My analysis/interpretation/opinions on Sawyeh's not-death at the Veil. Be ye warned long post ahead.
Contains major spoilers for campaign 1 ep. 86/87, major character not-death, gore, canon-typical violence, Rem apologist (kinda) musings.
This is basically an analysis of Sawyeh’s not-death, and yes unnecessarily Rem focussed, but that should be expected by now. Relistening I’m just like…it’s very clear that what happened happened but I’m going to detail it all here anyway. I haven’t listened to those episodes in a long time and I thought it was more implied. And behold! supporting quotes!
Mila tells Sawyeh that "Rem wanted me to tell you that you have to leave or she’s going to kill you" and Sawyeh refuses. After Mila vanishes the minotaur at the bridge gives Sawyeh a key, and a few moments later she feels "a sudden sharp horrific pain in her chest" and falls unconscious.
The rest of the Maidens run into their cottage to find "blood everywhere, smeared along the walls and the floor, and lying in the centre is Sawyeh who has been expertly disembowelled, slashed to pieces”. Sawyeh regains consciousness thanks to Kara casting death ward on her before they left (honestly I would have chosen to pass out again rather than deal with that).
The immediate assumption is that Rem did this, because the whole hoard of the undead + dracolich was a distraction so Rem could burn the book of mazes and kill Sawyeh if needed, it’s also a massive statement and warning to the other Maidens a look what happened to her, stop this or it’ll happen to you too. BUT we then get this:
Something is very weird about this scene, all of this blood everywhere around this room, and you start to notice, looking on the floor, it seems to have made some sort of pattern. It looks like a maze. A maze has been made out of Sawyeh’s blood. Like someone has left you a key.
Looked like her chest cavity had been ripped open, so much so that pieces of her had spilled out onto the ground, and someone had painted a maze around her body on the ground.
They confirm there is no physical key on Sawyeh’s person or in the room.
And here are my thoughts with no finesse to them.
Why would Rem, who was trying to keep them away from mazes, make a maze for them, even if it was a statement, or warning, or even to mock them?
While I have no doubt that Rem is capable of eviscerating someone, it makes no sense for her to do it here because; there are quicker ways of killing someone and she’s probably trying to be quick, Mila is there and I’m 99.9% sure Rem wouldn’t disembowel someone in front of a seven year old she almost sees as her own child, and this doesn’t fit with how Rem has killed before.
Rem killed Kara and Baltana narratively ‘on screen’ (and I’ll be including Arafel in this too). Both Kara and Arafel died instantly with a very slim blade between their eyes. Baltana was killed in a single unspecified strike. Rem's general murder technique is a single quick precise attack because she's a rogue, and making a mess isn't really her style.
When Sawyeh tries to speak they find another wound "a very neat precise cut across her throat that certainly would have been a killing blow if not for the death ward" which is absolutely fits how Rem does murder. Further investigation reveals that the throat wound probably happened before the chest wound, leading to the assumption that there were two separate causes.
From the above I think the moment Mila vanished Rem cut Sawyeh's throat and the two of them left. Sawyeh then received the key and left the demiplane, her body being disembowelled and the maze painted in her blood. The blood maze gave her the ability to cast the maze spell.
I accidently posted this instead of saving as a draft and there is no conclusion, anyway. Defence against Rem having disembowelled Sawyeh ta-daaa!
There's a whole lot in these episodes I'd love to go into but don't have enough info, like what exactly was draining the pylons, Rem, the Avatar, or Valerius, and why? To what extent was Valerius involved cos he was totally involved? Where did the dracolich come from? The decision to trap Alistar in an antimagic orb instead of killing him?
