Ep 6 Throne of Glass: Ch. 34 – 40

[00:00:00] James: 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 and cat herding in our lives. My name is James.

[00:00:16] Ka-Ce: And I’m Ka-Ce and we are a husband and wife team who love all things books, cats, brews, and the fun chaos in between. We just want to wish everyone a happy holidays. Hope everyone had a happy holidays and happy pawlidays for all of our pet parents everywhere. We hope everyone has just been having a wonderful time.

[00:00:40] James: If you guys did not, happen to see it, we did, or I guess I did, release a special Christmas, episode last week, since we did not hold our, our regular episode. because of the holiday for Christmas and everything. So, uh, go check that out. It’s a, just a fun, you know, little episode, Christmas special. The mostly Christmas spirit. it’s a good time. Go and enjoy it. And this week, we are, diving into holiday season at Rifthold, where it’s now Yulemus. The schemers are scheming, our MMCs are having all kinds of feelings, and they don’t know what to do with them. There’s a masked Yulemus ball. Maybe David Bowie will make an appearance.

[00:01:29] I don’t know. So please join us as we delve into chapters 34 through 40 of Throne of Glass. Now we are also going to be trying a new format this episode. Instead of doing a chapter recap and then doing the deep dive, we’re going to be discussing our favorite moments chapter by chapter. And we’re gonna just go right into it.

[00:01:58] That way we can cut down on [00:02:00] some of the repetitive backtracking that tends to happen when you do a recap and then you go back to the beginning and start talking about it again. So, let us know what you think, if you like this format better. we are trying to trim our time so that you guys aren’t faced with these three hour, things.

[00:02:24] Every time.

[00:02:26] Ka-Ce: We tend to talk a lot, so

[00:02:28] James: Yeah.

[00:02:28] Ka-Ce: this will help us curb that a little bit.

[00:02:33] James: as we do, the reminder, this is my first time reading the series, so we’re not going to be discussing any spoilers from any of the future books, even though I did just finish Heir of Fire. That is neither here nor there. We will not be Discussing anything past Throne of Glass.

[00:02:56] No, uh, Crescent City. No, ACOTAR. Um, nothing in any of those universe, multi universe, multiverse nothings.

[00:03:09] Ka-Ce: Not yet anyways. When you get there, if you decide you want to read ACOTAR and Crescent City, maybe we’ll do some fun tie ins and theories and stuff. But, yes, for right now We’re just keeping straight with Throne of Glass. And this is, you know, for any readers who are also new to the Throne of Glass series, you don’t have to worry about potential spoilers. we would also like to, give a content reminder right now. this podcast is for adults as we do like to drop some curse words here and there. So if you have little young ones running about, maybe save this for later and come back to it. We will be here waiting for you.

[00:03:51] James: Or you put on your headphones. That’s okay too. Maybe put one so you can still listen for [00:04:00] screaming and the breakage of things.

[00:04:02] Ka-Ce: I mean, hopefully the kids are distracted with all their new toys that they got.

[00:04:07] James: That’s true actually. So now’s the perfect time to catch up on the podcast if you’ve been putting it off.

[00:04:16] Ka-Ce: Yes

[00:04:17] James: put your kid down in front of that brand new Switch or PS4 or PS5 or whatever they got and go have yourself some fun. if you haven’t already, but you like what you hear so far, please don’t forget to rate, subscribe, and comment on this podcast and to follow us on social media.

[00:04:34] We have, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube, and did I get that

[00:04:47] Ka-Ce: And threads.

[00:04:48] James: Oh, and threads, which is part of Instagram. yeah, give us a like, give us a follow, give us a thumbs up. Let us know that we’re doing a good job, because your feedback helps us do better and be better. We can be the best that we can be. Or something.

[00:05:10] Ka-Ce: Something like that.

[00:05:13] James: So, with that, let’s go ahead and jump into our chapter recap before we get going into the deep dives.

[00:05:23] Ka-Ce: Alright. Starting with chapter 34.

[00:05:26] Nehemia calms down after coming to Celaena after receiving news that her people, the rebels, and the children were all murdered. Celaena starts her period after not having one for over a year. Philippa brings her soothing tea and tells her that Nehemia is fortunate to have such a good friend in Celaena, and it’s so unfortunate what happened to her people.

[00:05:47] Celaena also contemplates Elena’s big evil versus the actual evil in the world. Chaol comes to give his condolences to Celaena about Nehemia’s people, but goes on and on and [00:06:00] on about his observations. Completely ignoring the pain that Celaena’s in, or refusing to see how sick she actually is. Once he finds out she’s on her period, he flees.

[00:06:14] In steps Dorian, not bothered by the female monthlies at all, and helps Celaena get her mind off of the pain. Being truly a prince in this entire situation. So, I actually have a lot of notes for this chapter. We’ll try to get through them. I feel there was just so much, like, not a lot happened, but there was just so much character development and just interpersonal things between everybody.

[00:06:45] So we have this part with like, Philippa. Who we don’t get a whole lot of her in this book. I wish we got more. I really like her character I like who she is with Celaena. But you know, she she instantly comes in and she’s bringing Celaena tea and trying to help her with her period. But she hasn’t had to deal with in a year. But at the same time she’s also like I’m so sorry about Nehemia and Nehemia’s people and and even though she’s keeping her voice down and quiet because she doesn’t want anybody to overhear because if word gets back to the king, you know, Philippa’s dead.

[00:07:27] but it just goes to show that even the people of Rifthold, other people in this kingdom, don’t agree with the king and what he’s doing and the atrocities that are being committed. and so I think for Celaena to see that and hear that as well, it just. I love Philippa. She’s a queen. Like, I just want to hug her.

[00:07:49] James: Philippa is a bro. Like. She’s there before you even really know that you need something? [00:08:00] Like, Celaena’s like, Oh, this again? Like, dear lord. And Phillip is just in the room and she’s like, I got you.

[00:08:12] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[00:08:15] James: And, and yeah, and also sensitive to the, you know, the delicate nature of, you know, Yeah, she’s saying sorry about the, the murder of, you know, the children and the women and You know, not just the ones who revolted, but, everyone.

[00:08:32] And she is, um, what do I want to say? She’s not, um, she’s not blind to what’s going on, but she is also very cautious of what she says, how she says it. But she does it in such a way that there’s no doubt that, you know which side she’s on.

[00:08:51] Ka-Ce: Mmm hmm, yeah.

[00:08:55] Coming through to, I love that Sarah wasn’t afraid to write about Celaena’s period. We have to remember that Sarah wrote this when she was a teenager. I believe she was like 16 when she got this written and published, um, a lot of people wouldn’t write about a woman’s period or, you know, about the cramps and everything that comes into it, um, so it, it, it should be normalized, it should be talked about just in general, but I like that it played into the story.

[00:09:33] I mean, we saw at the beginning of the book, you know, when, um, Celaena is freed from the from the mines and she eats her first meal, her first dinner that’s not gruel and stale bread and she throws up because her body just can’t handle it. Well, now we’re seeing, you know, being out of the mines for several months, getting the food, getting that nutrition and this stuff.

[00:09:58] Her body is like, Oh, [00:10:00] we’re healthy again. We can start this very normal process. So it I just, I really enjoyed, I, okay, I didn’t enjoy that she had to deal with the pain of a period because, girl, same. but the fact that Sarah did think to put this in, it’s just very human. It’s very humanizing and it’s stuff that people do go through, um, and not everybody thinks about, you know?

[00:10:29] James: Yeah. That is actually very true that a lot of people wouldn’t even think to, uh, write about it. They would just, they would just leave it out, you know, and leave it up to the reader to assume that, um,

[00:10:43] you know, whatever world they’re on, they don’t have that, or

[00:10:47] You know, or it’s just not talked about, but it,

[00:10:50] Ka-Ce:

[00:10:50] James: I enjoy the detail because it helps bring, I’m going to say it brings a sense of realism to the story. But I’m saying realism very loosely because they’re in a fantasy world of, you know.

[00:11:06] Ka-Ce: Well, yea.

[00:11:08] James: But you know what I mean, it makes the character relatable because this is a thing that a healthy person would go through. Especially considering the fact that she is only 18 or 19 or, or, right? Like,

[00:11:22] Ka-Ce: 18, yea.

[00:11:23] James: Right? 18. So, I mean, she’s a normal 18 year old and, you know, I could see, I could see them writing it away initially where, um, you know, Because she was the deadly assassin and she is so fit, that could have been a reason for them to write that she didn’t have to deal with it, because, you know, a lot of elite athletes don’t deal with it, because it just, you know.

[00:11:58] But on the other hand, [00:12:00] she’s not an elite assassin at this point. She’s a recovering human being. Like, you know. Um, She’s gained weight over the past three months and her body is now going, Ah, we can turn the garage lights back on over here. You know, but it does, it adds a very nice sense of, Um, relatability to things that normal human beings go through.

[00:12:30] Ka-Ce: Mm hmm.

[00:12:31] James: And also to her struggle of, you know, being able to digest food again, being able to run without throwing up, being able to

[00:12:39] Ka-Ce: Mmm hmm.

[00:12:41] James: literally do anything without her body just absolutely betraying her because she’s been, you know, in the mines for a year. So, you know, I feel like a lot of people look at that and go, Ugh, I don’t want to read about that.

[00:12:56] But. It’s a good detail. It’s, it’s an attention to detail, attention to detail that I really appreciate. Um.

[00:13:06] Ka-Ce: Yea, I agree. I know part of it to, this sets up this scene for what happens next. Um, with her interactions with Chaol and Dorian. But, Again, like you said, it was a nice attention to detail. This is what actually happens to human bodies. So I’m just glad like it should be normalized. We should be able to talk about it and not be like eww this is disgusting, which brings me right into Chaol gets an “L” for the way he responds to this.

[00:13:44] James: My boy, my boy. What is wrong with you?

[00:13:50] Ka-Ce: Right?

[00:13:51] So I mean, he, he comes in, he comes in with good, noble intentions. I will give him that, you know, cause he heard about what happened to [00:14:00] Nehemia’s people. And so his first thought is to go to Celaena to comfort her and to give his condolences because he knows how close Nehemia and her have become.

[00:14:12] But, and he sees her sick. But he keeps going on and on about his own observations about, you know, what he saw when he went to get her from Endovier, um, and realizing, you know, like, what he would have done in this circumstance or that circumstance and, you know, relating himself to Nehemia and his people and stuff.

[00:14:34] And he’s just going on and on about himself and it’s like, dude, she’s trying to tell you she’s sick without telling you she’s on her period. And he’s still just like. Lost in his own world until she pukes on him and then he’s like, Oh shit, you’re sick, bro. So,

[00:14:54] James: And she’s like, I’m not sick sick. I’m lady sick.

[00:15:02] Ka-Ce: yeah, and, and he was like, he was fine getting her into bed. I mean, he wasn’t fine with the throw up, but he, he was dealing with it, gets her into bed. And then as soon as she says like, dude, I’m on my period. He’s like, Oh, hell no. Peace. And he runs. This guy who has been dealing with these gruesome murders of the champions for the past couple months is suddenly, like, squeamish over a period.

[00:15:30] It’s not like she showed him anything. She’s just like, dude, monthlies. And he’s like, oh, I can’t handle this, bye.

[00:15:37] James: I think it just goes to show his, even as the captain of the guard, he’s been sheltered. Like, he just hasn’t had anybody to, you know, explain it to him, share it. I mean, obviously he knows what it is. But, you know, [00:16:00] I feel like he’s grown up in a very uptight, um, you know, Uh, uh, Captain Proper. This is Proper.

[00:16:08] And that’s Proper. And that’s not Proper. And, you know what I mean? I,

[00:16:13] Ka-Ce: but see the argument could be made Okay, yes, Chaol had a brother growing up. No sisters, but then he came over at a young age to train to be captain of the guard, so he’s with soldiers constantly, but Dorian also doesn’t have any sisters, has a horrible younger brother that’s shipped off, But and is surrounded by you know lords and ladies and courtiers and stuff but Dorian doesn’t act like that.

[00:16:41] James: But, don’t we kind of get the idea that Dorian has had his fair share of, you know, lady experience and

[00:16:48] Ka-Ce: Well, yeah,

[00:16:49] James: he’s, so he’s probably encountered that with at least one or two of the court ladies when they’ve been getting, you know, intimate and

[00:16:58] Ka-Ce: yeah, but I’m sure Chaol has too. Chaol’s not a virgin or, you know.

[00:17:04] James: I don’t know. Chaol’s too uptight.

[00:17:09] Ka-Ce: No, no, Chaol, Chaol has had experience.

[00:17:15] James: I don’t, I don’t know. He, he seems, uh, Like he doesn’t know how to talk to the ladies.

[00:17:22] Ka-Ce: I’m not saying like, he’s, he’s more reserved, yes. Dorian is the bigger flirt. But Chaol has experience. Chaol’s been around.

[00:17:33] James: Oh, then I got nothing.

[00:17:34]

[00:17:34] Ka-Ce: All right, yeah. So, I don’t know. To me, this was just like, Chaol, you were, you were so close. Yet, you dropped the ball. Um.

[00:17:46] James: Maybe he didn’t like that it humanized the assassin. And it weirded him out.

[00:17:54] Ka-Ce: Maybe.

[00:17:54] James: Like, you’re, no, you’re not a girl. You’re an assassin. No. Assassins don’t have [00:18:00] periods. Like. I don’t know. I’m trying to give the benefit of the doubt to, you know. Uh,

[00:18:07] Ka-Ce: You’re just trying to stick up for your boy, no matter what the cost.

[00:18:12] James: Ehhh

[00:18:13] Ka-Ce: So, in walks Dorian, who I love that he promptly teases that Chaol fled and Celaena’s just like, dude, I just want to go to sleep and Dorian’s like, no, I’m here. We’re, we’re gonna, you know, I’ll get your mind off of this. And I love that both of the guys, when they first hear about Nehemia and their people, their first thing like, oh, we should go comfort celaena and, I mean, yes, they should go talk to Nehemia, but that’s a more political thing that they can’t get into. Um, but, you know, they’re, both of their first thoughts were Celaena and Dorian having seen Chaol be squeamish has to live this up, you know, much

[00:19:00] James: yeah.

[00:19:01] Ka-Ce: best friend’s expense and stuff. Um, but I love that even though Celaena is cramping and she’s dying and she just wants to pass out. Her and Dorian have this easy banter that they’re, they’re going at it, you know, with each other. their relationship is so easy. It just comes easily. And I, I always love their interactions whenever I read it.

[00:19:31] James: Dorian is good with, um, uh, talking to people. And I feel like he’s good at meeting people where they’re at, um, and that’s probably because of, you know, growing up in the court and dealing with, you know, all that BS all the time. Um, and it does show too, I think, the difference in [00:20:00] how they both view her.

[00:20:03] You know, Dorian is looking at her more as, uh, a girl. Whereas Chaol is still looking at her as an assassin weapon, you know, and so their approach to her is different and the conversations that they have are going to be vastly different because of what is deemed kind of acceptable to talk about with each person that they’ve kind of made her in their head.

[00:20:38] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[00:20:38] James: know what I mean? Alright, maybe. I don’t know.

[00:20:44]

[00:20:44] Ka-Ce: I, we did get some growth from Dorian, I felt like, too, in this chapter. You know, he’s, he’s having fun tormenting Celaena and flirting with her, but he’s also feeling this, I don’t want to say remorse, but he’s feeling Like, he’s stuck in a hard place. You know, he wants to do more. He wants to do better for his people, for his kingdom, and for the people that he loves and cares about, um, but he can’t stand up to his father.

[00:21:17] You know, his father is just a tyrant. And Dorian knows that if he tries to stand up to his father, like, he could get the,

[00:21:27] James: Yea, right.

[00:21:28] Ka-Ce: like, he doesn’t really have. Any power, you know. Um, And he knows that at some point this is gonna come to a head with his father, and and it’s hard for him, you know, he loves this relationship that’s forming between him and Celaena, and he’s starting to form a friendship with Nehemia, and then his father goes and does this to Nehemia’s people and it’s a lot on Dorian’s shoulders.

