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In the comments to an earlier Q&A post you mentioned that we might see Gillian, the witch from the Marlowe shorts again, and that her story is... unusual. I know you don't do spoilers but can you give more hints about this?
No, but she'll pop up. Anything more would spoil it.
Well that's certainly vague! And I really love Marsden. Caleb can annoy me.
Sarah ♥ Vutch forever ♥ wrote: "No, but she'll pop up. Anything more would spoil it."I'm thinking it must be the circumstances where Gillian is going to 'pop up' that must give away too much.
Gillian could easily appear in a Cassie book. I've already speculated she might be in Faerie, but it could be that Cassie will travel back in time and meet her. Though I don't know how that would make Gillian's story 'unusual'. Meeting a Pythia probably isn't an every day event, but I don't know that I'd say it made someone's life story unusual either. Maybe Cassie is under attack in the past and she grabs Gillian and shifts to present time and Gillian ends up stuck in the future. That would allow her to be still alive and it wouldn't be the first time Cassie changed history either.
Actually, here's something I've wondered about that we've never really discussed much in this group. At the start of Curse the Dawn when Cassie goes back to meet Agnes to beg for training, they talk about The Guild who are a group of mages who have the ability to time-travel. We've tended to focus on the fact that the Guild member in that scene was Cassie's father, but never really talked much about the Guild itself. They get mentioned in Hunt the Moon too. KC's never really said too much about them, but it's that Chekhov's Gun thing. I keep thinking that they may yet become significant. That scene in Curse the Dawn must be right around the same time as Gillian meets Marlowe (OK, give or take a few years) but it's definitely her era. I wonder if these events all somehow tie in.
That's a really good question. That could be interesting. Ugh, I really need to find time to read the Cassie books again.I would think that time traveling mages should become significant to the storyline at some point. Especially since the Pythia is the only one that can deal with them and it seems they like to cause trouble.
We can do a big re-read before Tempt the Stars comes out! :)I just don't know what's going on with The Guild. They've cropped up a couple of times and that makes me suspicious! (Also, remember KC said there were Easter Eggs in the books that the fans hadn't picked up on yet. Maybe this is one of them.) I need to try and reread the relevant passages and see if I can concoct a new Crackpot Theory (#864) out of this!! :D
*cackles gleefully*
Lol @ #864It makes me suspicious, too. They have to be around doing something. The war would make a nice distraction for them.
Yup, those guys gave me the creeps with their ideas of dictating how people should live. I could easily see them working with the Black Circle, for instance.
I wouldn't put it past them to do that.
If the Guild is going to feature in the Cassie book, I can't imagine that they'd show up soon. Right now Cassie's story is focusing on Ragnarok and saving Pritkin.
Okay, I gotta reread the short stories...I'm missin' sumpin'
I don't think the Guild have actually been mentioned in any of the shorts Kathy. I'm just speculating wildly to confuse the hell out of everyone!I will research this and write up my Grand Unified Theory of Everything tomorrow. Maybe.
deleted to to comply with Lannisters spoiler policy below.Sorry forgot that 'innocent comments' might trigger discussion. I'll be good now.
You can wait till the spoiler period is over, Anna (in mid-November) or go discuss in the Tempt the Stars spoiler thread now.
Lannister wrote: "I don't think the Guild have actually been mentioned in any of the shorts Kathy. I'm just speculating wildly to confuse the hell out of everyone!I will research this and write up my Grand Unified..."
It's working, Lannister!
LOL!Hmmm, can someone remind me what my Grand Unified Theory of Everything was about again? I've forgotten.
I'm sure Mircea was involved.
Well, the world revolves around Mercia, and then, well, the world revolves around Mercia. Um, is there anything else in your Grand Theory *as I laugh quietly to myself*??
