[Dragaera] [Dzur Spoilers] very randomly

[Davdi Silverrock]

On 10/7/06, Jon Lincicum wrote:
> Davdi Silverrock wrote:
> > On 10/7/06, Jon Lincicum wrote:
> >
> >


> Perhaps what I'm really saying here is that yes, she trusts him
> utterly... Conditionally. On certain points. What I would define as the
> important matters, such as life or death. moral or immoral, &c. She may
> not trust him to keep himself out of needless trouble--but just how
> critical is this lack of trust in the grand scheme of things? And does
> that really impact his fitness to judge other's souls?

Life and death, I might grant you.  But I don't think moral or immoral
follows from that.

> > Since the question is one of judging souls, I think an important
> > consideration for Teldra is whether Vlad has any competence in that
> > area, and whether he has the character to do so properly.
> >
> I think the answer to that question is rather thoroughly explored in
> their exchanges in /Issola/. She contends that he always knows how to
> act appropriately. This seems to be a rather ringing endorsement of his
> fitness to judge others.
>

I still think you are overgeneralizing Teldra's statements as being
more enthusiastic and committed than she really feels.  As I said
before, she pointed out that he "kept surviving"; this is a pragmatic
endorsement, not an all-encompassing one.  And one can also wonder if
her words were a very tactful way of damning with faint praise;
"survival" is a bare minimum, really.  It isn't like Vlad is an
enormous success.  And Vlad knows it, and knows that Teldra knows it.

In fact, I am wondering if perhaps she was playing some deep Issola
psychological game; Teldra's statement of trust seemed  to have the
effect on Vlad of making him introspective, and examine his own
motivations and instincts, and like that.  The conversation very
shortly turned to him talking about what he actually had done as an
assassin...

"Most of my thoughts are morbid. I think it comes of having spent so
long killing people for a living. Strange way to live, when you think
about it, so I try not to, but I can't help it."

Perhaps, though, I am assuming too much in attributing to Teldra any
great interest in, or feeling for, moral choices.

What Vlad says in response to this:

"But you are always, or nearly always, correct in which you choose.
And this is not a matter of instinct, but of observation, attention to
detail, and experience. Appropriate action means to advance your own
goals, without unintentional harm to anyone else."

is (after the great line about Verra's tits) :

"you're as cold as Morrolan, aren't you?" "Yes," said Teldra, "I
suppose so.  Or as cold as you."

And yet again, perhaps Teldra was playing some deep Issola game, in
phrasing things so as to make Vlad think, while denigrating herself to
a certain extent.

Oh, well. Perhaps we'll find out eventually.  Or perhaps there will be
enough ambiguity in further books to allows us to continue to argue
over it.  Yes, that seems the most likely forecast.