Posted by u/blueflask71 on August 9th 2022
Hello my adepts and cavaliers in training! It is I, blueflask, lover of the macabre and lover all things lesbian necromancers in space. While I am working on something heavily inspired by the locked tomb series, I am here to provide a discussion on chapters 30-35!
Following last week's precedent, Ortus the First will be referred to as the Saint of Duty or Duty. Ortus, Harrow's cavalier, will be referred to as Ortus. Spoons up!
Who is ready for a jam packed discussion?!
Chapter 30 Perhaps one of my favorite chapters. We know that Harrow is planning to murder Ortus the First. She enlisted the help of Ianthe for the repayment of her arm, who enlisted Augustine. His plan? Get everyone smashed so God couldn’t intervene. We get a lot of expsotion from Harrow’s eyes in this chapter, watching the lyctors toast to the past. We get some talk between Augustine and Mercy about their cavaliers which becomes slightly heated. Mercy says Augustine never liked her cavalier, we get some description of Ortus the first’s Cavalier, Pyrrha. We get some talk about Blood of Eden and the commander who appears to have died. Her name is Wake. We see Ortus the first get uncomfortable, leave. More toast, God makes a your mom joke to Augustine, they talk about who had the hottest cavalier. We get some drunken revelry about Mercy’s cavalaier, Augustine and Mercy kiss and then: Augustine parted from Mercymorn with a noise vaguely like a vacuum hoovering up mincemeat, and—with no crash of unholy thunder, and without the rent of the universe in twain, and without his skin melting from his unworthy bones—he turned and also kissed the Emperor of the Nine Houses.
Which is fun! That was the cue for Harrow to leave, and leave she does!
Chapter 31 Harrow and Ianthe leave and talk for a little while. Ianthe tries to kiss Harrow, Harrow turns her face away and the kiss lands on her jaw, after contemplating returning the kiss or exploding the other woman’s heart in her chest. Harrow tells her that her affections lie buried in the locked tomb, Ianthe wishes her luck and then Harrow is alone. She uses her bodies biological processes to start to burn off the alcohol. She was told Ortus the first would be in the training room. She opens the door and lobs in a bone grenade which just utterly decimates the room. Small issue, the Saint of Duty is not there. Harrow thinks he might be in the Atrium where Cytherea was lain to rest. He isn’t there…nor is Cytherea. What she does find is Ortus the First spear and a lot of blood. She follows the trail of blood to a large room with an incinerator. Ortus lay inside, quite nearly dead. Harrow contemplates what to do, how this was possible. The incinerator rumbles to life and we see Cytherea in the control room, still moving in that leaden limbed way. Harrow watches as the flames turn on and Cytherea walks away. Harrow sees Ortus begin to burn and ponders what to do with his remains before mentally switching and attempting to save him. We get some great necromancy here as Harrow rescues the man. His response once out of the incinerator? That if Harrow used fresh blood wards every night he couldn’t get her, telling her she would be “safe from us”. We get some more odd words from Ortus the First, and we get the feeling he might not be talking to Harrow. He is going to spill some beans but God interrupts. Ortus no longer responds and we get Harrow explaining what she saw to the other lyctors, although how much they believe, Harrow does not know. Ortus the first does not remember saying anything to Harrow after she saved him. We get a little chapter prologue where Augustine seems to have made a deal with Mercy, regarding what though we are none the wiser.
32 Harrow is sent to kill another planet! They haven’t found Cytherea’s body! Mercy ask Harrow to kill the planet by herself. We get a little flashback where God ask Harrow to be locked up with him when the resurrection beast comes, Harrow says now. We get some exposition of Harrow walking through the woods. Harrow makes a construct to carry her through the trees. We get some prime Harrow introspection: “And yet—there, in the alien slather of forest, among the ferns, and fronds, and greenery arching against a skyline that was a more reticent verdancy paling into navy blue—you could almost believe that you had the capacity to be happy again. You were an unfilled hole, but even a hole might be content in its emptiness.” And that’s 32!
