THEORIES

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

So now that we've been discussing A Conspiracy of Kings for a few days, I figured there should be a post about theories. Speculation. Thoughts. Er . . . you get the drift.


I mean, theories about things that happened in this book, or what's going to happen next! For example:

-When's that mountain going to explode?

-Is Eugenides really sick?!

-How's that Attolia/Eddis/Sounis alliance going to work? Will hilarity ensue?

-What's Relius up to?

-WHERE is Costis?

Okay. Your turn. :)

Comments

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

Hilarity will ensue. Yes. Yes it will.

NO HE IS NOT SICK HE IS FAKING IT or alternatively he's sick because he's under a lot of pressure and keeps pushing himself and as soon as the gods come and tell him "Eugenides you idiot stay in bed for the next week or there will be THUNDERBOLTS" he'll do it and be all better.

Costis is off spying on the Medes and being a super sekrit ninja Thief apprentice to the best of his intrigue-innocent abilities.

Well, but seriously, the Costis problem is an interesting one. Much though we might love to see Gen train a new Thief or at the very least give Costis some cool missions, is Costis really cut out for that? He seems awfully more inclined to a direct approach to me. Being so honorable, and all...

[lizzyazula.livejournal.com]

To be quite honest I don't think Costis is going to play a major role in the future. This makes me a little annoyed, because by the end of KoA I was in love with him, but he was used to see Gen through a stranger's eyes. He doesn't have any particular talents or anything, he's just an ordinary guy. The only thing going for him is that he's honest and extremely loyal. I want Costis to return as much as the next person, but for some reason I don't feel like it's going to happen. If he does, he's definitely not doing any spying. He is not a spy type of guy.

[lizzyazula.livejournal.com]

Each couple has at least 6 kids, and their firstborn marry each other, officially uniting all three countries. :D Yes, this is what I think about when I'm in school.

Again with the sick theory: Gen would never drink yucky wine or any other type of beverage from a physician unless he absolutely had to. He hates doing what people tell him to do. The only conclusion I'm coming to is that he's really sick.

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

IS he drinking it? Seems like he's smashing a lot of cups.

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

Although I like to hope he's not, I agree with you that, logically, Gen is probably genuinely ill. Hopefully not too badly. But I really got the impression---an emotional, gut-instinct kind of impression---when I was reading both his dialogue and the description of him sitting in the sun that he wasn't faking. He tried too hard to pretend like nothing was wrong and distract Sophos with other thoughts. Also, if he were faking, why would he let the wineglass smash? He'd want people to believe his hoax, even the attendants, who would spread the rumors and whatnot. Instead, he'd acting like he's doing Petrus a grudging favor, and coming from him, that rings really false.

[aged-crone.livejournal.com]

It isn't (as I am calculating it, which may be completely wrong) all *that* long after his innards were nearly his outards. So maybe they're still worried about that?

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

Ummmm.

I've got nothing.

Whenever I think I've got something, MWT writes a new book and takes things in a totally different (and awesomer) direction - one that I couldn't have preciously fathomed.

But I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Costis is CONSPICUOUS in his absence. I suspect that his and Relius' new roles may in some way be related.

[zumie-ashlen.livejournal.com]

- I think the next book. Because we need some big climax, and the FINAl climax is going to be vs. the Medes, so there's that.

Or maybe it'll be really far in the future, after they're all dead. Didn't the goddess say that? Drat, can't remember now.

- Gen's faking being sick to throw somebody off, possible Mede spies. I'm going to keep telling myself that to keep sane.

1 Hilarity will ALWAYS ensue. Eugenides will start making the demand that all political negotiations be done while going throw an obstacle course. The faster you get through it, the less demands on your country are made. Except then he loses because he almost eviscerates himself on his hook and declares it all a no-go.

- SPYING. Relius is totally the spy of the group, duh.

- Costis is preparing a secret army that will fight the Medes, probably hidden in the Eddis mountains or something. And he is still really regretting punching the king.

