I just finished The Poppy War series and...
I am left with more questions than when I started. (SPOILERS WARNING‼️)
What was Su Daji's reason to wake Riga in Mount Tianshan? We saw her scared and cowering, utterly helpless. We saw her coming in Rin's defense when Riga turned on her (which...why? Rin had served her purpose, wouldn't it be easier for Daji with her gone, the rebellious little Speerly?) The reason why Rin went with it then eventually regretted it was because she legitimately had no other choice. Was Daji expecting Nezha's troops to finish them all off? What the hell was her grand plan?
What the hell did the Trifecta test Hanelai with? How did Jiang betray Hanelai? By gaining information about true shamanic power and then killing her? Is that really what happened? Please tell me that didn't happen. Then does that mean the Trifecta WEREN'T wielding shamanic abilities before that? What the fuck is the timeline, man. Did the betrayal happen before they took over Nikan?
Are Rin and Altan fucking COUSINS? And is Hanelai Rin's mom? Was there ever any indication in the series that Hanelai was related to Tearza, or am I trippin
Was the Altan who constantly appeared after his death Rin's hallucination, his actual spirit, or the Phoenix in disguise? (Heavy confusion on the one memory that left a black imprint on Rin)
How the hell did Rin end up as a Nikan war orphan? How did she essentially escape being experimented on by Shiro? It wouldn't have been Jiang because he was immediately sealed by Daji when he found out about Speer, right?
What was Vaisra's end goal when he sacrificed Nezha and Mingzha? Did he know one would die while the other would get chosen as the Dragon's host body? Did he know which one? If he WAS willing to sacrifice his sons in the name of gaining shamanic power, why did it conflict Nezha so much to take advantage of it? If it wasn't for Rin forcing his hand he wouldn't come to terms with the Dragon's power within him, and he'd just be in pain all the time. Was it just that random of an experiment because Nezha was the second born son and could be sacrificed? Also, (more of a confirmation than anything), WAS NEZHA ACTUALLY IN SEVERE CHRONIC PAIN FOR NEARLY HIS WHOLE LIFE TO THE EXTENT THAT HE WAS SUICIDAL? And has he always been able to recover abnormally well from his injuries because of the Dragon?? (Why did I miss this tidbit of information until I got to TBG)
Additionally, why did the Dragon love Nezha so much? To the point of backing down when it was on the precipice of flooding a whole city? If it was just because of his beauty then shouldn't the Dragon just collect him like it does with its usual trophies? And why kill Mingzha? Was Nezha just THAT pretty and Mingzha lowkey ugly?
Was the history between the Red Emperor and Tearza purposely made vague? Someone please give me a rundown on what the Red Emperor threatened to do with Speer that made the Phoenix give Tearza the ultimatum that she ultimately refused. I know one reason was their story serves as yet another example that enforces "history moves in such vicious cycles" but srsly, did I miss sth?
Is Petra still alive? Or Kesegi? Or Lianhua? What other character did I miss whose death has been left ambiguous
And finally: what the hell was the entire point of the war between Nezha and Rin that costed thousands of lives if Rin eventually allowed Nezha to kill her and let the Hesperians in to Nikan? Maybe that was the whole point of the ending, that even after being defeated in a show of force, the colonizers could find another way to seep into a nation, by taking advantage of its lack of resources in the aftermath of warfare — Maybe I just really need someone to say it to my face, that the whole thing really was for nothing, because if Rin or Nezha were to both set aside her bruised egos and past betrayals and confide in each other, then the war between the South and North really WAS in fucking vain. And aren't all wars? And that's the point.