33 This is a long one and also one of my favorite chapters. Harrow notices something following her. She simply waits, sure of her ability to handle it. She is startled to realize it’s a woman. And is more startled to find one Camilla Hext staring at her. You know, the one that had her face blown off in Cannan house? I love the lines:
Your voice did not feel like it belonged to you when you said, “I saw your corpse.” “Well,” said Camilla Hect steadily, “don’t tell everyone, or they’ll want to see it too.” Harrow is understandably disconcerted. Remembers she has a letter for Camilla. The dead 6th house cavalier reads the note and it basically says Harrow should help Camilla. Camilla approaches Harrow, notices she has an intracranial hemorrhage (very not good), and Camilla says the reason she is there is to find Harrow. Camilla hands Harrow the contents of a bag, which is a sizable portion of Palamedes skull. We find out that the mad man Sextus attached his soul to his skull so he would become a revenant. Like an absolute bad ass. Harrow says this sint possible, Camilla ask her to give it a shot. Harrow tries to find him in the river and…fails. Oh dear. Harrow resigns herself to give it a serious try, sits down and reverts all her bone and wades into the river…and ends up in a room. And we meet Palamdes Sextus, who has been chilling in this room with one book, no big deal. Just doing the impossible, writing sequels to cheap thrill necromancer books. He hugs Harrow and she blanks. They talk about how what he did is possible, Harrow realizes this room is from Canaan house. He is shocked to learn he has been dead for 8 months, wants to know why Camilla and her haven’t done something sooner. Harrow snaps and tells him that she doesn’t know him, she saw him die, she doesn’t know why she owes him a debt, etc. We get an interesting line from him: ““Tell me you finished the work. You out of everyone could have worked out the end to the beginning I was starting to explicate. Your cavalier, Reverend Daughter—” which is something I think might be worth hanging onto. There is some thunder which shouldn’t be possible, we find out that the mother flipping Sleeper is here! He demands she leave but not before one last request: “That’s enough. Just so I know what to focus on— Can you change that (the skull) into something more useful?” You said arctically, “I am a Lyctor, Palamedes Sextus.” “And I’m so sorry about it,” he said. “Point taken though. Anything that articulates, okay?”
34 Harrow wakes up in a new place, Camilla had moved her body. First thing she notices is a small ship, not from the cohoht. Harrow turns the skull fragment into a a hand. Harrow walks around the ship and finds 3 people inside. And so we learn the fate of some from Canaan. Captain Deuteros, Coronabeth, and not a person but a large poster dressed in…black. With curly red hair. Blood begins to ooze out of Harrow at the sight of this woman. Harrow remembers her letters, the one for the captain says to silence her, kill her if nesceasry, so Harrow does a reasonable thing and fuses the woman’s teeth together. The letter for Coronabeth states she must protect her at all cost, and she may also silent her if needed so second verse same as the first, teeth fusion. Harrow draws the sword, Camilla is disgusted with her poor form. Judas tries to tell her something and after un-fusing we get “warn him, Lyctor! He has been infiltrated, damn it, and I can do nothing! I am a prisoner of war! If you love him, tell the Emperor that the traitor has already” Coronabeth silenced the injured captain and is shunted away. Camilla says they are going, that they aren’t on the same side anymore, and sher evokes the rock, forcing Harrow to let them go. Camilla states that they are working with Blood of Eden.
35 Back in Cannan house. We open with Ortus talking to Abigal about his sword and…calling someone who once wielded it. Harrow is eavesdropping but gets caught. The weather on the first is horrible, snow and bloody ice. They discuss the plan, setting up wards to see if the Sleeper triggers them. Tension is running high, everyone is afraid, not sleeping, she is snappy with Ortus, Ortus is snappy back. They talk some more about Canaan house, and how giant tubes of pulsing goodness are working their way through cracks in the floorboards. Pink, vascular tubes with occasional black stuff floating in. Fun. We find out Dulcinea is doing wonderful, almost 100% healthy. We get some insight from teacher who says they are being punished for what the people in canaan house did in the past. Teacher just kinda goes off here, speaking in riddles, hoping to die. Not the merry little man he once was. The last we hear from him is this line: “It’s coming for you, Reverend Daughter!” said Teacher. “Oh, it’s coming for you—and once it’s got you, once that rock’s rolled away, once that tomb’s levered open, the Emperor of the Nine Houses will never know peace ever again! The King is dead! Long live the King!” Which is ominous. And that’s the end of my part!
Questions We are hearing a lot of discussions of the others Cavalier’s and God seems to have a sore spot about a woman in his past. What do you make of this conversation and this person God is alluding to?
Where is Cytherea hiding? What is her deal? What predictions do you have?
What do you think of Palamedes request? How did Camilla get here?
Who do you think the portrait was? CURLY red hair is an interesting thing for Muir to add.
What was Ortus asking Abigal in 35?
SPOILERS BELIOW
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Reread Questions:
Questions for the reread group How similar was this (the kissing/sex scene) to the episode that eventually spawned Gideon do you think? With what we know about Pyrrha and Ortus/Gideon at the end, does this change anything in this scene?
The dialogue between Augustine and Mercy at the end of 31 is odd, it seems like they are talking about 2 different things, what do you make of this?
Is this our first true interaction with Pyrrha? What do you make of her trying to help Harrow?
Timeline question, we have to assume this happens after this meeting with Hect and CO takes place after the epilogue, yes? How do you think they got away?
From what we know of Nona, do you think Palemedes comes back fully? Do you think they are really working for BoE or are just pretending?
Knowing how all the inhabitants of Canaan house got there, do you think teacher had all 100s of souls pulled out of the river with him?
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END OF SPOILERS
Link to full discussion on Reddit with Comments