[00:21:59] [00:22:00] It’s a lot to try to process and try to navigate. Um, so I, I wish that we would have gotten more point of views from Dorian. I would have loved to have seen more of this and more of his thoughts and developments and struggles and everything, especially like during his time in court and stuff. Um, But I know the focus of the story is more on Celaena and being the champion and everything.

[00:22:29] I just wish that, yeah, we could have gotten more expansion on this and more growth. actually from all three characters, Chaol, I would have loved to have seen more, too. Like, maybe he went out into the hallway and banged his head on the stone wall because from period talk, you know. maybe he went out and talked to Philippa, like, what can I do next time, you know, like, just those little

[00:22:55] James: And she’s like, Don’t be a fucking puss.

[00:22:59] Ka-Ce: She would, would, she would set him straight so, so hard so fast.

[00:23:04] James: Be a man. Be a man. Sorry.

[00:23:09] Ka-Ce: Cue Mulan music.

[00:23:16] James: Yeah it’s um, Nice character interactions, and the, um, Um, the building of the relationships, you know, that’s going to come in so important. Or, yeah, it’s going to be very important later on, you know, that she’s got these relationships with these people. Even if, you know, she’s not sure what everybody’s motives are, she, she is finding that she can talk casually with a number of people now, which I don’t think she probably ever thought she [00:24:00] would be doing.

[00:24:01] Especially coming in as this, you know, champion competitor, like, she probably thought she was going to spend most of her days alone. So, it’s nice to, to see the characters develop, uh, together. Because they’re all changing, you know. Dorian doesn’t hate his life as much right now, and Chaol is learning that there’s a world out there that he knows nothing about and,

[00:24:31] Ka-Ce: He’s learning how to navigate different relationships that are not the crown prince and the guards.

[00:24:38] James: Yea, right? So, um, you know, yeah.

[00:24:45] Ka-Ce: All right. You want to lead us into chapter 35?

[00:24:48] James: So, chapter 35. We got, uh, Chaol is reflecting on Celaena and Dorian as he watches over them from above. They have been taking walks together in the gardens. the barriers that Chaol had put up in regards to Celaena have been sort of coming down. He notes that he’s starting to trust her despite her past. Celaena and Dorian are continuing their garden walks, you know, almost daily.

[00:25:21] And Nehemia is now hiding in her rooms since the news of her people. Which, you know, um, Our not ghost ghost queen, Elena, has not made any more visits. I mean, she’s pretty frickin useless at this point, so. Uh, Celaena has had several more tests, and in these past several weeks, three more champions have been murdered. Dorian has noticed Celaena’s necklace, recognizing it from the tales he’s read growing up, and he questions her about [00:26:00] it. Celaena, not quite ready to trust Dorian with what’s been happening in the secret tunnels. And the not ghost ghost queen, deflects and tells him it’s a cheap replica. Because, I mean, he’s got no reason to think otherwise.

[00:26:17] How could she, of all people, have the long lost amulet of, you know,

[00:26:23] Ka-Ce: Right.

[00:26:23] James: first queen? That’s not, uh

[00:26:27] Ka-Ce: That just raises a lot more questions. Yeah.

[00:26:31] James: Celaena later discovers chalk wyrdmarks under her bed, and she freaks out. She confronts Nehemia in the library and starts to question if Nehemia has been behind the champion murders. And, you know, so, yeah, this is another one of those chapters that’s got a lot going into it because all of the stuff that’s kind of been building up we’re now seeing kind of on a on a um on a knife edge right um These relationships, you know, they’ve been growing and trusting and then all of a sudden now they’re turning around they’re going

[00:27:11] Can I trust I do trust but do I don’t quite trust that much Yet But will I?

[00:27:20] Like, you know, and her, I mean, her and Nehemia were basically like stuck together and now we’ve got, you know, so lots of things going on. we’re on a verge of, I feel, a major something, right? as I mentioned, Chaol is starting to trust Celaena more, which is a big character improvement. And, and we see this because he’s not interfering with the walks that Dorian and her are taking in the gardens.

[00:27:56] Normally this would not have been [00:28:00] captain of the guard, he should not have been letting this happen. Like, like, period. Woulda been like, Dorian, I will chain you to your bed. I don’t care if you’re the prince. Like, she’s an assassin. You can’t be doing this. But, but,he’s not. And, and she hasn’t gutted him.

[00:28:21] So, you know, that’s a

[00:28:24] Ka-Ce: I, Chaol, I mean, he had Celaena chained, you know, like from the get go, coming out of Endovier and stuff, and wouldn’t let her get close to Dorian, and now he’s not even walking with them as they take their walks. They still have the guards trailing them,

[00:28:39] James: None of them could get there in time if she wanted to do something.

[00:28:44] Ka-Ce: Yeah. Yeah, that speaks volumes. That speaks a lot on how much he has come to trust her in such a short amount of time.

[00:28:53] James: I mean, to be fair, they could probably be standing next to her. And they probably wouldn’t be able to stop her.

[00:28:59] Ka-Ce: I mean, no. No, but the fact that he’s not even really walking with them, he’s just kind of monitoring from afar,

[00:29:10] James: Yeah.

[00:29:11] Ka-Ce: that does speak volumes.

[00:29:12] James: It’s a big step for Chaol. there’s a bunch more tests that we didn’t get to, uh, to take, you know, um, that we didn’t get to see, right? Quote unquote see. just were told that they happened, which is kind of a bummer, but

[00:29:29]

[00:29:29] Ka-Ce: ah-like the obstacle course? That would have been like how could you tell us its an obstacle course and not tell us in detail what happened.

[00:29:39] James: Right, because all you’re thinking is American Ninja Warrior, right? Like Jumping, and like, hanging, and swinging, and.

[00:29:48] Ka-Ce: Yeah, like is it something like that, or is it something like you’re having to dodge shit in the castle, like stones rolling out of nowhere and arrows shooting out, like Indiana Jones, like,[00:30:00]

[00:30:00] James: Right,

[00:30:00] Ka-Ce: What kind of obstacles, uh, all the suspenseful moments that we could have had, and we were denied.

[00:30:08] James: Yeah, so we find out then, of course, that through these, and I imagine that these are pretty harrowing challenges, so we learned that Pelor did not do great, and he got sent home. So he actually got to go home, and not get found half eaten in a hallway.

[00:30:28] Ka-Ce: Which is good for Pelor. I’m glad.

[00:30:30] James: It’s great for Pelor, but not for the other three murdered champions who were all found in the forgotten hallways

[00:30:38] Ka-Ce: I want to know who’s discovering them. If these are servants hallways that have not been used in a while, but the torches are lit in them, like, do they have, like, guards that just roam it, like, once or twice a day or something? Or

[00:30:54] James: Because it wouldn’t be the servants, right? If they’re old servants tunnels they wouldn’t be going through there.

[00:31:01] Ka-Ce: Yeah, so I don’t Who is discovering these bodies?

[00:31:06] James: It’s, it, must be the guards

[00:31:08] Ka-Ce: Maybe?

[00:31:08] James: And, and they’re probably now actively patrolling the forgotten hallways. They’re just not there when it happens, right? Like

[00:31:18] Ka-Ce: But see You would think that if all these murders had been happening, and they keep finding them in these hallways, you’d think Chaol would’ve said, Okay, let’s start having rotating guards. Night and day. Like, come on.

[00:31:35] James: Or been, like, champions stop going into the hallway

[00:31:39] Ka-Ce: Right? Like are, if there’s no magic, how are they being compulsed into these tunnels? Unless they’re being led by somebody that they tr trust or, you know, like

[00:31:56] James: That’s all I can it must be It’s got to be somebody that they [00:32:00] trust like somebody who they see in the hallway and they’re like, oh, hey Hey, you want to do better in the competition? I got something for you. Come here in the hallway, and I’m gonna eat your face now. Like, this isn’t what I signed up for.

[00:32:14] Ka-Ce: Unless they were like, abducted somewhere and then brought into the hallways and then murded, murder, murdered

[00:32:22] James: Murdled.

[00:32:23] Ka-Ce: murdled. They were all murdered, um Unless they were taken from their rooms or something and then murdered in the hallways and then left there. know. Yeah,

[00:32:40] James: I wish there was an explanation as to how they were getting put into the hallway, or led, or or mind tranced, or something. Like,

[00:32:54] Ka-Ce: yeah.

[00:32:54] James: You know. Especially. Because everybody knows that the previous champions were murdered in these hallways. So you know that they’re not going in there willing, they would not, I can’t imagine that anybody at that point would be like, yeah, let me go into the abandoned hallway with you.

[00:33:11] Ka-Ce: Right?

[00:33:11] James: So, there’s got to be something else going on.

[00:33:16] Ka-Ce: Yea

[00:33:16] James: Um, so now we’ve had enough champions either get murdered or sent home. I think we’ve had, what, three people get sent home and the rest have all been murdered? Um, They’re down to six, right? We got Cain Grave,

[00:33:34] Nox,

[00:33:35] a dude with no name,

[00:33:37] Renault

[00:33:38] who is Cain’s new dog boy, and, uh, Celaena.

[00:33:42]

[00:33:42] Ka-Ce: So did you at any point just curious, ever consider if Pelor was the one murdering all the Champions?

[00:33:52] James: I did actually, yeah. I, uh, it was like, you know, he’s small, he’s unassuming, [00:34:00] and he’s getting picked on. I could, I could see this, I could see this dude, like, doing something, right? Especially if he is good with, uh,

[00:34:14] Ka-Ce: potions

[00:34:15] uh, yeah, or the poisons. Like, it wouldn’t be too hard for him to like, slip something to somebody and then drag them, you know?

[00:34:26] Now, could he do it without anybody seeing him? He’d have to really plan it out.

[00:34:30] so, I mean, I kinda, you know, but I, at this point too, I’m also,

[00:34:34] uh, not past the idea that it could be Nox. Because, you know, he is also

[00:34:39] unassuming.

[00:34:40] mmmm

[00:34:42] James: not overbearing, he’s also, you know, nice.

[00:34:45] Ka-Ce: Yea.

[00:34:46] James: You gotta watch out for the nice ones.

[00:34:50] Ka-Ce: Yea I don’t think I ever assumed Nox. I did definitely think Pelor, maybe, at one point. But, not Nox. I don’t know why.

[00:35:01] James: Yeah, I went through, I went through Pelor and Nox. I did not consider Grave, because I felt that would be too obvious.

[00:35:12] Ka-Ce: Yea.

[00:35:13] James: Um, and I honestly don’t really even remember who Renault was, so I don’t know if I ever really suspected or not. Um, I mean, and Cain, too. Like, I suspect Cain. Um, but he seems also like a very obvious choice, and I’m like, I don’t know. It just seems like there’s something else going on here.

[00:35:33] Ka-Ce: Mmmm.

[00:35:35] James: So, it’s probably not, it’s probably not the obvious choice. But, yeah, you know, I don’t know, cause,

[00:35:43] Ka-Ce: . Yea.

[00:35:47] James: Um, so, so we’re down to, yeah, we’re down to the final six. And, um, on top of, you know, all this that [00:36:00] Celaena’s dealing with, now she’s got Dorian, uh, just, uh, Buggin her about this necklace, right? And, and, he’s like, I know that this necklace is something, I’ve seen pictures of it, like, I am intelligent, and I am studied, and, and she’s like, nah bro, that, no, that, it ain’t it.

[00:36:22] And he’s just like, girl? Girl. And she’s just like, no, it, it’s, you know, somebody made a replica, it’s cute and I like it, and, uh,

[00:36:35] Ka-Ce: She played it off. I wish Dorian would have questioned it more maybe not questioned her necessarily more. But questioned it more.

[00:36:46] Again, like I wish we had had more Dorian point of views and having him go back and maybe try to research more on the necklace, like where it was last seen and, and stuff because, it’s been missing for how many years? He’s only seen sketches and stuff of it. Why would it suddenly turn up? Especially with all these murders and stuff going on, like, you would, wouldn’t you just kind of think that would be weird?

[00:37:13] Like, all these murders are going on and you bring the assassin into your castle and suddenly she has a copy of it? Like, yeah, she was given jewels to wear while she’s there, but that, out of all things?

[00:37:25] James: Yea, but see, I feel like you can make the argument for that, but you can use the exact same argument against it, because the amulet has been lost for years, and she’s an assassin who just came into the castle, so why would she have it? it makes absolutely no sense that she would have it, and that’s a good argument against it.

[00:37:51] Like, bro. I just got here.

[00:37:54] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[00:37:55] James: Like, it’s a cheap knockoff that I got from, you know, a vendor, [00:38:00] like, somewhere. You know, I, it just, the likelihood of it being the lost necklace?

[00:38:09] Ka-Ce: Yea

[00:38:09] James: Not very likely.

[00:38:12] Ka-Ce: Yeah. I just, I wish, I don’t know, like, ’cause Dorian just seems the type like to not just drop things, like maybe he’ll stop questioning the person, but he would still go in research or, you know.

[00:38:26] James: Oh, yeah, totally.

[00:38:27] Ka-Ce: Be like, Hey Chaol, you know, I noticed this. Can you. check this, you know, like I know you’re busy with the murders and the training and stuff but like I, I kind of have my suspicions a little bit, you know, this assassin that we brought in we’re both starting to trust her and like her but you know there’s something sketchy about this or instead I feel like the focus was more on his like jealousy like he’s noticed that she’s been wearing a ring and now she’s wearing a necklace and who gave those to her and I want to be the one that gives her things like, I know Dorian’s smarter than that.

[00:39:03] James: Yeah, well, I mean, maybe he just knows that it’s better to drop it, because he knows that if it is indeed some sort of magical artifact, that if he makes too much of a fuss about it, and his father finds out, It’s gonna be bad news

[00:39:25] Ka-Ce: That’s true

[00:39:26] James: And so it’s kind of like where’d you get the necklace? It looks like this magical necklace and she’s like no and he’s like, hmm All right Because he’s thinking about the ramifications if he if he pressed and too many people heard

[00:39:45] Ka-Ce: That’s true

[00:39:46] James: Like, Dorian, why are you looking into this magical necklace?

[00:39:48] Ka-Ce: And then, you know, like, suddenly every

[00:39:50] Oh cuz the assassin has it, and then the king’s gonna be like, focused on Celaena even more.

[00:39:56] James: Right, yeah, exactly. So, I can see Dorian dropping it just [00:40:00] out of just necessity of, of knowing that there are eyes everywhere and ears everywhere.

[00:40:08] Ka-Ce: True.

[00:40:08] James: You know.

[00:40:09] Ka-Ce: Good point.

[00:40:10] James: Um, you know, and it know, and, and it does bring up, you know, interesting, uh, you know,

[00:40:17] The necklace has a history, right? So it’s a magical amulet that Elena had that was supposed to protect her whenever she put it on, um, because she got it from a spirit during her battle with the Dark Lord.

[00:40:31] And, And, uh, So, you know, obviously she can’t probably use it now that she’s been dead for a long time. But what was the purpose of giving it to Celaena? Because, as we know, there’s no magic in the kingdom, so if it is a magical amulet, um,

[00:40:53] Ka-Ce: That could get Celaena into more trouble if the king finds out

[00:40:57] James: right

[00:40:57] Ka-Ce: That just seems like a target, a beacon

[00:41:01] James: But, but, was her purpose of giving it to her because she’s hoping it’s going to protect Celaena, but there’s no magic, so how would it protect her if it can’t do anything, like, what was the point of giving it to her when,

[00:41:17] it seems like it wouldn’t really be able to do anything except for potentially put a target on her.

[00:41:23] Like, at this point, it seems like it would just put a target on her and not really be able to offer her anything else. It’s just kind of a weird,

[00:41:31] Ka-Ce: Yea

[00:41:32] James: a weird play. Like,

[00:41:33] Ka-Ce: It is.

