with a younger man. i mean by the lord Edmond is gonna die waaaaay before Haydee and poor gal is gonna be a rich widow after that argh. i dont know man. it does give Edmond a "happy ending" but it feels more like "call child services with time machine" ending so idk. Haydee definitely needs a therapist and Edmond needs a separate therapist and maybe poor Bertuccio too. actually ya know what? all the characters need therapists. really, none of these people are healthy. i think only Eugenie and Louise were the ones completely unaffected and living their best, even Valentine and Maximilian had to go through the "deepest despair"
also Nortier is like real MVP. i wanna see more of his Bonapartist shenanigans goddamnit. if he hadnt been an invalid then god help poor Villefort
speaking of Villefort, let's get back to him. Villefort is the one with, arguable, the most focus in the book and he's just such a real guy. he's ambitious and cowardly and hypocritical and he's a man. he just a normal man. he's not really sinister evil even tho his judge dealings really do feel like that. he's just really self-centered and will do anything to keep his positions. when he denies Bertuccio, it costs him and ofc denying Edmond costs him everything, down to his freaking sanity. but yes, him burying his still alive son is genuinely evil and like why. the portrayal of this man as not pure evil, despite committing evil acts is just... chef's kiss. i mean, even tho he was neglectful and Edmond rightly calls him out when he says that Villefort should be the one guarding his daughter day and night, he does love his family. it's very obvious. even tho he really only tried to save his father politically for his own self-interests at least he's better with his other family members. he respects his mother-in-law's last wishes and absolutely refuses to believe that his sweet daughter could do any harm to anyone. i think it was actually incredible self-denial that led him to delaying Heloise's justice. he really did love his second wife, even if he never expressed any blatant love and it is very real for him to avoid thinking that she could kill his family members. not just for the sake of dishonour but for one's own sanity too. it's not easy to reconcile smth like this afterall. and then he's so devastated at Valentine's "death" that he doesnt even mind Maximilian sprouting what would be nonsense in his mind and then ofc the double tragedy. when he thinks Heloise is his perfect wife for being as evil as him, she has already killed herself and taken her son with her. poor poor Edward. ofc he was a brat, but he was still a child and he really didnt deserve to be collateral to this revenge drama. Heloise's maternal love was really manic love and manic love can do the most horrifying things in the entire world.
i mean Edmond was almost ready to tell Villefort that Valentine was alive just to console him about Edward but well, too late for that. Villefort, who was the main reason Edmond suffered, also faced the worst punishment. slowly seeing everyone he loves die and then his mind snapped. literally began digging the ground looking for Benedetto's corpse as he had done years ago. poor guy went mad and it's not satisfying at all. at least it wasnt to me. it would have been very satisfying if Edward had lived but a child's death really marred everything. i mean ofc Edmond had a crisis, ofc he did. a child who was so completely innocent had just died and how many other innocents had perished in this whole debacle?
by the lord, this book really does showcase that revenge always spirals out of control. even tho Edmond later doesnt regret much and ends up letting Danglars live to attone for the collateral, it still doesnt feel very good. i mean come on. the ending is really bittersweet. it's good for some- like Maximilian and Valentine (tho she also has to grieve her mad father and dead brother and i hope she never learned that Benedetto was her brother) but sad for most. aaaa now i feel sad
oh well, that's just some ranting about the story. generic stuff. while reading i actually maintained a character list and it helped me check out the simple descriptions of the characters so i wasnt lost. im not sure but it might be helpful so im pasting it here. the descriptions are really spartan but some do contain spoilers so beware. also i didnt write any of Edmond's aliases cause it's pretty obvious they are aliases so yeah. you can ofc just edit this list or just make ur own
Edmond Dantes- competent sailor
Morrel- shipowner
Captain Leclere- dead
Danglars- doesn’t like Edmond, devious
Papa Dantes
Mercedes- Edmond’s lover, Fernard’s wife
Gaspard Caderousse- neighbour, has a conscience but a greater self-preservation
Fernand- Mercedes’ lover, emotional
Pere Pamphile- bartender (?)
Gerard de Villefort- royalist, apparently (bonapartist estranged father Noirtier); magistrate
Marquis and Marquise de Saint-Meran
Renee de Saint-Meran- Villefort’s lover
Comte de Salvieux- king’s chamberlain
Mademoiselle Hermine de Salvieux; Madame de Nargonne- Danglars’ wife, Benedetto’s mother
Noirtier- bonapartist, very sus
de Blacas: ignorant
Dandre: minister of police
Louis XVIII- complacent king
General Quesnel- assassinated, Franz’s father
Abbe Faria- has treasure and exposition
Jacopo- saved Dantes, good
Madeleine Radelle- “La Carconte”, Caderousse’s wife, prudent
De Boville- inspector of prisons
Cocles- Morrel’s staunt cashier
Emmanuel Herbault- Morrel’s assistant
Mademoiselle Julie- Morrel’s daughter, Herbault’s wife
Penelon- survived shipwreck, works for the Morrels
Captain Gaumard- captain of the Pharaoh
Maximilan Morrel- son of Morrel, soldier
Sinbad the Sailor- Arabian Nights reference lmao
Viscomte Albert de Morcerf- jests, Fernand and Mercedes’ son
Baron Franz d’Epinay- calm, observant
Pastrini- hotel owner in Rome
Luigi Vampa- bandit, loyal to Sinbad
Giovanni Bertuccio- Count’s steward, almost killed Villefort
Ali- Count’s servant, mute
Germain- Albert’s valet
Lucien Debray- private secretary to the interior minister, Madame Danglars’ lover
Beauchamp- journalist
Eugenie Danglars- engaged to Albert, self-sufficient, musical
Baron de Chateau-Renaud- background guy
Benedetto, Andrea Cavalcanti- Villefort’s bastard son, pure evil
Haydee- Count’s Greek slave
Baptistin- Count’s valet de chambre
Heloise de Villefort- second wife, interested in poisons
Edward de Villefort- Villefort’s legal son, spoiled child
Valentine de Villefort- Villefort’s daughter, Maximilan’s lover, engaged
to d’Epinay
Countess G---- - Byronic, thinks Count is vampire
Marquis Bartolomeo Cavalcanti- ummm… a very “legitimate” major
Barrois- Nortier’s wilful servant
D’Avrigny- Villefort’s doctor
Louise d’Armilly- Eugenie’s music teacher and intimate friend
dededos
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