Guys, guys, guys. As you so kindly reminded me last week, Richard's empthy is in fact deployed on a very consistent basis, centred on that defining core human value of hair aesthetics. It might actually be the most consistent thing about Terry's writing😂
40:48 Nah, you werent invasive, I was just trying to polish it up a bit so you didnt have all my conflicting notes. It just took a bit longer than i thought. I am a very messy note taker. Should have links tonight or tomorrow :)
It's interesting that Terry's writing is maybe the only time I've ever cried during a fiction book. Not here, but a moment in Temple of the Winds. No, not ~that~ moment. 😂. The way he can catch lightning in a bottle for a moment, then make you want to open that bottle and set the lightning on yourself the next is extraordinary.
1:11:00 The way I see it, in relation to whether Richard uses hate magic or love magic, is that until this very moment, he didn't actually know he had access to love magic. From his perspective, the sword first showed him hate magic, so he learned to recognise that feeling and control it. Before this point, even if killing for love, he did it by bringing up the hate for anyone who would hurt those he loves. This is clearly shown by the wording whenever he draws the sword - "he felt the hate of the sword" etc. Going forward, he can differentiate the two and use them as they're supposed to. The sword *introduced* itself to him through hate, so he had no reason to try any other feeling.
TG has a way of making things murky but bringing it to a decently acceptable conclusion, which is a weird take logically. Saying that, It might just be my want for a good ending... Loving the commitment to the podcast, I just feel sad that I need to wait 2 weeks for a new ep 😅 Just 1 episode to go then I'm part of the gang ❤
I think when I first read this I thought the whole Mistress thing was Richard submitting to her in "love". Like the submission was honest but it also gives him the love power to kill her. edit: the empathy thing you discussed is totally what I think it is
That’s a real good point! There’s nuance to the way you put it I didn’t really think of. Like he really IS submitting to meet her in that moment. He’s not resisting the dynamic at all which is where they are able to really see each other and connect because that’s what she requires.
52:29 The first time I saw The Rock is in Race to Witch Mountain where hes a taxi driver for aliens. Its also where the emem of him looking back in the car is from
I'm putting this on my list of miscellaneous episode ideas!! The Rock is one of the only people who could feasibly convey "don't even worry, this guy's GOT IT" energy to the extent that Chase is supposed to hahaha
Hey'o, a bit later than I thought since youtube ate the link I put in here. I now have the link to the rewrite folder in the description of my bluesky account, Ajax Cinnamonsticks, hope you like it, and any comments or criticisms are welcome!
Can we talk about how perfectly evil being educated and wicked enough to divine the kills only me option so the ultimatum of everyone dies or I become a god is? Like the peak of evil dickery added to the list of him being a perfectly hateable evil dick for misoginy and child murder Also the obsession of patriaricle wizard rulers being bad is one of the few good ideas Terry wrote imo I think he wants specifically the mother confessor because the only one male rahl heir will be a wizard and he since he didnt know Richard was his wizard progeny he wanted a confessor/wizard heir I also always interpreted Darken wanting the power of orden as power hunting power and wanting to have godlike power out of greed and ego
1:07:50 One of the themes that Goodkind goes back to in the book a few times is Richard struggling with his anger, with losing his temper, and with blaming that his mother's death on someone losing their temper. I think the scene with Princess Violet showed Richard almost-but not successfully-tapping into that empathy-power, but ultimately losing himself back to the rage-power of the sword because of his emotional response to the comment about Kahlan. If he had been able to fully master the power of empathy at that moment, I don’t think he would’ve done that to Princess Violet. So I don’t think it’s that the empathy power was so short-lived, but just that he wasn’t truly able to put aside his own anger and feel empathy towards her.
I could definitely see that. I guess my struggle is that I see zero indication as a reader that I was supposed to view that through the “oh no that was a mistake” lens or really that it was bad in any way. I don’t feel like we hint towards the idea that he regretted it and he even says a quippy gotcha catchphrase after as if it was deserved. With all the previous set up for PV (making sure the audience could not possibly like her) the scene just reads to me like fan-service intended to feel cathartic / warranted in some way and Richard was cool for doing it. Which I struggle to find cohesive with this theme lol. It’s very likely he’s trying to get across both but then it has a discordant tone for me.
