Ep 4 Crown of Midnight: Ch. 22 - 29

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign hello and welcome back to Books, Cats and Chaos. The podcast where we explore epic tales, sprinkle in a bit of humor and embrace the chaos of book loving, book buying, cat herding and all the things that come in with those things. My name is James and I am. [00:00:43] Speaker B: Casey and we are a husband and wife team who love all things books, cats, brews and the fun chaos in between. [00:00:53] Speaker A: We are continuing our deep dive into Crown of Midnight in the Throne of Glass series. This is book two and just as a reminder if you are joining us for the first time or if you just need a quick reminder, this is my first time reading through the series and so we are not diving into any of the extended universe stuff or I guess the self called mass verse. So no Acotar, no Crescent City. And we are doing this in the most spoiler free way as possible. So only things from Crown of Midnight. Well and throw out a glass since they tie together but nothing going forward. So just keep that in mind as we go through. We are doing this as a journey for me and for you. [00:01:54] Speaker B: Yes, and a content reminder. This podcast is for adult audiences only as we will be using adult language to discuss adult topics, content, themes and more. So if you have those tiny little ones about, please save this podcast for later. And also if you are new here, our format is pretty simple. We do a recap of the chapter before going into our thoughts, theories and predictions of what's to come. So this week's episode also comes with a trigger warning as we will be discussing murder, blood and maybe some sex. [00:02:28] Speaker A: Sounds like a good time. Honestly, if you haven't already, but you like what you hear so far, or you like what you've heard on any of our other podcast episodes, then please do not forget Donut. Please don't forget to rate, subscribe or comment on this podcast and follow up on social media. We're active Everywhere and also YouTube. We'd love to hear your comments, see anything regarding the discussion stuff. [00:02:59] Speaker B: So yeah, all right, well we have a lot to talk about in chapter 22, so let's dive right on in. Dorian was alone in the library, delving through books on his family's extensive genealogical charts and records. He couldn't be the only one with magic, right? Right. What about Holland? What a frightening thought that would be. There had been several gifted people married into the bloodline, but their children didn't inherit the gifts. Dorian pulled the oldest looking book he could find. Its records going back to founding of Erdedland itself to top of the family tree was Gavin Haveliard. Gavin was the mortal who married Elena, the half fae daughter of Brannon, Tarassin's first king. Since then, no other fey blood bred into their line. And it was Brannon who gifted Gavin the Aterland territory. Dorian was surprised his father hadn't destroyed this book. Galithinia's family line, starting with the Fae King Brannan was recorded and his line was blessed. Well, more than just blessed with magic. The bloodline was so powerful, other kingdoms lived in terror that one day Tarasen would come to claim their lands. But Tarasson never did. Sadly, the book didn't mark which houses his father exterminated or if any survivors were sent into exile. If the heir of Tarassin, Aelin Galathinius, had lived, would her and Dorian be friends? Would they have married? Dorian remembered meeting her once before. Before his father destroyed her kingdom. Elin's older cousin, Adeon Ash river ended up becoming the king's general and fiercest warrior in the north. Each time Dorian's met Edean over the years, Dorian got the feeling Edeon wanted to kill him also. Did Nehemia know what dwell inside of Dorian? She had acted strangely at the competition, drawing symbols in the air and the glow on Celaena's forehead. Shortly after a clock chimed. Dorian decided to leave the library. He wanted to wish Kael a happy birthday despite not being invited to the celebration with Kael and Celaena. As Dorian was leaving, books flew from the shelves, flying into him as if thrown by an invisible force. Dorian quickly shoved the books back into the shelves before quickly leaving the library. For whatever reason, Baba Yellow legs entered his mind. Perhaps the witch had answers for him because that is smarter than talking to Nehemia. Meanwhile, Celaena was all dolled up and nervous about the special dinner she had planned had been preparing for weeks. For Kale's birthday, dinner was held on the roof of an old apothecary. The roof was an enclosed glass greenhouse. You know, because they don't get enough of the glass castle filled with plants, flowers and glittering lights. Their table was near the glass wall overlooking the Avery River. No one had ever done this for Kaol. No one has thrown Kael a birthday party since he was a child. Selina even made sure the first course was his favorite stew. After dinner, Selena comes clean, telling Kael she actually hasn't killed anyone and has been smuggling all of her targets out. And she told Kel she plans to do the same for Archer. And Kel tells her she's gone mad. I am out of breath. That was a lot. [00:06:20] Speaker A: You know I want to know, if you were in a library and books flew off the shelf at you, why wouldn't you at least look at them to see what they were? [00:06:31] Speaker B: I think the fact that. I think his powers were going haywire, and so he was just like, nope, nope, nope. Let me shove these back in and get the hell out of here before, like, the librarians or scholars or anybody sees this and, you know, reports it to the king. That's the last thing Dorian wants is his father to be like, you have powers. Off with you. [00:06:58] Speaker A: You know, still, there could have been a clue. [00:07:03] Speaker B: True. [00:07:03] Speaker A: Somebody might have been trying to help him. [00:07:06] Speaker B: Somebody or something. [00:07:08] Speaker A: Well, I mean, you know. Yeah. This seems. Because his magic has to do with ice and stuff. It's not like. I don't know. Just seems like a wasted opportunity to maybe learn something, whatever. [00:07:24] Speaker B: Yeah. I also want to know why he thought going to Baba Yellow Legs was the smarter choice than Nehemiah. Like, I get that Nehemia might seem a little weird with her constantly, like, drawing symbols in the air and, you know, she drew one, like, on his chest. But otherwise, she's been a friend, at least to Celaena, and has been cordial with him and Kale, and she offered, like, hey, when something happens, come find me. We'll talk. I'll help you through this. Baba Yellow Legs is a witch. He knows nothing about her, but he's gonna go and try to ask her questions. [00:08:08] Speaker A: Yeah, right. Like Nehemia did already. Tell him, I'm here to help you when. When something happens, because something's gonna happen. I will help you. And he immediately. Yeah. He goes to. And there's stories about the witches. Like, what part of that sounded like a good idea to him? [00:08:32] Speaker B: Right. Regardless if they have their powers still or not. [00:08:35] Speaker A: Like, I wouldn't trust her. With or without powers, she's still going to be over a century old. Like, that just seems like a bad decision. [00:08:46] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:08:49] Speaker B: I don't know. Dorian is. He needs help, and he's going to the wrong people for help. [00:09:00] Speaker A: Isn't that usually the way it works, though? [00:09:03] Speaker B: Yeah, I guess. You need some sort of drama, right? [00:09:06] Speaker A: Well, people always have a tendency to go to the wrong people for help when they need help. [00:09:17] Speaker B: So was this a smart move on Celaena's part? Confessing to Kale what she's been doing the past couple months? [00:09:23] Speaker A: I don't see how she could have not done it, you know, at some point. You know, there's two. I feel like there's two thoughts on that, because one is, you know, Bringing another person into the fold. Right. That now makes it more dangerous for everybody involved. [00:09:47] Speaker B: Yes, I agree. [00:09:48] Speaker A: But at the same time, you know, having somebody like Kael potentially on your side, you know, he may be able to help her in ways that she couldn't necessarily do things on her own. Seeing as he is the captain of the guard, he could be an extra set of eyes, ears, anything like that. So I. I don't necessarily think it was a matter of, like, how smart it was to tell him. It was just a matter of time. It was a matter of time. She had to tell him at some point. Granted, I think she could have picked a better time and not his birthday dinner. [00:10:29] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:33] Speaker A: That just seems like since we're here and we're having a great time, by the way, I'm going directly against the King's orders. [00:10:40] Speaker B: What? [00:10:41] Speaker A: Could you at least let me eat my cake first? [00:10:44] Speaker B: I think they did at least have dessert first. I think it was just like, you know, they were letting things digest and having champagne, and she was like, so I'm gonna be straight up with you. [00:10:57] Speaker A: Now that you're nice and lubed up. [00:11:00] Speaker B: Immac you over. [00:11:01] Speaker A: You can't be mad because I gave you cake and drinks and. And your favorite stew. [00:11:08] Speaker B: Yep. [00:11:09] Speaker A: To be fair, if you wanted to break some bad news to me and you and you wanted to putty me up with, you know, some. Some Guinness stew or whatever and a carrot cake, that's not a bad way to go, honestly. [00:11:21] Speaker B: Would that quickly become, like, your not favorite meal, though, afterwards? [00:11:27] Speaker A: Nah. [00:11:29] Speaker B: No. Okay. [00:11:29] Speaker A: No, I'd be fine. I would be. Later. I'd be like, can't believe she told me that were Guinness stew. I'm so upset. I better go have some Guinness stew. [00:11:41] Speaker B: With a pint of Guinness. [00:11:43] Speaker A: With a pint of Guinness, exactly. [00:11:49] Speaker B: This is actually. It shows a lot of trust on Selena's part. She has grown so much from the first book, Throne of Glass, where, you know, she didn't trust Kael. Like, she was starting to. We see her start to trust him over the course of the book. But, you know, everything that she felt about Cain, about seeing the Ridderak and stuff like that. The word marked. She didn't trust anybody. She didn't trust Dorian or Kael. And now we've come to this side where she is deciding to trust Kaolin and letting him know her plans and what she's done, knowing full well that he could turn her in. He is captain of the guard. It just a nice moment to see her opening herself up to trusting someone with her plans and everything. [00:12:42] Speaker A: Well, yeah. And I mean, and she has even said more than once, and she'll say it again, that he is blindly loyal to the king. And, you know, regardless of how much their relationship has progressed, that is still, I think, would always be at the back of your mind. Like, he is my friend and we've been through a lot together, and, you know, I like him. I think he likes me. But he is still. He's loyal to the king. Pretty much to a fault. Is this a smart choice for me to divulge this information? But at the same time, I can't keep this from him because if he finds out from anybody but me, it's going to be so much worse. [00:13:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:13:38] Speaker A: You know, I mean, all it would take would be for Archer to say something like, you know, while Kale's around, like, are you going to. You know, when are you planning to spirit me out like you did the others? And they kill me. Like, the what now? You know, so it has to come from her. [00:13:58] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:13:58] Speaker A: There's really no way it's gonna be better than if it just comes from her. [00:14:08] Speaker B: Yep. I agree. So I agree. I also agree that doing this on his birthday probably wasn't the smartest or best choice. But then also, like, when did they have the time to sit there and be like. [00:14:22] Speaker A: Well, I mean, yeah, that. That could be the whole thing where this is literally. She looks at this and she's thinking, when are we ever going to have a chance to be alone outside of the palace? Yeah. If everybody knows that I'm making a special thing for him for his birthday, then they're not going to bother us, right? [00:14:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:42] Speaker A: Unless there's an emergency or whatever. But literally, any other time, I mean, they can't talk in their rooms because it just seems like people just walk into other people's rooms. Like, yeah, like, hello, I am here. Thank you. I was taking a bath. That's fine. I'll wait in the main room. [00:14:59] Speaker B: Like, yeah. [00:15:01] Speaker A: You know, so there's really no privacy. You could be mid conversation or. Or mid many things, and somebody could just be like, hello. So from a perspective of timing, I could see where this would be, you know, for her more advantageous. Or not advantageous, but, you know, convenient, I guess, is really what I'm trying to say. I guess. You know. Yeah. Kind of crappy for his birthday, but I get it. [00:15:41] Speaker B: At least he had a good meal out of it. [00:15:43] Speaker A: That's true. His favorite stew. [00:15:46] Speaker B: Yep. [00:15:47] Speaker A: Hey, a lot can be said for having a favorite stew, but so chapter 23. Kale explodes, yelling at Selena because of course, the king will kill her. He has spies literally everywhere, and those men she was supposed to kill are traitors to the crown. Selena believes that Archer is feeding her real information about the secret movement from Terazin. She wants to use that information to barter with the king and escape, go somewhere far enough that nobody has even heard of Adolin. Kael tells her that he'll go with her. He doesn't want to be parted from her. He is starting to rethink his duties to the king. There are so many secrets the king's been keeping, and maybe Kael was just a puppet. He tells her he's not going to let her go alone. She tears up. She tells him that he reminds her of how the world ought to be, how the world can be. And they are having all kinds of feelings. And then they kiss. And, well, like a couple of horny teenagers, they make out during the carriage ride back to the castle. Because, you know, why not? But once they're back in Selena's room, all bets are off. Somehow they compose themselves once they're at the castle, which, good luck with that. Selena and Kale wake up at dawn, tangled in each other's arms, knowing they're not going for their morning run. And, you know, they don't need to. [00:17:33] Speaker B: Because they had enough cardio. [00:17:36] Speaker A: They got plenty of exercise the night before. They agree to keep their relationship a secret, mainly because they don't know how the king will act. But Selina can't help but tease that she would be boasting to everyone if she could. They also agree not to tell Dorian. Kale has had feelings for Selena since you'll miss, maybe even Samhain. But he gave her. Or, sorry, when he gave her the amethyst ring that she still wears. Celaena was still sorting her feelings out for Kale. Like, when did she start loving him? You know, when they decided to have some activities, you know, outside of running. Wink, wink, let the good times roll. So. Yeah. So. So. [00:18:26] Speaker B: So they. They finally committed to their. To their feelings in their relationship. [00:18:35] Speaker A: I was. Do we have a timeline on this? Because when you read it, it feels like their relationship progressed faster than what hers and Dorian's had started to, you know, before it was shut down. Because he got the idea that her and Dorian were sort of flirting, you know, for like, what, a month or two? [00:18:58] Speaker B: And for a couple months, more or less. I mean, so she was rescued from Endovir in the fall, and the final championship was right after Yilmas. [00:19:15] Speaker A: Right. [00:19:16] Speaker B: So about three months. So she. Her and Dorian kind of flirted here and there, I think. Shoot. When did they first kiss? Was that between Samhain and you'll miss. And then. So, I mean, yeah, maybe month, month and a half with Dorian. And then she became the king's champion for about two or three months, and now she has moved on with Cal. So it has not been very long. [00:19:55] Speaker A: Yeah, No, I just. I wonder if. If they're part of them and their decision to not tell Dorian is just because of how fast, like, everything moved through. [00:20:15] Speaker B: I think so. And I think Dorian's feelings for Selena were greater than hers for Dorian. So taking into consideration that plus Dorian and Kael being like brothers, you know, it's. Don't wanna. Don't wanna, you know, hurt him. [00:20:41] Speaker A: Dun, dun, dun. [00:20:43] Speaker B: I think this shows some character growth on Kael's part, too. You know, he's starting to question the king. I mean, we've been seeing little fragments here and there of Kel being frustrated and wanting to question the king, especially when the king is being, like, so closed off, not taking the guards that