SPOILER ALERT (PART 4)!
There is more spoilerage than usual under the cut, so don't click unless you REALLY wanna know.
ALL FIVE CHAPTERS ARE NICCI'S. ROCK. 16 starts off with Nicci and Cara'a arrival at the People's Palace, and they summerize all the shit that's been happening for Nathan (<3) and Ann. That's really it. Chapter 17, Nathan takes Nicci out to an old observation deck to see the Order outside. He explains that according to prophecy, we are all fucked like no other. Basically, they're approaching a fork in prophecy. On one side, prophecy goes on and life keeps happening (aka, we win). On the other, prophecy literally stops. There is nothing. Either there is no magic or no life happening for prophecy to make predictions about. It's called the (surprisingly enough) Great Void, and it's what happens if we loose. FUUUUUN. Nicci and Ann head down to the tomb of Darken Rahl's father, because some weird shit's been going on down there, and Nicci thinks it may relate to the crazy shit in the Keep. On their way, in chapter 18, Ann strikes a blow for the Nicci/Richard ship (YES!) and insists that they should be together because Kahlan is no longer an option due to Chainfire. Nicci refutes Ann (NO!) becuse Kahlan is too fucking perfect to not be saved. Goddamnit. Also, it is to be noted that Goodkind pays homage to Keith Parkinson, the artist who did the covers on the books, but died before "Confessor" was finished. He describes a few paintings hanging in the hall, two of which are actually the covers on "Soul of the Fire" and the re-release of "Wizard's First Rule". Cute. Ann and Nicci argue some more in chapter 19. Then, out of fucking nowhere, three Sisters of the Dark (Armina and two random Sisters) pop out of the shadows like "OH HAI!" and combat begins. I am sad to announce that we have our first good-guy death of this most annoying epic of finales. Ann bites the bullet to save Nicci. As annoying as I find Ann, I was still like "HOLY SHIT, WTF?!?!" as it was really out of nowhere, and Goodkind is one of those authors who doesn't kill off his good guys very often. Bad guys, yes. Good guys, not so much. Raina and Warren are the only main characters to die in the whole of the 10 other books. Well, now Ann has joined the club. RIP Prelate Annalina Aldurren. Anyway, so Ann's dead, and Nicci's fucked. The spell around the People's Palace is draining her power, and the only reason the three Sisters are able to kil Ann is because they've linked their powers. Nicci makes a run for it and attempts to sneak attack them, but she only manages to smash Juila's (one of the random Sisters) face in before they get her. They manage to get a Rada'Han around her neck, so now they (and Jagang by association) have control over her (NNNNNNOOOOOOOO!!!!!). They take her back to the tomb, which confuses Nicci greatly. Apparently, there's a secret passage down there, which is what Jagang's army found burried out on the Plain. That's how they got in. WE ARE SO FUCKED.
*********
I will now take a moment to make my predictions about who's gonna live and who's gonna die... though there are a few characters I'm still not sure of.
NICCI- Dies. I hate to say it, but I feel like I've known since "Phantom" that she has to die. I don't think that she's gonna die at the hands of the Sisters anytime soon, though... I think she'll make it til very close to the end of the book.
RICHARD- Lives. No shit. Goodkind's entire philosophical outlook is symbolized by him. He can't die, or Goodkind is kinda invalidating himself.
KAHLAN- ???. Way I figure it, she's got about a 50/50 chance of living. Goodkind has always been keen on saving her from all sorts of death and rape and other manner of bad things, but two of the four options to Orden have her dying (one of which is EVERYONE dies, which isn't happening, but still, worth noting)... so, it's difficult to say at this point.
ZEDD- Probably lives. I can't see Goodkind killing him off. I just can't. It might happen, though... so I wouldn't bet money on this. Same with CARA.
NATHAN- Probably dies. He'll go down like a man, though.
JAGANG- Of course he's gonna die. Unless Goodkind does a complete 180 and LETS the Order win (unlikely), Jagang's going down.
ULICIA, ARMINA, JENNSEN, JILLIAN, TOM, RIKKA, ETC.- Bitches are all going down.
VERNA- It's been my prediction since forever that she would be the last one standing. However, in light of the fact that I'm calling Richard to live and most of the other minor characters to die, she might go join Warren in the spirit world. I need to read more.