1:59:40 "imagine of everything about this was absolutely different then it would be so good" the sentiments of someone in denial lmao. Idk it's almost 2am and I was gonna write this wittier but Lauren here is just making me laugh so hard
17:50 I would love a sequel series where Richard's son is a confessor, kills him and steals the sword of truth and just goes crazy from the confessor and sword rage and invades with a confessed army as the main villian
The breath of life thing also can be cpr! mord sith are the only ones that know about cpr and Richard saves someone with the breath if life cpr thing lol
Okay this is not a fleshed out thought - but is the whole Richard just picks some people that don't deserve empathy somehow like a fail on Terry to write out that Richard has some sort of evil detector in his sword magic? Like Frank mentioned a toggle, and is it possible that toggle is supposed to be magically singling out super evil people, to like illustrate that people can sometimes be in similar situations and some people end up good and some end up bad? idk if that makes sense. I've always just found that aspect of Richard so "god-like" (but like a not nice god?) where he's passing judgement on certain characters in a much different way than others. The reason I bring this up is I was dinking around on RUclips the other day and ended up watching a few of those videos that are like police body cams and show the start to finish on murder and kidnapping cases. I think they're like "true crime" genre but I usually don't watch that stuff because I freak myself out. Anyway, the point is, there are certain people I feel like you look in the eye and you're like, dang, that person is evil. With very little context or understanding of their lives. Who am I to pass judgement like that? But in a way, I think we do have a sort of primal understanding of red flags of evil. I don't know. Is that what Richard is supposed to be doing?? idk man. I gotta stop watching those videos though lol I don't handle that negative energy well.
@1:00:40 Denna not being able to capture the other side of the magic makes no sense in context of other books, especially Temple of the Winds and subsequent books. It is never adequately explained in my opinion.
Yeah it’s odd and seems like a pretty glaring oversight? And then I was like “well maybe Denna just didn’t want to capture it because she was ready to die” .. but that doesn’t jive with Darken Rahl’s whole speech about how this will definitely work and he could have done it any any time 🤔
1:59:38 even after all this time, despite the writing, I remember just loving this last part of the chapter. It may even in my opinion be the best part of all the books. It's certainly the most emotionally the high point. Except maybe the faith of the fallen statutes (with a hot tub), if I don't apply any sort of thought to them anyway.
I know we're supposed to see his eventual reunion with Kahlan (i don't remember how he spells her name so I picked my fav) as the emotional high point but I feel like he drags it out so long I forget I'm supposed to care, like a Bethesda game or later seasons of the walking dead😅. I could be wrong though, still can't bring myself to read them again.
Oh no no sister spider and the webs IS ABSOLUTELY an intentional thing he did Terry was kickin his feet giggling n shit Im a sister spider for this episode
Denna is only the first really beautiful woman he connects with on a spiritual level or whatever lol. There are a couple more over time.. They're just all his bffs, Kahlan is still number 1 lol
I’m curious how that dynamic will play out with Kahlan.. I think I’m dramatically less possessive than Kahlan has been shown to be romantically. But I still might be a little 😒 if Frank was constantly having deeply intimate relationships with ONLY bombshell women LOL. Is her reaction to that part of her arc somewhat?
