Murray is not a Mag'nesson
Many people have been saying this, but I wanted to gather up all the evidence in one post. Let's review the tape, shall we?
In the episode 17 cold open, back in the year 46, a young Murray encounters some eccentric down on their luck academics in a bar and is immediately enchanted. She introduces herself as a Mag'nesson, a name the Penteveral wizards recognize as a family of gemstone merchants from the Sunset Mountains, and Murray offers to fund their venture using the Mag'nesson family jewels. All of this would seem to suggest that Murray is the daughter of a dwarven family that has gotten new money style rich by mining and selling gems from the Sunset Mountains.
I call bullshit. Murray is not a Mag'nesson, she got those gems by underhanded means, and she fenced them to fund the Penteveral.
First, let's turn our attention to Murray's cousin with her on the Hucklewend, Jasper. Now, in episodes 8 and 9, our soldiers encountered a middle-aged dwarf named Jasper who is leading a team of younger dwarves to build a new bridge in Sloak. I'm willing to bet dollars to donuts that this Jasper, who seems to be Murray's age, is her cousin. If they were both scions of a wealthy gemstone merchant family, why would Jasper be working on a bridge in Sloak?
Second, let's look at episode 2, when Dean Tallbarrel, 25 years after he first met Murray in that bar, is stepping down from his position. Murray says to him:
"I was just a shitty little squatter dwarf out in the gutters. You gave me a job. You gave me purpose."
Why would Murray lie about being a squatter dwarf from the gutters when she initially presented herself to Tallbarrel as a gem heiress? She's not lying now, she was lying back then. At some point in the intervening 25 years, Murray had a crisis of conscience and told Tallbarrel the truth, which is why she's speaking to him openly about it now.
There's more evidence that Murray is no daughter of privilege. In her conversation with Dean Kora in episode 19, Kora suggests that maybe Demodus didn't show up to teach his class because as a student from a marginalized background, the pressure got to be too much for him. Murray thinks, in response to that:
"This dumb bitch does not know what she's talking about. One, hangovers are expensive. He did not be able to afford a hangover."
Can you imagine a privileged person like Occtis or Wick thinking about something like this? Murray knows poverty.
In the same conversation, note Murray's reaction when Kora brings up Murray's supposed family background. Seriously, click the link, it goes to the right part of the YouTube video. Murray looks real uncomfortable talking about that. She doesn't want Kora to think about her background too hard, because it's fake.
I think there's another line of evidence from the latest episode, when Brennan is talking about Murray's past dealings with Pimley Morn the smuggler. "This is a guy that, I think, you guys did business 15 years ago when he was a lot more honest and you were a lot dirtier." Why was Murray a lot dirtier in the past than she is now? Well, back then, she was fencing jewels acquired by some kind of shady means. Now, the Penteveral doesn't need her fake Mag'nesson name or her jewels, so Murray no longer needs people like Pimley.
I'm fascinated by all of this, because Murray on the surface appears to be the most straightforward, most truthful, and least "scheme-y" of the Schemers. But the reality is, she's been scheming in this city for 25 years, she's been scamming and fencing, she's been lying about her identity. All of the Schemers have a complex relationship to the truth, including Murray.
discoholicmusic
areudirty
stormborns
gracieabrams
pixelskylines
