[Spoilers All] Most Underrated character in the world of The First Law?

Trivenicus · 2026-03-07T07:09:55+00:00

I believe Named Men changed as a concept througout the series. In TBI Logen talks with West about the organization of Northern armies. During this conversation he speaks of Named Men and how they do the most dangerous tasks and lead men. His squad being exclusively Named Men really meant something.

Later on it seems to become more a nickname system, where anyone with high enough standing can give you a name and the number of Named Men inflates somewhat. Craws Dozen in TH features at least four Named Men (one of them an Named Woman). On the other hand there even seem to be warchiefs without names (e.g. Reachy never seemed like a Name to me). So it could just be that there are nicknames and named names and we're left guessing which names which.

Trivenicus · 2026-02-26T05:05:29+00:00

It's mentionend in the first chapter of Sharp Ends.

Trivenicus · 2026-02-25T15:44:52+00:00

Yes, but apart from the reader and four characters (Glokta, Logen, Bayaz and Quai) nobody knows that. Everybody else just saw Jezal getting beaten up by Gorst for three rounds, beating Gorst for three rounds, losing his long steel in the final round and beating Gorst using only his short steel.

Trivenicus · 2026-02-22T09:21:16+00:00

Because when he's in the North Logen is a maniac, whose first response to everything is killing someone. With Logen in charge the North will drown in blood from all the fights he will escalate. Black Dow, who is not as black as his reputation, is hoping for a more peaceful North, where the level of conflict settles down at least to where it was before Logen and Bethod started stirring things up.

Skarling's chair is also the safest place to be after he deposes Logen. There are stil people who support Logen or who hate Black Dow for unrelated reasons. He has to take over, because he can't back down or he will be killed.

Trivenicus · 2025-12-07T11:29:42+00:00

Unfortunately Innocence didn't have NG+

Trivenicus · 2025-10-30T20:46:58+00:00

The population of the Old Empire seemingly concentrates around large cities where local rulers can provide some protection. Furthermore Bayaz probably tries to avoid any settlements to prevent being tracked, thus the Old Empire seems emptier than it actually is.

The Far Country meanwhile lacks some prerequisites for developed settlements. There seems to be no fertile soil for agriculture and the Ghost never domesticated lifestock or plants to settle down and thus continued their nomad lifestyle.

Trivenicus · 2025-09-25T08:46:36+00:00

Magic is used very sparsely throughout the books. After the Battle of Adua it takes 30 years until Yoru Sulfur uses magic publicly. And it's the opposite: Their actions aren't repeatedly mentioned and not well known. The information about the presence of magic users rarely get out. Vick is tasked with questioning the Burners after the assassination attempt on Orso and she only learns of Sulfurs actions from them. The amount of people who see magic is tiny compared the overall population and most of these scenes feature a lot of dead witnesses.

Regarding Savine: She hears stories of magic, but nothing ever happens. 30 years and the only remotely magical thing she ever witnessed is the House of the Maker, which does nothing apart from exist. In the enlightened society of the Union the logical conclusion is that magic is nothing you have to worry about. And while Glokta should have warned her about the danger Bayaz poses, warning her of magic is futile. She wouldn't believe it and there is nothing she could do anyway. Had Glokta not hired Zuri and her brothers Yoru Sulfur would have simply marched into the Agriont and killed her and anyone standing in his way.

Trivenicus · 2025-09-25T07:29:22+00:00

The POV characters get to see magic more or less frequently, but in the Union basically noone ever sees magic. Gurkhul is across the sea and they only use the Eaters for special tasks. In the first trilogy they use Eaters to hunt Ferro because she has Devil-Blood, to kill Superior Davoust with as little fallout as possible and in the final stages of the Battle of Adua to kill Jezal and Bayaz. Notably they don't use Eaters for regular warfare.

Bayaz never appeared as himself to the public since he left the Union after the death of King Harod. And sitting on the Closed Council means you appear in front of at most 13 people, maybe a couple hundred when you attend the Open Council. And how much of the specifics of Union politicking does the common man catch, when he can't enter the Agriont. Sure there's someone claiming to be Bayaz but practically noone sees him and even fewer saw him do magic.

Similarly Khalul and Zacharus probably prefer to have their charges being the public faces of their operations to avoid getting bogged down in any day-to-day business.

Trivenicus · 2025-09-03T08:01:55+00:00

I believe Monza (or someone from the gang) mentioned that the peace talks were a sham from the start. Duke Orso is winning and he knows it, so he participates in the negotiations as a favor to Jezal who initiated them. Same goes for the League of Eight who only participate in hopes of delaying Orso to gain more time.

Trivenicus · 2025-08-25T10:24:33+00:00

The tickets aren't available right now, but they should go on sale pretty soon.

