6.3 KiB
Unsong chapter 61: And Ololon Said, Let Us Descend Also, And Let Us Give Ourselves To Death In Ulro Among The Transgressors
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Author: u/Evan_Th Sunshine Regiment*
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Score: 52
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Created: 2017-02-27T04:16:06
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u/None [+16] *
[deleted]
u/Evan_Th [+9] Sunshine Regiment*
Yes... and for that matter, Thamiel could've even prompted his whole placebomancic terror campaign. I hope this's one of the things we'll get an answer to before the end of the story.
u/ActingPower [+11] *
Thamiel calls her plan a hope, a wish. Could the wish part be a reference to the "fervent wish" in the Shem haMephorash? (I had originally thought the "hope" part was, too, but I was misremembering the "joy" line.)
u/696e6372656469626c65 [+20] I think, therefore I am pretentious.*
Because a lot of people in the on-site comments appear to be assuming "BATNA" refers to some sort of in-universe entity, let me just preemptively clear up some potential confusion here as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_alternative_to_a_negotiated_agreement
u/monkyyy0 [+8] *
Why? What exactly could she be asking for that he would give up so easily? The release of several hundred souls form hell?
u/Evan_Th [+7] Sunshine Regiment*
I feel it has to be something more than that. Yes, that in itself would be immense, but Robin and the Comet King were trying for something much, much greater.
u/LeifCarrotson [+3] *
It has to be cheap enough that he would part with it for just one soul and body. But precious enough that she would give everything she has for it. Either there's some mutually agreeable intersection of these seemingly incompatible sets, or they're going to use the plot to take more than he thinks he's giving, or she's getting less than she thinks she is. Sadly, my money is on the third option.
u/wren42 [+2] *
She is trying to get herself into hell to motivate the CC to become despondent enough to be evil so he can also get into hell and use the Name to destroy it.
u/Evan_Th [+7] Sunshine Regiment*
Sorry for short chapter. Story will pick up again next week as we move into final arc. BIG NEWS! I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO IT! (also, I wonder how everything's going to be fixed so fast? And for that matter, just how much is going to be resolved in the final arc?)
u/callmebrotherg [+18] now posting as /u/callmesalticidae*
Twist ending: Unsong is the first installment in a Song of Ice and Fire-length series.
u/wren42 [+13] *
Word count, I'd be fine with that. Real time release cycle, I'd murder someone
u/callmebrotherg [+4] now posting as /u/callmesalticidae*
Hm... There are 344 chapters in ASOIAF. If we posit a hypothetical web serial version of ASOIAF whose first chapter was released in January, with subsequent chapters being released every month without delay, then we'd be getting the first chapter of The Winds of Winter in 2024. What do you want to bet that fans in the Song of Serials and Webfiction universe will still be getting their Winds of Winter fix before the fans in this universe, though?
u/wren42 [+6] *
Sure, but if we started the AOIAF web serial from the publication date of GoT, (assuming one chapter per week being released starting august 96) we'd have started getting TWOW chapters in march of 2003, and the series would have been completed over a decade ago.
u/callmebrotherg [+2] now posting as /u/callmesalticidae*
Oh sure. I was just stacking it that way to make the joke that, even with the slow release schedule, people in that hypothetical timeline would still be getting their fix before the fans in this universe. Different question, but one that I find interesting: Martin could conceivably have written the series faster, at a cost of quality. In order for the final book to have been published today, how much of a drop in quality would you be willing to accept for the whole series? Is a version of the series that is only 90% as good, but complete, better than the series as it stands? How about 80%? (As an author myself, the question seems very pertinent)
u/NoYouTryAnother [+1] *
Looking at A Dance and to a lesser extent A Feast, I don't think Martin is doing much to avoid quality drops.
u/None [+1] *
I'd put it the other way around - Dance is relatively solid (its greatest flaws come from the fact that the climax of the narrative arcs was pushed to book 6), but Feast was a mess (featuring dozens of characters we didn't need to see) with little point to it.
u/ratanon [+5] Holy, holy is the lord of /etc/hosts*
'Fixed'?
The apocalypse began in a cubicle.
u/ZeroNihilist [+4] *
I believe apocalypse actually comes from an ancient Greek word meaning "revelation". That said, even if things do end happily (which is not certain right now) it's entirely possible they'll get way worse before. The Drug Lord striking a deal with the Other King to get names and bring forth Thamiel sort of worse.
u/wren42 [+2] *
The drug lord doesn't like thamiel. Thamiel messes with his ziggurats
u/CeruleanTresses [+7] *
I really want to know what, or who, that second head is. It seems just emphasized enough to be important.
u/sir_pirriplin [+8] *
I think Thamiel has two heads because he represents Duality.
u/Arancaytar [+4] *
What is her plan? Make the comet king desperate enough to go to hell?
u/Takashoru [+1] *
Yes, probably. Ideally also giving him a way of getting to Hell.
u/awesomeideas [+3] Dai stiho, cousin.*
How intelligent is Thamiel?
u/Takashoru [+1] *
Very, but he might not know ALL the variables.