Lets keep track of Merlins rise through the ranks

Charybdis wrote:Of course given our author's proclivities ...

What would happen if CoGA forces managed to capture our good Major, hmmm? Might be a bit of a dicey accomplishment - no?

The one catch from Merlin's perspective would be that he'd have to be very wary of anyone getting close enough to realize exactly how hard to hurt he truly is - or that he's missing minor things like blood, or a heartbeat. Or at least - he has to be wary of anyone who has realized that living long enough to share that knowledge with others....

Zarz wrote:

Charybdis wrote:Of course given our author's proclivities ...

What would happen if CoGA forces managed to capture our good Major, hmmm? Might be a bit of a dicey accomplishment - no?

The one catch from Merlin's perspective would be that he'd have to be very wary of anyone getting close enough to realize exactly how hard to hurt he truly is - or that he's missing minor things like blood, or a heartbeat. Or at least - he has to be wary of anyone who has realized that living long enough to share that knowledge with others....

We actually saw that situation when he first appeared as Mab. He was shot several times, but he didn't care because he didn't plan on leaving anyone alive. He's worried a time or two of how he'd explain bullets bouncing off of him (which is why he wears his armor all the time!) but a shot to the face would be just a wee bit difficult to explain - and he'd have to grow a new scar of course.

Merlin isn't the only one with this problem. Not only is Cayleb's armor bulletproof, so are his clothes and undies, so unless he's shot in the head, he isn't going to die. He might have a tougher time explaining his survival than Merlin would. We all saw the reaction when Sharley was shot in Corisande and her clothes spread the impact of the bullet so it merely cracked a rib or two rather than killing her. Tongues wagged. They're probably still wagging!

Why Hektor and Irys weren't slipped some antiballistic undies for the wedding without their knowledge is a plot point that I simply didn't understand. Merlin made sure that everyone close to him and important to the Empire had them whether they knew it or not, and that certainly applied to the Royal Family. So I was shocked (or I would have been if the explosion hadn't come up in the snippets) that Hektor's clothing at the wedding had no antiballistic features, and neither did Irys'. It made good copy for the people of Corisande when their princess nursed her mortally wounded husband back to health, and that her love was what pulled him through, but seriously? Yeah, it gave Merlin and Staynair an easy way to introduce both of them to the inner circle and have them accept it - not that Hektor was going to have a problem, but Irys would have struggled to accept the truth. Plus it gave us the tender scene where she'd given up hope and Merlin suddenly appeared. That was good writing...

Merlin and OWL are fallible, as the wedding demonstrated, and even Nahrmahn screwed it up, but to me that was an inconsistency in the plot that made me say "Hey, wait a minute!"

It did allow RFC to weave the plot the way he wanted, it solved a couple of problems quite nicely, and after all, Safehold is his sandbox, he just lets us play in it from time to time.

I'm way off topic, so I'll just point out that everyone in the inner circle who wears antiballistic clothing is faced with the same problem as Merlin if they're hit by bullets or bombs. If too many of them walk away or merely survive, people are going to start wondering...

Of course Merlin could come back as a completely different Seijin if he was damaged so badly that he had to feign his own death. I imagine he'd be really confused as to what he ought to know and what he shouldn't if that happened!

Charybdis wrote:Personally, I don't think you'd want to give him much higher rank and even then at Major he is already at the junior 'Field Rank' level. If Safehold treats ranks like they appear to do, Major through Colonel are Field Ranks capable of leading independent formations on independent tasks in the field. Generally, Majors are still make-learnee level being Executive Officers and the sort.

One of my reasons for desiring Merlin to go no further is that this 'Field Rank' level is where the enemy starts to take notice of an individual officer. Majors have enough seniority and power to carry important orders and information, have instant command of junior officers and the ability to logically request a hearing by 'Flag Rank' level. Thus an intelligent enemy starts to keep track of such and that is what Merlin does not need on top of being an acknowledged Seijin, As a Royal Bodyguard, Captain AND Seijin, it was dangerous if he got noticed for being too fast at getting around. As a Major, it just gets more noticeable and potentially increases chances of 'bad things!'

Of course given our author's proclivities ...

What would happen if CoGA forces managed to capture our good Major, hmmm? Might be a bit of a dicey accomplishment - no?

The problem with this reasoning is that Merlin is ALREADY being noticed. His "only a bodyguard" cover was already becoming threadbare because of all the high level meetings he was participating in, and especially with the "seijin network" now providing intel directly to people who need it.

