## [RT][HF] A Practical Guide to Evil: Book 4: Chapter 7: Snares * Author: u/Yes_This_Is_God * * URL: https://practicalguidetoevil.wordpress.com/2018/04/27/chapter-7-snares/ * Score: 70 * Created: 2018-04-27T04:09:05 ### Post: [Link to content](https://practicalguidetoevil.wordpress.com/2018/04/27/chapter-7-snares/) ### Comments: > **u/haiku_fornification** [+26] (3 hours later) > > The possible redemption arc is strong in this one. Let's see, we have: > > 1. The status quo. Cat has some Good in her as she offers the infiltrating Heroes amnesty but in the end goes back to her Evil ways. > 1. She talks with Cordelia, shows honest regret and remorse. Wants to resolve the upcoming conflict peacefully. > 1. Her officers present mostly Evil, unsavory and easy solutions. She isn't tempted and rejects them all. > 1. She meets an old Hero who's big on mentorship. > > I doubt Cat will truly become a Hero but the story has a shape that's ripe for being abused. If during a pitched battle she was to proclaim being a Hero, would Grey Pilgrim be forced to step in and save her? This is especially important if you take her Fae nature into consideration. >> **u/Rheklr** [+13] (7 hours later) >> >> Squire is technically a neutral transition name, so there's definitely room for her to play at becoming a hero. However, what we need to remember is that good is not necessarily Good. While Cat may be doing good things, the absoluteness of Good means she wouldn't be classified with them for even the slightest deviation, of which there are many. I think the Woe would work against her - Masego is undoubtedly a villain I suspect no hero has ever been part of a group with a villain. And having the soul of your enemy sown into your mantle isn't great either, nor is having a villainous mentor or being under the Dread Empress, and especially not having sung The Girl Who Climbed the Tower. >> >> While she does care for peace I don't believe she cares about the lives of non-Callowans beyond not becoming a terrible villain that must be put down sooner rather than later. She didn't reject Headsman out of ethical but political reasons. >> >> Now, while the Grey Pilgrim is Good I don't believe that is a fanatical devotion to the cause. He's sent legions of Heroes to their deaths, young children many of them, and I suspect that he may be looking for a way out. He has an incredible amount of weight behind his story, and I believe he may try and push it behind Cat in order to escape. >> >> In Cat's personal story that'd be a nice symmetry, as then both the Grey Pilgrim and the Black Knight would be trying to escape the bounds of their stories. >>> **u/None** [+13] (11 hours later) >>> >>> there is some precedent, the Yan tei Empire is leaded by a Hero-Villain couple, so it can be done. >>> >>> but yeah I would love the grey pilgrim being Cat second mentor, she have learned the evil side, learning from the good side, could add tons of weight to her story and therfore her name. >>>> **u/Rheklr** [+1] (12 hours later) >>>> >>>> Well that's interesting. That certainly makes a hero play more viable within the story. >>>> >>>> I'd love to see the Grey Pilgrim proposition Cat, but it wouldn't be before the crusade is over that she might be free to learn from him - and if she did, what could be even teach her? >>>>> **u/None** [+3] (a day later) >>>>> >>>>> first, how to get her humanity back would be a nice, even better if her human side can domesticate her fae side. >>> **u/PrettyDecentSort** [+6] (13 hours later) >>> >>> > Squire is technically a neutral transition name >>> >>> I'm not at all confident that that Name is relevant to the current state of affairs. >>>> **u/Rheklr** [+1] (14 hours later) >>>> >>>> Neither am I, but I think the transition part is still valid. >>> **u/None** [+1] (a day later) >>> >>> [deleted] >>>> **u/AweKartik777** [+1] (3 days later) >>>> >>>> You're confusing the general hero/villain/good/evil thing with capital Good and Evil of this story. Good is pretty much following the God's plans for you and is related to "order", while Evil is more related to "chaos" and to having high ambitions and carving out your own path. Even Good Names in this story can be "evil" morally, or the other way around like Cat tries to be (Evil but good). >> **u/WalterTFD** [+10] (13 hours later) >> >> I think it is very important to remember that Winter/Summer got 'out' of their story by marrying. If we buy the notion that Arcadia mirrors the real world, then a Good/Evil alliance to end the cycle is at least possible. Whether that is Cat/Grey or not... >> **u/mojojo46** [+9] (13 hours later) >> >> One can't help noticing that the *Grey* Pilgrim has appeared, holding a role as some sort of super mentor to young named. >> **u/None** [+1] (11 hours later) >> >> I have alwasy said that to do evil the rigth way, cat does not need to be evil, she have aways being about doing the lesser evil, but that have took her a downhill allay since her mentors are totally evil, what would happen if she did the same but coming from a Good background, Balance is was cat need, the ability to be on both sides and do what is needed be it good and bad without having her name and her story going against it. >> **u/HPMOR_fan** [+1] (2 days later) >> >> > would Grey Pilgrim be forced to step in and save her? This is especially important if you take her Fae nature into consideration. >> >> Why is the Fae nature important here? > **u/Zayits** [+13] (43 minutes later) > > > If Judgement or Mercy gets involved, this will be a whole lot nastier. > > Judgement seems to be focused on the Vales chokepoint, so can we hope this is foreshadowing to us finding out what Mercy is all about? > > > “Talk with Kegan,” I finally said. “She was never eager, and it’s not a given she’ll still be willing. There’s risks involved for her people. If she agrees, though, start laying the groundwork. But we’re not going through with it until I give the word.” > > Hm. Given the mention of asassinating the officers, I assume the "Headsman" plan is just Watch targeting the officers on the opposing side. The consequences implied are mostly political, then, or there's some unrevealed as of yet trump card on her side. > > > A few thousand horse wasn’t going to worry Black in the slightest, considering the kind of forces he had at hand. > > And at last we confirm that Black has more than just three veteran legions with him. Given that Catherine made no mention of the wights so far, they may have been sent to the Red Flower Vales. > > > “Then your friends in Arcadia will not be joining us?” he politely asked. > > So they have a way to tell whether somebody is following through Arcadia and where they can emerge. That may explain both the trap in Harrow and the pass: the band that large is bound to have a decent mage Named. They could intercept the army before it left Arcadia and ride the narrative until casualties would be high enough for Catherine to call a retreat. >> **u/WalterTFD** [+11] (an hour later) >> >> I think 'Headsman' is something like having the Watch pretend to join the crusade, then assassinate the leadership from within. >> **u/melmonella** [+11] *Tremble, o ye mighty, for a new age is upon you* (an hour later) >> >> Or he bluffed relying on Catherine being known to be capable of using Arcadia for troop transportation. He didn't actually volunteer any information besides "I think you may have some forces in Arcadia atm" which would have been a safe bet pretty much regardless of anything. She wouldn't have come to the meeting without backup and there isn't much else where they would be hiding. If he would have guessed wrong he wouldn't have lost much, and if he guessed right he would appear to know more than he really does which is beneficial in a conversation. >>> **u/LordGoldenroot** [+8] (3 hours later) >>> >>> He could also have been referring to the hunt. > **u/None** [+6] (55 minutes later) > > Such a cliffhanger, can't wait for Gandalf speach > **u/Ardvarkeating101** [+8] *Father of Learning* (24 minutes later) > > I'm just going to say it. > > You cockteasing bitch! You can't just leave that until Sunday!!!! ---