Originally by: Corvinious
Intense scenes in this chronicle. Love it though. So what was Polok doing?
Torturing Monas to death. The mention of Polok's "work", the thing that wants to hang on and endure for a moment more before the flames, if only to deny Polok his last victory? That was Monas.
Originally by: Victor Valka
Quote:
Little shoes.
I might be seeing connections that aren't (as is befitting of true madman) but does the bold part have anything to do with the last paragraph of "Soft Passage"?
Uhm ... only inasmuch as I apparently like to use little shoes as symbols for nasty things. Nice catch, that.
In Dismantling, the shoes indicate that the old man was doing something very bad to children. In
Soft Passage, which is one long series of metaphors for the couple's life, the shoes indicate that the woman had a miscarriage (and that particular line was lifted from Hemingway)
Originally by: Freyya
I unfortunately find the small mention of Polok unsatisfying towards the greater story...this installment felt like it had little to do with BM itself (Next to the explosion and Polok) and i would have enjoyed it just as well as a separate chronicle, without thinking this could be part of a larger story.
It still leaves me with the question i posted in the previous comment thread which i sincerely hope will be answered in the pro-/epilogue...Can hardly wait 2 weeks to find out if it will be answered there.
In certain respects, The Dismantling is a symbolic summation of the entire Black Mountain series, and its individual scenes serve as checkposts for past events. I would've liked to have kept it completely vague and standalone, but since I have some loose ends to tie off (or, in the case of Polok and the thing he was torturing, set on fire), that wasn't an option.
As for your question in the last thread, Hona wasn't captured at all. I had some plans for what would happen to her and Nale after they regained consciousness, but decided to cut them. As far as the reader is concerned, Nale told Hona to wait while he went to rescue Zetyn (see "
Polymelia"), then returned and brought her with him to the final confrontation. Hona's role towards Nale is ambiguous; she may have been what remained of his conscience, or she may have been a piece of bartering, in case Draea had wanted someone to "play" with.
And the final story will give answers, of a sort, on Zetyn and Hona.
Since I didn't get around to answering all comments from the last thread, anyone is welcome to ask them again. After the next story, we'll close the book on Black Mountain