| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

Unresolved Threads

Page history last edited by Tim 17 years, 7 months ago

Back to Literary Criticism


 

Unresolved Threads

 

There are many plotline that never get satisfactorilly summed up throughout the series. For some, this was author Tycho Brahe brilliantly allowing us to fill in the gaps, or solve the mysteries based on obscure clues left throughout the series.

 

For others, this only fuels the controversy over whether or not Brahe wrote the series on his own (Single Author Theory), or not (FfaTTBE).

 

Listed here by book are some of the more interesting unresolved plotlines throughout the series, as well as some theories and debate over them.

 

Book 1

 

Book 2

 

Book 3

Zr'tal Malven follows High Culimancer Bertrick for most of the first half of the book, appearing as though he is plotting sinisterly. Malven's last appearance is him sneaking into the darkened chamber where Bertrick has torn up the pages of the recipe to the Casserole of Calamitous Augury.

 

Book 4

 

Book 5

 

Book 6

 

Book 7

 

The Disappearance of the Holy Hoagie

 

Book 7 makes passing reference to the disappearance of The Holy Hoagie, the existence of which had been previously discussed in Book 5. The Holy Hoagie is never mentioned again in the series; it's fate, and if it was really of any importance, is left a mystery.

 

Most fans are unconcered with this particular loose end.

 

Book 8

 

Book 9

 

Book 10

 

The Recliner of Botany and Guddboy Lad

 

One of the more interesting Furniliars in Book 10 is the Recliner of Botany, who never appears at the same time as Guddboy Lad. This mystery was confounded by the fact that Guddboy Lad and the Recliner of Botany seem to each have information that the other would have learned, but they themselves were never present to learn themselves.

 

This link was never explained. Some believe is was simply bad editing, others thought that Guddboy Lad and the Recliner of Botany may have been the same person... which makes little sense as one is human, and the other a recliner.

 

The most common belief is that the Recliner of Botany and Guddboy Lad shared some kind of psychic link from their past. This theory has been deeply explored in various Fan Fiction offerings, but no official answer was ever stated. Another explanation is simply that Guddboy Lad was afflicted with Furnithropy, although most fans acknowledge that this explaination would be patently absurd so it has never been put forth as a serious explaination, even in fan fiction.

 

Book 11

 

The Fate of The Eight Elemental Contstructs

 

Book 11 introduces us to The Eight Elemental Constructs, and a great deal is made out of how epic and powerful they are. But as the Hierarch Wars wrap up in Book 12, only three of them are dealt with "on camera". The Ambulatator, Skullmar and Black Flame are the only three that are defeated. This has led to a great deal of speculation on what became of the other five Constructs.

 

A great deal of Fan Fiction has been written in an effort to tie up this loose end, but ultimately there is very little canonical information that tells us of their ultimate fate.

 

Ubrith, Jarvelos and Spiral Doom

 

Books 10 through 12 of the series detail the infamous Hierarch Wars, but the completeness of the plotlines is very questionable, and the best example is this particular thread. The Story of Ubrith, Jarvelos and Spiral Doom is quite probably one of the most famous unresolved plots in the series.

 

Early in Book 11, the Dark Elemenstors unleash The Eight Elemental Constructs. The first of these we meet is Spiral Doom, and the Construct of Air engages in a rather epic battle with Elemenstors Ubrith and Jarvelos. Alas, Jarvelos is killed, and Spiral Doom escapes.

 

Ubrith vows to avenge her falled lover, Jarvelos, and spends the rest of Book 11 on a personal quest of vengeance. Indeed, entire chapters are devoted to her search, and she became one of the more popular characters in the series. Unfortunately, Book 12 never resolves the plotline. Ubrith and Spiral Doom don't even appear in the final book of the Hierarch Wars, and we are left wondering what became of them.

 

Like so many of the unresolved threads, the fans have tried to speculate on what became of Ubrith, but there is no official canon as to her ultimate fate.

 

Book 12

 

Book !3

 

Discussion

Comments (1)

Anonymous said

at 3:23 am on Jun 25, 2006

crimethink: part of the guddboy lad joke is that it's pretty obvious that implied furnithropy is what the author of the book was going for but the fan base is completely unable or unwilling to pick up on it

You don't have permission to comment on this page.