Ep 2 Crown of Midnight: Ch. 8 – 14

[00:00:21] James: hello, and welcome back to Books, Cats, and Chaos, the podcast where we explore epic tales, Throw in some humor and embrace the chaos of book loving, cat loving, and all the things that are combined and in between. I am James.

[00:00:40] Ka-Ce: And I am Ka-Ce.

[00:00:41] And

[00:00:41] we are a husband and wife team who happen to love all those things

[00:00:45] and

[00:00:46] the fun chaos in between.

[00:00:47] James: And it’s definitely all the things in between. We, today, we are continuing our deep dive, conversation into Crown of Midnight in the Throne of Glass series. If you’re not familiar with, any of that, that is book two of the Throne of Glass series. It’s, book two out of eight. And, yeah, there’s a lot.

[00:01:13] So, just as a reminder, if you are joining us again, or if you are new to this podcast, we are focusing on just each of the books that we are reading at the time. So we will not be going into any of the, multiverse, maasiverse, extended maas universe, whatever you guys want to call it. We’re not doing any of that.

[00:01:42] We will be talking about Crown of Midnight and we will be talking about Throne of Glass because we already covered that one. So if you haven’t listened to that one yet, go back through our archives and listen to Throne of Glass first. So that you know what’s going [00:02:00] on.

[00:02:02] and yes, please, no spoilers for any of the books going forward. Because even though we know what’s going on, mostly, for the most part, there might be other people who do not know.

[00:02:16] Ka-Ce: Yes. So we are trying to keep this as spoiler free as possible for anyone who

[00:02:21] is new to the Throne of Glass series. And for James, here, who has not finished the Throne of Glass series, it is A wild ride, especially when you get to the end, so try not to spoil anything there, and like he said, we will not be talking about ACOTAR or the Crescent City Trilogy. Content reminder, this podcast is for adult audiences, only as we will be using adult language, curse words, to discuss adult topics, content, themes, and more.

[00:02:53] If you have any tiny ones about, please save this podcast for later. Also, if you are new here, our format is pretty simple. We do a recap of the chapter, and then we go into our thoughts, theories, and predictions of what’s to come, and then we do that for each chapter that we’re covering in this podcast.

[00:03:14] James: It makes it a little easier to follow, I think, Instead of briefing the entire span of everything, And then going all the way back to the beginning.

[00:03:25] Ka-Ce: Yes, definitely.

[00:03:26] James: if you haven’t already, but you like what you hear so far, whether you’re returning or you’re new, please do not forget to rate, subscribe, or comment on this podcast or any of our social media channels or on our, podcast distributions on Apple Podcast and Spotify.

[00:03:47] We really appreciate it.

[00:03:51] Ka-Ce: Yes, so without further ado, let’s head into chapter 8. The king has ordered Celaena to help with guard duty at the [00:04:00] state dinner that night, interrupting her plans to trail after Archer. She could protest, but if she were to actually listen to Elena, she needed the king and everyone else believe that she was his obedient servant.

[00:04:12] And so, Celaena was stationed by a pillar near the glass patio doors, salivating over the luscious spread that was dinner. Celaena couldn’t help but wonder why the King even bothered attending these events when he could do away with them altogether. She also didn’t understand why Chaol handpicked his best guards to be stationed in the room tonight.

[00:04:33] No one was suicidal enough to dare attack the King in public. Even she wasn’t that crazy. But Chaol wouldn’t listen to her and told her not to cause trouble. Once the King left, everyone visibly relaxed and started mingling. Roland stayed by Dorian’s side throughout the evening. Celaena couldn’t put a finger on it, but she just wanted to keep Dorian as far away from his cousin as possible.

[00:04:57] Maybe if she told Chaol about it? But no, that would cause more issues. Maybe she would try to warn Dorian. Though she had ended things romantically between them, she still cared about the prince. Dorian, however, had been watching Celaena all evening and noticed that her gaze had drifted between his and Chaol’s, and whenever they landed on Chaol, her whole face changed.

[00:05:20] She became softer, more contemplative. Roland rivaled Dorian with the charm in the ladies department and knew his cousin was going to enjoy all the benefits of living in a castle until he’s wed. Dorian, having caught Celaena’s gaze and then watched her turn back to Chaol, left the Great Hall in a fit of anger and jealousy.

[00:05:41] Celaena slipped out to join him to warn him of his cousin. Dorian, though, wouldn’t hear of it, saying that Roland was harmless. Celaena argues that Roland has got little to lose and a lot to gain. And that makes a person dangerous. Ruthless. Dorian shoots back. [00:06:00] The same way an assassin from Endovier used me to become king’s champion.

[00:06:05] What the fuck, my prince. What the fuck.

[00:06:09] And we love that Celaena doesn’t back down from him and claps back that he is used to getting what he wants, who he wants, in this one time. He didn’t. She tried to warn him about his cousin, so don’t expect her to care when he finds himself nothing more than a puppet if he isn’t one already.

[00:06:28] And welcome back, Kaltain! Celaena stands before the bars to Kaltain Rompier cell. It has been months since she was sent down here. Celaena never saw the exchange. Never saw Kaltain throw the screaming fit in front of everyone. Now here she stands before Kaltain. Hello, Kaltain. Hello, Celaena.

[00:06:50] James: Duuun.

[00:06:53] Ka-Ce: So that was a chapter.

[00:06:57] James: It’s a pretty good setup for a lot of the things that are gonna be, happening soon.

[00:07:03] Ka-Ce: Yes, definitely.

[00:07:04] James: And, you know, I do want to say one of the things that, that, I feel like I, I think I did notice this the first time I read this, but when the king leaves, everybody relaxes. Like, if that is not the ultimate, like, warning sign that something is amiss, because Literally every person

[00:07:29] except for like maybe Perrington is afraid that they’re gonna get their head cut off if they say the wrong thing. That’s just a whole level. This is just book two. You know, it’s crazy.

[00:07:48] Ka-Ce: It just goes to show just

[00:07:50] how afraid everyone is, even as a noble, how afraid they are of this king.

[00:07:56] James: I wonder too if maybe,

[00:07:58] if maybe there’s word on the street [00:08:00] that

[00:08:00] other nobles are, you know, disappearing and even though nobody’s really said anything, everyone’s kind of like, it’s the king, don’t cross the king, or you’re going to be next on that list. And it’s just like.

[00:08:13] Ka-Ce: Oh, most likely.

[00:08:15] James: If I go home tonight from this party, am I actually going to, am I going to make it home from this party or am I not going to see tomorrow?

[00:08:24] You know, like it would be very stressful.

[00:08:28] Ka-Ce: It, it would be, one of the things that stood out to me from this chapter two was the king wanting Celaena at the party to stand guard instead of out there trailing after Archer. I would think that having her, doing her work on her next mission, like, you know, trailing archer killing Archer.

[00:08:51] Would be, like, of the utmost priority, instead of standing around in the ballroom all night. Unless that was his way of just trying to keep an eye on her.

[00:09:04] James: Yeah, I kind of wonder too if maybe it was like, like a subtle test kind of thing. Like, like he tells her that she has to do this thing and is she going to, is she going to argue it? Because even though she has a legitimate thing, like, I need to be out, you know, trailing this guy. The king still looks at it, could look at it, and be like, Are you going to listen to me, or are you going to argue?

[00:09:29] Or, like, how well trained are you at this point? And so, erring on the side of caution, I think she’s like, No, you know, you are the king, and I will do as you wish, and I will figure the other stuff out later.

[00:09:46] Ka-Ce: That is a good point, because he did say to never question him. So, that could be a small, subtle test.

[00:09:54] James: Could you imagine, King is like, I need you to do, I need you to do this. And she’s like, but you said, and [00:10:00] he’s like, but I’m saying right now,

[00:10:02] Ka-Ce: Mm hmm.

[00:10:04] James: not the kind of argument you want to get into with the, uh,

[00:10:08] Ka-Ce: No,

[00:10:09] James: Ruler.

[00:10:10] Ka-Ce: And I have known some men like that too, and it, it was not a fun, fun time. and,

[00:10:18] James: Oh, yeah.

[00:10:21] Ka-Ce: So I thought we were getting our old Dorian back from the last couple, couple chapters that we went over last week, but it seems like he’s back to his brooding, pampered self. That he’s like, back to this, Oh, you just used me to get your position, Celaena.

[00:10:38] Like, woe is me. How easy it was for him to forget that he sought her out. He wanted her to become the champion. It was his idea to bring her out of Endovier and to compete in this thing to become his father’s champion. And now he’s like, twisting it around.

[00:10:59] James: Yeah, she didn’t even want to do it. Like, she was like, no, I don’t really want to, but, uh, I guess I could die here. Well, okay. But, they were the ones who were like, you know, stay middle of the pack, and, you know, don’t draw attention to yourself, and just survive this. And, like, You guys gave her no option other than succeed, and then she succeeds, and now you’re mad about it?

[00:11:32] Ka-Ce: Right? All because she wanted her freedom. She serves her four years, and then she wants freedom. She doesn’t want to be tied to the crown. She doesn’t want to get married to the prince and then forced to have babies right away. And he’s like, faulting her for all of that? Like

[00:11:52] James: I mean, I’m sure it’s It goes probably, you know, a lot deeper than, you know, [00:12:00] he’s upset about being rejected, and probably just being the prince and being the son of the tyrant king. And The easiest outlet is to blame her because she’s right there and, and she broke his heart, you know, and so it’s easy to say things, that are hurtful, you know, when honestly that’s probably not the person that you were planning to say it to.

[00:12:31] Ka-Ce: Mm hmm.

[00:12:32] James: other than that, he’s just being a whiny bitch.

[00:12:35] Ka-Ce: He really is. He really, really is. I, I, I was holding out hope for him, and Yeah, he’s not. He’s not giving me anything to work with right now. I

[00:12:51] James: because she, she told him no, but he’s looking at the way she’s looking at Chaol, and he’s taking it personally. Like,

[00:13:01] Ka-Ce: mean, how could you not? That’s your best friend. And, he feels a betrayal. But, you know, she had chosen Dorian first over Chaol, and now she’s choosing Chaol. Like, that’s gotta be a low blow.

