A Lionett To A Widowgast

like as much as jeva is one of the few things i genuinely ship, i don't think this tragedy makes sense if it's a tragedy just about them. jasper is trying with everything he has to keep eva alive against a force he cannot fight and it is not enough, because this is so much bigger than him. he clocks the end of this tragedy in her way back, and he's doing everything he can, but he's not the one pushing the tragedy wheel forward, so he doesn't really even get the opportunity to stop it

i've seen people take eva's words in the last episode to mean "you are inherently bad for me/you bring out the worst in me", but i don't think that's actually what she was saying?

like. control is eva's primary theme as a character, and it's one that vtm as a system lends itself well to - both in the fact that mind control abilities are so commonplace among kindred, and also that fundamental question of how much control do you have over yourself? eva even as a human, we know she was a hippie, she was addicted to psychedelics, she was a bi woman in the 60s who ran off with her female lover, she has never liked being controlled. even worse because she got turned and then was faced with the existence of maximilian strauss. he wants ultimate control over everyone below him and he's so much more powerful than either eva or katya, so she was stuck in one of the worst and most damaging environments ever, which turned her natural rebellious spirit into someone with a massive trauma response to even the idea of not being in control of herself

(something absolutely fine and not harmful for a vampire to have in any way, she's fine)

and i don't know how many people actually pay that much attention to katya, i haven't seen much content around for her but also i got into this fandom after it finished airing, maybe there was more back in the day. but katya used to be like eva! she wasn't always beholden to the ivory tower. i presume she was embraced into the camarilla (and she's much older than eva, so who knows how long she was stuck there), but she hated the place, she couldn't wait to get out, and her turning eva was part of her rebellion and her escape

and really, that's where the tragedy cycle starts. almost 30 years before jasper was even born

katya can't handle being controlled by strauss, so she runs away with a girl who understands her, who can help her through this terrible situation she lives under. but by doing so, she inadvertently gives strauss control over eva as well. the two try to be free together, and it doesn't work, he finds them, and he hurts one of them to punish both of them, far worse than he ever has before. as far as eva knows, katya is dead because of her, and she's going to carry that with her for the rest of her life. as far as katya is concerned, she brought this all on eva, so she'll take whatever punishment strauss has to give if he just leaves eva alone

decades of strauss' abuse manifests in katya as someone who is too afraid to break the rules anymore. shayne eastin does a magnificent job of playing someone who has so clearly been broken by what she went through, who's an antagonist only because she can't imagine standing against the person who hurt her without him destroying her life and the life of everyone she loves. and eva knows it too, when they do finally meet again at the end of s3, she's horrified by the fact that katya is barely recognisable. it's worse than if katya was dead, because it means someone's been hurting the person she loves for over 40 years to the point that person is almost entirely gone, and she didn't do anything to stop it

eva meanwhile has spent those 40 years in this horrendous yo-yo of fear and desire. the way she lives most of the time is so counter to the eva we know she used to be, but it's simpler. if she doesn't try to be a real person with real feelings, if she doesn't involve anyone else, then she doesn't have to deal with the guilt of her mistakes killing the people she loves. but the part of her that's still human still wants the same things she used to want. that's the part of her that falls in love with jasper

but then because of this life she's lived, isolating herself for over half her time on this planet, so much of her relationship with jasper is haunted by katya! she made the link between the two, by giving him katya's ring (was a part of her hoping she could just rewind time back to then and everything would be fine?), but in doing so she also declares to strauss exactly what jasper is to her, and therefore risks jasper ending up the exact same way. and every time he gets close to falling in that trap she really can't tell whether she's more mad at him or herself

and then we get rodrigo.

