Cracking a Cold Open, 4x28
The Episode: A very packed day that is somehow not quite as packed as the first day of the Schemers' arc; nor the day where the Seekers fled the Schongarten on an eagle, landed in Gerwyn, stopped off in Castle Torch, stopped off again at the Shadowlight Waypoint, and ended in the desert of Eternal Night; nor even one of the days in the Soldiers' arc in which Wicander Halovar had to use money and ride carts. I will express this to the tune of "We Didn't Start The Fire."
Hal will do a fake cold read
Then "Fuck the Candescent Creed"
Where's Thjazi? who is Nullus? what's beyond the veil?
Wick is punched right in the eye
Cyd's not rock now! Hall of Mercy? Orchard plot's a fail.
Thjazi wouldn't raise a god
One Team Theater; One Team Mara; One Team Halovar
Shadia reforged the swords
Wicky gets his just rewards
New Captain of Arcane Marshals: Azune Nayar
Thimble rallies all the fae
Teor talks to Julien, Vaelus talks to Hannan
Iris gives the play green light
Ritual is starting up, TROUBLE FOR GAVZIDRA
Some of us heard the falcon
It was always crying once the gods were dying
Some of us heard the falcon
If the magpies tide well, we shall go to bird hell.
The Cold Open: King Gus offers Murray a job and she suggests he instead hire Demodus on her recommendation; Thimble updates Gus on the goings-on in Timmony; and Cyrus, the druid, offers Vaelus passage to the Mournvale.
So why the juxtaposition?
It's more place-setting - it picks up right where the last episode left off - so I'm going to focus on the three specific things that happen and expand them to cover the whole episode.
Thimble updating Gus is very straightfoward. We have a lot of people in a lot of different places, and we need updates. Cyd provides some more information about the Tachonis's plans in Houndsport; the updates on Knife & Palette and the paint as well as Thjazi's fate (and the updates from King Gus) are extremely relevant to how the collected group acts next as they prepare for war, in whatever form it takes.
Gus reaching out to Murray is a strategic act, but it is also an act of change, and an act that recognizes her expertise. A lot of this place-setting is figuring out whose skills are best served where. Who can be seen in public? Who can fight, and who can talk? What's everyone's skillset and what connections do they have that they can use?
And finally: The episode begins with a druid offering Vaelus passage to the Mournvale, and ends with her asking a druid to accompany her there. Vaelus is very much outside of a lot of these considerations, though she is an active and helpful participant. She is not a veteran of the the Rebellion, nor is she in any way connected to Dol-Makjar; she is even largely outside of the overall political structure of the Sundered Houses, far-reaching though they are. Except that a sister gave a Tachonis a sprig of holly. Except that she is also trying to find her way in a world after the gods are dead. Hal says that someone is trying to become their new masters in the absence of the gods, and Vaelus is finally taking her first steps towards letting go. She and Hannan, different as their lives have been, are going to have to share the world for a long time, whatever it looks like. It's a journey. It's a path. They are all just starting out.
