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Bakker XXIV: To Be Human is to Be Damned


lokisnow

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I've always assumed the title will be The No-God, and since the titles for the first two parts of the series reference Kellhus (i.e., The Prince of Nothing, The Aspect Emperor), it will be a spoiler because we know Kellhus will become the No-God.


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Does everyone operate under the assumption that Kellhus will be successful in whatever he has planned and that he has foreseen everything? I wonder, because it does seem that a lot of the comments seem to presuppose as much and work only off of that paradigm.

I have guessed before that Kellhus will be taken by surprise, likely by whatever he sees in the Inverse Fire.

But realistically the challenge should be hard. Golgotterath has had centuries to try and work on magical artifacts akin to the False Sun or Barricades, as well as learn about the Psukhe and Daimos. (Though I don't know if they could figure out how Titirga rinsed his stain and I'm guessing they'd be terrified of summoning demons.)

They might also have some unexpected weapon races or even a legion of skin spies. The non-Few are almost certain to perish quickly.

Now with the Daimos and the Gnosis, and possibly some artifacts his intellect could dream up, Kellhus's forces may be able to counter the Consult. But if the Consult still has a few loyal Wracu...

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I like that we're hoping against hope that Madness is wrong and using a woman as yet another broodmare isn't where Bakker is going despite him going to that well a bunch of times now. And I'm seriously hoping that!


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Don't hold out too much hope. IIRC RSB said somewhere that Sorweel was his most boring/difficult to empathise with character. I don't foresee him being richly rewarded. Plus Moenghus will likely kill him.

Hm...didn't know that about Sorweel. To be honest he's interesting because he plays into the mystery involving the gods and gives us a view into the Crus- Great Ordeal, I can get why Bakker would feel that way about him.

I like that we're hoping against hope that Madness is wrong and using a woman as yet another broodmare isn't where Bakker is going despite him going to that well a bunch of times now. And I'm seriously hoping that!

But...if Serwa is not used as an axlotl tank then how can we question Kellhus' status as a liberator?

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Well, naturally. If Kellhus is giving her to them to placate their needs, he's not going to give them something that can't be controlled. Why would he? How would that go about anyway - why would they believe him? Doesn't make any sense. either they have evidence that she can have hybrid kids (which again doesn't work for the timeline) or they implicitly are cool with whatever proof that he provides but will start working on that right away. Serwa revolting and not taking it makes it only okay (because then Kellhus is the monster) but from a pragmatic perspective it's pointless. Either Kellhus anticipates her revolting and wants it - in which case why the odd subterfuge? - or Kellhus cannot control her and she revolts in spite of his plan, in which case he would never send her.


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I don't pretend to be able to anticipate Bakker anymore. It takes a hivemind.



Kellhus already plays games within games with the Nonmen. Proyas, most manageable of his Exalt-Generals, doesn't know about the Niom, why Kellhus cared about reaching out to a Nonmen King, or that Nil'giccas isn't even in Ishterebinth but scalping around the Long-Side with Kellhus' fucked-up Damned or Demon hell-warrior, Ironsoul.



So yeah, I could anticipate that Kellhus expects Serwa to deny the Nonmen, perhaps for Achamian or Sorweel (Yatwer) to intervene on Serwa's behalf.



Or as was mentioned, Kellhus is fallible (like lockesnow's pushed for how long now, I don't know Faint [why] made that generalization), Serwa dies rather than except [accept] her fate and the Nonmen of Ishterebinth take or kill hostages and wait out or work towards the Ordeal's doom...


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Look, I'm as invested as anybody on seeing one of Kellus' children doing something useful as a means to at least prop up the author's flimsy excuse as to why Kellhus needed to fuck Esmenet apart from poor plot construction. But if that usefulness, in the case of Serwa, turns out to be directly analogous to the only use Esmenet has ever served in the story, in that Kellhus needed her for her womb, then Bakker has truly crossed over into a parody of himself. For his sake, as much my own personal preferences, I hope that will not be the case.

:lol:

Also, if "The Second Apocalypse" is not a spoiler, what could the proposed final duology title be? Take a shot folks...

The Darkness That Comes After: 50,000 Leagues of Black Semen

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I had assumed the final duology would be something to do with Kellhus' state at the end of TAE, so something like The No God or The God or The Absolute or even The Self Moving Soul. More crackpot though would be if the time loop is closed and it's The First Apocalypse.

And if this speculation is actually where Serwa is headed I'll be done with the series.

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I like that we're hoping against hope that Madness is wrong and using a woman as yet another broodmare isn't where Bakker is going despite him going to that well a bunch of times now. And I'm seriously hoping that!

Sad but also true. If the first five books are anything to go by, in a contest between logic and the author's perverse predilections, the latter always wins. That being the case, not only is Serwa's magic womb and transformation into a broodmare a viable theory, it's probably the favored one at this point.

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Yeah, this would be the death knell for probably a small subset of readers that already haven't given up, and it might even turn off a few fans who will keep reading but temper their praise a bit.

I don't think that to be honest. If you've read this far, you've accepted the series for what it is. I find it hard believe readers would actually balk at this turn of events after what was done to Esmenet and Serwa's namesake. I would find it quite upsetting though. I'm actually really liking the Sorweel storyline and am hoping the next book delivers on its potential, although there were already some troubling signs beginning to surface at the end of the last book.

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