There were probably some filthy sex scenes. There usually are in my theories. :D :D :D
I could just as easily see the Guild working with the Silver Circle to be honest. Caleb and Jonas might be nice and Pritkin might be Silver Circle, and Artemis may have made use of them, and they have been protecting the Pythia, etc, etc. But really, how much good are they actually doing?Of course, we hear most of this from Cassie's PoV who is fairly confused on everything but it seems to me that the Silver Circle is keeping quite a few secrets as well and they seem more interested in controlling the Pythia (even Jonas keeps important things from her, such as the adepts or the existence of the covens etc etc) and helping their own interests.
I'm not quite so convinced yet that the Black Circle is quiiiite as bad as they're made out to be. I'm waiting for a big boom on that part of the plot!
The Silver Circle definitely has its black sheep, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few rogues in there who might work with the guild. And I agree that even Jonas, who seems something of a friend to Cassie, doesn't always tell her everything. I don't think he's doing it for malevolent reasons. I believe he simply underestimates Cassie and thinks he can handle things better than she can. I liked it in TtS when Cassie pulled rank on Jonas!You learn a little bit more about the Black Circle in the Dory books (not a huge amount about them specifically, but more general information on 'the bad guys' in the series) so I don't want to say too much! :)
I don't know whether I've mentioned this before, I know that I meant to, but in TtS, when Cassie goes back a week to seek help from Pritkin, he mentions that there are others just like Myra at the Pythian court. However, since she was so focused on reaching Artemis and getting help for Pritkin, she didn't think much of it until the end of the book. Of course, if Jonas had brought that up, it would have been different, and she asked him about the court in HtM and he told her not to worry about it right then, which was unfair. I believe Jonas led the Circle for so long, and he'd had a different relationship with Agnes and he's not used to working with Cassie. He's got a war on his hands, and I don't think he believed the seers of the court to cause as much trouble as they did.
Scarlet, I agree that Jonas has likely been heavily influenced by his previous relationship with Agnes. I think he still considers Cassie as something of a child (which, to be fair to Jonas, in comparison to 200+ year old Agnes, Cassie IS a child). But, the sticking point is that the Pythia herself has direct responsibility for the Pythian Court, NOT the Silver Circle. Jonas overstepped here and made a decision he didn't have the power to make. In mitigation, I think he believed Cassie had enough on her plate, and I agree he underestimated the risk, but he definitely screwed up. Agnes said the Circle were always butting in and trying to take over and she didn't tell them half the things she knew. So was Jonas playing the bumbling absent-minded fool who made a mistake, or was he deliberately trying to insert himself (and the Circle) directly into the heart of the Pythian Court as a subtle way of undermining Cassie's authority? I can't quite decide, but I think Jonas is way smarter than he acts.
Yes, Jonas is definitely smarter than he makes out to be. I had that impression quite a few times in the books and even in the short story revolving around Hobb's End. He seemed so confused and silly to the point of being very annoying and then suddenly switches back to acting like the higher ranked war mage he is (to Pritkin).Plus his "lucent" moments he is way too intelligent for him not to be acting at least once in a while.
(Then again, I don't like him all too much anyway, so any theory involving him being a bit of a villain has my approval hehe.)
I don't quite see Jonas as a villain but he's not a doddering old fool either. I have a hard time picturing him and Agnes as a couple, but then I kinda have a hard time picturing Jonas with anyone. I think he loves his flying cars more than people! It was cool seeing the witches argue with him in TtS and put him in his place.I think we need to start a campaign for Pritkin to be the head of the Silver Circle. He should be the Boss!
I don't know if I'd describe Jonas's actions as malicious but they were definitely the product of some political maneuvering. He's the head of the Silver Circle; he's no foo. Jonas is dangerous specifically because he can make people think he's harmless.And as much as I'd love to see Pritkin as Head Honcho, I don't think he's very well suited to the job. Pritkin is great at keeping his head in a crisis, but he has shitty people skills. The head of the Circle needs to deal with bureaucracy and war.
I agree, but if Jonas dies, I think Pritkin would be forced to take the mantle especially when it comes out that he is the legendary Merlin.