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

LOL

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

Costis... is still really regretting punching the king.

Nah. That's all in the past. He and Gen are best buddies now. What's a punch between friends?

[pigrescuer.livejournal.com]

Megan said somewhere that the mountain blowing up won't be in their lifetimes, but will be soon.

[(Anonymous)]

Well, I think he's smashing the cups to show how he feels about the whole situation, but he does accept another cup when it's offered. Which worries me to no end.

Theories...

Let's see. I think the Ions will be muy importante in future books, though how I can't imagine.
We will eventually discover who the mysterious woman putting sand in Gen's food is, and what her motives are. After all, she obviously doesn't really want him dead or she'd just put poison in his food instead... and how does Gen know who she is, I wonder?
I predict that Gen will remain clueless about how much the people around him love him, but he may eventually come around.
If Gen and Attolia want to stabalize their throne, they'd better produce an heir soon. The idea makes me chuckle, but seriously... now that Attolia rules the world, the last thing we want is for the tow of them to be killed with no heir.
And... Costis will be back, though probably in an unexpected way.

I have tons more theories but I will save them for now.
~toastisyummy

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

I agree about the heir. I know people around here get uncomfortable when fictional babies are mentioned, but it's kind of important! XD

Plus, who doesn't want to see what the child of Attolia and Gen would be like? COME ON.

[(Anonymous)]

the poor child will either be really messed up (mommy cut daddy's hand off!!) or really awesome!!
~toastisyummy

[starlady38.livejournal.com]

I suspect that he is actually ill, though no idea how serious it is.

I don't think the Sacred Mountain will explode for another few books. Eddis hasn't even sworn her fealty to Eugenides yet, she and Sounis aren't married: that will be in the next book, or between this one and the next.

I am so excited for Eugenides, Attolia, Eddis and Sounis to take on the world, I can't even express it.

Costis has to be off doing something important. Relius, though, I think is out of the game as anything but an observer. (The magus said so, it has to be true!)

[creative-lefty2.livejournal.com]

My answer to the Relius question is that he is in Medea. My answer to the Costis question is that he is Relius's bodyguard. I have the feeling that Relius may not be able to protect himself with only one hand, unlike Gen. Therefore, Relius needs Costis to protect his back as they do sneaky ninja spy stuff.

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

...I'd never thought about Relius' hand before. WOW.

Gen is not going to die

[queens-thief.livejournal.com]

About Gen being ill and dieing. Funny, I didn't even make the connection until I came here and this is why. Obviously, Gen has been picked by the Gods to accomplish something(s) they want done. If Gen hadn't stolen Hamiathes gift and shown the threat he could be Attolia wouldn't have wanted him dead. If the Mede hadn't intervened Gen would be dead and if Atollia hadn't cut off Gen's hand she wouldn't have realized her love and regained her humanity. If Gen hadn't fallen in love with Attolia and Attolia with him he wouldn't be King of Attolia. And if he wasn't King he wouldnt become Annux of Sounis, Eddis and Attolia. I don't think there have been any coincidences in Gen's life and I bet we could name more--such as tearing up his enrolement papers.
So unless all of this is simply about saving Eddis from the fate of Pompei in the inevitable erruption, the Gods are going to need Gen alive. I think his poor health may have a part to play, wheather real of faked, but not his death. Everything would fall apart if he died.
Of course MWT is the definition of tricky so....

Re: Gen is not going to die

[creative-lefty2.livejournal.com]

It could be that the Gods don't want the Medes to take over because it would mean a new belief system which would wipe out the old systems. I think Gen or the Magus talks about this in TT.

Eugenides was like a god revealed...

