TGATJ: Hooray! Dodged a Trope!

[Steve]

I was satisfied with the treatment of Rabbi Avram Meyer. Wecker had the opportunity to (view spoiler)[lead up to a Meyer/Schaalman old man death-match. It could've been the devout, kind, rabbi in one corner and the power-hungry, immortality-seeking wizard in the other. Nope. None of that. And while I wasn't happy with Meyer dying - I honestly liked how his character was conflicted yet still tried to do the right thing in spite of his self doubts - I was satisfied because his death was not pointless but created the future paths in the story. (hide spoiler)]

Oh an also (view spoiler)[I'm sure there's some really smug answer to this like, "the magical bond would have still been there, the band is partly symbolic", but why didn't they just cut his hand off? (hide spoiler)]

[Trike]

(view spoiler)[

Could they have cut off his hand? It seems only water can kill jinnis. He's impervious to knives and fire and cold. Maybe the band keeps him intact as well as corporeal.

I get the impression this story straddles the two styles of Fantasy storytelling where one works purely by author fiat and the other has rigid rules of magic, known as Hard Fantasy. So maybe there isn't an answer to this.

(hide spoiler)]