[Dragaera] The Final Contract

[Jonathan Carey, CHRL]

First off...a tribute to Stephen Hawking.  :(

Alright, on to the content of my post:

I know Steve hates it when we start to predict things that he was already
planning. But this must be balanced with the fact that, as the puzzle nears
completion, the image it depicts becomes more readily apparent.  So while
he's said before that he's discarded plot points when a fan guessed them, I
don't know if that will be as likely in this case since the writing, as
they say, is increasingly on the wall.


*SO MANY SPOILERS.  ABANDON HOPE ALL YE WHO READ PAST YONDER LINE*

*SPOILERS*

OK.

I think Vlad is going to take a contract, again from a god or gods, or
maybe just out of his own sheer ballsiness, to see if he can use Godslayer
to slay the Cycle itself.  *waits for the trembling of the Earth to subside*

This theory, I think, makes a lot of sense from a number of perspectives.
We now know that the society of the Dragaerans has been frozen by the
experiments of the Jenoine--it seems to me that many Dragaerans, and in
particular Dolivar, would find this to be unacceptable.

There is a clue to this as well, when Godslayer and Iceflame, (which
stands, among other things, for the stability of the cycle), experimentally
are touched together in _Issola_ or whatever book it was....with the result
that Morrolan suggests they do not attempt that experiment again :P

We know that the personality of Vlad/Dolivar is an extension of Steve the
author; and I think the idea of a great stultification that prevents social
justice (ie, the power of the masses from being able to govern) from
happening except for maybe once in 17 reigns, to be unacceptable to him as
a person, though he has thus far been VERY good at narrating contrasting
viewpoints so as to avoid didacticism. So this factor may not play into the
result, but I suspect it won't change the result.

I think the fate the Godslayer is destined to slay Verra is a red herring;
it may well be that Godslayer kills Verra, but I doubt that Vlad would take
a contract to kill her, despite her interference with Vlad's memories.
This transgression pales in comparison to to the transgression of the
Jenoine, ie, the interference of the Jenoine in pretty much all aspects of
Dragaeran society, and many aspects of Eastern society as well, including
their very genetics...this is particularly egregious.

I suspect that the Cycle is the God's way of co-opting the experiment of
the Jenoine, probably because they were unable to (safely) eliminate that
experiment. Vlad will have other thoughts on the matter; and will move to
destroy the Cycle, because it is the only way to end the experiment of the
Jenoine which he would see as responsible for the oppression of so many
people for so long (since one of its effects was to create the Houses, from
which he was ultimately banished; not to mention how it engendered the
rampant racism that was responsible, in Vlad's eyes, for pretty much all of
the suffering in his life.) However, destroying the Cycle will put him at
odds with Verra (and perhaps other Gods or individuals, like Sethra) such
that Vlad is forced to kill Verra directly, causing the other gods to back
off, or that Verra dies (read, "is prevented from manifesting on this
plane") as a result of the destruction of the Cycle, as she is tied to it
in many, many ways.

Vlad's action in destroying the cycle would be both stunningly presumptious
as well as simply "doing what needs doing".  Ie, it is as much the act of a
Dragonlord as much as it is one of a Jhereg.

However, I suspect that Verra will not be entirely out of the picture; it's
very likely that she has either planned this directly, or at least has
planned FOR it, and will perhaps continue to act, because the Jenoine will
still exist; and will still seek to gain access to the raw Chaos on the
planet...

(side note: it would have been cool if the Chaos is the side-effect of the
Jenoine's experiment to create a perfectly stable/stagnant society, but we
already know that the chaos is a natural phenomenon on Dragaera...this
doesn't prevent them from harnessing it/refining it in that way; perhaps
they somehow shunted "societal change" into the chaos? Maybe it "naturally
occurred" in only very small amounts, but the Jenoine's experiments greatly
expanded the quantity of the chaos?)

...and preventing the Jenoine from accessing it will remain a priority of
the remaining Gods.  If Verra continues to exist in any
way/anywhere/anywhen after she is killed by Godslayer, then Devera will be
able to get access to her, and can act as Verra's agent going forward.
Losing Verra's power is a blow, for sure, but not an insurmountable one.  I
suspect Vlad Norathar will be involved in the god's plans to prevent the
Jenoine from manifesting.  How could you marry Devera and NOT be involved?
:P

Anyway, those are my thoughts.   Can anyone poke holes in it?

Regards,

Jon Carey, B.A.(Hon), CHRL, CHRP