@@SeekerConfessorPod I can't remember and I'm frustrated that I can't. There are moments where they get to really solidify their relationship and it's like he's SO dang in love and devoted to her. But same like if my husband was like galavanting around the countryside with his hot bffs and not with me I'd be mad even if it wasn't rational lol
Richard breaks webs in times of need (how his magic functions at least) so idk if he can break the daddy web because he doesn't realize it. But also idk why then he couldn't break enemy web
I feel like with the world altering power over all life, Rahl could just make a Confessor from scratch, to his own specifications. He’s going to unlock the boxes only to become the Elon of Orden. All the power in the world, and instead of rearranging the cosmos for good or ill, he’ll use it to go all edge lord about woke Confessors and spread anti-fire conspiracies in a bid to amass a herd of Demmin Nass’s to worship him. I feel like if Rahl can cast a spell on the perceptions of every person in the world, then he doesn’t really need the Boxes of Orden. Not the tracker cloud! Our time with Old John was the foreshadowing we didn’t know we had. We need Sister Spider t-shirts. Everything has two sides… except Princess Violet, her mom, Constance, various Mud People Elders, and the woman her served him tea at the palace with the really bad split ends. Its kind of disappointing that Rahl just gives Richard the answer to the whole puzzle for no real reason. It becomes even more disappointing that Rahl figured out two-sides, but a millennia of Seekers hoping to avoid becoming Samuel never thought that deep about it. What could the other side of anger magic be? It’s a head scratcher. But I guess if the Seekers of Old unlocked the power of love, then Richard couldn’t be the most specialist guy ever. I feel like so much of Terry’s work could be so much more interesting if he would divorce himself from the need to make Richard the paragon of everything. And he could have done something very interesting with Richard and Constance, and his hypocrisy and/or regret in how he treats her right after what happened with Denna, later when he picks up the gaggle of Mord’Sith that start following him at the end of the next book. And it could have added a layer of depth to how the Mord’Sith viewed him and his arbitrary sense of justice.
At the 45:00 ish mark im absolutely with you lauren its SO unrealistic to real life and it drives me NUTS but i think terry writing it that way checks out with absolutely everything else he espouses throughout the books. The enemy web is like yo everyone sees you as an enemy but the way they see you as an enemy is in relation to their perception of me. This to me is so indictive of the thought process of "well china bad so all Chinese people are bad because ccp is communism and communism bad therefore all china bad" when JUST LIKE RIGHT HERE IN THE US there are Chinese people who actively disagree with their government and its policies. The same can be said for USSR, Russia, Germany, USA, UK, literally any country ever. Terry's favorite logical fallacy is a sweeping generalization. He thinks that way in real life so his characters think that way in his books. The enemy is so extremely black and white for this reason.
Guys, guys, guys. As you so kindly reminded me last week, Richard's empthy is in fact deployed on a very consistent basis, centred on that defining core human value of hair aesthetics.
It might actually be the most consistent thing about Terry's writing😂
Ngl Franks Darken Rahl voice is smoother than velvet
He should do an audio book of Wizards First Rule in his Rahl voice.
@shannonheyman9727 id pay good money for an audio book narrated by Frank
@@owensoto1373 Frank come read us some bedtime stories!
@@shannonheyman9727 Voice work is an absolute dream of mine... maybe it begins here???
40:48 Nah, you werent invasive, I was just trying to polish it up a bit so you didnt have all my conflicting notes. It just took a bit longer than i thought. I am a very messy note taker. Should have links tonight or tomorrow :)
You so don’t have to rush!! Take your time, I’m happy if you send it over in a few months. WHENEVER! I look forward to it 😁
ommmgggggg you're cooking cooking
Lauren is out here picking up her tears with an eyedropper.
It's interesting that Terry's writing is maybe the only time I've ever cried during a fiction book. Not here, but a moment in Temple of the Winds. No, not ~that~ moment. 😂.
The way he can catch lightning in a bottle for a moment, then make you want to open that bottle and set the lightning on yourself the next is extraordinary.
I did and then I cried them back out ….. I’ll pick them up again next episode
I really have yet to encounter another author with such stark duality!
53:30 I'll spoil this, in the rewrite, Zedd is much more morally grey
SAY LESS!! 🙂↕️ Making my dreams come true
As almost ANY wizard worth their salt SHOULD BE! We're tugging on the weave of creation people! Morals are dubious at best!
TWO HOUR EP LETS GOOOO
I literally always think of you and how excited you get when I’m editing and I see it hit 2+ 😂♥️
@@SeekerConfessorPod Aww a little treat just for me hehe :D
You're crying because you are just nice Lauren!!
