Why go to war?

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

I started re-reading the Queen of Attolia the other day. (I think I was feeling rather sorry for myself and wanted to be reminded that—Hey, life could be worse!) As I did I started wondering—How calculated was Eddis’ decision to go to war with Attolia? On the one hand, it seemed like a quick, irrational decision resulting from her anger over Gen’s hand being cut off. On the other hand, it seemed really deliberate.

(Has this been discussed before? If so, tell me. I wasn’t sure where to look to see if it had been.)

(Starts on about pg 82 in my new paperback edition, if you want to look it up.)

Why it seemed quick and irrational—

The ordering of the confiscation of the ten caravans from Attolia. To me, it seemed like she was just so angry she wanted to DO something, so she did the first thing that popped into her head that would make Attolia angry.

“War, then.” I mean, doesn’t that just sound like, “Yeah, I know you’re bigger and stronger and I shouldn’t do it, but, I’m angry, and I’m gonna make you PAY!” And then right after that she opens the reservoir of the Aracthus and sends the raiding party—kinda like she’s saying, “BRING IT!!”

Eddis is so much smaller, and surrounded by two bigger countries that would ally against her--did she really think she would win? Was there a possibility in the beginning that it wouldn't be a war they couldn't win but might survive, and somehow they missed a chance at some essential point?


Why it seemed deliberate and calculated—

Eddis just always seems deliberate and knowledgeable and in control. She’s just that way. (I want to be Eddis when I grow up.)

Her suggestion of arbitration by the Court of the Ten Nations. She seems to be trying to avoid a war, right? Or maybe shes thinking that what she did before was a bit hasty and she’s trying to gracefully back out…?

She buys the grain surplus before people figure out what is going on. I mean, that’s a deliberate, rational action. She bought most of it before the ultimatum from Attolia. Was she planning for war?

The ministers council voted unanimously for war. I mean, they all wanted to do it. But I guess this could go up in the other column as well, and they were ALL being angry and irrational… *shrug*




Was she counting on Gen snapping out of his self pity to help with one of his stupid plans professional risks earlier? No, she couldn’t be… but she does tell him, basically, to snap out of it and be helpful now that he knows whats going on.




What do you think?

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I suppose it depends on if Eddis had any idea what could happen to Gen if he got caught. If she knew when she sent him that, if he were caught, there was a possibility he would not be killed, then she could have had war in the back of her mind as a contigency plan.

If Gen had died, would Eddis have started a war?

I like your reasoning for both arguements!

~Feir Dearig

[traboule.livejournal.com]

I think I was feeling rather sorry for myself and wanted to be reminded that—Hey, life could be worse!

That's the same reason I keep using to re-read it! I dislocated my knee earlier this year and it was sort of soothing to think, "well, at least I still have both hands, even if I can't walk."

I'd always thought she'd planned the whole thing in advance. The caravans seem like a surprise, but I bet she'd been thinking what to do ever since she got word of what happened to Gen - or that's what I assumed. She's a devious lady, Eddis.

I think she was planning for war, partly because of Gen and partly just because she was behind a regime change in Attolia anyway, so the grain buy-up might have been an unspecific future planning and then Gen's injury provided a very useful political catalyst. She probably knew no one would take her seriously when she suggested the 10 Nations.

LOVE the icon!

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

*g* I love my Icon too. :)

[estarria.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I figured Eddis had been preparing for war for a while, because she said she'd been thinking for some time about deposing Attolia. Maybe she didn't have a specific timetable in mind, but I think she thought war was coming. Like she'd been waiting for Attolia to do something bad enough to give her an airtight excuse.

(Though when Eddis said that she'd been thinking about deposing Attolia, I'm not sure if she meant she'd starting having those thoughts before or after Eugenides' hand was cut off. Hmm...)

[(Anonymous)]

It was probably before, because when she was explaining to Eugenides about dethroning the Attolian queen, she mentioned that after she had cut his hand off, she stopped caring if she (Attolia) ended up hanging upside down form her own walls. As if she had flirted with the idea briefly, but never really had the heart to do it unless she could be sure that the Attolian queen would not suffer too severe repercussions.

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

I figured the orders to buy up all the grain went out at the same time as the orders to release the reservoir waters. By the time word of the floods, and the damage, would have been received by Attolia or Sounis, Eddis would already have commandeered the grain.

[aspectabund.livejournal.com]

I think Eddis lost her temper there... but she always seems to think ahead anyway, you know, planning for every eventuality. And she's quick on her feet too - she lost no time gettin' that grain, or making sure the pirates were out and looting the enemies.

It also sounded a bit, at least to me, that she was looking for an EXCUSE to go to war...

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

It didn't seem to me like she wanted an excuse to go to war just because... well, why? She's in the smaller, more dependent, surrounded country. Why on earth would she be looking to go to war?

But then again, this could be because I KNOW that they end up in a somewhat desperate situation later... hmm.

*ponders*

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

Well, she's definitely been ready for a war at any time because she's afraid of Attolia's association with Mede, which is why she sent Gen there in the first place.

She does lose her temper, but the injury to Gen is more than personal. Gen was the Thief that gave Eddis an irrefutable claim to the throne. Therefore cutting off his hand is an insult to Eddis's sovereignty. Ignoring it would be a sign of weakness.

[keestone.livejournal.com]

I agree. She's definitely been planning for war, and she probably had been since before The Thief. Sounis' expansionist threat to Eddis had been curbed somewhat thanks to Gen, but that just meant he was pressing an already unstable Attolia more. No matter who started a war with whom, Eddis would have had to fight to survive. She must have been figuring strategy for different eventualities, and sending Gen for more information would have been a vital part of that.

You know? I bet the one thing she hadn't expected was losing Gen as an asset. I'm guessing that the virtuoso feat of stealing Hamiathes' Gift out from under the noses of both Sounis and Attollia twice pretty well convinced most of Eddis (and Sounis) that Gen could get away with pretty much anything. And the queen, more than anyone else, knew he was favored by the gods.

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

And given that Eddis "guessed" that the gods had betrayed him, she must have felt fairly hopeless about the war at times. It would have required a great deal of faith to trust that somehow this was all going to work out.

[keestone.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I wonder if she guessed before or after her dreams started up?

[bluestalking.livejournal.com]

Agreed.

[hikari-cyhan.livejournal.com]

Doesn't she say something to Gen later about how she knew she would never have gone to war to avenge Gen's death, or even to rescue him from imprisonment?

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think execution would have been recognized as Attolia's right, and imprisonment would almost have been mercy, but the hand-cutting is cruel and an insult. It shows all the worst qualities of her as a ruler (and if you're worried she might take over your country, that's a big issue), it strikes to the heart of Eddis's claim to the throne, and almost amounts to an act of war right there.

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

Oh, and when Gen asks her if she would have gone to war if he'd been killed, she says, "Yes. Maybe."
(at least that's how I remember it)

[filkferengi]

This is a great post, with some excellent questions. Not that I have any answers, mind, but it's still a great post.

[joins the icon-love conga-line.]