Read the previous entry in the series here.
Read the next entry in the series here.

This is one of the chapters that needs a content warning: references to sexual violence.

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Following reported commentary by Dwalia about the induction of forgetfulness and neglect, “Vindeliar” returns to Bee, noting the remarks by those around her of her improving condition and her uncertainty about the same. The progress of Dwalia’s party across is glossed, and disagreement emerges between Dwalia and Ellik about how to proceed further. Shun notices Bee’s observations and advises her against the appearance of the same, and Bee attends closely as Dwalia exploits Vindeliar’s abilities to persuade Ellik.

Progress continues, and Bee and Shun confer covertly about possible escape. When Dwalia presses Bee for conversation, she replies with reference to the futures she has seen, attempting to turn conversation, and Dwalia upbraids her for doing so. Ellik hears the upset occasioned and intervenes, determining to turn matters to his will. Vindeliar being then absent, he succeeds, and he comprehends that it is Vindeliar’s influence that has allowed Dwalia to retain command. That situation, he moves to address.

The present chapter recalls the cartoonish evil of Chalced, in which Ellik had participated at high level. Thinking back on my earlier impressions, such as I can recall them at this point, I had originally understood Chalced to be an antagonistic but not necessarily “evil” nation-state; the presentation in the Rain Wilds novels was something of an immersion-breaker for me, as I gesture towards in my rereading comments. In the present chapter, which reminds readers of the slavery practices and rampant misogyny at work in Chalced, the evils of that nation-state seem more “real,” although I cannot determine whether my reaction is to the overt presentation, the contrast with earlier work, or my inability to read the text without awareness of the broader context in which I do the reading this time around.

I do find some interest in the construction and its comparison to that of Clerres, however. While the situation in Clerres is not yet directly presented in the text–readers at this point have the Fool’s report, which may well be understood to be biased–they do have the actions of the Servants, both with Bee and with the messengers the Fool had dispatched to Fitz (here and here). While the Elderlings novels as a whole call into question the degree to which any agent of a given nation-state can be said to represent that nation-state as a whole, and while it is certainly the case that the Six Duchies is hardly an innocent place if its agents can be taken to any degree as being representative, Dwalia and her company do not give a good presentation of Clerres even if the Fool’s report can be set aside as biased. The question of which nation-state, Chalced or Clerres, is more evil is one that the chapter gestures towards, and a ponerological study might well be worth undertaking.

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