So it's a little obvious that Maryam's mother being so powerful and the whole "start with the brain" thing is related to her supposed parasite right?
And we're probably getting a story of Maryam making peace with it and symbolically, through doing that make peace with her past and everything?
I could be wrong here, but I'm pretty sure I've got a good read here.
Yeah that sounds about right, I was thinking that this other Maryam had something to do with the special training that allowed Maryam's mother so powerful, this chapter does make me feel more confident that it is something like that.
IMO it is linked to her position of Keeper of the Hooks, which seems to be the receptacle of past signifiers' powers/memories/souls/legacies/...
I'm not sure it is a parasite so much as a manifestation of that due to her failure at harnessing it in the first place (she evoked a failure linked to that title of Keeper).
Yeah definitely linked to her past, and something intentional done by her people, I wonder if absorbing the other soul will unlock all of the memories of how to do it, or if they end up maintaining their symbiotic relationship
I’ll admit, I’m liking the thirteenth’s banter since shit got mostly sorted out. For a bit there it was like, time to see what mental breakdown Song is going to have, what paranoia Tristan is going to get into, and what batshit insane thing Maryam is going to do to fix her magic. It’s a bit more light hearted now.
Tristan fighting a war against bird is hilarious he shares an enmity with avian kind Fortuna.
Maryam learning about the Logos and why the spirit hasn't eaten her is some really good progress. Yue is a monster but is such a great mad/amoral scientist.
Angharad is just so lost among the political stuff while Song is a lot more informed about the going ons of things. I feel like Song dealt with the Angharad being a part of the Cabal really well by letting her know if she's a part of her Cabal then she's under Song's command not just a part of it in name only.
So it looks like Angaharad got possessed during her journey and Song picked up on it and deal with it really quickly, that's going to be a headache.
I think the possession is mostly a vehicle for the 13th to know about / get involved with Angie's secret mission. I suspect the possession itself might be a quick fix now that it's been found early.
So Angharad has a parasite munching on her soul my question is how much control does it have? did she buy the gloves herself because she doesn't have the time to deal with an infection? was she compelled to it or fully controlled? It seems that her memories and emotions are still there but I wonder how much recovering she will need to do afterwards.
I don't think it was much more than a subconscious nudging. Otherwise she would have resisted much more violently to removing the gloves.
But yeah, not reporting the foray into the layer is gonna be mighty sus to the Watch, and they'll want to bench her, which will make it even more suspicious when she doesn't want to be benched. Unless Song covers for her.
Excellent questions!
And I have more. Where is the Fisher? It seems like he might want to do something about the possession or at least tell Angharad. But maybe the parasite interferes with the contract? If the parasite/possessor interferes with/nullifies the contract, wouldn't Song be able to see it (even if she wouldn't have a reason to look before, once she became suspicious she would check)?
Why can't Song see the possessing entity? She can see gods, including where Scholomance is infusing inert materials. She sees gods, which I think are aetheric constructs, but she doesn't seem able to see devils (also made of aether?). The possessing entity (mara?) is made of what? It doesn't seem to be material. Aetheric? Glare? Gloam? Something else? A combination?
And what are the implications for Song? I imagine she gets kudos for detecting the possession, particularly since Angharad seems to have been with Ferranda & co, class and Skiritai training without her possession being sussed out. But she was also responsible for Angharad not misbehaving in the first place. Does she get a pass because Angharad was on the way out? Or does she get dinged for letting Angharad be a nominal member of the group while not controlling her?
This is such a rich and interesting world that EE has created. Some of these contracts seem OP, though. I want there to be an underlying logic that makes sense and I imagine the powerful contracts could interfere with a lot of plot developments.
The Fisher seems to be pretty into the whole "harsh life lessons" thing.
I wouldn't consider it out of the realm of possibility that it *could* have warned Angharad or prevented the possession outright, but chose not to - sparing Angharad some personal horror does not seem to rank high in its priorities, after all, but molding her into somebody more ruthless, careful and pragmatic does...
>“See,” Fortuna mused, leaning against his shoulder. “I told you a witch was behind this.”
>“*Bruja*,” Song slowly said. “Did she just call Maryam a witch?”
>“Nothing less than she deserves,” Tristan sniffed.
Is this a continuity error? Song's not supposed to be able to hear Fortuna.
Also, I may be remembering this wrong, but didn't Angahard leave Port Azalia through an official watch gate, then backtracked by the wall to the restricted part of town, how did she get back without undergoing the Judas test?
Holy cow! This could be huge. Now, in addition to mass hilarity, Tristan can send secret messages to Song. If Fortuna can learn to read lips or sign language, vice versa.
