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Everyone knows he is going to die and that he hasn't named an heir yet. The servants hide his shaving tools from him because they worry that he will use them to kill himself.

By the way other characters describe him I don't think anyone, and certainly not someone who works for him, would have dared to interfere in his autonomy like this before.

As soon as it becomes clear that he won't be the head of the family for much longer, this position becomes bigger than him. Family members are already trying to curry favor with the presumed heirs. It isn't Menelik's job to govern anymore, it's his job to name an heir.

"'Mother, you're hurt.' Mel searched her mother up and down, her hands hovering just above Ambessa's shoulders"

"'Mother? Are you alright? Kino said you'd been hurt.' Despite their recent trouble, Mel hugged her..."

"She feels a pang of loss. That life is gone now. That body."

"The crowd bays for her blood, for the Shield's blood, the blood if all and any, and she will give it to them because this is what the body is for, this is what she is !"

"For a moment, Ambessa wondered what it would have been like to have an easier life life. A softer one. She couldn't imagine it. A softer body, with children all around her ? Fewer scars and calluses? It wasn’t her."

Ambessa's sense of self is deeply interwoven with her physicality

And I love the way that this was written for multiple reasons:

1. Her focus on her own body isn't just something that is dealt with in these few quotes. It's just most obvious there.

She has a scar on her palm that she touches because it connects her to her grandfather.

She has these very intense training sessions with Rictus to clear her mind.

She focuses on physical pain to avoid difficult emotions.

She views her weapons as an extension if her body.

She chooses physical affection over verbal affirmations time and time again.

2. Ambessa's character design in Arcane got a lot if attention right away. Obviously, a lot of people find her attractive but I kinda like that her attractiveness wasn't a topic at all in the book. For Ambessa the body just is. And the way it is, the way she trained her body to be is part of her identity as a warrior. Almost like a physical reminder of what she is and what she cannot stop being. (I feel like Ambessa would still be considered physically attractive in the book setting and she definitely likes the way she looks too, but while her character in Arcane is mostly praised for her attractiveness (by the fandom), the book engages with her character design in a different way)

I also love Ellen Thomas' delivery of the first and third quote.

When Ambessa watches herself dance, she says the "this is what the body is for" part with wonder in her voice.

Katye and Azizi just tell Ambessa to give Mel more time because she is still very young. The implication being that Mel can still become someone who Ambessa would deem worthy to become her heir. We don't know what they think about Mel becoming Ambessa's heir because they don't talk about it.

Ta'Fik tells Ambessa she has wasted Mel's potential to antagonize her. He tried to have Mel killed ! We also learn what qualities he values in an heir through his daughters. What he says has nothing to do with Mel.

I don't remember there being a single character who says that Mel would make a good heir. This isn't Mel hate btw. Mel and Kino's ideals just aren't generally accepted by the characters in the book. Azizi and Katye both ultimately support Ambessa.

Ta'Fik doesn't in any way, shape or form act like someone who abhors violence. Like at all.

Yeah, the planning definitely wasn't great.

I don't really think that meta explanation is 'required' to make the book and the series work together. The characters feel like themselves for the most part.

I'm also kind of glad that this wasn't planned out well by riot because I'm honestly not the biggest fan of season 2. It wasn’t a bad season, but there were definitely storylines that I didn't find very interesting. So I don't really mind that they didn't influence the book as much or at all.

Ambessa says those words to Mel after her daughter offered to return with her to Noxus. The most common interpretation of that scene and, that quote in particular that I've seen, is that Ambessa hates mages because they have an 'unfair' advantage on the battlefield (or something along those lines) If that were true, her willingness to use magic for her own gain, would, of course, make her a hyprocrite.

I think there is actually a more complex undertanding of honor behind her words. That doesn't necessary make her a better person but certainly a less ignorant one.

Ambessa has followed the Medarda code her entire life. One maxim of said code is: "A Medarda fights with honor"

The first scene we have with Ambessa shows her killing a unarmed prisoner. Not an honerable fight by any means, but I don't think that's what honor means to Ambessa.

"I haven't. Everyone else has just gotten faster. And they're cheating. It's not enough to win-"

"It's how you win. I know."

That's a conversation between Ambessa and her grandfather, which, on first glance, is pretty confusing. At this point in the book it has already been implied that both of those people have sacrificed family members for the sake of victory. What could an honorable fight be to them ?

"Is that when you stopped respecting him? She thought to herself. When he lost the taste for blood?"

This quote is about Ambessa's cousin Ta'Fik who is at war with her. Ta'Fik is very determined to defeat Ambessa and is willing to kill people close to Ambessa (Mel, Kino and her husband Azizi) to get to her. Still, Ambessa believes that he lost his taste for blood (which is obviously a bad thing in this context), because he doesn't lead his own warbands anymore. Instead, he sends his daughter to fight Ambessa.

I think that's something that Ambessa finds dishonorable: leaving the fight to someone else, or even just striking from a safe distance. (Technically, there is also a scene were someone tries to stab Ambessa while she has her back turned. That is also considered a big no-go by multiple people in that scene, but Ambessa herself seems more mad that Ta'Fik sends someone else to kill her)

"You will shed the blood of others, but what of yours-your own-your heart-will you sacrifice ?"

