#book!canon

[mrs-colin-bridgerton]

polin week, day three: IT’S POLIN DAY!!!!!!!!

i love this scene because it shows penelope’s innocence and colin’s spirit so clearly 💗

[crunadh]

Thoughts on Emhyr var Emreis and Peter Evertsen

Since I am firmly settled into the game canon of the witcher, I was today year's old when I learned of Peter Evertsen. And let me tell you that it changed my view of Emhyr var Emreis - although to which degree I cannot tell yet.

The Wiki says this about Peter Evertsen, as cited from Time of Contempt:

Evertsen, Peter, b. 1234, confidant of Emperor Emhyr Deithwen and one of the true authors of the Empire's might. The chief chamberlain of the army during the time of the Northern Wars (q.v.), from 1290 imperial treasurer of the crown. In the final period of Emhyr's rule, he was raised to the rank of coadjutor of the Empire. During the rule of Emperor Morvran Voor he was falsely accused of misappropriation of funds, found guilty, imprisoned and died in 1301 in Winneburg Castle. Postumously rehabilitated by Emperor Jan Calveit in 1328. Effenberg and Talbot, Encyclopaedia Maxima Mundi, Volume V

What struck me here the most was the first sentence:

"confidant of the Emperor Emhyr Deithwen and one of the true authors of the Empire's might."

Does this mean that Emhyr actually was acting out whatever Evertsen told him to? That Evertsen was kind of the "Grey Eminence of Nilfgaard"? Now this should be taken with a grain of salt of course, since the Encyclopaedia Maxima Mundi is considered Nilfgaardian propaganda. But why does a Nilfgaardian piece of propaganda take away the fame from Emhyr var Emreis and put it onto a simple chamberlain/treasurer?

I don't have the answer to that. But I'd like to have a look at the passages in Time of Contempt, where we can see Petersen acting as the chief chamberlain of the army:

First, he contemplates coldly the numbers of soldiers:

"The tactical company combines ten ordinary companies and numbers two thousand horse. Although the Winneburgians will probably not take part in any large battles now, no fewer than a sixth of their number will fali in skirmishes. Then there will be camps and bivouacs, rotten victuals, filth, lice, mosąuitoes, contaminated water. Then the inevitable will come: typhus, dysentery and malaria, which will kill no fewer than a ąuarter. To that you should include an estimate for unpredictable occurrences, usually around one-fifth of the total. Eight hundred will return home. No morę. And probably far fewer."

He's clearly lacking any empathy for the soldiers, handling their numbers as if he was counting grain.

Then, just before the fights in Aedirn and Rivia we have this:

"Evertsen pondered for a moment and wiped his forehead.

‘“War to the castles, peace to the yillages,” Coehoorn said to his commanders yesterday. You know that principle,’ he added at once. ‘You learned it in officer training. That principle applied until today; from tomorrow you’re to forget it. From tomorrow a different principle applies, which will now be the battle ery of the war we are waging. The battle ery and my orders run: War on everything alive. War on everything that can burn. You are to leave scorched earth behind you. From tomorrow, we take war beyond the linę we will withdraw behind after signing the treaty. We are withdrawing, but there is to be nothing but scorched earth beyond that linę. The kingdoms of Rivia and Aedirn are to be reduced to ashes! Remember Sodden! The time of revenge is with us!'"

What strikes me here is the sentence:

"The battle cry and my orders run..."

His orders. Not the Emperor's. It seems an innocent enough mistake. Barely an omission. No-one bats an eye at it. The Emperor's orders and Evertsen's seem interchangeable. It doesn't have to mean much, but it got me thinking. It's barely 5 years or so after the the battle of Cintra. Surely Evertsen had the same position and thus the ear and trust of the Emperor back then, too. But you know what Emhyr did just after the massacre of Cintra?

Henselt describes it in Blood of Elves:

"Because we broke their spine at Sodden. We broke them militarily, and above all we broke their morale. I don’t know whether it is true that Emhyr var Emreis was, at the time, against aggression on such a scale, that the attack on Cintra was the work of some party hostile to him – I take it that if they had defeated us, he would be applauding, and distributing privileges and endowments amongst them. But after Sodden it suddenly turns out he was against it, and that everything which occurred was due to his marshals’ insubordination. And heads fell. The scaffolds flowed with blood. These are certain facts, not rumors. Eight solemn executions, and many more modest ones. Several apparently natural yet mysterious deaths, a good many cases of people suddenly choosing to retire. I tell you, Emhyr fell into a rage and practically finished off his own commanders."