[00:13:18] James: yeah, but she was, she was honest with him about why. She’s like, no, I’m not, I cannot get involved with the prince. I am the champion of the king. I cannot get involved with the prince. Like, You have to understand this. This is non negotiable. And he was like, well then we’ll run. No, you’ll run and you’ll be hunted for the rest of your life. Or, or you’re gonna find out real quick that life not being a prince sucks.

[00:13:50] Ka-Ce: Yeah,

[00:13:51] James: And she knew that.

[00:13:53] Ka-Ce: She has first hand experience.

[00:13:55] James: Yeah.

[00:13:56] Ka-Ce: does know.

[00:13:58] James: You know, so yeah. [00:14:00] He, he’s being irritating.

[00:14:07] Ka-Ce: Yeah. He has some growing up to do. Some major growing up to do.

[00:14:12] James: Yeah, I understand his point of view, but at the same time, it’s like,

[00:14:23] yeah. Did you honestly think that there was going to be another option? You’re the prince.

[00:14:30] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[00:14:31] James: There was never going to be another option.

[00:14:37] Ka-Ce: No. He has a duty. He has to marry up.

[00:14:45] James: Yeah, certainly not an assassin.

[00:14:47] Ka-Ce: No. No. His father, let alone his mother, would ever allow that.

[00:14:53] James: Yeah, so. Dorian. Come on, Dorian.

[00:15:00] Ka-Ce: This poor, poor puppet prince.

[00:15:04] James: Although, I would venture to say that he’s not even having the worst time out of everybody here.

[00:15:11] Ka-Ce: No.

[00:15:11] James: we’ve now found out that, uh, Kaltain is rotting in a cell.

[00:15:19] Ka-Ce: Did you think that she was gonna come back?

[00:15:21] James: I I figured she was going to come back. I didn’t I figured she was going to still be in a cell though. I kind of thought she would, like, come back and she’d be out, but she would be very subdued, you know? Like, because of whatever they were doing to her. So, the fact that it’s been a couple months, and she’s still in this jail cell, especially after Perrington

[00:15:53] had requested the king to not keep her in there for a long time because he didn’t want to, like, completely [00:16:00] ruin her. He still had use for her. Um, and the fact that she is still in there is a little surprising to me.

[00:16:09] Ka-Ce: Yeah. No, I, I agree. it, it was, I expected her, or I expected them to use her more and maybe she was gonna come out as like this dark villainous, you know?

[00:16:23] James: Oh.

[00:16:25] Ka-Ce: Maybe with the black ring of her own, or something like Cain, but Yeah, to have the chapter

[00:16:32] James: Yeah.

[00:16:33] Ka-Ce: To have her, uh, still rotting in the cell at the end of the chapter was like, oh. That’s a little different. I wonder what they’re going with that.

[00:16:44] James: Yeah, right. It’s not, Not a good, beginning for her. But, so, now as we move on into, chapter nine, we’ll find out. Sort of. What’s going on? So Celaena quickly takes inventory of Kaltain’s prison, and it isn’t much. She doesn’t even have a blanket to help ward off the chill. Celaena has questions for Kaltain and is surprised to hear Kaltain’s once rich and cultured voice is now a hoarse whisper.

[00:17:20] Does she know Roland

[00:17:22] Havilliard. Can he be trusted? Kaltain’s heard of him, and he can’t be trusted. The things she’s heard of him would make Celaena’s stomach turn. Celaena threatens to come into the cell to torture Kaltain for more answers, but Kaltain whispers no, trying to hide her bruised wrists.

[00:17:47] Bruises that are in the shape of handprints. Nightwatch apparently looks the other way when Perrington visits. Celaena vows to herself that she will have a talk with Chaol when she sees him the next time. [00:18:00] Kaltain’s already soft voice takes on a faraway quality that Celaena recognizes from her time in Endovier.

[00:18:07] She talks of, he’s ruined everything, why not send me home? Celaena tries to ask Kaltain if she’s overheard anything about Perrington’s plans, but Kaltain just shivers. Kaltain’s headaches worsen every day, and she’s convinced, despite being locked down underground, that they encouraged the crows to fly past here.

[00:18:33] Her headaches are full of those flapping wings. Before she knows what she’s doing, Celaena unclasps her cloak and gives it to Kaltain through the bars. Kaltain thinks that they brought her here for another purpose, not to marry Perrington, but for something else. They want to use her, but she doesn’t know for what.

[00:18:54] She doesn’t remember. Everything is in fragments, just broken shards of a mirror. Celaena believes that she’s gone mad. Kaltain tells her something’s coming, and she’s supposed to greet it. Celaena just tells Kaltain goodbye, and she leaves. The next morning, Nehemia and Celaena have breakfast in Celaena’s bed.

[00:19:20] It had snowed too much for Celaena to try and trail Archer, so there was no point in trying, and, sorry, and there was no point in trying to do a morning run with Chaol. even though didn’t they already do a training montage in the snow?

[00:19:36] Ka-Ce: They did, but there was extra snow this morning, so that’d be too dangerous.

[00:19:39] James: She had already informed Chaol of Kaltain’s conditions, and when she saw him next, his tunic was rumpled, his knuckles were raw, and she knew that there were serious changes and new members of the dungeon guard. Nehemia brings up that royalty and the royal court Weren’t always like this, that Terrasen was [00:20:00] the royal court that set the example for all others.

[00:20:04] That was why the king of Adarlan first attacked Terrasen. Terrasen was the strongest, and had it been given a chance to raise an army, it would have taken out the king. Nehemia’s father says that if Terrasen were to rise again, it might stand a chance. It could be a genuine threat to Adarlan. Nehemia further prods, Do you think any other court could ever rise again?

[00:20:30] Celaena forces herself to snort and change topics, asking if there was any news on the king. The king now has Roland dealing with Nehemia, since she was too pushy with the minister. The girls wish they could stay in bed all day, but alas, they have work to do. So. Heh heh heh.

[00:20:54] Ka-Ce: poor Kal’tain. She’s being mistreated, abused, and who else knows what with the guards turned away. But they still have some purpose for her, and she doesn’t know what.

[00:21:15] James: Yeah, I, so she’s, she’s clearly being, mistreated in multiple ways, right? I mean, she’s being physically assaulted, she’s being psychologically assaulted, and she’s still in this dirty cellar, which, you know her health has taken a hit, too, and just, Yeah. and there’s so much to kind of unpack here with, with Celaena’s, it’s a little frustrating that Celaena passed this off so casually as just her being, mad.

[00:21:56] When Kaltain was saying some very specific things [00:22:00] about things that Celaena has also kind of encountered already.

[00:22:06] Ka-Ce: Like the flapping wings and

[00:22:08] James: Yeah, like, she’s, she’s sitting there going, they must have the crows fly, Celaena should have been like, there’s no way in hell she could hear crows down here. Why is she hearing flapping wings?

[00:22:20] You know, when’s the last time I heard flapping wings? Oh, when I was under the influence of a drug and the armies of the dead were coming after me? Like, how quickly she forgets, you know what I mean?

[00:22:35] Ka-Ce: like, dried vomit and stuff on, like, part of the cell, and knowing that Kaltain was coming out of the, opium. You know, she no longer has access to the opium for her headache, so she’s going through these withdrawals. And she’s just chalk chalking it up to, like you said, this madness.

[00:22:54] The girl’s been there for two months. I don’t think she would have gone mad. Would she be sick from no longer having the opioids? Yes. But she’s also going through who knows what kind of abuse from Perrington and who knows who else. I just, I wish there was a little bit more what’s the word from Celaena?

[00:23:17] Like sympathy? And like, I, I, she knew that she was in cahoots, Kaltain was in cahoots with Perrington. And she knew that Cain was in cahoots with Perrington. And that Cain had, you know, amassed this power through the wyrdgates and the wyrdmarks and everything. So why not investigate Kaltain some more?

[00:23:42] And find out what drew Perrington to Kaltain.

[00:23:46] James: Hmm.

[00:23:47] Ka-Ce: There has to be a connection somewhere, especially if this girl is going on about wings and crows and, you know.

[00:23:55] James: Greeting something?

[00:23:56] Ka-Ce: Yeah, if something is coming and she must greet it, like, [00:24:00] doesn’t that sound ominous?

[00:24:01] James: I mean, it sounds like the same warning that Elena gave her.

[00:24:05] Ka-Ce: Yes. And as smart as Celaena is, she’s not putting

[00:24:12] James: No

[00:24:12] and it’s, I also wonder why she was so quick to just accept the idea that Kaltain was trying to kill her and she never thought of the possibility that she was being used or, um, or being forced, you know, because, you know, she had, she noticed that even before this, Kaltain’s, Being was deteriorating with the headaches and it’s the kind of thing where a person thinks that they can hide it and literally everyone else notices it, but you know, you think you’re doing such a good job and it’s like, no, everybody can kind of tell that you’re not quite keeping it together.

[00:24:55] Now, maybe because Celaena did not witness the whole, Back and forth with, you know, Perrington and her telling him, you know, you told me to do this and But still, to just accept on face value that, that she did this and that she wasn’t being coerced or forced or It just seems very un Celaena like. just in terms of how she’s dealt with so many other things. I just didn’t, it was too easy for me, I think, just, she accepted it way too easy, and I didn’t,

[00:25:34] Ka-Ce: yeah, no, I agree. I felt like it was just, uh, Oh, you’re mad. Okay, well, here’s my cloak. Bye.

[00:25:45] James: yeah,

[00:25:46] Ka-Ce: no further thought. No. Yeah, you deserve being down here for you trying to kill me. That was it. Like, most, most court ladies aren’t trying to kill you. Will they [00:26:00] backstab you? Oh, yeah. You know, to try to get ahead, but to outright kill, no.

[00:26:05] There has to be a bigger motive, a bigger reason for that.

[00:26:08] James: yeah, and I mean, we know, if the headaches are still there and they’re getting worse, then they’re still doing the black ring experiments on her.

[00:26:21] Ka-Ce: yeah.

[00:26:21] James: Which just makes, you know, everything even worse.

[00:26:30] Ka-Ce: Or maybe we feel so much more sympathy for Kaltain because we know nobody’s in her corner.

[00:26:35] James: I

[00:26:37] mean, I already had started to feel bad for her by the end of Throne of Glass. So, when, when I got to this scene and I was going through, I was just like, ah, yeah, this sucks because I, I, she didn’t deserve this. And I did not see where it was going at this point. I mean, obviously I, I know where it goes, but I didn’t know at the time.

