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[madclairvoyant.livejournal.com]

Sorry for the excessive amount of weird things I post, but I was reading through the books, again, and I thought that this was pretty interesting:

“No,” Eddis replied. She said thoughtfully, “She and I both thought his presence must inevitably

weaken Attolia and if he didn’t become a strong king, the court would soon be unstable. He proved

me wrong. Either because he can see what we can’t or just because he demands the world conform

to his own desires. I am never sure which it is that he does. In this case, he managed to so terrify his

barons that they have assumed a semblance of conformity without undermining Attolia’s power

after all. No one will cross her.”

The surface meaning sort of means that Gen ignores his position because of his temper, as earlier stipulated in the conversation, and that so Irene is in charge, and she is so terrifying that no one would cross her. Sophos evidently agrees to this. But I thought that it was interesting how Eddis phrased it; to me, it seems like Gen is actually the one who masterminds this (big surprise here), and that he is the one who is doing the intimidation, which is something unusual, in my opinion since he never tries to be scary. Helen thinking that he can demand people to bend themselves to their every will is understandable, but that he is the one who controls them subtly through fear is rather startling to me. I always thought that the barons might respect him, or even be wary, but never that he would terrify them. Maybe he would rule a lot more forcefully than anyone could guess if push comes to shove.

Thoughts?


P.S. Just a random thought; has anyone watched Elizabeth and Elizabeth: A golden age? I thought it was cool that the actress playing the titular character captured a sort of calculation, but also fear and naivety when acting as a princess, but a characteristic harshness and shrewdness in her expression after the queen's coronation. Wouldn't that be good for Irene?

Comments

[sgwordy.livejournal.com]

If my memory serves it's Ornon who says he respects Gen the same as he respects the business end of a sword which is a lot how I interpret the barons reacting to Gen. The sword on your side is fantastic, the one against you very pointy. He and Attolia are both very strong but in very different ways. The barons/court fear Attolia because she doesn't flinch and will make the hard choice. The barons/court now fear Gen because he might show up in your bedroom at night with a knife, might destroy your barony, or perhaps he'll slouch on the throne and ignore you and make you feel like a worm. His technique need not override or displace Attolia because it is completely different but equally effective. It's terrifying to think you can lose everything you have. I would think the barons have been terrified into respect rather than fear. After all, if they support Attolia they have nothing to fear. Gen is not malicious but he's also not a pushover (understatement of the year?).