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Favorite Bit Character in HFQ (spoilers)

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Re: Favorite Bit Character in HFQ (spoilers)
Post by PeterZ   » Sun Oct 18, 2015 1:02 pm

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Stefyny and her dad know the Truth. She has displayed a determination AND capacity for self sacrifice and live that far exceed the norm. She has developed an attachment to Merlin and Nimue. She has Ninyan, that expert at recruiting determined young ladies, paying attention to her. Stefyny will be playing a larger role in the upcoming stories.

The question is how? I am leaning towards her staying in Corisande. Her and her Father's story can be largely told. Merlin and his seijin friends saved her and her surviving family. Mab was so moved by her courage and the impact she had on the Inquisition that he HAD to act. Even though this story won't be told to just everyone, it can be told to Gahrvai and some on the Regency Council.

That is the sort of example Daivyn needs. The affinity she has with seijin doesn't hurt either. Daivyn would have a remarkable commoner who shared remarkable experiences with God's own champions. That sort of bond is very much like Hektor's experience watching King Haarald die. It fuels the determination to be willing to sacrifice on the behalf of others and to achieve necessary goals. Such attitudes are best learner young.

All in all, Stefyny would be best placed in Corisande for those reasons.
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Re: Favorite Bit Character in HFQ (spoilers)
Post by Expert snuggler   » Sun Oct 18, 2015 3:04 pm

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>She has Ninyan, that expert at recruiting determined young ladies, paying attention to her.

Her first impression of She of Many Names could not have been more favorable. Some kind of lifetime attachment is likely.
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Re: Favorite Bit Character in HFQ (spoilers)
Post by McGuiness   » Sun Oct 18, 2015 5:10 pm

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Expert snuggler wrote:>She has Ninyan, that expert at recruiting determined young ladies, paying attention to her.

Her first impression of She of Many Names could not have been more favorable. Some kind of lifetime attachment is likely.
Yes, that would make a good storyline. But let's not forget that Stefyny is headed for Tellesberg while Aivah lives in Siddarmark, and Siddarmark's spymaster won't move to Charis anytime soon (if ever) since her skills and organization are needed on the mainland.

At best there might be an exchange of letters for a few years, at least until the war is won or Stefyny is old enough to become an initiate and joins the SSK. Geographically though, they simply aren't going to be in personal contact for the next few years.

Stefyny is likely to play some sort of role in the future based on the amount of screen time she got in HFQ, but that's only a guess. I think it's more likely that she'll end up working in the Royal College, where she'll probably spend quite a bit of time almost immediately when her family arrives in Tellesberg. After all, Staynair needs to make sure she has something to do in addition to her schoolwork. ;)

It's also getting a bit late in the series to introduce major characters, and the war will most likely end within the next two years. Stefyny is simply too young to play much of a role in the time remaining - unless the series leaps forward a generation. Then all bets are off.

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Re: Favorite Bit Character in HFQ (spoilers)
Post by pokermind   » Sun Oct 18, 2015 8:08 pm

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IIRC David said there would be another Civil war when the 'Truth' was reviled, and Stefyny should be old enough then.

I agree she was the most compelling character introduced. I wonder if in the possible upcoming second civil war if the COGA devotees will dispute the existence of the concentration camps.

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Re: Favorite Bit Character in HFQ (spoilers)
Post by Expert snuggler   » Mon Oct 19, 2015 1:42 am

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This is such a good board that even the spelling errors are insightful. Yes. The truth is certain to be reviled when it gets disclosed. No matter how carefully the ground gets laid the emotional reaction will be widespread and intense.

It would have been a fascinating experiment to tell Mahafee that the Church was founded on a lie and was twisted from the start.

Who else is a good bit character? The Helm Cleaver agents have backgrounds but did not completely come alive for me the way Stefyny did.
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Re: Favorite Bit Character in HFQ (spoilers)
Post by Kakai   » Mon Oct 19, 2015 4:32 am

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Wasn't Mahafee (you mean Styfyny's father, I remember correctly?) actually told the truth in the cave? IIRC, in the conversation between him and Cave Crew he did mention that his children still consider Merlin to be magic, which I guess implies he knows better.