What do you guys think???
ALL FIVE CHAPTERS ARE NICCI'S. ROCK. 16 starts off with Nicci and Cara'a arrival at the People's Palace, and they summerize all the shit that's been happening for Nathan (<3) and Ann. That's really it. Chapter 17, Nathan takes Nicci out to an old observation deck to see the Order outside. He explains that according to prophecy, we are all fucked like no other. Basically, they're approaching a fork in prophecy. On one side, prophecy goes on and life keeps happening (aka, we win). On the other, prophecy literally stops. There is nothing. Either there is no magic or no life happening for prophecy to make predictions about. It's called the (surprisingly enough) Great Void, and it's what happens if we loose. FUUUUUN. Nicci and Ann head down to the tomb of Darken Rahl's father, because some weird shit's been going on down there, and Nicci thinks it may relate to the crazy shit in the Keep. On their way, in chapter 18, Ann strikes a blow for the Nicci/Richard ship (YES!) and insists that they should be together because Kahlan is no longer an option due to Chainfire. Nicci refutes Ann (NO!) becuse Kahlan is too fucking perfect to not be saved. Goddamnit. Also, it is to be noted that Goodkind pays homage to Keith Parkinson, the artist who did the covers on the books, but died before "Confessor" was finished. He describes a few paintings hanging in the hall, two of which are actually the covers on "Soul of the Fire" and the re-release of "Wizard's First Rule". Cute. Ann and Nicci argue some more in chapter 19. Then, out of fucking nowhere, three Sisters of the Dark (Armina and two random Sisters) pop out of the shadows like "OH HAI!" and combat begins. I am sad to announce that we have our first good-guy death of this most annoying epic of finales. Ann bites the bullet to save Nicci. As annoying as I find Ann, I was still like "HOLY SHIT, WTF?!?!" as it was really out of nowhere, and Goodkind is one of those authors who doesn't kill off his good guys very often. Bad guys, yes. Good guys, not so much. Raina and Warren are the only main characters to die in the whole of the 10 other books. Well, now Ann has joined the club. RIP Prelate Annalina Aldurren. Anyway, so Ann's dead, and Nicci's fucked. The spell around the People's Palace is draining her power, and the only reason the three Sisters are able to kil Ann is because they've linked their powers. Nicci makes a run for it and attempts to sneak attack them, but she only manages to smash Juila's (one of the random Sisters) face in before they get her. They manage to get a Rada'Han around her neck, so now they (and Jagang by association) have control over her (NNNNNNOOOOOOOO!!!!!). They take her back to the tomb, which confuses Nicci greatly. Apparently, there's a secret passage down there, which is what Jagang's army found burried out on the Plain. That's how they got in. WE ARE SO FUCKED.
*********
I will now take a moment to make my predictions about who's gonna live and who's gonna die... though there are a few characters I'm still not sure of.
NICCI- Dies. I hate to say it, but I feel like I've known since "Phantom" that she has to die. I don't think that she's gonna die at the hands of the Sisters anytime soon, though... I think she'll make it til very close to the end of the book.
RICHARD- Lives. No shit. Goodkind's entire philosophical outlook is symbolized by him. He can't die, or Goodkind is kinda invalidating himself.
KAHLAN- ???. Way I figure it, she's got about a 50/50 chance of living. Goodkind has always been keen on saving her from all sorts of death and rape and other manner of bad things, but two of the four options to Orden have her dying (one of which is EVERYONE dies, which isn't happening, but still, worth noting)... so, it's difficult to say at this point.
ZEDD- Probably lives. I can't see Goodkind killing him off. I just can't. It might happen, though... so I wouldn't bet money on this. Same with CARA.
NATHAN- Probably dies. He'll go down like a man, though.
JAGANG- Of course he's gonna die. Unless Goodkind does a complete 180 and LETS the Order win (unlikely), Jagang's going down.
ULICIA, ARMINA, JENNSEN, JILLIAN, TOM, RIKKA, ETC.- Bitches are all going down.
VERNA- It's been my prediction since forever that she would be the last one standing. However, in light of the fact that I'm calling Richard to live and most of the other minor characters to die, she might go join Warren in the spirit world. I need to read more.
What do you guys think???