[00:27:03] I could not, I did not foresee the direction it was going. and I was really just was curious, like, why are they so focused on this woman? Like, it can’t just be because she’s a noble.

[00:27:17] Ka-Ce: I

[00:27:19] mean, she’s a lesser noble at that, so.

[00:27:21] James: That’s true, I mean, she’s trying to marry her way up, so she’s not even that high on the totem pole, right? I think it just chalked it up to, they figured that she would be easy to experiment on and nobody would miss her. Because being a lesser noble and kind of an irritating person, most people would be like, oh, Kaltain’s gone.

[00:27:42] Oh, yeah, she probably went back home, or, oh, no, she’s in the prison, she tried to kill somebody. Oh, oh, oh, man, she just, she finally lost it. Like. You know, so, um, and then of course, you know, we know that Perrington finally got what he wanted from [00:28:00] her, which she was trying to get away from this whole time.

[00:28:05] Ka-Ce: Yep.

[00:28:06] James: and yeah, I just feel bad for her, because I feel just, she got a, she got dealt just a crap hand, you know.

[00:28:14] Ka-Ce: of our characters in this series, she did. Chaol went down

[00:28:20] James: So, you know, I know, Celaena goes to Chaol and she’s upset, right, and she’s like, you know, Hey, I want you to know that your prisoner, even though she’s a prisoner, she’s being very mistreated, and your guards ain’t worth a shit. And Chaol goes to take care of it, right? But the thing is, it’s like

[00:28:46] Even though Chaol went down there to, you know, basically straighten it out, right? With his fists. Even, even though he meant well, good intentions. Do you really think that that would make a difference to anybody he puts down there? None of those guards are going to say no to Perrington when he comes in. If

[00:29:15] Ka-Ce: Yeah, that, that, I agree, because even if he puts his most trustworthy guards down there, Perrington is gonna have something on all of them. Some way, somehow.

[00:29:27] James: If

[00:29:28] nothing, just his, just his status in the castle,

[00:29:32] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[00:29:33] James: I’m the right hand of the king. Are you really gonna say anything? As a guard, you’re gonna be like, yeah, no.

[00:29:42] Ka-Ce: I think it’s a tough spot to be in, because as captain of the guard, he needs to know what’s going on, and the fact that he didn’t. You know, so he’s probably disappointed and angry with himself, and he probably took some of his anger on him out on those [00:30:00] guards. But he also, as captain of the guard, has to deal justice to them for not doing their jobs.

[00:30:07] but yeah, like you said, those guards are in a tough spot because they are there for a purpose. They have a job, but they’re also turning their backs on that job. Because of Perrington and Perrington’s status. And I’m sure when the king’s there too, like, nobody’s gonna say anything against the king.

[00:30:25] Like, how could you?

[00:30:26] James: No,

[00:30:26] Ka-Ce: That’s your life.

[00:30:29] James: yeah,

[00:30:29] Ka-Ce: I’m

[00:30:29] just surprised it didn’t get back to Chaol. Like, you know, he switched out the guards for the night shift. So now Perrington is gonna have to, what, threaten and train these new guards now? And it’s just gonna be a repeating cycle.

[00:30:47] James: yeah, pretty much. So, I get where Chaol’s coming from, but on I mean, honestly, it just, it’s, it’s not enough for You know.

[00:31:01] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[00:31:01] James: What is he hoping to do? Other than just

[00:31:06] Ka-Ce: Smack a few people around

[00:31:07] James: yeah.

[00:31:09] Ka-Ce: Yeah, until Kaltain is brought out of the dungeons, nothing is gonna change, unfortunately. Not unless Perrington gets out of the castle somehow.

[00:31:19] James: Yeah.

[00:31:21] Ka-Ce: I felt like Nehemia was trying to lead and maybe even guilt Celaena into helping her cause with the way she was bringing up Terrasen and talking about how the royal court was within Terrasen and You know, people, like, her father saying, you know, if, if Terrasen were to come back and raise an army, they could defeat the king and stuff, knowing that Celaena was from Terrasen.

[00:31:49] And I know that some people, some friends, sometimes need a shove in the right direction, but I felt like Nehemia’s been trying to push and [00:32:00] push with, like, these little things, you know, that, like, the bonus scene that we saw where they went dress shopping and a couple chapters ago, and now I feel like Nehemia keeps pushing and pushing, and it, like, it’s not the right time. I don’t know if you feel the same way.

[00:32:20] James: Well, yeah, and I mean, and it felt very, uh, It felt very forced when she’s like, you know, oh, you know, yeah, my father said if we could ever raise an army We could probably fight them off and you know Do you ever think that maybe a new kingdom could rise out of Terrasen it’s like girl The that is a very pointed question Because you’re you’re hinting at something about Celaena’s abilities or You know, something, her history, or her roots, or something, and Celaena very much doesn’t want to hear it, and she’s made it clear

[00:33:00] Ka-Ce: Mm

[00:33:00] James: that while she, you know, misses Terrasen, because that is her homeland, she is not in a position, or, or a power, or a mind space.

[00:33:14] Mind space? Mindset. Frame of, frame of mind. She’s not in the right frame of mind to even consider doing something like this, right? I mean, yes, she wants to help, but she’s the king’s champion. She’s got her hands full. And she can’t risk doing something that’s gonna cross the king and either A, get her killed, or B, get her four year freedom sentence turned into never,

[00:33:50] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[00:33:51] James: or, you know, like,

[00:33:53] Ka-Ce: Or she’s back to Endovier and

[00:33:57] James: which is a death sentence anyway, and I mean, [00:34:00] she’s been, you know, since Since she was, what, eight or nine years old when, when Arobynn found her?

[00:34:09] Right. She has not lived her own life

[00:34:13] Ka-Ce: No.

[00:34:13] James: and now she’s 19 or 20. Right. And, and she’s being basically, she now can see a light at the end of the tunnel and four years you get your life back and she’s like, cool. 24. That’s not a bad age to get your life back like.

[00:34:33] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[00:34:34] James: And, can you even blame her for not wanting to, like, yes, friend, I get it, you’re the, you’re the princess, and this is a crap deal, but I have worked so hard to survive and get to where I am.

[00:34:54] Ka-Ce: I just want to live. I just want to be free.

[00:34:58] James: Yeah, you can’t blame Celaena for this, I mean, and, and Nehemia is pushing it, and, but, And I feel bad because you get why she’s pushing it. She’s worried about her people.

[00:35:10] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[00:35:11] James: I mean, yeah, she’s a royal, and that’s her duty. And she does, she loves her people. But Just, just I know time is,

[00:35:24] Ka-Ce: Of the essence.

[00:35:25] James: the essence. But you can’t keep pushing on that kind of thing because then the person is just gonna grind harder and just, you know, not want to do it just because you are pushing so hard. And that is very much Celaena’s personality.

[00:35:46] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[00:35:47] James: know, you asked me, I said, Okay, maybe, then you asked me again, and I said, well, hold on, then you asked me again, and okay, now I don’t want to do it, because,

[00:35:58] Ka-Ce: You keep pushing.

[00:35:59] James: [00:36:00] exactly,

[00:36:00] Ka-Ce: And I’m not ready. Yeah.

[00:36:03] James: And Nehemia is not getting anywhere, I mean, we see, but see, she’s not being pushy only with Celaena. She was too pushy with, um, the um,

[00:36:14] Ka-Ce: The minister.

[00:36:17] James: And now she’s being shoved off onto Roland. so, Nehemia probably has figured, Oh, nothing’s gonna get done with Roland. If anything, you know, I’ll be talking to him and he’s gonna be looking at my chest the entire time.

[00:36:35] Or, you know what I mean? Like

[00:36:37] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[00:36:37] James: And it feels like they probably just shoved Roland off onto her, because they’re like, we need something to keep him busy, because,

[00:36:46] what are we doing with him

[00:36:48] here? Like, we need him here for something, but just, it’s not important, now go do this thing over here. And she keeps bugging us, so, you know what, he’s her problem now, and she’s his problem now.

[00:37:02] Ka-Ce: um (chuckles)

[00:37:04] James: That’s what it feels like to me. It’s like, you have two problems? Alright, put them together and

[00:37:11] Ka-Ce: yea, we’ll see. I mean I feel like the King and Perrington don’t do anything without reason. And they don’t select people without reason.

[00:37:25] So…

[00:37:25] James: No, definitely not. I just, I don’t think that Roland is there for, um He’s not there for politics, I don’t think.

[00:37:36] Ka-Ce: No, I think this this, him dealing with Nehemia, the

[00:37:40] princess,

[00:37:42] Is a way to get him comfortable and to get him settled before they do whatever it is their plan is.

[00:37:51] James: And distract him, I think. Like Go, go chase some skirts, and don’t bother us. We’ll let you know when[00:38:00]

[00:38:00] Ka-Ce: When you’re need

[00:38:01] James: When you’re needed. Yeah, exactly.

[00:38:03] Ka-Ce: (laughter ) Alright, Chapter 10, Dorian and Chaol enter the castle through the kennels in an effort to avoid Hollin, Dorian’s younger, spoiled, rotten brother.

[00:38:17] The queen had pulled Hollin from school, and the king wants his son close, especially with the growing movement against him. The king wants to be able to keep an eye on him, which wouldn’t Hollin be safer if he was farther away?

[00:38:30] Chaol thanks the wyrd that his younger brother was always too afraid to speak back to him. And Dorian is surprised about the comment. Noting that Chaol never brought up his family. The wounds ran too deep. If Dorian could, he would kill Chaol’s father for disowning him. And Dorian wonders if he can get out of court dinner tonight.

[00:38:51] He does not want to see his brother. Chaol reminds him that the king would kill them both if he doesn’t attend. And Dorian remarks if he wonders if the king would order Celaena to kill them both.

[00:39:04] James: Probably.

[00:39:07] Ka-Ce: Wouldn’t that be, wouldn’t that be something? Dorian, gets Celaena out of Endovier. She becomes the champion and now the king is like, Alright, Celaena, kill them both. Chaol tells Dorian that Celaena has dinner plans this evening with Archer Finn. She’s gathering intel and Chaol doesn’t like him. Over at Celaena’s, Celaena is wearing that scandalous scarlet dress, hint hint, from the bonus scene, knowing Archer likes women who are daring with their clothes, ahead of the trend.

