[identity profile] etv13.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] queensthief
 (also in the comments to the Question post below)

What would Gen have done if Attolia had refused to marry him when they were in the boat?  Was he bluffing, or  would he really have killed her?
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Date: 6/26/08 01:21 am (UTC)
cleo: Famke Jansen's legs in black and white (Books)
From: [personal profile] cleo
He would have killed her. No question.

Date: 6/26/08 01:24 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bluestalking.livejournal.com
I agree, he wouldn't have killed her. Eddis later says that they could reach a treaty without a wedding--don't know how well it would have gone, but they might still have tried for it, sans marriage. It wasn't as though the marriage plan went perfectly either. :P

Date: 6/26/08 01:25 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] peggy-2.livejournal.com
he would've ...um, maybe he would...um ... then again...

I dunno.

Do you think he killed the guard guarding the stairway to the boat landing? Attolia thought he did.

Date: 6/26/08 01:27 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] parron.livejournal.com
I think he may well have been forced to kill her. The priority was "ending the war," after all; killing/disabling the ruler is a tried-and-true method.

Date: 6/26/08 01:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bluestalking.livejournal.com
Oops, you said he WOULD. I think he wouldn't.

Date: 6/26/08 01:53 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] idiosyncreant.livejournal.com
I think Gen was calculating on a knowledge that Attolia would go for at least a semblance of co-operation for a better chance to escape. She looses her confidence as they go up the stairs and he proves himself quite capable of disarming her (in both senses of the word ;p) as well as in seeming control of the situation no matter what her tactic.

She wants her country to survive--she is both ruthless about it and self-sacrificial. I think he knows she'll either go through with it (his risk is that it will be without love) or determine how to get out of it.

Date: 6/26/08 02:01 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] parron.livejournal.com
Well, the odds were certainly in Gen's favor, and no doubt he said it sure she'd agree, but all the same. What if she hadn't?

Date: 6/26/08 02:15 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sandtree.livejournal.com
No, he wouldn't have killed her. He could have done a million things with her. He could have taken her back to the Eddisians and had her locked up. I know Gen is a bit more ruthless by the end of QoA, but would he have gone so far as to kill the woman he loved? No way. He was bluffing - remember, he's amazingly talented at telling complicated lies and weaving intricate stories, and having everyone believe them until the moment the truth comes out. That's my take on it, anyway.

Date: 6/26/08 02:18 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] checkers65477.livejournal.com
I've never thought he'd have killed her, nor do I think he killed that guard. He hates killing people and only does it when forced to protect himself.

Not sure what he'd have done, though. Being Gen, he would have gone to plan B, then plan C, etc. He seems to usually plan things out very carefully ahead of time, though he admits sometimes his plans are abysmally stupid.

Gen knew how devoted to her country Attolia was. He knew her well enough to know she was very likely to go along with the marriage idea in order to protect Attolia. If she died, the country would fall into civil war and be attacked by Sounis. I wonder, did the idea of marriage to Eugenides--once she got over the shock of it--not seem so bad?

Date: 6/26/08 02:18 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] peggy-2.livejournal.com
see, I don't think he did.

Date: 6/26/08 02:38 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bluestalking.livejournal.com
XD My whole theory for all my responses to this thread is that I will think differently every two or so minutes.

Date: 6/26/08 02:39 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bluestalking.livejournal.com
So no one thinks he killed the guard but me. What did happen to the guard, then?

Date: 6/26/08 02:48 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] idiosyncreant.livejournal.com
Well, I guess my point in alignment with the question is that he wouldn't have put himself in that situation if he really would have to make the choice.

Seeing as he was in love with her despite being mutilated by her orders before her eyes, I'm pretty sure he could not have gone through with it.

He can worm his way out of anything, you know. x)

Date: 6/26/08 02:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] idiosyncreant.livejournal.com
Some clever plan, no doubt. Maybe it will come up in Book 4! *conspiritorial glance*

Date: 6/26/08 02:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sandtree.livejournal.com
He, uh... fell asleep.

I don't know, I'd bet Eugenides has the skillz required to knock someone out quickly.

Date: 6/26/08 02:51 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sandtree.livejournal.com
Book 4: Revenge of the Guard

Date: 6/26/08 02:55 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sandtree.livejournal.com
Exactly, he doesn't go around killing people just because it's convenient. But he had to make Attolia think that he would. He had to make her think that he killed that guard, because then she would believe that he would readily kill her. If he had just left him tied up or something, she would have seen it as a sign of weakness. He was totally playing her game, acting just like her, so that she would believe that he was ruthless.

I think the idea of marrying him didn't seem so bad. I mean, she was practically obsessed with him for the whole book. There were some pretty powerful feelings there, whether it was love or not. Plus, she certainly would have been subconsciously comparing Eugenides to that Mede (I'm not going to try and spell his name right now), and... come on. :P

Date: 6/26/08 05:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] 9mil.livejournal.com
I'm thinking he would have knocked her unconscious. Like he did with the guard. I assume that he was fairly certain of her saying yes to the marriaging, and knowing her, he'd figure she'd try to escape. She wouldn't be able to escape very much when she was drowned, so marriage it is! Plus there's all that despair that would have gone on in the country of Attolia, and we all know that Queen Attolia loves her country.

Date: 6/26/08 08:01 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jesusphreaq.livejournal.com
absolutely not. he hates killing people. he wouldn't have killed the guard. later we found out he couldn't kill someone he should have. I can't remember who.

and he at least half-expected to die by Attolia's hand. When they surfaced someone said "he said he wouldn't be here."

I lent my copies so I can't look at them for reference D: D:

Date: 6/26/08 11:43 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] peggy-2.livejournal.com
When they surfaced someone said "he said he wouldn't be here."

I always thought that referred to MoW - Gen's dad couldn't face meeting the future daughter-in-law at that time.

Date: 6/26/08 11:45 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] peggy-2.livejournal.com
btw - what an awesome question to bring up. well done!

Date: 6/26/08 12:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] avian-xj.livejournal.com
I agree. Answers are never as simple as yes and no with Gen. He's always got something else planned/improvised, however crazy it may be. Anyway in addition to hating to kill people, killing ATTOLIA would be a particularly big deal for him.

Date: 6/26/08 02:13 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] checkers65477.livejournal.com
He knew she'd never been trained as a soldier like Eddis had, but he was ready for anything she might dish out. After she agreed to the marriage and he gave her the oar, he took her knives away and was careful to switch to steering with his hand, leaving his hook free. Just in case?

But wait, then he gave her the choice of killing him. Would he really have let her push him into the water? Or, once again, was he pretty certain of her decision and was just making it seem like it was her choice in the end?
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