[Dragaera] Sethra's apprentices

[Alexx Kay]

I'm rereading _Yendi_.  Sethra Lavode mentions that each of her
apprentices (except for StY) has tried to kill her.  Sethra's a pretty
smart cookie.  You'd think, over the millenia, that she would have worked
out whatever it was about her selection or training methods that
encouraged such behavior, and put a stop to it.  If she *wanted* to put a
stop to it...

What does she need an apprentice *for*, anyways?  The traditional role of
an apprentice is to learn the master's skills, so that those skills are
preserved once the master has passed on.  Sethra shows no signs of
'passing on' any time soon.

Maybe she's tired.  Maybe she would actually like to die.  But her job is
of vital importance, and her sense of duty prevents her from leaving it
unfilled.  Maybe her habit of taking apprentices is in pursuit (so far
unsuccessful) of finding/molding someone who has the
skills/power/abilities to replace her.  And a big part of *proving* that
they have what it takes to do so, is to kill her.

In this light, Sethra the Younger would have been something of a
disappointment even before the events of _Yendi_.

Idle speculation.
Alexx

"Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog.  Few people are
 interested and the frog dies of it."         -- E.B. White