[00:41:34] James: So, yeah. I don’t, uh, I don’t understand. But, uh, at this point At this point I’m annoyed by our not ghost ghost queen because I don’t know what the hell it is that she’s trying to do.

[00:41:47] Every time she shows up she’s irritating as hell. The only time she was even remotely useful was with the poison thing.

[00:41:54] Ka-Ce: Yea

[00:41:55] James: Like,

[00:41:57] Ka-Ce: Yea

[00:41:59] James: [00:42:00] anyway, um, so, you know, later, later on in the evening we’ve got Celaena, she’s reading and

[00:42:12] She’s startled and she throws the book out of her hand when Philippa shuts the door in one of her rooms, which is Philippa an assassin now, too, Because everybody seems to be able to get the freakin jump on her at this point, like,

[00:42:26] Ka-Ce: Mmmhmm right?

[00:42:27] James: I, Maybe it’s because we have cats. But when I’m doing anything, when I’m watching TV, when I’m reading, when I’m working, when I’m listening to music or playing video games or whatever, I’m doing this and I got one ear out everywhere. So that if I hear anything, I am on it

[00:42:49] Like, Does that make me an assassin? Am I a better assassin than Celaena? Because

[00:42:58] Ka-Ce: For somebody who is supposedly the greatest assassin, yes everybody seems to be getting the drop on her. What happened to the squeaky door hinges that were supposed to alert her when somebody is coming in or out.

[00:43:12] James: Philippa fixed them again.

[00:43:14] Ka-Ce: Yea.

[00:43:15] James: She comes, she comes in and she’s like, What the hell is wrong with these freaking doors?

[00:43:23] Ka-Ce: She must. Oh my gosh.

[00:43:26] James: Um, anyway, so, so, Philippa scares her. Celaena, worst assassin ever.

[00:43:32] And So as she’s crawling out of bed to get her book, she notices that there are white chalk marks under her bed.

[00:43:39] Ka-Ce: Mmm

[00:43:40] James: So she pushes her bed out of the way, and what does she see but a bunch of wyrdmarks chalked into the ground, or you know, into the floor under her bed.

[00:43:51] Just dozens of them, and in the center is the mark that she had seen on one side of Verin’s [00:44:00] torn up body. And I mean like what the crap what the crap like there is something And You know, this is I don’t know if you remember from Tim Burton’s version of Sleepy Hollow when Johnny Depp, you know, he plays Ichabod.

[00:44:22] There is a scene like this in that, where he moves his bed or they do like an overhead shot of his bed and it’s moved and there’s just a bunch of stuff like drawn spirals and, and things underneath his bed. And he freaks out because Ichabod is already, you know, a scaredy cat anyway,

[00:44:41] and you know, and it turns out now this is a spoil alert. For uh, um what the hell’s the movie called?

[00:44:48] Ka-Ce: Sleepy Hollow?

[00:44:49] James: Sleepy Hollow.

[00:44:50] If you haven’t seen this movie, this movie is like 30 years old. So, that’s your fault if, okay. But it turned out that Christina Ricci’s character is a witch. And she wrote the, she drew the stuff under his bed to protect him, from the Headless Horseman, because the Headless Horseman was going around and killing everybody for revenge because they cut off his head But that’s what this reminded me of you know

[00:45:23] Ka-Ce: So, do you think that these Wyrdmarks were placed under her bed to protect her or do you think it’s for nefarious reasons?

[00:45:32] James: See and so it reminded me of Sleepy Hollow right just the the scene but I was I was Had two thoughts really for this My first, dang it, I gotta stop doing that. Uh,

[00:45:48] Ka-Ce: That was so random.

[00:45:50] James: My first thought was That Nehemia did it.

[00:45:56] Ka-Ce: Okay.

[00:45:57] James: Only because of the fact that she hasn’t been [00:46:00] seen.

[00:46:00] Ka-Ce: Mmm

[00:46:01] James: like she just hasn’t come out of her room, rooms, whatever. Um, and, and, she seemed like a likely suspect for this, right? Initially though, I, uh, initially I kind of wondered if it was like the way that they marked the targets for who was going to be next, especially because that’s that middle mark was what they had found on Verin, you know, carved into his flesh, or was it just,

[00:46:35] Ka-Ce: It was next to his body

[00:46:37] James: it was next to his body, right? In the chalk, right? Yeah.

[00:46:40] Ka-Ce: Because his body was torn up and eaten.

[00:46:42] James: Right. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:46:44] So I was like, oh, this could be the way they like, is this the way that they like, um, get you into the,

[00:46:51] the mindset where you willingly go to, you know, these hallways and, and maybe you’re asleep, maybe you’re not aware, like,

[00:47:00] Ka-Ce: Yea

[00:47:00] James: um, so I think I was leaning more towards nefarious. And I was questioning Nehemia because, just, you know, she hasn’t been seen in a while. Um, but I wasn’t completely convinced it was, like, that she was the one. It was, it, she was a possibility. Uh, so yeah, I, I was not sure.

[00:47:29] Ka-Ce: okay. Fair enough. Yeah, I was questioning between Nehemia and Cain I think at this point, because, you know, we keep getting these, these descriptions from Celaena that Cain is bigger every time she sees him at training. Um. And he’s been seen, like, doing stuff with the Wyrdmarks that surround the clock tower. [00:48:00] Um, and he’s just overall suspicious. But then we have Nehemia, who kept denying knowing anything about the Wyrdmarks. But,

[00:48:10] James: She clearly does know something though, like,

[00:48:13] Ka-Ce: like, she protests too much. Come on.

[00:48:16] James: yeah,

[00:48:17] Ka-Ce: Um, so.

[00:48:20] James: and, and she seems educated enough about them to know how to properly use them. Um, see but then we also had where they came on Cain who was doing something outside of the clock tower in the dirt. And then he, you know, kind of tried to brush it away before he ran off. So was he practicing like, you know, it could, it could literally be either way.

[00:48:49] And

[00:48:50] Ka-Ce: unless the two of them are working together.

[00:48:53] James: well, I mean, Yeah, so just if I was Celaena, I also would have looked at that and been like, Oh, hell to the no,

[00:49:04] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[00:49:05] James: Um, which you know, is exactly what I woulda done she, actually she did more than I would have done. I would have just ran out the room. I would have been like, Nope, screw this. She actually takes the time to grab a water pitcher and clean it up. I don’t think I even would have done that. I would have been like, Nope, I’m out. Philippa, you do this please.

[00:49:26] Ka-Ce: I mean, yeah, you could order, you know, servants or whatever to do it, but my first thought was, if this is some sort of spell, even though there is no magic in the world, like, you need to disrupt it before, you know, anything happens. Like, if it was a compulsion spell or something, like

[00:49:45] James: No, and I understand that from a logical point of view. But I’m about survival, and I see that shit, and I’m out the door.

[00:49:54] Ka-Ce: But see, what’s the point of running if, if it’s still intact? Then it can still work.

[00:49:59] James: [00:50:00] I would assume that if I had my faculties to get up and recognize what it was, and get away from it, that whatever it was hadn’t done what it was supposed to do.

[00:50:10] Ka-Ce: But see we don’t know that if you have, if you have to be in the vicinity of or if it’s one those things that no matter where you are in the world once activated you have to, you’re compulsed to do it or whatever

[00:50:24] James: Then maybe I’d be screwed anyway.

[00:50:26] Ka-Ce: Mmmm. Gotta think about these things. Don’t be like Chaol and just run out the door.

[00:50:34] James: No, I’m out the door. Or maybe I’ll, I’ll, I would take one of my feet and smudge it through one of the lines. You know, like you do the salt lines, and then it’s better to be enough to,

[00:50:47] If it works for Dracula to break the salt circle, that’s enough to break the wyrd circle, you know. Okay.

[00:50:54] Ka-Ce: For your sake, I hope it works.

[00:50:56] James: Right. Um, so, yeah, so she does that and then she’s like, I’m out. She leaves the room because, you know, why would you want to be in there with that? And right now, obviously, we know we’re associating these wyrdmarks with just all the bad things, right? Um, they were, um, the chalk stuff had been around Verin’s body when they found him.

[00:51:24] Um, There was the, the slight wyrdmark that was written in blood with, uh, Xavier and we don’t actually know if any other wyrdmarks were found on any of the other murders. But I’m assuming there probably were.

[00:51:43] Ka-Ce: I’m assuming there were too, probably in blood because we didn’t get the chalk until later, but I wish that detail would have been mentioned.

[00:51:53] Maybe Celaena had heard Chaol mentioning it to somebody in passing or maybe, you know, once Chaol started [00:52:00] letting Celaena in on the murders, he could have said like, hey, we noticed strange symbols, you know, next to the bodies. But it also sounds like Chaol never really got the connection and never, like, really realized that there were these weird, strange things.

[00:52:18] So, I’m assuming that yes, there were wyrdmarks at all of the murders, even the ones that Celaena wasn’t there for, but nobody thought to look at those and see the connections, and so it was just never mentioned or brought up.

[00:52:39] James: Yeah. See, it’s a missed, missed connection. They could have solved it, you know. Nah, they probably wouldn’t have solved it, but, you know.

[00:52:50] Ka-Ce: okay, so, Chaol is supposed to be observant. He’s captain of the guard, right? And one of the early, early days of Celaena at the castle, you know, taking the tour and stuff and she notices the wyrdmarks around the clock tower and Chaol is like, yeah, yeah, those are there, don’t know what they are, whatever.

[00:53:13] But then you would think if he saw something that resembled the things outside by the clock tower, like by the murdered bodies, don’t you think he would be like, oh, wait, maybe there is something

[00:53:28] James: You would think something, right?

[00:53:30] Ka-Ce: Because he was also with Nehemia and Celaena, when they saw Cain doing something in the dirt next to the wyrdmarks by the clock tower.

[00:53:40] Like, I don’t know, I feel For a captain of the guard, Chaol is not very observant.

[00:53:46] James: No. He kind of feels like he’s dropped the ball a couple times with, uh, With things. is this how you run your [00:54:00] ship? Cause, um,

[00:54:03] Ka-Ce: I’m sure he’s great in a lot of other things, but like, boy, he got, oh, I mean, to be fair, this is probably his first murder in the castle, or string of murders, but

[00:54:17] James: They’re like, it was all fine until we had all these damn champions in here. So, so yeah, that’s a whole mess that, you know, they gotta figure out. Uh, Celaena, oh shit. Celaena is on edge, as she should be, right? So, she goes to, she gets out of the room and she’s like, I gotta get out of here. She goes to the, uh, library.

[00:54:49] And Who should she suddenly see that she hasn’t seen in weeks, right? Or days, or something. I’m assuming weeks, probably. Because they’ve had a number of contests and stuff, you know, in between. Uh, Nehemia is there. And the first thing that Nehemia does is She demands to know what Celaena is doing in Eyllwe. And, and Celaena’s like, you know what, I, I need to rephrase that because She asks, she demands to know what Celaena is doing in the library And she, and she does it in Eyllwe. Not what she’s doing in Eyllwe.

[00:55:36] Ka-Ce: I gotcha.

[00:55:37] James: Um, dear listeners, I want you to understand what I mean. She’s asking her in the language, not the common tongue.

[00:55:48] Not a place, it’s a language. Um, Celaena tells her that she couldn’t sleep, which is not a lie. Um, And then she realizes that [00:56:00] the book that Nehemia has is a really big, thick, aging book that has just a crap ton of text in it. And it’s not in any of the languages that they have been working on together.

[00:56:12] And so Celaena’s like, what the fuh?

[00:56:15] And Celaena says, you know, what are you reading? And Nehemia’s like, none of your business. You know, she shuts the book. Celaena, you know, tries to question her, thinking, there’s no way that she should be able to read this at this level yet if she’s struggling with the common tongue. Like, there’s just no way, right?

[00:56:34] She’s a princess from another land. She shouldn’t be able to read anything in here. And, uh, Nehemia puts the book under her arm and then tells her she’s just like every other ignorant fool in the castle. And then she says Then she’s talking in the common tongue. And she says it perfectly. And then she

[00:56:55] Ka-Ce: Say what?

[00:56:57] James: And Celaena is like, What the hell?

[00:57:00] So, couple like, things that kind of pop out from this little interaction, right? So, she dropped the accent. So now she’s even more suspicious. she’s reading something that She shouldn’t. shouldn’t be able to so double suspicious but then she son of a bitch then she uh then she leaves and as she’s leaving she says that Celaena or she’s telling Lillian she’s a fool like everyone else in the castle and i’m like what does that mean like what did what did Celaena miss Was there a hint, or something, somewhere, that, [00:58:00] that she should have picked up on?

[00:58:01] Because I don’t feel like it was super clear.

[00:58:06] Ka-Ce: I feel like there was, but it was very subtle. A couple chapters earlier, after one lesson, supposedly with Celaena, Nehemia had dropped her accent a bit when she said something and Celaena was like, eh? Like, Your, your language skills improve that much after one lesson? Like, and I mean, yes, there are people that can pick up languages very easily. I wish I was one of them. Um, but for the majority of people, when you’re learning a language, a second language, third language as an adult, it’s, it’s a lot harder than if you’re a kid. So for Nehemia to say something in the common tongue, perfectly or just about perfectly and having lost her accent or dropped her accent she did that once already and now she’s doing it again and losing the accent completely like i felt like the first time was like a subtle like

[00:59:15] James: Oh,

[00:59:16] Ka-Ce: on pick this up

[00:59:18] James: not an accident.

[00:59:20] Ka-Ce: yeah

[00:59:21] James: See, I, I thought, or I interpreted that as an accident, that she, that she let her accent slip because she was getting too comfortable. And then she immediately went, oh shit, and you know, then it was back. But if, yeah, I mean, if you think about it as a, as her trying to intentionally make Celaena question it, then yeah, I could see that would, that would make sense.

[00:59:50] And, but that is such a subtle hint.

[00:59:54] Ka-Ce: It really is. Like, it needed to be, like, nudge nudge, wink

[00:59:58] James: If that was the [01:00:00] hint, Yeah, if that was the hint, that is the subtlest of hints that most anybody would miss.

[01:00:09] Ka-Ce: Oh yeah, like, it would’ve passed right over. Like, you could’ve been like, No, maybe I just didn’t hear that right. She, she probably didn’t drop her accent that much. Or, maybe she’s really comfortable with these few words. But, yeah, I, I feel like, I know our girl Nehemia has been through a lot. But, yeah. I feel like she should have given Celaena the benefit of the doubt and a little bit more patience and a little bit more, like, if she wanted to tell her something, it shouldn’t have been subtle. Celaena’s dealing with a lot as well.

[01:00:45] James: Well, yeah, I mean, and, and even if she was, you know, Celaena’s asked her about the wyrdmarks and Nehemia’s downright been like, no, I don’t know what they mean. So, so, Celaena’s just like, okay, well, you know, I, I trust my friend, like, so it’s, it just seems, I feel like Nehemia is mad because obviously her people died, right? But you really can’t blame Celaena for not picking up on things when she tried with the whole wyrdmark questioning thing. Nehemia is like, I don’t know what you’re talking about. And then, so Celaena’s like, okay, like. I trust you. Cool.

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

[01:01:32] James: Like, why would she keep pushing it? She trusts her friend.

[01:01:35] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[01:01:36] James: So it’s, not her fault.

[01:01:39] Ka-Ce: It’s not her fault. And, yeah. I, I understand Nehemia being upset. She, she has every right to be upset, but she shouldn’t be holding something against Celaena when she’s not being forthcoming herself. Um. But, I mean, they’re human, they’re flawed, you know, how many of us [01:02:00] have held on to stuff and not told our friends, our partner, you know, whoever, and we expected them to know or to be like, yeah, you should have questioned this, like, it happens to all of us, at least once in our lives, I think,

[01:02:16] James: Yeah, yeah, so it’s

[01:02:18] unfortunately it’s not a point in Nehemia’s favor. Because it just makes her more suspicious about, you know, the things that are going on, and her general unhelpfulness. And then, of course, you know, this whole thing is going on, and Celaena, finally, her assassin skills kick in. And she notices a slip of paper that fell behind the desk, like, wedged, right, between the desk and the stone wall.