Kale suggested, not giving him a full report and everything. And now we're seeing that even more now that him and Selena, you know, have been making out. And she told him what she's been doing the past couple months about rescuing these people instead of killing them and stuff. And he's. He's questioning his loyalty like this, blind loyalty to the king, and he's ready to just pick up and go. If Selina were to flee and run for the hills, he's ready to just go with her. We did not see this in book one. He was very much like, no, you did something to get yourself sent to Endovier. You're at fault. You're a prisoner. You're a criminal. And now he's ready to run for the hills with her and leave behind his duty for the king and for Dorian, all within, what, six months? Seven months? [00:22:06] Speaker A: Yeah. You know, but we did see that same behavior from Dorian, too. Or he was like, I'll give it all up and we can go, and I'll go with you, and. [00:22:18] Speaker B: Oh, so there's something about Selena, then. She's making all the men just want to take off and settle down with her. [00:22:25] Speaker A: I don't think that Dorian at the time was lacking in his commitment or, you know, his desire to do that with her. But I think it probably was more than what he was really like, anticipating what he was committing to, because leaving the Life of being a prince is very different than Kael leaving the life of being the Captain of the Guard. Like, that's just a job. [00:22:54] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:55] Speaker A: It's not a lineage destiny. Like. [00:23:00] Speaker B: Well, I mean, Cale has already given that up, too. He was a lord's son, and he was set to inherit, you know. [00:23:08] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, now he's. Yeah. He's already lost all that fancy schmancy stuff, so he's like, if I. You know, fine. It's just a guard thing. Like, let's go. Let's do this. Let's leave. [00:23:19] Speaker B: Like, I can become a farmer or whatever somewhere. [00:23:24] Speaker A: Like, he could. [00:23:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:23:27] Speaker A: But it's just interesting that both of them, as soon as Selena's, like, shows a little bit of interest, like, let's. I want to leave. I want to go. Both of them are like, okay, let's do. Let's go. I'll do it. Like, with. For you. I'll do it. [00:23:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:23:44] Speaker A: So it's something that they just see. [00:23:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:23:51] Speaker A: In her. I guess. So he gave her the. That amethyst ring. And so you were saying, the amethyst. The stone symbolizes love, wisdom, clarity, and serenity. And it's associated with royalty, mainly due to the purple color. And supposedly, in the Middle Ages, Amethyst was believed to have the power to calm the mind and help the wearer make better decisions, but that does not seem to work on Celaena. [00:24:27] Speaker B: She is such a hothead. [00:24:30] Speaker A: So either they got it wrong, or she is way too much for the calming powers of Amethyst. The stone is trying so, so hard. So hard. [00:24:44] Speaker B: It was just like these trinkets that they passed out as favors to everyone at the Samhain Ball. But, you know, he managed to snatch one and give it to Selina. And now looking at that, looking at what the amethyst symbolizes, you know, love and clarity and everything, it kind of seems like foreshadowing. Like, yeah, he promised he would bring her something from the party. He didn't promise her jewelry, but he brought her jewelry, and she's worn it ever since. So that could have been foreshadowing for them, for their relationship. But, yeah, when I read that Amethyst is also for, like, power to calm the mind and make better choices, I'm like, this. This is not having the intended effect on Selena whatsoever. But. Okay. [00:25:36] Speaker A: I wonder if he knew about any of that when he gave it to her, or if he was just like, this one's pretty. [00:25:42] Speaker B: Here's a pretty trinket. She'll like it. [00:25:45] Speaker A: A pretty ring. For a pretty lady. [00:25:47] Speaker B: Yep. Alright. Moving on to chapter 24. After another sleepless night, Dorian decided to seek out Baba Yellowlegs again. Why is this a better decision than seeking out Nehemia? Baba Yellow Legs makes him pay double to asking questions during her lunch break. Yas Queen. Double pay when you are supposed to be on break. We like this. We learned several things. Baba Yellowlegs is really a witch. She's over 500 years old. Witches also have long lifespans, like the fae. This is due to the fact that the Vaals are demons who stole fae and bred with them, creating the witches. So that's interesting. Witches are Fae and Valg mix. There are the beautiful Krakens that took after the fae, while the three clans of Iron Teeth witches took after the Volg. Baba Yellowlegs confirms that his kind of magic is gone, but other forgotten powers still work. So when she said your or his, the emphasis that was italicized in the book, was she signaling out Dorian or emphasizing Yor as in humans? Something we should talk about. She also confirms that the fae on this continent don't have access to their powers and some got trapped in their animal forms. She's heard rumors that magic only disappeared from here, not across the whole of Irelia. She does give Dorian some advice. If she wanted to learn why someone suddenly had magic, she would start by figuring out why magic left in the first place. She wonders why a princeling is asking these questions. And he retorts that it's stranger still that the last born witch of the witch kingdom would spend her life doing carnival tricks. And was it the sudden clouds that passed overhead or something else that caused a dark gleam in her eyes? Dorian briefly wondered if the sleeping beast within him would protect him from Baba Yellowlegs if she decided to attack. Dorian got as far as the next tent before Roland joined him. Shit. Was Roland following him? Dorian told him that he was bored and just wanting to get his fortune read. Roland had been backing Dorian lately in the council meetings, much to Parrington and the king's irritation. So Dorian didn't question Roland about why he was following him. Meanwhile, Celaena was cloaked in darkness, watching as all of the men on her list, the ones who knew what the king might be up to, were leaving. All the men and their families boarded a ship in the middle of the night. Archer appeared behind her again. Some great assassin who let someone sneak up on her. Celaena debated either throwing Archer on the same ship and faking his death, or dragging his carcass to the king. That night, Archer thinks that the person he had mentioned this to might be the leader of the organized group, or high up enough that they were able to organize this rescue quickly. Selena tells him he better get her new information and names by tomorrow night, or else Kael has sexy fun times on his brain, reliving the first night with Celaena over and over. As his guards were trying to ask if they needed to station more guards at the carnival, Celaena pokes her head in the room and tells him the king has summoned him for a meeting. In reality, Celaena just wanted to grab him for a quickie in the broom closet. Down the hall later, Nehimia and Selina share girl talk, mainly over how passionate Kael can be. Before their conversation turns serious. The king wants Nehemia to convince the rebel forces to back down or he'll butcher them all again. Parrington is going to be stationed at Morath at the end of the month. Nehemia needs to get back to Elwe to be there for her people, but she insists that she needs to stay here at the castle. There are things that she still needs to do. Then Nehimi asks Selina to promise her that she'll help Nehemia free Elway from the king, that she'll help get her father's crown back to him. She wants her people freed from Andover and Calicula. Selina tells Nehemia no, she is just an assassin and it would be madness. Nehimia is relentless and won't take no for an answer, saying that together they could gather a host. And what would Celaena stand for? Selina reminds Nehemia that she has no idea the sort of things the king can do to her, to her people. Terasen was the strongest court of the continent and he was still able to kill them all. Nehemia tells Selina that she is the one person chosen by Queen Elena. If she's not God's blessed, then who is? She drops another bombshell. Nehemia's dreams are filled with shadows and wings. Booming of wings soaring between mountain passes. This sounds a little like Kaltane. We shall see. Any scout and spy that they send to the White Fang Mountains, to the Faryen Gap, does not come back. And those that live in the valley below can hear wings too. Nehemia and Selina continue to fight, with Nehemia calling Selina a coward and Selina telling her not to come crying to her when her people are lying dead around her. Oh, such a dark chapter, Right? [00:31:06] Speaker A: She had such a good time with Kale, and then it's all like, you know, haha, love, love. And then she comes to this and it's like, all right, thank you. Downer time late. [00:31:17] Speaker B: Yep. [00:31:18] Speaker A: So if we go back and we. And we look at this, there must have been something specific that Dorian was thinking, thinking that he was gonna get out of Baba Yellow Legs. That's the only reason why I think he would go to her instead of Nehemia, because he must have guessed that she was old, right? Maybe a hundred years. But it turns out she's over 500 years, so she's gonna know things that literally nobody else on the continent knows. And of course, in the process, we learn about the creation of the witches with the fae and the val. And. And some of the clans and. And stuff. And I think that she. Because she's over 500 years old. And as we learn and continue to learn, the witches are very conniving and smart, and they're not limited by the same things that, you know, everybody else is limited by. So I think she very much knows exactly why he's there. And even though her tone might be a little ambiguous about, like, you know, your kind of magic is gone, whether that's the humans or him, I think she knows exactly why he's there. Yeah, I think she probably knew the minute she saw him. And she's just like, he'll be coming later. [00:32:54] Speaker B: I think she sensed something about Dorian and Cena when the trio of them had first visited her. But, yeah, I think she sensed something with them. And then she's just been biting her time to see who was going to approach her or maybe who was going to approach her first. I think she might have been a little bit surprised that it was Dorian that came, at least came first and was asking some stuff. But still, Dorian, as smart as you. [00:33:28] Speaker A: Are, you know, the. The other thing I was thinking that just sort of thought that popped up is, you know, just because the magic has been, you know, cut off, right? Because she says that magic is. Is not gone in the world, it's just gone here. So that means that something happened that is basically blocking it, right? Yes, but just because you block something doesn't mean that the thing itself is gone. So, you know, because of the fact that she is so old and because she is a witch, which is part Fae, part demon, we don't know if demons play by the same rules as fae. Right. So she could have a whole, like, other second set of abilities that nobody even knows. Does that mean that she could look at a person or be near a person and say, oh, you have magic. You may not be able to use it or man, or feel it yourself, but it's there. It's just, you know, basically corked, like. But just because something is you, just because you can't retrieve something doesn't mean it's not there. [00:34:50] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:34:50] Speaker A: And so maybe because of what she is, she could. She can sense that kind of stuff. You know, you have the potential for magic. You don't know it, but I can see it. Like, I can feel it, because I know what it feels like. I've been alive for 500 years, and maybe that's why she's like, I know. You know? Yeah. Pay double. I'll ask what you want. I know why you're here. [00:35:15] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:35:15] Speaker A: I may or may not answer, you know, the way you want. [00:35:20] Speaker B: True, true. I think it was a good setup. What she. What she told him. You know, the. The line. If she wanted to learn why someone suddenly had magic, when people don't have magic and they haven't had magic for the past 10 years, she would start by figuring out why magic left in the first place. And I think this is such a good setup and something that Dorian should focus on. [00:35:49] Speaker A: Mm. [00:35:51] Speaker B: And I don't think he does at first, but that. That was just, like, such a nugget of gold. So maybe the risk of coming to sleep about the yellow legs was worth it. But at the same time, I still, like, just want to slap Dorian upside the head because he has Nehemia, who is a safer choice. He. Dorian even felt like if Baba yellow legs were to attack me, would my power come up and defend me? Would I be able to fight her off? Like, she gives him the heebie jeebies, and yet he still went to see her. [00:36:27] Speaker A: Well, the stories of the witches are. Is that they're ruthless. I mean, they literally eat babies, you. [00:36:33] Speaker B: Know, and she's from, like, the iron. Iron teeth. You know, they mentioned how she has the iron teeth. If that doesn't set you back, I don't know what will. I also find it funny that, you know, we talked about one of the earlier chapters, how iron is usually a deterrent for magical things. Like, you know, for the fae and whatever, it's poisonous or it can actually kill, or it just limits the powers, depending on the folklore. But these witch actually have iron teeth. [00:37:07] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. I don't understand that. [00:37:11] Speaker B: Yeah, maybe we'll learn more about that later. I just find it funny that for magical creatures, they actually have iron teeth. When iron teeth or iron is such a repellent. [00:37:25] Speaker A: I don't think that that's actually been discussed at least as far as up to what I've. [00:37:34] Speaker B: We'll see. [00:37:34] Speaker A: I don't remember, but it really is such an odd. Such an odd choice. Except that because the iron teeth got more from the Val than they did the Fae, whereas the Croaken. Croakens, yeah. Got more from the Fae than they did from the. So maybe the iron doesn't affect the Val the same way that it would affect Faye. So would the iron maybe affect the Croakens more than. Than just based on how strong the lineage is in either direction? I. I don't know. That's a. You know, it is an odd. Yeah. And. And we will learn more about the Valg, but we just don't know and really about anything about them at this point. So. [00:38:37] Speaker B: We will keep an eye on the Valg and the witches. [00:38:40] Speaker A: Yeah, make a. Put a bookmark here or you know, put a sticky tab here. Remember, we'll be learning more about this later. [00:38:48] Speaker B: Yep. [00:38:49] Speaker A: Now we have to circle back here to Selena and her really gifted assassin skills. I think we mentioned this at least once, like every episode or at least every other episode that she couldn't hear a coin drop in a room by herself at this point. [00:39:13] Speaker B: You know, I mean, like, I know she. After Archer, like sneaks up on her and she's just like, oh my gosh, it's training. Like he could have been an assassin. Girl, you're supposed to be the greatest assassin. How are people sneaking up on you? [00:39:34] Speaker A: She was. She was thinking too much about sexy. [00:39:36] Speaker B: Times, too much about sexy times and going, what the fuck? Why are all these people getting on a boat? These were my lead. This was my chance to free myself from the king. And there they go. [00:39:48] Speaker A: This is. This is suspicious. [00:39:50] Speaker B: Like so suspicious. [00:39:53] Speaker A: So Archer comes in and says, you know, oh, I. I warned them, you know, that something was going on. But then somebody took the initiative to get them out of here and it's like, okay, Selena, you need to call him out on this. Because this. Since getting involved with him in all this, everything has literally started going to shit for her in terms of getting information and being able to trail people effectively. You know, he's not giving her good information. She already had a near death experience with. What was his name? [00:40:33] Speaker B: Davis. [00:40:34] Speaker A: Davis or something? Yeah. And. And that whole thing was suspicious from the get go. And. And now all of a sudden it was only what, a day or two prior where she was like, she's like, I need names. And he's like, okay, names and she's like, okay, names was kind of general. I need to know how they're involved. [00:40:56] Speaker B: What they're planning, like, and give me information. [00:41:00] Speaker A: So then he says, okay, I'm gonna need a little time. And she's like, fine, You've got what, a day? And now all of a sudden, they're leaving. [00:41:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:41:08] Speaker A: So that seems to me