okay, you wanna know something Iāve wanted to break down for a while?? That moment when RenĀ āseesā all of Lupās history. Thatās one heck of a scene to talk about, so Iām just going to break it down line by line.
This is her response: a memory of a flat discāa planeāswallowed by a living storm, a hunger eating it from within. There are seven on the ship, escaping through the reaches of the universe.Ā
Obviously, this is a throwback to the famous Seven Birds speech, which is a little funny to think about considering a similar prophecy is given later in the chapter. The trick here is that Ren canāt learn everything explicitly because looking too deep into the workings of the universe will make her lose her mind and probably die (like Maureen). You can kind of see this restriction apply throughout the rest of the paragraph as I try to make it clear to the reader what is going on while keeping it vague enough that Ren wonāt lose her mind.Ā
All the places theyāve seenā planes of people, planes of flames, planes orbiting each other in a dance, planes of places never to be seen, planes of everything, planes of nothingāand itās too muchāthe picture changes.Ā
You get this little moment here building up the idea that knowing about so many realities will ruin someoneās mind. I remember reading a fan theory somewhere that the reason this information is so damaging is that it was erased by the Voidfish, but I personally like the drama of a Lovecraftian, forbidden knowledge much more.Ā
There are seven, but there are twins. One a philosopher, guarded behind the fabrications of his thoughts. Dressed in red. All in red.Ā
Naturally, this is a reference to Taako. Heās been the common link between Ren and Lup, so heās used as a means to anchor Ren. I refer to him as a philosopher here because that is the part of him Ren understands the most. She doesnāt view Taako mainly as a skilled wizard or transmutation expert, but as a man who thinks deeply about the world.Ā
āFabricationsā was a very purposeful word choice on my part since it not only establishes Renās understanding of all the lies Taako tells himself, but itās related toĀ āfabric,ā which firmly links his idiosyncrasies with his uniform and therefore his role on the Starblaster. This is carried through with the idea of him being dressed in red, andĀ āall in red.ā When someone is in all red, it alludes violence and guilt. Red is the color of blood. Itās anger and hatred. Taako is a part of the Red Robes, and as such is a part of a horrible history of heroes who failed to save the day. And Ren may not understand that last part fully, but she understands that Lup is linking their work to save the universe as a horrible task.Ā
At his side is a woman. Sheās smart, sheās beautiful, sheās dead, sheās alive, sheās dead, sheās fighting, sheās escaping, sheās laughing, and sheās deadā
And finally, we have Lup. If this was a movie, this right here would be a montage of scenes from theĀ Stolen Century. I like the repetition ofĀ āsheās deadā the most since itĀ not only emphasizes the nature of the cycles, but also her later state of undeadness.Ā
sheās in love, and the beat of a passionate heart lies in a man who twists his wedding ring when heās worried, whoās as stuck in a loop as she.Ā
And hereās Barry. His wedding ring is a constant symbol of his longing for Lup, as stated fairly clearly here.
One thing I wanted to do that I feel like I failed at is do a little wordplay betweenĀ āloopā and Lup.ā The cycles are like time loops, but to say that heāsĀ āstuck in a loopā also asks the reader to note that heās stuck the idea of Lup. Now that Iām going back to this paragraph, I think I could have done a lot more with the wordplay, but maybe the way it is now (that is, subtle) works to itās advantage. Thereās nothing worse than a writer smacking you over the head with an obvious literary device.Ā
Sheās living, then sheās dead, then sheās both at onceānothing and everything in a world that makes no sense.Ā
Now Lup is showing that sheās a lich, though the exact concept is somewhat lost on Ren. Saying sheāsĀ ānothing and everythingā not only draws attention to the inherent paradox that being a lich embodies, but also the existential irony of Lupās existence. Sheās so important to Barry and Taako, but as of right now, sheās literally living a questionable existence.Ā
But thereās guilt. The plane of guilt. And war. And life. And freedom. And guilt. And death. And sheās lostātrapped by a metaphor. An allegory, a fitting defeat. Trapped and yearning, but now sheās here, and sheās asking, sheās pleading, sheāsā
And we finally end with her arrival to Faerun and how the Grand Relics affected her. She created a plan that would give her family freedom from the cycles, but in doing so, created so much catastrophe. In a way, being trapped by the umbra staff is a fittingĀ āpunishment.ā She trapped the world with her weapons, and now one of her weapons have imprisoned her.Ā
Of course, as Iām sure I mentioned in my notes for the chapter, the last line is in reference to the motif of the phraseĀ āshe is Lup.ā Her greatest act of rebellion against the world is her very existence. Bu simply being herself, she is a symbol of strength. She endows her husband and brother with the courage to do so much. She is Lup, and that fact within itself is incredible.
And thatās all I have to say about this one scene. Iām sure none of it is nothing new, but it was still pretty fun to go over again. Thanks for asking!