[01:02:45] So she, she grabs it, she sticks it in her pocket, and she goes back to the, the great room.

[01:02:52] And on the paper was a wyrdmark. And it’s like, she can’t get away from these damn things now. Right.

[01:02:59] And of course, what is she thinking? How could Nehemia betray her like this? She had told her to stay away from the wyrdmarks.

[01:03:06] She told her she didn’t know anything about the wyrdmarks, you know, and now there’s a wyrdmark just happened to be where she was at. You know, um, and I mean, Nehemia’s got every motivation to act against this kingdom and literally everyone in it, um, her people, you know, conquered, enslaved, killed, and it just kind of makes a natural path to where you sit there and you go, you know, she could very well disagree with this whole thing about the champions.

[01:03:48] And she’s just like, they’re just gonna die anyway. Why don’t I use them to my advantage and do whatever it is that she’s doing, you know? [01:04:00] It makes sense, you know? I mean, she’s got the know how, she’s got the means, the knowledge. Nobody’s gonna look twice at her.

[01:04:08] Ka-Ce: No she’s a princess, she’s a dignitary, nobody’s gonna question her

[01:04:15] James: Yea, and so at this point, it’s, you know,

[01:04:19] It’s… It’s Maybe Celaena has survived this long because Nehemia doesn’t want to kill her.

[01:04:26] You know? I mean, we’re operating under the assumption that Nehemia doesn’t know that. No, we do know. Do we Wait, okay, hold on.

[01:04:35] Is it common knowledge that Lillian is a competitor? Does

[01:04:42] Ka-Ce: I think, mmm

[01:04:45] James: because she’s introduced as,

[01:04:48] Ka-Ce: Lillian,

[01:04:48] James: Lillian, but when she’s introduced to Nehemia, she’s, she’s just another court lady, sort of, but she’s not ever introduced as a champion to Nehemia, right?

[01:05:06] Ka-Ce: Uh, oh shit

[01:05:07] James: So, like, are we operating under the idea that Nehemia still doesn’t know that Lillian, who’s Celaena, is also a champion and that’s why she hasn’t gone after her?

[01:05:20] Ka-Ce: I thought…,

[01:05:21] James: does she know and she’s saving her?

[01:05:25] Ka-Ce: I think at first she was introduced as lady Lillian but it came out that she is a champion, but Nehemia does not she is Celaena yet.

[01:05:37] James: Right. So, maybe that’s why she hasn’t been, you know, sacrificed in one of the hallways because Nehemia is, like,

[01:05:46] Ka-Ce: I like you

[01:05:48] James: you know I like you, you are my friend, and you, like me, are a, um, a product of the savagery of this kingdom. [01:06:00] It’s not your fault, you were in the mines. Like, I mean, she doesn’t know that, but she knows that she is not a resident of this kingdom, right?

[01:06:12] Um, or,

[01:06:15] Ka-Ce: Well, Lady Lilian is from Fenharrow, I believe.

[01:06:19] James: Alright, so.

[01:06:21] Ka-Ce: You know. She’s not from Rifthold.

[01:06:24] James: but yeah, but yeah, regardless, Lillian is not responsible for anything that has happened. And she’s also not a, a thief, or a murderer, or a, you know. So, I could see where she would be like, look, I’m doing my thing, I’m killing all the, because they’re all gonna die anyway, or they’re gonna become the champion for the king and then they’re gonna have to kill other people.

[01:06:48] Ka-Ce: Mmm hmm

[01:06:49] James: Um, but you,

[01:06:51] I actually like you, and maybe that’s why she survived to this point?

[01:06:55] Ka-Ce: Could be.

[01:06:56] James: But then we got the chalk under her bed. Was she next? Like

[01:07:00] Ka-Ce: Right, like the timeline is, is sus. And it is making Nehemia look very suspicious. Especially, I wanna know why the wyrdmarks found at the murder sites went from the blood of the victims to chalk. And then there’s chalk under the bed. And now Nehemia is caught. I mean, Nehemia is not caught with chalk Wyrdmarks, but she is caught with Wyrdmarks on, you know, like, parchment.

[01:07:36] James: Yeah, it seems like, uh, whoever’s doing it is, like, leveling up?

[01:07:40] Ka-Ce: Mmm hmmm,

[01:07:41] James: Like, They’ve been practicing, you know, and getting a little bit better and a little bit better. And then it’s like, Oh, now I’m going to move to like,

[01:07:49] Ka-Ce: Oh, but see, like, and here’s where my old forensic, uh, thing comes in. It would be smart of Celaena to keep that slip of paper with Nehemia’s wyrdmark, and [01:08:00] compare it to the next murder victim, if there is one.

[01:08:04] James: Oh, like the style that it’s like drawn in

[01:08:07] Ka-Ce: yeah. See.

[01:08:12] James: work smarter, not harder.

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

[01:08:16] James: (laughs) yeah, there’s, theres just a whole bunch of …, stuff, you know, going on that is painting a picture

[01:08:31] Ka-Ce: Mmmhmm

[01:08:31] James: that Nehemia is, is, uh, not, uh, well, she’s not, uh, playing nice with everyone else.

[01:08:46] Ka-Ce: Yea

[01:08:47] James: you can’t even be mad about it. Like, and it’s unfortunate because I really like Nehemia. And I desperately don’t want her to be the bad guy.

[01:08:56] Ka-Ce: Yea.

[01:08:58] James: But I can see it. But it is a toss up between her and Cain, you know, like because there’s something ain’t right with the boy either like

[01:09:07] Ka-Ce: No. No, there isn’t. Um, yea I don’t know. Like it almost sounds too like they could be in cahoots together. You got the smarts and the brains. That’s the same thing, oh my god. brains That’s the same thing

[01:09:24] James: Or she’s using him

[01:09:25] Ka-Ce: You got the smarts and the brawn. But yeah, I could see her using him because it, it was mentioned that he was from the white Fang Mountains and his people were known to rebel against the king of Ader land. And so Celaena had been surprised to see Cain there competing to be a King’s champion when his people have been fighting so much against the king.

[01:09:52] So. I mean, I could see, like, where [01:10:00] there could have been a potential, like, Nehemia is, like, pissed at the king, and Cain is secretly pissed at the king, and they work together to,

[01:10:06] James: Sabotage I mean,

[01:10:07] Ka-Ce: yeah.

[01:10:08] James: yeah, why not? It it uh Yeah, there could be There could be something, you know, but I guess we’ll, uh, maybe we’ll find out as we keep going.

[01:10:24] Ka-Ce: Yea

[01:10:25] James: I dunno

[01:10:29] so, yeah, there’s just a lot of, you know, things. There’s a lot going on. We got, um, Uh, Nehemia being suspicious, Elena not being very helpful, Dorian being too nosy, and Chaol being just kind of not helpful at this point. Uh, so hopefully we’re going to get some answers to something soon, right? Because there’s just, I feel like we’re getting more questions at this point, for every answer we get, we’re getting like three more questions.

[01:11:07] Ka-Ce: Yea.

[01:11:08] James: Um So there’s a lot going on. But yeah, that, that leads us up into the next chapter. Chapter 36

[01:11:18] Ka-Ce: Alright. Celaena has been devoting herself to studying the Wyrdmarks and staying away from Nehemia. She has been doing more intense training with Chaol. Another test passed. A nameless soldier sent home. At least he wasn’t murdered. Only five champions remain. Their final test is in three days, and the Grand Duel two days after that.

[01:11:39] Celaena wakes up on Yulemas to a big bag of candy from Dorian on her bed. Not Dorian on her bed. Candy from Dorian, on her bed. Shame, shame. She proceeds to devour most of it, staining her teeth red. Dorian also gifts her the puppy that was afraid of people. Celaena accepts [01:12:00] on the condition that the pupper gets proper training.

[01:12:03] She goes to Yule service with Chaol and tries to keep her mouth shut most of the time due to the red teeth she has. She realizes that Nehemia will be present at the masked Yule Ball that Celaena’s not invited to and makes secret plans to attend, just to make sure everyone stays safe. Celaena also notes that Chaol won’t joke around with her like Dorian does, but is starting to admit to herself that Chaol does have a good side.

[01:12:31] James: She likes his ass.

[01:12:34] Ka-Ce: I mean, I bet they both have pretty fine asses.

[01:12:37] James: That’s his good side.

[01:12:39] Ka-Ce: Yeah. somehow, while she is sleeping, Dorian, yet again, manages to sneak into her room with the squealing hinges to place candy on her bed. And like a three or four pound bag of candy at that. Please make it make sense. She is the world’s greatest assassin and she does not feel a bag of candy being placed next to her and her door hinges suddenly do not work for Dorian every single time. He must have superpowers. That’s all I’m gonna say.

[01:13:19] James: Well, and, and she doesn’t hear him walking across the floor. She didn’t hear the rustling of the candy bag. She didn’t hear

[01:13:29] Ka-Ce: like any of it.

[01:13:29] James: Literally anything.

[01:13:34] Ka-Ce: Like, I guess she had a late night with, you know, scrubbing the wyrdmarks out from under her bed and then confronting Nehemia and stuff, but My god, girl, what happened to your training?

[01:13:46] James: She is literally, like, Is she actually the world’s best assassin? because she would have been killed so many times.

[01:13:55] Ka-Ce: By Dorian.

[01:13:55] James: By Dorian. Or Philippa, at this point.[01:14:00]

[01:14:00] Ka-Ce: Yeah. I think like the only one that’s managed to, that she’s managed to hear was Nehemia.

[01:14:08] James: Yeah. Right?

[01:14:10] Ka-Ce: I, I just, ugh. Somebody please tell us how Dorian keeps managing to sneak in with these squealing hinges that suddenly don’t squeal for him. Because it’s been several times.

[01:14:24] James: We have a, a thing, it’s uh, it’s really common in like comic books and stuff, particularly for Batman. called, uh, uh, Plot Armor. And Plot Armor is how you explain the things that a character gets away with that otherwise they should not have been able to get away with. Like Batman continually beating Superman. Or, you know, doing things that would kill a normal person. Or the fact that he could overpower a green lantern ring when a lot of people can’t. Just these things.

[01:15:02] And it’s always because he’s Batman. I’m Batman. And it’s called plot armor. And plot armor lets a character do things that they wouldn’t normalby, normally be able to do.

[01:15:15] Because it moves the story forward. So Dorian has really strong plot armor when it comes to moving things forward with Celaena. It is honestly kind of annoying.

[01:15:30] Ka-Ce: A little bit.

[01:15:32] James: Um…

[01:15:32] Ka-Ce: A little bit. Like I would have loved to have read a scene where she’s like dead asleep but she hears the squealing hinges and she sneaks around somehow and Dorian enters and she’s holding her little makeshift knife with the little bone pins, you know, stuck in the soap and she’s holding that to his throat like, what the fuck? And he’s like, oh shit, but also kind of turned on, because that’s how Dorian is. But,[01:16:00]

[01:16:00] James: Or, or just, like she’s laying in bed and she’s like, there’s here there’s somebody here, and as he’s leaning over to put the candy or something on her bed, she’s like With, with a makeshift thing, like, from under her pillow, or something, and been like, Bitch, you thought, and Dorian’s like, whoa, and she’s like, oh, Are you here to hurt me?

[01:16:21] Ka-Ce: And he’s candy? Yeah,

[01:16:25] James: Like,

[01:16:26] Ka-Ce: or, or even when like Chaol has entered, like, and then she throws him across the room and he is like, oh shit, I need to take better precautions.

[01:16:37] James: That’s cause Chaol doesn’t have plot armor.

[01:16:42] Ka-Ce: Poor Chaol.

[01:16:42] James: It is. It’s, it’s, it is one of those things in, in certain writing that does really grate on the story for me. When you say that a character is this, and then they continually fail at that.

[01:17:01] Ka-Ce: Mmhmm. Like, I didn’t mind it my first read through because I was just so enraptured with the story. Um, but you know, you go through your second read through, and then you’re like going over each chapter, like

[01:17:15] you’re like making notes and stuff and that’s when you just, you really start picking apart the pieces. (laughs)

[01:17:22] James: Well, yeah, you know, it, it is. It’s

[01:17:25] Ka-Ce: Like don’t get, I, I, still love this story, looking, um, Throne of Glass just overall, this is one of my favorite stories. One of my favorite worlds and my, a lot of my favorite characters. But, yeah, just some of, some of these things, I’m just like, oh my god. Like, no. Dorian should not have this much plot armor.

[01:17:46] James: If they were gonna do anything at this point, … At this point, Celaena should have had a self reflection in the book and been like, What the hell is going [01:18:00] on with me? How does he keep getting in here?

[01:18:02] Ka-Ce: Mmmhmm

[01:18:03] James: And at least having her recognize something, then the reader can look at it and be like, Oh yeah, girl, she’s messed up.

[01:18:09] Like, she’s still recovering, right? But we don’t get that, you know, we get little other bits and pieces of how she’s recovering. But it would have been nice to get some sort of self reflection introspective of her going I am not on my game. I need to get my shit together because he’s the prince. He’s not even a guard or like he’s the freaking prince. He should not be able to get in here without me hearing him

[01:18:40] Ka-Ce: Yea. . .

[01:18:40] James: It just would have been nice for the character to realize that something was amiss. So, my two cent rant.

[01:18:50] Ka-Ce: Our several minute rant, on just her stupid hinges and Dorian’s super powers. But, you know, I love that Philippa comes in and she’s like, Oh my God, girl, your teeth are stained. You have made big mess on your bed. And she scolds her like she would scold her grandchild. And it is just, I love it. But it also shows the youthfulness of Celaena. You know, I feel like I fall into this habit of, you know, she’s this great warrior.

[01:19:21] She’s this great assassin. And she’s doing all these things against these big adult men. And tend to forget that she’s still essentially a child, you know, 17, 18. Um, and then she does something like this that’s very youthful, um, so yeah. Um, and then in comes Dorian, dressed to the nines because he has to go to Yule service and look presentable.

[01:19:48] Um, and he’s also like, oh my god, girl. (laughs) Your mouth, your teeth. And then he laments that she has eaten almost all of this candy and didn’t save any [01:20:00] for him. It’s just, it’s great fun.

[01:20:04] James: What the hell did she eat?

[01:20:06] Ka-Ce: I think it was like taffies and, and other things, you know, dyed red and chocolates. Cause I think there was chocolate smeared all over her mouth as well.

[01:20:16] And just, it’s so unladylike, it’s, it’s glorious. Um, and I love that they go into teasing each other because that’s just them, that’s just their relationship and she’s like, are you my Yuletide present? And he’s like, do you want to unwrap me?

[01:20:41] James: Right? She took it to a level, and then he took it to another level, and she immediately was like, Um, uh, um, what?

[01:20:51] Ka-Ce: How do I backtrack? But do I want backtrack from this?

[01:20:54] James: Right?

[01:20:56] Ka-Ce: Um, it’s And then it’s cute, you know, he, he gives her the puppy, the one that she fought for him to not kill. And, and, even though she’s like, what the hell am I going to do with this puppy? I’m training all day and, you know, battling and stuff.

[01:21:13] And he’s like, I could send it back. And she’s like, no, but you are going to train her for me. Um, yeah, I, I don’t know. I can’t say enough about their relationship. I just really love their relationship. .

[01:21:26] James: And it’s funny how she’s like, she didn’t even ask him. She’s like, yeah, thanks for the dog, you’re training it for me.

[01:21:33] Ka-Ce: Mmmhmm,

[01:21:33] James: Like, he’s the prince, and she seems to like, forget this.

[01:21:37] Ka-Ce: Oh A lot actually

[01:21:39] James: And she’s like, yeah, you take care of it. And he’s just like, um, okay, I guess I’ll, okay. Like he just, and he’s doesn’t even fight her.

[01:21:47] He’s just like, okay, I guess. Cool..