[queens-thief.livejournal.com]

"If Attolia could look like a queen, Eugenides was like a god revealed, transformed into something wholly unfamiliar, surrounded by the cloth-of-gold bedcover like a deity on an alter, passionless and calculating."
-KoA 228

This is a line that has always given me goosebumps and its one of my favoritesf from KoA. But after reading ACoK I think I have overlooked something. Why didn't Costis just comment on how (finally!) Eugenides looked like a King? Why did MWT choose to compare Gen to a god, twiceover infact?
We know that MWT chooses her words carefully and that often they convey more meaning than it seems at face value. Thus, this comparision is not a coincidene or simply for effect, it means something.
Now enter ACoK. We are told again how real the gods are to Eudenides. This is explicit when Eddis says, "I believe that the veil for him is always thin, and that he walks through the world gingerly".
Now I know this line together with the cups of medicated wine have sent tremors of panic through this community, but I can't help conecting this line to the one above. Gen has both feet in two worlds, mortal reality and the reality of gods. Could it be possible that Gen will become a sort of demi-god? We haven't been told what happens to mortal heros in this world, but I wonder if any the many lesser gods were oginally mortal?
OR we know that MWT is inspired by Greece and Greek mythology. In Greek Mythology the Elysian Fields are the heaven for mortals who achieve heroic deeds and impress the gods. Could Gen be one of these mortals "made immoratal through the favor of the gods"?

Re: Eugenides was like a god revealed...

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

It's not impossible, considering the evidence of those lines. Personally, I dislike the idea, just because MWT has already given Eugenides so much power and importance that turning him into a demigod would just feel like overkill to me. I like reading about people who are awesome, but still at least human. (Maybe why Twilight wasn't really my thing.) That said, the god Eugenides was himself originally mortal and gained immortality by tricking the Sky god. So there's precedent... although I hope it doesn't happen.

[spellcoats.livejournal.com]

I do not understand for the life of me where all this freaking out over Gen's health is coming from. He's not sick. His health was broken, so he has to consult a physician regularly. Galen happened to be with the Eddisian party, and Galen doesn't quiver the way Petrus does (and also his needles probably feel less like awls), so Gen asked to see him.

Relius is writing a play.

Costis is in some hinterland somewhere. He's too distinctly Attolian, and frankly, he's a terrible liar, so he'd make an appalling spy. Also, he's a known confidant of the king of Attolia, and sending him to Medea would therefore be a Very Bad Idea.

[jennifer19l.livejournal.com]

"Costis is in some hinterland somewhere. He's too distinctly Attolian, and frankly, he's a terrible liar, so he'd make an appalling spy. Also, he's a known confidant of the king of Attolia, and sending him to Medea would therefore be a Very Bad Idea."

I don't know how good of a spy he would be either, but Eugenides makes it a point to tell him at the end of KoA how much better his Medean accent is. That makes me wonder if he's there in some capacity.

[teenareena.livejournal.com]

My Costis theory is that he's in Medea with whoever is the ambassador to act as the eyes and ears for Gen. Not spying but more like observing. I don't think Relius is there coz "the Mede won that round" and the rank stuff in KoA is only to show they are going to trust him without any doubt.

We may see Ochto again. "You know where to find us"

Gen duels with Nahuseresh at some point.

The next is not theory, more like a wishful thinking on my part:

- Eddis and Attolia hold a siege while the kings ride out. Throw in some awesome scene fighting scene for Eddis as well.
- Could I please have Eddis' Minister of War and Sophos' father the duke in the same scene?

[katewaits.livejournal.com]

Gen being sick: It can go two ways. It's a ruse (he seemed to be tricking the Mede into thinking he was losing the sparring) to make the Medes think he's weak and possibly dying. That would screw with their strategy. OR he's really sick which was the impression I got right away. His health is broken per Ornon, and Sophos was able to sneak up on him. So there's evidence for both. Has he been living on borrowed time since the stabbing in The Thief for the gods' purpose and then it's lights out? Now that he's accomplished the alignment, how much further does his part go?

