#weak plot

The characterization is bland at best, and intolerable at worst. Emily is a hollow, unrelatable character who seems to do little more in the plot than disobey Corvo’s directions, climb over rooftops, and get herself into dangerous situations that require Corvo’s rescue to get back out of. Corvo himself is a stressed out worry-wart, who’s most worrying trait in the novel is regretting letting Daud live while they try to figure out who the mysterious man bringing the heretics back is, all while trying to maintain two positions at once. The main antagonist, known only as Zhukov, has some extremely confusing motivation, which is mostly revealed in haphazard, non-linear flashbacks, and almost never outright to his second in command, Galia. His motivations, in addition to being confusing, are extremely misguided. At no point does he actively lash out against those that wronged him, the High Judges of Tyvia. Everything Zhukov does in Dunwall, he could have done right in Tyvia, and it probably would have been a WAY more interesting novel, honestly. Show me all the shit he learned as a Hero of Tyvia, his contacts, his hidey-holes. Give me a Tyvian uprising and then crush it, come ooooon. I find Galia an almost intolerable character, which is a shame, because better written, she could have been incredible. She’s got a short-temper and patience, she’s eager to learn and become stronger, bold, brash, and clearly cut out to be quite the leader in better circumstances. All of these things are not necessarily bad, but she’s written so poorly that it all comes off very childishly.

Her short temper is displayed as she stomps about petulantly, demands things of Zhukov when he tests her patience, sniping at Rinaldo, who only wants to look out for his friend. Her eagerness is power hungry and greedy, taking all she can get as soon as she can, clinging to Zhukov for even the tiniest taste of power. That power is rather like a drug to her, as being in its presence is described as making her feel good. She’s reckless with her powers and on missions, and really comes off as an inferior, off-brand Billie Lurk. It’s almost a relief that she gets killed by Zhukov in the end. (spoiler alert) Back to Zhukov, and Tyvia itself, I can’t help but see a whole lot of parallels to the Soviet Union. I know I’ve joked about it in my tags before, but digging deeper reveals a lot more than I initially saw. Starting with Zhukov’s first appearance at the Golden Cat, he’s described as wearing a “...dark woolen great coat with red epaulets and brass buttons.” (Corroded Man, The, pg 40) Woolen great coats are excellent cold weather garments, but the addition of the epaulets and brass buttons makes this clearly a military type uniform, and Russia is absolutely the first place I think of with that kind of military uniform. However, it really only gets more ridiculous from there. A wide brimmed hat and snow goggles with red lenses “...each nearly as big as the saucer from a fine Morley tea set.” (Corroded Man, The pg 40). As big as a saucer from a tea set? Has Adam Christopher ever SEEN a tea set in his life? Even delicate china tea saucers are HUGE when applied as lenses. Zhukov is walking around with glasses nearly the size of a pair of CDs. With the large collar of his coat pulled up and the equally ridiculous wide brimmed hat, lenses that large are going to be nothing but in his way whenever he turns his head. They’d catch on his hat and collar every time. Speaking of the hat, I don’t think Christopher has ever tried wearing a large hat like that in blustery cold weather. Certainly not in the gales that come “Screaming out of glacier valleys”. Wide hats catch wind and go blowing away, or keep all that cold right on you. They don’t insulate much at all. Yes, it’s supposed to keep the glare of the sun away, but that’s what proper snow goggles are for, you know. (Plus the whole ensemble brings to mind Alucard from Hellsing. Big coat, wide hat, red glasses. Come on, you know you see it too) Questionable fashion choices aside, Zhukov frequently declares himself a “Hero of Tyvia”, and the meaning behind that is revealed, again, in a non-linear flashback. A Hero of Tyvia is someone given the task of peacekeeping in Tyvia, to keep the people happy and unaware of the less than pleasant things in the government. You know what the title Hero of Tyvia sounds a lot like? Hero of the Soviet Union, an extremely prestigious award in the former Soviet Union for heroic deeds in service to the Union, only revokable by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. Funny how Tyvia is ruled by a “quasi-military tribunal”, a council of 16, referred to as the Presidium, and overseen by the three High Judges, one of whom, I shit you not, is called Secretary Kalin. Kalin, Stalin, anyone? How about this? Georgy Zhukov was a real person, and an incredibly successful general in the first and second World Wars, and was known as “the man who never lost a battle.” Georgy Zhukov was awarded, you guessed it, the Hero of the Soviet Union not once, not twice, but FOUR TIMES. He got to be so popular, that eventually Stalin was threatened by him, and demoted him to a regional post to get rid of him. Corroded Zhukov serves as a Hero for twenty years, until he’s convicted (correctly) of treason, and granted “freedom” by, oh yeah, Secretary Kalin. Georgy Zhukov, after Stalin’s death, comes back, but is eventually given the boot for putting the interests of the army before the Party (The Soviet party, for those of you not up on your Soviet Union history).