Claire wrote: "And as much as I'd love to see Pritkin as Head Honcho, I don't think he's very well suited to the job. Pritkin is great at keeping his head in a crisis, but he has shitty people skills. The head of the Circle needs to deal with bureaucracy and war. "Delegation!
Pritkin would be good at the war part and he can delegate the bureaucracy to someone else. It would be history repeating if the leader of the Circle was cosy with the Pythia once again. Also, I like the idea of Pritkin dealing with the vampire senates from a position of authority. It would be nice to see some sparks fly there!
Scarlet, that's a good point about the legendary merlin. Do we think it'll ever become general knowledge that Pritkin is Merlin?
Yes, I think as soon as Mircea puts two and two together (which will likely happen in the next book when he confronts Cassie about the lawn make-out incident) then the Vamps will know.Unless Mircea decides to keep it to himself for some sort of political maneuvering? Does Pritkin care enough about it coming out for it to become subtle-blackmail material?
Lia, I think you're correct that Mircea will definitely put it all together from the few pieces of information that he has. That's what Mircea does, and he's already suspicious of Pritkin.I don't see Mircea announcing it to the world unless there's some clear advantage to the vampires in doing so. I think Mircea hoards information to use whenever the opportunity presents itself. Of course, he might confront Pritkin in private. Or he might try to manipulate Cassie by threatening to make the info public unless she co-operated (of course, he would word it much more nicely than that!)
I kinda think the information might leak out anyway. Pritkin's been gone for a while and surely people are going to start asking questions? And there was his miraculous recovery in HtM too. On its own each thing probably isn't that big of a deal, but when the oddities start to pile up, people start speculating.
I think Pritkin would flat out refuse to take up the lead. I think it something happened to Jonas and they tried to put Pritkin in charge, he'd put up Caleb instead. Caleb knows the Pythia, is on better terms with other mages, and knows what's at stake with the demon side of things. You can't have a leader delegate fully half of his duties out to other people and have him remain a leader.As for Mircea, I believe it's possible he'll figure out who Pritkin is but it's by no means guaranteed. Mircea is suspicious of Pritkin, yes, but to believe a mystical figure like Merlin is still up and walking around? I think Mircea would consider that a little too far-fetched.
All Mircea has to do is ask (or demand!) the truth from Casanova. Mircea saw Pritkin in 1793 and he hasn't aged a day since then. That's not normal, even for a mage. Mircea must have reasoned that Pritkin is either using magic like Jonathan does to extend his life (unlikely), or he must have strong demon or fey heritage. So if Mircea wants to know more about demon children, who's he going to ask? How about his servant who's right there in the building and has been harbouring a demon for several centuries? It's not much of a leap. We've seen already that Casanova's intimidated by Mircea and, given the betrayal in TtS, I think he'll sing like a canary. Casanova doesn't answer to two masters any more. Hell, he might even volunteer the info to Mircea to get on his good side.
Lannister wrote: "All Mircea has to do is ask (or demand!) the truth from Casanova. Mircea saw Pritkin in 1793 and he hasn't aged a day since then. That's not normal, even for a mage. Mircea must have reasoned tha..."
Agh! I forgot about Casanova! You're completely right. And Casanova is a little shit who'd happily sell Pritkin out to get him back for all the trouble at Dante's.
And if Casanova can somehow cause grief for Cassie by selling out Pritkin ... even better!
Can we all unanimously agree to punch Casanova in the face? If we all do it at once, we might even make a dent.Or laugh at him for wearing linen suits all the time.
(it's that time of the month y'all. Sorry for being grumpy!)
Maybe Casanova will be a changed man now that he's no longer a split personality? He did seem quite upset at the end of TtS and I actually felt a little sorry for him. But I think a punch in the face on general principle wouldn't go wrong. :D
I actually really really like Casanova. I probably wouldn't be able to stand spending extended periods of time with him in real life, but he's a riot to read about- one of my favorites.Poor whiny thing was so distraught at the end of TtS- it was quite sweet.