So, what I'm thinking now is: What if Emhyr var Emreis was indeed against violence on such a scale but Evertsen ordered it anyway? The soldiers wouldn't have questioned the orders. And later Evertsen put the blame on the commanders, causing Emhyr to finish them off and eliminating all the witnesses in the process.

So, was Emhyr forced to invade Cintra? Did he want to invade it but didn't endorse the killing? Was Evertsen the man behind it all? We will probably never know.

In any case, this has put the thought in my head that Emhyr in the books isn't per se the strong and cruel leader we see in the game but instead a man that is guided and led by at least two forces: Petersen (who he even later makes treasurer and coadjutor) and Vilgefortz (who even calls Emhyr his "tool" at some point).

I don't want to excuse Emhyr's actions. He does some despicable and vile deeds (even though I, as a writer am working on making these decisions a little bit understandable). But I'm forced to consider that, in the book canon, he isn't as much of a clearly painted villain as I thought he was made out to be. Instead he seems to be human, even prone to weakness at some points, sometimes a victim of his own emotions (a very bad thing for someone in his position), who in the end decides against doing the worst that he could do by letting Ciri go free.

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with all of this, especially considering that Petersen's influence over Emhyr seems to have grown over time with his rise in rank. If we look at Morvran Voorhis' reaction to Petersen after Emhyr's death, I think we can assume that he was not considered the best of influence.

[brendan-block]

Hey, quick question in regards to Secret Smile. In the series, it is heavily implied that Brendan may have set his parent's house on fire, since in his case "it is an accident" is the story yelling He did that! at the audience. Is that made clearer in the book?

@ineffableduality

The fire incident in the book is actually completely different from the one in the TV series.

When Miranda meets Brendan’s sister Susan, she learns that part of their old school (specifically one of the classrooms and half the school’s IT area) was burned to the ground back when they were teenagers. No one was ever caught and charged with the crime, but Miranda naturally assumes that Brendan did it to possibly get revenge on someone. She also learns from Susan that Brendan was actually a very smart kid in school and did really well with his lessons, but that he had a problem with people criticising him and telling him what to do. Susan then tells Miranda that Brendan was punished because “they didn’t like boys like him being clever” and that he would have continued to do well in school if they hadn’t done what they did to him. Miranda assumes that Brendan was punished via expulsion, but it’s never confirmed, and another character suggests Brendan was sexually abused as punishment (possibly by a teacher), but that also is never confirmed.

Also in the book it’s never clear what happened with Brendan’s parents. Brendan and Susan were raised by their mother and grandmother, but during the events of the story only the grandmother makes an appearance. Brendan’s mother and grandfather are mentioned solely from photos that the grandmother has, but they’re either dead or simply not in the others’ lives anymore. It’s not clear which. Nothing is ever said or mentioned about Brendan’s father.

[justjameka]

[crunadh]

Yesterday evening I started "Eternal Flame" in "Sword of Destiny" and somehow it really bothers me how casually it is mentioned that Yennefer threw glasses of preserve at Geralt while they were together. Reading through "The Last Wish" and "Sword of Destiny" her behaviour seems kind of abusive to me. Maybe it'll improve throughout the series, but so far I don't like her at all.

[brendan-block]

BOOK!CANON: BRENDAN’S OLD FRIENDS

Jeff Locke, Leon Hardy, Craig McGreevy, Tom Lanham

Jeff: Met Brendan through mutual friend Leon Hardy. Brendan lived with Jeff for a short time. Jeff remembers Brendan mainly for his nasty behaviour and strange preferences in pizza flavours. Jeff was at the skating rink when Brendan and Miranda met but refused to warn her about him.

Leon: Insists to Miranda that he didn’t know Brendan well at all, but that their mutual friend Craig McGreevy was better acquainted. When Miranda first mentions Brendan to by him name, Leon’s immediate response was “Oh. Him.” Like he knew more than he wanted to tell her.

Craig: Brendan’s old boss. Brendan used to work for Craig as a location scouter for his film company.

Tom: Got a flat with Brendan two years prior to Brendan meeting Miranda. Were meant to split costs (mortgage, heating, phone, etc) but Brendan never paid his half of things. Brendan was working for Craig at the time and eventually went off to work on a film, from which he never came back. He moved out without notice and never paid Tom what he owed or came back to collect his things.

[brendan-block]

All these years I thought Brendan’s grandmother was nameless in the book and so I just headcanon named her Nancy for my roleplay. It’s in all my notes, everything.

I’m currently re-reading the book for the first time in a very long time and it actually mentions her name. Once. During the trials at the end of the book.

It’s VICTORIA.