maderelee, thank you, this post, particularly with your Edit absolutely made my evening. I couldn't have said it better.
I too see Irene and Sophos relationship blossoming and evolving. Amongst the four sovereigns, they are the only two that don't go way, way back together: Whereas, Helen and Gen are cousins, Helen and Irene were rivals as children, Gen and Sophos had their Hamiathes Gift adventure together)... I really see MWT giving Irene and Sophos a chance to forge an equally significant bond over the next two books. Everytime Irene asked Gen about Sophos in the times leading up to CofK, MWT used the word "softly." Attolia asks about Sophos "softly." I really .... drank in that singular word used to describe Irene's curiosity. Like just that WORD when referring to Irene gives me a rush of love for her. It was full of this already-present intuitive tenderness for Sophos long before she knew anything about him. She knew that Sophos was very special to her husband and because she trusted her husband, that fact in and of itself made her trust Sophos.
Additionally, even though Sophos was still feeling reticent about Attolia (because at this point in CofK, Irene's much better than when she was when at the brink of losing herself completely in QOA-- she's still really not fully healed or fully showing herself to others yet but getting there...) like he was still perceiving her as "cool and icy" .. Attolia was actually pouring her heart out to him, in the only way she knew how-- by candidly sharing everything she knows about ruling a country with him, clearly with the hope of helping him in anyway she could.
I feel like while the circumstances under which Irene and Sophos have to take back their country as young monarchs are similar, at the same time I feel like there was an additional layer in Attolia... it was Irene against the patriarchy, like her barrons resisted her even more because she was a woman and "going where a woman has no right to go without being affiliated with a man" kind of thing.
And this gets me thinking about how Helen did not, in comparison, seem to face gender discrimination from her country when she was crowned but from what I understand the Eddisians are more spiritually connected to their gods than the Attolians (where spirituality has faded into going a festival here and there and using the gods' names for cussing-- lol) And it was known that the Eddisian gods had chosen Eddis Helen and endorsed by their deities, the people accepted that.
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Re: These Are My Dead/My Hands Are Covered in Blood
Date: 5/11/17 03:42 pm (UTC)I too see Irene and Sophos relationship blossoming and evolving. Amongst the four sovereigns, they are the only two that don't go way, way back together: Whereas, Helen and Gen are cousins, Helen and Irene were rivals as children, Gen and Sophos had their Hamiathes Gift adventure together)... I really see MWT giving Irene and Sophos a chance to forge an equally significant bond over the next two books. Everytime Irene asked Gen about Sophos in the times leading up to CofK, MWT used the word "softly." Attolia asks about Sophos "softly." I really .... drank in that singular word used to describe Irene's curiosity. Like just that WORD when referring to Irene gives me a rush of love for her. It was full of this already-present intuitive tenderness for Sophos long before she knew anything about him. She knew that Sophos was very special to her husband and because she trusted her husband, that fact in and of itself made her trust Sophos.
Additionally, even though Sophos was still feeling reticent about Attolia (because at this point in CofK, Irene's much better than when she was when at the brink of losing herself completely in QOA-- she's still really not fully healed or fully showing herself to others yet but getting there...) like he was still perceiving her as "cool and icy" .. Attolia was actually pouring her heart out to him, in the only way she knew how-- by candidly sharing everything she knows about ruling a country with him, clearly with the hope of helping him in anyway she could.
I feel like while the circumstances under which Irene and Sophos have to take back their country as young monarchs are similar, at the same time I feel like there was an additional layer in Attolia... it was Irene against the patriarchy, like her barrons resisted her even more because she was a woman and "going where a woman has no right to go without being affiliated with a man" kind of thing.
And this gets me thinking about how Helen did not, in comparison, seem to face gender discrimination from her country when she was crowned but from what I understand the Eddisians are more spiritually connected to their gods than the Attolians (where spirituality has faded into going a festival here and there and using the gods' names for cussing-- lol) And it was known that the Eddisian gods had chosen Eddis Helen and endorsed by their deities, the people accepted that.