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[RT][HF] A Practical Guide to Evil: Book 4: Interlude: Queen’s Gambit, Offered
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Author: u/Zayits *
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URL: https://practicalguidetoevil.wordpress.com/2018/09/28/interlude-queens-gambit-offered/
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Score: 60
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Created: 2018-09-28T04:06:50
Post:
Comments:
u/notagiantdolphin [+39] (44 minutes later)
The Tyrant manages to steal the show even when he isn't featured as more than a letter.
u/None [+4] (a day later)
I'm half convinced at this point he's actually totally, 100% serious about this and plans to survive his fated death via the power of friendship. Maybe it'll even let him stop the dead king, because someone has to at this point.
u/notagiantdolphin [+2] (a day later)
Maybe the eternal friendship part is the important bit instead of the surviving part. I mean, the dead king isn't alive and does a pretty good impression of eternal. If he starts talking about 'always being in their hearts' around the hour of his death people should be really worried.
u/sparkc [+28] (2 hours later)
On the one hand, im always excited for a Black POV, but on the other hand the man is continually accruing death flags to the point i spend half the chapter worrying for his life.
u/Zayits [+22] (2 hours later)
u/CeruleanTresses [+4] (13 hours later)
u/cyberdsaiyan [+16] (an hour later)
The Tyrant just wants everyone to be his friend! :(
I have a feeling that Cordelia will let Iserre burn... but what will they gain out of it? The chapter title implies that Cordelia is the one offering the gambit, since Cat is too far away right now and in too deep of a shit to be able to influence things here. Black is pretty weak from enhancing his army continuously... where is the White Knight at? And where'd the Pilgrim go after escaping Callow?
I concur with Grem, I really don't like the shape of this.
u/Zayits [+8] (an hour later)
Regarding heroes - I don't think any of them would be allowed to pursue the Praesi when there's Dead King on the march. The whole reason Black isn't saving up his Aspects for a battle is because this stretch of the war is about armies and strategical objectives, not narrative wrangling.
Is there anyone reading who's good enough at chess to analyze the parallels? We know from the beginning of the chapter that Hasenbach needs for someone to catch up with Black, and that Queen's Gambit is an offering of a pawn for furthered control of the centre, but I don't think Black would actually march to Iserre. His biggest advantage is superior marching speed that lets him avoid serious confrontations.
Still, if the Monday chapter's title isn't "Queen’s Gambit, Accepted", then my guess would be that he'd let Cordelia scorch the earth and would march on Orne instead, so he can dig himself a pass back, but I don't know how that corresponds to the chess theme. Any other ideas?
u/danielparks [+11] (5 hours later)
“Mobility is how they have survived, Your Most Serene Highness,” General Altraste said.
The gambit is that Black will take Iserre, and then they will somehow trap his army.
u/AurelianoTampa [+13] (8 hours later)
“Your Highness,” General Altraste said, “may I be frank?”
"No," Cordelia replied instantly, "you're really more of a Fantasy Spaniard. I'm the Frank."
ba-dum-tss!
There are also known proponents of the extermination of all humans within Imperial borders in the Dominion’s upper ranks, though they remain a loud minority for now.
This struck me as an odd fact about Levantine politics. The Dominion is a Good-aligned human nation, so I'm wondering why they want to exterminate all humans in Praes. Should this have been "all non-humans"? Or are they pushing to literally extinguish Praesi culture down to the last person?
u/Ardvarkeating101 [+4] Father of Learning (9 hours later)
They mention the latter in a previous Cordelia POV
u/xland44 [+10] (9 hours later)
I don't understand. Didn't the entire first portion of this series focus on Black not relying on luck because luck always fails villains eventually? So what's this about rolling the dice?
u/18scsc [+7] (14 hours later)
Rock. Hard place. He needs food to feed his army.
u/MilesSand [+1] (2 days later)
He's repeationg what they said before the final battle to take over callow. Basically, if there's a time for a hero to show up and thwart their efforts, this is where it's going to happen.
u/None [+7] (15 hours later)
I really need to know how the fuck the principate functions, beyond “quite well when offscreen.” The fuck is going on there? (also heroes, but that’s a related and less important point).
u/Nimelennar [+6] (12 hours later)
Daaamn.
Cordelia watched her mother sacrifice whole villages to the ratlings to preserve the rest of the Principality.
No wonder she wouldn't give an inch to Cat, if that's the upbringing she received.
u/None [+4] (6 hours later)
Hopefully Juniper will send Larat. Black really should fey gate out after they burn Iserre, whether or not Cordelia's trap is any good. At that point, mission achieved. Unless Black wants to empower Catherine with a vengeance narrative against a whole country....
u/None [+3] (6 hours later)
The narrative wouldn't even work, since Black raided Procer for weeks.
Like he said, it's a dice roll, and he's probably aware what's happening, which is why he dismissed Grem. If it was new to him, he would consider it, like he did the info about the north.
u/CouteauBleu [+1] We are the Empire. (4 hours later)
I'm not sure I get this chapter.
Cordelia's generals are preparing some sort of trap for Black, but we're not told what the trap is?
u/ProfessorPhi [+8] (8 hours later)
Unspoken plan guarantee
u/Agnoman [+3] (21 hours later)
I don't think this works here. For two primary reasons.
a) Cordelia and her generals aren't named.
b) Clearly they did speak it, we just didn't see it.
With b in particular... you can't say that the Practical Guide web novel that we're reading in the real world is the same thing as the meta-narrative operating within the fictional universe. Clearly they overlap, but the second encompasses the first by necessity.
The gods/the "story" aren't limited to seeing three chapters a week, and they certainly aren't restricted to Cats viewpoint bar the odd interlude (otherwise the universe breaks down and other Named don't really have a narrative).
Not every plan in the universe bar the ones we read benefit from the unspoken gaurentee, or otherwise 99% of plans going on at any moment would have that backing, the vast majority of them conflicting.
Now, what the frame of reference is for the meta-story, I have no earthly idea, but it being us would raise more questions than it would answer.
u/Oaden [+2] (7 hours later)
I think the implied trap is letting Black take the city Iserre then trapping them within it.
And the last part of the chapter seems to suggest black is falling for it. Believing the shoddy defense to be part of the principate inner turmoil
u/Zayits [+1] (4 hours later)
They're going to follow Catherine's example and evacuate everything Black Knight may try to forage. Maybe try to trap him in Iserre.