OOOH.....Darla dead without explaining the mystery...my nightmares have come true!!! And with only two chapters left,it seems this will be shortest denouement so far :( :( :(
Which brings me back to speculating...Why she did it? It is obvious that coin is meant to be a token of some sort...and since she didn't mind sacrificing herself, it is not something she wants or needs. The confederacy sends a child every seven years.....hmm...what if she were trying to protect someone..... maybe her other little sister that we have seen? But why would the confederacy send one of the elite's daughters as a sacrifice? Initially I had assumed that Darla, being cursed, was unaware of Alexandra's sacrifice, and the fact that the deathly regiment did not need one more child. but then I remembered that the body bind curse, while removing the subjects motility, does nothing to his/her consciousness. So Darla knew full well what she was getting into.Now, this seriously doesn't tie up with my pet theory above...Idle speculating apart, great chapter(
( ... )
Re: Spoiler alart
anonymous
June 7 2010, 11:19:14 UTC
All indications seem to be that Darla was pretty much going it alone. It seems somewhat plausible that the Confederation planned on making her sister the sacrifice, she found out somehow, and went on a two-year mission to save her.
As for why one of the Elect's daughters would be chosen...I believe Inverarity posted a short Thorn family tree a while ago, with the most notable part being the Thorn daughter that married a "Dearborn." Now, purebloods (and especially Elects) presumably intermarry a lot so they're probably all related to each other to a certain extent, but perhaps them being particularly close played a factor.
For all we know, Darla's parents were in the Thorn Circle, and the Confederation wanted to punish them... Now that we've found out they started sacrificing kids every 7 years so they could oppress Native Americans easier, pretty much anything goes with them.
Re: Spoiler alart
anonymous
June 7 2010, 17:58:24 UTC
hmm....if Darla's parents were in the Thorn circle, then the confederacy would most likely not have come to know of it till Abraham Thorn granted Alexandra the boon...but Darla's crusade seems to have begun more than a year before that..so...
And I am stumped as to her animosity towards Alexandra...especially the throwing of the killing curse during the duel in seventh grade... maybe she had foreseen Alexandra would do something to stop her? Still it seemed too stupid for her... Aaargh...Darla's whole behaviour seems to be dancing zigzagging wave of contradictions!!!
Re: Spoiler alart
anonymous
June 7 2010, 21:17:40 UTC
That's not necessarily the case. Not all members of the Thorn Circle escaped after the assassination attempt, after all--perhaps they were caught, but the Confederacy didn't want to execute them since they were Elect, so they decided to punish them by killing one of their daughters instead. Insanely evil, yes, but again: they started sacrificing children so they could oppress Native Americans easier.
I think Darla was probably telling the truth when she said she was just trying to scare Alex, and not kill her, in seventh grade. I mean, seriously: even she must have known that killing someone in full view of like 100 people was a BAD idea.
Two observations. One: God only knows how poor Nat will feel, but Alex has kept her word to him. She has actually brought Darla and Innocence back safe and sound; it was only after she had been returned to Charmbridge that Darla committed suicide. Two: it would be the most atrocious irony conceivable if it turned out that Alex' deathly coin had closed the passage and made the sacrifice of further children impossible. Darla would have given herself up in vain.
Quite a climax
anonymous
June 7 2010, 21:57:26 UTC
Well done, sir! Exciting, yet not [absurdly] infeasible resolution to what has been going on. Regiment being a procedure and not a military corps was a genius red herring.
Darla's self-sacrifice is ironic. Alex was re-giving Max to Death to satisfy the deathly regiment, which was apparently satisfied by the void closing. Darla didn't understand that the coin *was* Max and only knew that no sacrifice passed through the void. She fulfilled the terms of her orders(?) by sacrificing herself completely unnecessarily as Death has been satisfied with Max/coin.
Seven years.. coincidence that it coincides with the next sacrifice? Alex won't be a child then, so I wonder if 1) a sacrifice will be required or 2) the Generous Ones are permanently satisfied by then.
I still don't understand how/why Darla stunned Alex in the basement when she meant to use the time turner. What was up with that?
Comments 53
Which brings me back to speculating...Why she did it? It is obvious that coin is meant to be a token of some sort...and since she didn't mind sacrificing herself, it is not something she wants or needs. The confederacy sends a child every seven years.....hmm...what if she were trying to protect someone..... maybe her other little sister that we have seen? But why would the confederacy send one of the elite's daughters as a sacrifice? Initially I had assumed that Darla, being cursed, was unaware of Alexandra's sacrifice, and the fact that the deathly regiment did not need one more child. but then I remembered that the body bind curse, while removing the subjects motility, does nothing to his/her consciousness. So Darla knew full well what she was getting into.Now, this seriously doesn't tie up with my pet theory above...Idle speculating apart, great chapter( ( ... )
Reply
As for why one of the Elect's daughters would be chosen...I believe Inverarity posted a short Thorn family tree a while ago, with the most notable part being the Thorn daughter that married a "Dearborn." Now, purebloods (and especially Elects) presumably intermarry a lot so they're probably all related to each other to a certain extent, but perhaps them being particularly close played a factor.
For all we know, Darla's parents were in the Thorn Circle, and the Confederation wanted to punish them... Now that we've found out they started sacrificing kids every 7 years so they could oppress Native Americans easier, pretty much anything goes with them.
-TealTerror
Reply
And I am stumped as to her animosity towards Alexandra...especially the throwing of the killing curse during the duel in seventh grade... maybe she had foreseen Alexandra would do something to stop her? Still it seemed too stupid for her... Aaargh...Darla's whole behaviour seems to be dancing zigzagging wave of contradictions!!!
Reply
I think Darla was probably telling the truth when she said she was just trying to scare Alex, and not kill her, in seventh grade. I mean, seriously: even she must have known that killing someone in full view of like 100 people was a BAD idea.
-TealTerror
Reply
-TealTerror
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One: God only knows how poor Nat will feel, but Alex has kept her word to him. She has actually brought Darla and Innocence back safe and sound; it was only after she had been returned to Charmbridge that Darla committed suicide.
Two: it would be the most atrocious irony conceivable if it turned out that Alex' deathly coin had closed the passage and made the sacrifice of further children impossible. Darla would have given herself up in vain.
Reply
Darla's self-sacrifice is ironic. Alex was re-giving Max to Death to satisfy the deathly regiment, which was apparently satisfied by the void closing. Darla didn't understand that the coin *was* Max and only knew that no sacrifice passed through the void. She fulfilled the terms of her orders(?) by sacrificing herself completely unnecessarily as Death has been satisfied with Max/coin.
Seven years.. coincidence that it coincides with the next sacrifice? Alex won't be a child then, so I wonder if 1) a sacrifice will be required or 2) the Generous Ones are permanently satisfied by then.
I still don't understand how/why Darla stunned Alex in the basement when she meant to use the time turner. What was up with that?
On with the rehashing and resolution!
--merkin
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-So this is real life...
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-So this is real life
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-Jesse
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