[01:21:51] Ka-Ce: I, I think it’s a nice change for Dorian too, because, you know he’s probably so used to and so over all the court ladies just being like, [01:22:00] yes Dorian, I’ll do this, and blah, blah, blah, and she’s like the first one that’s not a yes girl for him. She’s the one that’s essentially giving the commands, you know? And,

[01:22:13] James: Yeah.

[01:22:15] Ka-Ce: yeah. Um, you know, while, while they’re talking and he’s going on about the Yule Ball and, you know, he’ll try to sneak out early to come see her and stuff.

[01:22:29] Celaena realizes that Nehemia is going to be at the Yule Ball, and what better place to strike than at the ball where everybody is there? And you know, she hates having to think that about her friend, but she doesn’t want to be wrong either, and not be there and not be able to protect Chaol and Dorian, you know?

[01:22:52] She’s come to really cherish these guys. But if she does go to accuse Nehemia, and Nehemia doesn’t do anything, like, that’s gonna ruin her relationship with Nehemia. And

[01:23:08] James: Right. Yeah.

[01:23:09] Ka-Ce: it would ruin Nehemia’s diplomacy efforts, you know? So it’s like

[01:23:14] James: Can’t cause a scene because.

[01:23:16] Yeah. You know, she’s, yeah, she’s suspicious, but she doesn’t actually have any concrete, any proof about, you know, anything, really.

[01:23:27] Ka-Ce: Yea. And I feel like Uh She’s already not telling Chaol or Dorian about her suspicions about the murders, about, you know, these Wyrdmarks and that there’s this pattern. And now she’s not telling either one of them about her suspicions about Nehemia, especially with the Wyrdmarks and everything. And I get that she feels like she can’t tell Dorian because of the whole diplomacy stuff between, you know, his kingdom and her conquered kingdom and everything.

[01:23:58] But I still feel like [01:24:00] Chaol, should know, just with everything going on, and

[01:24:07] James: Yeah. You know, I feel I’m torn, right? Like from Celaena’s point of view, I’m thinking she should have, she should have told at least Chaol because he is the captain of the guard and it’s his job to keep everyone safe. But I could also see her not telling Chaol for the same reason she didn’t tell Dorian, because if she tells Chaol, he will probably tell Dorian and that just basically undoes the effort she’s making to keep it from spreading into a political problem when she doesn’t really know what it is yet. Like, is it a problem or is it a, you know? So, by not telling Chaol, she’s putting everyone at more risk. But she’s also kind of taking a step against it becoming an unneeded political problem because now there’s no way for Dorian to find out.

[01:25:10] Ka-Ce: yeah,

[01:25:11] James: Because, I mean, she knows that Chaol and Dorian are, you know, um, thick as thieves, right? I mean, from what she knows, right? So, I could see, like, Her going back and forth, like, But, uh, but, uh, You know, She shoulda had backup, but

[01:25:35] Ka-Ce: She should, especially when she feels like she might be the next target, you know, with the wyrdmarks under her bed and everything. Like, I feel like somebody needs to know, in case something does happen to her, in case she goes missing, like…

[01:25:50] James: She could have at least mentioned that, but not mentioned Nehemia. She coulda just been like, somebody put Wyrdmarks under my [01:26:00] bed. I don’t know what they are, but that symbol Matches the body I need somebody to Pay attention to my, to my Shit And just left it at that, like.

[01:26:13] Ka-Ce: The miscommunication trope, like, I love it and I hate it.

[01:26:20] James: It’s like the K dramas,

[01:26:22] Ka-Ce: Yeah, K dramas are the worst with the miscommunication trope. Oh my god, and they drag that on, like, all season. So, Celaena and Chaol walk over to Yulemas service together and she laments how he just never jokes around with her the way Dorian does. You know, a totally different dynamic, um, and the thought of Chaol not finding her attractive kind of stings, even though he did tell her once, you know, that she looked beautiful. Chaol mentions that he’s surprised she’s not complaining more about not being able to go to the Yule Ball. So I love that he’s picked up on this because, you know, she did, she did bug them about, you know, the Samhain Ball.

[01:27:11] James: Mm-hmm

[01:27:12] Ka-Ce: So, I mean, at least he’s picked up on that, and he’s like, why aren’t you bugging me more about this?

[01:27:19] Like, you love parties, you love balls, you wanted to go to the other one, um, and she tries to play it off, but, you know, she, she, she notes that even with her, um,

[01:27:42] James: Yeah.

[01:27:43] Ka-Ce: Even with the relationship with her and Chaol getting better, she still feels like there are times when Chaol kind of puts her down. Um, and Dorian doesn’t ever make her feel stupid or [01:28:00] rotten, you know, or less than, and Chaol still kind of does that despite their growing, growing relationship. Um. So, her feelings of loathing with Chaol have lessened, and she’s starting to admit that he has a good side. So, it is nice to see the development of their relationship, I still just don’t like the idea of them romantically together. I am still gonna push for Dorian.

[01:28:33] James: I, you know, I, it, there’s a big distinction on the way that Yeah. That, that Chaol and Dorian interact with her and, and I think that it is, a lot of it is attributed to just how they grew up with their different surroundings of, like, the people they know and the things that they have to do. And, you know, Dorian just knows how to talk to people.

[01:28:58] Because that’s literally his job, right? Is talking to people politically, socially, making deals, making relationships, you know. And, and, yes, with her, he’s found a person who isn’t, just another yes man, right? And I feel like that is gonna, would cause him to be more, uh, like, he’s gonna pay more attention to how their relationship dynamics work because he’s gonna wanna make sure he doesn’t do something to ruin it because this is a relationship he actually likes, right?

[01:29:45] He basically laments every other relationship that he has. He hates everybody Because everybody’s fake, right? Everybody wants something, and then being as a prince, I mean [01:30:00] You would be the most popular person And you would be alone all the time And he doesn’t get that with her. She is genuinely interested in… she couldn’t care less that he’s the prince like she don’t give a shit.

[01:30:13] She’s she forgets he’s the prince half the time with the way she talks to him. You know. And, and I think that has, you know, caused him to be more comfortable with her, but also want to nourish that relationship and not screw it up. And then you have Chaol, who, I still feel, cause Chaol has had just a really sheltered existence as his captain.

[01:30:40] He’s, he’s like the most inexperienced captain of the guard, because he’s been sheltered in this castle where nothing happens and he’s seeing more action now than he’s probably seen the entire time that he’s had this title or come up through the ranks or anything right he never went out because he’s a guard right captain of the guard he so he’s never gone out to war he’s never had to go out to the battles he he didn’t have to go out and kill rebels he didn’t you know and His relationships are primarily going to be his men, but those are not friends.

[01:31:24] They’re subordinates. And so, I think he doesn’t know, other than Dorian, but see, to him, Dorian is his friend, but he’s also, he is subordinate to, no wait, am I saying that wrong?

[01:31:43] Ka-Ce: He’s subordinate to Dorian. But he is charged with protecting Dorian at all costs.

[01:31:49] James: Right, no, that’s what I was saying. Your subordinate is a person below you, right?

[01:31:55] Ka-Ce: Yes.

[01:31:55] James: Yeah. So yeah, he is subordinate to Dorian. So even though they’re [01:32:00] friends, Chaol can’t separate the fact that, oops, that Dorian is still the prince and there’s a line that he can’t. You know, and that’s a line that Celaena, uh, doesn’t care about.

[01:32:19] Ka-Ce: Yea.

[01:32:20] James: And so, and so the relationships that Chaol has have all been very much, I feel like, they’re lines that are all drawn in the sand. He knows where everything, every person, and, and she is a person who looks at the line in the sand and goes, Hey, get rid of that shit. And he doesn’t know how to react to that. And so I don’t think he’s intentionally trying to make her feel stupid. Or rotten, or it’s just a byproduct of the fact that he just doesn’t have interpersonal skills because of his position, and you know what I mean? Like, because I don’t think that, I feel like if Chaol knew that he was making her feel that way, he would really double think, like, his interactions.

[01:33:11] But I really don’t think he even realizes that he’s doing it. That doesn’t make it okay. We are not promoting, you know, ignorance or whatever. But I feel if he knew, he would do better. Just my, you know.

[01:33:31] Ka-Ce: Yea, I could see that.

[01:33:32] James: Because he’s kind of a loner, right? Like, he doesn’t have friends.

[01:33:38] Ka-Ce: Yeah. Yea, no, I think that’s a good point.

[01:33:44] James: And maybe she maybe she knows knows that too. maybe she knows that too, and that’s why she’s opening up to the idea that he has his good sides, because it’s not intentional. Like, she still feels like shit, but [01:34:00] she at least knows he’s not trying to make her feel that way. Maybe. Hopefully.

[01:34:10] Ka-Ce: That wraps up my notes on chapter 36. I didn’t have a whole lot for that chapter.

[01:34:18] James: That’s okay. Uh Because we’re just moving straight into the temple scene anyway, right? I mean, Chaol and Celaena are on their way to Christmas service. And that’s where we go, right? Chapter 37. So, uh, Celaena and Chaol arrive at the temple, which is also built entirely of glass. And that just sounds like the most miserable church service you could ever sit through. Like Uh, I, I get that it’s in the middle of winter, but still, just, no, uh, it’s built on the top of the original stone temple. Celaena immediately notices that she is the only champion at the service and now she wonders is this on purpose? Did nobody else care? Was, you know, why she’s the only one that can’t go to the festival, but she’s the only one that can go to the service? Like…

[01:35:28] Ka-Ce: make it make sense.

[01:35:29] James: Um, during the sermon, both her and Chaol fall asleep. But they wake up towards the end and then They wake up just in time for several of the children that are dressed as goddesses and gods to wander down the aisle blindfolded and stop at certain people, seemingly random. You know, the idea is, are they being led by the gods, right, for some other [01:36:00] purpose. The people that are present, selected, they’re presented with a gift. Duke Perrington is one and Celaena is another one. And Surprisingly, Chaol lets her keep the gift that was given to her by the child, slash, you know, led by the god, right? Immediately, you know, a couple thoughts that I had during this thing was I would, it would be hard pressed to believe that this was random if it went to Duke Perrington.

[01:36:34] Ka-Ce: Yeah, I, I had a hard time believing that, a, a child would just randomly stop in front of Duke Perrington and hand him whatever the God’s Blessing token thing was. That just seems

[01:36:53] James: Unlikely.

[01:36:54] Ka-Ce: Yeah. So unlikely. (laughs)

[01:36:57] James: it, it, cause it just, it seemed like another way for Perrington to sort of, promote his, uh, standing, right? Like, within the political circles and like, oh, I was chosen by the gods to get this, like, you know? Just, it doesn’t seem likely. And on the same note, though, it seems very unlikely, that, that, um, Celaena would be picked. She’s the only champion at the service, and she gets picked.

[01:37:34] Ka-Ce: Yeah, okay. So first off, why is she the only champion at this service? Why aren’t the other champions there? I mean, you would think that they were all given, you know, good tasteful court clothing and stuff. And I’m assuming there’s guards outside, maybe.

[01:37:58] James: Oh, probably.

[01:37:59] Ka-Ce: But, it [01:38:00] just, yeah, that just bugged me, especially because she saw that some of the champions were at the Samhain festival, so why, why aren’t they here at the service?

[01:38:13] Does that mean they’re all going to be at the masquerade later that night? You know, like, it just, it doesn’t make sense.

[01:38:23] James: Yeah, it seemed questionable. Um, I, I, I did like, and this sort of calls back to, um, the way that, that, uh, Chaol has been interacting with Celaena, right? So he’s gone on his little journey here of learning to trust her. So, they’re both in this church service with regular people and, you know, whatever, whatever.

[01:38:52] And the fact that he fell asleep. Like, I could see her falling asleep during the church service, but he’s the captain of the guard, and she’s an assassin. As he’s quick to point out all the time.

[01:39:09] Ka-Ce: All the time.

[01:39:10] James: And yet he still manages to fall asleep while he’s supposed to be, like, chaperoning her?

[01:39:16] Ka-Ce: That is true. That is a very good point, like yeah, he’s always like, she’s a weapon. She’s a weapon. Can’t take, you know, my eyes off her. She shouldn’t be so close to Nehemia, she shouldn’t be so close to Dorian. And he also promptly falls asleep while she is sitting next to him at church with a bunch of nobles.

[01:39:42] James: like, literally the worst time.

[01:39:45] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[01:39:46] James: So, you know, I, I just felt like that really kind of called out, like he, whether he’s admitting it or not, he is trusting her because if he really thought that she was a threat, he probably wouldn’t be sitting [01:40:00] with her and there are no way in hell he’d be sleeping.

[01:40:03] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[01:40:04] James: Like , just a side sidebar, you know, just, um. And it’s funny, so, so they fall asleep and, you know, Chaol wakes her up because they heard some people, you know, laughing, snickering around them. And I think it’s probably they started laughing, which is what woke him up. he looked around and was like, uh, oh shit. (laughs) Wake up, wake up. You know, like,

[01:40:43] Ka-Ce: I love that he plays it off and he’s like grumpy at her for falling asleep on him. And then she realizes that he was also asleep, and she’s like, dude, what the fuck?

[01:40:56] James: Bitch ass, getting on me. Yeah.

[01:41:02] Ka-Ce: uh uh, I ain’t gonna take this from you when you were doing the same exact thing as me. Mm mm.

[01:41:07] James: Right, yeah. So we go through this whole procession, not procession, uh, ceremony. The priestess is talking about how Yulemas marks the birth of the goddess, and the firstborn son, Lumas, who’s the lord of the gods, and how this brought love into Erilea and then they banished the chaos that came from the gates of the wyrd and then this leads into the procession of the gods which is the young children who are blindfolded and they’re dressed like the gods and they’re, they’re carrying small gifts as symbols and so they stop you know in front of random people for people can’t see me I did air quotes. Um So, Farnor, Far-nor, who’s the god of war, stops in front of Duke Perrington with a silver sword. I, I feel like that is Okay, it [01:42:00] Either they were like, Child, you’re gonna take twelve steps forward and turn to the left, because that’s where Perrington is, and we need to reinforce this idea that he is a protector, god of war, or, you know, strong man, da da Or, there is a more nefarious work thing at work here, right? I don’t know. Um, I’m more inclined to think that he set it up somehow.

[01:42:32] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[01:42:32] James: Cuz it seems like something he would do for his own ego.

[01:42:37] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[01:42:38] James: Um, but at the same time, there is something eating champions, so There could be a entity doing some shiz in the background? I don’t know.

[01:42:51] Ka-Ce: Like, maybe a premonition of what’s to come? Or what is coming

[01:42:55] James: Something, like that. Kind of like, of just, calling out out his, uh, role, I guess, in the future, maybe? I can see it both ways, you know? But, I’m more inclined to lean towards the idea that he, that he did, somehow he did it so that he would appear to be, you know, good political standing and good, you know, like, um,

[01:43:26] Ka-Ce: I can see that.

[01:43:29] James: Now we have Lumas, the god of love, uh, it’s a child clad in wings, basically Cupid, you know, from, from the description. I

[01:43:40] Ka-Ce: I, you know, they mentioned this god, Lumas. Our version of Cupid. I find it interesting that they mention it, but they don’t mention like, who the kid stopped in front of. Like, Why bring it up, if you’re not going to tell us who the kid stopped [01:44:00] in front of or what the little, um,

[01:44:02] James: Oh, right

[01:44:03] Ka-Ce: Gift thing was, you know, like did he did this kid stop in front of Dorian?

[01:44:07] Did this kid stop in front of Kaltain or you know, like Why mention this god other than just to that there are multiple gods?

[01:44:20] James: They didn’t mention any of the other ones.

[01:44:23] Ka-Ce: No, they… they mentioned

[01:44:25] James: Are we assuming there’s only three?

[01:44:26] Ka-Ce: I thought there were more, sounded like there were more children dressed as gods and goddesses.

[01:44:31] Um, And I, I understand doing the God of War for Duke Perrington, you know, we could read this in a multiple of ways. And then, we have the part with Celaena, but like, why mention the God of Love if you’re not gonna mention Something. Yeah.

