We know from Letho's assassination that the Kingslayer only escaped with the aid of Iorveth's commandos, but the old fox didn't know the Assassin when they first met outside Flotsam, so it was Sorceresses commanding his Scoiateal there. Maybe this is what has brought the formerly cunning old man to the brink of imbecility and alcoholism, a concerted guerilla campaign against him by scoiatael commandos and the manipulations of the Lodge, as well as a peasant revolt sapping his resources. This points to the Scoiatael being engaged in work to the south that becomes pointless upon Stennis' death, maybe the undermining and harrying of Demavend's nation.
Two, were the Lodge working at undermining and snapping up Aedirn, and if so for how long? If Stennis dies at Vergen Iorveth goes south into Aedirn to collect a large host of Scoiatael, but should the prince live then Iorveth goes east, to scrape up what he can from the Blue Mountains. Was Radovid there also to co-ordinate a joint offensive on the lodge, and perhaps even lend aid to the Kingslayers who were at first targeting Redania's old enemy Kovir/Poviss? One how, long had Radovid been conspiring with Nilfgaard to eliminate the Lodge, was he in Vizima to talk with Leuvaarden, whose family ousted and helped re-throne young Emhyr? Leuvaarden destroys the Order, whose presence in Temeria under DeAldersburg (and strengthened by mutants) might have given even the Black Ones pause. Obviously we did not see the last of them. Or may be The Flaming Rose somewhat infected him with its magic-hating ideology. But, unfortunately, he was too young, and in his emotional struggle with Philippa, he lost a sight of a big picture. Eventually, in 15-20 years he would have been able to bring all the North to heel, and then to march south with steel and fire from the sky, in order to start carving out his own empire. All he had to do is to instigate a massacre by somebody else's hands, then to save the prosecuted mages, and to create a council and a conclave he was the only one to control. These two visions, or political ideologies, are not really in opposition, one may be subsumed under the other. Philippa's vision of a Northern political structure was superb, and it would be to Radovid's great benefit simply to hijack it and to become a driving force and a dominant leader instead of Philippa.
I like Radovid, and I was disappointed how he ended with a massacre on my preferred route in TW2.
0 kommentar(er)