like Archer's sitting there going, well, I don't have anything to give her because. Because I. I made this up. I lied. You know, So I got to get rid of these people. That's the only way I'm going to get out of this is if my source of information suddenly disappears. [00:41:29] Speaker B: Yeah. Why isn't Selena questioning him more? Instead, she just turns to him and she's like, fine, they're leaving. They'll be safe. You, though, you need to get me new names and new information. And you have, you know, basically 24 hours to do so. She's not questioning him and his involvement or anything. She's just taking him at face value. And this is just. It's driving me nuts, because any other person she would be questioning up and down, she would be trailing them to see, you know, where they're getting their information and stuff. And she still. She refuses to believe that he could betray her or that he's leading her astray or anything. Just because they had something when she was younger. [00:42:22] Speaker A: Yeah. She has, like, this, like, a blind loyalty to him when she literally hasn't seen him in years. [00:42:30] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:42:30] Speaker A: And on top of that, she knows how the life of the courtesans are. She knows how deeply involved they are with the. With the assassin's guild. And, you know, she doesn't trust any of those people as far as she can throw them. Like, Sam was the only one. And, you know, you see how long that took, right? [00:42:53] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:42:55] Speaker A: And all of a sudden, she's like, oh, you know, yeah, I guess you are a courtesan, but you were nice to me that one time when we were 10. [00:43:04] Speaker B: So you let me flirt with you and practice my flirting skills while you got trained with the dagger. Like, I get that she wants to save as many people, especially old time friends, but it wasn't like they had a deep friendship either. So her just blindly wanting to save his life and everything just seems so. Naive. [00:43:30] Speaker A: Yeah, the. The decision making here seems. Honestly, it seems. It feels a little. It feels like Celaena has to make the bad decisions here in order to move the plot forward in the book a little bit. Don't get me wrong, I loved Crown of Midnight. Crown of Midnight is a good, fun read. You know, the. The espionage and the action and the secrets and everything is really, really good. But there are some points, and this is not the only point in the book that you get this, but there are some points where you look at what's going on and you. And you think this is kind of out of character for the character. And it feels like they have to make a bad decision in order to move the story forward. Because otherwise when you guys get through, you know, later in the book and. And we get to what happens, you'll sit there and go, oh, okay. Because this thing wouldn't happen if this thing. If she hadn't made this wrong choice, this thing wouldn't happen. But typically she wouldn't make this wrong of a choice. [00:44:43] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:45] Speaker A: And so I feel like the story could have been delved into a little bit more to. To get the same thing that happens, needs to happen. But it could have happened because of a different. A different thing. It just. It feels like a plot device to me. To me, it feels like a plot device. Her con constantly making these. [00:45:06] Speaker B: Just rookie mistakes. [00:45:09] Speaker A: Rookie mistakes. When she's not a rookie. [00:45:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:45:12] Speaker A: Or she's not supposed to be. I mean, you know, she's supposed to be Arabin's pride and joy protege. [00:45:22] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:45:22] Speaker A: And she is not living up to that. That title with these decisions that she's making. Arabin would not make these kinds of mistakes. [00:45:32] Speaker B: And no, he wouldn't. He would have been questioning Archer or he would have just killed Archer the get go. [00:45:37] Speaker A: And yeah, that first night he would have followed Archer and been like, you went somewhere questionable. I guess I have to slit your throat now. [00:45:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:45:46] Speaker A: They. And the fact that Selena did not even think to trail him. She's literally taking everything he says at face value. [00:45:57] Speaker B: She should be following him like, yes, follow up on the leads he's giving her, but she should be following him to make sure that he's not leading her astray and she's not. And it just. [00:46:11] Speaker A: Because then she would realize that he is feeding her bad information. I mean, he's. It's kind of like he's mixing a little bit of truth with a little bit of lie. A little bit of truth. A little, you know, but that's not good enough. [00:46:25] Speaker B: No, no. And she. She's. Now that she's had kale, she's having a. She's having way too much fun with those quickies in the broom closet. [00:46:35] Speaker A: Yeah. You know, typically, you know, people are supposed to be. Act a little bit smarter after stuff like that. That's why it's called post Nut Clarity. She's not. [00:46:51] Speaker B: No, she's a horny teenager, and he's a young, horny 20 something year old, so. Yeah, but I mean, for them, like, saying, oh, we need to keep this on the down low, Keen can't find out. Dorian can't find out. They're being kind of obvious. [00:47:12] Speaker A: You're never as secretive as you think you are. [00:47:17] Speaker B: Especially for an assassin. [00:47:18] Speaker A: I was gonna say especially for a teenager. Well, you think you're all slick and. And. And everybody else is like, you think they were. Yeah, they were. [00:47:30] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:47:33] Speaker A: Faces are flushed. [00:47:35] Speaker B: Hair is messy. [00:47:36] Speaker A: Hair is messy. Despite the sweaty smell lingering in the air. [00:47:42] Speaker B: I don't think brooms in the broom closet make those kind of noises. Yeah. [00:47:48] Speaker A: Somebody's gonna go in there and be like, why is it so musky in here? I'm just saying these are the things that people need to think about. Okay. [00:47:59] Speaker B: That's true. Things that are not brought up in books specifically for this reason. Nobody wants to deal with that. I feel like Nehemia is getting more desperate, and she's pushing Selena more and more, and now they. Their relationship has finally reached that strained breaking point. I. Well, yeah, I mean, I know they've been kind of tiptoeing and fighting. You know, Nehimi has been pushing, and Selena's just been, like, standoffish. But this time, I think Nehemia went too far. And Selena was like, no. And was like, do not come back crying to me. This is one of their worst fights. [00:48:49] Speaker A: Yeah. And it really, again, you get where. You get where Nehemia is coming from. Right? She wants to protect her people and save her people. And the king wants her to leave because she's causing trouble. And. But see, the thing is, too. The king even said, look, if you want to keep your people alive, you need to go and tell them to back down. And that is not something that she's willing to do because she is supporting the rebellion, you know, under the table. But this is not Selena's battle. There is, obviously, we still have the. This thing that she has to do. There's this work. Right. That she has to do. She's destined for something. But Nehemia is going about this just completely wrong. You're constantly like, I need you to do this, and if something happens to me, I need you to promise to do this and this and this as soon as, like, I am literally up to my eyeballs in everything else. Yeah. And you know, you already Know what I'm doing? I'm not killing these people. I'm trying to keep them alive and all this other stuff. And. And even more so just with the idea that Nehemia could be somehow connected to the group that she's already investigating. Now, the fact that, like, nobody seems to, like, line these things up, you know, Nehemiah's interest in Archer and. [00:50:39] Speaker B: And dropping hints about Tercen. [00:50:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:50:41] Speaker B: And the court of Tercen. [00:50:43] Speaker A: You know, she's like, we could raise an army. Or, you know, in Tercen, whatever, whatever. And then Archer is like, you know, we have people on the inside who are planning a rebellion and. Da, da, da. And they're kind of the same thing that, like, Nehemia and Archer are talking about the same groups of people, and. And it's just, you know, it's all a bit too much. And it just. It hits ahead. And. [00:51:09] Speaker B: You can only push a person so far. And again, like, you know, you were saying, we can. We understand Nehemiah's plight. We understand why she's pushing as much as she is, but you can only push somebody so far. You can only push Celaena so far. Especially since she is such a hothead. And I feel like if pushing so far hasn't worked, you need to change your tactic and maybe meet Selena in the middle ground. And I feel like Nehemia doesn't want to do that, or doesn't see that. [00:51:49] Speaker A: She's also kind of a hothead too, though. [00:51:51] Speaker B: Like, that's true. Like, her way is the right way. [00:51:55] Speaker A: And she didn't immediately. Selena did not immediately agree. And so it's kind of like, no, you're a coward. What do you mean? You don't agree? Yeah, you need to help me. It's like, I don't want to. No, but you need to. Like. [00:52:12] Speaker B: Yeah, like, I. I feel Selena, because. Yeah, who is she? Who is she to help Nehemia? A princess. You know, Celaena is an assassin. And she just barely. You know, she barely survived Endovia for a year, and then she came out half a year later from trying to recover from that and the king's championship, and, you know, she barely survived Kane and the Ridderak. And now she's just trying to survive day to day, trying to free these people when the king puts the mark out and not getting caught by the king. And that's just a lot like. Selena has not had time to grow up. She's not had time to grieve, Sam. She's not had time to grieve her lost, you know, freedom. She's barely 18, and Nehimi is just putting all of this other pressure on her. [00:53:08] Speaker A: Well, and now she's. She's finally, like, kind of fostering this relationship with Kael. And do you really think she wants to immediately put all that on the line to go fight a war for. [00:53:22] Speaker B: Somebody, you know, for another kingdom that's not hers? Yeah, like, especially when she's seen firsthand what the king can do and the destruction the king can cause. [00:53:37] Speaker A: Yeah. Everyone's like, we can rise up. We can rise up. And she's like, did you guys forget that Terison was literally the army on the continent, the strongest kingdom, and he wiped them out so fast with almost. No. With no problem. The strongest army on the continent. Okay, guys, rebellions are great, but if you think realistically, what are you going to do when the strongest army was decimated? [00:54:12] Speaker B: And I feel like Nehemiah is also not giving, like, a plan or anything to Selena. She's just like, you have to help me. You have to help free my people, and you have to, you know, help Teresin rise up again. And Selena is just like, how. What is your plan for this? Nehimi has no plan for this. You just have to help. [00:54:35] Speaker A: Yeah, that doesn't work for a lot of people, especially for Selena, who, despite being a hothead who does rush into things. She does also like to have plans. [00:54:46] Speaker B: Yes. [00:54:47] Speaker A: Whether everything goes according to that plan. But, yeah, you can't just come to her and say, you need to. You need to do this. You need to do this. It's like, okay, but. Yeah, but. But what's the thought process behind, like, what are we doing? Who all's involved? Right? I. Like she said, I'm one person. I'm an assassin. [00:55:08] Speaker B: What can I do? [00:55:09] Speaker A: Really? What do you want me to do? Am I supposed to figure out how to assassinate the king? [00:55:15] Speaker B: Please, that ain't gonna work. [00:55:18] Speaker A: Because I don't think she'd even get close enough for that to happen. There's literally. There's no actionable anything for her to do other than, you know, fine, yes, I agree to help you. But then what? You know, why aren't you doing anything? I. I still don't know what you want me to do. [00:55:40] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:55:41] Speaker A: In the meantime, I have things to do for the king, because I'm still the champion. That's the agreement. And I'd like to stay alive. [00:55:50] Speaker B: Yep. [00:55:50] Speaker A: So it. It's all very compl. Just as another thought, Nehemia does mention that her dreams are filled with shadows and wings. And all that kind of stuff. Do you think that they're exerting the same ring power on her that they were doing to Kaltane? [00:56:10] Speaker B: I would almost say yes, except that she said that the people in the valley can hear the wings, too. So it's not just Nahimi having these dreams with the shadows and the wings and, you know, Keltane also hearing and seeing, like, the crows and the wings and stuff. If people in the valley can hear them. I think something else might be going on that we're not aware of yet. [00:56:40] Speaker A: Yeah, but Nehemia is not near the valley. She's in the castle. [00:56:47] Speaker B: So. [00:56:48] Speaker A: So would they. Would they be able to hear it from. I mean, Caltain was talking about hearing it when she was in the dungeon. [00:56:56] Speaker B: True. [00:56:57] Speaker A: And, you know, she ain't hearing down there. [00:57:00] Speaker B: True. I think Nehemia also has a connection to. I don't know, to the magical world. [00:57:12] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:57:13] Speaker B: So with the word marks and stuff. So if she was having dreams or visions, I wouldn't put that so far out of reach for somebody like Nehemia, who is in touch with ancient magic sort of thing. And also her. Nehemia telling Selena that Selena is the one chosen by Queen Elena. I think Nehemia actually knows who Queen Elena is. I. Her acting all surprised, like, who's this queen who came to aid you against Cain? You know, blah, blah, blah. I think that was a. A front, I think. [00:57:48] Speaker A: Oh, definitely. [00:57:49] Speaker B: I think Nehemia knew exactly who Elena is and what she's been doing. So I. I wouldn't be surprised if Nehemia has, like, special dreams or visions or. [00:58:05] Speaker A: So not so much influence from the. I mean, maybe not a direct influence from the rings, but maybe just being around them, maybe. And she's more open to that. I don't know what you want to call it. Spirit world or other world or whatever. And so she. Yeah, she kind of like background noise. Like she can hear it because she's just more in tune with that. Yeah, naturally. [00:58:29] Speaker B: Yeah. I don't think, like, with. With Caltain, you know, she was being directly influenced upon by Parrington. Like, you know, she was like a science experiment to see what kind of influence they can have over her with their rings. Yeah. And then the same thing with Kane. And now Roland has a ring. So I don't think they're exerting anything on Nehemia, but it could be a proximity thing. She is so close to whatever it is that the King and Parrington are doing and exerting that she might be. [00:59:06] Speaker A: So I Can just like a side effect kind of. Yeah, yeah, that would make sense, because there's definitely something going on. [00:59:17] Speaker B: There is where we've been getting a lot of shadows and wings from different people. [00:59:22] Speaker A: So this is also, I think, is this, like, the first time that we actually get sort of a confirmation that the wings and things are not just like an ethereal type of, like, people are actually hearing this stuff outside? [00:59:40] Speaker B: I think so. I think this is the first time where. Yeah, like Nehemiah says, those that live in the valley can hear wings. They haven't seen wings, but they can hear wings because. [00:59:50] Speaker A: Yeah, the last time we heard that was Caltain saying that she could hear it and she could kind of see something on Kane and she could kind of see something around Parrington. [01:00:01] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:00:02] Speaker A: And. But. But we weren't ever given sort of the idea that they were real wings. [01:00:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:00:08] Speaker A: And then the next thing we got was when Selena was fighting her battle against the. The dead, and there were wings. And, you know. But here we're getting verification that no regular people are hearing something. So it's not just a monster mind thing. Like, it is quite literally, there is something flying somewhere. [01:00:31] Speaker B: Something's going on. Yeah. [01:00:35] Speaker A: So, you know, it really kind of steps up the intrigue a bit because you're like, oh, okay, so spiritual threat has now turned into physical threat. [01:00:48] Speaker B: Maybe. [01:00:49] Speaker A: What is happening here? [01:00:53] Speaker B: A lot of little things to pay attention