Costis: Gen made a point of bettering Costis's Medean accent. You don't just do that for nothing. Especially when you have to write out pages of Medean language with your wrong hand. Gen also said "do you swear to serve me and my god" at the end of KoA. That's not nothing, either. That really meant something. AND Costis heard the god Eugenides and I don't think that would have happened if Costis wasn't meant for something bigger. In fact, I think that might be why Gen ultimately got Costis to swear to serve him AND his god.

I have to go pick up a child from school (how inconvenient) but I'll be back. ;)

[katewaits.livejournal.com]

Another thing I noticed that I think hints at some major stress for Gen is this:

page 315 hardcover --

"I didn't expect to die," [Sophos] said. "I knew you would send help."

"Why?"

It was Sounis's turn to be surprised. He said, "You told me you needed me to be Sounis. I am. I needed my king to send me help. You did. There had to be reinforcements at Oneia, so they were there." To him it was obvious.

Eugenides swallowed. "I see."

---

I love that exchange. It hints at the incredible burden of the Annux and the expectations of Gen based on his past performance. I think that could play out in an interesting way later.

I also wonder how that whole 'you shot the Mede' thing is going to play out. Will there be huge repercussions or is it going to just simmer? Has Sophos effectively declared war on the Mede? If it becomes known that it happened and the Mede don't retaliate do they look weak -- so will it, as well as their possibly thinking Gen is sick, cause them to attack prematurely?

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Well, apparently there will be a stolen elephant.

[tiegirl.livejournal.com]

LOLS

SAND COLIC, PEOPLES

[tiegirl.livejournal.com]

It's gonna be alright, folks. Just a touch of sand colic for Gen. And of course, the kitchen maid (aka Dite's first, um, you know) will be won over by Gen eventually and he will not have to ingest any more sand. And yay, while he had sand colic, the Medes were fooled into thinking he was on the way out. So, no harm, no foul.

At the end of KoA (forgive me, I am a lousy Sounisian who cannot quote) Gen tells Costis that he has an errand for him to do, so we know he's up to something. I like the idea of him being in Medea, because I agree that Gen went to alot of trouble helping him with the language. And as to him being a terrible spy? I was all ready to agree with that when I thought of how he kept pretty quiet about things while he thought about them, for the most part. Hmmmm.

Oh, who knows.

I wonder how the bears and elephants will get along?

[(Anonymous)]

wait... the kitchen maid is connected to Dite somehow??

*is confused*

[jennifer19l.livejournal.com]

Okay, maybe I'm lagging behind here, but I'm just making this connection. When Sophos visits Gen in his room after the two physicians had left, he's drinking *hot* wine? With foul herbs in it? I know he doesn't say that until the end, but I think I'm finally getting that this is one of the reasons he threw the wine, as well as his frustration over being a horse's behind with Sophos. And Philologos is used to him throwing his gross wine when he's mad.

Did everyone else already realize that? I feel like I completely missed that aspect of the wine scene with Sophos.

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

Actually, I didn't get that impression. I thought they were both drinking normal wine as a sort of social thing while they talked. I've reread the scene, and it doesn't specifically say so, but there are so few details about the wine at all that I think it could go either way. I prefer to think that the attendants just know that Eugenides is bound to break things when he's upset, be it a wineglass or an inkwell. Later, when Gen says "I'm drinking this wine as a favor to my physician," he uses present tense, not "I have been drinking wine" as if it were a regular activity. That makes me think it's only very recently that Petrus has finally gotten fed up with his rivalry with Galen and demanded that the king let him "show Galen who's in charge here." (All quotes paraphrases from memory even though I had the book open two seconds ago to check my facts.)

[ricardienne.livejournal.com]

-Is Eugenides really sick?
MWT does seem to be unable to let Eugenides be *well* for any length of time. Losing a hand (and being v. ill, physically and mentally) in QoA; getting badly stabbed in KoA; I think we should be grateful that all he got was a cold in CoK! That being said, I am worried about our dear Annux -- but I think that if dies (which please, I hope he doesn't!) it will have to be by falling. There has been just too much foreshadowing in that regard.