eva does not kill people, ever. it's one of the hard rules she made for herself to stay in control, because she's learned in far too many gruesome ways that not having control is unthinkable (she and jasper are very alike in this way, though got there through complete opposite situations). but she's so scared, and so angry, she just learned that strauss knows exactly who jasper is to her and that means he's going to find him and torture him and once jasper has no strength left to resist kill him and it will be because of eva. (she's angry with jasper too, for not running away from it all, for continuing to be exactly who she fell in love with even though it's gonna get him killed)

rodrigo is here, and he's close to death already, and he's one of the people who hurt jasper, who almost took him away from her. she doesn't want to be the person who summons lightning to finish him off, but she does. (technically she doesn't even kill rodrigo, jasper gets there first, but that's not what matters. she was out of control, and she's horrified by it)

and the dominoes start falling. aurora is looking for her brother, looking for who killed him. strauss has moved katya into play to set eva off balance while he's hunting for the secrets of the labyrinth, and it's working. katya wants eva to be safe, but the only way she knows how to do that anymore puts eva more on edge than ever. jasper wants eva to be safe, but he can barely do any better. eva wants strauss dead so she can finally stop being so scared of him ripping up her life again, and she's willing to put her own life on the line repeatedly to do it. better her than anyone else

(she's out of control and she knows it, she knows she's scaring jasper, but she has to protect him from herself, keeping him safe is why she broke her own rules in the first place so it's fine, it's justified, she can solve this problem and he'll be okay)

the worst part is she realises at some point that the best way to get there is through katya. i'd love to know exactly what eva went through over her time undercover, because like. her façade was she broke up with jasper and she hates him now and she got back together with katya instead. a lie she was telling to everyone except jasper - including katya. she spent an unknown amount of time in a fake relationship with the unrecognisable shell of the person she used to love most in the world so she could get close enough to kill their mutual abuser while that person believed they were together again and everything was going to be fine now. we didn't really get time to explore it but how does that fuck someone up?

does she feel guilty every time she has to pretend like katya's still her entire world, because she remembers when that was true? does she miss how katya used to be more than ever? is some part of her still hoping katya can change, can find herself again, that they'd run away together like they always talked about? if she's doing this to save jasper what if she can still save katya, too?

but she can't. because katya is trying to save her, from the mistake she made with rodrigo. katya knows that aurora has identified eva as the person who killed her brother, and nothing will stop aurora from killing eva over it. unless katya kills her first - which she does, at the cost of her own life. for real this time, solidifying the reality that eva tortured herself for decades over

eva's words in the finale read to me as "i've tried in every way i can think of to solve this problem and everything i've done has only made it worse. i am out of control and i don't know how to find my way back to control but i cannot let you die for me"

so she grabs for the only avenue of control that she's sure she has left. (is there an argument to be made that this is more likely to get jasper killed, given his general reckless tendencies and the fact that you're one of the only things he had left to hold onto? sure. but i think in eva's mind it's a chance of him dying if she does this vs a surety if she doesn't)

Plot first, as is tradition. Unlike the Farseer Trilogy, which puts us in the head of Fitz and keeps us there for the whole series, Liveship Traders instead features a fairly large cast of POV characters, and is told through 3rd person instead of 1st. There's a number of plot threads following different groups of characters, but I'll try to do a general sort of summary.

Our initial main plot is regarding the Vestrit family and their newly-awakened liveship, Vivacia. Liveships being magic ships that, after three generations of a family's captains have died on their decks, essentially come to life. They're made of a mysterious substance called wizardwood, which is responsible for this. This wizardwood also allows them to sail safely up the dangerous Rain Wild River, and the families who own liveships tend to become very wealthy as a result of the trade from this.

Without going into too many details, our initial conflict is this: one of our POV characters, Althea Vestrit, has been sailing with her father, Captain Ephron Vestrit, for most of her life, and believes that she should be the one taking over as captain after his death. However, it seems that Ephron made a will, and instead put her asshole of a brother-in-law, Kyle Haven, in charge. Kyle decides that, to try and save the Vestrit family's foundering fortunes, he's going to turn Vivacia into a slave ship. He also drags his own son, Wintrow, along for the voyage as an unwilling passenger, as a liveship requires a family member to be on board for Reasons which we learn later.