to. [01:00:55] Speaker A: Well, and that's. I mean, I didn't really pick up on that the first time that I. [01:00:59] Speaker B: Read it, which is why I highlighted it in the notes. [01:01:02] Speaker A: But it's just occurring to me, like, oh, no, this is. Yeah. Something to pay attention to. [01:01:09] Speaker B: Like, no. [01:01:13] Speaker A: All right, Chapter 25, one of the shortest chapters we have, and it's between a queen and a princess, but they have no names. The queen tells the princess that one of them has to break. Only then can it begin. The princess says that the prince isn't ready, so it has to be her. The queen then asks, do you understand what I'm asking of you? And when she says yes, the queen tells her to do what needs to be done. As the princess leaves the tomb, she comments that she italicized won't understand. She will go over the edge. The queen simply states that she will find her way back, and she always does. And that's the end of the chapter. [01:02:04] Speaker B: Shortest chapter ever. [01:02:06] Speaker A: Seriously. [01:02:08] Speaker B: I think I've read shorter, but, you know. [01:02:10] Speaker A: Well, yeah, but, yeah, I mean, immediately. [01:02:19] Speaker B: Why the crypticness? [01:02:22] Speaker A: Like, it's like, why the crypticness when it's Kind of obvious who this is. At least I thought it was pretty obvious when I read it. And Queen Elena, I knew pretty much exactly. I didn't know what was coming. And we're going to get into what. What this whole thing is about, and y' all are gonna hate it, but reading the chapter, I was like, okay, clearly it's Nehemia talking to Elena. [01:02:52] Speaker B: Yes. [01:02:53] Speaker A: Clearly they're talking about Dorian and Celaena. [01:02:56] Speaker B: Yes. [01:02:58] Speaker A: But to what end? Obviously, they're going to do something drastic, and it's gonna cause Selena to have a very bad reaction. [01:03:12] Speaker B: She's gonna go over the edge. [01:03:14] Speaker A: She's gonna go over the edge. So what is it? I actually kind of was thinking that something was going to happen to Kale. Because if you remember, back in. I think it was. I think it was book one. Yeah, it must have been back in book one. One of the first times that Selena's talking to Elena, she tells Elena, tells her, you have to be prepared to cut off relationships and to give up the life that is comfortable and all this stuff. Right. [01:03:46] Speaker B: Basically, the life you wanted for yourself. [01:03:48] Speaker A: The life you want, you can't have. Right. And then we now have Chael and Selena growing relationship. And to me, this chapter was like, oh, man, they're going to do something to Kale to. To sever this relationship so that she. Because she's focused on that, and they want her to focus on, you know, something else. [01:04:15] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:04:16] Speaker A: And I was just dreading. I was like, man, they're gonna do. They're gonna do my boy wrong here. Something's gonna happen. And. Because I. That would put her over the edge, you know? [01:04:27] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, first she lost Sam at the start of their budding relationship, and then she finally takes the next step with Chael, the one step that she wanted to do with Sam. You know, they wanted to make love with each other and complete that step. But they waited. They wanted to get out of Rift hold first. And so this time, Celaena was like, I'm. I'm not waiting around again. Here's Kael. Let's cement this. And, yeah, so now it seems like it's going to be ripped from her again. What pissed me off was that they were like, the prince. We're assuming Dorian is not ready yet. Like, he's just discovering that he probably has this magic in him, and he's freaking out, but he's not ready. So Nehemia's not pushing Dorian. Nobody's pushing Dorian. She did offer Dorian, hey, when something starts, come find me. I will help you. Deal with it. But he doesn't. He goes to Baba Yellowlegs. Why isn't Nehemia seeking him out? She knows that something is happening to him. She knows that something's awakening within him. She's not seeking him out. Instead, she keeps going to Selina, and she's bombarding Celaena over and over. And Cena's not ready or willing to hear anything yet because Celine is just trying to keep her head above water. And yet the queen and the princess have decided we're gonna push her over the edge. We're not gonna. We're not gonna do anything to Dorian. We'll. We'll let him take his time and whatever, even though time is of the essence. Let's push Celaena, who has been through so much already. Let's push her over the edge, and Dorian can flounder over here. [01:06:19] Speaker A: Yeah, why can't we push Dorian over the edge? He needs something to focus on anyway. [01:06:25] Speaker B: He does. And he clearly needs help in training, and nobody is reaching out to him. And, yes, Celaena's in danger from the king finding out what she's been doing and everything, but that. That's the king, son. Do you think the king is going to let Dorian stand if it. Word got out that he has magic, like, the king, specifically, like, outlawed magic and somehow got rid of magic. Like, Dorian needs to be protected, but he also needs to be trained and pushed. And I feel like, you know, Selina is all wrapped up in Kael, and Kel is all wrapped up in her, so Dorian gets pushed to the side. Nehemiah is like, come to me. But also, I'm going to focus all my attention on Celaena. Like, poor Dorian has been left all alone, and now his crappy cousin is here. And we have already seen that Roland has a black ring on, even though we've been told that he's been, you know, on Dorian's side in council meetings. So which side is Roland on? Is he playing Dorian to get him to lower his guards while he feeds information to Parrington and the king, or. Yeah, what's going on? Nobody is in Dorian's corner, so why isn't Nehemia and the queen focusing on Dorian at this point? That's just my anger. Two cents. [01:07:59] Speaker A: Yeah, it was. I don't. I don't like the way that they are making this decision for Celaena when. When Celaena's like, I'm not. I don't want to do this. I. I want to do what I need to do right now, which is not this. And so, basically, you have Elena And Nehemia going behind her back and making this decision for her, and they're like, it's going to break her, but she'll come back from it. She always does. And it's like, you're just going to be putting this poor girl through the ringer again. For what? For what reason? [01:08:32] Speaker B: Like, yeah, how many times can she go. Go over the edge and come back from. When? When is she going to go over the edge and not come back from this? And is the price worth it? [01:08:46] Speaker A: No. [01:08:49] Speaker B: Says two millennials living through another world shattering event. [01:08:53] Speaker A: Another. Another crisis. Yeah, exactly. [01:08:56] Speaker B: How many times can us millennials live through something like this and not go stark raving mad? [01:09:03] Speaker A: I mean, or not stark raving mad yet, but, you know, just. [01:09:09] Speaker B: Just some madness getting there. [01:09:11] Speaker A: So, yeah, even though this was like one of the shortest chapters, I. It was one of the most irritating chapters because it's just like, this is some BS the way they're setting this up for her and she has no idea what's coming. To be fair, though, as a reader, I had no idea what was coming either. Chapter 26. Unless you had another thought about chapter 25. [01:09:39] Speaker B: Nope. Nope. Just anger. [01:09:40] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, no notes. Just anger. [01:09:43] Speaker B: Just anger and some frustration. But yes, anger, anger. [01:09:48] Speaker A: Chapter 26. Kale hated hunting parties. He would often sneak off, shoot something, and then proclaim lord, so and so made the kill just to get it done and over with. And I, I. Same dude. I. I see. I could. But because the king, Parrington, Roland and Dorian were the hunting party, he couldn't do that. Instead, his thoughts turned toward his brother, wondering if his brother was being trained as a warrior, as was custom in their homeland, or if he had turned into a simpering lord. He also thought of his mother, a gentle, quiet woman. His father had an arranged marriage and his mother was submissive. His father liked that and would surely butt heads with Selena, who was far from submissive. The king caught up to Kael bringing his horse near and told him that he seemed distracted all day. And whatever will the lords do without Kael killing for them? The king was massive. It wasn't the first time Kael had noticed that the king's size always surprised Kael. The king informed Kael that he is having Nehemia questioned in his council room tomorrow night. He wants six men stationed outside the room. And no complications or distractions or interruptions. That is no Celaena. Kael asks if there's anything specific that he should prepare his men for, and the king says no. Before killing a pheasant The King takes off with his hounds. Dorian pulls up besides Kael and asks what that was about. Kael tells him it was nothing. They both remark that they haven't seen each other and that they've both been busy. Dorian rejoins Roland before telling Kael to treat her well. Kael wants to say more, but his friend is already gone. Later, wrapped around Selena, Kael struggles with himself. He wants to tell Silena that the King is going to have Nehemia questioned, but talks himself out of it. The King won't do anything to Nehemia. She is too important and a well liked public. Public figure. Besides, there is nothing Selena can do anyway. As Kael slipped out from her bed and dressed, he wondered if this was a test from the King to see where his loyalties lie. He headed outside, toward the hedges, nearing fresh air. He hadn't lied when he told Selina he would leave Rift hold with her. He'd kill any man that would try to harm her. And if the King ever gave the order to kill her, he would stab his own heart. Before doing so, he realized his soul was bound to hers and he wanted to marry her. Then he remembered she was only 18. They had time. Famous last words. Anytime anybody says that. [01:12:45] Speaker B: Yep. [01:12:46] Speaker A: But now he couldn't help but think about a future with her. He was envisioning what all of that would entail when someone snuck up behind him and pressed something to his nose and mouth. And then darkness. [01:13:03] Speaker B: You see in movies, in TV shows and you read about it in books. People sneaking up and doing the covering over the mouth and nose. And then like within seconds they are passed out cold. Like, I don't think it works that fast. [01:13:18] Speaker A: I mean, it clearly doesn't. And they say, at least in hard modern, you know, whatever, the whole. What is it? Oh, chloroform. You are more likely to cause irreparable brain damage to a person by using chloroform to make them pass out than you are to make them just pass out. Because it is such a strong chemical. No, it doesn't work that way. Where you just put it up and they're like. Like you put it up and they inhale it and it messes you up. And a lot of times people do not wake back up. [01:13:59] Speaker B: I want to know where. Where somebody got this idea from. And then it just took off and. And now it's like in every show and movie and story. Like, yeah, it's kind of like the whole alpha beta wolf thing. Like wolf packs have this alpha blah, blah, all because Somebody studied wolves in captivity, not wolves out in the wild. And they were like, yeah. And so now we have all these, you know, paranormal romances with the alpha wolf and the beta wolf. And I'm just like, oh, my God, you guys do your research. There is no alpha wolf in the wild. Like, they are packed animals. [01:14:42] Speaker A: It was like, one study from a. Not even, like, scientific. [01:14:48] Speaker B: Like, it's just one of those things that took root, and now everybody's just run with it. And I imagine for somebody kale size, like, he wouldn't go down without a fight. So something like chloroform. [01:15:06] Speaker A: I mean, it just. Now we're assuming from our stuff. Right. But I mean, they could have any kind of plant that they could grind up and. [01:15:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:15:16] Speaker A: A mild poison, even. You know, not enough to poison you. [01:15:20] Speaker B: But enough to just knock you out. [01:15:22] Speaker A: To knock you out. Like, so it's a little more. I. I would say it could be a little more believable in a case like this, just because fantasy world, the fantasy world, and we've already been exposed to a number of poisons and a number of things that they do, and any poison in a small amount turned into a vapor, a vapor, you know, kind of thing could have a different effect than just ingesting it. You know, normally. [01:15:55] Speaker B: I just think, like, whatever happened to just hitting people back of the head real hard, but the. [01:16:00] Speaker A: Pommel of their sword makes too much noise, I guess, and also irreparable brain damage. [01:16:09] Speaker B: Everything is just gonna give you brain damage at this point. [01:16:13] Speaker A: Well, but I mean, that's the whole thing where people are like, you know. Oh, yeah. Just hit them in the back, you know, like, with the butt of the gun. Just clunk. And then they're passed out. Yeah, yeah. If you fracture the base of their spine or their skull, you know, what I want to know is who. [01:16:34] Speaker B: Is targeting Kale? [01:16:35] Speaker A: Who was? Well, first off, they knew where he was because he was working his way through the corridors to go outside. And the fact that somebody came up from behind him meant that they knew and they knew where to expect him to be. And they were trailing him. [01:16:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:16:55] Speaker A: Until they were sure he wasn't hearing or paying attention to them. So that means that somebody knew that he was in her room. Now, granted, he spends a lot of time in her room anyway. [01:17:09] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:17:10] Speaker A: But it just seemed way too targeted. Like, why weren't they waiting for him outside his room or. [01:17:20] Speaker B: Somewhere else? [01:17:21] Speaker A: Very specific. He came out of her room, and within a couple minutes, they were on him. [01:17:27] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:17:28] Speaker A: So you know, who Was feeding information. [01:17:33] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:17:34] Speaker A: Just is very targeted to me, you. [01:17:36] Speaker B: Know, it is very targeted. Funny too, that one of the things that stuck out to me in this chapter was the king's size is mentioned how Kael is always surprised at just how big this king is. And it reminded me of Celaena always commenting on Cain's size. And, like, every time that she saw Cain, he was getting bigger and bigger. And Cal doesn't say that the king is getting bigger and bigger. I think that would probably just be weird. But that just how massive the king is always is like a wow factor to Kyle. So you just kind of have to wonder if the king is also doing some shady wordmark stuff that, like, Kane was also doing to get bigger and to absorb power. Because Dorian seems fit. But I don't get the sense that Dorian is also, like, big. I get the sense that he's more athletically cut, you know, from sparring and whatever with the guards and stuff. But it doesn't seem like Dorian is a big man in comparison with his father. So, yeah, just the whole size thing kind of. [01:18:52] Speaker A: Maybe it was something from, you know, when he cut magic off 10 years prior or, you know, I mean, we know that he. We've learned, you know, that he knows about magic and power and he's got this thing with the rings and. [01:19:11] Speaker B: And he knows about the word marks. [01:19:13] Speaker A: And he knows about the word marks. So maybe. Because I feel like Dorian would probably notice if his father was, like, getting larger and larger every time he saw him. [01:19:23] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:19:23] Speaker A: So maybe it was something he did years. And everybody who's sort of come into contact with him has come into contact kind of after the point. Like, he's already. He's already big and massive because he has something. There's some power, right. [01:19:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:19:45] Speaker A: So maybe it is like Kane. It's just not a continual. Like, he. He just, you know, got massive and then just stayed massive. [01:19:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:19:57] Speaker A: Whereas Kane was starting. Because Kane started his process when he got to the castle. And Kane was also, like, getting bigger and bigger and bigger over the course of, like, three months. [01:20:11] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:20:12] Speaker A: So it was going to be very noticeable versus if you have a king who's doing this over the course of 10 or 15 or however many years or who knows how long, really. [01:20:22] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:20:22] Speaker A: It might not be as noticeable. People might look at and be like, oh, man, King's working out, like, you