[00:39:39] As she was leaving her room, she runs smack into Chaol, who kept blinking at her before telling her she was not wearing that dress. Celaena continued on towards the coach waiting for her, fielding all of his questions. She’s gonna catch, catch her death in that. She holds up her cloak. Does she even have any weapons on her?

[00:39:59] [00:40:00] She has knives strapped to her thighs and Philippa even commissioned special hairpins for her that are extra extra sharp. Celaena is wearing this dress for a specific reason. She wants Archer to ask the same things. To think she doesn’t have anything on her. Celaena tells him to stop worrying and to not wait up.

[00:40:21] Part of her regret is telling him about her capture and that she never should have shown any vulnerability to him. Archer was waiting just inside the exclusive dining room. And yes, he did appreciate the view of Celaena’s dress. They skirt around each other before he asks how she came to work for the king.

[00:40:41] And he makes the comparison that their respective fields are very similar. Though, he can’t tell which is worse. The bedroom or the battlefield.

[00:40:51] Insinuations aside, dinner was pleasant, talks were of safe, comfortable topics. Celaena rode with Archer in his carriage back to his place.

[00:41:00] He asks if she wants to come up and she asks him, Doesn’t he want the night off? And he tells her, it’s immensely different when it’s my choice, you know. Only people with their upbringings would have caught this. Choice and choices being taken away from them. Someday he’ll make enough, have enough, to settle his debt with Clarisse and be gone from this forever.

[00:41:22] Either rich enough so he won’t ever have to work, or old enough that no one will want him. And that’s just a sad fate to think about either way. Celaena looks him in the eye and tells him, The king wants him dead. I find

[00:41:40] James: I love how she just drops that there at the very end of the chapter.

[00:41:43] Ka-Ce: like, mic drop.

[00:41:45] James: Yeah, she’s just like, oh, by the way, King wants your head.

[00:41:50] Ka-Ce: I mean, he was laying it on pretty thick, like, hey, you wanna come upstairs, you know? And she’s like, fuck, how do I get out of this? By the way, [00:42:00] it was a pretty move, a pretty bold move on her part to tell Archer the truth, I think. I,

[00:42:10] James: Yeah.

[00:42:11] Ka-Ce: wasn’t sure where she was gonna go with that. I mean, cause He could lash out and try to kill her in the carriage. He could start screaming, causing a ruckus. I mean, there’s any sort of ways this can go. And if he is part of the rebel cause, she just dropped a bomb on him and kind of alerted him that the king’s on to him. So, what is her strategy in this? Or is she too trusting, going based off of their previous history?

[00:42:50] James: Yeah, you know, that’s a, uh,

[00:42:57] I don’t think that I would have done it, honestly. I think I would have kept that to my chest up until the very end, when trying to figure out how to deal with him. because it was, it was a very, risky and bold action to take when trying

[00:43:14] Ka-Ce: You know nothing.

[00:43:15] James: she hasn’t seen him in years.

[00:43:18] Ka-Ce: Mmmhmmm

[00:43:18] James: She has no idea.

[00:43:20] Other than what he says, she has no idea where his loyalties are. Now obviously, the king says, I want him dead. But how does she know that by saying this, he doesn’t immediately run to the king and be like, Hey, she told me that you wanted me dead.

[00:43:38] but I’m not dead

[00:43:39] because she told me, and I’m telling you, that she, like, he could have used that to his advantage, and been like, can we barter, cause,

[00:43:47] Ka-Ce: oh yea

[00:43:47] James: assassin is not assassinating, properly.

[00:43:51] Ka-Ce: That is true. Like, yea. No, good, that’s good point. That is something that I did not think of.

[00:43:59]

[00:43:59] James: so she did. That’s a [00:44:00] huge gamble for her to take, with not knowing. where he is. And yeah, she doesn’t have any idea if he is part of a rebellion or not. She only knows what the king suspects. And Archer himself has already said, you know, well, no, I’m not, you know, I have sex with people for money, and I know information.

[00:44:27] But he hasn’t come out and said really, like, Anything that would lead her to believe that, I, yeah, I just don’t see that as being a smart choice. It does seem kind of emotional, to me, you know, like, She was relying on, on the past where they had their times together and, I don’t know. Bold choice, Celaena. Bold choice.

[00:44:52] Ka-Ce: Unless this is, like, a scare tactic. You drop the heavy bombshell on them to see how they would react and to see what they say

[00:45:00] because, you know, most people would go into instant panic mode and, like, start pleading and begging for their lives, so,

[00:45:09] James: yeah, um,

[00:45:14] Ka-Ce: I guess

[00:45:14] we will see.

[00:45:16] James: Yea it’s, I don’t think I would have done it that way. Just me, personally.

[00:45:25] Ka-Ce: Just as a little side note, I have to say, I miss Philippa. We haven’t really gotten her. At all, so far in these chapters, just like this brief little mention, and I really miss her and Celaena’s dynamic, and their back and forth.

[00:45:41] James: I like, too, that she had special weapons forged for her to put in her hair.

[00:45:46] Ka-Ce: Yes,

[00:45:46] James: Celaena’s like, I’m wearing this skin tight, nothing left of the imagination dress. I can’t hide a whole lot in here. And Philippa is like, I got, I [00:46:00] got you.

[00:46:00] Ka-Ce: I got you girl

[00:46:04] James: She’s like, put these in your hair. When he’s too busy staring at your chest.

[00:46:09] Ka-Ce: Yep Philippa knows what’s up. Philippa’s been around

[00:46:14] James: It makes you wonder what her story is, right? Cause,

[00:46:17] Ka-Ce: Right? I would love, like, a novella on Philippa in her younger years or something. Maybe she was an assassin at one point.

[00:46:26] James: She’s like, I’m retired from all that. But, girl. I’ll help you out.

[00:46:32] Ka-Ce: That is a story we need.

[00:46:34] James: That is the story that we need Philippa the younger years.

[00:46:39] Ka-Ce: Yes.

[00:46:43] James: Okay, moving into chapter 11. So, as anyone would, Archer instantly was across the carriage, as far away from her as possible, holding up a dagger, pleading for his life. A small part of Celaena was smug at the site, but she held her hands up showing that she was on. She was unarmed, allegedly and tells Archer that the king thinks that he’s part of a rebel movement that’s interrupting his agenda.

[00:47:16] Archer tells her that he might be a whore, but he’s not a traitor. He goes on to say, I don’t know anything about a movement like that. He hasn’t heard anyone who dared to try to get in the way of the king, but he could get information about a group he knows is trying to gather power in Rifthold. Which, to me, that kind of sounds like he circled around and basically said the same thing, but in a different way.

[00:47:45] Ka-Ce: Yeah, no, I agree. The way he worded that, like, the whole, I don’t know anything about a movement like that. It means he knows about a movement right?

[00:47:54] James: And then, and then immediately follows up like, he’s like, but I do know of a group that’s trying to do [00:48:00] a thing in Rifthold. I don’t know if they’re rebels, but it’s like, bro.

[00:48:03] Ka-Ce: like what

[00:48:04] James: yeah, so come on, man.

[00:48:07] Apparently this group has learned that the king is planning some new horror for all of Rifthold. And this group believes

[00:48:16] that Aelin Galathinius, the lost heir of Terrasen, is still alive. And they all want her back on the throne. They say that she is raising an army to defeat the king. Aelin is trying to find what’s left of King Orlan’s inner circle. Now, this is a lot of information that he just dropped on her. He’s like, I don’t know about any rebellion group or rebel movement, and yet everything he just said is everything that a rebel group would do. The fact that they’re talking about raising an army to defeat the king, putting her back on the throne of a conquered country, like

[00:49:08] Ka-Ce: So either he is a coward

[00:49:12] and panicking and dropping all this because he wants to save his own neck. Or he’s a secret mastermind. And he’s just playing this up. I, I, like, there’s only two ways you can really read that. I don’t

[00:49:30] James: Yeah, it just Anyway, so was it a mere coincidence that Nehemia mentioned Terrasen’s court that very morning when they were talking?

[00:49:43] And if these people have claimed to have met the heir to the throne, then they had to be an imposter. She gives Archer the same deal. He can fake his own death right now and flee the city before dawn, [00:50:00] or he has four weeks to get his affairs in order. At that time, he will give her the information on Terrasen and whatever the group knows about the King’s plans.

[00:50:10] After four weeks, he will fake his own death, flee, and never use the name Archer Finn ever again. Archer agrees. It’ll take him that long to sort out his money, but at least then he would be free of Clarisse. There’s a masked party the next night at a client’s house. Archer tells her that the client and his friends have been heard murmuring about the movement.

[00:50:38] If he sneaks her in, she could sneak up to the office and look for things. She tells him not to make her look the fool. If the party is a load of nonsense, she will rescind her offer. She threatens him if he draws too much attention to himself. Once he gets out, Celaena orders the coach to take her back to the castle.

[00:50:59] It’s past midnight, and she goes to Chaol’s room where he has been pacing. She tells him some of the information that she learned that night, but also tells him of the party. He wants to know when she will tell the king. She tells him not until she knows the information is real. Chaol tells her to be careful, and she fights him over it.

[00:51:21] Turns out he cares. He cares for her, and he will always care about what happens. Celaena gives him a sheepish smile. Okay, so I know we were sort of touching on this a little bit. and we’re saying, do we trust Archer at this point? And how we know he hears things about his occupation. And I’m going to say, for me, reading this right from the get go, I did not trust him.

[00:51:47] he On the one hand, in the carriage, he reacted like a very, very normal person would, right? Backing off, dagger, freaking [00:52:00] out, everything like that, right? But then I also figure he’s been around enough high profile people that he would have to learn fairly quickly and very proficiently how to, present himself in whatever way was going to give him the best chance at coming out on top.

[00:52:24] Money, information, not dying. And if he needed to be afraid of Celaena, then that was what he was gonna show her. Not that he wasn’t, because, I mean, she could kill him, right? And he, and he probably wasn’t expecting that. But I don’t think that it was all real. I I didn’t feel that it was It felt a little too over the top. And he gave the information way too fast.

