History Headscratchers / OldKingdom

** Arielle mentions it. She assumed that Lirael would have been fine. Clayr have children all the time with random men (it's implied that they See themselves siring a child with a guy and do so and leave it at that). Lirael's conception wasn't unique except for the mingling of the bloodlines. Had Lirael had taken after Arielle, no one would have cared. She's only treated differently because she was different. But Arielle never saw Lirael in her visions until the end of her life and by then it was too late to do much. Arielle could have asked why she had a vision of her having a child with the Abhorsen and taken the logical leap but it seems to be a weakness of the Clayr that they tend to blindly accept their visions without question.

** To be fair the Old Kingdom is a country in decline and recovery. The reason why it sucks is because the kingdom's been falling apart for a few hundred years. Most of the publicly available knowledge, power and technology has been lost or destroyed by Kerringor. (like the Palace and Hillfair) Plus, powerful Charter Mages are specifically a target for necromancers and sorcerers who don't want a power Charter Mage opposing them and also because the blood of a Charter Mage is necessary to break a Charter Stone. And centuries of decline has allowed necromancers and Free Magic to flourish which is why they keep popping out of the woodwork to destroy everything. We see the Old Kingdom in its heyday in ''Clariel'' and it's a fairly decent place to live. The Dead and Free Magic aren't that big of a deal, the Kingdom is at mostly peace and there are powerful Charter Mages not associated with the bloodlines.

** To be fair the Old Kingdom is a country in decline and recovery. The reason why it sucks is because the kingdom's been falling apart for a few hundred years. Most of the publicly available knowledge, power and technology has likely been lost or destroyed by Kerringor who wouldn't want a powerful Charter mage opposing him or leading a resistance. And centuries of decline has allowed necromancers and Free Magic to flourish which is why they keep popping out of the woodwork to destroy everything. We see the Old Kingdom in its heyday in ''Clariel'' and it's a fairly decent place to live. The Dead and Free Magic aren't that big of a deal, the Kingdom is at mostly peace and there are powerful Charter Mages not associated with the bloodlines.

** ''Abhorsen'' also clarifies that Mogget has lost much of his power as it faded through simple time and he's weaker than he was at his height during the war again Orannis. He implies that even unbound he's not that much stronger than Kibeth or Astarel who poured their power into making the Charter and are only a shadow of themselves. He's powerful but at EldritchAbomination levels anymore.

** ''Abhorsen'' also clarifies that Mogget has lost much of his power as it faded through simple time and he's weaker than he was at his height during the war again Orannis. He implies that even unbound he's not that much stronger than Kibeth or Astarel who the two poured their power into making the Charter and are only a shadow of themselves. He's powerful but at EldritchAbomination level anymore.

** ''Abhorsen'' also clarifies that Mogget has lost much of his power as it faded through simple time and he's weaker than he was at his height during the war again Orannis. He implies that even unbound he's not that much stronger than Kibeth or Astarel who the two poured their power into making the Charter. He's powerful but at EldritchAbomination leves.

** Being unable to hear with your ears wouldn't stop you from dying. As Mogget said when they neared the remnant of Astareal under the well: "if she speaks, we ''will'' hear."

** Yeah...welcome to [[RealLife medieval society]]. It's pretty lame.

*** Actually, Sabriel's father only describes Mogget as a relict of the Wallmakers because he doesn't understand or know that Mogget is [[spoiler:one of the Nine Bright Shiners]]. It is likely that he was given to the Abhorsens so that he could both serve them, and so that they could keep an eye on him, as it is their job to bind and subdue free magic creatures.

** Mogget's fire is a purer white than Kerrigor's regular eyes. Sabriel specifically thought she saw it, but we don't know if that means Mogget just wasn't entirely beaten yet or was revving up for a second wind or what, since she gets tbe ring on.

*** Actually, Sabriel's father only describes Mogget as a relict of the Wallmakers because he doesn't understand or know that Mogget is (SPOILERS) one of the Nine Bright Shiners. It is likely that he was given to the Abhorsens so that he could both serve them, and so that they could keep an eye on him, as it is their job to bind and subdue free magic creatures.

*** Firstly Sabriel only unbound Mogget when there wasn't any innocents around. She was smart enough to not give him any change to rampage around. Second by Sabriel, Mogget had ungone a millenia of character growth and started to realize that even unbound he liked Life. We see Mogget in Clariel where he took advantage of a weakening seal to destroy the Charter and thus the Old Kingdom. That's more than enough for the Abhorsens to keep him firmly chained.