know, drastic change over a short period of time versus a change over a decade, you know, but it could very much be the same thing. I wouldn't put it, you know, he's definitely somebody you don't want to go up against. Definitely sounds like that. [01:20:49] Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, no, definitely not. Not somebody you want to make an enemy out of or just you don't want to draw his attention in any way, shape or form. [01:20:58] Speaker A: That seems to be the general consensus is we don't want the king to pay attention to. [01:21:04] Speaker B: No. [01:21:05] Speaker A: At all. So. So the king, obviously, you know, is aware of things. Right. Tells Kale, and. And this is a bad look for Kale, too. King comes up and is like, you're a little distracted today. And Kale's supposed to be the captain of the guard. You're not supposed to be distracted while you're guarding the king. Now, the king doesn't necessarily need the protection, but it's still a bad look on Kale because you're the captain of the guard. You should be hawkeyed. Laser focus everything, you know, and we do kind of get this. Like, the king kind of is joking with him a little bit, which is really out of character. [01:21:54] Speaker B: Yeah. I don't think we've ever seen the king joke, like, about anything. [01:21:59] Speaker A: Yeah, he's like, you know, well, you bet. You know, what are the lord's going to do if you're not focusing? So you can't kill their birds for them, you know? And then. But immediately then after, he's like, I'm questioning the hime tomorrow. I don't want interruptions. You know, post extra men around the doors and boom, boom, boom. [01:22:21] Speaker B: That a way to put Kale, like, let me joke with him a little bit to set him at ease. And then bam. [01:22:30] Speaker A: Yeah, maybe. I don't understand why he wouldn't tell Dorian, though. [01:22:39] Speaker B: I think after Dorian's outburst at the previous council meetings that we were privy to read. The king is probably annoyed with Dorian. And Dorian has showed that he sympathizes with Nehemia and her people. He's not outright saying we should free the people and whatever, but he was like, we shouldn't just over, swell, over, swell over fill these mines and stuff. We got to think about this logistically. We can't just, you know, and the king. The king was annoyed with that because Dorian wasn't just being a yes man to the king and to all his puppets. So I think the king might be questioning Dorian, might be, like, not wanting to confer a lot of things. But the king also knows that Kael is the captain of the guard. Him and Selina work closely together. It's through Kael that the king gives his orders, you know, to Celaena and then Celaena has to check in with Kael, you know, after her work is done and everything. So. [01:23:55] Speaker A: Yeah. And I. I suppose there's not really much that Dorian could even do. It just seems surprising that Kale wouldn't have told Dorian. Like, hey, just so you know, like, your dad's going to be questioning Nehemia in private tomorrow. [01:24:16] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:24:16] Speaker A: Just something to take note of. And it's not like the king told him to keep it a secret. I mean. [01:24:24] Speaker B: No. And I have to wonder. We'll circle back to Dorian, but I have to wonder if this was a king testing Kael's loyalty, seeing if Kael was going to tell Celaena or Dorian about his plans for Nehemia the following night. Because if either one of them reacted and confronted the king or tried to stage a rescue or anything, then the king would know that it came from Kael. Or, you know, was the king just letting Kael know? Because he is captain of the guard, and he does need guards stationed outside, and he does need to keep Cena away. But circling also back to Dorian, it is really surprising that Kael didn't confide in Dorian. You know, they've been. They've been bros since they were little, regardless of their station and stuff. But, you know, it's surprising that Kale kept this from Dorian, knowing their history and their past. But it's also surprising that he kept it from Celaena, so, you know, when she was already so truthful. Also truthful when she already came clean to him on his birthday about her plans and what she's been doing and everything. And now that they've started their relationship, he's now keeping secrets. [01:25:54] Speaker A: Like, I could see him looking at it and. And thinking, you know, oh, if I tell Selena, you know, then, yeah, she could cause a problem. And the king very specifically told me to. To make that. In so many words. The king was like, you need to make sure that this doesn't happen. There can't be a problem. She needs to not be around. Right. Because regardless of what's happening in that courtroom, she would make it an issue to be there. Right. But I also feel like you would think that she would also be smart enough that if Kale told her, hey, listen, the king's gonna do a thing. We have extra guards, you know, posted outside. If you make an issue of this, and, you know, the king is gonna know I told you, and then that can't be a thing because you will jeopardize everything. [01:27:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:27:03] Speaker A: I also want you to just be aware. So maybe just keep an Eye on her in the meantime. You know, like, it could have gone so many. It could have different ways. And I think she. She would have been mature enough to be like, okay, you're right, I can't. [01:27:25] Speaker B: Like, I would hope so. [01:27:29] Speaker A: But then you never know. [01:27:31] Speaker B: I mean, she is such a hot head that she just. She reacts without thinking sometimes, you know, which we've seen. [01:27:40] Speaker A: Yeah. She is a liability. [01:27:42] Speaker B: She has such a liability. Oh, my gosh. But at the same time, like, if. If she did calm down and think about it, she had discovered, you know, like, servants, passageways and stuff where she could overlook the ball. There. There are ways that she could have hidden herself and listened in. [01:28:02] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [01:28:04] Speaker B: Whether she could burst through the walls to come to Nehemia's rescue if Nehemiah needed rescuing, that's a whole other thing. But I think Kale, Bow and arrow, right through a small little slat, she could do it. But, yeah, I feel like Kale, not telling her is setting up for trouble in paradise already. Especially since their. Their relationship is so brand new. [01:28:32] Speaker A: I. I get the reasoning, but, yeah, I. I think that he. He should have told at least one of them. [01:28:42] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:28:44] Speaker A: Just, if nothing else, the fact that there were guards around the castle all the time and the champions were getting murdered left and right, that, on its own, just shows that there's ways around the guards. [01:29:01] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:29:01] Speaker A: And Kale, of all people, should have looked at that and said, I need somebody who can keep a closer eye on her. Selena could literally sleep in the room with her and not be questioned about it. [01:29:17] Speaker B: Yeah. I feel like the whole past several months with the creatures and with all the champions mysteriously dying and all of that, it just kind of got shoved from everybody's minds. And how quickly they forget. And nobody has learned anything from it. [01:29:36] Speaker A: No, definitely not. They were. They were just. [01:29:42] Speaker B: But this also doesn't sound like a normal council type meeting that the king has planned, but. Because why would he need extra guard set up? You know what I mean? Like, if they were just wanting to question Nehemia, why all the. Why all the extra stuff? This just sounds a lot more sinister. [01:30:07] Speaker A: But at the same time, it seems unlikely that he would do anything to her, knowing that it would make her into a martyr. [01:30:17] Speaker B: True. [01:30:17] Speaker A: If he just killed her in the. Like. If he was like, we're having a meeting. Off with her head. Like. [01:30:24] Speaker B: True. Unless this was all, again, just a way for the king to set up Kael's loyalty to see if Kael does, in fact, tell Celaena or Dorian or something. [01:30:35] Speaker A: Yeah, I Kind of feel like it's leaning more towards that where the king is, like, I want to see how far this information goes out. And maybe there was never any, you know, maybe he never was really going to talk to her at all, or maybe he was going to bring her in and be like, all right, you need to stop pissing around. Go home, or I will kill you. Yeah, you know, kind of. And obviously, you can't really say that in front of your wife and, you know, a bunch of the other court members, because even though everybody fears the king, he is not so outright as to just kill people. Like, willy nilly. Everyone he's killed so far has been in secret, you know, or they were. [01:31:26] Speaker B: Killed with a purpose or shut others up or make a statement, but none. [01:31:32] Speaker A: Of it has been, you know, making an example out of you because, you know, blah, blah, blah, whatever reason. So it does seem definitely that it's a twofold thing that he's trying to accomplish with this. And. And I'm sure the king knows about the relationship. Nothing in the castle gets past the king. [01:31:55] Speaker B: No. [01:31:55] Speaker A: And so I could see him being like, okay, you know, I know you're sharing a bed with her. I need to know that you're still loyal to me. [01:32:02] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, so broom closet speak. [01:32:09] Speaker A: Especially if you're walking by and you hear, you know, a bunch of thumping and moaning and. [01:32:15] Speaker B: Oh, Kales. [01:32:17] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. [01:32:20] Speaker B: All right. Moving on to chapter 27. Celaena woke up alone. As she ate breakfast, she reviewed the list of names from Archer. This time, it was written in code. Nehemia did not show up for their daily lessons on wordmarks. Celaena spent the day trailing the mint on her new list. Kayle didn't show up for dinner. By 10 that evening, there was still no sign of Kale. She needed rest, but she was too full of worry. This was too much like Sam for her not to worry. In Kale's room, there was a note addressed to her placed atop his sword. The sword wasn't there that morning. They have the captain, and if she wants him back alive, she is to meet them at a certain time, at a certain place. Alone. That icy, endless rage that she had channeled in Andover snapped free. Erebin had called it the killing calm. However, he had never realized just how calm she could get when she went over the edge. Oh, is this the edge that the princess and the queen were talking about? Kael was thirsty and chained to a stone wall. He had been knocked around by his captors enough to know that they weren't messing with him. He didn't know who his captors were. They all wore long robes and hoods. Some were armed to the teeth. But they were all getting increasingly antsy as the day wore on. Kel realized they were waiting for something. And since they hadn't killed him, perhaps they were actually holding him for ransom. But against who? In times past, the king would just tell the messenger to kill whatever lord or lady that was being held at ransom instead of giving in to their demands. Then, while pretending to nap, Kael heard, she has until dawn. She'll show up. She, Kel threatened them that if they hurt her, if they touched her, he would kill them all. The hooded one with the two swords strapped to his back told him to shut his mouth. And for being captain of the guard, he was surprisingly easy to capture. Kael realized this man was educated and hated nobles. The hooded warrior also was not impressed by the assassin. And Cal tells him he is in for a surprise. Done, Kael. And thanks, Elina. Like, that must have been so hard for Celaena. Like, you know, she just woke up thinking that she was going to trail Archer, trail the names from Archer, go about her day as normal, and fuck. Kale is missing and she's got a ransom note and it's. It's like Sam all over again. [01:34:55] Speaker A: I want to know. I want to know how long the ransom note was in his room, because from his perspective, they're saying that they were getting antsy right. Throughout the day, and so they were expecting her to show up at any point, and she went into his room in the morning because she. She says that the sword wasn't there and the note wasn't there, but then she didn't go back into his room until way later in the evening. So did they drop it off late morning, lunchtime, mid afternoon? And they were like, yeah, she'll be in here in like an hour or two. She'll see it. And she literally didn't see it until, like, eight hours later. [01:35:36] Speaker B: And who did it? Who has access to the castle and could get into Kael's room? Like, I don't think his room should be that easy to get into. Being captain of the guard, you would have to go through the barracks and everything. [01:35:50] Speaker A: That's a really good. A really good point, actually. Yeah. Who? [01:35:56] Speaker B: And who knew where? Like, who knew where to find his room? [01:36:02] Speaker A: Yeah, because I don't imagine that they have, like, name tags next to the doors, like. [01:36:07] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:36:09] Speaker A: So that leads you to think that this was a partly inside job. Yes, I would think. Who would have Access. I mean, the only people we know that go to his room are literally Selena, Dorian, and Kale. And, I mean, maybe some of the guards. [01:36:26] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, the guards know where his room is because they frequent his room to have meetings. [01:36:31] Speaker A: So who is the inside job? Who has done this and when did they do it? And, yeah, how could they be so sure? I mean, I guess they figured eventually she's going to be like, where the hell is Kale? And she's going to go to his room. But it sounds like they didn't quite figure out the timing. [01:36:49] Speaker B: I mean, they did say that she had to show up by a certain time at a certain place, but. Yeah, if she hadn't seen the note until the next day or whatever. Were they just going to kill him? [01:37:01] Speaker A: Yeah, like, what if. What if she's, like, the king must have sent him out on an errand or something, and that's why I haven't seen him all day. I'll, you know, I'm going to go to bed. I'll check on him tomorrow. I think the only reason that she started to freak out was because of Sam. If she had not had that same experience with Sam, she probably would not have even thought twice about it. Yeah, because, actually, I don't want to say too much because this is kind of a spoiler for Assassin's Blade, but, you know, she talks about going through her evening, right? Waiting for Sam and eating dinner, taking her bath and pacing, and then. And then, like, where is he? Where? [01:37:43] Speaker B: Like, and her not stepping out because Sam was like, no, I've got this handled. And so she was like, okay, yeah, I will hang back. [01:37:51] Speaker A: If she had not gone through that situation with Sam, then I don't think she even would have thought twice about going to his room again. She would have just been like, yeah, he must be out on a king's errand. I'll just check in with him in the morning. And then. [01:38:04] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [01:38:06] Speaker A: And then what? You know, so, yeah, I think the. [01:38:10] Speaker B: Whole ransom note, leaving it in his room was just stupid. The better. The better thing would have been sent a messenger or sent the note and the sword to her room while she was out. [01:38:25] Speaker A: Exactly. Her room would have been way better choice because, you know, unless they didn't want her to come right away because they're waiting for some other event to happen. [01:38:35] Speaker B: Like, well, see, and I like that you mentioned that. Another event, like, is this coincidence that Kael is captured and Selina is forced to come and rescue him the evening that Nahimi is supposed to be Questioned by the king. [01:38:52] Speaker A: Yeah, except that the king told Kael to keep her busy. And I don't think Kael's the one who set up to have himself kidnapped. [01:39:00] Speaker B: No, no, I'm just. It just seems weird that the evening that Nehemia is going to be questioned by the king and that the king wanted Kael to keep Celaena busy, Kael is now taken out of the picture, and Selina has to go rescue him. So even if Selina found out about Nehemia, Celaena's not in the castle anymore. [01:39:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:39:30] Speaker B: Like, there's some other shit going on. [01:39:34] Speaker A: There seem to be multiple things happening that want her out of the castle. [01:39:40] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:39:42] Speaker A: Like, the king wants her out of the castle for some reason, but then this other group kidnaps Kaol, and they want her out of the castle for some reason, but I don't think that they're connected to the king. So this feels very much like it's two separate things. Both trying to get her out of the castle for different