torroar said:
Also, Bretonnia did have a big moment? They took down Gazgan the Pillager in a huge deathblow to an Idol IIRC, lots of pomp and circ*mstance and aerial charges and grail knights and everything. Also the Fay Enchantress encounters with Roland. So...yeah. They had the Parravon thing, too, sure, but overall, Mousillon is its own problem that canonically is just crap in a basket.
I was just about to say this, before I saw that you replied already. Also, besides the war against Gazgan, which pertained to Bretonnia on a larger scale, we also have had individual Bretonnians with some great moments in the quest. The most obvious example of this is Roland, who, even if he has been very unlucky with not finding the grail so far, otherwise is one of the most accomplished questing knights ever, considering just how much of the world he has travelled across, and how much evil he has vanquished.
Then there are the whitewings, who very much are Bretonnian, even if they don´t fit its traditional framework. They have been distinguished mercenaries who, together with Roland during the battle of Salkalten, managed to kill a huge black dragon and its rider, without losing any of their members during that fight in return. Even afterwards, they were very important during the arial battle, and seemed to have given a good showing off-screen during fight above the Tor of Dominance, even if that cost them most of their members.
While Jacqueline very much is shell-shocked due to the loss of her comrades, I do hope, that, if she manages to get off the Ark alive, she will very much be reminded that their sacrifice had meaning, and that they, both bastards and women, have helped deal a larger blow to Druchii forces than any Bretonnian force has ever managed to. As Torroar has pointed out before, Dreadbringer´s death means that his many victims throughout the millenia have finally been avenged.
Speaking of Roland and the Whitewings, I loved his ruminations about them and other women like Repanse during the most recent chapter. It showcased his chivalry, his huge openminded-ness by Bretonnian standards and the humbleness/wisdom his experience and trials have given him:
torroar said:
Yes, indeed, he was so very much older now. Like a stone, worn by the river of life and conflict, or perhaps a piece of vellum stretched to its limits and was now threatening to stretch even further to tearing. Old enough to think much on Repanse de Lyonesse. On the lady knights of the Empire, of Tilea, of Estalia, of Tiger Generals and Admirals and Captains and more. Had the Lady retracted her blessing from him for consorting with a woman who proclaimed herself a knight of Bretonnia and the Lady? No. She had not. Not throughout the entire battle at Salkalten. Did he dare presume to imagine that he had seen some form of that blessing conferred unto the Whitewings themselves, or had he been simply distracted by the rest of the fighting, by dehydration and pain and bloodloss? He did not know. As the years stretched on before him, he had come to know that he in fact knew less and less than he had thought in his youth.
All he knew was his dreams of the Grail, the pursuit of justice and good in a world beset so dearly by darkness.
I truly hope that he will manage to find the grail in the end. (Torroar, are you still rolling for that in the background of the quest?)
It was also nice to see his perspective on Hultressa:
torroar said:
Here was quite possibly the most deplorable of allies he had ever made, one that he was not entirely certain would taint those around her irrevocably on presence and essence alone. He had heard Natasha describe what she looked like to those with the aethyric senses to tell, and even without it there was a steady thrum of power that emanated from her like did from all powerful wielders of magic.
Both his and Natasha´s perspective´s shows how hilarious/ridiculous it is to what degree Frederick and Hultressa have come to an understanding and, even have managed to subconsciously bond somewhat:
torroar said:
You snort, working to clean out your hair a bit more by literally squeezing and pulling on it as if it were a cloth.
"How dare the mighty Sorceresses, unrivalled mistresses of magic, reality-weavers and reality-breakers, be reduced to simply making plants grow?" You pitch your voice high and take the haughtiest tone you can imitate – a mixture of Hultressa herself and a certain Queen in the Woods.
Hultressa lets out a rusty bark of a laugh, something that even she jerks and cuts off as if surprised at the sound and sensation of it escaping her.
Do take note that, in the above quote, we see them both comfortable enough for Frederick to make such a joke and for the (rightfully) insanely paranoid Hultressa to surprise herself by actually laughing at it! Back when Spikes, Horns and Stone 6 came out, no reader would´ve believed this that this could´ve been possible!
The only reason that this could even happen, was due to a combination of several things. Both of them being pragmatic enough to quickly find a way to be sure of each others intentions, Frederick´s sympathy and care for Gwendolyn, the fact they share some similarities, and the fact that even the older and now religious Frederick still is way more unconventional/flexible than most people in the empire. This probably could never have happened if his son Magnus had been in his position.
Of course, we still see Frederick rightfully feeling intensely uncomfortable about certain things she did/does, but that still doesn´t detract from how they´ve come to trust each other.
