[Dragaera] DZUR SPOILER--serious one

[Jon Lincicum]

Gorelick Ken wrote:
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> So, I am a Vladdict. I admit it. Maybe I need to enter a 17 step  
> program. Nonetheless, I found myself disappointed by Cawti. She has  
> gone from being Vlad's SUPERIOR in the area where he considers  
> himself to be a pro, to a complete nobody. Far from the consummate  
> Jhereg assassin, and even far from the Socialist revolutionary, she  
> is now a housewife. Her entire role in this book was to create the  
> situation that Vlad needed to solve. And at the end, like a good  
> little hausfrau, she brings the baby along.
>
> Vlad has grown in maturity and power while Cawti seems like a Tolkien  
> Elf at the end of the Fourth Age--totally shrunken, diminished,  
> virtually gone.
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> Is this her swan song? What can Vlad possibly see in her any longer.  
> After the limited dialog (in both senses) between them, were I Vlad I  
> would know it was time to move on.
>   
What I see in /Dzur/ is a Cawti who is so nervous about seeing Vlad 
again, and not quite sure how to handle him.

In one sense, she must realize that it was as much her failure to change 
as it was his that their relationship fell apart... And she's had YEARS 
to think about exactly how she treated him, and exactly what he did that 
caused him to go on the run from the Jhereg in the first place. (Don't 
forget, the actions Vlad takes in Phoenix that get him on the wrong side 
of House Jhereg were to protect *her*. Whether she approved of his 
methods or not, she has to feel some form of responsibility that she 
somehow contributed to the dire situation that he's put himself in.)

And all the while, Vlad Norathar has been a constant reminder for her in 
all of this. He is looking at her every day, never letting her forget 
for one moment that the man she once loved passionately is now gone from 
her life, and may wind up dead at any time.

How is she supposed to feel about Vlad? Conflicted is putting it mildly. 
She has her own pride and self-love, and it must surely be tested by the 
constant reminder of what personal actions she took that led to the 
estrangement and expulsion of the man who once shared her entire world.

I did not see a timid Cawti in Dzur, I saw an extremely *guarded* Cawti. 
She does not want to reveal to him (or even to herself) everything that 
she knows, because she's *still* not sure exactly how she feels about 
the whole situation. How can there be any closure, when he's not even 
around anymore?

The epilogue to Dzur is powerful. Cawti is forced (by her promise to 
Vlad at the beginning, and by her own self-love to keep that promise) to 
reveal VN's existence to Vlad. We've seen *his* reaction. I'm extremely 
curious as to what *hers* is going to be.

But that will have to wait for a future Vlad novel. (Possibly not even 
the next one, as I'm guessing we may see Vlad go east to Fenario in the 
next episode... But you'd have to ask Steve about that.)

Majikjon