reasons. They just happen to coincide. [01:40:07] Speaker B: Yeah. There was also interesting phrase used between, you know, your short chapter with the princess and the queen about her going over the edge and not coming back. And then in this chapter, Celaena also talks about going over the edge and filled with this icy rage that is also somehow peaceful. You know, her killing calm. Just funny that we see that, like, almost back to back with this going over the edge. [01:40:40] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, it's. It's something that happens to a number of people, especially when you. When you hit the. It's like, the maximum amount of elasticity that you have, and you get to that point and you're just like, you know what? [01:40:57] Speaker B: It. [01:40:57] Speaker A: I don't give a. Like, I. Try me. You know? And that's the difference is there. Her. Try me. It will kill you. [01:41:09] Speaker B: But were you expecting it to happen this soon? Like, for the princess and the Queen to be like, she needs to be pushed over the edge. Next chapter, she is pushed over the edge. [01:41:18] Speaker A: I. I mean. Yeah. By book two, you kind of get it. An idea of. Of how Sarah writes her books, and you're like, okay, there's gonna be something going down. Like. And it always happens, like, right after, you know, Kale and her were getting busy, and then he's like, you know, thinking about things and walking back to his room, and he gets kidnapped. And you're like, okay, yeah. You can't allow for any happy moments. [01:41:46] Speaker B: Like, no, no. So knowing this, knowing that the Queen and the Princess Bohemia and Elena, as whom we're assuming this is are wanting to push her, Selena, over the edge and knowing that a good way to get her over the edge is to have something happen to Kael. Do you think this was set up by Nehemiah? [01:42:19] Speaker A: It very much feels like this could be. You know, because what would you use to push somebody over the edge that would be more effective than getting rid of her person that they love? [01:42:33] Speaker B: Well, for me, it would have been fleet foot, like, you touch my dog, I'm a murder you, and I'm a murder your entire life. But, you know, not everybody feels that way about. [01:42:43] Speaker A: Well, I mean, yeah, that's true, you know, but we are seeing that Selena is. She has finally reopened herself up to somebody after Sam. And, you know, she had started to open herself up to Dorian before realizing that that was not going to be an answer. But she's been looking for a connection. I mean, she hasn't been necessarily looking for a relationship, but she's been looking for connections. Right. She wanted to connect to Nehemia. She wanted to connect to Dorian as she, despite herself, wanted to connect with Kaol. And then now her and Kael are connecting, and then they're connecting. Now you have her finally kind of coming into her, like, maybe I can be happy. Maybe I have a chance at this. And now it's being taken from her again. That would be enough. And I can see them, especially with Elena, saying, you have to cut no relationships. You have to give up the life that you want and deserve because there's a greater purpose for you. Nobody ever wants anything. You know, the greater purpose thing is like the. The doom words for all heroes in these stories. Creator purpose. And it's like, no, I don't. I don't want that. [01:44:02] Speaker B: Who would? Honestly, who would? No. Nobody wants to take on that hero mantle and give up everything. [01:44:09] Speaker A: Exactly. [01:44:10] Speaker B: We're all selfish at heart. [01:44:11] Speaker A: So they're forcing it on her. They're pulling it away from her by taking what it seems like they're taking Kayle from her forcefully. And that would be enough. Especially knowing what happened with Sam. [01:44:24] Speaker B: Yeah, that's just. That's bullshit. [01:44:27] Speaker A: Yeah. To have it happen again, almost identical would be enough. [01:44:33] Speaker B: Within, what, a year, year and a half? [01:44:36] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. That would be enough to. To push, I think, anybody over the edge. And her particularly, because this girl has not had time to heal and deal with her trauma. [01:44:48] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:44:49] Speaker A: She has not had the therapy needed to move past this. [01:44:53] Speaker B: Yes, I agree. [01:44:56] Speaker A: So. [01:44:59] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I agree. This is some Grade a. [01:45:05] Speaker A: So chapter 28. There are. There were only three things that Selena knew in her rage, Kale had been taken from her. She was a weapon forged to end lives. And if Kale was hurt, nobody was walking out alive. They told her. They told her to arrive alone, so she did. But she also arrived with every weapon she could strap on herself. This kind of reminds me of Violet from Fourth Wing, which. It talks about how she just, like, dagger, dagger, dagger, dagger, dagger, dagger, dagger, dagger. Oh, dagger. [01:45:45] Speaker B: I mean. Yes. What woman wouldn't strap a bajillion daggers on her? And if she could, like. I think we should bring that back for the ladies. [01:45:55] Speaker A: You should? [01:45:56] Speaker B: We should. We should just start sewing in little sheath things. [01:46:00] Speaker A: Be like Selena with the hairpins. That could also. [01:46:04] Speaker B: Yes, we need to bring back the. I think they were called hat pins in the early 1900s when the women wore the big hats and they would take the pin out and just. Oh, yeah, stab them in. We should bring those back. [01:46:16] Speaker A: I mean, that also kind of call us back to the. The. The period pieces for the K dramas. [01:46:23] Speaker B: Oh, they pulled. [01:46:25] Speaker A: And then. [01:46:26] Speaker B: Yes, yes. Women, we need to rise up. [01:46:29] Speaker A: Men fear the hairpin. Okay, I'm telling you right now. [01:46:35] Speaker B: Don'T tell the men our secrets. [01:46:38] Speaker A: Men, disregard what I said. But she also arrived with every weapon she could strap on herself. They didn't say, however, that she had to use the front door of the warehouse to enter. She stalked across the roofs and staked the situation out. Several men were patrolling, but not one even glanced up to the roofs. There were archers poised to shoot to the ground level. She spotted Kael chained, bruised and bleeding. No one was looking at her as she ran toward the ledge, towards the open window of the warehouse. When she landed on the mezzanine of the warehouse, two of her daggers were already flying. Kael caught the glint of moonlight on steel right before Selina landed on the mezzanine. He wasn't sure if he should watch the archers or watch her in action. His captors didn't even stand a chance against her. Some fled for safety. Some rushed her. And watching her now, he realized how she was able to get so close to touching the wall. At Andover, he clearly saw the lethal predator he once expected to find in the mines. One of the hooded men shouted orders. Don't shoot. Don't shoot. He ordered everyone to put down their weapons and that there are worse things to face. He pulled down his hood and mask, revealing a face to match his ancient voice. The old man admits that their methods were wrong, but Celaena only cared about getting Kael and leaving Kale's guard. The One with the twin swords is ready for a fight and Selena really wants to fight him. He charges, and as they fought, more people burst into the warehouse. Someone familiar shouted her name, trying to get her attention. Archer hits the ground, an arrow meant for her now lodged in his shoulder. Selena quickly dispatched the Archer, but was surprised to find Archer trying to shield the rest of the men from her. She realized he is also wearing the same robes as everyone else. He's part of the group and he set her up. Selena demands that Kale be unchained. Archer wants to wants her to hear him out first. Selena wins. Kael is freed. She tells Archer he has one sentence to convince her not to kill all of them. So Archer tells her that he's been working with Nehemia to lead these people for the past six months. Everyone leaves, including the old man and the warrior with the twin blades. Archer tells her that Nehemia came here to assemble a group that could go to Terasen and start gathering forces against the king. This is where Nehemia comes at night, feeding them information that Selina tells her. Selena demands to know where Nehemia is tonight, if she's leading the group. Archer draws his sword on Kale and demands that Kale answer the question. Archer's sources told him that Kael has known for over a week that there's a threat on Nehemia's life and Kale has told no one. Kale was kidnapped because he was ordered to question Nehemia on their behavior. They wanted to know what questions he was going to ask. Kale says that's a lie. They haven't asked him anything. He did know about the threat to her life. Yes, but he was told she was being questioned by the king, not him. Archer continues. They realized that the king was going to be the one, not Kaol. Moments before Selena arrived, Archer's men are already on their way to the castle. Because the king isn't going to just question Nehemiah, Nehemia insisted on staying at the castle to see what kind of questions they were going to throw at her. To see how much they knew. By the time Archer's men get there, it's going to be too late. Celaena turned one last look at Kael, his face stricken and Hail. [01:50:41] Speaker B: Jesus, Mary and Joseph. That was a chapter. [01:50:46] Speaker A: And there's a lot. Yeah. Okay. I have multiple thoughts about. [01:50:52] Speaker B: I would certainly hope so. [01:50:53] Speaker A: Some of this stuff, right? Well, mostly in just how the characters are acting in. Because as I'm going through this, it really feels like everyone had a Little bit of information that was just a little bit wrong. Right. So they kidnapped Kale because. So Archer says, we kidnapped Kale because we were told that he knew about the threat. That's true. But then we were told that Kale was going to question her, and that is wrong. So who told Archer that? Right. [01:51:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:51:40] Speaker A: But then Kale says, yes, I knew about the threat, but you guys haven't asked me anything like you said, so that's a lie. And by the way, the king is the one who's questioning her, not me. [01:51:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:51:56] Speaker A: And this whole time, then you have Nehemiah who's like, I'm just gonna chill in the castle and see what the king has to ask me. So if Nehemia is the one who's working with Archer, did she feed him bad information on purpose because she knows that the king's the one doing the questioning? So did she tell him wrong on purpose so that. That would force Kael to be out of the picture? Knowing that Celaena would go after Kael, not knowing that Nehemia could be in danger. So it kind of feels like Nehemiah set all this up to get everyone away for some. For some reason. Right? Like, yeah. And. And Archer immediately is like, you know, the king's not going to question her. He's gonna kill her. Right. But why are they assuming that? Like, that is still a really big jump? Because even though Nehemia is a pain in the ass, it would still be. [01:53:07] Speaker B: Setting her up as a martyr. [01:53:09] Speaker A: Sorry. Setting her up as a martyr and still having to deal with her kingdom. [01:53:14] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:53:15] Speaker A: Which you get the idea that the king, like, doesn't necessarily care about having to deal with the kingdom, but he also doesn't. Like, he's not going out of his way to start more crap because he's got things he's doing all already right now. And honestly, if he wanted to kill her, he could have done it at any point. [01:53:36] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:53:36] Speaker A: Why do it in something so vague and, like, suspicious as, I'm going to question her so I can really kill her? Like, that's just. None of that makes sense. [01:53:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:53:50] Speaker A: And it really feels like even though Archer. I do believe Archer is a piece of. I do think part of his information is wrong. [01:54:02] Speaker B: Do you believe Archer when he's saying that him and Nehemia have been working together at this point? [01:54:10] Speaker A: I mean. [01:54:11] Speaker B: Or do you think Archer is spinning more? [01:54:18] Speaker A: It could easily be, like. It could easily be looked at and say, oh, no, he's just. He's just saying things. Whatever. But he has too Much insider information. [01:54:30] Speaker B: I guess that's true. [01:54:31] Speaker A: About, like. Because he says, you know. Do you know what her entire schedule is? She's been here, she's been feeding. And this is what would piss me off. She's been here feeding us the information that she gets from you. I would immediately be. Be like, I thought you were my sister, Nehemia. [01:54:48] Speaker B: Like, I would be that. But I would also have Archer pinned to the wall with, like, a bunch of my daggers. [01:54:56] Speaker A: Yes. [01:54:57] Speaker B: And been questioning the shit out of him. And she's not. Selena is like, I get that. She's probably shell shock. And she's trying to take all of this in. You know, she came with one purpose, and that was to kill everybody and to get Kayle. Okay, so maybe two purposes. Same bird or one stone? Two bird, two birds, one stone. Whatever. [01:55:18] Speaker A: Yeah, two birds, one stone. [01:55:20] Speaker B: Thank you. I know what I'm talking about, people. Really? But again, greatest assassin who's used to getting information, so she knows how to kill people. Why isn't she questioning Archer more? And being like, what information do you have? Proved to me that you've been actually working with Nehemia instead. She is still after this betrayal from Archer with this setup with Kale and everything. She is still taking him at face value. And Kale, who she has built up a relationship with, she's also not questioning him, but she's feeling, like, betrayed by him. [01:56:08] Speaker A: Yeah. And, like, okay, I get, you know, Archer is using this against him. Right. He's like, kael has known for over a week that there's a threat on Bohemia's life and he didn't tell anybody. [01:56:22] Speaker B: I feel like Archer is weaponizing that. [01:56:24] Speaker A: No, he is. But I feel like it would have been so easy for Kale to simply. [01:56:28] Speaker B: Just say, I was investigating this. [01:56:31] Speaker A: I was investigating this, and the king is testing me. I cannot jeopardize this. Or, you know, I think that that's all it would have taken for him to say. And Selena would have been on his side and been like, that makes sense. Like, he is in direct contact with the king. And if the king is to. Because even then, we've already thought that the king was testing her at some point. You cannot look at their situation and be like, I am so far removed from this that the king is not going to just randomly be. Especially if he's got her going out and killing people. Yeah, right. That means that he's already questioning people in his kingdom. He might be. You might look at him be like, king's kind of paranoid, you know, it's not above a king to be like, I need to test my own guards and, you know, set up little tests to see, is my assassin loyal to me, is my guard loyal to me, is my son loyal to me? [01:57:35] Speaker B: Like, yeah. [01:57:37] Speaker A: And that's all it would have taken. Would have been just. The king told me this, and it was a. And. And I think he was testing me to see if I'm loyal. [01:57:48] Speaker B: Yeah. I have reasons. [01:57:50] Speaker A: Could not tell anybody. [01:57:52] Speaker B: I have reasons to believe I am being shadowed or, you know. Yeah, whatever. Yeah. There's so many ways that just. It's like this miscommunication trope, and just you guys are purposefully not telling each other everything, and it's just like. [01:58:16] Speaker A: Yeah. And then it sucks because. Because Kale doesn't say anything. His silence is a betrayal. [01:58:23] Speaker B: It's damning. [01:58:24] Speaker A: And, yeah, we understand, as the readers, like, you know, where his. His thought process could be, but Selena's not privy to all that information. But I just still feel like with everything that she's been through, that one of her thoughts should have been, you know, there must have been more going on here. There must have been some reason why he couldn't tell me. [01:58:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:58:59] Speaker A: You know, just. I mean, even at this point, she doesn't even know if the king explicitly ordered him to not say anything. [01:59:09] Speaker B: No. [01:59:09] Speaker A: And they all know that there's ears in the castle everywhere. [01:59:14] Speaker B: Yep. [01:59:16] Speaker A: And. And even though Kale. Could he. Honestly, could he even say anything that would make a difference at this point? You know, it's hard to say, because you understand why, but you understand that her looking at it, you know, with everything that they have shared. Right. [01:59:40] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:59:41] Speaker