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

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A lengthy passage relating one of Bee’s dreams precedes “Passage,” which begins with Bee delighting in Dwalia’s seasickness after her recapture from incarceration. Bee notes her own earlier problems, as well as her explorations of the ship on which they travel. Bee also observes closely and notes her own shifting goals.

How Dwalia’s company, more generally, fares is noted amid Bee’s gloss of shipboard life, and she notes that Vindeliar takes particular care to keep Kerf docile. Bee reaches out with her magics to see the extent of Vindeliar’s work and gently plies him for information. He surprises her with evidence of his own machinations, but he also relates information to her about his own prophetic dreaming–and others’, which notes the fulcrum for the world that is the Unexpected Son.

Vindeliar composes himself for sleep, and Bee ruminates on what she has learned. Considering it, however, leads her to a dark conclusion from which she realizes only she can extricate herself.

As I reread the present chapter, I am put strongly in mind of Magnifico Giganticus–and not the one from the television series (I don’t have that particular streaming service, thanks). I’ve made explicit reference to Asimov’s psychohistory once or twice in the course of rereading Hobb, and I continue to think that the Realm of the Elderlings novels do make some use of what might be termed psychohistorical concepts–although, as with the Tolkienian tradition, Hobb moves somewhat aside from the Asimovian while retaining enough of its features to be considered conversant with it. (I’d be interested in seeing if others have already done explicatory work in this regard; please let me know in the comments below if there’s something I need to put into the Fedwren Project about it.)

Here, the dreams of the White Prophets are…vague, probabilities only. They may or may not come to pass, coming down to inflection points that Asimov refers to as Seldon Crises and that the Prophets term…less concretely. Here, one of the perceived inflection points–the Unexpected Son–can disrupt or maintain the whole structure of future prophecy. This, to me, (partially) echoes the Mule, whose gangling and surprisingly athletic frame (a description that applies to the Fool and, to a lesser extent, Bee) conceals a powerful mind that can directly manipulate the emotions of others (which seems something that the Skill and similar powers such as Vindeliar’s can do, and Bee is Skilled).

It’s not an exact parallel, I’ll allow. The Mule is something of an anomaly; Bee and the other Whites are rare outside eugenicist programs, but they are not anomalous. They are also not sterile as the Mule purports to be. And the inflection point that Bee represents is anticipated, while the Mule is distinctly not; the Mule is an object lesson in the need to verify assumptions, while Bee is, to my reading, more. But even with the variances, there is a case to be made that Hobb does borrow from Asimov in this (as in a few other things; I’ve long commented on at least one).

(And, yes, there may be some Herbert in there, too. I’ve mentioned it before. It seems I have more and more that I can do…)

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