** Arielle mentions it. She assumed that Lirael would have been fine. Clayr have children all the time with random men (it's implied that they See themselves siring a child with a guy and do so and leave it at that). Lirael's conception wasn't unique except for the mingling of the bloodlines. Had Lirael had taken after Arielle, no one would have cared. She's only treated differently because she was different. But Arielle never saw Lirael in her visions until the end of her life and by then it was too late to do much. Arielle could have asked why she had a vision of her having a child with the Abhorsen and taken the logical leap but it seems to be a weakness of the Clayr that they tend to blindly accept their visions without questioning why.

** Arielle mentions it. She assumed that Lirael would have been fine. Clayr have children all the time with random men (it's implied that they See themselves siring a child with a guy and do so and leave it at that). Lirael's conception wasn't unique except for the mingling of the bloodlines. Had Lirael had taken after Arielle, no one would have cared. Lirael would have been accepted by the Clayr and that would be that. She's only treated differently because she was different. But Arielle never saw Lirael in her visions until the end of her life and by then it was too late to do much. Arielle could have asked why she had a vision of her having a child with the Abhorsen and taken the logical leap but it seems to be a weakness of the Clayr that they tend to blindly accept their visions without questioning why.

*** Mogget isn't characterized as insane in any of the books. In ''Sabriel'' he's extraordinarily 'vengeful' in his unbound form, and will promptly seek out the the nearest Abhorsen to torture and kill, but that's neither an example of insanity, nor of some more general lust for killing everything he encounters.

* Why did Arielle fail to tell anyone in the Clayr’s Glacier that Lirael had been sired by the recently-deceased Abhorsen? It would have made Lirael’s life much easier (to say nothing of Sam’s, and possibly Sabriel’s as well), and it’s not as though any of the Clayr would have disapproved of the liaison. (You could chalk it up to Arielle living too much in her visions to care about something so mundanely pratical, but without explication in the novels, that feels like a cheap handwave.)

* Why did Arielle fail to tell anyone in the Clayr’s Glacier that Lirael had been sired by the recently-deceased Abhorsen? It would have made Lirael’s life much easier (to say nothing of Sam’s, and possibly Sabriel’s as well), and it’s not as though any of the Clayr would have disapproved of the liaison. (You could it up to Arielle living too much in her visions to care about something so mundanely pratical, but without explication in the novels, that feels like a cheap handwave.)

** To be fair The Old Kingdom is a country in decline and recovery. The reason why it sucks is because the kingdom's been falling apart for a few hundred years. Most of the publicly available knowledge, power and technology has likely been lost or destroyed by Kerringor who wouldn't want a powerful Charter mage opposing him or leading a resistance. We see the Old Kingdom in its heyday in ''Clariel'' and it's a fairly okay place to live.

** To be fair The Old Kingdom is a country in decline and recovery. The reason why it sucks is because the kingdom's been falling apart for a few hundred years. Most of the publicly available knowledge, power and technology has likely been lost or destroyed by Kerringor who wouldn't want a powerful Charter mage opposing him or leading a resistance. We see the Old Kingdom in it's heyday in Clariel and it's a fairly ok place to live.

** As for how Sam specifically inherited the powers of the Wallmakers, presumably Arielle wasn't the first-ever Clayr to shack up with an Abhorsen, or Touchstone the first Royal to do the same. Presumably, the bloodlines are all crisscrossed, which is why Sabriel refers to the Clayr as ''cousins'', as does her father to Arielle -- they literally are, though very, very distantly. Thus, it was a mere fluke of genetics that latent Wallmaker genes happened to manifest in Sam. Well, fluke or fate, take your pick.

** This is explained in Clariel. [[spoiler: "The Charter and Free Magic are antithetical. When you use one, you cannot use the other. Binding Free Magic creatures, drawing on their power...it weakens the Charter within you." It is possible, although difficult and dangerous, to be cleansed of the Free Magic taint with the assistance of a powerful Charter mage, healing spells, and even the Great Charter Stones.]]

** Probably because Free Magic is, as the name implies, about releasing things and opening, while Charter Magic is more concerned with order and binding. I took it as an implication that without Character Magic the book simply ''can't'' be closed again because the magic in it is too powerful. And keeping it open is probably not something you want.

** Probably because Free Magic is, as the name implies, about releasing things and opening, while Charter Magic is more concerned with order and binding. I took it as an implication that without Character Magic the book simply ''can't'' be closed again because the magic in it is too powerful.

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