History Literature / MidnightTides

** The ghost Wither is barely more than a shadowy smear which can change it's shape at will.

** Aside from [[spoiler:Silchas Ruin]], the grounds of the dying Azath Tower in Letheras hold within them a whole bunch of entities nobody wants to escape, among them Sheltatha Lore, the god of the Soletaken Jheck, the gods of the Toblakai, etc., and although not evil per se, if let loose into te world, they could create a lot of havoc.

* WinYourFreedom: The Drownings are a popular public spectacle in Letheras in which condemned criminals who couldn't pay the requiered fine to win their freedom can do so by trying to swim across the canal with a sack full of coins strapped to their back. The amount of coins depends on the crime. Since few ever manage to make it across, wagers are usually made about things like the distance, number of strokes or the manner of drowning. [[note]]The sacks of coins have ropes attached to allow for them to be pulled back out of the canal, while the bodies get dumped right back in.[[/note]]

* ChildByRape: Rud Elalle is the product of Menandore raping Udinaas to get at the wyval blood he is temporarily infected with at the beginning of the book. Since she then drops off Rud in a community of [[AllCavemenWereNeanderthals Imass]] to be raised, though, Rud becomes a very friendly, caring youth willing to stand up to his own mother to protect the Imass. Upon meeting Rud for the first time, Udinaas has a ThatThingIsNotMyChild reaction, [[spoiler:but after getting used to the thought, he makes for a good father in the later books]].

** Enforced with Rhulad Sengar [[spoiler:who finally snaps for good when Udinaas, who's the closest thing Rhulad has to a friend, leaves him. Everyone thinks Udinaas betrayed Rhulad at a crutial moment, but Udinaas himself is almost killed by the Loqui Wyval [[DemonicPossession leaving his body]] and has no say in the matter. Although he never considered Rhulad a friend to begin with.]]

* HighAltitudeBattle: In the prologue, Scabandari Bloodeye and Silchas Ruin, aided by Silchas Ruin's Loqui Wyval and the combined Tiste Andii and Tiste Edur suicide commandos, battle the K'Chain sky keeps manned by the Short-Tails, preventing them from coming to the aid of the K'Chain Che'Malle armies on the plain below.

* DoublestandardRapeDivineOnMortal: Menandore has her way with [[spoiler: Udinaas]] against his will, making use of the MightMakesRight approach. The resulting child [[spoiler: plays a big role later in the series]].

* AttractiveZombie: Shurq Elalle.

%%* HannibalLecture: Everything Hannan Mosag says in the climax.

* AntiClimax: Inside the dying Azath House lie a band of Toblakai gods as well as [[spoiler:Silchas Ruin, a Tiste Andii Ascendant]], and the entire book builds up to an epic showdown between them upon their escape. What happens instead is that [[spoiler:the Toblakai face off against BadassAbnormal Iron Bars in a LastDance and Silchas Ruin escapes JustInTime to take them down in a brief CurbStompBattle that isn't even described.]]

* WhamEpisode: [[spoiler:Rhulad Sengar makes the sudden transformation from minor side character to ArcVillain as he is brought BackFromTheDead by The Crippled God to usurp Hannan Mosag's rule as emperor, and begins a full blown conquest of Lether.]]

* CurbStompBattle: [[spoiler:The entirety of Lether's military is steadily massacred battle after battle by the Tiste Edur's borrowed sorcery.]]

* GodWasMyCoPilot: [[spoiler:Bugg is Mael, the Elder God of the Sea, explaining how he's such a capable assistant. Tehol, when he finds out, is not very surprised.]]

* AntiClimax: [[spoiler:Inside the dying Azath House lie a band of Toblakai gods as well as Silchas Ruin, a Tiste Andii demigod, and the entire book builds up to an epic showdown between them upon their escape. What happens instead is that the Toblakai face off against BadassAbnormal Iron Bars in a LastDance and Ruin escapes JustInTime to take them down in a brief CurbStompBattle that isn't even described.]]

* CurbStompBattle: [[spoiler:The entirety of Lether's military is steadily massacred battle after battle by the Edur's borrowed sorcery.]]
* EldritchAbomination: [[spoiler:The nameless, forgotten water god bound by Hannan Mosag is implied to be a monstrous entity alien to a normal person's perceptions.]]

* LastStand: [[spoiler:It is assumed towards the end that Brys would play this role. It is instead filled by Kuru Qan.]]

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Kuru Qan and Bugg have been working together all along in a BatmanGambit to subdue Hannan Mosag's demon. And by Bugg we of course mean [[SecretIdentity Elder God Mael]]]].
* SealedBadassInACan: [[spoiler:Ancient Tiste Andii ascendant Silchas Ruin]] lies trapped inside a dying Azath House. His slow escape is one of the many plotlines of the book.

** Generally, because a Jaghut Tyrant long ago decided to use a magical ice age to keep the region in a metaphysical stasis, the Warren of Death hasn't developed fully, causing havoc with the afterlife and making necromancy quite easy as souls have nowhere to go.

* ImpoverishedPatrician: Tehol Beddict once owned about a quarter of he Letherii economy before an economic crash cost his investors most of their money and left him on the street. [[spoiler:Tehol engineered the entire chain of events as proof-of-concept that the economy could be brought down, and actually hid most of the cash safely; technically, he still owns most of the city. He publicly lives in squalor to avoid suspicion and because it amuses him to confuse people.]]

* WholeEpisodeFlashback: The entire book happens before ''Literature/GardensOfTheMoon'', and tells, in part, of how Trull Sengar ended up in the Nascent in the prologue of ''Literature/HouseOfChains''.

* WinYourFreedom: The Drownings are a popular public spectacle in Letheras in which condemned criminals who coulnd't pay the requiered fine to win their freedom can do so by trying to swim across the canal with a sack full of coins strapped to their back. The amount of coins depends on the crime. Since few ever manage to make it across, wagers are usually made about things like the distance, number of strokes or the manner of drowning. [[note]]The sacks of coins have ropes attached to allow for them to be pulled back out of the canal, while the bodies get dumped right back in.[[/note]]

!!''Midnight Tides'' contains examples of the following tropes:

* LethalChef: Inverted with Bugg, who is somehow able to keep himself and Tehol alive on a diet consisting of boiled sandals. [[spoiler:As the Elder God of the Sea, this is not actually a problem.]]

* Eunuchs Are Evil: Averted with First Eunuch Nifadas, who in all things sides with King Ezgara Diskanar against Queen Janall but otherwise is mostly interested in administrative concerns and the welfare of the Letherii Empire.

* OminousOwl: Many have tried to make sense of the recurring appearances of owls in ''Midnight Tides''. What is clear is that they are a symbol of death, appear in connection to [[ReluctantWarrior Trull Sengar]] and get progressively deader. Owl #1 is seen happily munching on a freshly caught mouse. At this point Trull Sengar's world is still alright. Owl #2 has both a bloodied beak and bloodied claws and is seen in hurried flight, shortly before Trull and his brothers are about to leave on a mission for the Warlock King. Trull then finds owl #3, freshly dead, during the Tiste Edur's march south, while tensions between him and the other warriors grow. Owl #4, long dead and decaying, is found by Seren Pedac in her empty house in Letheras, right when the city is passing into Tiste Edur hands.

* ExcrementStatement: [[spoiler:Rhulad Sengar's]] two Kenryll'ah demon bodyguards have thrown the Forkrul Assail named Serenity head first down a deep whole in the ground, they punctuate the occasion by peeing into it as well.