![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rainwatersparkMore mini-updates: added something to the deconstruction for Chapter 26. Also, I know I mentioned the epithet thing in Chapter 40, but apparently it appeared much earlier in the book and I just wasn't paying enough attention. At some point I'll go back and edit that.
Last time on Throne of Glass, Celaena suddenly figured a bunch of stuff out Because The Plot Said So.
Cain.
Come on, this is just sloppy.
There has been NO indication up to this point that Cain was improving unusually during the competition. I can’t tell whether this is a retcon/bad plotting, or just terrible setup.
So Cain controls the ridderak via Wyrdmarks. Celaena tries to get the hell out of there.
She froze, but as she did so, a massive wind shoved into her from behind, making her stagger into the room.
A massive wind appeared out of nowhere? Wow, that’s random as hell.
At least say she stepped on something that made a noise. That may be more cliché, but it makes more sense than a wind that just appeared out of nowhere.
Cain disarms Celaena and then locks her in with the ridderak. I guess we can excuse that if Cain has supernatural speed by now, but that fact just…still seems retconny as hell.
And Elena—Elena said someone wanted her in the tomb, to see…to see what?
What the hell? How does Celaena suddenly know this? Is this book just throwing logic completely out the window?
Celaena gets the ridderak to smash a hole in the locked door, which is actually pretty smart, and escapes through the hole. She thinks to herself that someone “knew this would happen” and Elena wanted her to find this all out and survive.
But…why? How does Celaena know this??
I thought I’d already seen the full extent of terrible plotting in this book. Instead, now we’re adding “protagonist suddenly gets forcefed revelations from nowhere” to our list of Everything Wrong With The Plotting In Throne of Glass.
Celaena gets to the tomb and finds Damaris, the “sword of the ancient king” and uses it to kill the ridderak.
…
So here’s where I can’t really offer a fair opinion because I completely forgot that she’d seen the sword during her first trip to the tomb, but I still find it hard to believe that she remembered all this while running for her life.
That was why they’d brought her to the tomb on Samhuinn, wasn’t it? So she could see Damaris, and have a way to save herself?
HOW DID SHE KNOW THIS???
It’s a HUGE leap in reasoning to go “ghost queen must’ve brought me to the tomb for a reason that’s relevant now” to “she also clearly intended for me to find the ridderak” to “oh, it’s because she was telling me to use the sword in the tomb to kill the ridderak!!!”
The hell???
Also, why was the queen so freaking cryptic? Was there a reason she couldn’t straight-up tell Celaena all this information?? It certainly would’ve been a lot safer, considering how Celaena’s odds of dying against the ridderak were about a million to one (if not infinity to one).
Celaena goes back to her room, and she’s still bleeding from where the ridderak had bitten her hand when she stabbed it.
The wound hadn’t clotted
I don’t even have any medical knowledge and I know that wounds don’t clot within minutes. (Unless it took her an hour to get back to her room; the book has never stated how much time it takes for her to explore the secret passage and return.)
And now I’m going to rant about how Celaena is the least realistic assassin ever once again.
Logically, assassins shouldn’t be masters of poisons or killing machines who can pick up any weapon ever invented and use it like a pro. You know what assassins should know, though? HOW TO TREAT WOUNDS.
It’s reasonable to expect that assassins are at a high risk of injury while doing their jobs. I mean, ideally they wouldn’t be, they will do everything possible to try not to be, but it’s a worst-case scenario that can and probably will happen at some point. They should really know basic EMT stuff like what to do if they’re bleeding or have a broken bone.
I don’t even have any medical knowledge and FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, I KNOW THAT IF YOU’RE BLEEDING, YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO APPLY PRESSURE TO THE WOUND.
Celaena is the most incompetent assassin ever, so none of this occurs to her. She’s about to pass out from blood loss when Nehemia magically appears and uses magic to heal her before Celaena passes out.
How convenient!
Chapter 43
Celaena was healed because of Nehemia’s magic. Wait, didn’t the book establish that magic had died out? And yet Celaena isn’t curious at all about how/why Nehemia knows magic??
Book, what is consistency.
wiggled her fingers to ensure no nerves had been severed.
So Celaena knows what nerves are but didn’t know she was supposed to apply pressure to make a wound stop bleeding?? I don’t even.
Nehemia demands to know everything, so Celaena finally tells her about her true identity, her ordeal at Endovier, and how she had no choice except to participate in the competition to become the King’s Champion.
Nehemia says she was hurt that Celaena wasn’t forthcoming because Celaena was her “dearest friend.” Um, okay, Book, if you say so. If I’d just learned that someone I considered a friend wasn’t who they said they were, even if they had a “good” reason, and was actually a notorious and unrepentant assassin, I’d reevaluate whether that person was actually my friend or not, let alone “dearest” friend.
But you did not let the mines harden you; you did not let it shame your soul into cruelty.”