[00:52:53] Ka-Ce: He did. And way too easily. Like she didn’t have to really threaten him. Like she threatened him. But she didn’t really have to threaten him. Like. I, I was expecting, like, pulling the pin out of her hair and, like, stabbing his fingers or something to get some sort of information.

[00:53:11] James: She put her hands up! That’s all she did! She was like, The king wants you dead, and he’s all freaking out, and she’s like, But I Hey. I don’t have any weapons.

[00:53:22] Ka-Ce: And he knows. He watched her grow up. He watched her train with Arobynn. He knows how deadly she is. She doesn’t need a weapon. Hell, he’s already holding one. She could just do bam bam and take the dagger from him. He’s not stupid.

[00:53:39] James: Yeah.

[00:53:40] Ka-Ce: So he, he

[00:53:42] laid it on nice and thick, and she fell for it. I want her to take this information and do some digging, and not to just blindly follow him. at the same time, [00:54:00] I also want her to question Nehemia, because Seriously, what are the chances that Nehemia is pushing her about Terrasen? About what if Terrasen were to rise up again? A new court to come up? A new army? And then lo and behold, Archer’s telling her the same stuff. Oh yeah, this rebel group has found Aelin and she’s gonna rise up an army and they want in on that, you know, because that’s how they’re gonna make a profit in this war. Really? Really? You have Nehemia saying this and Archer saying this? And you’re not gonna be like

[00:54:37] James: it feels scripted, right? Like,

[00:54:42] Ka-Ce: Yes!

[00:54:43] James: they’re reading from the same playbook, like.

[00:54:48] And I also feel, this is very reminiscent of events that happened in Assassin’s Blade, where she was given a little bit of information, and she’s like, okay, let’s do it, I’mma go in. And it’s like, no, you don’t just rush in. That is what got you in trouble the last time. And all of a sudden, now this guy’s like, Oh, there’s a party, and maybe you can find out something.

[00:55:15] Ka-Ce: Why doesn’t she Okay, so she tells Chaol what she’s learned tonight. Take him as backup. Like, don’t take him into the party because he can’t get into the party. They’re gonna know who he is. He looks too much like a guard, even masked. But he could be down, like, two alleys. Or something. You know? If he cares as much as he says he does, and he’s pacing, and blah blah blah, and she can’t fully trust Archer She can’t fully trust everything that he’s telling her, and he is just offering this up to her.

[00:55:49] Like, I’ll take you to this party. You can sneak into the office. That is a setup, my girl!

[00:55:55] James: Righ-this is exactly the same as yea like things that happened [00:56:00] before and you

[00:56:01] would think her radar would be

[00:56:02] going off like, you know, fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice and your head’s gonna be on a pike, okay?

[00:56:13] Ka-Ce: Yes! Yes! I love our girl,

[00:56:18] but she is so young and so naive. Still.

[00:56:22] James: and, and, and not bringing Chaol as backup like you were saying. He He He’s in the castle, and this is happening in Rifthold. Okay, I know that they’re close to each other, but they’re not like, you can’t throw a stone from the castle to where this party’s gonna be. So, she’s gonna be, if something goes wrong, she’s gonna be very hard pressed to get away safely, without somebody there to back her up.

[00:56:54] I mean, how many times did she barely make it out of something because Sam was there to help her? And now she’s going in here alone? I mean, Archer’s not gonna help her. He can’t, he can’t risk that. He’s, everybody knows his face, like.

[00:57:11] Ka-Ce: Yep. And I get why she never wants backup anymore because of what happened with Sam. But you gotta be smart know, you want this freedom, you want to, you don’t want anything to happen to your friends. You gotta play it smart. And I feel like she is just rushing into this with Archer. And I feel like she is putting too much faith and trust into him.

[00:57:40] It is somebody that she hasn’t seen in several years. And somebody that deals, like she does, in secrets. And I think that should have been the first lesson that should have been taught, that she should have learned. You can’t trust anybody as an assassin, and you especially can’t trust [00:58:00] courtesans. Even if you guys are, like, cut of the same cloth, you know, you both aren’t given a choice, you both have a master and all of that. You can bond a little bit together about that, but that’s about it.

[00:58:15] James: Well

[00:58:15] and her history, yeah, with the courtesans, I mean, they worked very closely with, you know, Arobynn, and She didn’t trust any of them growing up the whole time she was in the keep. None of them. Not the madams, not the girls. You know, because, yeah. And now all of a sudden she’s like, well, it’s Archer. He’s probably okay.

[00:58:41] Ka-Ce: I

[00:58:41] used to have a crush on him. Yeah.

[00:58:44] James: girl, you

[00:58:46] Ka-Ce: because I had a crush on guys too doesn’t mean I trusted them.

[00:58:50] James: Yeah. You can’t just trust somebody based on, you know, the warm fuzzies that they used to give you. like,

[00:58:58] Ka-Ce: Oh my god, for reals.

[00:59:00] James: on. And, yeah, and so then she comes back, and Chaol is, you know, pacing because he’s like, She should have been back by now, she should have been back by now. And, That alone, I feel like, should have been something that should have told her that maybe she should find something for him to do. Because he’s obviously being very aware and hyper aware of, like, you know, The time, like, he doesn’t know where she is, but If he did, I feel like if he did know, he would have been waiting, like, An alley down, or whatever, and be like, Oh, your date’s over?

[00:59:45] Okay, let’s go.

[00:59:46] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[00:59:47] James: You know, Cause he very clearly wants to help, and then of course we find out that it’s He’s worried about her, and he cares for her, and He will always care for her, and Eh, we basically got kind of A mini confession, you [01:00:00] know. (Laughter.) And then we get Celaena going. Oh shit.

[01:00:11] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[01:00:12] James: So. Feels like a dumb choice.

[01:00:17] Ka-Ce: Yes.

[01:00:18] James: So.

[01:00:19] Ka-Ce: I have to keep reminding myself that these characters are only like 19, 20, 21. We were that age once. We made stupid choices.

[01:00:29] James: Yea, I guess.

[01:00:34] I’m old and jaded now. I’m like, you dumb. Why you do that?

[01:00:39] Ka-Ce: So our next fantasy series, we will read something with a bunch of 30 to 40 year olds.

[01:00:45] James: Yeah, they’re gonna be too old to deal with this crap. And, uh. Oh, man.

[01:00:54] Ka-Ce: Chapter 12. The masque was held at an estate near the Avery. With Philippa’s help, Celaena went as a swan, and Archer came as a wolf. Foreshadowing, maybe? Archer promised that Arobynn and Lysandra, a courtesan that Celaena had a violent history with, would not be in attendance. Though, Clarissa would be. As well as several others that Celaena would recognize It’s a good thing that the party was masked. Archer points out Davis, one of his clients, the one holding the party and believes him to be the leader of the rebel group. His family once belonged to Terrasen, but Davis has lived his whole life in Rifthold. Turns out the rebels may only want to help Aelin Gelathinius because they believe it will help their business during the wartime, i. e. fill their coffers. They want a puppet queen, someone they can control, because she will feel indebted to them. Archer sneaks Celaena into a servant’s passage and up to Davis’s office.

[01:01:56] He tells her to be quick before going back to the party. [01:02:00] Everything seems normal, until Celaena finds a book with a single wyrdmark written on the spine in blood red ink. This book was filled with wyrdmarks and other words in a language she didn’t know. But Nehemia had told her wyrdmarks were a secret knowledge, as old as they’d been forgotten about over the centuries.

[01:02:21] Books with wyrdmarks had been burned. On the inside of the back cover was a riddle. It is only with the eye that one can see rightly. Footsteps were coming down the hall. Celaena quickly put the book back and looked out the window. Her dress was too big and the window too high and small for her to escape through. Thinking quickly, she leaned against the desk, whipped out her kerchief, and started crying. When Davis came in, she apologized, saying her betrothed left her and they told her that she could come in here for a moment. He tells her that there is a ladies room on the first floor. And moves as if to escort her. Celaena heard his sudden intake of breath before the flash of metal. Despite her big dress, she disabled him and pinned him to the floor, but not before Davis’s dagger sliced her forearm. Davis demands to know what she was looking for, as no one has keys to his office. Only him. He chuckles, taunting her.

[01:03:24] Don’t you want to know what’s on the blade? She snatches the blade up and sniffs it.

[01:03:29] Gloriella. A paralysis poison. Shit. It was the same poison used on her that fatal night that they captured her. Davis admits that just enough was used to paralyze her, knock her out so his guards can come and take her somewhere private.

[01:03:46] She tries to knock him out, but he’s surprisingly strong and flips her over. She kicks him, and when he launches for her again. She reaches for his dagger and swipes his throat. As he lays dying, she uses a dagger to rip up her [01:04:00] dress and escape out the office window.

[01:04:03] She doesn’t know how, but she made it down, and with the poison circling through her, she ran for the glass castle. She found a cloak along the way, and made her way to the main gates of the castle where the guards knew her. Swaying with each step, she didn’t remember getting to the barracks door, only that she got there.

[01:04:22] She made it to the door, to the room she knew, and she moaned his name, Chaol.

[01:04:28] She managed to croak out, Gloriella, before everything went black. This chapter had a lot. There was a lot of action.

[01:04:40] James: She walked right into that one.

[01:04:47] Ka-Ce: She walks into every single one. What kind of assassin is she?

[01:04:53] James: I, I don’t remember a lot about Davis, other than, than this. And I feel like I kind of question whether this was a setup, by Archer. Like, he knew exactly what he was doing when he was getting her into that room, the hopes that she would take Davis out.

[01:05:24] Ka-Ce: It kind of feels that way. Like, Archer was laying this out way too nicely. Like, suddenly there’s this party tomorrow, and if you come, I can get you into the office. And so she comes, and he manages to bring her up into this locked office. And then, oh, by the way, I have to get back to the party. You know, they’re gonna do bidding on me, and blah blah blah.

[01:05:50] So. Be quick about what you’re gonna search for in here, but, you know, see ya.

[01:05:59] James: And she was barely [01:06:00] in there before Davis came, like, rumbling around, like,

[01:06:04] Ka-Ce: what it seems like. I mean, we don’t know. We don’t know, like, how long it took her to search the bookshelves to find

[01:06:10] James: oh,

[01:06:10] Ka-Ce: wyrdmark book.

[01:06:12] James: I guess that’s true.

[01:06:14] Ka-Ce: But, I mean, that also could have been a setup.