I think Casanova is the equivalent of Marlowe in the Dory books, in that you don't really get a true impression of him. Marlowe hates Dory and he's always a grumpy bugger around her. In contrast, he's charming and funny around Cassie, but if we didn't have two perspectives, we wouldn't know. Mircea says Marlowe sticks his nose into everything (and smiles rather fondly as he says it!) but you don't hear him complaining about Marlowe's temperament otherwise. It's only around Dory that he acts up.I think it's the same with Casanova. He hates Cassie so we see the worst of him. Cassie gets him into situations he'd rather not be in and he blames her (rightly or wrongly) for all his woes. I think he was also in a difficult situation because his two 'bosses' (Mircea and Rosier) were pulling him in different directions at the same time.
I think Casanova's very fond of whining, but I'd like to get an alternative viewpoint from someone who actually got along well with him.
True, but Marlowe's just a bastard around Dory. He doesn't remind us of a whiny 5 year old. Casanova is just a diva. I think he's probably high maintenance regardless of who he's around.
Yeah, you're probably right. Diva is a good word for Casanova. Still, maybe he'll surprise us yet and be a changed person now that Rian's not around.
I'm wondering if Mircea being Casavnova's only boss will influence him to treat Cassie more nicely. He's been fantastically disrespectful in the past. Like when he gave her that tray of plastic food in TtS. That's not the way you treat your Master's wife. So again, another example that Mircea claims Cassie is his wife but is really like his servant. Even Mircea's own vampires don't give Cassie the respect she deserves. Not as wife, and not as Pythia.
It is kinda dumb on Casanova's part to treat Cassie that way, especially when he's trying to take over Dante's officially. I know Cassie causes him problems, but him giving her a hard time doesn't really help his cause. After all, Cassie could go crying to Mircea and Casanova would get his ass whupped!
If Casanova saw Cassie as Pythia first and not "the boss's girl," this issue would never come up. But he view her as a servant and so doesn't give her respect. I sincerely doubt he would have treated Agnes that way.
Claire, I think you've got it. But it still seems kind of dumb to offend the bosses girlfriend...unless it is the way Mircea neglects her that makes her fair game...
Of course, as Sal said, Cassie doesn't dress or act the part...
I think Casanova treats her any way he wants because Mircea left a loophole in the order he gave Casanova-he ordered him to help her, but he didn't specify that he needed to be her BFF. In fact, I believe Cassie's bodyguards were specifically ordered to treat her good, so that she doesn't feel like she's living in a prison. Also, Casanova having an incubus inside of him up until now must have caused some interference with the orders he gets, which would probably give him more free will than most vampires have.
And there's also the fact that Cassie doesn't even try to act the part of the boss' girlfriend, and Casanova knows she won't go running to Mircea with complaints about Casanova's behavior, not when she has a lot more problems on her plate right now.
I do wonder if Casanova's attitude towards Cassie could be symptomatic of his general demeanour (i.e. a whinger and complainer), and that's why he remained as Tony's number two servant, rather than his top man. I mean, wasn't he behind Alphonse? Alphonse never struck me as the brightest, whereas I think Casanova could sharp when he put his mind to it. And surely harbouring a demon must give some sort of advantage over just a regular vampire? So why wasn't he able to become Tony's (or Mircea's?) right hand man? I wonder if Casanova opens his mouth and shoots himself in the foot regularly.
As I recall, Casanova *was* Tony's second, and Alphonse replaced him.
I think Casanova is a gigantic pain in the ass, which is how he ended up all the way in Las Vegas in some shitty little casino. No one can stand to have him close by!
The Senate commandeered half the hotel & staff---and they don't pay! He's afraid when the hotel loses money, he'll lose his big chance, be replaced, get stuck in a menial job for centuries. Lots of pressure, not too much grace under it. Cassie's disasters: last straw.
This thread can also be used for discussion about dark mages like Louis Cesare's arch nemesis, Jonathan.