…
Is this statement really implying what I think it is?
That if you undergo slavery, hardship, and torture, you will “turn evil”??
WHAT THE HELL, BOOK???!
This is ridiculous from a common sense standpoint and uncomfortably close to victim-blaming.
…I can’t even. I just can’t.
WTF, BOOK??!!
Nehemia gives Celaena a name, “Elentiya,” “Spirit That Could Not Be Broken.” I have no idea why; it just adds to Celaena’s exceptionalism. Is this a cultural thing and supposed to be a really momentous act? I have no idea, because the book has told us absolutely zero about Eyllwe culture.
Anyway, Nehemia originally asked her why her hand was injured, and Celaena doesn’t answer but Nehemia doesn’t ask again. Right, because nothing says unconditional friendship like your “dearest friend” failing to answer why you had to save her life.
The next day, Celaena runs into Chaol, who’s still sour about the fact that she danced with Dorian at the ball, because we haven’t beaten this love triangle drama to death yet.
“I didn’t need you to watch me from the start.”
This passage is inexcusably vague. It took me several re-reads to realize that what the author probably meant was that Celaena might fail and go back to Endovier, but my first instinct was that Celaena said she was willingly going back to Endovier (which made no sense). It literally would’ve taken 4 additional words to clarify that.
Chaol warns her about getting involved with Dorian because we STILL haven’t beaten this love triangle drama into the ground yet.
We learn that Celaena likes epic poetry because “Epic poetry isn’t boring—or pretentious.”
WHAT. THE. HELL.
EPIC POETRY IS THE DEFINITION OF BORING AND PRETENTIOUS TO MOST PEOPLE EXCEPT ENGLISH MAJORS AND CLASSICS ENTHUSIASTS
THERE ARE ENTIRE COLLEGE AND GRADUATE COURSES DEVOTED TO TRYING TO UNDERSTAND EPIC POETRY
THERE IS NO. REASON. THAT CELAENA SHOULD BE ABLE TO READ, UNDERSTAND, APPRECIATE, AND ENJOY EPIC POETRY
I AM ABOUT TO HAVE A RAGE-INDUCED ANEURYSM
…
The chapter ends with the king of Adarlan appearing out of nowhere.
Last time on Throne of Glass, Celaena suddenly figured a bunch of stuff out Because The Plot Said So.
Chapter 42
Cain.
The person who’d gotten stronger and better as the competition went on. She’d thought it was his training, but…it was because he’d been using the Wyrdmarks and the beast they summoned to steal the dead Champions’ strength.
Come on, this is just sloppy.
There has been NO indication up to this point that Cain was improving unusually during the competition. I can’t tell whether this is a retcon/bad plotting, or just terrible setup.
So Cain controls the ridderak via Wyrdmarks. Celaena tries to get the hell out of there.
She froze, but as she did so, a massive wind shoved into her from behind, making her stagger into the room.
A massive wind appeared out of nowhere? Wow, that’s random as hell.
At least say she stepped on something that made a noise. That may be more cliché, but it makes more sense than a wind that just appeared out of nowhere.
Cain disarms Celaena and then locks her in with the ridderak. I guess we can excuse that if Cain has supernatural speed by now, but that fact just…still seems retconny as hell.
And Elena—Elena said someone wanted her in the tomb, to see…to see what?
And then she knew.
The answer lay on her right—the right passageway, the passage that led to the tomb a few levels below.
What the hell? How does Celaena suddenly know this? Is this book just throwing logic completely out the window?
Celaena gets the ridderak to smash a hole in the locked door, which is actually pretty smart, and escapes through the hole. She thinks to herself that someone “knew this would happen” and Elena wanted her to find this all out and survive.
But…why? How does Celaena know this??
I thought I’d already seen the full extent of terrible plotting in this book. Instead, now we’re adding “protagonist suddenly gets forcefed revelations from nowhere” to our list of Everything Wrong With The Plotting In Throne of Glass.
Celaena gets to the tomb and finds Damaris, the “sword of the ancient king” and uses it to kill the ridderak.
…
So here’s where I can’t really offer a fair opinion because I completely forgot that she’d seen the sword during her first trip to the tomb, but I still find it hard to believe that she remembered all this while running for her life.
That was why they’d brought her to the tomb on Samhuinn, wasn’t it? So she could see Damaris, and have a way to save herself?
HOW DID SHE KNOW THIS???
It’s a HUGE leap in reasoning to go “ghost queen must’ve brought me to the tomb for a reason that’s relevant now” to “she also clearly intended for me to find the ridderak” to “oh, it’s because she was telling me to use the sword in the tomb to kill the ridderak!!!”
The hell???
Also, why was the queen so freaking cryptic? Was there a reason she couldn’t straight-up tell Celaena all this information?? It certainly would’ve been a lot safer, considering how Celaena’s odds of dying against the ridderak were about a million to one (if not infinity to one).