[01:06:20] James: Uh, yeah, just the whole, the whole encounter really rubbed me the wrong way, cause it really did seem, cause, okay, first of all. I get that Archer is a courtesan and he doesn’t really have loyalties to, you know, like, these people are a means to an end, right? Happy fun time, pay me, see you next week, right?

[01:06:43] That’s kind of the deal.

[01:06:45] But

[01:06:46] it seems like

[01:06:48] (sigh)

[01:06:49] he gave this up so quick.

[01:06:52] It’s like, oh yeah, there’s a party by one of my clients. I’ll help you screw my client. No problem. Like,

[01:07:00] Ka-Ce: And he just so happens to be the leader of this rebel group that you should be looking into.

[01:07:06] James: Yeah, it seemed like a very convenient way to say, well actually, now that I’m kind of thinking about it, it seems like a convenient way to either A, get rid of the client who, maybe he was gross and he was like, I just don’t want this dude touching me anymore. Or B, She’s getting too close to the truth, and maybe Archer is in on this whole thing.

[01:07:31] He’s like, she’s gonna kill me, so I need to get rid of her. Like, even though we’re, we’re not friends, we’re acquaintances from back in the day. But it’s, if, if I don’t do this, she’s gonna kill me. So, I’m gonna pit her against him, and may the victor, you know. Best luck to the victor, or how do they say that?

[01:07:53] you know what I mean. Like, and if, if Davis kills her, well then he doesn’t have to worry about [01:08:00] her killing him.

[01:08:01] Ka-Ce: True.

[01:08:02] James: And if she kills Davis, well then maybe she’ll leave him alone because she took care of this supposed rebel leader.

[01:08:10]

[01:08:10] Ka-Ce: Yea.

[01:08:11] James: Um.

[01:08:13] Ka-Ce: But now she’d have to find proof to bring back to the king.

[01:08:16] James: Well, yeah, and (mumbles) that

[01:08:19] and she’s also now thrown off because she’s seen this book with the wyrdmarks, and that was definitely not in the, scope of expectations when she was going through this guy’s stuff.

[01:08:33] Ka-Ce: The only people that she knows that

[01:08:35] knew about the wyrdmarks are Nehemia and Cain. And Cain is dead.

[01:08:39] James: Yeah,

[01:08:39] Ka-Ce: Celaena is still hoping that the king knows nothing about wyrdmarks, but we know, as readers, that the king does know about wyrdmarks.

[01:08:50] James: right.

[01:08:52] Ka-Ce: So, what is this guy, Davis, doing with a book of wyrdmarks?

[01:08:57] James: Yeah, did he steal it from the king? Did he steal it from somebody close to the king? I mean, who knows, really. It’s just not a book you would expect any normal person to have, regardless of, of, well, anything, really.

[01:09:15] Ka-Ce: And it’s also suspicious that she found it so easily within the bookshelf. If the king was going around and burning all books. On magic, killing everybody that had magic. you know, including healers and stuff. If you whispered anything about magic, if you whispered anything about rebelling against the king, you are dead.

[01:09:38] So why would, why would he just have this book blatantly out in the open?

[01:09:45] James: Yeah, exactly. It

[01:09:48] Ka-Ce: It wreaks of a setup.

[01:09:50] James: does reek of a setup. I think that Archer was trying to eliminate one, if not two, different problems, or at least get the [01:10:00] spotlight off of himself. And this was the best way to do it. He has no loyalty to Celaena.

[01:10:07] Ka-Ce: No. No, No, she was just some young girl that she flirted on, you know, him with while he learned a couple maneuvers, you know, for self defense from Arobynn’s keep. Like, yeah, there was no loyalties. does this put Nehemia back on your suspects list at all?

[01:10:32] James: I’m not considering her a suspect in terms of her being on the wrong side of things. I definitely think that she is involved in Well, we already know that she has been supporting rebels and trying to do so very covertly, right?

[01:10:51] So it’s not that far fetched to think that she is also involved in this, in some capacity.

[01:10:58] Ka-Ce: Do you think that book is from her? And she’s equipping rebels with wyrdmarks?

[01:11:05] James: I don’t know why she would be, because it’s not like anybody could do anything with them.

[01:11:09] Other than be caught with them and die.

[01:11:12] Ka-Ce: I guess that’s true.

[01:11:14] James: She’s literally the only person who knows how to use them. In terms of, that we know of. I mean, is it possible that there’s another person or people out there who would know how to use the wyrdmarks?

[01:11:27] I mean, maybe. it doesn’t seem very likely. We kind of get the idea that the only reason she knows is because it was passed down in her family and I don’t think a lot of families pass that stuff down because they’re too afraid of the king to even talk about it.

[01:11:44] Ka-Ce: Or the book might have come from Archer. If he’s the one behind this whole setup with Davis and Celaena.

[01:11:51] James: I don’t know what it would be, what would be,

[01:11:54] I don’t know how that would benefit him to have something like that. I know [01:12:00] it gets explained, I just don’t remember.

[01:12:03] There’s the benefit of not reading this for a while. It’s all like a surprise again. I honestly don’t see the benefit of the book. I remember that there is something about it that’s important and I just don’t remember.

[01:12:17] Ka-Ce: We will get to it with the viewers. And listeners.

[01:12:20] James: You guys can join me on this again because it’s been a while since I, uh,

[01:12:24] since I read this.

[01:12:25] I definitely know that, Nehemia is messing around with things that she should not be messing around with, and I understand that this is why she’s pushing Celaena to get involved, but it’s still not the right way to go about doing it, um, I mean, trying to build a rebellion right under the king’s nose is foolish.

[01:12:52] Ka-Ce: Risky.

[01:12:54] James: And as we learn later, the king has spies everywhere. Like, literally everywhere. And I’m still not past putting it, putting it past Archer to try and flip this on her to save his own skin. Like, I mean,

[01:13:14] Ka-Ce: He would. I could see

[01:13:16] James: he’s a survivor. Like,

[01:13:19] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[01:13:19] James: know, that, that’s, that’s what he would do. And again, if she had just trusted Chaol, she would not have had to fight her way back to the castle while slowly becoming paralyzed from this poison.

[01:13:42] Ka-Ce: Yep.

[01:13:44] James: And lucky for her, she knew that there were guards guarding one of the gates that she could trust. Like, what if they hadn’t been?

[01:13:52] Ka-Ce: Yeah, if they would have looked too closely at her and saw the blood, or, you know, saw that she was feeding in and out,[01:14:00]

[01:14:00] James: Yeah.

[01:14:01] Ka-Ce: to question her, like, yeah, any number of things could have gone wrong. She got so lucky.

[01:14:07] James: Again,

[01:14:08] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[01:14:12] James: this is what happens when you go in without a plan. You

[01:14:16] Ka-Ce: Or a backup plan.

[01:14:17] James: or a backup plan, or at least just a backup person.

[01:14:23] actually that reminds me of, when I was reading, fourth Wing, not fourth Wing. Onyx Storm yesterday, and without spoiling anything, when there’s a certain part that happens and Violet comes out and they’re like, how’d it go, how, the plan, and she’s like, the plan went to shit. That’s this, Celaena’s plan just, if she had a plan,

[01:14:50] Ka-Ce: There was no plan.

[01:14:52] James: or should I say she’s like our, our dear commander in chief, she had the, uh, The thoughts and workings of maybe a plan.

[01:15:02] Ka-Ce: Yes.

[01:15:04] James: Sorry, If you guys aren’t from America, you might not understand that. Or you might, I don’t know.

[01:15:08] Everyone’s making fun of us right now anyway, so.

[01:15:11] Ka-Ce: We deserve to be made fun of.

[01:15:14] James: Celaena had the inner workings of a semblance of a plan in the beginning stages. Which means that there was no plan. Anyway, moving on to chapter 13. This was, by far, Chaol’s longest night. Seeing the blood on Celaena sent him in a panic. He ripped open her dress, yeah, but couldn’t find

[01:15:44] Ka-Ce: Pervert. ( makes laughter)

[01:15:46] James: But couldn’t find any other time it would have been like, yes, but not right now. Couldn’t find any wounds, other than a long scratch on her arm.

[01:15:55] Then he realized. She had said, Gloriella he [01:16:00] quickly summoned those he trusted to get healers to her room. They bound her up and brought her to bed quickly, helping to hold her down while they administered the antidote. He sent Ress and his most trustworthy men outed to Rifthold to find out what happened.

[01:16:17] When they told him a business man was murdered by his own dagger, Chaol put two and two together. He was glad Davis was dead. If he wasn’t already, he would have gone out to kill him. Maybe. Sure. Sure, Chaol, sure.

[01:16:35] Ka-Ce: He got one kill in him and now he’s uh, he’s a killer.

[01:16:41] James: Celaena awoke and turned, finding Chaol dozing in a chair near her bed. He awoke immediately and asked how she was feeling. Her mouth is bone dry and she rasps his name. Why didn’t he get her water immediately before interrogating her? so he does, he interrogates her, asking her if she killed Davis because she was snooping in his office, got caught, and Davis cut her with his dagger.

[01:17:13] Her silence says it all. Chaol’s not going to tell the king, neither are his men. Because he doesn’t want to argue that she’s still capable of spying without getting caught. And if she does anything like this again, he’s going to throw her in the dungeon. Just for scaring the crap out of him. Chaol also ended up burning the remains of her dress as he didn’t want evidence lying around. That, that sexy red dress, man, just ruined. Oh wait, no, it wasn’t the red dress, was it? It was,

[01:17:47] Ka-Ce: No, it was the swan

[01:17:48] James: It was a swan dress. Oh, it probably deserved to be burned. The healers hadn’t known how much poison was in her system, so they erred on side of caution and gave her a strong dose of the antidote. This [01:18:00] caused Celaena to be sick for several hours.

[01:18:04] Celaena didn’t remember any of it, only that she had to get somewhere safe. And that somewhere safe was with Chaol. Dun dun dunnnn.

[01:18:19] Ka-Ce: She has the worst luck with poison.

[01:18:21] James: Right?

[01:18:23] Ka-Ce: For somebody that’s as trained as her, she has had the worst luck with it.

[01:18:28] James: Now, I will give her credit for this one. She didn’t drink it on accident.

[01:18:34] Ka-Ce: That’s true.