You are sweet!! 😭 My emotions can be very loud sometimes 🥲
1:11:00 The way I see it, in relation to whether Richard uses hate magic or love magic, is that until this very moment, he didn't actually know he had access to love magic. From his perspective, the sword first showed him hate magic, so he learned to recognise that feeling and control it. Before this point, even if killing for love, he did it by bringing up the hate for anyone who would hurt those he loves. This is clearly shown by the wording whenever he draws the sword - "he felt the hate of the sword" etc. Going forward, he can differentiate the two and use them as they're supposed to. The sword *introduced* itself to him through hate, so he had no reason to try any other feeling.
TG has a way of making things murky but bringing it to a decently acceptable conclusion, which is a weird take logically. Saying that, It might just be my want for a good ending...
Loving the commitment to the podcast, I just feel sad that I need to wait 2 weeks for a new ep 😅 Just 1 episode to go then I'm part of the gang ❤
Denna isn't gone forever! We'll she is but she isn't. It's complicated
OH interesting - does she become some sort of "flashback" figure in Richard's psyche? Or am I totally off base? lol
@SeekerConfessorPod I don't wanna ruin it but it's not a flashback but the underworld is involved
@CaptainAiryca omg…….. wait will I have to get a Ghost Denna costume?
@SeekerConfessorPod eeeeek maybe!!
@@SeekerConfessorPod It will just be a blue version of the same body suit
I think when I first read this I thought the whole Mistress thing was Richard submitting to her in "love". Like the submission was honest but it also gives him the love power to kill her. edit: the empathy thing you discussed is totally what I think it is
That’s a real good point! There’s nuance to the way you put it I didn’t really think of. Like he really IS submitting to meet her in that moment. He’s not resisting the dynamic at all which is where they are able to really see each other and connect because that’s what she requires.
52:29 The first time I saw The Rock is in Race to Witch Mountain where hes a taxi driver for aliens. Its also where the emem of him looking back in the car is from
Wow Ajax, this is a deep cut
Deep Rock (Ender Stone) lore.
Congrats on your first guest! Dwane "The Rock" Johnson is gonna be hard to follow 😂
We just call him Dad around here.
Since you guys are so plugged into pop culture and whatnot, I think it would be super fun to see you fancast the book. The rock has Chase Potential
Or Temuera Morrison!
I'm putting this on my list of miscellaneous episode ideas!! The Rock is one of the only people who could feasibly convey "don't even worry, this guy's GOT IT" energy to the extent that Chase is supposed to hahaha
Temura Morrison would be top tier!! @@ajaxcinnamonsticks
oh cynthia your mind
OKAY HEAR ME OUT FOLKS sir Anthony Hopkins as Zedd....if you've seen RED 2 you know where I'm at
I wanna read a rewrite of WFR!!
Ajax is saying it's coming soon.... we're definitely going to dig into it. I'm SO intrigued!
Hey'o, a bit later than I thought since youtube ate the link I put in here. I now have the link to the rewrite folder in the description of my bluesky account, Ajax Cinnamonsticks, hope you like it, and any comments or criticisms are welcome!
@@ajaxcinnamonsticks Nice!! I figured out how to get to bluesky, I can't wait to check it out when I have a chance!! Thank youuuuuu
Can we talk about how perfectly evil being educated and wicked enough to divine the kills only me option so the ultimatum of everyone dies or I become a god is? Like the peak of evil dickery added to the list of him being a perfectly hateable evil dick for misoginy and child murder
Also the obsession of patriaricle wizard rulers being bad is one of the few good ideas Terry wrote imo
I think he wants specifically the mother confessor because the only one male rahl heir will be a wizard and he since he didnt know Richard was his wizard progeny he wanted a confessor/wizard heir
I also always interpreted Darken wanting the power of orden as power hunting power and wanting to have godlike power out of greed and ego
1:07:50 One of the themes that Goodkind goes back to in the book a few times is Richard struggling with his anger, with losing his temper, and with blaming that his mother's death on someone losing their temper. I think the scene with Princess Violet showed Richard almost-but not successfully-tapping into that empathy-power, but ultimately losing himself back to the rage-power of the sword because of his emotional response to the comment about Kahlan. If he had been able to fully master the power of empathy at that moment, I don’t think he would’ve done that to Princess Violet. So I don’t think it’s that the empathy power was so short-lived, but just that he wasn’t truly able to put aside his own anger and feel empathy towards her.
