Theory: The King to be Called is Ettore
Continuing my detailed re-read of Dark Rise, I came across this passage shortly after the Cup/Shadows reveal:
Justice’s eyes were dark. ‘They say that when the three kings drank, they lived a full life of power, and only became shadows after they died natural deaths. But the Blood of Stewards is not as strong as the Blood of Kings. We can only resist the Cup for so long. If an ordinary human were to drink, they would turn to shadow instantly. Even those with weaker Steward blood would turn too fast – a day, a week. That’s why only the strongest of us drink. The stronger your blood, the longer you last. But of course, you can’t know for sure.’
Now, I'd already been considering the possibility that Cyprian might be a king's descendant, since as far as I remember we don't know anything about his bio parents (Violet assumes they were Janissaries, but I don't think that's ever confirmed). However, Cyprian needed several minutes to get his shadow under control immediately after he drank from the Cup in Book 2.
Ettore, on the other hand, has been living a life of wild hedonism for who knows how long, and shows no signs of turning. I'd wondered in the past if this was meant to be a clue that the Stewards' ascetic lifestyle isn't as effective as they think at controlling shadows. But now I wonder if maybe this is a clue that Ettore has the blood of kings?
[I'm currently only partway through my re-read of Dark Heir, so it might be a bit early for me to post theories about a character that doesn't appear for several more chapters, where I'm likely to find the majority of clues about him and his role in the series. But I got excited and couldn't wait!]
So anyway, I know that Ettore gets shot at the end of book 2, but iirc it's not totally clear if Ettore died from that. If so, then I guess he won't be much help when the Stewards' darkest hour comes up 😕
Then again.... Dude seemed to really enjoy sowing those wild oats, so maybe the King to be Called in the Darkest Hour is one of Ettore's (probably numerous) children. [Put a pin in that.]
Still need convincing? I looked up the meaning of the name Ettore:
Ettore is an Italian name meaning "defender" or "holding fast". It is the Italian form of the Greek name Hector, a legendary Trojan hero from Homer's Iliad known for his courage, nobility, and devotion to his family and city. The name is associated with qualities like steadfastness, bravery, strength, and loyalty.
Homer's Iliad: The name's significance comes from Hector, the greatest Trojan warrior and son of King Priam, who is depicted as a noble and courageous defender of his city.
Italian Tradition: In Italy, the name is associated with these heroic attributes of loyalty, strength, **and leadership, passed down through generations.**
Okay, so there's a lot of good stuff there. We've got the son of a king, and the association with various heroic and noble/majestic attributes, and those attributes being passed down through generations. There's also the "devotion to family" part, but once again let's put a pin in that for now. Another interesting thing is the ancient Greece connection, which ties into my theory that one of the Four Kingdoms of the Old World was in or around Ancient Greece.
Ettore's last name, Fasciale, is where this gets a bit uncomfortable. It's an Italian surname stemming from the word "fascio" which means "bundle" or "group". It is also the root word for the Fasces. From Wikipedia:
A fasces ... is a bound bundle of wooden rods, often, but not always, including an axe (occasionally two axes) with its blade emerging. The fasces is an Italian symbol that had its origin in the Etruscan civilization and was passed on to ancient Rome, where it symbolized a Roman king's power to punish his subjects, and later, a magistrate's power and jurisdiction. The axe has its own separate and older origin. Initially associated with the labrys, the double-bitted axe originally from Crete, is one of the oldest symbols of Greek civilization. ... The fasces, as a bundle of rods with an axe, was a grouping of all the equipment needed to inflict corporal or capital punishment ... lictors [a.k.a. executioners], who carried the fasces and at times used the birch rods as punishment to enforce obedience with magisterial commands.
We're getting more connections to Ancient Greece and kings, and specifically the authority of a king to punish or execute. Unfortunately, as some of you probably already know, the fasces is better known as the symbol and namesake of the political ideology of fascism. Before 1914, the fasces as a symbol was more commonly utilized by left-wing movements and was associated with unions: the idea is that one stick alone can be easily broken, but a bundle of sticks together are much stronger. But, as they are wont to do, the fascists kind of ruined that. 😒
So uh, yeah, I'm not sure what to think of this. The story takes place about a hundred years before the fasces became associated with, well, fascism. So maybe Pacat is warning us that Ettore's kingship would not necessarily be a benevolent one, or maybe they're ignoring the last 200 years of IRL history for the sake of the book and telling us that Ettore's destiny is to unite the people.
Either way, if Ettore turns out to be descended from a king (bonus points if it's whichever kingdom was in/around present-day Greece), then someone owes me a beer.