[01:44:52] James: They shoulda had, they shoulda had had Nehemia in there and thrown the whole thing off, and Celaena could have been like, what the hell? (laughs)

[01:45:02] Uh, . Uh, and then, okay, so then we had Lumas, and then we have Deanna, who is the goddess of the hunt and the maidens. And this is the child that stopped in front of Celaena. Um, in our, uh, world, Deanna means valley. She’s divine. She’s a goddess in English, and she dates back to the 19th century. Um, she also has origins in Hebrew, meaning judgment. And it’s considered a form of the Latin name Diana, which is a name of the Roman goddess of the hunt, the moon and the wild animals. So it’s kind of the same character that we have in our mythology, um, which we’ve seen before with Samhain and Yulemus and, you know, so tie ins from stuff that we know and recognize.

[01:45:55] Um, just kind of a You know, little thing there on the side. [01:46:00] Um, the child is a blonde child with brown eyes flecked with green. Um, Kind of wondering because Celaena is also blonde, You know, was there something there? Or was it just, you know, random? The, and now this is, This is where things get a little more kind of like, What’s going on, because the child touches Celaena’s forehead. And we don’t know if any other people’s foreheads were getting touched. But I can’t imagine a child touching Duke Perrington’s forehead.

[01:46:41] Ka-Ce: Oh, no. He does not seem like the type to allow.

[01:46:44] James: Right? It doesn’t seem So why was there more attention drawn to Celaena’s forehead? Um, and why would the child do that? know, was there some sort of You know, was this something with Elena, our not ghost ghost queen? Was she, like, ushering the child, like, behind the scenes?

[01:47:07] I mean, we’re not ever told. We don’t know. You know, it’s just kind of interesting that this random child, who’s blindfolded, would do this to her in particular.

[01:47:21] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[01:47:22] James: Just Um, and then of course she gets the blessing and she gets a golden arrow as a symbol of, uh, power and good grace. And she gives it to Chaol saying that she supposes that, you know, she’s not allowed to have this.

[01:47:39] And he gives it back to her and says he doesn’t want to test the gods. Um, then she notes that something had changed on his face, but we don’t know what. Was it a look

[01:47:53] Ka-Ce: Left up to speculation.

[01:47:54] James: Like, was it a look of awe? Was it a look of respect? Was it a look of like, [01:48:00] there’s some shiz going on here, and I’m not getting in the middle of it? Like…

[01:48:05] Ka-Ce: Mmm-hmm

[01:48:07] James: Something in his demeanor changed. maybe he was also weirded out by the fact that this, like, kid reached up and was like … ( Touch reaches) touch

[01:48:17] Ka-Ce: You’ve been blessed

[01:48:19] James: Yeah, Touched by the Stars. I

[01:48:23] Ka-Ce: I, I mean, yea cuz they were sitting in the back, in the back pews. And so did the kid just, like, enter and then just stop immediately in front of Celaena? Or do, like, all the kids just kind of wander up and down, blind, and then stop? yeah. So.

[01:48:44] James: I kind of assumed it was like when when I was growing up in church and they would bring the kids in for like the special Christmas offering things and so they would all go to the front and get their little baskets and then they would come out into the, into the crowd. So that was in my head was that they like came in went to the front got their little symbols of whatever and then

[01:49:09] Ka-Ce: And then came back

[01:49:09] James: but if they were all blindfolded from the beginning, then that would be I don’t know cuz

[01:49:15] Ka-Ce: The blindfold part is kind of weird.

[01:49:17] James: Yeah

[01:49:18] Ka-Ce: Like, I would not trust kids with blindfolds and to wonder up and down while holding things

[01:49:26] James: Dude, they probably tell the kids, they’re like, you better do your job, and do your job well, or the king is gonna

[01:49:33] Ka-Ce: Right

[01:49:33] James: And not just you, they’re gonna kill your whole family.

[01:49:38] Ka-Ce: But also, I think this shows a new reflection with Cael and Celaena because I think in the early days Cael would have taken that golden arrow symbol from Celaena because

[01:49:52] James: Oh yeah.

[01:49:53] Ka-Ce: he would have been like, no, you can use this as a weapon, despite if, you know, she was chosen by [01:50:00] the gods for this, during this ceremony or whatever.

[01:50:03] Um, and now he’s like, no, that, that’s yours. You’re good. Like, it once again shows volumes on how much he has changed towards her. Um, and I think too, Celaena in the beginning might have fought him more about keeping it. Um, and the fact that she just was like, Oh, I got this thing. Alright, well here you go because I know you’re not going to allow me to keep it, you know.

[01:50:36] Go on. So, nice development. But yeah, I wish more about this had been expanded. I felt like this scene could’ve and should’ve had more. Like you mentioned with the forehead thing. Was it just Celaena? Or was everybody’s foreheads touched? Why was Duke Perrington chosen? And why did we get this Random god of love and not know stopped in front of it.

[01:51:07] Was it a character? We know or was it just some rando character and we’re just Here’s a side god just to show that there’s multiple gods

[01:51:15] James: I mean, that could’ve literally been it. Just Otherwise it would’ve been like, Perrington, Celaena. Okay.

[01:51:22] Ka-Ce: Right

[01:51:23] James: But yeah, if I was, it would have been nice, like, if Celaena had been like, this child touched my forehead, and she immediately, like, looked around to see if it was happening to anybody else. And then she could be like, none of the other children even, like, they went up, gave their presents, and then they just walked away, or some shit, like,

[01:51:45] Ka-Ce: What’s wrong with my brow? Everybody keeps,

[01:51:48] James: Yeah it would have been just a little bit of extra detail to see was her kid acting weird or was he doing or she doing something that everyone else was doing [01:52:00] just it would have been nice to get a little more reference into what was happening in the entirety of the chapel just you know because I mean that’s me anytime somebody comes up into something weird That I think is weird.

[01:52:14] I’m immediately looking around like am I the one who’s Okay, it is just me okay like You know, but uh, yeah, so

[01:52:30] Ka-Ce: All right. So moving into chapter 38, Philippa comes to Celaena’s rescue and is able to procure Celaena with the most amazing dress and matching mask for the ball. She dolls her up and helps her convince the guards that Dorian is actually waiting for her at the ball. She is escorted and, like in any Disney movie, everyone at the ball stops and watches Celaena descend down the stairs in silence and in awe.

[01:52:56] Dorian is captivated to the point where he is frozen and is jealous that Chaol reaches her first. Chaol and Celaena disappear into the crowd, where he admonishes her. Of course he does. Dorian later comes to her rescue, and they dance the night away in a sweet fairy tale. Nehemia approaches Celaena and gives her her regards before retiring the party early.

[01:53:20] And, once again, Philippa. I love her. She is our queen. She knows what’s up. She, she somehow managed to find the most beautiful dress and mask for Celaena and got her dolled up. And I think Philippa was just living in this moment. Like, I think she just loves dressing Celaena up. Um, I, I love her. I wish, I wish we got more of her.

[01:53:46] Like, I, I would read a whole side story on her.

[01:53:50] James: She’s bro like

[01:53:52] Ka-Ce: yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah, I love [01:54:00] her. And I believe, isn’t this the scene where she is just like, you know, you just, you look so beautiful. You could, you could catch the king or a king, you know, like, or, you know, hint, hint, wink, wink. You could catch the crown Prince and Celaena’s just like, oh my God.

[01:54:17] Stop it. But yeah. You know,

[01:54:19] James: Girl, you right.

[01:54:22] Ka-Ce: Yeah. Um. And are we surprised that Dorian is the first one to recognize Celaena at the top of the stairs, even with her mask on and everything?

[01:54:36] James: No.

[01:54:39] Ka-Ce: No, you’re not surprised?

[01:54:40] James: He has spent so much time looking at her and talking to her. He’s probably memorized every inch of her that he’s seen.

[01:54:48] Ka-Ce: True

[01:54:49] James: he’s like, I know that jawline.

[01:54:51] Ka-Ce: Mmhmm, that’s my girl up there. And he, okay, so, there’s, there’s just this one, like, Little sentence that kind of bugged me, and I have to know your perspective as a man. He’s, he thinks to himself, or feels to himself, however, seeing her made him feel like a man. What does that mean?

[01:55:21] James: It means he felt like a man.

[01:55:25] Ka-Ce: Was there a time, like, when we were in high school and we got dressed up for, you know, like our banquets, or our wedding, or whenever I’ve gotten, like, really fancied up, That you saw me and you were like, I feel like a man.

[01:55:40] James: No. Cuz I don’t actually know what it means.

[01:55:44] Ka-Ce: Okay. So you’re not the only one who was like…

[01:55:47] James: It doesn’t mean anything. Like, no. Okay. I take that back. Hmm. I feel like. I feel like what it means is she came [01:56:00] in and she’s all dolled up and she’s gorgeous and she’s pretty and all the right parts are being accentuated and he looked at her and was like, oh, she make me feel funny.

[01:56:13] Ka-Ce: (laughs) funny?

[01:56:14] James: I feel like a man. And when I say man I mean I want to do manly things.

[01:56:19] Like, not, you know, like that, but. But you know what I mean? Like that though, like, looking at her and it’s like, oh, I want to, like, know her in a manly way. Kind of, you know, woman to man, man to woman.

[01:56:38] Ka-Ce: Hmm.

[01:56:39] James: That’s how I perceive it.

[01:56:41] Ka-Ce: Okay.

[01:56:41] James: That’s how I perceive, I think, that she was trying to get that point across that, you know, he felt, you know, grr, man,

[01:56:51] Ka-Ce: just, I, yeah. I, I love her writing style. It draws you in as a reader. Um, but, like, some of these, like, little things, like that sentence, I was just like…

[01:57:03] James: It, it, feels like it, it feels like she’s trying to find the best way to describe that a normally proper and poised Prince Dorian looked at her and it was basically the cartoon version of the eyes like him looking at her and the properness went away and it was just

[01:57:38] Ka-Ce: That raw feeling

[01:57:39] James: That raw, like, oh, oh,

[01:57:44] Ka-Ce: So when you get dolled up, I’ll feel like a woman

[01:57:48] James: well, mean, I guess, kind of

[01:57:52] Ka-Ce: I, I think I’m going to tell you that the next time we go on a fancy date.

[01:57:55] James: It’s not really, well, I mean, yeah, I guess it is Or if I wear [01:58:00] gray sweatpants

[01:58:00] Ka-Ce: I’ll definitely feel like, a woman you wear your gray sweatpants.

[01:58:06] James: It’s that I think that that is the feeling that, that she was trying to convey, that that all sense of, of proper was out the window for that moment and he was just like, hot damn. I feel like, hmm.

[01:58:28] Ka-Ce: Feelings.

[01:58:29] James: Yea, but…,

[01:58:31] Ka-Ce: I feel feelings

[01:58:31] James: but feelings, below

[01:58:38] Ka-Ce: Moving on.

[01:58:39] James: and if that’s the case, then yes, I have felt that way when you’ve, uh,

[01:58:47] Ka-Ce: Moving on to my second note this chapter. We have this brief scene, you know, Chaol and Celaena have been out together. You know, he’s keeping a watch on her because he’s like freaked out that she’s there. Um, And Nehemia does come up. She’s been sitting by the queen’s side for most of the evening. And she decides to retire early, so she comes up to Chaol and Celaena, gives them her regards.

[01:59:18] And it’s in the common tongue, but her accent is very thick, once again. And Celaena can’t help but feel betrayed by this,

[01:59:26] James: Liar!

[01:59:26] Ka-Ce: Because the last time she saw Nehemia in the library, yeah, like She had no accent when she spoke the common tongue. Nehemia tells him she’s not feeling well. She goes to her room.

[01:59:40] Celaena wants to dance. Celaena wants to party. Like, why wouldn’t she? Chaol is being a wet blanket. Doesn’t dance with her. Even though he says he wants to, he tells her he won’t because Duke Perrington is already mad that she’s there. Um, and if he [02:00:00] wasn’t there, then of course he would dance the night away with her.

[02:00:03] Excuses, excuses. Our prince, does the princely thing, comes to her rescue and whisks her away to dance the night away. And, I just, okay, I have this little theory, because she describes him being like in a pewter tunic and she’s like in silver her dress is you know silver with the crystals and the diamonds and stuff, I happen to think that dorian knew on some level that Celaena was going to try to make it to this party and sneak in and i think he helped Philippa with the dress because Philippa was very tight lipped she would not tell Celaena where she was able to get the dress mask and everything

[02:00:48] James: Yeah, I, I would, I, I would be like, Dorian was probably like, there’s no way in hell she’s missing this one after missing the Samhain one. She’s gonna find a way, so I’ll just help her out a little bit,

[02:01:03] Ka-Ce: Right?

[02:01:05] James: I could see that

[02:01:06] Ka-Ce: and, and to be matchy matchy. Okay. Like the whole matchy matchy couple thing. I feel like that is such a Dorian thing

[02:01:13] James: Yeah, oh totally

[02:01:15] Ka-Ce: I, I have to say, I believe he orchestrated this, like the boy knows what he’s doing. Um, so yeah, I just, I. It was very fairytale, very romantic scene that we get, and it’s the sort of thing that I love, um, and I kind of felt like we needed a little bit of this amidst all the murder and the potential betrayal with the friendship and the wyrdmarks and everything.

[02:01:47] So this was just really cute, really sweet, light chapter.

[02:01:51] James: Well Why is like why is Chaol being kind of like a dick again when he’s like You [02:02:00] You shouldn’t be here. This is duh duh duh and duh duh duh. It’s like, bro, you fell asleep in church with her. This is not a trust issue. You’re He’s mad about something else, but it’s not a trust issue. But that’s what he’s, like, deflecting to.

[02:02:15] Ka-Ce: Mm hmm.

[02:02:16] James: It’s like, no, dude, you clearly And you let her keep the pointy thing. Like, why all of a sudden now do you have a problem with it?

[02:02:28] Ka-Ce: Right? Like, oh she’s such a threat at the party, and there’s not enough guards. They didn’t have guards on every aisle of the chapel and like you said, he fell asleep. Like, she could have wreaked so much havoc during service if she wanted to. And, and now that she’s at the party where you know that there are guards stationed around the party. She’s just as much of a threat. Either way, like, this boy needs to get his shit together.

[02:03:01] James: Unless he’s just extra on edge because Perrington is there and Perrington’s apparently mad about it. Although, I don’t understand why Perrington would be mad about her being there.

[02:03:12] Ka-Ce: Right? Like, why would Perrington care if she was there when she was at the chapel I keep calling it chapel service. You know, she was at the temple service earlier that morning. So either way, she was in public. Nobles and everybody else were seeing her. It would draw more questions if she went to service and then did not come to the party.

[02:03:37] James: Yea, i mean or unless it’s not that he was mad about her being there, but he was mad that she was there and monopolizing Dorian and, and that means that none of the other ladies or Kaltain or anybody could get Dorian’s attention. And that, you know, goes against what, um, they’re trying [02:04:00] to do. I don’t know. It. It could be anything. I wish that there was a little more than just Perrington’s mad that she’s here.

[02:04:10] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[02:04:11] James: but why? I mean, we know,

[02:04:15] Ka-Ce: there’s, oh, go ahead.

[02:04:17] James: I was gonna say, we know he has an issue with her. We got that when she first came in, and he was like, you will respect the king. You know, remember, like, and Dorian came to her rescue.

[02:04:29] Ka-Ce: Yea.

[02:04:29] James: So we know that he’s had an issue with her from day one.

[02:04:33] Ka-Ce: But he’s also had an issue with Prince Dorian, too. They do not get along.

[02:04:38] James: Yeah.

[02:04:40] Ka-Ce: So… I don’t, and Dorian was also at the service. So why would, why would Perrington even care? Like, he could be using this against Dorian to the king and telling the king, like, hey, Your son was dancing the whole night with the assassin.

