Eddis, Attolia, Sounis

Hi, *pokes head around corner, with sheepish grin* Newbie butting in again  -

So I lent my copy of The Thief to my middle little brother last week, and he just came into my room after finishing, all punch-drunk from its sheer awesomeness to talk about it with me. (Another obsessed fan on the horizon!) So we were nattering on and on about it and I mentioned something about the part in Thief where Gen does NOT die under the cliffs. And immediately, MLB goes, 'yeah, because he's got the thing in his hair that keeps him alive.'
Which made me feel, I don't know, really, REEEEALLY incredibly slow? Because I've been reading the first two books at least twice a year for at least seven years now and only realised the significance of Gen not dying after reading about it on Sounis? Also, MLB is TEN YEARS OLD and picked it up right away???

So... my question, or discussion, or whatever, is this:
1. What parts of the books took everyone a long time to 'get'? Or that you think you should have got sooner? I'm really, really hoping I'm not the only one who was this phenomenally slow, but the books are so intricate and rely such a lot on subtext as well there must have been things that other people missed...

2. Conversely, some subtext you did pick up, and remembered? (For me, realising Gen was in the room when Attolia is 'being silent' after she sentences Relius was a very, very exciting moment XD)

Thoughts?

Also, on a completely unrelated note, I was trawling throught the archives and found some references to a letter with questions sent to MWT and answered. Is there any way I can find out what was in the letter and reply?

-Te Aroha

(edited for being even more unobservant than usual: There was a lot of talk about not noticing Gen's gift-bump in Thief a few entries down which I totally missed. Gah. Other things XD?)