A: You would think he would have at least told me, despite everything, because of the fact that we've been intimate and trust. [01:59:52] Speaker B: And I was truthful with him about what I've been doing. [01:59:56] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:59:57] Speaker B: Under the king's nose. [01:59:59] Speaker A: But at the same time, she wasn't truthful right away. [02:00:03] Speaker B: No, she wasn't. But she did come clean. [02:00:07] Speaker A: She did come clean. But Kael's only known about this for a week. And, I mean, he may have been in the process of trying to. He still didn't have any information about it. He even asked the king, like, do I need to know something special about the meeting? Whatever? And the king's like, no, don't worry about it. Just. [02:00:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:00:26] Speaker A: It's kind of like the king was telling him as a formality, but he didn't give him any information to actually do anything with. [02:00:36] Speaker B: True. [02:00:36] Speaker A: And to Kale's credit, he had Extra guards posted. [02:00:43] Speaker B: He did exactly what the king said to do. [02:00:46] Speaker A: Yeah. So, I mean. [02:00:52] Speaker B: Either way, though, I think this was setting Kell up. Whether he got kidnapped by this rebel group or if he had stuck around in the palace. If he wasn't kidnapped and the king did question and killed Nehemia, that still technically would have been on Kel's watch. He knew about the questioning and he didn't tell anybody. And then she died. If that was the king's purpose. So, either way, I feel like Selena was going to feel betrayed. [02:01:31] Speaker A: Yeah. And, you know, I just. I had a thought, too, that's gonna. It's gonna tie into the next. The next chapter, you know, But. But if Nehemia and Elena have been planning something that needs to push Selena over the edge. If, you know, this whole situation is. It goes through and it ends up being that. That Selena will literally lose everything because of this. Because she's not going to just lose, you know, if. If Nehemia is killed, she's going to lose her. But now she's also going to lose Kael because of the betrayal. [02:02:15] Speaker B: Yep. [02:02:15] Speaker A: And she's also losing Dorian because he can't get past this idea of them being together. Right. So when you really look at it, the result of this situation is that Selena is looking. Losing everything. [02:02:33] Speaker B: Yep. [02:02:35] Speaker A: And that is, you know, exactly what Elena told her. You know. Yeah, you have to lose everything. And so they're, like, forcing it on her. [02:02:47] Speaker B: And not to mention, she's losing everything again. Yeah, she lost everything as a child that forced her into the Assassin's Guild. She lost everything with Sam and then headed to the mines. And now that she's been rebuilding her life the past, you know, six, seven months, she's losing it all again. And that's just so fucked up. [02:03:17] Speaker A: Yeah. [02:03:19] Speaker B: Fuck you, Elena. [02:03:20] Speaker A: Right. [02:03:21] Speaker B: Fuck you, Nehemia. [02:03:23] Speaker A: Ghost Queen is not very helpful. [02:03:27] Speaker B: Not Ghost, Ghost Queen, just you, husband and you, listeners, viewers. You are going to say a big fuck you to Elena later on. It's all I'm gonna say. But just hold on to this angle. [02:03:40] Speaker A: We're at the end of this. At the end of the story. [02:03:45] Speaker B: Towards the end of the books, the series as a whole. [02:03:49] Speaker A: Right. Well, okay. I mean, I'm on Empire of Storm and Tower of Dawn. Right. So, yeah, in that one. Or Kingdom of Ash, I think. [02:04:02] Speaker B: In Kingdom of Ash. Oh, yeah, definitely Kingdom of Ash. You're good. You're. You're gonna want to like it if. [02:04:10] Speaker A: You could punch a ghost. [02:04:12] Speaker B: Yeah, Yeah, I was gonna say, you're gonna Want to throw the book across the room, which you won't because they're my books. But us, we do value books. We value the right books in this house. But no, you're. What comes to light is just like. It's so frustrating and so maddening and just. [02:04:35] Speaker A: So. [02:04:36] Speaker B: If you think this is bad, it gets so much worse. [02:04:39] Speaker A: Well, no, I mean, I have been waiting for it because literally every story of the hero's journey is so up. It's. Oh yeah, I think. Isn't that the whole point of one of the new books? I just got. [02:04:58] Speaker B: One of your good guy turned villain books. [02:05:00] Speaker A: Is it the Dark Lord and Trying. No. The Dark Lord? No. How to Become a dark Lord and Die Trying. Or. [02:05:11] Speaker B: It could be it's the one. [02:05:12] Speaker A: Where the hero gets caught in the time loop and so she finally says screw this and she becomes the villain. I need to read it. It's going to be one of my in betweener books to read. [02:05:24] Speaker B: But that one does sound like a really good book to read. I just. I feel like so many people, so many heroes or would be heroes would turn villain with their just coming of age stories. Like how many people start on the path of good and righteous or whatever and they're just like, no, this. You push me too hard, all y' all. I'm gonna go raise this town now. [02:05:49] Speaker A: No, there's actually a couple good. At least a couple cartoon type things I've watched that kind of follow that idea where the hero is like, this is. [02:06:02] Speaker B: The price is too much. [02:06:03] Speaker A: The price is too much. And they do. They become. They become the villain or they become like an anti hero where they're like, I'm still going to do the right thing, but you best make sure you don't get caught up in the wake of. Because I'm a destroy it all. [02:06:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:06:19] Speaker A: And I feel like that's. Selena would become. [02:06:22] Speaker B: It's like she could easily become that, you know, not. [02:06:25] Speaker A: Not to the point where she's like, I'm the villain. Because she's still not going to kill innocent people. But more like the. If you get killed because you're in my wake of destruction, then that's on you. [02:06:40] Speaker B: And we live for that. [02:06:41] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, we do. [02:06:47] Speaker B: So why did this group wait until now to reveal Nehemia's involvement? If Nehemia has been feeding them information for months, why did Archer keep Selena in the dark? You know, the past what, two weeks or so did. [02:07:04] Speaker A: Why did Nehemia keep her in the dark? [02:07:07] Speaker B: And why did Selina question Nehemia more. Because Nehemia kept asking about Archer and Archer's involvement and stuff, and what Selena was going to do. Because Selena told her that Archer was her next mark from the king. And Nehima kept asking, like, so at a glance, you would be like, oh, you know, she's just being a supportive friend. You know, she just wants to know, like, isn't he. Is Selena to actually going to take this Archer guy out, or is she going to try to save him like the rest? But the way Nehemia tends to gravitate and to, like, focus on things. She was, like, focused on Archer. Why didn't Selena question that? [02:07:52] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, you would think that she would have honed in on that real quick. Like, why the interest in this courtesan? Yeah, like, you're. You're royalty. You shouldn't even know who he is or care. [02:08:13] Speaker B: Yeah. Why are you so concerned about his safety? I understand that you were concerned about the lords that I was supposed to kill. You know, because they have. They have influence and stuff. But this is a courtesan. Why are you so focused on him? What is his importance? [02:08:30] Speaker A: He's just a plaything for the lords and the. You know. [02:08:35] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:08:37] Speaker A: But even so, even if you take all of that outside, just take all of that out. Nehemia has been pushing her this whole time. You need to do. You need to help me. Promise me that you'll help them if something happens to me and do this and do that and do that. And Selena's like, no, no, no, I don't want to. Why couldn't Nehemia have just come to her and said, look, I am helping a rebel group here in Rift Hold. I need you to help me instead of this ambiguous. Like, help my people, help the slaves, help the. Whatever. Whatever. She's like, look, there's a very real thing right here in Rift Hold. [02:09:20] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:09:20] Speaker A: Selena could have been like, oh, oh. Like, okay, okay. [02:09:30] Speaker B: And pushing that even farther. Nehemia knows more about Selena than she's been letting on during this whole time. [02:09:38] Speaker A: I mean, obviously, if she's talking to Elena. [02:09:41] Speaker B: Well, yeah, she could have been upfront. Like, if making vague suggestions and stuff isn't working with Selena, then it's time to come clean. Because it seems like out of everything, Selina values honesty and the truth more than anything. And if she is faced with that, then she can reflect on it and then make better decisions. Instead, people keep hiding from her, so then she feels like she has to hide shit. And it's a vicious cycle. If Nehimi had finally come to her and been like, hey, yes, I have this rebel force that I've been working with in Rifthold. This is what I do at night. Archer is part of this, so, yes, I have a vested interest in him. We're waiting for you. I know who and what you are. Nice line for fourth wing. But I know your truth, and we need your help. And, yes, you've been burned, and yes, you're scared, but we have a force, and we need you. This is what we need from you. Then I think Celaena could have confronted that better and on her own, versus Nehemia just being like, promise me you'll do this and promise me you'll help me and blah, blah, blah. With no real plan. With no real anything. [02:11:11] Speaker A: And that's just a big thing, too, for someone's like, I need you to help me with the slaves. And, you know, it's like, okay, you're talking about this. This thing that you can't measure. [02:11:24] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:11:25] Speaker A: What's the first step? How do I do anything with this information versus what you just said, where it's like, okay, there's a group here in Rift hold. There's information they're planning to go back to. Terrace at Lake. These are all very actionable items that. [02:11:42] Speaker B: Yeah. You know, and that's all, really, I think Celaena has been wanting, especially from Elena. She has been wanting actionable steps. She's been wanting answers, and nobody's giving them to her. And everybody just expects Elena to be like, yes, I'll do this. I'll become this, whatever, without having answers. And they want her to figure it out, and they want her to do this thing, and they want her to become this hero. And it's like, you gotta give a little in order to get a little, you know? [02:12:15] Speaker A: Yeah. Very much. [02:12:18] Speaker B: You know, Selena barely survived in Dovier. I mean, she's one of the few. She made it a year, and she tried busting out. Well, she tried dying, and that failed. So how. How can she, who couldn't get out of Andover on her own? She needed Dorian and Kael to come and release her. How could she do anything against the king's army to rescue all these people from Calicula and Endovir and all these other plans that Nehemia has without. [02:12:54] Speaker A: Yeah. [02:12:54] Speaker B: These plans. My. My final point on this chapter is, again, poor Dorian is left out of everything in this book. And what is happening? Why didn't Celaena tell Dorian about Chael's kidnapping? She's told to come alone. And we knew. We knew from everything we just know from Celaena that of course she's going alone. She wouldn't have it any other way. But why not tell Dorian? Because things have gone wrong in her life before. [02:13:31] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [02:13:32] Speaker B: This would be no exception to that. She should have told Dorian, even just as a backup in case something happened and she didn't make it back. At least he knew he would know then that something was because of Kael and Celaena, you know, and, like, imagine how you would feel as Dorian later learning that your best friend, your brother, had been kidnapped and the girl that you loved went to rescue him, and there was all this stuff, and you were left out yet again. I feel like this. This is just driving a wedge between the three of them even more. [02:14:12] Speaker A: It really is. I mean, there's a big disconnect with. With them now. I mean, you. You've been seeing it with Dorian's unwillingness to. You know, even when he had his freak out with the magic, and. And Selina saw him in the hallway, and there was that brief moment where you thought he was going to talk to her about it, and then he turned and he left. [02:14:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:14:39] Speaker A: The old Dorian would not have done that. He would have opened up everything. And how different would things have. Would. How different would things have been if he had that night, opened up to her and been like, something is happening. I am freaking out because, you know. [02:15:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:15:04] Speaker A: Because then maybe she would have gone to Nehemia and been like, I need to know word marks to help him. What's going on? And then that could open up a whole nother conversation. Like. Yeah, but they've all been drifting apart because of one thing here, one thing that. And just, you know. [02:15:27] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:15:28] Speaker A: Yeah. [02:15:28] Speaker B: So this was a frustrating chapter for different reasons than the short chapter, but our last chapter for Today's podcast, Chapter 29. Selena raced through the streets, discarding anything on her that weighed her down. Not again, not again, not again, she told herself as she raced to the glass towers glowing with a pale greenish light. She raced up a wall of the castle and dropped into the grounds. She raced for Nehemia's rooms first. She would lock Nehemia up safely, then take down the bastard coming for her. Throwing open the glass doors to the castle. She wasn't expecting to see Dorian chatting with some guards. She ignored him. She ignored them. She heard shouts behind her, but she wouldn't stop. Couldn't stop. She reached the wooden doors to Nehemia's bedroom and broke them open. There was blood everywhere. Nehemia's guards lay with their throats cut from ear to ear, organs spilling out onto the floor. And on the bed. The shouting behind Celaena was getting closer, but the words were somehow muffled, like she was underwater. On the bed lay Nehemia's broken body. Nehemia was dead. So not Kale dead, but Nehemia. And again, Celaena's too late. Like she was with Sam. [02:16:52] Speaker A: Yeah, but like I. I was saying, because of this, she's lost everything. [02:16:59] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:17:00] Speaker A: The. The fracture, it's. It's fractured between her and Kale. You know it is. Because he kept it from her. [02:17:09] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:17:12] Speaker A: Now, regardless of any points that he can make later, it's still his fault because it was. Well, not just his guards, but it was Nehemia's guards and his guards. And there's just no way, I think, that he's coming out of this with it working on his. In his defense. [02:17:44] Speaker B: No, no, the trust is broken. Celaena's not going to forgive Kael for this. He could have told her about the assassination attempts. He could have told her about the meeting that the king had planned, and he didn't. And now she's going to just. She's going to hold this against Cal, regardless of Cal's involvement or not. But I would be equally as pissed at Archer, too, because Archer also apparently knew about this and didn't inform Selena. [02:18:24] Speaker A: Right. Like, they went through this whole thing to. To kidnap Kale, and they're like, we're trying to get the answers out of him because we know this, this, and this. And at the same time, it's like, okay, but you willingly took him out of the castle knowing that Selena was also coming out of the castle. So that left nobody to protect Bohemia. And there's at least two people in this room who. And not even just two, because. Because Archer was like, I already have my men racing to the castle, and it's like, I don't feel like he just found it. I feel like he has been setting, like, methodically stacking things, and he's like, oh, we just found this out. I already have him in going on their way. It's like, but. But why did you wait? Yeah, clearly you didn't find out just five minutes ago, because, I mean, nobody was questioning Kale when she got there. [02:19:27] Speaker B: No. [02:19:28] Speaker A: And the whole thing just doesn't really line up time wise, like. No, it felt like he had all the information and was choosing when to. To put it out, to lay it out, you know? [02:19:44] Speaker B: And Nehemia even knew that the king was going to question her, and she stuck around because she wanted to know what the king was going to ask. To see how much