Book 4, Chapter 25: The Fair Fame Never Dies Of Him Who Has Earned It
The Second Battle of the Seine River was then-Princess-Marshal Astrid Haddock I's debut battle in the military sphere as a formal commander. This battle—insofar as it was a battle and not just a rout—left as much of an impact on the political and military spheres as it did on the landscape, where her artificial river-flood changed the course of the Seine River, closing one meander downstream of Rouen and creating a new oxbow lake. In the military and political calculus, it took some time for the full scale of her impact to penetrate. News was comparatively slow to get out, hampered by the fact that the Hooligans had their hands full with other considerations and problems, and was liberally mixed with rumor and hearsay, along with outright libel. But as the details spread in conjunction with her subsequent actions, the sheer lethality and pragmatism of the Princess-Marshal's tactics combined with the reputation of Berk as a whole and her husband in particular. This was, after all, the first wife of the Hero, and she had clearly not gotten her position on nepotism. Her wife, Princess-Herald Wulfhild, made pointed use of her spouses' reputations in her negotiations...
—Dragons of the North: Profiles Of The Viking Lords, Waterford University Press, 1733
Tropes that appear in this chapter:
- Big Damn Reunion: Ben reunites with his dragon Fjandi Fengur after he were taken from him due to military rules and later abducted by the Pechenegs, and Fjandi even brought other formerly Pecheneg dragons with him.
- Character Death:
- Khurşӑ is killed by Özhan's forces in an attempt on Drago's life.
- Henry the Sinister is killed in this chapter under Astrid's orders.
- Child by Rape: Henry's plan for seizing full control of Brittany involves forcing a child on Hawiz.
- Combat Pragmatist: Henry's mental rant focused on how the Hooligans were cowards who knew they would lose in a fair fight and hence relied on dragons, rather than acknowledging that his enemies are making a tactically sound decision.
- Commonality Connection: Hsiao Feng and Drago are both from the Dà Liáo nation, and both lost any love they had for their homeland due to being outcast in some manner, something Feng makes sure to bring up to make Drago more amenable to him.
- Content Warnings:Chapter Trigger Warnings: Implied Mention of Non-Con, Explicit Character Deaths, Explicit Character Emotional Crisis
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Henry interprets all acts of mercy and smart tactics done by the Hooligans as proof of cowardice, stupidity and/or dishonour.
- Insecure Love Interest: Shang to Mulan. In his private thoughts, Shang admits he's in love with Mulan, but thinks he's not good enough for her since she's brilliant while he's just "another general's son" and only got his position thanks to his family.
- Internal Reveal: Sigurd tells Theodora about how he went to a brothel after learning of Hiccup's success, and that Gudmund is actually a woman.
- Like a Son to Me: The Empress explicitly states that she regards Sigurd as a son, even if she also affirms that she can't actually officially adopt him or name him her heir given his origin.
- Meaningful Funeral: Berk holds a funeral for all those that died rescuing Jews from Northern France, including Spitelout.
- Missing Man Formation: The formation of dragon riders flying to honour those who died in the Seine River battles have an empty spot in their ranks to symbolise the various deceased.
- Not Quite the Right Thing: Theodora meant well when she ordered Spitelout's letters to Sigurd be intercepted, but this left Snotlout believing Spitelout did not ever want to talk to him again, which ruined any chance of them reconciling before Spitelout's death.
- Regional Redecoration: Astrid's battle plan for defeating Henry altered the course of the Seine River, which closed one meander and created an oxbow lake.
- The Reveal: Empress Theodora is the one responsible for Spitelout's letters not reaching Sigurd.
- The Scapegoat: Feng's backstory is that he was made to take the blame for the failings of a well-connected but incompetent general.
- The Strategist: After Feng is appointed as Commander of Drago's forces, he quickly proves how good he is with organising the dragon riders and leading them to victory against Özhan's forces.
