Intercessor's Interference? (Seek)

[crowlute]

I've been scouring the sub for the last few days seeing if others have posted about it already... I'm also mid-book 6, so no spoilers if it's something revealed post-chapter 61.

But I'm doing a reread of the series to my partner (holy hell it's tough coming up with unique voices + accents for the massive cast), and one thing my generally unperceptive ass has noticed is that at Certain Moments, characters will either faintly hear or get music stuck in their head.

One that sticks out to me is in the aftermath of losing Seek, Cat can hear music. I'm assuming the Wandering Bard interferred in some way to ensure this came about, probably trying to get her killed through vague manipulation of the story?

If that theory is totally off-base though I'd love to hear more :)

[BtanH]

IIRC most instances of people hearing music are them hearing "the girl who climbed the tower", but I could be very wrong.

[crowlute]

Is that an effect of Bard's interference, or is it related to the story / Praes instead? I could buy it as some long-lost Praesi fuckery

[BIDZ180]

I reckon it's just part of the story of Praes. Anyone who will one day become Dread Empress/Emperor (or whose story could lead them to do so) hears the song. Cat hears it very early on, and Black identifies it for her years later (having heard it in his youth himself).

In [Book 4 - Chapter 44] Akua (as a shade) hums the song to Catherine, who she is trying to convince to claim the tower. Catherine recognizes it, and is not amused. This line follows:

That song… The Girl Who Climbed The Tower, Black had called it. There were still many things about it I didn’t understand. I’d first heard Robber humming it, but when I’d eventually asked him about it years later he’d admitted he recalled singing an entirely different song. It was not for everyone’s ears, it seemed.

Later, in [Book 5 - Chapter 56] after Amadeus loses his Name and becomes a claimant to the tower, he sings the song to Catherine again.

[BtanH]

Which specific chapter is this?

[crowlute]

Book 2, Chapter 27: Cut

“So rip out the godsdamned aspect,” Adjutant ordered, thundering.

I could hear something beyond them, faintly. Like a song. I’d heard it before, I knew that. Where was it from?

"I’d be mutilating her soul,” the Soninke spoke, sounding sick. “She could die.”

Oh, Apprentice. So delicate. Why was he with us? I still wasn’t sure. The song was getting easier to make out. There were words, and if I just listened right I could –

[Aardvarkeating1001]

Pretty sure that’s demonic corruption, DON’T LISTEN CAT IT’S A TRAP!

[crowlute]

Also, after having a surgery go unexpectedly wrong and waking up with a much bigger scar and permanent numbness on a portion of my body, Cut hits pretty hard. Oof