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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7989 Posts |
 Posted - 10 Oct 2017 : 04:46:18
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quote:
You know, thats probably why I want to save her so much. Her and Alusair - two incredibly brilliant, strong women who deserved so much better than what male authors did to them. 
Mari Agneh's fate surprised me a little, too. Not because a character died, not because a female character died, not even because she died in an inhumanly horrible fashion. But because her death dared to be a surprisingly inconsistent deviation from WotC's usual tip-toe-on-eggshells carefully inoffensive mediocrity and blandness.
I interpret this "cruelty" from the (male) authors as being an opportunistic mechanism to deliberately emphasize the evils of Thay. A tragic story within a story about heroic sacrifice and redemption - or of reckoning and vengeance? - but one painted in grim and gritty tones to fit the treacherously corrupt landscape of Thayan politics. No good deed ever goes unpunished, and in Thay the punishment for challenging a Zulkir - even successfully - always has dire and unpleasant consequences. She had to literally become a monster to defeat a monster. The fact that she was female was only emphasized when victimizing a female underscored the narrative - prior to her death scene she was a decidedly strong, confident, and "masculine" sort of character.
As an aside, I thought Tsagoth was uncharacteristically civilized in his dealings with Mari. Polite, informative, concerned, sympathetic, almost pleasant. True he was caught in a bit of a bind, and he was perhaps unusual among his own kind, but as a blood fiend he would seem more inclined to kill and consume and violate and dominate than to parley as an equal. |
[/Ayrik] |
Edited by - Ayrik on 10 Oct 2017 05:06:51 |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11853 Posts |
Posted - 10 Oct 2017 : 16:55:46
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quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik
quote:
You know, thats probably why I want to save her so much. Her and Alusair - two incredibly brilliant, strong women who deserved so much better than what male authors did to them.
Mari Agneh's fate surprised me a little, too. Not because a character died, not because a female character died, not even because she died in an inhumanly horrible fashion. But because her death dared to be a surprisingly inconsistent deviation from WotC's usual tip-toe-on-eggshells carefully inoffensive mediocrity and blandness.
I interpret this "cruelty" from the (male) authors as being an opportunistic mechanism to deliberately emphasize the evils of Thay. A tragic story within a story about heroic sacrifice and redemption - or of reckoning and vengeance? - but one painted in grim and gritty tones to fit the treacherously corrupt landscape of Thayan politics. No good deed ever goes unpunished, and in Thay the punishment for challenging a Zulkir - even successfully - always has dire and unpleasant consequences. She had to literally become a monster to defeat a monster. The fact that she was female was only emphasized when victimizing a female underscored the narrative - prior to her death scene she was a decidedly strong, confident, and "masculine" sort of character.
As an aside, I thought Tsagoth was uncharacteristically civilized in his dealings with Mari. Polite, informative, concerned, sympathetic, almost pleasant. True he was caught in a bit of a bind, and he was perhaps unusual among his own kind, but as a blood fiend he would seem more inclined to kill and consume and violate and dominate than to parley as an equal.
Yeah, Mari Agneh was one of my favored Tharchions, but Spellbound took her out of power a long time ago (1995?). In fact, I had an NPC (Targuth Agneh) who I portrayed in the fashion of what today would be called a "spellsword" and using rules from Skills & Powers. He was a young red wizard during the salamander wars due to his cousin's influence, and even though he was an invoker, he specifically was working against his own Zulkir indirectly because of Mari (can't remember if I had her as his sister, cousin, or Aunt). He was trying to find her as well. I always portrayed him and Sleyvas as apprentices to the same master, but whereas Sleyvas was about finesse, two weapon wielding, and trickery ... Targuth was about brute force, two handed weapons, and heavy armor. In fact, I am still using him, as I plan to make him the tharchion of one of my Tharchs. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Anyone remotely artistic interested in drawing?