[02:05:02] James: Right. Fraternizing with, with, uh, the lower class, like,

[02:05:08] Ka-Ce: like, Perrington should have been eating this up. Unless he’s acting mad. Well, like, why would he even act mad to save face? Like, nobody else knows Lillian’s true identity. So, I don’t know. The whole, the whole thing just didn’t make sense on that part.

[02:05:27] James: We just, we needed a little, I feel like we just needed a little extra,

[02:05:31] Ka-Ce: Yea..

[02:05:31] James: Just a little detail to be like, mmmm you know, I don’t know. Maybe it was hard because she didn’t want to reveal too much of Perrington’s, you know, plans. You know, by saying that, oh, he was upset she was there because of blah blah blah, then you’re like, oh, well, you know, da da.

[02:05:50] I don’t know. It…

[02:05:52] Ka-Ce: I feel like we need Throne of Glass 2.0 the adult version. With all of this [02:06:00] extra details and stuff

[02:06:01] James: all the notes and everything, right.

[02:06:03] Ka-Ce: Yea. (laughs)

[02:06:06] James: Yeah, so, I mean Who knows why he’s mad. I can sort of see Chaol’s point of view about not wanting to, especially with his position as being the captain of the guard, and like, I don’t totally hold this against Chaol. I feel like he was sort of put into a not great position because of all this, and of course Dorian is just like carefree and like, haha, I’ll dance with her, and, you know.

[02:06:36] Um. Who knows? Um, so, you know, we, we’ve got, uh, Celaena and Dorian, you know, they’re dancing and, and doing all their stuff. Celaena’s keeping an eye, just, on everything, doing the best that she can. Although, at this point, her track record’s not great. she’s not been super observant about anything. Um. So as we move on into, you know, the next chapter, it’s still focused on them.

[02:07:13] it’s, you know, this is like a Hallmark movie, sort of. With, uh, Crown Prince and the Assassin matching outfits. They’re dancing, forgetting about everybody else. Uh, Celaena is keeping an eye out for monsters, or Nehemia, or something. Chaol is watching before he’s like, Yeah, you know what, I’m over this. Um, but he’s not the only one watching, because several, several courtiers are also watching Celaena, and of course one of them is Kaltain, and she is just … I imagine her, like, sitting there, like, chewing on the napkin, like, know, like, from the cartoons, like, she’s so upset, she’s just like, [02:08:00] Um, because she didn’t get to dance with Dorian.

[02:08:05] Dorian don’t give a shit about her, like, and that’s completely upending her plans. The party winds down, and Celaena, retires from the ball only to find that Dorian has beaten her back to her room. What the hell? And then they get kissy kissy and Dorian leaves. And

[02:08:28] Ka-Ce: So Dorian must know about the servant’s passage wise ’cause how else could he beat her back to her room?

[02:08:34] James: Right?

[02:08:35] Ka-Ce: Le gasp. Dorian is the one behind all the murders.

[02:08:40] James: I mean, I wouldn’t even be mad about it at that point. Like

[02:08:46] Ka-Ce: I mean… just throwing it out there. He’s been getting chummy with Celaena. He knows about El uh, Elena’s necklace. What else does he know?

[02:09:04] James: So, so they’re dancing, right? And, um Everybody’s jealous. I mean, I think everybody’s jealous. Chaol’s jealous. He’s like, screw this, I’m leaving early. Kaltain’s jealous. She’s, you know, to the point of causing herself self harm because she’s so upset. And Dorian is just enjoying every magical moment of this.

[02:09:30] Celaena is also enjoying it. But he notices that she is also, sort of not totally into it, she’s looking around, like she’s looking for someone, and he’s like, okay, like, she’s here, but she’s not here, here with me, like I am here with her. And then he realizes, oh shit, I am the prince, I probably should dance with other people because…

[02:09:58] Ka-Ce: Duty comes [02:10:00] first

[02:10:00] James: going to hear about this later.

[02:10:02] Ka-Ce: Yeah.

[02:10:03] James: Um. And then yeah, Chaol is watching. He’s, you know, not super happy about it. Um, he, he makes the excuse of, you know, Duke Perrington. It’s kind of like an excuse, but a decent reason. But, you know, whatever. and then we have a court, courtier named Otho asks Chaol about, uh, Celaena, parenthesis, Lillian, and says that it looks like Dorian is in love with her.

[02:10:38] And, but Chaol notices that the thought ends there, like it’s one sided, you know, the prince is in love with the person, but this person is, doesn’t seem to be really reciprocating that. Um, And, you know, Dorian is a fool who would have his heart broken. And Chaol kind of seems to take, I don’t know if like, offense to this, or if it hits on a note a little too close to home, but he’s clearly upset by it.

[02:11:13] Because then he’s like, you know what, I’ve had enough of this, I think I’m gonna head out, cause I just don’t want to watch this anymore. And, and, It just, I think we’re seeing Chaol, you know, he’s showing, uh, jealousy and, um, maybe not, like, understanding why.

[02:11:42] Ka-Ce: He doesn’t want to come face to face with his feelings yet. He’s not ready to, I don’t think.

[02:11:48] James: Yeah, so Chaol’s, I think Chaol is jealous without really wanting to accept that he is. Maybe he doesn’t want to admit that [02:12:00] he feels way for her, you know, because she is the assassin and, but he obviously is not enjoying watching Dorian dance with her. And I think that the whole comment about Dorian being in love with her really irked him.

[02:12:18] Ka-Ce: Yeah,

[02:12:18] James: And he was just like, you know what, I gotta get out of here. I don’t, I just can’t. I don’t know why, but I just can’t.

[02:12:27] Ka-Ce: I think it’s the first time, too, we see him choose his feelings over his duty.

[02:12:34] James: As the captain of the guard, he should not have left.

[02:12:37] Ka-Ce: No, as captain of the guard, should not have. Like he should have put his duty first. Or at the very least, turned to one of his guards, ou know, his next right hand man, whoever, and been like, you’re in charge, you know, come get me. I’m taking 15 minutes or something. Um, So, I, I feel like his feelings are starting to get the better of him.

[02:13:03] He’s having to start, he, blah, has to confront his feelings. He has to come to terms with these feelings that he’s having with Celaena and, you know, with his best friend and everything, um, but yeah, you know, up until this point in the book, he has very much been duty first, duty first. And now he’s not. Poor Chaol.

[02:13:31] James: Character growth.

[02:13:34] Ka-Ce: Sometimes growing sucks.

[02:13:37] James: But he’s not the only one who’s having an issue with this. Kaltain is losing her frikkin’ mind. and, and I just you know, she’s watching this, and she’s comparing she’s the grey that Lillian’s wearing to her own dress, right? And she’s got this blue emerald, um, soft brown dress and mask, [02:14:00] you know, um, Nice complimentary colors.

[02:14:05] Jewels. She’s probably bedazzled, you know, like just it was all a gift from Duke Perrington Which we already know that that is just not that is that is going down the wrong path and And I understand why she’s jealous because she is dolled up She’s in her own version of just to the nines And Dorian hasn’t even given her a second glance.

[02:14:30] He probably didn’t even give her a first glance. And she’s like, what the hell else can I do? He will not look at me. And, and the Duke is very clear about what he wants, because she has basically promised it to him, hoping that she was going to be able to get out of it. And she’s seeing that it’s gonna be collection time.

[02:14:59] And he’s, and tonight, he is drunk. And, you know, is she gonna be able to get through kissing him? What if he wants more? Uh, you know, and of course, while this is all going through her head, you know, she’s got a headache that is, starting to grow and throb, right? And, and you already see the seeds here where she’s sitting there thinking, this Lillian chick, she’s gotta go.

[02:15:31] I’ve gotta get rid of her. I don’t know how, but something has to happen because I cannot go this way.

[02:15:44] Ka-Ce: Yeah. And that, that’s a dark path to start down, unfortunately. All over jealousy and all over wanting the crown.

[02:15:56] James: But isn’t that how it usually is? I mean, Um,

[02:15:59] Ka-Ce: I mean, [02:16:00] yeah. I was kind of annoyed with my first read, to be honest, with Kaltain because it just felt like such a trope. of having this other woman who’s vying for the crown and Celaena, of course, is like, yeah, whatever. It’s not why I’m here, you know? I felt like Kaltain is just one of those stereotyped characters.

[02:16:24] Um, but then you read her story later on and, and she develops quite a bit. Um, that’s all I’ll say, but reading it the second time. I can enjoy her character more, and the nuances of this more, but yeah, this whole time, this, the first read I had with her, I was just like, oh my god, there is more to life than trying to get with the prince, and there’s more to life than just being this.

[02:16:52] James: I felt way in the beginning of the book, but by the time I got around here, I was already starting to think that she was being manipulated and that somebody was planting ideas in her head about things that she needed to do that she may not have necessarily wanted to do. But then she became convinced that, you know how you like, you, you do convince yourself when, because she made a deal, that she didn’t want to get into.

[02:17:29] You know, she made a deal with Perrington and that was a bad choice. And then she’s like, now I have to move forward. And so, you know, in the beginning, yeah, I was like, Oh, she’s just one of those court ladies, you know, kind of wrote off her character. But then when she popped back up later and she’s got the headaches and I, and I see her running out of options and I’m like, I think there’s something more going on here with her.

[02:17:54] Like I feel like she’s gotten pushed into a really [02:18:00] bad situation that was maybe, probably not entirely of her own choosing. You know, um, So, um, So we, Lost my thought. So, uh, So it’s the end of the party. All the guests have left. Celaena feels like it’s safe enough for her to leave. Nothing happened. Nehemia never came back. No monsters came in and started tearing people apart. You know, the building didn’t crumble. There was no, you know, nothing. Um, so, This is what I don’t get.

[02:18:44] She slipped away from Dorian.

[02:18:47] Ka-Ce: Mm-hmm

[02:18:48] James: Headed to her rooms, and he got there first. So, so they’re dancing, da da da, and she’s like, Okay, bye. And as soon as she goes out the door, he’s like, like running? Is he like, running through the ball, and then through the hallways? Is he like, waiting at the door, and he’s like, Hey.

[02:19:06] Hi. How you doing? Like,

[02:19:12] Ka-Ce: He has, he has to know about, like, servants passageways or something, like, How else could he have gotten there, before her

[02:19:22] James: she slipped away from him

[02:19:25] Ka-Ce: Yeah, well, he went to get punch or something.

[02:19:28] James: And then he suddenly beat her to her… logistically, I don’t understand how that makes sense.

[02:19:36] Ka-Ce: The boy’s got moves. Okay, but this boy can also slip through her walls without making the hinges make noise.

[02:19:44] James: He’s a ghost,

[02:19:45] Ka-Ce: He’s got powers. Boy is magic in a world full of no magic

[02:19:52] James: so of course, you know, he’s waiting for her, he’s like, why didn’t you say goodbye? Like, why? Why?

[02:19:57] Ka-Ce: See, no, this could play [02:20:00] into, into him being the ultimate bad guy. He keeps sleeping, slipping into her room without the hinges alerting her. He’s made it to her suite, before she did, after the party, like, this boy knows shit about the castle, inside and out.

[02:20:25] James: That’s true. That, I, I actually, if I was Celaena, I would be questioning it at this point. I’d be like, I’m an assassin. How the hell did you get up here before me? And there’s no note that she deviated anywhere. Like, she slipped out and went to her room.

[02:20:43] Ka-Ce: Uh huh. Like, Who better? Because they keep finding the murdered bodies in the hallways, right? And if he knows things, he knows ways. I mean, he even questioned the Eye of Elena necklace.

[02:21:04] James: True.

[02:21:06] Ka-Ce: Ugh. Sorry. Sorry to deviate, but. (laughs).

[02:21:14] James: So, yeah, so, so she goes out and she’s like, okay, and then he’s waiting for her. That’s suspicious.

[02:21:23] Ka-Ce: Mm-hmm

[02:21:24] James: And then he immediately, he’s like, he left without saying goodbye. And she’s, she retorts that she’s impressed he got up there so quickly, but she doesn’t question it. Girl. I’m sorry, I just, I don’t understand why she would not look at that and be like, How. The. Hell. Show me the passage, because I need to remember that.

[02:21:52] Ka-Ce: Right? No, instead she’s like, oh you should try your hand at being an assassin

[02:21:58] James: And then they make out. [02:22:00]

[02:22:03] Ka-Ce: Way to throw the romantic first kiss as, uh, they make out.

[02:22:08] James: Okay, literally the conversation is, You didn’t say bye. Wow, you got up here fast. You should assassin. Like, that’s, uh, you know. Okay. They have their first kiss. Actually, like, their first and only kiss.

[02:22:30] Ka-Ce: They kissed a couple times that night, before he left.

[02:22:35] James: Oh. Okay, fine. So, while they’re kissing, Celaena thinks to herself how things, how different things are between them from when they first met in, met in Endovier and now. And that snaps her back to reality. She should not be kissing the Crown Prince. Um,

[02:22:54] Ka-Ce: Sadness.

[02:22:55] James: So, I, I mean, she remembers kind of, I don’t want to say she remembers her place because that sounds bad, but that is kind of what it is because her place right now is she’s a competitor, she’s an assassin, she’s, you know, she doesn’t have time to be fostering a relationship with the prince because, it can’t go anywhere. the minute if she tried the King’s gonna be like hell no your competitor get get your shit back in there like

[02:23:30] Ka-Ce: Yea. I mean, and the King did warn Dorian too, like don’t be dabbling with this.

[02:23:38] James: Yeah, there’s just you know

[02:23:40] Ka-Ce: Arrrrr. The day that I don’t get that reaction out of you I know you’re divorcing me.

[02:23:51] James: Jaysus.

[02:23:55] So yeah, we know that the king would never Let [02:24:00] this happen. I mean, there is no feasible way for, for this to move forward. And Celaena knows this. Um, you know, but Dorian, he is still very much like, he’s like, I’m in, I’m all in, I’m doing this. I will make it work. I have to make this work because I like her. And she is And she is very much on the opposite side where she is feeling so loved, but also she’s looking at it and knowing that she cannot, you know, she cannot pursue this with him because he is the prince. If he had been any other person, right,

[02:24:55] Ka-Ce: She’d be all in.

[02:24:56] James: But because of who his position she can’t. And she knows she can’t. , and even if she wanted to, yeah, the king would never allow it. Um, And, so then of course we also have Chaol being a creeper. Boy, just can’t let it go. He’s watching from the gardens as Celaena contemplates on the balcony. And even in the dark in the distance, he could see her blush. Which made his heart ache.

[02:25:29] And she didn’t notice him. Not a very good assassin, first of all.

[02:25:35] Second of all, does Bro have eagle eyeballs? Because, how the hell is he seeing her blush? From, freaking, like

[02:25:44] Ka-Ce: Yeah. From far away, and in the dark, no less. Like,

[02:25:50] James: If you were blushing and standing across the living room from me, I don’t think I’d be able to tell.

[02:25:56] Ka-Ce: I think if I drank a lot of soju, [02:26:00] you would be

[02:26:00] James: That’s not the same.

[02:26:02] Ka-Ce: It’s still a blush. It just lights up. Shut up. Screw you. ( laughs)

[02:26:11] James: Anyway.

[02:26:12] Ka-Ce: So, yes, we are getting all of the confusing jealousy feels from Chaol. Dorian, who has made his first move, is making his moves again in chapter 40. Yet again, twice, in one morning, he has managed to enter her room without alerting her with the fucking door hinges.

[02:26:43] James: These are the most useless door hinges known to man.

[02:26:48] Ka-Ce: I don’t think she actually did anything to her hinges at this point because he came in, took her puppers out so the puppers could go do morning business, and then bring the dog back in. And, and it’s the dog who, who licks her face and wakes her up. Anyways, so

[02:27:12] James: And she doesn’t question it!

[02:27:16] Ka-Ce: I don’t care who you are, it could be you, my dear darling husband, whom I love all my heart. If you woke me up, or if you were suddenly just standing over me while I was asleep and you startled me awake, I’d be pissed.

