u/AethelweardSaxon

A few of you asked to hear my reaction to the Last Argument of Kings, so here we are. u/Paladin20038 u/memberoftheliterati u/RevealAntique8055 u/ParagonofHats.

I mentioned in my last post that before I picked up this triology I read that you couldnt just read the first one, you had to stick it through to all three. By Euz I see why.

I think the best way to do this is by referring back to my thoughts and predictions from BTAH. I won't speak so much of the plot itself, but of our characters.

>I'll start with Glokta, he's the 'main character' if there is one. Since page 1 of TBI I've known he's going on a redemption arc, and we're very slowly getting there. Letting Eider go and showing a bit of sympathy to Vitari ... theres troubles coming, Chekovs gun and all. Why do I do this? There'll be a true answer to this question in LOAK im sure. I want to say maybe he'll die in the end, after all he's sort of hoping for it. I think he'll find some sort of satisfaction and happiness before that happens though.

Well, guess I was very wrong about that redemption arc hah. Despite probably being the evilest of all (apart from our mutual friend) he had the happiest ending ... or rather the least horrible. So I suppose I was right that he did get some sort of satisfaction. Second only to Bayaz in the Union, all powerful and somewhat happily married (somehow?). The Ardee thing I do find quite weird and gross. And we did get an answer as to 'why he does this', just not the conclusion I hoped he might come to.

>Logen. As I say, he's my favourite. But as to his direction I really have no predictions. He's already got it mostly figured out, apart from speaking some truth to Ferro. He doesnt want to fight anymore, he doesnt feel the need to settle scores. The reunion with Dogman and the gang is inevitable, surely, and I'm looking forward to that moment, and I hope its in happy circumstances.

I have pretty negative thoughts on his direction in this book. Everyone hates him, even Dogman in the end. And its not hard to see why, the Bloody Nine is Death himself, to friend and foe. Bethod's speech shows that he is much at fault for all of the situation in the North. But still, I find it hard to blame Logan for this. At least as we know him, he doesnt want the Bloody Nine to come through, Logen didn't want to kill Tul Duru, Logen didn't want to kill Dogman, Logen didn't want to kill Crummock's son

- side note Crummock was such a great character, my favourite apart from one we'll get to, and that last scene where he gets up close to Logen and tells him he knows what he did was the most unsettling and skin prickling in the book -

Logen's greatest mistake was heading back North, but even so he was only going back to all he knew. Logen does try to be a better man, but he's stuck in everyone elses percecption of him. When he asks Jezal if he is a good man, Jezal replies that he is the greatest man he's met. Logen's story is a sad and tragic one. But I did like his Soprano's style ending.

>Luthar. My least favourite of the big 3. As with Glokta I knew he was headed for a humbling and a redemption arc. But I felt it came all too quickly, in the first POV chapter after his injury he's already become a better man. The similarities with him and Glokta are blatant. Glokta was hoping for his downfall, and now Jezal has missing front teeth and was dragging his leg along. They never explained why Bayaz wanted him for the quest to the end of the world, and thats a question I'm sure will be answered eventually, I suppose its something more important than Logen and Ferros abilities. So he's got a big role to play.

Well, Jezal went from my least favourite to my favourite. I knew his redemption came too quickly, and he did slip into his old ways rather soon again. But he truly did redeem himself in the end, he became a better man. In a better world he truly would have been a good king ... but alas. He has to acquiese to Glokta, doubly painful as he is with Ardee. Whilst he may be King his end was maybe the saddest of all, the unrealised potential of all the people he could have helped.

>On Ferro, I find her frustrating, but I suppose thats the point. Can she ever change her nature? The back end of BTAH suggests so, but its not going to be an easy journey. Maybe she too will find peace.

Much like the other two books Ferro was the most non-entity character. She wanted vegeance, she was warned it wouldn't be worth it ... and it wasn't. Reduced to madness she fell away into the darkness. There isn't much more to be said about her, other than she is worth some pity.

>West is probably my second favourite, despite the awful way he treated Ardee in the end of book one. A man from humbler beginners struggling to find his place before his 'betters'. I hope things end well for him, but I guessing we'll see Furious once or twice more before its all over. I also predict he will end up in charge of the armies, after a bitter struggle.

Hey I actually got a prediction right. I really enjoyed seeing Lord Marshal West rise to the fore leads the armies to victory. But men don't get the things they deserve, a sad and painful end for a good man trying his best.

>Bayaz ... there's still secrets there, dark secrets most likely. His death I'm most sure of, at the hands of Quai no doubt. There is .... something ... going on there. Perhaps Khalul has got to him some how. Quai is present but doenst do a whole lot. A different character entirely from book one. I think he'll turn out like a Judas figure, betraying his master and probably regretting it.