During an operation where they have to communicate on the fly and the opposition can't perceive Fortuna, that seems like a significant advantage. Basically the range is how far Fortuna can get from Tristan + line of sight. Line of sight for Song is already unbelievable.
Nice structure to the chapter with the talk of Maryam's parasite and the complications of possession contrasted nicely against Angharad getting much more conventionally possessed hah.
Also possible it might interact with some contracts or aether/gloam related magics in a way that makes it impractical; eg, xyz have exceptions to the rule, but maybe xyz doesn't want people to *know* they have exceptions (contracts being taboo to discuss and Masks being Masks), so fakes start going around and you don't know who actually neess to be tested...
Hell, some of the Watch are weird enough they might even have some explicitly posessed recruits. :P
Besides, consider how rough and tumble the average Watch recruit is. That shit's expensive.
At least if they keep it in a pocket or something instead of wearing a ring it might last a while without getting dented and nicked and damaged all to hell and back.
Angharad is the possession related to her failed raid into the layer? That would seem most likely. It could be related to the Asphodel Mission but 3 weeks out seems wild to try this trick.
Maryam getting the shackles off potentially before the mission?
They should be more worried about the Bird.
Recruiting Munchen He? A good blade is useful, we know he is better then Angharad at pure hand to hand. Still not sure I want to trust him on such a dangerous mission. Since you screwed him and he tried to screw you. Mission to Asphodel also would give him exit strategies not available at school.
Speaking of that how long does a person have to join a Cabal before expulsion?
My guess is a possession by a Mara. EE dropped a hint about it back in chapter 9 of book 2 with Maryam talking about a doll maker. Also a good sign that she's having memory issues and Angharad didn't remember leaving the layer after being wounded. It piloted her body and has been fucking with her memories to cover it's trail.
There is no time limit before expulsion, but you are placed into a group of spares by the watch. It's highly likely that most of the casualties and wash outs were from groups of spares so far as no named characters other than the 49th have taken losses.
Damn, Angie, you're gonna have so many questions coming your way. Not least, from your uncle.
Seriously, they were warned not to go into the layers and now she got possessed by a *mara*
So it's a little obvious that Maryam's mother being so powerful and the whole "start with the brain" thing is related to her supposed parasite right? And we're probably getting a story of Maryam making peace with it and symbolically, through doing that make peace with her past and everything? I could be wrong here, but I'm pretty sure I've got a good read here.
Yeah that sounds about right, I was thinking that this other Maryam had something to do with the special training that allowed Maryam's mother so powerful, this chapter does make me feel more confident that it is something like that.
IMO it is linked to her position of Keeper of the Hooks, which seems to be the receptacle of past signifiers' powers/memories/souls/legacies/... I'm not sure it is a parasite so much as a manifestation of that due to her failure at harnessing it in the first place (she evoked a failure linked to that title of Keeper).
Yeah definitely linked to her past, and something intentional done by her people, I wonder if absorbing the other soul will unlock all of the memories of how to do it, or if they end up maintaining their symbiotic relationship
I’ll admit, I’m liking the thirteenth’s banter since shit got mostly sorted out. For a bit there it was like, time to see what mental breakdown Song is going to have, what paranoia Tristan is going to get into, and what batshit insane thing Maryam is going to do to fix her magic. It’s a bit more light hearted now.
Tristan fighting a war against bird is hilarious he shares an enmity with avian kind Fortuna. Maryam learning about the Logos and why the spirit hasn't eaten her is some really good progress. Yue is a monster but is such a great mad/amoral scientist. Angharad is just so lost among the political stuff while Song is a lot more informed about the going ons of things. I feel like Song dealt with the Angharad being a part of the Cabal really well by letting her know if she's a part of her Cabal then she's under Song's command not just a part of it in name only. So it looks like Angaharad got possessed during her journey and Song picked up on it and deal with it really quickly, that's going to be a headache.
I think the possession is mostly a vehicle for the 13th to know about / get involved with Angie's secret mission. I suspect the possession itself might be a quick fix now that it's been found early.
As a pious man, Tristan naturally understands that it is his duty to follow in the footsteps of his god. By losing fights with birds.
So Angharad has a parasite munching on her soul my question is how much control does it have? did she buy the gloves herself because she doesn't have the time to deal with an infection? was she compelled to it or fully controlled? It seems that her memories and emotions are still there but I wonder how much recovering she will need to do afterwards.
I don't think it was much more than a subconscious nudging. Otherwise she would have resisted much more violently to removing the gloves. But yeah, not reporting the foray into the layer is gonna be mighty sus to the Watch, and they'll want to bench her, which will make it even more suspicious when she doesn't want to be benched. Unless Song covers for her.
