A Bold Stroke

[idiosyncreant.livejournal.com]

Proffered with much Hesitancy...

I can't read QoA and not read The King immediately afterward. So this bit from the King of Attolia I was actually stewing over when I posted my thoughts from The Queen...and it won't go away.

Magus is in love with Eddis.
Now how's that for a turnaround of the stereotypical falling-for-the-kidnapper line?
Wait, wait, wait. I know. I rather believe in Sophos/Eddis myself. But you know...what about this whole piece? First let us look at the endearing set up here:

    The Queen of Eddis sat at a desk scattered with papers. There was ink on her fingers and a smudge on one cheek. She looked up from her work and smiled when the Magus of Sounis was introduced to the room.     [How cute. By the way, because of the way I skim read, I almost always think it's still Attolia; the smudged visage helps me figure out my mistake very nicely.]     "How is my honored prisoner?" she asked.
    The magus wrapped his robes tighter and sat in the chair by the desk. "I am enduring my captivity very well," he said. "But I cannot find a morning chill refreshing, and I would like to return to my nice warm country."
    "You know that you may go when you like," said Eddis.
    "Unfortunately, my nice warm country is consuming itself in a civil war, and there are too many people who would slit my throat if they could. One of whom being the king, who may still hold it against me that I was abstracted from his service by your nefarious, underhanded, incorrigible former Thief. My 'confinement' will have to continue until Sounis sends for me."
    "You heard this morning in the court about the progress Sounis has made. It won't be long until things are settled and he negotiates your release. I will miss you when you go."
    He smiled at her fondly. "No less than I will miss you, Helen. Did you send for me for a reason?"
...
    "But if he is gone, if he is dead, and not a hostage somewhere," the Queen of Eddis asked, "would you see me marry Sounis, then?"
    She turned back to the magus, but he, in turn, had looked away. He answered very reluctantly, "Yes."   

I leave it to your discretion. {...may the games begin!...}

Comments

[mycenaeth.livejournal.com]

niiiiiiiiiiiiiice...

I'm for it! Sophos is cute and all, but the Magus is badass. XD And Sophos is too young and naive to marry a Queen I feel.

[idiosyncreant.livejournal.com]

I was thinking, as I was typing this, "Aww, and Eddis needs a seasoned man..."
I honestly am not sure she could do better: an old campaigner with a scholarly bent like (I think, anyway) drew her to Gen, and his own bit of parrying humor.

[lylassandra.livejournal.com]

I wasn't aware this was a theory. I just kind of assumed it. After all, even Gen never calls Eddis by her given name.

[idiosyncreant.livejournal.com]

Good point. Only in Queen of Attolia does it come out, when the two queens are talking about incongruous naming.

[scottykarrde.livejournal.com]

wicked good icon Lylassandra.
This is soooo interesting...
I wonder - sometimes older ppl refer to younger ones fondly. I wonder if that's the case with the Magus?

[agentmaly.livejournal.com]

This is a great theory, and your textual evidence is compelling, but isn't the Magus already married? Unless I'm much mistaken it's mentioned somewhere that the Magus is married and has children... I could be misremembering, though. I've only had the chance to read the books once so far.

[dannybailey.livejournal.com]

Hmm...I don't think that he's married. I can't prove that it isn't mentioned, but I'm sure we would have talked about it before now if he were.

On another note, I like your icon. I'm a huge fan of that series, and I loved the movie!

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

I'm sure he isn't married. I seem to recall MWT telling us that somewhere along the line.

[dannybailey.livejournal.com]

Yes! I love this interpretation, and it's surprising me that I didn't pick up on it at all. Now that you point it out, it seems really obvious. :)

Some please write an Eddis/Magus fic!

[mycenaeth.livejournal.com]

yeah, ditto on the "WOW, how could I not have noticed that before???"

=p

[estarria.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I actually like this theory :), and normally I'm not much for unusual ships. Of course, there's still Sophos/Eddis to consider, but even so...interesting idea.

And there's also this exchange from QoA, between Eugenides and the Magus...

"Tell me why the king of Sounis wants to marry the queen of Eddis."...
"The political importance of the marriage is obvious," the Magus answered. Eugenides shook his head..."I don't mean the political advantages. He wants more than that."
"Eddis is brilliant, Gen. She's very young, almost as young as yourself, and she is already a successful leader and a gifted ruler. Her legal reforms have changed Eddis more in seven years than anyone would have thought possible when she took the throne. And on a personal level she is quite...magnetic."
"She's ugly," Eugenides objected.
The magus hesitated. "Perhaps not the conventional ideal of physical beauty."
"She's short, she's broad-shouldered, and hawk-faced with a broken nose. I would say no, she is not an ideal."
"She has a lovely smile," the magus countered.
"Oh, yes," Eugenides agreed. "I've seen men fall on their knees and beg to walk across hot coals for her after one of those smiles."
The magus shrugged. "I suppose my king would like one for himself," he said simply.

"My king," indeed. :P

Do we have any idea how old the Magus is? Did someone figure his age when they were trying to get everyone else's?

[mycenaeth.livejournal.com]

I thought he was about 40 something? I think there's a post somewhere that mentions it...

[idiosyncreant.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Looking at the plague might clue us in. I think he's under 50.

And as a Col. Brandon aficianado, I think that's way young enough.

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

Checkers did a post trying to work his age out. See this: http://community.livejournal.com/sounis/86886.html#cutid1

[idiosyncreant.livejournal.com]

PS: did you notice how honest he is, wrapping his robes and saying he's cold?