So, that sets our main initial POV threads: Althea (along with Brashen) as she tries to prove herself a worthy enough sailor to captain Vivacia, and win her back from Kyle; Wintrow, as he navigates all the chaos that goes down after being dragged aboard Vivacia; and Ronica and Keffria Vestrit, who remain back in Bingtown as we navigate all the happenings there. We also have Captain Kennit, an infamous pirate who dearly wants a liveship of his own, and a few POVs from some serpents, who are undertaking a dangerous journey, only they've lost most of their memories as to how and why they must make it... We also add a few other POVs, such as young Malta Vestrit, a mad, beached liveship named Paragon, and that of a Rain Wilder named Reyn. Yes, I know.

Essentially, there's a lot going on. A lot. It would be both too convoluted and too spoilery to really get into much, which is a shame, because oh my god some of it is good. One of the main themes that floats around all of the various threads is that of identity. What it means to be a Trader, a woman, a liveship, a serpent, a priest, a sailor, a dragon, (all of the above at once?) and so on and so on, all interplaying and interacting and just. Gaaaah. It gets really dark at times, and since we have POVs from pretty much all opposing sides of a given issue, we understand the stakes that everyone has in things and why they do/don't support something and just. Hobb knows how to conflict, essentially.

I apologise if that all sounds rather vague. I suppose, it's a bit hard to talk about an overarching plot, really, because it's more a collection of different character-driven arcs against a backdrop of a slowly-moving world event in which all of these characters arcs play a role in bringing about, wittingly or not - in this case, the return of dragons to the world. So maybe it'll be a bit easier to talk about the characters.

First of all, Malta Vestrit. Holy shit, what an arc. I went from wanting to slap her in every single scene she was in to being probably one of my favourite characters by the end. From a bratty, stupid, spoiled little rich girl to a canny, competent diplomat and negotiator, she's got probably one of the best character development arcs I've read. So many things happen to her, challenge her worldview, force her to adapt and evolve, and we watch her take steps to seize control of her fate, sometimes successfully, sometimes not so much. It's good stuff.

Next up, Kennit. He's one of those characters who I very much enjoy as a character, but absolutely loathe as a person. Like oh my god, this guy is an actual piece of shit. A proper manipulative, grade-A narcissist, who looks down on everyone and everything around him, and thinks nothing of hurting others to make real his grandiose dreams of becoming the Pirate King. And, in a morbidly fascinating twist, we're in his head for much of his machinations, watching as he manipulates people and lovebombs them and drives wedges between them for his own ends and fucking GASLIGHTS THEM TO BUGGERY OH MY GOD. But we also see him from outside perspectives, of the people taken in by his charming mask, and it is both so frustrating and so real because we know what he's really like! An evil prick whose deeds look altruistic by a combination of careful manipulations and pure dumb luck. I kinda want him to be real, so I can punch him in the face. Multiple times. And stick a chopstick in his eye.

He's also one where we'll get very spoilery in discussions from now, because I do have Thoughts about his ending and such. I won't lie, it felt to me like he got off way too easy. And like, I get it, the world doesn't work like that, not everyone gets the punishment or justice they deserve, but still. And yeah, sure, it's certainly not the death he'd have chosen, killed by some random sailor as if he was no one. Even still. Personally, I think what should have happened is he made it into the water and tried to swim for Vivacia, only for Vivacia to juuuuust nudge herself on top of him so he gets trapped under the ship and drowns. Oh, actually, I better talk about the rest of why I want that before I get too carried away.

So, essentially, Kennit has a whooooole lot of shit in his past. This causes him to have some very unsettling thoughts towards Wintrow, kind of projecting his younger self onto him, but also low-key sexually desiring him? But when Wintow's aunt Althea (who looks very much like Wintrow) eventually makes it on board, Kennit decides that she's a much more acceptable outlet for his desires and becomes obsessed, culminating in him raping her. Yeahhh. For added brutality, not only are we in Althea's head as it happens, but we're in Kennit's head as he later brazenly gaslights her into thinking it was all a drug-induced fever dream, and exults in the power he has over shaping her reality. It's, uh. It's a lot, I will not lie. Disturbing stuff.