[02:27:32] James: You hear me come into the room, you don’t always remember it, but you almost always stir when I come into the room late at night and you are not an assassin. I

[02:27:43] Ka-Ce: I am not an assassin. But … I mean, I’ve, I’ve had a traumatic childhood, so yes, little, little sounds will wake me up, and like, what the fuck’s going on? Okay, it’s husband. I’m back out. [02:28:00] As it should be.

[02:28:00] James: Right. But yeah, I mean, and I’m, I’m fairly quiet and our, our door does squeak. You know, when you open it and it’s not loud, but it’s enough that you hear it, you know, I mean, and, and that’s just a regular door. That’s not even a big old like heavy wooden thing that she’s probably got in a castle. I just imagine. It’s like, urrrrrr

[02:28:27] Ka-Ce: Exactly! Ugh Anyways, So they do their bicker, banter, flirting, teasing, um, over naming her new pupper and kind of tiptoeing around the fact that they shared a couple kisses the night before, a couple hours before. Dorian is confronted about Celaena’s past, um, when he catches a view of her back and he sees the big main three, whip marks.

[02:29:00] Um, and down in the greenhouse, at the same time, Kaltain’s headaches seem to be related perhaps to Perrington’s black ominous ring. And when his ring pulses, her head pounds. So yeah, there’s something going on there. Perrington tells Kaltain Lady Lilian’s true identity and ropes her into his nefarious plan on getting rid of her at the final duel.

[02:29:28] So, short chapter, but we got some stuff going on. Um, like, we’ve already talked about Dorian coming in and out of her room. Like, like, he owns the place. I mean, he does kind of own the place. He is the crown prince, but still,

[02:29:46] James: Privacy, bro, privacy.

[02:29:48] Ka-Ce: Yes, privacy. I mean, he could have had Philippa or one of the maids come and get the dog while he waited in the hallway.

[02:29:56] But, no, he’s not. He’s doing his [02:30:00] thing. Um,

[02:30:04] I think, uh, the main, the main focus of this chapter, you know, besides the cuteness between our prince and our assassin, is Kaltain and Perrington. You know, she doesn’t want to be in this greenhouse, and who would take somebody on a stroll through the greenhouse? It’s hot and stuffy and gross. Um, But, I think Perrington wanted, wanted an excuse to be alone with her.

[02:30:33] But also didn’t want anyone to interrupt them, so. Greenhouse it is.

[02:30:38] James: Also, I think, as a side thought, I think he also… keeping her uncomfortable cuz that makes it harder for her to focus. Cuz you know when you already feel like crap and then you’re put into a place that is making it worse? Your resilience to, all you’re going to be focused on is like, okay, let’s get this done with because I really would need to just get out of here. So I feel like that might’ve been a ploy too.

[02:31:14] Ka-Ce: Oh, that’s a good catch. Yeah.

[02:31:16] James: He’s smart. Like, I mean, He’s, he’s not like the big baddie. I mean, I don’t, I’m assuming he’s not the big baddie, you know, um, but he’s definitely a baddie, right? He is a villain in this story and, and he’s going to do whatever it takes to exert a power over, over people. And she’s his pawn… Pure and simple.

[02:31:45] Ka-Ce: That’s a, that’s a good point. I didn’t think about that. Um, so, back to this black ring. We have known, we have seen this black ring on Cain. Now we’re seeing it on Perrington. [02:32:00] And, whenever his ring pulses, Kaltain is getting these throbbing headaches in response. Um, so, is Is, is Perrington purposefully giving Keltain these headaches?

[02:32:17] And if he is, why? Like, he kind of already owns her, you know? He’s the one that brought her to court, to the castle. He’s already given her exquisite dresses and jewelry and stuff. Um, so what, why would he need to cause her headaches and discomfort. Um, and is he doing the same thing to Cain?

[02:32:48] James: You know, when, um, when, when I was thinking about this initially, my thought was, yeah, he was using the ring somehow to exert some sort of influence or something, right? But then I kind of was thinking later, my thought was maybe, maybe the ring. As he’s doing the ring, or wearing the ring, it’s not so much that it’s him, uh, purposely, um, trying to put, uh, control over her, but just the fact that there is so much power or something exuding from this ring, and she’s already in such low health that, that, um, Like, literally, the power from the ring is just pulsing out, and because she already feels like crap, she’s just, like,

[02:33:47] Ka-Ce: Being affected

[02:33:48] James: being affected by it.

[02:33:49] So it’s not necessarily him doing it to her on purpose, but because of the opium, and just, she’s [02:34:00] I mean, she’s probably not sleeping, because she’s running out of time with Dorian, right? So she’s probably on her, just, on edge, right? And stressed, and whatever. And so, you know how, like, when you have a headache, and sometimes you just, like, you go outside, or whatever, and the sun, and you’re just like, literally like, Oh, for the love of God, like, It’s just,

[02:34:23] Ka-Ce: Yea

[02:34:24] James: I, I kind of wonder if, if, Yeah, I kinda wonder if it was something like that, where he wasn’t necessarily doing anything, it’s just the fact that he has this artifact that is a powerful artifact in some way, and just that pulsing power

[02:34:42] Ka-Ce: Mmm

[02:34:43] James: Just affected her because she is already so weak and just, you know what I mean? I mean, it could be on purpose, but I kinda get the idea that it’s not, like

[02:34:56] Ka-Ce: It would, It would make sense since it doesn’t seem like Cain has headaches either. He just seems to keep getting bigger and bigger, for some reason.

[02:35:06] James: And losing his mind, His mind, ( laughs)

[02:35:10] Ka-Ce: So Perrington drops that, you know, he also noticed that Dorian was with this Lady Lillian all night and that, you know, she seems to be troublesome. And he goes on further to let Kaltain know that Lady Lillian isn’t who she thinks she is. And he gives her everything. He tells Kaltain that this is Celaena Sardothian.

[02:35:37] The assassin, that she’s been in the mines as a slave. So that was interesting because up until this point, you know, he very much wants Kaltain’s body. He wants things from her. He’s a smart man. He must know that [02:36:00] Kaltain is there because she wants Dorian. She wants anybody in a higher position than Duke Perrington, and you can only go as high as the prince.

[02:36:12] Um, so why almost seemingly try to help Keltain? That was, uh, like what could his motive be? We know that he has no love for Celaena. He does not like Celaena at all. So unless this is like a kill two birds with one stone sort of thing, but,

[02:36:40] James: Yea, when I, when I read this, I immediately, my, my immediate thought was it was a trap, um, not a trap for Lillian, but it was a trap for Kaltain. And, um, when I, when I first read this, I was like, he’s putting all the cards out knowing that she’s in a corner and she will do just about anything to get out of this corner and um, I wasn’t exactly sure where it was going but I pretty much was like, you know, this is he is going to do something to make her do something then she’s going to get blamed for it. I, I pretty much, from this, from this scene, I, I pretty much called, that was my thinking. I was like, she is so screwed. She’s going to go for it. Like, and, and I, and I felt really bad for her because I was like, she is playing into his hand.

[02:37:52] Ka-Ce: So easily.

[02:37:53] James: yeah. This is a classic, you know, shifting. Because now he can wash [02:38:00] his hands of whatever it is that they’re gonna do.

[02:38:03] Ka-Ce: Mmm-hmm

[02:38:03] James: I didn’t do it. The Jealous Lady did it. You know? Like, it’s too easy.

[02:38:11] Ka-Ce: So easy. And I, yeah. He, he, he does. You’re right. He lays it out so perfectly, so easy. He tells her his plan. He wants Kaltain to preside over, um, you know, giving the wine to the final champions before their duel. And all she has to do is just slip a little something something in Celaena’s drink and the rest will be taken care of.

[02:38:37] And Kaltain is like, wait, no. want her gone, but I don’t want her dead. I don’t want to kill her. And, and Perrington is quick to be like, no, no, no, you’re not going to kill her. You’re just going to help incapacitate her. Cain is going to take care of the rest, and Kaltain is still like, wait, bro, no. If Cain can do the rest, why can’t he just do it all?

[02:39:01] James: Yea, right?

[02:39:04] Ka-Ce: Um, but you know, Perrington, he likes his ducks in a row. He likes all his bases covered so he’s like, I need to be in charge of this situation. This is the plan. And of course, like, you know, while she’s struggling with this, because this is It’s a step down a dark path, you know, nobody really likes making those choices.

[02:39:28] It’s a struggle. And she’s like, no, but still Dorian, that’s what I want. Her headaches are getting worse and she’s starting to see like stuff shift in Perrington’s face. Like this isn’t right. This isn’t normal. This is kind of scary. And her instincts are just screaming at her to run away from Perrington.

[02:39:54] To get out of this. And she can’t with the pain and the [02:40:00] confusion and everything. And she ends up agreeing to this deal with Perrington. Despite, you know, her good sense being like, girl, get away.

[02:40:10] James: Yeah. I figured that Perrington must have been, he had to be aware of her issue with the opium, but you know, this actually got a thought that, that I didn’t actually think about until just, just like right now. So when we’re first introduced to her, she’s got all her shit together. Right? Like,

[02:40:37] Ka-Ce: Yeah,

[02:40:37] James: um, but from the beginning of her introduction to right now, her dependency and everything on the pipe and the opium seems to have, like, blown up, like, overnight.

[02:40:53] So, Was this something that she was already doing? Was it something she was introduced to in the castle? Did Perrington give her something to help her at some point? Or, like, why did it get so bad? So fast, like right now, because it seems almost too perfect that she’s caught in this position where all she can think about is that she needs her pipe to alleviate her headaches, and she can’t because Duke Perrington has brought her to this fucking greenhouse.

[02:41:27] Ka-Ce: where it’s hot and and miserable,

[02:41:30] James: and the pulsing and the, and she just, she can’t concentrate and all she wants, she’s just like, I just got to get whatever. This sounds not great, but you’re telling me that I can get with Dorian and I can get the crown. Fine. Fine. She is like literally at her lowest of low weak points.

[02:41:52] And it feels very orchestrated.

[02:41:56] Ka-Ce: definitely.

[02:41:57] James: I just, I didn’t think about before [02:42:00] why her opium thing just seemed to blow up so quick when

[02:42:08] Ka-Ce: I don’t think she had an opium problem beforehand, she seemed very much like…

[02:42:15] James: a proper court lady, right? Like, I mean

[02:42:18] Ka-Ce: And yeah, where did she get the opium from? Like, I don’t think a court healer would have assigned that for headaches. So, was she introduced to that by Perrington? Or by maybe one of the maids or something that Perrington is paying to like

[02:42:38] James: Yea, cuz I…

[02:42:39] Ka-Ce: Keep an eye on.

[02:42:40] James: This addiction literally seems like it comes out of nowhere and quickly takes over Her ability to do anything.

[02:42:50] Ka-Ce: Yea

[02:42:51] James: Just, I don’t know.

[02:42:52] Ka-Ce: I think, I think a Kaltain like, backstory, like, her with her family and then Perrington coming to visit and she’s like, seizing her one and only opportunity and then everything behind the scenes leading up. Ugh, I would kill for that novel or novella.

[02:43:11] James: no, I would actually, I would love to get some backstory on her and I know that there’s more for her coming that, you know, um, which I am looking forward to. Um, but as of right now she’s screwed. And she’s screwed so hard. And, uh, you know, you can’t even really be mad at her about it because she is, she’s, she’s been cornered and she sees no way out.

[02:43:39] And I imagine she looks at it and she’s like, Perrington’s never going to let me go. He’s going to get what he wants from me and then he’s going to continue to get what he wants from me whenever he wants it and I’m never going to be A queen or a lady of power. I’m just gonna be this big bastards play [02:44:00] thing.

[02:44:00] Like, I don’t blame her. I wouldn’t, yeah, so, um, yeah, so she agrees. And, and we’ll find out how that works out later. Uh, so that wraps up chapters 34 through 40. of Throne of Glass for this week’s episode. Next week, we will be going over chapters 41 through 46, and then our final Throne of Glass episode will cover the remaining chapters of 47 through 55.

[02:44:42] Ka-Ce: We will, I just want to interject, after the final episode of Throne of Glass, we will cover two bonus scenes of Throne of Glass, one that supposedly takes place before Throne of Glass and then one that takes place in between Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight So we will link those in our show notes on our final episode for the chapters 47 through 55 So then everybody could read those and then jump back in and we’ll just go over those two short bonus episodes. I didn’t know about those episodes before, when I first read Throne in the Glass.

[02:45:23] And then when I heard about them, I was like, what? There was more to feed my addiction and I didn’t know about this? Why? So,

[02:45:32] James: Fair enough.

[02:45:33] Ka-Ce: ( laughs)

[02:45:34] James: Um, so yeah, so thanks, uh, for joining us this week. And, you know, we know it’s New Year’s Eve, so enjoy. If you don’t listen to us, you know, immediately, hopefully, you don’t have a hangover when you do. If you do, drink, drink lots of water.

[02:45:56] Ka-Ce: No opium. Please no opium your headaches.

[02:45:59] James: No guys, be [02:46:00] smart. Just stick to good old alcohol, okay?

[02:46:03] Um We hope you enjoyed the show, we hope we got you some entertainment, we hope that, you know, this sounded interesting enough that you’ll want to read these books if you haven’t already, or if you’re following along, you know, chapter by chapter, you know, uh, give us your thoughts, you know, leave us some comments if you think, disagree, agree, you got some ideas of your own, we’d love to hear it.

[02:46:29] You can email us, hello@bookscatsandchaos.com or you can leave us, uh, you know, comments on our YouTube, uh, any of the YouTube channels. Uh, we’re also trying to stay on top of everything else. You can comment stuff on Instagram and the threads and TikTok you know, we do our best to try and monitor all of those things so that if there are comments, we can respond.

[02:47:00] As quickly as possible. As, you know, time allows.

[02:47:07] Ka-Ce: As we head out, please don’t forget to give some love over to our friends over at K911 ResQ. Uh, they are a rescue for all the dogs and cats and sometimes even birds and other little critters that no one wants and they often get overlooked. The, you know, senior homeless, handicapped. All of the babies are precious and K911 ResQ does so much to try and help as many as they can.

[02:47:36] Right now they do have, I believe, three dogs that they have taken in as emergencies that they do really need help with. Crescent, um, It was one of the dogs, she had an upper respiratory infection and she has to get that cleared up before she can get spayed. So her bills have kind of racked up. We had another baby, Maddie, I believe Maddie, um, who was very sick, [02:48:00] matted, clearly abused, and then abandoned in a crate.

[02:48:04] Um, and a Good Samaritan contacted our friends at K911 ResQ. They rushed Maddie over, um, So they are now looking. For, uh, fosters and fosters to failure parents, not failure parents. Let’s rework that. What are we called?

[02:48:24] James: Foster failures.

[02:48:25] Ka-Ce: Foster failures.

[02:48:26] James: Not foster to failures. We are foster failures.

[02:48:33] Ka-Ce: So Maddie is looking for either fosters or foster failures. Uh, that is correct, right? Why can’t I say this?

[02:48:44] James: A foster failure household.

[02:48:47] Ka-Ce: Y’all know what I mean.

[02:48:50] Maddie needs a home. Maddie is adorable. Please adopt Maddie. Um, and the third dog is Phoebe. She is one of three chihuahuas that was dumped and she may be pregnant. So she needs ultrasound and some lab work. And these all cost money. Um, So please, please, I know it’s the holiday seasons, I know everybody is strapped, um, even a dollar goes a long way, um, so your donations right now would mean the world to these three fabulous pups.

[02:49:31] Uh, K911 ResQ, um, has links to PayPal, Venmo, Zelle on their website, So if you are looking to adopt, foster, become a foster failure parent like us, um, volunteer, or would like to make a donation, you can just go to their website and we will link that in our show notes.

[02:49:52] James: Sounds good. So, join us again, uh, next week.

[02:49:57] Ka-Ce: In the new year.

[02:49:58] James: In the new year. [02:50:00] And, uh, Yeah. Have a good time, everybody.

[02:50:04] All right. Happy New Years.