As for favourite bit character, I think I have two. There's one lieutenant Bryhanson (from one of the scenes where Rychtair's forces are backing off), who won my heart by not whining about heretic weaponry, keeping his head cool and performing an organized retreat - not something we seem to see everyday with Church soldiers. The other would be corporal Graingyr, one of scout snipers clearing up patrols around Five Forks. I think it's the first time we've had a POV of Charisian special forces since... Corisande war? Besides, I liked his comments, and this attitude of his. He seems almost annoyed that the Temple Boys are making his job easier.
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Re: Favorite Bit Character in HFQ (spoilers)
Post by n7axw   » Mon Oct 19, 2015 8:17 am

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Kytheros wrote:
Stefyny and her family are going to the Archbishop's Palace in Tellesburg, where her father will be a woodworker, by way of Manchyr. It's not so much that they need to be hidden, it's more that they need to not mention how they got away and to Manchyr - it is, after all, highly unlikely that they'd be recognized, and even if they were, I suspect it's more likely that their being listed as dead will be attributed to some kind of a clerical error or a deliberate coverup of gross negligence for allowing them to have escaped/been rescued.

Thirsk's family ... that's a tough one. On the one hand, you've got them in the hands of the ICN, ala Irys, Daivyn, and Coris, for their getaway and deliverance to the Empire/friendly territory, and the Church is already claiming Charis took out the galleon they were on - and the sailors that are crewing the ship or ships they take to wherever they wind up staying are probably going to talk, which means rumors of their having escaped will get back to the Inquisition eventually.
I'm not sure keeping their survival secret is really viable for any real length of time. Plus, them being alive when the Church is claiming they were murdered is prime propaganda fodder. On the other hand, once they're openly in Charis (or a friendly/neutral country), Thirsk is probably in serious trouble ... although he already kind of is in trouble anyways, so I'm not sure what practical difference it would make. That might be part of why Merlin is paying Thirsk a visit - giving him a heads up that his family is alive and on their way to safety in Charis (probably the same kind of deal that Irys, Daivyn, and Coris went to Charis, and were under the protection of Archbishop Staynair), and that it's only a matter of time before the Inquisition finds out and openly and actively goes after him.


I agree with this mostly. However people won't recognize Thirsk's family either. It should be simple enough to provide them with false identities.

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Re: Favorite Bit Character in HFQ (spoilers)
Post by evilauthor   » Mon Oct 19, 2015 10:56 am

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n7axw wrote:
I agree with this mostly. However people won't recognize Thirsk's family either. It should be simple enough to provide them with false identities.

Don


Heck, they don't even have Thirsk's name. How many people on Safehold would actually recognize the names of Thirsk's family if they weren't actually looking for them?

They could probably keep their own names and slide right by Inquisition spies as "just another batch of refugees" just because those spies haven't been told to look for them. After all, why should Temple spies in Charis (or Chisholm, or Corisande, or etc etc) know any details about Thirsk's family?
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Re: Favorite Bit Character in HFQ (spoilers)
Post by Starsaber   » Mon Oct 19, 2015 11:17 am

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McGuiness wrote:Stefyny is likely to play some sort of role in the future based on the amount of screen time she got in HFQ, but that's only a guess. I think it's more likely that she'll end up working in the Royal College, where she'll probably spend quite a bit of time almost immediately when her family arrives in Tellesberg. After all, Staynair needs to make sure she has something to do in addition to her schoolwork. ;)

It's also getting a bit late in the series to introduce major characters, and the war will most likely end within the next two years. Stefyny is simply too young to play much of a role in the time remaining - unless the series leaps forward a generation. Then all bets are off.


Maybe a mentor/older sister character for Allanah if/when they skip forward a generation?
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Re: Favorite Bit Character in HFQ (spoilers)
Post by Expert snuggler   » Mon Oct 19, 2015 12:29 pm

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Kakai wrote:Wasn't Mahafee (you mean Styfyny's father, I remember correctly?)


Did I get the name wrong? I was thinking of the concentration camp sergeant Merlin left in charge of a detachment where Mab had just killed all the inquisitors. That was a man whose name will soon be Legion. He can't believe the Church any more, he can't believe his superiors any more, and he is so desperate for an emotional anchor that he dug into his sense of duty even though it was telling him to run *towards* a clearly unstoppable killing machine. The text even said he had nothing left to him except duty.

The truth is at a disadvantage fighting against an entrenched lie. It could catch on among people with a void where they used to have certainty.
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