I could definitely see that. I guess my struggle is that I see zero indication as a reader that I was supposed to view that through the “oh no that was a mistake” lens or really that it was bad in any way. I don’t feel like we hint towards the idea that he regretted it and he even says a quippy gotcha catchphrase after as if it was deserved.
With all the previous set up for PV (making sure the audience could not possibly like her) the scene just reads to me like fan-service intended to feel cathartic / warranted in some way and Richard was cool for doing it. Which I struggle to find cohesive with this theme lol. It’s very likely he’s trying to get across both but then it has a discordant tone for me.
Glow sticks are a really good preparedness item, put some in your go bags! Never know when you need an agiel! 😂
I have been saying this
1:59:40 "imagine of everything about this was absolutely different then it would be so good" the sentiments of someone in denial lmao. Idk it's almost 2am and I was gonna write this wittier but Lauren here is just making me laugh so hard
Lmaoooo WELL WHEN YOU PUT IT LIKE THAT..! 😭😂😂
17:50 I would love a sequel series where Richard's son is a confessor, kills him and steals the sword of truth and just goes crazy from the confessor and sword rage and invades with a confessed army as the main villian
IT IS A GREAT IDEA FOR A SEQUEL IM JUST SAYING IN CASE ANYONE WANTS TO WRITE IT...............
@@FrankAlbergo if I finish the main series I may have an idea for a sequel book and it may involve Richard kicking the bucket through patricide ;)
2:02:20 I agree with Frank: we want to see your reactions!
The breath of life thing also can be cpr! mord sith are the only ones that know about cpr and Richard saves someone with the breath if life cpr thing lol
1:56:57 In Istanbul, they have a Hungarian sword in a museaum that is nearly 9 feet long
Lets goooo
It's been a long 2 weeks waiting for this!!! Happy Tuesday!!
Okay this is not a fleshed out thought - but is the whole Richard just picks some people that don't deserve empathy somehow like a fail on Terry to write out that Richard has some sort of evil detector in his sword magic? Like Frank mentioned a toggle, and is it possible that toggle is supposed to be magically singling out super evil people, to like illustrate that people can sometimes be in similar situations and some people end up good and some end up bad? idk if that makes sense. I've always just found that aspect of Richard so "god-like" (but like a not nice god?) where he's passing judgement on certain characters in a much different way than others. The reason I bring this up is I was dinking around on RUclips the other day and ended up watching a few of those videos that are like police body cams and show the start to finish on murder and kidnapping cases. I think they're like "true crime" genre but I usually don't watch that stuff because I freak myself out. Anyway, the point is, there are certain people I feel like you look in the eye and you're like, dang, that person is evil. With very little context or understanding of their lives. Who am I to pass judgement like that? But in a way, I think we do have a sort of primal understanding of red flags of evil. I don't know. Is that what Richard is supposed to be doing?? idk man. I gotta stop watching those videos though lol I don't handle that negative energy well.
I associate the Rock with a poster of an action movie where he's all like dirty and sweaty but I'm not sure what movie. Maui is close second haha
😂😂 Honestly same .. my brain is like, he’s uhhh doing action things? He’s fighting? He has a gun?
He's usually blasting and punching so this is pretty accurate!
@1:00:40 Denna not being able to capture the other side of the magic makes no sense in context of other books, especially Temple of the Winds and subsequent books. It is never adequately explained in my opinion.
Yeah it’s odd and seems like a pretty glaring oversight? And then I was like “well maybe Denna just didn’t want to capture it because she was ready to die” .. but that doesn’t jive with Darken Rahl’s whole speech about how this will definitely work and he could have done it any any time 🤔
1:59:38 even after all this time, despite the writing, I remember just loving this last part of the chapter. It may even in my opinion be the best part of all the books. It's certainly the most emotionally the high point. Except maybe the faith of the fallen statutes (with a hot tub), if I don't apply any sort of thought to them anyway.