the king knew. So if Nehemia knew, and she had already told Archer and the rebels, they had all this time, any one of them could have contacted Selena. Especially if Archer had. You know, Archer could have used this to his benefit, and he could have dropped it at any point, and he didn't. Nobody warns Elena kill. Even Nehemiah. [02:20:22] Speaker A: Yeah. Why didn't Nehemia tell her? Yeah, like, hey, the king is going to be questioning me in a day or two or three, just so you know. [02:20:31] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:20:33] Speaker A: She could have told her at any time. And then Selena could be like, what the fuck do you mean? Did you know about this? And then Kale could be like, yes, I knew about this, but I think the king is trying to test my loyalty. And I couldn't say anything. You know, conversations that could have happened. [02:20:52] Speaker B: Yes. Conversations that needed to happen. [02:20:55] Speaker A: But it seemed like it was all. Other than Kael. It felt like it was all very deliberately keeping her in the shadows to keep her away from the possibility of doing anything. [02:21:07] Speaker B: Yes. [02:21:08] Speaker A: Whereas I feel like Kael was operating in good faith in trying to keep everybody safe by. By not giving the king a reason to distrust him or Selena. Cal was doing the best he could with the information he had and the abilities that he has. And he's in a precarious position of being, you know, the main man for the king. [02:21:37] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:21:38] Speaker A: You don't want to be on the bad side of the king like you. You just don't want to find yourself on that side of distrust. [02:21:46] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:21:48] Speaker A: So even though it didn't, you know, it worked against him, I still feel like Kale was operating on good faith to the best that he. That he could with the knowledge that he had. It's just. It's not going to work in his favor. No, but it's not fair that it would all come down on him either. Because if Archer was truly worried about it, he could have slipped a note and. And even this. Somebody went through the whole thing of leaving her a note saying, we have Kael. You need to come and get him. Why didn't they leave a note saying, we believe Nehemiah is in danger. You should stay with her. By the way, we kidnapped Kale. We're not going to kill him. We'll figure that out later. But instead, she's there. She races all the way to Rift hold, only to find out, and then races all the way. If Archer was truly worried about it, why didn't he just leave her a note? Saying, we believe Nehemia is in danger. You need to stay with her today. [02:22:57] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [02:23:00] Speaker A: It all sounds like a big ploy. [02:23:02] Speaker B: It does. It. The whole thing with the rebels is just stupid at this point. Them kidnapping Kael to draw Selina out. It's just. What the hell were they thinking? If they were that concerned about Nehemia and they were that worried, they would not have drawn Kael out, even if it was just for questioning, to find out what he was going to ask her. Why didn't they do that days before? Why did they have to do it the day that Nehemia was going to be questioned? Because if Kael doesn't show up for the questioning, the king is just going to do it himself or he's going to have somebody else do it. Like, it doesn't make any sense. [02:23:48] Speaker A: Yeah. And it's still. The information that was given was wrong, because there was never any discussion about Kael being the one to do the questioning. [02:23:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:23:59] Speaker A: He was only told to guard. So somebody purposely gave the wrong information to somebody to make it look like he was actually withholding more information than he was. [02:24:11] Speaker B: No. [02:24:14] Speaker A: And I. I honestly, yeah, I'm not trusting Archer. I think. Honestly, I think that the whole rebel group probably wasn't really on board with the whole thing, but Archer was the one insisting that it needed to go down a certain way. And because even the old man was like, this is not the way that we should be doing this. This is like, she's literally in here slaughtering everybody. [02:24:37] Speaker B: This is not what we intended. [02:24:39] Speaker A: This is the wrong choice. And there's a bigger game afoot here. And whether that was orchestrated by Archer or if it was orchestrated by Nehemia or the both of them together. But the goal very clearly was get Kale and Nehimi or. And Selena both out of the castle. Because it would have been so easy to just leave her a note. And they could have done it the exact same way. Left her a note with Kael's sword and said, nehemiah's life is in danger. You should be with her. By the way, we have Kael prisoner. [02:25:20] Speaker B: Come find us after. [02:25:21] Speaker A: But we won't kill him. We're questioning him. At least then Selena could have been like, kayl's the Captain of the Guard, but he can take care of himself. Maybe. I mean, the whole thing with Sam kind of complicates her feelings about that. But I think if she had had information between Kale and Nehemia and Nehemia, she would have been like Nehemia needs me right now. No, Kayl will probably be okay for a little while, hopefully. God's hoping, right? [02:25:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:25:56] Speaker A: But she wasn't given that. [02:25:59] Speaker B: No. [02:26:00] Speaker A: You know, and I feel like that was on purpose. That was on design. [02:26:05] Speaker B: So did Nehemia expect this? She insisted on staying at the castle despite knowing that there was a threat, that the king was going to question her. Do you suspect or think that she knew that she was going to die? Do you think she thought the king was actually going to just question her? Or do you think the king was going to question her and then kill her? Do you think she believed she could survive the night? Or did she know that her death would serve a greater purpose? [02:26:37] Speaker A: I mean, if nothing else, I think she at least probably expected that it was a possibility. And she was okay with it. Just based on the conversation she had with Elena, you get the idea that she is at least accepting the idea that she will die. You know, initially you look at it, you're like, oh, like they're going to kill Kale, and that's going to put Selena over the edge. And. And it turns out it's. [02:27:03] Speaker B: It's her. [02:27:04] Speaker A: It's Nehemia. And I think that, you know, she probably was like, didn't want to die. [02:27:15] Speaker B: Nobody wants to die. [02:27:16] Speaker A: But she was willing to. To do that for the. For the bigger. The bigger thing. [02:27:29] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:27:29] Speaker A: And Elena's like, she'll come back from it. She'll be fine. Even though Nehemiah doesn't seem convinced. But for the greater good, right? That's what they say. It's always for the critic. [02:27:40] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. But why was her death so brutal? I mean, like, her. Her guards with the throat. Throats cut and the organ spilling out, and. And her bed was just a mess. Like, this wasn't just an assassination. Like, this made a statement. Like there was blood all over the room and everything. Who was the message for? For the rebels? For her kingdom? For Celaena? All of the above. [02:28:09] Speaker A: Yeah. See, and I don't think that this was the king because it's. It's not his mo. It's not his style. No, he's very much with the beheading and then discarding, or it's very public. [02:28:25] Speaker B: Because it needs to make a statement for other people. Either it's done in the dungeon, like the beheading of the musician and the singer, or it's, you know, mass execution of these rebels so that everybody knows not to cross the king. [02:28:44] Speaker A: Yeah. This is not this the way that the king would do this. And so. So you Think that. That there is another. Something else is going on here. [02:28:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:28:56] Speaker A: But for what the purpose is. It's kind of hard to really think, you know, it's hard to expand on that, because at this point, you're just like, who would have done this? Who could do this? Why would they do this? [02:29:12] Speaker B: Or what? [02:29:13] Speaker A: Or what? Yeah. I like. Right. Is a Ridderak back, like, kind of thing. [02:29:17] Speaker B: I mean, Selina did see something in the library earlier in this book, and we haven't seen it since. [02:29:24] Speaker A: I mean. Yeah, so. Or is this, you know, was the assassination threat that the king, quote, unquote, received? You know, was it from somebody who was not happy about the idea of there being a rebel movement? I mean, it could have been any number of things. Things. But. But you get the idea that this was not the king. I don't feel that the king would be necessarily heartbroken about this. [02:29:57] Speaker B: No. This probably came at an excellent point, but it's not. [02:30:02] Speaker A: Serves no purpose for him advantageous. You know, he's not getting anything out of this other than her not being there to annoy him anymore. [02:30:15] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:30:16] Speaker A: I think he would be perfectly fine with just sending her back to her kingdom and getting rid of her. [02:30:22] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:30:25] Speaker A: So. Yeah. Trying to. Trying to see what. And. And also, you know, we get the idea that Selina wouldn't have made it back in time no matter what. Right. She gets back there, Dorian is there in the hallway talking to some of the guards. Right. Completely oblivious that anything is even happened. [02:30:54] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:30:54] Speaker A: So that means that nobody heard anything, nobody saw anything, and by the time she gets to the room, I mean. Yeah, everyone's dead. And they've all been displayed, which means that the person had time to kill them, do what he or they or whatever, you know, set it up and then leave. [02:31:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:31:19] Speaker A: Because they're not there. [02:31:21] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:31:22] Speaker A: So, I mean, they've been dead now for probably a while. You know, I mean, she could have. Honestly, she could have even been dead before Selena even left to go. To go to Kale. [02:31:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:31:40] Speaker A: Because she hadn't seen Nehemia, she hadn't talked to her. Would it have been different if she had gotten the note and she ran to Nehemia to be like, they took Kale. I have to. [02:31:52] Speaker B: I have to go save them. [02:31:53] Speaker A: Would she have walked in on the assassination attempt in progress? Would she have found her dead already? And then Kale would have just been screwed on his lake, and. And we don't get any sort of notice on whether the blood is still warm or, you know, like, there's no reference of time on. [02:32:17] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:32:18] Speaker A: On the bodies. [02:32:19] Speaker B: So I don't think it was that long, though, because it would have started stinking up. I think the servants would have noticed. And if the servants are bringing in meals or anything like that, then somebody would have walked into the room and started screaming and have alerted. [02:32:35] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, but a body can be dead for at least an hour before any real, you know, anything is real noticeable. [02:32:44] Speaker B: True. But, yeah, the fact that nobody had spotted it, nobody had heard anything. That's what gets me, is that nobody heard anything. So was this an inside job, like, with the king? I mean, we said that this isn't the king's MO but to not have any guards outside her room. [02:33:09] Speaker A: Well, but there were guards inside her room. [02:33:11] Speaker B: Yeah. Nehemia's personal guards. But there was nobody patrolling outside the hallways that heard anything screaming, fighting like that. That. That area of the castle was just suddenly deserted while this assassination attempt happened. It. It just really weird. [02:33:34] Speaker A: Yeah. Unless somebody was, you know, who knows? [02:33:39] Speaker B: How do the rooms work in a glass castle if it's a glass castle? Well, they. Nobody. [02:33:46] Speaker A: These are the rooms that are in the stone part, though, aren't they? [02:33:49] Speaker B: I had the feeling that Nehemia was up in the glass castle part, and only, like, Celaena and Dorian and Kael were in the stone part of the castle. I could be wrong. If somebody knows, please correct me. [02:34:02] Speaker A: Yeah, I know. I would be curious, too, actually. [02:34:06] Speaker B: Like, does nobody get any privacy in a glass castle? [02:34:09] Speaker A: No. [02:34:11] Speaker B: No. You just. You go to the bathroom and everybody can see you doing your business, and. [02:34:15] Speaker A: They'Re like, can I come visit your room later? I like what I see. [02:34:20] Speaker B: Ew. Ew. [02:34:26] Speaker A: I was not expecting them to kill Nehemia off and actually made me really sad. [02:34:33] Speaker B: It made me sad. Like, I. I've been frustrated with her, like, this whole part of the book with her just badgering Selena, you know, but. Yeah, I also was not expecting her to die so early in the series. Like, she made it through a book and a half, and she wasn't even in the first full book. [02:34:56] Speaker A: I know. Like, she's become this really good friend of. Of Selena, and, you know, she's like, I'll teach you about the word marks. And this. And then. And then. Yeah, now she did. [02:35:08] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:35:08] Speaker A: And she's dead in, like, one of the worst possible ways. [02:35:11] Speaker B: Yep. What the hell? It. And it's also reminiscent of Sam, too. Like, we won't go into that until we cover the next book, but to run to find Sam and find what happened to him. And then to run to Nehemia and find like a. [02:35:37] Speaker A: And it's just brutal. Like, yeah, it does really feel like it's like it's personal. [02:35:48] Speaker B: Yeah, definitely personal. And with that, that's the end of our show. Thank you. Good night. [02:35:56] Speaker A: Yes. Well, yes, because as. As that does wrap up chapters 22 through 29, that also wraps up part one of Crown of Midnight. So now we are officially halfway through the book on our next. The next podcast or the next regular scheduled show. In between with the other stuff, we will be starting part two of Crown of Midnight and we'll be covering chapters 30 through 36. So keep reading. Make sure you're up to at least chapter 36. But if you keep going and you read the whole book, go for it. Because I'm sure that if you read the whole book and you hear us talking about connections to things, you'll sit there and you'll be like, oh, that. Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. That's some bullshit. Also, don't forget that on Thursday, we are going through Fourth Wing. The next episode for that will be covering chapters 19 through 24, as we're getting deeper into Violet's story. And of course, we always want to say thank you again to everybody for joining us this week. We hope you're enjoying this journey as we go through the world of Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight. And we hope that you will continue to join us. So if you have any thoughts or theories or ideas, you can let us know in the comments on our YouTube channel. You can let us know on our website. Each podcast post has a comment section, so if you want to log in, leave comments there. You can also leave comments on our Instagram or. What else do we have? Oh, threads and tick tock, tick tock. You know, interact. You know, we try to post, you know, different things and we would love to hear from you guys about what we're doing. Oh, and you can email us@hellooks catsandchaos.com. [02:38:06] Speaker B: Please remember to, like, subscribe and comment. Your ratings and likes really do mean a lot to us. And if you like what you hear so far, please share with your friends and families and neighbors and fur babies. You can also check us out. Like James said, TikTok, threads, Instagram, Facebook. And I'm trying to get us more active on Fable, which is kind of like a Facebook for Booktok, so you can find what we're reading over there. And yeah, as we head out, please don't forget to give some love over to our friends over at K911 Rescue. That's K9 11 Resq. They work so hard to help as many seniors and handicapped and special need animals, the ones that often get overlooked at shelters. You know, they also post when they need help, you know, catching a dog or cat that was, you know, recently dumped and stuff like that. So please head on over to their website, k911resq.com. They are also very active on social media, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram. Their work can't continue without, you know, help from people like us and people like you. So please go give them some love. And with that, happy reading and we will see you guys next time. [02:39:35] Speaker A: See you later. It.