Back to memory lane

[kozanoga.livejournal.com]

So just like everybody here I repeatedly reread passages in the  books. And last week I stumbled upon something which might be something  new (at least to me).

At the end of Queen of Attolia Gen goes savage and builds an altar so  he can shout at the Gods. Rereading his steps of building the pretty  altar, I noticed he used a silver match case. That made me stop and  think.

There has been another time when Gen used a silver match case. In the  Thief there is a wonderful paragraph in which Gen lists all the stuff  he has hidden in his pockets (p. 161 of the 2017 edition). And one of  those items is a little silver case with sulfur matches. Did Gen keep  this match case as a souvenir, and do we see him use it at the end of  QoA? He did keep the ring with the dolphin (which Megan likes for other  reasons), as Pheris briefly describes it in RotT. I'd like to belief he  also took the match case from the Attolian stronghold. What do you  think?

I mean just picture this: Gen naked apart for some bandages, picking  through his possessions on a table in Attolia's stronghold. Lock  openers, take 'm; Ambiades fancy comb, nah; empty match case and ancient  ring; yup, indispensable. Now I'm ready to save my friends.

Comments

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

I like this theory. He was suffering from a serious lack of pockets at the time (the ring was easy), but he carried the lock picks so why not the match case? I love the descriptions in the books of interesting little things that help us imagine the setting. Small amphoras for hair oil, inkpots of various shapes, bedcurtains, etc. Gen isn't real sentimental but if he loves that ring so much, why not the match case, too.

[ninedaysaqueen.livejournal.com]

I love this little detail! I also just think I realized something. In RoT, it is stated that everything the Thief steals must either be donated or used in service to Eugenides, the deity. He stole the silver match case at the inn, so maybe he's not allowed to just abandon it? He has to use it to do Thief stuff or donate it? And maybe, the ring and comb don't matter because the owners are deceased? Gotta wonder...

[kozanoga.livejournal.com]

Really interesting! Never thought about that so deeply, though in the Attolian Archives podcast the question comes up how normal thieves look at the Thief. Grey area