But, Althea sticks to her story, and tries to appeal to those around her for help, such as Wintrow, and her beloved ship, Vivacia..... only none of them believe her, and take Kennit's side on the issue. Yeah. Yeah. And this is after we've been assured by multiple sources that dragons see rape as an utterly unforgivable offence (and by this point, Vivacia has..... accepted? Subsumed? Merged? Idek, the identity stuff gets crazy. But she's at least partially a dragon at this point, at least in spirit). And like, again, I get it. Rape victims being disbelieved is an all too real fact of life, especially in a setting such as this one. But just. It's brutal, man. The only one who believes her without questions or caveats is Malta. Etta (Kennit's lover) believes that it happened, but chooses instead to blame Althea for it, and while I got hopeful that it pulled the wool off her eyes with regards to Kennit's true nature, she eventually decided that that didn't matter as long as some part of him truly loved her..... which he didn't, but Paragon told her he did because he thought it would make Etta feel better, and just... yeahhhhhhhh.

Wintrow eventually believes that it happened because Etta said she believed it, not because he personally believed Althea. And even once believing it, he makes no attempt to stick up for Althea in any way. Like, I get he was proper sucked in by Kennit's persona and quite invested at that point in the mythos built around the man, but. Still. I kind of got the impression that he didn't really really believe it, per se. Just, he didn't disbelieve Etta's judgement, but rather than making the logical next step to "and therefore Kennit's a dickwad rapist", he just kind of.... held both of these thoughts simultaneously and proceeded as if nothing were amiss. Very limp, even if it's realistic. I'd mostly liked Wintrow up to that point, but the last arc of the book really brought him down imo. A lot of his behaviour just felt off.

And Vivacia. Fucking Vivacia. Like yeah, she and Althea were separated shortly after her awakening, and yeah, she'd merged all her identities into whatever ship-dragon-Vestrit conglomerate she is now, but like. Liveships are aware, at least to an extent, of everything that happens on board them. Even if she couldn't necessarily tell the difference between a drug-induced fever dream/memory of a rape and an actual rape, it just feels very..... I don't know. Like, she was so quick to believe Kennit and dismiss Althea. It's unclear exactly how much of Kennit's thoughts she had access to, or how much of his true personality he could hide from her. But it honestly just came across more like she just didn't want to be wrong about Kennit, and if she had to throw Althea under the bus to achieve that, then so be it. And once again, this is after we've heard several times that rape is considered one of the most evil offences by dragonkind, worthy of the worst punishments. Only.... nothing comes from that. Vivacia just believes Kennit and goes about her day as if it's nbd, with no further thought or examination on the matter. Just. Fuck Vivacia, man. I was mostly fine with her until right then, then she went right to the shit list.

So yeah, now perhaps my desire for how Kennit's ending should have played out will make a bit more sense. Essentially, it gives us a bit of payoff on the whole dragons-hate-rape thing, and also makes Vivacia less of an asshole to Althea, while still leaving enough people ignorant of the truth that Kennit's legacy can otherwise remain unimpeached. Just. It's something, you know? Gaaaaah.

Ah, but that being said. I said Kennit got stabbed by a random sailor, and this is true. But he was ultimately returned to Paragon's decks to die. That's just.... I don't know. I firmly do not believe that Kennit deserved that, but I'm happy to accept that it was more about giving Paragon the ending he deserved than anything concerning Kennit. The whole situation with those two is just... yeah. Very dark, but very fascinating, in a morbid way. It didn't occur to me as I was reading, but someone online pointed out that what Paragon ultimately did was like partially Forging Kennit? Which is like. The implications of that are wild. I must know more, but the trilogy is over. Will it be expanded in the later books? I hope so.

But, on the topic of partial Forging and Paragon, his ending with Althea. Like.... I think I get what they were going for, and there really was not enough page space left to address anything more deeply than that, but. It feels very... off. Again, it may or may not be picked up in future books, I don't know. But yeah.

Similar to Farseer, it probably sounds like a lot of complaining, but also like Farseer, it's because these books are so good. I'm complaining about these bitch-ass people and the decisions they've made, not the book itself, if that makes sense. It really is excellent.

This review is already very long, and there is so much I didn't even touch on. I'll say that, overall I liked the characters, or at least found them interesting to read about.

Also, Amber carving Paragon's figurehead into Fitz made me so ridiculously happy, oh my god.