[01:18:36] James: She was scratched by a dagger. but again, surprising? I can’t imagine if she is such a good assassin that she would allow somebody normal like Davis to even get that close to her to scratch her.

[01:18:54] Ka-Ce: I mean, she did realize that once he got too close in his intake of breath, and then she was like, oh shit, and she was able to maneuver and get him down. But Yeah, shit happens.

[01:19:09] James: But why would she have let him get that close in the first place? Like,

[01:19:13] Ka-Ce: Cause she was pretending to be, you know, this crying lady. You know, her betrothed just left her, she was gonna be weak, and you know.

[01:19:23] James: Seems still seems like a,

[01:19:26] Ka-Ce: I mean, how else do you play off being caught in a locked office? It’s kind of sus, so you kind of just play into like the, oh, I’m such a weak, pathetic, sniveling girl. You know.

[01:19:39] James: yeah, I feel

[01:19:41] Ka-Ce: Yes, I need your arm.

[01:19:43] James: she should have been more on guard, I think . But, uh, you know,

[01:19:52] Ka-Ce: I forgot to mention too, in the previous chapter, you know, she went to the, to the party dressed as a swan. And [01:20:00] Archer’s costume was that of a wolf. He’s dressed all in grey, like his suit and everything, with a wolf mask. And only his lips are, are Are shown. I thought that was just kind of telling. You have a swan that’s pretty much defenseless. Easy bait. And then, him as the wolf. Anyways.

[01:20:24] James: he pick her, her

[01:20:27] Ka-Ce: No. Philippa found her. The costume.

[01:20:30] James: For the swan thing? Yeah. Oh, okay. I was gonna say, if he did that, then that would have been like Yeah, it would

[01:20:36] Ka-Ce: That would have been even more, but I mean, I thought it was just kind of telling. What his costume

[01:20:43] James: Yeah. No, I, I still think that he’s, he’s,

[01:20:47] playing a game, and uh

[01:20:50] But, yeah.

[01:20:51] So, the other thing that I was, you know, looking at was Chaol He’s very certain, he’s like, I’m not gonna tell the king and my guys are not gonna tell the king, right? But he says that with so much confidence, as if it wasn’t his own men that were turning away when Kaltain was being abused and used in the cell. I know he wants to trust his guys and he has some of the guys that he does know he can’t trust. But wouldn’t you just also be like, nobody needs to know, like, I’m telling you something happened that wasn’t this, or, or it’s like, you are the only two that know. So if word gets out, I will know who, who did it.

[01:21:48] Ka-Ce: I think this

[01:21:49] is where, like, I wish we would have gotten multiple point of views. So we could see more of Chaol behind the scenes. So we could get more of yes, his [01:22:00] interaction with his men. So we could see How far the trust goes, and how well the guards listen to him. We get little side stories, like we know that a lot of the guards don’t like Roland either because of what Roland did to Chaol.

[01:22:15] So, the fact that they don’t like somebody based on how he treated Chaol, you know, says a lot about his guards and a lot about their relationship. Um,

[01:22:28] James: yeah.

[01:22:29] Ka-Ce: I just kind of wish That we did, we got a little bit more of the story from their angles, like Dorian’s angle and Chaol’s angle too, just so we could see a bit more of what’s going on behind the scenes.

[01:22:42] James: Well yeah, because I know personally I would be having a hard time trusting anybody with anything after that incident. I’d be like, you guys are making this really hard. Like, I know it wasn’t you two that were down in the dungeon, but, but you knew them. I knew them.

[01:23:01] Ka-Ce: Mhm.

[01:23:02] James: You know, I just, it would be a difficult spot to be in, I think.

[01:23:10] Ka-Ce: Yeah, definitely.

[01:23:12] James: He also may not have a lot of choices either because if they were the ones who brought her in from the gate then obviously they know.

[01:23:18] But he also trusted somebody enough to go out and find out what happened in the city and come back and that’s a gamble too because where’s the guarantee that they don’t go out and go oh shit we need to not go to Chaol with this we need to go to the king with this.

[01:23:32] You know, like, just so many things could go wrong at so many different junctions that it just seems unnecessary, uh,

[01:23:44] Ka-Ce: It does, but at the same time he can’t leave her either.

[01:23:48] James: No, I know.

[01:23:51] Ka-Ce: So,

[01:23:52] he is gonna have to trust somebody and delegate somethings and

[01:23:55] Thankfully, you know, Ress and the other couple guards that [01:24:00] he sent out are trustworthy so far.

[01:24:04] James: Damn it, Chaol. Why can’t you be everywhere all at the same time? I thought you liked her.

[01:24:11] Ka-Ce: Jesus.

[01:24:15] James: Do you think , that Chaol is justified in interrogating Celaena about what happened? Pretty much like as soon as she regained consciousness,

[01:24:27] Ka-Ce: I think as captain of the guard, he is justified in that way. I think His anger, frustration, and the fact that he was probably terrified with the way she stumbled into his room last night and passed out with the blood everywhere, like, I think just all of that probably overtook him. So, justified yes in interrogating her.

[01:24:54] His delivery and timing of it sucked. Especially because she can’t talk, like, much like tonight, I’m struggling to talk. He could’ve, like, was like, Here, sit up. Drink some water. Gain your bearings. Okay, now what the fuck, you’re gonna update me on everything that happened last night. Let’s get a little toast into your belly, you know.

[01:25:19] Cause she was throwing up for several hours. Okay, are you coherent? Yes. Okay, now what the fuck. Um, so, justified? Yes. Just the manner and timing of which he did it? No.

[01:25:37] James: can just imagine him talking to her and being like.

[01:25:40] You’re gonna

[01:25:40] tell me what, what happened, and you’re gonna do this, or I’m gonna throw your ass in jail too.

[01:25:46] knowing that he’s really

[01:25:46] not going to.

[01:25:48] Ka-Ce: But I-I could see him dragging her down there and then like throwing her into the cell next to Kaltain and

[01:25:54] James: at least for a night, and being like, calm your shit. [01:26:00] No, just chain her to the bed. You know.

[01:26:05] Ka-Ce: She would figure out how to get out of that.

[01:26:07] James: Oh, probably.

[01:26:11] Yeah. Um.

[01:26:13] Ka-Ce: Did you think he was justified?

[01:26:15] James: Mmmm. Yeah, but, you know, same, like,

[01:26:20] he,

[01:26:21] I feel like because when people do this and they rush into things, they’re impatient to get the answers and it’s like, okay, I know you want answers right this very second, but you have to let people’s brains boot up again, especially when they are coming from unconscious or poisoned or

[01:26:40] Ka-Ce: Whatever.

[01:26:41] Unless its a tactic. Like catch them while they’re not fully coherent.

[01:26:47] To see if they can catch them in a lie or not.

[01:26:49] James: Oh, I mean, no, that is a, that is a tactic. I mean, that’s why when you see people like, um, when they get stopped by the police and like the, the videos on YouTube and stuff, and they, they constantly are barraging the person with directions and questions, like at the same time, it’s to disorient you and frustrate you so that you cannot gather your thoughts and comply within, um, What you think is a reasonable amount of time.

[01:27:19] It keeps you off kilter and keeps the advantage to the, the one, you know, doing the thing. Um, and if that’s the case and that’s what he was doing, then I disagree

[01:27:30] that he should have been doing that to his friend. Cause,

[01:27:33] you know, that, that’s not the way to approach your friend.

[01:27:37] Ka-Ce: But ok is he friend first or captain of the guard first?

[01:27:40] James: Well, we don’t know. We know he’s, um, Got the googly eyes for her, so.

[01:27:49] Ka-Ce: Yes, but he is also captain of the guard and, you know, she falls under his jurisdiction, sort of.

[01:27:58] James: Yeah, well, [01:28:00] I mean,

[01:28:06] Ka-Ce: Alright, heading on over to chapter 14. Not wanting to be in Rifthold after the incident, Celaena armed herself before heading to the library. She needed time to digest what she learned in Davis office and search for any connection between the book of wyrdmarks and the king’s plans. And maybe that thing she had seen in the library the other night would give her clues as to what’s going on in the castle.

[01:28:32] She brought chalk with her and marked an X on one of the desks as she started a perimeter of the library. She came to the end of a wall. There were no more sconces, but there was a small torch. She picked up the torch. Dorian jerked awake at the sound of a clock. He awoke drenched in sweat, but his room was frigid, despite his door and windows being shut.

[01:28:53] It was just a nightmare, whatever it was. He changed his tunic and glanced back down at the couch he had been laying on. He could have sworn there was a ring of frost just where he had been lying. When he looked again, it was gone. Let it go, Dorian. Just let it go.

[01:29:12] Celaena distantly heard the clock chime and couldn’t believe she had been exploring the library for three hours. The back wall had closets, alcoves, and study rooms, and just when she was going to mark an X and call it a day, she noticed a strange tapestry. This tapestry was woven from red threads, so dark, it looked black and depicted nothing.

[01:29:32] She moved it to the side and swore. Secret door! She pushes it in and reveals a spiral stairwell and an ornately carved wall depicting a battle. But that’s not all! There’s a thin groove in the marble wall with a slimy residue and a small lamp that was hanging on the wall with liquid inside. She poured the liquid into the groove and using her torch lit the oil on fire.

[01:29:57] As she descended the stairs she studied the [01:30:00] images of the battles and could have sworn that the stone faces turned to watch her go. She immediately stopped looking at the walls. At the bottom she could tell no one had been there in a very very long time. She picked up a discarded torch along the floor and lit it. This chamber held old bookshelves with old books, scrolls, maps, and receipts of kings long since turned to dust. She continued on until finding a hallway on her left, and it had to lead even lower than Elena’s tomb. And another spiraling staircase with a lamp and grove met her. She lit it, and this time the walls depicted a forest scene with fae. This stairwell was old, far older than the castle itself, and if the king knew about it, it wouldn’t be here. She found herself in another hallway, with only one door halfway down the hallway on her left. The only exit were the stairs she had just come from. But this door? This door was made of iron. She reached out to it, but stopped herself short.

[01:31:06] Why was it made entirely of iron? Iron was the one element immune to magic, and the door was ancient. Was this meant to keep someone or something out, or in? She touched the eye of Elena around her neck and studied the door. It had a handle, but would not budge. She was about to turn away when she caught her necklace glowing.

