(no subject)

[missmoonbeam.livejournal.com]

hi everyone. i've been lurking for a while and am finally posting. actually, have been meaning to post earlier but was too caught up reading old posts and fanfics (great job there, by the way, i loved so many). i was so lonely being the only person i know who LOVES the series and then i found this site where loads of people pick apart every line looking for a hidden meaning. you guys are great! i've had most of my questions answered, but i still have a few left. so i'm going to start with QoA, and post the questions for the other books in separate posts. 

and in case anyone wants to know, i'm 26 and a full-time mommy of two beautiful little girls aged 2 and 4. the only downside to that is it doesn't leave me a lot of time for reading.

ok, questions (sorry, these contain spoilers, but i dont know how to do that hide behind link thingy):

1. when attolia visits gen in the prison after his hand is cut off, she sees "only fever and pain and an emotion she couldn't put a name to". i'm probably the slowest person on here, but please tell me what that emotion is? is it love and she can't put a name to it because it's so foreign to her? 

2. later, when eddis and gen have picked up the magus, why is gen cross?

3. why does attolia throw a tantrum when she hears there might be something going on between gen and eddis? 

looking forward to great discussions! sorry if these have already been discussed before, but i haven't found them and i've read most stuff with the tags QoA, KoA, and aCoK.

Comments

[brandy-painter.livejournal.com]

I think he would feel the entire scenario to be beneath him. There is something rather underhanded about carrying out a secret affair with the ruler you are serving. Gen is a thief and liar, but he is an honorable one. I think sleeping with Eddis would go beyond what he considers honorable. And if it were true, he wouldn't let anyone find out.

The belief that they are having an affair puts an entirely different perspective on their relationship. Everyone in the Court now will wonder at the decisions she makes and exactly what kind of influence that sort of relationship has on how she listens to him. Just the belief that they are involved with each other that way could change the entire dynamic of the court.

I agree with those below who have said he is also annoyed at the guards thinking him inadequate protection, but I think that is only a little bit responsible for his bad mood.

[stubefied-by-gd.livejournal.com]

Really? I kinda got the impression that when the rumor broke no one was really all that surprised, since they had figured those two would get married some day anyway.

[brandy-painter.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...that's funny. I got the impression they were surprised (temporarily). The cousin who came across her originally who prompted them to begin the ruse certainly was shocked. The Magus was all like, "What the heckity heck is going on?" when she told Gen to rest his head on her lap. I also always thought part of Relius's wariness of telling Attolia was not just because Gen had been involved in the abduction of the Magus, but because his intelligence had missed this monumental piece of information.

I also don't think the members of Eddis's court ever thought her and Gen would marry. Which is why I say they were surprised temporarily, because I've never really thought the Eddisians believed this for very long. Most of them probably knew they were spreading a disinformation campaign from the beginning. So, I don't think that it actually did affect the politics of the Court (at least not for long), but I think Gen's annoyance over the situation in the beginning is because he doesn't like how it reflects on him...or her, for that matter. And while those in the know would realize the rumor was false, the rest of the country did not. Probably part of the reason the common people of Eddis aren't too fond of Gen anymore (as is implied in ACoK). You have an affair with one Queen and then marry another, it doesn't cast you in the best light. There are implications a situation like this makes about the people involved that would be hard to do away with later. I think this makes more sense in my head than it does when I type it...

[chubbyleng.livejournal.com]

Wait... I'm confused. =/ I agree with what you said, but that wouldn't just taint Gen's reputation with the rest of the Eddisians, like you pointed out. That would also pretty much ruin Helen's as well, right?.

Correct me if I'm wrong, I have little knowledge of history, but it always seems to me as if there's a double standard when it comes to women and men back then. Like men could do whatever in the world they want, but women must obviously keep their virtue until properly married off. I understand that Eddis is Queen, and perhaps that gives her a bit more freedom than most women, but wouldn't having an affair with a man she's not married to be considered scandalous? Or shameful? I mean, of course, it would be surprising to say the least, but it always makes me wonder why Eddis was so comfortable in breeding a rumour of that degree.

[brandy-painter.livejournal.com]

Thanks for making me think through and clarify my comments. I'm working on very little sleep and around sugar hyped kids today. :)

No, you're right about the double standard, which is why I put in that part about him not liking it reflecting poorly on her too. That part about the reaction of the people of Eddis just occurred to me as I was typing that and I didn't give it much thought beyond, "I wonder"...so maybe not. I do think at the point when they're with the Magus all that could potentially go wrong with this current rumor plan is what is weighing on Gen's mind. All that is part of the potential, but it might not have gotten that far.

As far as the scandal: it would be scandalous for her to be having an affair. Particularly with someone she started a war over who it's obvious she is trying to marry off to her cousin. This is why I think it probably did cause shock and furor in the court at first. The wiser people,who knew it couldn't be true and that they were obviously shamming for some reason, probably helped fan the flames at first. I'm fairly certain most of the others (the not so wise) figured out it was untrue at some point but once a rumor like that is out there you can't pull it back in completely. It's possible if the common people did find out they would see the Queen as an injured party, like Gen used her in some way.

Working out the logistics of how this may have worked is giving me a headache and I've now officially spent more time thinking about this than is probably normal or healthy.

I do think that all of the potential ramifications of such a rumor bothered Gen and that's why he was in a bad mood. The soldiers not trusting him added fuel to the flame because it was a reminder that his charades always come with consequences he doesn't particularly enjoy.