That's one of the reasons he sent his letter to Clyntahn.

Also, the only way to "capture" Merlin is if either a) he allows it, or b) Merlin is too damaged to escape. The first means he's not really "captured" since he can escape any time he feels like it. The second likely means that Merlin is exposed as obviously NOT human, because we're talking at minimum limbs too damaged to be useful.

evilauthor wrote: <snip>
Also, the only way to "capture" Merlin is if either a) he allows it, or b) Merlin is too damaged to escape. The first means he's not really "captured" since he can escape any time he feels like it. The second likely means that Merlin is exposed as obviously NOT human, because we're talking at minimum limbs too damaged to be useful.

I agree on both counts, although Merlin's incredibly durable construction, includes extra strong "bones." From OAR: "Their [PICA's] skeletal structure duplicated the human skeleton, but, again, was many times stronger..."

I'm not sure if a cannon could damage one of Merlin's limbs sufficiently to make it nonfunctional, although I suppose the possibility does exist. It's doubtful that any of the black powder shells fired by CoGA artillery could blow off one of his appendages, and his nannites enable him to self-repair.

However, if RFC wants Merlin taken prisoner and has to blow off a leg or two to make that possible, it will happen. Of course that would irrevocably reveal Merlin and by extension the entire seijin network as "demons," so I doubt that's in the cards...

McGuiness wrote:However, if RFC wants Merlin taken prisoner and has to blow off a leg or two to make that possible, it will happen. Of course that would irrevocably reveal Merlin and by extension the entire seijin network as "demons," so I doubt that's in the cards...

I think it's more likely that someone on the other side somehow gets ahold of a Fed tech energy weapon to use on Merlin. Possibly from a returned "Archangel"?

McGuiness wrote:

evilauthor wrote: <snip>
Also, the only way to "capture" Merlin is if either a) he allows it, or b) Merlin is too damaged to escape. The first means he's not really "captured" since he can escape any time he feels like it. The second likely means that Merlin is exposed as obviously NOT human, because we're talking at minimum limbs too damaged to be useful.

I agree on both counts, although Merlin's incredibly durable construction, includes extra strong "bones." From OAR: "Their [PICA's] skeletal structure duplicated the human skeleton, but, again, was many times stronger..."

I'm not sure if a cannon could damage one of Merlin's limbs sufficiently to make it nonfunctional, although I suppose the possibility does exist. It's doubtful that any of the black powder shells fired by CoGA artillery could blow off one of his appendages, and his nannites enable him to self-repair.

However, if RFC wants Merlin taken prisoner and has to blow off a leg or two to make that possible, it will happen. Of course that would irrevocably reveal Merlin and by extension the entire seijin network as "demons," so I doubt that's in the cards...

This RFC guy must be a pretty powerful guy in his own right if he decides if and when Merlin gets captured on how he gets away... godlike, even.... (tongue firmly in cheek).

Don

n7axw wrote:This RFC guy must be a pretty powerful guy in his own right if he decides if and when Merlin gets captured on how he gets away... godlike, even.... (tongue firmly in cheek).

Oh, he's more than godlike - he's got Authorial Power!

ok everyone we now have a complete list of Merlins ranks and in which book he gets them so here is the complete list now in the first post:

Lieutenant - OAR
Captain - BSRA
Major - MTaT

FreeTrav wrote:

n7axw wrote:This RFC guy must be a pretty powerful guy in his own right if he decides if and when Merlin gets captured on how he gets away... godlike, even.... (tongue firmly in cheek).

Oh, he's more than godlike - he's got Authorial Power!

Which means he's effectively God.

Hey, Safeholdians! Your God is an asshole! All that suffering? All the slaughter you've been through in the last few years? The destruction of thousands of worlds and an entire human civilization that preceded yours?

All done so God could have a nice story he can make money on!

evilauthor wrote:

McGuiness wrote:However, if RFC wants Merlin taken prisoner and has to blow off a leg or two to make that possible, it will happen. Of course that would irrevocably reveal Merlin and by extension the entire seijin network as "demons," so I doubt that's in the cards...

I think it's more likely that someone on the other side somehow gets ahold of a Fed tech energy weapon to use on Merlin. Possibly from a returned "Archangel"?

I don't think there are any fed tech energy weapons - OAR specifically references 200 assault rifles and 2 million rounds of ammo for them. Granted, a round could be an energy bolt, but I have preferred to think of them as something along the lines of a 5.56 or 7.62 round.