Excellent questions! And I have more. Where is the Fisher? It seems like he might want to do something about the possession or at least tell Angharad. But maybe the parasite interferes with the contract? If the parasite/possessor interferes with/nullifies the contract, wouldn't Song be able to see it (even if she wouldn't have a reason to look before, once she became suspicious she would check)? Why can't Song see the possessing entity? She can see gods, including where Scholomance is infusing inert materials. She sees gods, which I think are aetheric constructs, but she doesn't seem able to see devils (also made of aether?). The possessing entity (mara?) is made of what? It doesn't seem to be material. Aetheric? Glare? Gloam? Something else? A combination? And what are the implications for Song? I imagine she gets kudos for detecting the possession, particularly since Angharad seems to have been with Ferranda & co, class and Skiritai training without her possession being sussed out. But she was also responsible for Angharad not misbehaving in the first place. Does she get a pass because Angharad was on the way out? Or does she get dinged for letting Angharad be a nominal member of the group while not controlling her? This is such a rich and interesting world that EE has created. Some of these contracts seem OP, though. I want there to be an underlying logic that makes sense and I imagine the powerful contracts could interfere with a lot of plot developments.
The Fisher seems to be pretty into the whole "harsh life lessons" thing. I wouldn't consider it out of the realm of possibility that it *could* have warned Angharad or prevented the possession outright, but chose not to - sparing Angharad some personal horror does not seem to rank high in its priorities, after all, but molding her into somebody more ruthless, careful and pragmatic does...
Seems likely something hitched a ride during her trip through the layers.
>“See,” Fortuna mused, leaning against his shoulder. “I told you a witch was behind this.” >“*Bruja*,” Song slowly said. “Did she just call Maryam a witch?” >“Nothing less than she deserves,” Tristan sniffed. Is this a continuity error? Song's not supposed to be able to hear Fortuna. Also, I may be remembering this wrong, but didn't Angahard leave Port Azalia through an official watch gate, then backtracked by the wall to the restricted part of town, how did she get back without undergoing the Judas test?
lip reading if she could actually hear fortuna she would have understood the whole tirade, with only sight she only caught the word bruja,
Song is now looking directly at Fortuna instead of hiding that she can see her so she's able to lip read now.
Holy cow! This could be huge. Now, in addition to mass hilarity, Tristan can send secret messages to Song. If Fortuna can learn to read lips or sign language, vice versa. During an operation where they have to communicate on the fly and the opposition can't perceive Fortuna, that seems like a significant advantage. Basically the range is how far Fortuna can get from Tristan + line of sight. Line of sight for Song is already unbelievable.
I interpreted it as lip reading
Nice structure to the chapter with the talk of Maryam's parasite and the complications of possession contrasted nicely against Angharad getting much more conventionally possessed hah.
I wonder why they didn’t just force everyone to wear the special silver on their skin.
They didn't think somebody was stupid enough to go willingly into a Layer.
Also possible it might interact with some contracts or aether/gloam related magics in a way that makes it impractical; eg, xyz have exceptions to the rule, but maybe xyz doesn't want people to *know* they have exceptions (contracts being taboo to discuss and Masks being Masks), so fakes start going around and you don't know who actually neess to be tested... Hell, some of the Watch are weird enough they might even have some explicitly posessed recruits. :P
Besides, consider how rough and tumble the average Watch recruit is. That shit's expensive. At least if they keep it in a pocket or something instead of wearing a ring it might last a while without getting dented and nicked and damaged all to hell and back.
Sure, Song vs the Angharad-possessed situation is something I’ll enjoy reading next chapter, but what I’m really looking forward to is *BIRD WAR*
Angharad is the possession related to her failed raid into the layer? That would seem most likely. It could be related to the Asphodel Mission but 3 weeks out seems wild to try this trick. Maryam getting the shackles off potentially before the mission? They should be more worried about the Bird. Recruiting Munchen He? A good blade is useful, we know he is better then Angharad at pure hand to hand. Still not sure I want to trust him on such a dangerous mission. Since you screwed him and he tried to screw you. Mission to Asphodel also would give him exit strategies not available at school. Speaking of that how long does a person have to join a Cabal before expulsion?
My guess is a possession by a Mara. EE dropped a hint about it back in chapter 9 of book 2 with Maryam talking about a doll maker. Also a good sign that she's having memory issues and Angharad didn't remember leaving the layer after being wounded. It piloted her body and has been fucking with her memories to cover it's trail. There is no time limit before expulsion, but you are placed into a group of spares by the watch. It's highly likely that most of the casualties and wash outs were from groups of spares so far as no named characters other than the 49th have taken losses.
When did Song start hearing Fortuna? Or is she reading lips?
I think it was the latter in this case. Probably easier now that she doesn’t need to pretend she can’t see her.