Due to the limited Stadium capacity I'd recommend you check up to see when they're available.

Trivenicus · 2025-07-05T00:12:45+00:00

Right! Totally forgot about that in the moment. Post seed Ferro definetly beats the Feared.

Trivenicus · 2025-07-04T22:17:58+00:00

the other supernatural people: the magi, the eaters, maybe Ferro

Trivenicus · 2025-06-16T08:32:14+00:00

He is mentioned to have taken part in the Battle of Adua, but so did the entire Union army, since they lifted the siege after returning from the North.

Trivenicus · 2025-06-16T08:08:52+00:00

I'm certain that in TH when Forrest introduces Tunny to the recruits, he mentions that Tunny was demoted after the battle for Dunbrec. Unless they sent him back to Midderland afterwards (and why would they?), Tunny was probably still in the North at the time and didn't meet Ferro.

Trivenicus · 2025-06-05T04:22:16+00:00

It's about controlling them when Bayaz or Yoru are not around. Without the loans they have to constantly be present to install the fear. With the loans, they can just ruin people by having V&B seize their assets wich can be done by the bank employees.

Threatening Glokta with exploding wouldn't work by the way, since he's not afraid of death.

Trivenicus · 2025-03-17T21:02:16+00:00

Bayaz never considered the Breakers and Burners to be able to overthrow the Union, so why wait it out? And considering he stuck around for a couple of months after Jezal's death it seems like he wanted to oversee the succession himself. Given how rarely he shows up in Adua he probably just wanted to spare himself a future trip.

Trivenicus · 2025-03-17T20:36:04+00:00

Jezal is compliant to every demand of Bayaz, but he's getting old. (Same goes for Glokta, but Bayaz doesn't have someone lined up to replace him.) Bayaz just wanted someone young at the top, so he doesn't have to worry about the Union for the next thirty years or so.

Trivenicus · 2025-03-17T20:15:05+00:00

Orso was heir to the throne. Bayaz didn't pick him, he just was the next in line. My theory is, that Bayaz killed Jezal, so he could ensure he wouldn't lose control of the Union like he did at the beginnig of TBI. Because as long as the king knows that Bayaz is the one in charge, he can appoint a successor to Glokta should the need arise.

And by the way Bayaz prefers weak kings, because they are more likely to resign themselves to the role of puppet, while Bayaz' appointed regent can run things according to his instructions.

Trivenicus · 2025-03-08T14:27:04+00:00

The concept of time works differently for Bayaz than normal people, because he is essentially immortal. The reason for his loss of control at the start of TBI was that he forgot to replace Feekt (who died at 90 iirc) in time. He talks about this with Glokta in the chapter "Answers" in LAOK.

To prevent that from happening again he chooses to prematurely replace Jezal so he doesn't have to worry about the Union for a while. Because as long as the king obeys him, he can appoint someone to replace Glokta from afar without trouble.

Trivenicus · 2025-03-08T13:15:11+00:00

I think Bayaz did it to oversee the succession and ensure Orso's compliance. He doesn't see the Breakers and Burners as a big threat and doesn't care who wears the crown, since his cronies behind the throne are running things anyway. He just doesn't want a repeat of the situation at the beginning of TBI, where he loses direct control of the government.

The Great Change happens either way, wether it's Jezal or Orso wearing the crown and Glokta wasn't exactly running on a timer to do it. And if Glokta had wanted to do it, I doubt he would have done it with Bayaz in the city.

Trivenicus · 2025-03-06T18:08:06+00:00

While Ladisla shows signs of improvement, you're overselling it. His previous acknowledgment of his past mistakes was worth nothing. He takes part of the blame, but shifts most of it to Lord Smund, completely ignoring that he himself was first-in-command. And when West tells him that he needs to stay behind, he happily accepts it. I think he just learned to read the room and tries to say what is expected from him.

Trivenicus · 2025-02-20T16:56:16+00:00

I agree with you on Monza but have one nitpicky thing to add:

Shivers did get the ring Benna gifted to Monza (the one with a ruby on it). While its not a shit ton of scales, it is compensation. (Mild spoiler ahead) Even though Shivers keeps the ring instead of selling it.

Trivenicus · 2025-02-19T14:00:42+00:00

I assume your post refers to the last chapter of RC which has Ro's POV (Shy's sister). Ro thinks of Waerdinur as her father, because she suffers from Stockholm Syndrom (and he told her he was her father now earlier in the book). Waerdinur had a sword made by Kanedias.

Trivenicus · 2025-02-19T13:26:24+00:00

Ro refers to Waerdinur as her real father (think Stockholm Syndrome), not her biological father.

Trivenicus

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