{Flannel waistcoats...} Yes, I'm a silly child.

I say, that's the real proof there. The Magus being natural and intimate! I am somewhat obsessed with the shinyness of this idea, see.

[jade-sabre-301.livejournal.com]

*actually giggles out loud*

I seem to recall having thought this somewhere along the line, or us joking about Magus/Eddis, but I've never really stopped to think about it. Except I'm completely sure you're right. (Also, speaking of an AlanRickman!Magus, with Magus/Eddis you're getting the same kind of deal as Col. Brandon, right? Am I right? And I love the Col. Brandon/Marianne storyline. love love love love love. ...oh man, I'm so sold.)

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who sees this. Actually, this is the first I've really thought of people not seeing it. Not that it's glaringly obvious, I've just always seen it since I read that scene in KoA and didn't think much beyond that. *shrug* But I think I still lean toward Sophos/Eddis... but if somebody else turns up for Sophos (who am very glad is still alive according to MWT!!) then I wouldn't object to Magus/Eddis :D

[cailet-06.livejournal.com]

A little side note, since the subject of ages came up in this post, does anyone kinda have an idea Gen is, as well as Irene? I know the post seems kinda random. Sry.

[estarria.livejournal.com]

Various Age Information:

If you go search the tags, there'll be one marked "age of characters" which has a fair amount of theorizing about Gen's age, Irene's age, and various others.

I went looking through there for Magus' age just now, and evidently Checkers thinks he may be around 45 or 50, which makes sense.

Also, there's another thread under that same tag which proposes the idea of Eddis/Magus...I had completely forgotten about it. Silly me. :P I don't think anyone ever quoted that scene from KoA where he calls her Helen though, not explicitly.

[crazyviolin.livejournal.com]

I've searched through the book to find the whole extract and I'm not sure. It says that he smiles at Eddis 'fondly'. I always thought he's more of a kindly uncle or something. And a kindly uncle (who's not the minister of war etc.) would call their niece by their first name.

He's probably reluctant for Sounis to marry her because, well, we all know Sounis is evil.

However, the main reason the magus must be reluctant for Eddis to marry Sounis is because it means all the work Gen did in The Thief was a waste of time. It's obvious the magus and Eddis both care for Gen but if if it's in the best interests of her country, Eddis will have to marry Sounis anyway. The last paragraph of the extract talks about Gen's responsibilities as king of Attolia, but you can see how it relates to Eddis too.

I'm sure everyone would be perfectly happy with Eddis marrying Sophos. I think the scene above is just a nice chat between Eddis and a respected friend.

[idiosyncreant.livejournal.com]

Well, I understand the uncle/niece feel to it...but I'm wondering if the little pastoral scene retrieving Magus from the hunting lodge might not have nudged him toward thinking marital thoughts.

Also, Sophos would be the best polical/personal compromise. No doubt about it. And Eddis would be happy enough. But I think Magus would be better for her, as a life partner to be an actual equal in ruling.

Then again, Sophos' time with the rebels might have changed him much the way QoA shows Gen changing. Wouldn't be surprised if MWT branches out to other characters, like him, if she really is considering that many more books. !_!

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

I am of two minds about this theory. When I first read KoA and that passage my first thought was: isn't the Magus being overly familiar with Eddis?

I do agree that at the moment the Magus seems better for Eddis than Sophos because the last time we saw Sophos he was very young and naive. Gen has changed a lot. Maybe Sophos has too (rebels and all) and I think the Magus and Eddis are united in their worry for Sophos and Gen.

And that "fondly" could be kindly-uncle-ly or something more. It makes me wonder if Sophos is going to be in the future books' POVs and how he has changed.

After Gen had nightmares in QoA, the Magus described Eddis to him in a way that shows he respects her a lot. hmmmm

[alineadrklrdsis.livejournal.com]

I've actually thought this for quite awhile now but could never find the evidence. Which is somewhat obvious now that I think about it.

[adalanne.livejournal.com]

Hee... I recently reread The Thief and was shocked, and not a little disturbed, to find myself thinking the Magus was crushing on Gen. Probably didn't help any that MWT was so influenced by the Greeks; my mind just kept thinking how Socrates thought scholarly old man/handsome young boy was the best type of lover relationship.

I, personally, think that the Magus is fond of Eddis because she's an intelligent and kind woman. It might have crossed his mind, but I don't think it lingered.

And I always read that reluctant answer as meaning, "Gods, I know you'd hate it and he's not worthy of you, but it would be for the best, and I really hate thinking that Sophos might be dead, too."

[adalanne.livejournal.com]

Ack, forgot to mention, I think the familiarity is because Eddis respects the Magus so much, and he is much her senior, so it just sort of made sense to me. Not sure if that's articulated well at all.

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

In Thief, Gen accuses the Magus of ogling Helen. :)

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

and in QoA when he meets the Magus again. wait. WAIT

"I didn't think I'd get a chance to visit again soon, so I came up. You know I like Eddis."

"The country or the Queen?"

"I prefer my country," the magus admitted

"And my queen," said Eugenides. "Well, you can't have her."

[hebe0.livejournal.com]

I've always thought the Magus was falling for and loving Helen (well, not when I had only read The Thief, but later). But Helen might not feel the same way - it could be fondness and respect on her side but love on his. If so, I'll feel sorry for the Magus.