#dark rise

[jhsjykwpdw]

where we started:

where we're at:

[thisistwicenow]

Damn you, Pacat. I've written 5,000 words on the Collar this week. I'm losing my goddamn mind.

[lady-tortilla-chip]

Oh also why tf did everybody fucking die bruh

[picturebird]

Questions I hope will be answered in Dark Rise book 3

(Warning: my questions are legion)

Please add any questions you have too!

1. Who are the basilisks and why can some of them control animals?

2. Who was rassalon?

3. Any chance Visander can take things down from an 11 to like a 4?

4. Why is rassalon referred to as the first lion by the stewards but the last true lion by Mrs. Duval?

5. Why did “Blood of the Pheonix” and “Blood of the Manticore” die out and only Blood of Lions continue to exist?

6. What happened to the king who refused to drink from the cup and his line of descendants?

7. What was in the box the dark guard was carrying before he was slain and the contents stolen? (The dark guard where the remnants armor came from)

8. What happens when the Stewards “Call for the King”?

9. Did Devon tell Sinclair Will’s true identity?

10. How did Redlan George know Eleanor Kempen?

11. Will we see the Dark king’s ally Idane again since he is supposedly going to be reborn?

12. Marcus overheard his captors talking about a vessel. “They say they will find the vessel. The vessel will birth the king.” Who/what is this?

13. What did Eleanor mean when she said she failed? What was she trying to do?

14. Will says Ekthalion wasn’t what actually killed Katherine. So what did? What caused her to die from the white death?

15. Why is magic connected to blood?

16. Why did the sun king and Anharion leave the queen behind with Visander?

17. How did the Elder Steward know Eleanor?

18. What happened to James’s mother? How did she die?

19. Since the lady and the dark king only supposedly spent a single night together who did Sarcean have children with?

20. What was the sun king having Sarcean do in secret?

21. Why did the sun king betray Sarcean and arrange his arrest?

22. Why have all the dark king’s descendants so far been male and the lady’s descendants have been female?

23. Why did Valdithar become so attached to Will after only one ride?

24. How did the Dark King actually die?

25. Why was the Lady supposedly the only one who could kill him?

26. Does Will have a father?

27. Why do all the magic objects connected to the light have depleted or waning power but the dark king’s objects still retain their power?

28. How did Sarcean get the collar on Anharion?

29. Why did Will love his mother so much when she treated him so horribly?

30. Who is Katherine and Elizabeth’s father?

31. How did Mrs. Duval know Violet’s mother?

32. What is Anharion’s real name?

33. What’s the Lady’s real name?

34. What’s the Sun king’s real name?

35. What vows did Anharion take that forbade him from watching Sarcean the way he did?

[lady-tortilla-chip]

Will Kempen is the wettest wet cat of a man and unfortunately I’m enthralled

[sarceanswife]

I recently read a discussion about the possibility that the Sun King was reborn, too. And so, there’s someone I’m wondering about as I reread Dark Rise.

James was born to the Stewards.

Will to the blood of the Lady.

Both to the enemy.

And if the Sun King was reborn, too? Would it also be to the enemy, like those two?

Sinclair is the blood of the Dark King, so we are told. But what do we know from Sarcean’s past? We know the Sun King had Sarcean do the dirty work for him; he utilised his powers. Sinclair, too, is using Sarcean’s powers for his own benefit.

Could he be the Sun King?

He, too, had James on his side. Like the Sun King had Anharion. Only to lose him to Will.

I don’t know. Is there something there? Maybe, maybe not.

[willswillpower]

Dark Rise - Chapter 3

Index

Violet! I'm so very fond of her; she's so earnest and brave and ready to take on everything head-on. Her friendship with Will is one of the highlights of the series for me.

And in a way it was, like a promise: Do well for Simon, please Simon, and this is what you will get.

Yeah, totally fucked is what you'll get. I've been listening to the Dark Heir audiobook these past couple of days, and was surprised to find that the brand is actually something fairly new -- the model for the brand was discovered only 8 years ago (as per Will's conversation with Kettering). It makes me wonder if this also coincides with Eleanor leaving London.

Watching, Violet swore to herself, I’ll be even younger.

OOF. Nice parallel with Cyprian there too (wait, I hope that's not foreshadowing for Violet deliberately getting the brand in book 3. Best case scenario, for Plot Reasons, she has to be connected to Will, and she does it because she trusts him as her friend. Worst case scenario, Sinclair does it. Or actually, Even Worse case scenario, her father does it. (Actually, does he have a brand... It never comes up, but probably?))

What also makes me sad though is that this is just one of the many ways Violet tries so desperately to fit in. We see what her life is like, rejected at home by Luisa, enduring racist insults on the docks and being chased away... and she seems to believe that becoming one of Simon's/Sinclair's people would put an end to all that, would finally give her a place where she truly belongs. It's like the Hand says at one point, that to Sinclair, your origin or gender or anything doesn't matter at all, as long as you can prove yourself. No wonder this appeals to her, no wonder she is so dedicated.

“I swear this oath to Simon,” said Tom, ritualistic words. “I am his loyal servant. I will obey and serve. Brand me.” 

Meanwhile Simon isn't even there. I mean, seriously, Tom is one of the most important people who could join him, and he doesn't even bother.

He’d tug one of her curls and say, “Violet, let’s go for a walk,” and take her out to a street vendor to buy her hot tea and a curranty roll, while inside his mother shouted at their father, Why do you have that girl living in this house? To humiliate me? To make me a laughingstock?

I really like Violet's relationship with Tom, she clearly means a lot to him too (more thoughts on Tom later, but for now I'll say I assume he doesn't know the truth.)

Lion? thought Violet, the strange word echoing in her, even as she realized they were talking about her brother.

God, it's so harrowing to see how deliberately ignorant Violet's father has kept her (and I assume Tom played along because he bought into the notion that "it's for her protection".)