[01:31:26] And there, just between, in the gap between the door and the stone, she saw a flick of her shadow, darker than the blackness, just on the other side. Laying down as close to the door as she dared, she slid a dagger under the door, and she shifted and shifted and shifted it, until she saw two gleaming green gold orbs flash in the shadows. She lunged back. Eyes. She must have seen eyes. She placed the dagger under the door again to take a look, but found nothing. It was probably a rat, but she couldn’t shake the [01:32:00] chill around her or ignore the amulet still warm against her. It was just a rat, but she had no interest in being proven wrong right now. More secret tunnels, but this time in the library. Do you think that these secret tunnels will some way connect with her room? Or do you think they’re just Branches of tunnels around this castle.

[01:32:28] James: yeah, it’s probably sectioned off. I don’t think that all the tunnels connect everywhere under the castle. That would be a security risk.

[01:32:40] Ka-Ce: I’m sure a foundation risk, too, probably. Well,

[01:32:42] James: Well, yeah, probably that too.

[01:32:44] I just imagine that there’s, like, pockets within the castle that have, like, thing, and then it leads off to, like, a secret tunnel cluster over here and a cluster over there, you know, um. And this one is so far away from everything else that it, it wouldn’t really make sense for it to be connected to any of the other stuff, like, where the rooms and any of that stuff.

[01:33:08] Plus, like she said, if she is ending up deeper,

[01:33:12] than even Elena’s tomb, then this would have been something probably sectioned off from an original when it was built or who knows, who knows how old. I’m just surprised that the king doesn’t know about it.

[01:33:31] Ka-Ce: He seems to not know a lot within the stone castle. Because he didn’t seem to know about Elena’s tomb, either. You would think that would be one of the first things he would want to, like, destroy.

[01:33:44] James: Yeah, he spends all his time up in the glass castle, but not, not in the original part of the castle.

[01:33:52] it’s weird because like, you would think that with where this, this [01:34:00] goes, that the king would be involved somehow.

[01:34:03] Ka-Ce: Hmm.

[01:34:04] James: But how can he be involved if there’s still depictions of the Fae in the tunnel?

[01:34:11] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[01:34:12] James: So it just doesn’t seem like, um, like it’s likely. But who knows? I mean, it’s not like the king is very forthcoming with his information about anything.

[01:34:27] it.

[01:34:27] a big mystery at this point in the story, especially because when you get down there, there is a big iron door, and

[01:34:35] is popular within most fantasy, pretty much all fantasy stuff, because it’s all

[01:34:41] off of actual lore, and that’s that the Fae and all of those kinds of, you know, creatures and whatever are weak to iron.

[01:34:52] and so reading this, my first thought was, don’t open that door. (Did many laughs)

[01:34:59] Ka-Ce: Did you think there was some big evil ancient Fae behind the door? Or some other type of creature?

[01:35:05] James: Something.

[01:35:07] Ka-Ce: ‘Cuz it didn’t seem like the depiction on the wall of like the fae dancing creature

[01:35:12] James: Something

[01:35:12] Ka-Ce: Cuz and

[01:35:13]

[01:35:13] Frolicking and playing music didn’t seem evil, but iron usually is known to repel fae or to be able to kill fae or burn them. but I mean iron isn’t just for fae, it is to repel like other evil spirits or creatures. So I didn’t know if you thought. Behind this iron door must be an ancient evil fae, or Oh fuck, it’s something like the ridderak, or Some other creature from a wyrdgate maybe

[01:35:46] James: I, yeah, I didn’t think Fae necessarily, I, but I did think that there was, um,

[01:35:51] something, a creature of some kind back there.

[01:35:54] not knowing. You know, what it could be. And not necessarily that it [01:36:00] was shielded by the iron, but just big massive door. Could be keeping something in, especially if she can’t easily open it. Typically, just gigantic doors like that, that are forgotten about,

[01:36:14] are usually, are usually there to,

[01:36:16] be opened again.

[01:36:17] my general thought, is if the gigantic door is closed,

[01:36:22] Ka-Ce: Keep it closed. yeah,

[01:36:25] James: Ya know.

[01:36:27] Ka-Ce: But that’s not Celaena’s way. How much ya wanna bet she’s gonna go back and open it?

[01:36:31]

[01:36:31] James: I mean, yeah, it’s Celaena, so of course she’s going to open it, because that’s what she does. It wouldn’t be It just wouldn’t be Celaena without opening it.

[01:36:46] Ka-Ce: A brief mention earlier, at the start of one of the chapters of him not liking the cold weather. And this is when him and Chaol are entering through the kennels. and now he’s being awakened by the cold. You know, the couch that he was sleeping on is ringed in frost. Do you have any thoughts? Theories?

[01:37:06] Predictions? Feelings?

[01:37:09] James: I, I definitely um was questioning

[01:37:15] I think I had two lines of thought with this and what was going on with him. Either, Either he’s being targeted by something,

[01:37:26] But I think that that was a very fleeting thought because it didn’t, It didn’t really pan out to anything I could, like, grab hold of, like Okay, but what are they trying to do, freeze him to his bed, like? I mean, or was somebody trying to freeze him and it didn’t work, or, I don’t know, right? I was kind of, kind of thinking along the line that maybe he, That there was some sort of magical Something

[01:37:53] was happening around him.

[01:37:56] Um,

[01:37:57] now whether that was caused by [01:38:00] something looking to take out the prince because he’s being uncooperative. I mean, at this point we don’t know what the capabilities are of the king and Perrington. We know that they know about wyrdmarks. And wyrdgates and all that good stuff. So it’s not that far fetched to believe that they could do something in his room.

[01:38:23] You know, that would be triggered later. Or maybe somebody came into his room while he was sleeping and tried to do something. Who knows, right? but it does very much stink of magic. Which is interesting because there’s not supposed to be any magic. But we already know that wyrdmarks don’t follow that rule.

[01:38:46] Ka-Ce: No, because they’re ancient magic. So,

[01:38:48] James: so there’s any number of things that could be happening here.

[01:38:52] And we just don’t know if it’s something happening to him. Or if it’s something happening from him.

[01:38:58] Or if

[01:38:58] Ka-Ce: An awakening!

[01:38:59]

[01:38:59] James: I mean, who knows, right? It could be.

[01:39:02] Honestly, it could be anything at this point, because we just don’t know the capabilities of all the players yet.

[01:39:07] Ka-Ce: True..

[01:39:07] Yeah, so. (Laughing)

[01:39:09] Alright we will keep a ice watch on Dorian..

[01:39:12] James: Um So yeah you know, lots of stuff that was Going on, and of course we have pretty much no answers to any of the new questions we get for the book. So, you know, basically what do we got going on here? we’ve got, Celaena dealing with Archer. We don’t know if he’s friend or foe. I’m voting for foe. We don’t know what’s happening with Nehemia.

[01:39:40] Friend or foe. I’m still voting friend. With secrets

[01:39:45] Ka-Ce: she does seem sus, though.

[01:39:49] James: She’s being an untruthful friend. Chaol is being an, overbearing friend.

[01:39:59] And,

[01:39:59] Ka-Ce: but [01:40:00] it’s better than what he was in the first book

[01:40:01] James: it’s very true. And, Dorian is still being kind of a whiny bitch. we know that, Kaltain is afraid of something. But we don’t know what. Celaena is too quick to dismiss her as being crazy. That’s a mistake on her part.

[01:40:19] Ka-Ce: Yes.

[01:40:20]

[01:40:20] James: and we really have no idea what the King and Perrington are even up to at this point.

[01:40:25] Ka-Ce: No.

[01:40:25] James: So.

[01:40:25] Ka-Ce: And Roland is now in the mix

[01:40:28] James: Oh yes, and we have, yes, and we have Roland. And we still don’t know what the endgame is with him, either.

[01:40:35] Ka-Ce: Nope

[01:40:35]

[01:40:35] James: yeah, there’s a lot going on, and

[01:40:38] No answers yet. So,

[01:40:40] Ka-Ce: Well, we’re still early in the book.

[01:40:42] James: So yeah, so stay tuned for more questions with little to no answers as we continue on. This does wrap up our chapters 8 through 14 of Crown of Midnight. Come back next Tuesday for chapters 15 through 21. So you’ll want to make sure that you’ve read up to at least 21 or the entire book. I say go for the entire book just so you just so you know where everything’s at.

[01:41:17] And also just as a reminder we are still doing our deep dive of the Empyrean series because we couldn’t wait to start that because I took a break from Throne of Glass and started reading it like, what, A month ago, and I’m already on Onyx Storm. Um, and so now we’re talking about that one too. And we are doing, what are we doing for that one?

[01:41:44] We’re doing chapters 13 through 18 on Fourth Wing on Thursday, which is just two days after this. So keep your podcast, uh, listening device apparatus ready because. [01:42:00] We’re just, we’re just pumping this stuff out as fast as humanly possible for you guys. We also want to say thank you so much for joining us again this week.

[01:42:11] We hope that you got some entertainment value from us and enjoyed reliving these chapters of the Throne of Glass series with us. If you have any thoughts, theories, or ideas. Please let us know in the comments. You can email us at hello@bookscatsandchaos.Com, or on any of our social media channels, or our YouTube.

[01:42:41] We’re, we’re all over the place.

[01:42:45] Ka-Ce: Yes, so please remember to like, subscribe, and comment. Your ratings and likes do really mean a lot to us. And if you like what you hear so far, please share with your family and friends, the more the merrier. you can also check us out on TikTok and Instagram. As we head out, please don’t forget to give some love over to our friends over at K911ResQ.

[01:43:07] K 9 1 1 R E S Q. They post so much about animals in need and they specialize in helping the senior, the handicapped, and, you know, the dogs and cats that most people overlook at shelters. So, please, please, please go head over to them. Um, they are on social media, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram. They have a website.

[01:43:32] We will link them in our show notes. and also please head over to Pasadena Humane Society, as they are still working around the clock. just helping, treating, rescuing, and trying to reunite animals from the LA fires. and they’ve been working with both domestic pets and some wildlife as well. So, we will drop them in the show notes below.

[01:43:54] So, yes, please, please, please take a look at both of the rescues. We really [01:44:00] appreciate it.

[01:44:02] James: Sounds good, so we will see you guys on the next one.

[01:44:10] Ka-Ce: Happy reading!