Chosey Chosen Ones Chose Jiff

An interesting thing that got thinking in my head in the regards to the Chosen one in the Fifth Sorceress and other sorts of Chosen Ones.

Tristan kind of Chosen One is the sort where if he's not there the entire world falls apart. The entire world revolves around him and what he has to do. The prophecies all point to him and no one else can do it. Not only that but no matter what he does it'll be correct because he's the Chosen One and Fate has Deemed It So. It takes away a lot of the suspense in the story because you know everything is going to turn out all right. The Chosen One wouldn't be the Chosen One if he didn't save the world, the kingdom, the whatever. And since he is the Chosen One he can't fail because otherwise he wouldn't be the Chosen One. Tristan is the worst sort of Chosen One because the Prophecies say exactly what he's going to do down to the number of weapons he has. They're so exact that they leave no room for error or interpretation. Oh sure he might not know what the prophecies say, but others do and eventually he's supposed to read a book of them that will tell exactly what he's going to do. It's practically a recipe.

The Buffy sort of Chosen One is a bit different. There's a long line of Chosen Ones and it's really a pick of the draw as to who gets to be the Chosen One next. Buffy is also perfectly expendable. There's always someone waiting to take her place (in fact two did show up to take her place). For her being the Chosen One means that she has the abilities needed to go around and kill lots of vampires and other nasty things. How she does it is still up to her and she can still fail. There's no prescribed prophecy that says that Buffy will do such in such. There are prophecies in Buffy but none that actually deal with her. Instead they deal with events outside of her that she has to deal with. That she choses to deal with because she feels that it's her responsibility since no one else can do it.

In Tristan's case he's not choosing to do anything, whatever he does is right. Not only that but he's not doing it because he feels any greater responsibility towards the people. At no point does he ever think "I have to stop them or else the world is doomed" people tell him that but he has no reaction. Instead he has half thoughts about his sister and killing Kludge the man who made him kill his father. It just so happens that this is what he's supposed to do which will end up saving the world. He doesn't chose to, it's just what happens.

Harry Potter is another type of Chosen One. In this case there was a prophecy but it was vague as to who exactly it referred to. Two people, Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter both fit the description of the child in the prophecy however it was Voldemort that made Harry the one in particular that the prophecy talked about. Had he never heard of the prophecy it is likely that he might not have gone after the Potters in the way that he did. Or at least for the specific reason of killing Harry. Harry doesn't even learn about the prophecy until book five. He just thwarts Voldemort, like Buffy, because it's the right thing to do. And when he does learn what the prophecy contains, Dumbledore says that he would probably be doing the same prophecy or not, again because it's the right thing to do and it would make his parents proud.

Chosen Ones can in some cases refer to the ones who bring about change, the best example of this is Darth Vader. He was the Chosen One because he was to bring about a balance in the Force. The way he did that was to become evil and kill all the Jedi, thus making the light no more powerful than the dark. Finally at the end of his life he again balances out the Force by returning to the Light and destroying the Dark. No Jedi thought that it would mean the end of the Order as they knew it because the Chosen One makes it sound like he's supposed to do good, but in this case it's not the politics that he is involved in but in the larger galactic balance that he has been chosen to deal with. These sorts can be good or evil. In Vader's case he ended up being evil. In other cases, where evil is overwhelming the good, the Chosen One may a more traditional hero.

I believe the last sort of Chosen One is the sort that isn't chosen at all. They do what they do because it's what they believe that needs to be done but there's nothing out there that speaks of a person who is supposed to do what they do. Later stories may point to them as being the Chosen One, but as far as they are concerned they are doing what needs to be done. Other people in theory could do the same thing, but its them that choses to do it.

Impossible Biology

If we remember correctly, earlier on Earwig said that there was no Afterlife but instead it was just something that came into common usage when the People heard it from the wizards. Upon learning this, Triscuit had no emotional response to this beyond, "huh". His beliefs were not challenged because he has none. And even though he knows that there is no "Afterlife" he continues to believe in it as evidenced by the beginning of this next chapter.

He believes that he has died and is in the Afterlife. There are naked people and he finds this odd. He wants to find his parents and apologize for not protecting them better the day that the winged monsters came. Why does he think winged monsters? Why not Minions? We know that they're winged monsters and he doesn't think of them as winged monsters but instead as Minions. By saying "The day that the winged monsters came" Newcomb is trying to be dramatic and thoughtful instead of keeping in Triscuit's voice... what little voice he has.

And then he wakes up and is lying naked in the grass. Dwarf apparently saved him. And now I'm just realizing something. Dwarf has to carry around a heavy chain with him wherever he goes, so how was he able to swim through the poo water without drowning? Triscuit gets dressed and gets on a horse. The horse isn't as good as Pilgrim and "he longed for his own horse to be under him."

That really sounds dirty to me. I don't know about anyone else, but it does to me.

So, they're riding, they're riding, they're riding. When we see people they're sad and oppressed because they live in the land of the Evil Sorceresses. Which is silly because I don't think that most of the people will have much contact with them or their Minions. I mean yes in theory they're oppressed but that shouldn't really effect their day to day lives when they're so far away from the Coven.

They ride some more and then Dwarf takes them on a detour. See there are really large birds that like to eat people circling around and Dwarf wants to avoid them. They're circling over a valley used by the Minons. Triscuit's blood starts talking to him again and tells him that he needs to go see this place.

Logically, Earwig says that they can't do it, they have a mission. You know, time crunch and all that saving the world shit. Triscuit tells Earwig that he understands but his personal desires are more important than saving the world. Earwig's response to this?

"In truth, I cannot control him right now," the old one said. "Because of the nature of his blood, he is partially under the influences of things he will not be able to control until he reads the Tome.

Basically, Triscuit doesn't have to take any responsibility for anything he does because it's not his fault. He's not in control of his blood. And he won't be until he reads the book, so it's not really his fault. The blood made him do it. Which is even worse of a thing than just him being the Chosen One. He doesn't chose to do anything. He's not in control and doesn't make any real choices he just does whatever his blood tells him to do and he can't control it at all. What's the point of having a Chosen One if he doesn't take responsibility for his actions?

In the Valley of the Minions we see the Minions being evil.

Straining his eyes, he could see that the bodies had been literally woven in and out between the spokes of the wheels and simply allowed to turn there in the wind, exposed to the elements until they were dead. At first his mind rejected the sheer physical impossibility of such a thing until, looking more carefully, he could see how it had been done. Each of the men's arms, legs, back and neck had been broken. In many cases jagged, white splinters of bones could be seen erupting through the victim's skin.

There is also a girl with wings on a wheel, but not broken, just tied on. She and the others were born of the Minions (one out of every five thousand children is born blond with white wings) and they're kept alive -raised in disgrace- until they're twenty five. If they change wings and hair color they become Minions, if not they get to hang out on the Wheels of Torment. Apparently they are very loving... which is also an inferior trait. Which means that the Minions are incapable of loving. How do you breed out an emotional response? I mean just because you're able to love doesn't mean that you can't do evil things. But things don't work like that in Newcomb land. The angelic looking Minions are called Gallipolai.

Why do the rejects get a better name than the Minions?

Also, apparently getting your arms, legs, neck and back broken before getting threaded through the spokes of a wheel isn't enough to kill the Gallipolai because they're left there to die. And apparently they seldom survive for more than three days. I'm surprised they last more than an hour with all the blood loss, the bone breaking and the threading through the wheels. But what do I know?

Triscuit learns that two Minions keep watch and he runs off to kill them. Yay.

Happy New Year people!