I know we're supposed to see his eventual reunion with Kahlan (i don't remember how he spells her name so I picked my fav) as the emotional high point but I feel like he drags it out so long I forget I'm supposed to care, like a Bethesda game or later seasons of the walking dead😅. I could be wrong though, still can't bring myself to read them again.
Also I feel so old for saying this but I can smell what the rock is cooking 😂
Oh no no sister spider and the webs IS ABSOLUTELY an intentional thing he did
Terry was kickin his feet giggling n shit
Im a sister spider for this episode
Okay I’m sorrry but I was kind of impressed by this discovery 🫠
Denna is only the first really beautiful woman he connects with on a spiritual level or whatever lol. There are a couple more over time.. They're just all his bffs, Kahlan is still number 1 lol
I’m curious how that dynamic will play out with Kahlan.. I think I’m dramatically less possessive than Kahlan has been shown to be romantically. But I still might be a little 😒 if Frank was constantly having deeply intimate relationships with ONLY bombshell women LOL. Is her reaction to that part of her arc somewhat?
@@SeekerConfessorPod I can't remember and I'm frustrated that I can't. There are moments where they get to really solidify their relationship and it's like he's SO dang in love and devoted to her. But same like if my husband was like galavanting around the countryside with his hot bffs and not with me I'd be mad even if it wasn't rational lol
I don't cry much at books but honestly I'm so mad at Terry how I get attached to these inconsistent characters lol.
1:20 Just wait until you meet Nadine ;)
💀
Richard breaks webs in times of need (how his magic functions at least) so idk if he can break the daddy web because he doesn't realize it. But also idk why then he couldn't break enemy web
I feel like with the world altering power over all life, Rahl could just make a Confessor from scratch, to his own specifications. He’s going to unlock the boxes only to become the Elon of Orden. All the power in the world, and instead of rearranging the cosmos for good or ill, he’ll use it to go all edge lord about woke Confessors and spread anti-fire conspiracies in a bid to amass a herd of Demmin Nass’s to worship him.
I feel like if Rahl can cast a spell on the perceptions of every person in the world, then he doesn’t really need the Boxes of Orden.
Not the tracker cloud!
Our time with Old John was the foreshadowing we didn’t know we had. We need Sister Spider t-shirts.
Everything has two sides… except Princess Violet, her mom, Constance, various Mud People Elders, and the woman her served him tea at the palace with the really bad split ends.
Its kind of disappointing that Rahl just gives Richard the answer to the whole puzzle for no real reason. It becomes even more disappointing that Rahl figured out two-sides, but a millennia of Seekers hoping to avoid becoming Samuel never thought that deep about it. What could the other side of anger magic be? It’s a head scratcher. But I guess if the Seekers of Old unlocked the power of love, then Richard couldn’t be the most specialist guy ever.
I feel like so much of Terry’s work could be so much more interesting if he would divorce himself from the need to make Richard the paragon of everything.
And he could have done something very interesting with Richard and Constance, and his hypocrisy and/or regret in how he treats her right after what happened with Denna, later when he picks up the gaggle of Mord’Sith that start following him at the end of the next book. And it could have added a layer of depth to how the Mord’Sith viewed him and his arbitrary sense of justice.
I am chosing to believe there /are/ 400 glow sticks
At the 45:00 ish mark im absolutely with you lauren its SO unrealistic to real life and it drives me NUTS but i think terry writing it that way checks out with absolutely everything else he espouses throughout the books.
The enemy web is like yo everyone sees you as an enemy but the way they see you as an enemy is in relation to their perception of me.
This to me is so indictive of the thought process of "well china bad so all Chinese people are bad because ccp is communism and communism bad therefore all china bad" when JUST LIKE RIGHT HERE IN THE US there are Chinese people who actively disagree with their government and its policies. The same can be said for USSR, Russia, Germany, USA, UK, literally any country ever.
Terry's favorite logical fallacy is a sweeping generalization. He thinks that way in real life so his characters think that way in his books. The enemy is so extremely black and white for this reason.
THERE IS ALWAYS A JANITOR
Could it be calling her "mistress" removes her personhood?