so i was thinking about this post, specifically the comparison between Ianthe/Babs and Silas/Colum. because on the surface, they’re both necromancers whose relationship to their cavalier seems wholly consumptive. but: Silas differs from Ianthe on one big, key point – he refuses to ascend to lyctorhood. he has been indoctrinated since birth to view his cavalier as only a tool for him; Colum was quite literally made for him, the 8th house breeds batteries, but when the chips are down silas refuses. he tried to kill Ianthe for it!! like, he was the only one in the room who thought what Ianthe did was so fucked up that she should die for it.
and this is so fascinating!! because one could potentially interpret the 8th house’s treatment of their cavaliers like Mercymorn trying to innoculate her house against the grief that destroyed her for 10,000 years. she loved Cristabel too much, and she never wanted that to happen to anyone else. but the thing is, I don’t think it worked. at best, I can see Silas becoming like Augustine “human plex” the First. you are not immune to grief etc.
and i think this is going to be important like, idk. the 8th house is the only dead Canaan House pair that hasn’t yet had their arc concluded. and IMO, i think the 9th house wasnt the only house to have their dynamic be challenged by and radically shift due to the events of GtN!! that scene where Silas invites Gideon to “take tea” and then tells Colum to kill her – Colum refuses, Silas lets Gideon go, and we never see the conclusion of that fight. and of course, despite refusing to wholly consume his soul, when fighting Ianthe Silas falls back on old habits to steamroll Colum’s agency, and ends up opening the path for the River Devil that comes and kills them both. I think it is very intentional that this is framed as a consequence of Silas overriding Colum’s agency and treating Colum like a tool and not a person, and I think the rest of their arc is going to address this. in HtN, when Silas fled Harrow’s bubble, I am convinced that he went to go find Colum’s soul.
im very interested to see where their arc leads re: forgiveness, atonement, etc, especially in the context of Gideon’s forgiveness of Harrow in the pool scene, Hot Sauce’s forgiveness of Nona, and Ortus & Harrow’s mutual forgiveness of each other. how do we make it right when it can never be made right, how can we move forward without ever being able to erase what we have done to each other?
who’s alive, dead, in between or beyond! pre-alecto the ninth character masterlist
After my previouspre-nona the ninth character status masterlist, I’m attempting another one! Some characters have been grouped for ease, and I did not include any characters from the previous post that are not mentioned as doing anything in NtN (i.e. Wake, Canaan House crew, previous lyctors et. al). They are all, presumably, in the same place as they were before.
Also not included is the empty stretch of time between Harrowhark’s soul exiting the bubble-memory with John and reappearing in her own body at the end of the book - this is relevant as based on the preview, AtN may not immediately pick up post-NtN.
(current date: 12/12/2022, #ntn spoilers)
ALIVE (characters who have been alive continuously since their birth, and whose body&soul have never been separated)
The Gang - Hot Sauce, Honesty, Born in the Morning, Beautiful Ruby, Kevin (all last seen on New Rho)
We Suffer and We Suffer (last seen on New Rho)
Jolie/the teacher (last seen on New Rho)
AIM/the Messenger (Last seen in the megatruck on the top tier of the Ninth)
Noodle (last seen in the megatruck with AIM, barking)
Our Lady of the Passion (Last seen in the megatruck)
Crown Him With Many Crowns (formerly Coronabeth Tridentarius, last seen in the megatruck)
Judith Deuteros (Body still partially possessed by Varun, last seen in the megatruck under the care of Crown Him with Many Crowns)
The Sixth House Oversight body (notable member Juno Zeta, all last seen in the megatruck)
Various OG members of the Ninth House (last seen under Devil attack, sheltering in the catacombs of the Ninth)
Aiglamene (last seen outside the unlocked door of the Tomb)
Ianthe the First (feat. the chewed up battery of Naberius Tern’ soul) (last seen in the Unlocked Tomb, having just been smacked by Alecto & thrown into the water)
Grand Admiral Sarpeadon (Presumed to be on Antioch with EJG. has received a large promotion!)
Emperor John Gaius (presumed to be on Antioch, last seen being stabbed through the chest by Alecto but still chatting it up. previously murdered by Mercymorn the First)
Alecto (presumed to be on Antioch with EJG and Harrow, last seen putting a sword through EJG’s chest. previously murdered by John’s nukes)
Pyrrha Dve (soul active, body G1deon the First’s, last seen in the Unlocked Tomb. no necromantic powers & immune to herald fear, lyctoral healing intact. previously murdered by John’s nukes and also again by an unknown party - presumed to be self or G1deon the First - to attain lyctorhood)
Various members of the neo-Ninth (notable member Sister Berta, last seen sheltering in the catacombs of the Ninth & under Devil attack. previously murdered by John’s nukes)
SOUL GESTALT (mutual death & rebirth, fusion)
Camilla Hect (body active as Paul, individual soul consumed by grand lysis)
Palamades Sextus (body blown to pieces & bones presumed to have been abandoned somewhere along the way consumed by Camilla Hect to complete ascension process (updated 12/14/2022), individual soul consumed by grand lysis)
Paul (revived/lyctorized soul gestalt of Pal&Cam, body Camilla Hect’s, last seen in the Unlocked Tomb. presumed to have full suite of lyctoral powers, herald reaction unknown. implications of soul gestalt vs. traditional lyctorhood on abilities is unknown. grey-brown pupil, lambent grey iris)
Nona (amnesiac 6 month old world-soul of planet earth. last seen in the Tomb, currently presumed to have been subsumed into the body and greater consciousness of Alecto)
DEAD
Naberius Tern (body last seen on New Rho, empty. soul being used as a battery/chewtoy by Ianthe the First)
Crux (killed by Kiriona Gaia to provide the thanergy needed to unlock the Tomb. prior to death was soul-infected by the Devils, implications of which are unknown. soul status unknown)
Anastasia (soul status known, body last seen as only bones, nestled by the rock in the Unlocked Tomb)
DEAD*
Varun the Eater/Number 7 (revenant world-soul currently periscoping in Judith Deuteros, with Heralds currently attacking New Rho. Body is dead/revived as a House planet)
DEAD?
The River (what does a river of the dead being dead even mean? no idea, but Alecto found it so and was thus grieved)
MEGA DEAD
Gideon Nav/Kiriona Gaia (sans cheeseburger portion of her happy meal soul) (mega dead, aerodynamic, sad bitch and the most special girl in the universe. soul & body together, eyes gold. last seen in the Unlocked Tomb)
???????????????
Devils/Stoma creatures (are they individual beings or is it hand, finger, spider, web situation? what’s their relationship to the Tower? what’s their relationship to the Stoma? Spirit magic, possession shit, specific abilities unknown. Currently on Antioch and the Ninth. Seen also at Canaan house in the body of Colum Asht)
One day eighteen years ago, Gideon’s mother had tumbled down the middle of the shaft in a dragchute and a battered hazard suit, like some moth drifting slowly down into the dark. The suit had been out of power for a couple of minutes. The woman landed brain-dead. All the battery power had been sucked away by a bio-container plugged into the suit, and inside that container was Gideon, only a day old.
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