History Awesome / HeraldsOfValdemar

* The final defeat of Ma'ar in his incarnation as Mornelithe Falconsbane. Several weeks of undercover travel have put an assassin squad within reach of Hardorn's capital. An'desha, the helpless victim of Falconsbane's latest GrandTheftMe, has been passing information through the magical sword Need to the team consisting of Herald Skif, Falconsbane's estranged daughter Nyara, and Tayledras [[TheArchmage archmage]] Firesong. Just as Falconsbane begins to suspect a trap, An'desha pushes his BerserkButton by suggesting there may be gryphons. Skif uses his hands and a lantern to cast a gryphon shadow on their tent, causing Falconsbane to storm in, maddened beyond all reason. Nyara confronts him with Need; Skif is just about to make a HeroicSacrifice when his Companion Cymry unexpectedly shoves Falconsbane from behind and runs him onto the sword. Falconsbane's spirit flees and Firesong pursues and destroys it in a display of magical fireworks. They save An'desha too: Need appeals to his spirit to keep going with a bit of a GodGuise while simultaneously healing the wound she caused as Nyara pulls her out a fraction at a time.

* The final defeat of Mornelithe Falconsbane, who was once Ma'ar. Need coordinates An'desha, Skif, Nyara, and Firesong, responding to and relaying their thoughts as necessary. An'desha remembers Falconsbane's BerserkButton and suggests there may be gryphons, and Skif uses his hands and a lantern to cast a gryphon shadow. Need possesses Nyara to face Falconsbane, Skif... apparently forgets that Need has AntiMagic skills and prepares to do a HeroicSacrifice, but Cymery refuses and just body-slams Falconsbane so Need impales him. Falconsbane's spirit retreats and Firesong destroys it in a display of magical fireworks. Meanwhile An'desha, alone in his body at last, sinks to the ground. Need simultaneously appeals to his spirit to keep going with a bit of a GodGuise and heals his body a fraction of an inch at a time as Nyara pulls her slowly out of the wound.

* [[spoiler:Ylsa]] [[DyingMomentOfAwesome goes out like a badass]], killing at least a few of her assailants and saving Valdemar from usurpers.

* While she's stuck in the northern forest, Talia's Gift is about to break out of control, and the forest is about to strike. Rolan silently challenges the forest as if to say, "Don't you dare." At the same time, Talia regains control of her Gift, and whatever was about to attack vanishes in surprise. [[spoiler:What was about to attack? The spirit of Yfandes, a legendary Companion bound to the forest along with her Herald.]]
* Kris manages to ''completely'' rebuild Talia's magical foundation ''from the ground up'' -- in the course of a '''month'''. While half of the credit is due to Talia, of course, it's not only a stunning display of friendship, love, and faith on Kris' part, but shows just how extraordinary a Gift-teacher he is, and would have continued to be [[spoiler:if he'd lived]].

* Talia, simply for [[spoiler: ''surviving'' Ancar and Hulda's torture long enough to be sure that Rolan got to the Queen with the vital intelligence, then planning ahead for and retaining enough willpower to kill herself, to both spare herself more pain and as a final psychological 'fuck you' to Ancar and Hulda, to deny them them triumph of having killed her. To clarify: she willingly endures a full day of torture after being gang-raped and while suffering PTSD from not only watching one of her best friends die but Empathically experiencing the slaughter of dozens. At the end of that day it's clear to Ancar and Hulda that no matter how she's suffered, she hasn't broken.]]

* Elspeth gets another during [[spoiler: the confrontation with Lord Orthallen. When he goes berserk and attacks Talia - who is too injured to fight off anything larger than a bug - no one is close enough to reach him in time. Except Elspeth, who kills him with a throwing knife in about a breath, and retains the presence of mind to claim Royal Authority to cover her ass legally. Then holds back the post-kill-reaction sufficiently to ''ask'' to be taken to a basin instead of just throwing up in the corner.]]

* The ending, when Lavan [[spoiler: almost literally goes nuclear, in his grief at Kalira's murder. He retains barely enough presence of mind to wait just long enough for his allies to run hellbent for leather, then obliterates ''an entire Army''. He scorches White Foal Pass down to bedrock, and terrifies the Karsites (including a priesthood that routinely raises Demons) so thoroughly that they don't even sneeze in Valdemar's general direction for a couple of generations. It's a Crowning Moment of Awesome in the sense of 'inspiring awe', where 'awe' is the archaic term for 'dread, fear or reverence.']]

* Tylendel apologizing [[spoiler:through Stefen]] to Vanyel and admitting his mistakes.
* By Magic's Price, [[spoiler:Savil]] is old and physically quite frail but still has enough cunning and energy to not make it easy for [[spoiler:her]] killer, which does help Vanyel avenge [[spoiler:her]].

* Alberich going from the bastard of a tavern girl to a ranking officer in the Karsite military to Valdemaran Herald, Weaponsmaster, spymaster, royal adviser, bodyguard, and mentor, while remaining a faithful follower of Vkandis and son of Karse, ([[spoiler:as recognized by his own god.]]).
* Myste, who is visually impaired, clumsy, useless in a fight, and knows it, is quite sensibly terrified of being on the battlefield. She nevertheless serves as Selenay's banner-carrier, and when Selenay attempts to follow [[spoiler:King Sendar's suicidal charge at the front lines,]] she tackles Selenay off of her Companion and literally sits on her for the duration of the battle. This despite breaking her ankle in the process.