Celaena goes back to her room, and she’s still bleeding from where the ridderak had bitten her hand when she stabbed it.
The wound hadn’t clotted
I don’t even have any medical knowledge and I know that wounds don’t clot within minutes. (Unless it took her an hour to get back to her room; the book has never stated how much time it takes for her to explore the secret passage and return.)
And now I’m going to rant about how Celaena is the least realistic assassin ever once again.
Logically, assassins shouldn’t be masters of poisons or killing machines who can pick up any weapon ever invented and use it like a pro. You know what assassins should know, though? HOW TO TREAT WOUNDS.
It’s reasonable to expect that assassins are at a high risk of injury while doing their jobs. I mean, ideally they wouldn’t be, they will do everything possible to try not to be, but it’s a worst-case scenario that can and probably will happen at some point. They should really know basic EMT stuff like what to do if they’re bleeding or have a broken bone.
I don’t even have any medical knowledge and FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, I KNOW THAT IF YOU’RE BLEEDING, YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO APPLY PRESSURE TO THE WOUND.
Celaena is the most incompetent assassin ever, so none of this occurs to her. She’s about to pass out from blood loss when Nehemia magically appears and uses magic to heal her before Celaena passes out.
How convenient!
Chapter 43
Celaena was healed because of Nehemia’s magic. Wait, didn’t the book establish that magic had died out? And yet Celaena isn’t curious at all about how/why Nehemia knows magic??
Book, what is consistency.
wiggled her fingers to ensure no nerves had been severed.
So Celaena knows what nerves are but didn’t know she was supposed to apply pressure to make a wound stop bleeding?? I don’t even.
Nehemia demands to know everything, so Celaena finally tells her about her true identity, her ordeal at Endovier, and how she had no choice except to participate in the competition to become the King’s Champion.
Nehemia says she was hurt that Celaena wasn’t forthcoming because Celaena was her “dearest friend.” Um, okay, Book, if you say so. If I’d just learned that someone I considered a friend wasn’t who they said they were, even if they had a “good” reason, and was actually a notorious and unrepentant assassin, I’d reevaluate whether that person was actually my friend or not, let alone “dearest” friend.
But you did not let the mines harden you; you did not let it shame your soul into cruelty.”
…
Is this statement really implying what I think it is?
That if you undergo slavery, hardship, and torture, you will “turn evil”??
WHAT THE HELL, BOOK???!
This is ridiculous from a common sense standpoint and uncomfortably close to victim-blaming.
…I can’t even. I just can’t.
WTF, BOOK??!!
Nehemia gives Celaena a name, “Elentiya,” “Spirit That Could Not Be Broken.” I have no idea why; it just adds to Celaena’s exceptionalism. Is this a cultural thing and supposed to be a really momentous act? I have no idea, because the book has told us absolutely zero about Eyllwe culture.
Anyway, Nehemia originally asked her why her hand was injured, and Celaena doesn’t answer but Nehemia doesn’t ask again. Right, because nothing says unconditional friendship like your “dearest friend” failing to answer why you had to save her life.
The next day, Celaena runs into Chaol, who’s still sour about the fact that she danced with Dorian at the ball, because we haven’t beaten this love triangle drama to death yet.
“I didn’t need you to watch me from the start.”
He shrugged. “Now I know you’re not going anywhere.”
Outside, a howling wind kicked up a flurry of snow, sending a sparkling wave into the air. “I could go back to Endovier.”
“You won’t.”
“How do you know that?”
This passage is inexcusably vague. It took me several re-reads to realize that what the author probably meant was that Celaena might fail and go back to Endovier, but my first instinct was that Celaena said she was willingly going back to Endovier (which made no sense). It literally would’ve taken 4 additional words to clarify that.
Chaol warns her about getting involved with Dorian because we STILL haven’t beaten this love triangle drama into the ground yet.
In the next scene, we have…a weird mood whiplash. Celaena had just argued with Chaol about Dorian, but after they spar (and they’re sparring because…reasons?), everything’s fine and dandy between them again.
We learn that Celaena likes epic poetry because “Epic poetry isn’t boring—or pretentious.”
WHAT. THE. HELL.
EPIC POETRY IS THE DEFINITION OF BORING AND PRETENTIOUS TO MOST PEOPLE EXCEPT ENGLISH MAJORS AND CLASSICS ENTHUSIASTS
THERE ARE ENTIRE COLLEGE AND GRADUATE COURSES DEVOTED TO TRYING TO UNDERSTAND EPIC POETRY
THERE IS NO. REASON. THAT CELAENA SHOULD BE ABLE TO READ, UNDERSTAND, APPRECIATE, AND ENJOY EPIC POETRY
I AM ABOUT TO HAVE A RAGE-INDUCED ANEURYSM
…
The chapter ends with the king of Adarlan appearing out of nowhere.