Well, say anything for the First of the Magi, say he's an excellent puppet master. From the beginning of LAOK I could see it coming, but he truly turned out to be the evillest of all. The deaths and suffering of untold millions across the millenia all for his fickle squabble with Khalul. I was severely hoping Jezal or Logen would plant a knife between his shoulder blades in the last few chapters. I don't know about any of the other TFL books, but he does need his comeuppance.

LOAK is a great, every 30 pages there were events that would have been the biggest in the previous two books. An absolutely thrilling read.

But as I'm sure you can tell I'm a little bitter about how everything finished. I suppose I'm too used to reading fantasy with a 'good guys win bad guys lose' ending.

But, you have to be realistic about these things

Say one thing about u/AthelweardSaxon, say he is late to the game.

Please no spoilers for other books :)

In the past few moments I've finished BTAH. I read The Blade Itself a months ago, enjoyed it, bought Before They Are Hanged, read about 30 pages then put it down. Picked it up again a few days ago and polished the entire book off in about three days, reading every spare second I could between work and life.

Man, that was great. Logen has got to be my favourite character in any book I've read. Some of his lines of wisdom have really stuck with me, and will for a long time.

I'll start with Glokta, he's the 'main character' if there is one. Since page 1 of TBI I've known he's going on a redemption arc, and we're very slowly getting there. Letting Eider go and showing a bit of sympathy to Vitari ... theres troubles coming, Chekovs gun and all. Why do I do this? There'll be a true answer to this question in LOAK im sure. I want to say maybe he'll die in the end, after all he's sort of hoping for it. I think he'll find some sort of satisfaction and happiness before that happens though.

Logen. As I say, he's my favourite. But as to his direction I really have no predictions. He's already got it mostly figured out, apart from speaking some truth to Ferro. He doesnt want to fight anymore, he doesnt feel the need to settle scores. The reunion with Dogman and the gang is inevitable, surely, and I'm looking forward to that moment, and I hope its in happy circumstances.

Luthar. My least favourite of the big 3. As with Glokta I knew he was headed for a humbling and a redemption arc. But I felt it came all too quickly, in the first POV chapter after his injury he's already become a better man. The similarities with him and Glokta are blatant. Glokta was hoping for his downfall, and now Jezal has missing front teeth and was dragging his leg along. They never explained why Bayaz wanted him for the quest to the end of the world, and thats a question I'm sure will be answered eventually, I suppose its something more important than Logen and Ferros abilities. So he's got a big role to play.

On Ferro, I find her frustrating, but I suppose thats the point. Can she ever change her nature? The back end of BTAH suggests so, but its not going to be an easy journey. Maybe she too will find peace.

West is probably my second favourite, despite the awful way he treated Ardee in the end of book one. A man from humbler beginners struggling to find his place before his 'betters'. I hope things end well for him, but I guessing we'll see Furious once or twice more before its all over. I also predict he will end up in charge of the armies, after a bitter struggle.

Bayaz ... there's still secrets there, dark secrets most likely. His death I'm most sure of, at the hands of Quai no doubt. There is .... something ... going on there. Perhaps Khalul has got to him some how. Quai is present but doenst do a whole lot. A different character entirely from book one. I think he'll turn out like a Judas figure, betraying his master and probably regretting it.

I got into this series as it was apparently similar to GoT, more focused on characters but being less heavy on world building (which is certainly true, I can't work out how old Bayaz is and when the Old Times were for example). But I remember reading that it was definitely a triology, and was all building to climax in the third book. I am definitely looking forward to that.

No doubt there is going to be a lot of bloodshed, the Northman and Gurkish are coming. But I'm looking forward to how it pans out.

I hope you've all enjoyed how laughably wrong all my predictions are.

Platform(s): Unknown handheld console

Genre: At least one puzzle minigame

Estimated year of release: mid to late 2000s

Graphics/art style: 8 bit

Notable characters: A bear in the background of one of the minigames

Notable gameplay mechanics: Mixing potions

Other details: I'm from the UK if it helps. I remember I had a solid plastic purple handheld console. It was not from one of the main brands, it was a generic unbranded thing as far as I can recall.

The console contained several mini games, that you selected from a menu, they had thumbnail pictures of each game in perhaps a 3x4 grid.

The games were 8 bit, and I can only recall one of these games. In this game there a was a bear in the background, and maybe a wizard. I believe the context was that this wizard had turned a person into a bear.

In this game you had to mix potions/adjust the quantity and ratio of a liquid in order to create the correct potion. If successful, the bear would transform back into a human.

This is as far as I can recall, but I would greatly appreciate any help in identifying it.