For [[spoiler:Herald Kris]] and my [[spoiler:Queen's Own....]]\\

* Kris manages to ''completely'' rebuild Talia's magical foundation ''from the ground up'' -- in the course of a '''month'''. While half of the credit is due to Talia, of course, it's not only a stunning display of friendship, love, and faith on Kris' part, but shows just how extraordinary a Gift-teacher he was, and would have continued to be [[spoiler:if he'd lived]].

* Talia, simply for [[spoiler: ''surviving'' Ancar and Hulda's torture long enough to be sure that Rolan got to the Queen with the vital intelligence, then planning ahead for and retaining enough willpower to kill herself, to both spare herself more pain and as a final psychological 'fuck you' to Ancar and Hulda, to deny them them triumph of having killed her. To clarify: she willingly endures a full day of torture after being gang-raped and while suffering PTSD from not only watching one of her best friends die but Empathically experiencing the slaughter of dozens. At the end of that day it's clear to Ancar and Hulda that now matter how she's suffered, she hasn't broken.]]

For [[spoiler:Herald Kris]] and my Queen's Own....\\

* Though we know what happens to Vanyel by the end of the trilogy, true to form, he makes his end an epic one. Turns out that the Final Strike made by one of history's most powerful mages supported by a Companion can take out an entire army and reduce the surrounding area to a crater.

* Kris manages to ''completely'' rebuild Talia's magical foundation ''from the ground up'' -- in the course of a '''month'''. While half of the credit is due to Talia, of course, it's not only a stunning display of friendship, love, and faith on Kris' part, but shows just how extraordinary a Gift-teacher he'd have been [[spoiler:if he'd lived]].

* Talia at the book's climax: after spending most of the book in a spiraling descent of self-doubt over the ethical uses of her gift of Empathy, she weaponizes it to give an incredibly, ''exquisitely'', appropriate punishment to a man who abused, raped and killed his stepdaughter/s.

* In "Demonbane", Vanyel protects a band of Karsite refugees from Lord Nedran, refusing his threats and bribery and utterly destroying the forty soldiers that serve him.

* Talia, simply for [[spoiler: ''surviving'' Ancar and Hulda's torture long enough to be sure that Rolan got to the Queen with the vital intelligence, then planning ahead for and retaining enough willpower to kill herself, to both spare herself more pain and as a final psychological 'fuck you' to Ancar and Hulda, to deny them them triumph of having killed her. To clarify: she willingly endures a full day of torture after being gang-raped and while suffering PTSD from not only watching one of her best friends die but Empathetically experiencing the slaughter of dozens. At the end of that day it's clear to Ancar and Hulda that now matter how she's suffered, she hasn't broken.]]

* The ending, when Lavan [[spoiler: almost literally goes nuclear, in his grief at Kalira's murder. He retains barely enough presence of mind to wait just long enough for his allies to run hellbent for leather, then obliterates ''an entire Army''. He scorches White Foal Pass down to bedrock, and terrifies the Karsites (including a priesthood that routinely raises Demons) so thoroughly that they don't even sneeze at Valdemar for a couple of generations. It's a Crowning Moment of Awesome in the sense of 'inspiring awe', where 'awe' is the archaic term for 'dread, fear or reverence.']]

By all the stars that ever shone\\

I swear that you will pay!

* While she's stuck in the northern forest, Talia's Gift is about to break out of control, and the forest is about to strike. Rolan silently challenges the forest as if to say, "Don't you dare." At the same time, Talia regains control of her Gift, and whatever was about to attack vanishes in surprise.

* Talia, simply for [[spoilers: ''surviving'' Ancar and Hulda's torture long enough to be sure that Rolan got to the Queen with the vital intelligence, then planning ahead for and retaining enough willpower to kill herself, to both spare herself more pain and as a final psychological 'fuck you' to Ancar and Hulda, to deny them them triumph of having killed her. To clarify: she willingly endures a full day of torture after being gang-raped and while suffering PTSD from not only watching one of her best friends die but Empathetically experiencing the slaughter of dozens. At the end of that day it's clear to Ancar and Hulda that now matter how she's suffered, she hasn't broken.]]

[[folder: Anthologies]]

* Talia, simply for [[spoilers: ''surviving'' Ancar and Hulda's torture long enough to be sure that Rolan got to the Queen with the vital intelligence, then planning ahead for and retaining enough willpower to kill herself, to both spare herself more pain and as a final psychological 'fuck you' to Ancar and Hulda, to deny them them triumph of having killed her. To clarify: she willingly endures a full day of torture after being gang-raped and while suffering PTSD from not only watching one of her best friends die but Empathetically experiencing the slaughter of dozens. At the end of that day it's clear to Ancar and Hulda that now matter how she's suffered, she hasn't broken.

* the ending, when Lavan [[spoiler: almost literally goes nuclear, in his grief at Kalira's murder. He retains barely enough presence of mind to wait just long enough for his allies to run hellbent for leather, then obliterates ''an entire Army''. He scorches White Foal Pass down to bedrock, and terrifies the Karsites (including a priesthood that routinely raises Demons) so thoroughly that they don't even sneeze at Valdemar for a couple of generations. It's a Crowning Moment of Awesome in the sense of 'inspiring awe', where 'awe' is the archaic term for 'dread, fear or reverance.'

-->For Vanyel calls the lightning down, and smites him to the earth!''

For Vanyel calls the lightning down, and smites him to the earth!''

* Sherrill and Keren diving into Lake Evendim, ''during winter'', to save Talia's life.