Ambessa is asked that question in her death vision that she has while pregnant with Mel. We know from Arcane and her music video that the answer to that question is yes, Ambessa is very much willing to sacrifice. The lamb she lets go of is a part of her (it's not Mel or Kino) and she has to give it up willingly in order to pass her trial. Even before that, Ambessa is brought up in a way that teaches her that enduring pain makes you strong and that dying in battle is an honerable thing to do.

Here we have a person who believes that you should not play it safe and that an honorable fight is a fight in which you have something to lose too (your life in most cases). That doesn't mean a physical fight has to be even. It just means there's always a (calculated) risk that she is willing to take.

Now, what does that have to do with magic?

First of all, Amnbessa doesn't seem particularly anti-magic in the book.

"She looked above, as if she could see what was to come in the lines of the stars. Some mages were said to do that. She wondered if Rudo could, with his celestial magic, but she decided it was better not to know."

To some degree (and mostly when it comes to Rudo and Mel) I would say that she finds it quite beautiful even, while still not feeling completely comfortable with it (e.g. choosing not to ask Rudo about his magic.) She is very eager for Rell to fight with magic and sees it as a tool for power, but she still wants Rell on the battlefield, fighting according to the Medarda's idea of an honorable fight.

"At least I do it with my own bare hands, my own power-"

"So do we."

This is a conversation between Rudo and Ambessa, where Ambessa expresses disdain for how the black rose works (especially the kidnapping young mages thing). Rudo tells Ambessa that it's no different than what Ambessa does (I assume that was supposed to refer to Rell who Ambessa takes in as a trainee). The interesting part about the quote is that Ambessa doesn't seem to understand magic as part of the mage. I do think that there is a disconnect there and that fighting with your own hands would seem more 'real' to her than fighting with magic, but it's not a general dislike for mages.

"For the sick sense that she was grateful Mel had never shown any inkling of magic, lest she share Rell's fate. For the guilt that she still wished Mel had power, so that she could be greater, so that they could be greater together."

In my opinion, the book did a very good job in tracing everything Ambessa endures back to the black rose in one way or another. She makes her own bad choices that cause her pain, but the black rose is looming over her for the entirety of the book. It explains why she is the way she is in Arcane. It makes sense that she dislikes the black rose for what they did to her and it makes sense for her to hate the way they fight because her character has a very specific idea of what honor is.

A mage who works with illusions and hides in the shadows goes against everything she believes and in Arcane we see Ambessa stick to her beliefs for better or worse, until it kills her. She hates the black rose for a very specific set of reasons and not out of a general fear a inferiority when it comes to mages.

"For the sake of our friendship-" Full stop

I know the soldiers that accompanied him were like

Absolutely diabolical after what happened with Zoya

This scene right there ????? Should have had a hug. Idc of it makes sense from a writing standpoint. There should have been a hug.

1. Their marriage was arranged to strengthen the Medarda clan but we really don't see that happening anywhere else in the book. Kino and Gintara are both around the same age Ambessa was when she married Azizi and there is no talk of them having to marry anyone. It's probably not unheard of in Noxus but it's seems odd that Ambessa of all people would be tasked with the obligation of a political marriage when she was already filling the role of a warleader.

2. They don't need legitimate, biological children to have heirs. So that wouldn't really be a priority either

3. Azizi doesn't encourage Ambessa to follow Menelik's teachings. He isn't fundamentally opposed to them either, but why wouldn't Menelik choose someone for Ambessa who pushes her even more towards the warrior path, instead of someone who wants her safe at home ? Especially if that someone doesn't only influence Ambessa but also the future generation of Medardas.

4. Ambessa believes that one should enjoy the softness that comes between battles. Like most things, that could be something that she was told by her grandfather. I don't think the idea is that you can't take joy in gentle things. You're allowed to enjoy yourself, and laugh and joke but the ultimate goal is something more than that, which can only be achieved through violence and suffering.

5. Ambessa lost her closest friends on that hunt because of a decision she made. She was also just 18 years old. We don't know much about the immediate aftermath except that she gained Menelik's favor with what she did that day. I think the whole emotional dynamic is so intriguing. How would Ambessa react to that? She says that she was more careful with becoming attached to people after that.

Would she train even harder to keep Menelik's favor ? Probably

Would she isolate herself and Menelik didn't like it because she is supposed to be a socialite as well as a soldier ?

"She closed her eyes and sighed, as if, instead of picking up the great weights, a heavy burden had fallen from her." Ambessa was terrifying in that scene. Idk why Smik thought it was a good idea to bring the gauntlets with him. There is exactly one person who wants to actually fight with those things and that person wants to kill him

"If she weren't a Medarda, Ambessa might have felt the first tickle of fear then" Shortly after being shot

"Then she slid her hands into her drakehound gauntlets. The leather grips within made everything feel more certain. She felt more real." She just really loves those weapons man

"We won't drown if you face the sea! Show her you can earn her respect." I just love how unhelpful that was

"He swallowed, as if realizing what she was capable of for the first time - and that he was very alone with someone he believed had already murdered one person who stood in her way. Ambessa allowed her mouth to turn up at one corner, then changed tactics." For someone who felt deeply insulted that people would think she murdered her grandfather, she sure does not mind using that for her own gain

Singing about getting everything she ever wanted while giving up on something that was obviously important to her...

It's such a nice summary of Ambessa's struggle. She wants to be a warrior and a leader. She wants power.

She has also let people into her life that she can't afford to lose.

Thank you so much 🥺

I love writing about Ambessa and sharing what I write has been so much fun as well

It's very encouraging when people give feedback like that