I’m on chapter 20 of Royal Assassin and Verity has just left to go hunt the Elderlings. Regal is already beginning to take over. How is everyone so okay with Regal getting away with everything he’s been getting away with? Unless there’s some crazy twist I feel it’s pretty clear what’s going to happen is Regal is going to kill Shrewd while Verity is gone and have completely taken over by the time he returns, or have arranged for him to be murdered at some point on the journey. Everyone has been dancing around Regal’s motives since Assassin’s Apprenticr while doing nothing and it’s so frustrating. I don’t get why Verity didn’t ever do anything about it and then left, which seems to be the worst possible thing he could have done.
I imagine Shrewd forbade anything and hoped for the best.
It’s crazy to me too how they’re all still so set on being King’s Men after Shrewd literally sits there completely fine with the fact that Regal full on attempted to murder both Fitz and Burrich
But Regal was very very sorry!
Seriously though I had the same measure of incredulity when I first read the trilogy that you have now.
Okay I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one who shocked by this! Like even Chade not caring at all, I was like what is wrong with these people
You'll have that a few times reading the whole saga, but that is what makes the characters very human. They are flawed like anyone else each in their own unique way..
So I'll try to be charitable to the characters. They had no idea how petty, and ruthless Regal could be. That said, having even Chade be so naively trusting of Regal...I really just can't wrap my head around that.
Yeah like even if Shrewd wanted to blindly see the best in his son after the whole attempting to murder Fitz situation I think at least Chade should’ve taken the problems he could cause more seriously and not just tell Fitz it’s treasonous to even suggest Regal tried to kill him when it’s literally what happened
Honestly it really bothered me too and I stopped after this one.
Regal can get away with it because he is second in line to the throne. The only two legitimate Farseer heirs are him and Verity, which makes him super important for the succession. There are plenty of cases throughout history of cruel royals getting away with literal murder.
Seen through this perspective, it makes sense. But that doesn't stop us feeling a raging sense of injustice about it.
And because he’s Shrewds favorite. The family dynamics with Shrewd as the father who blatantly prefers his kid from his hot younger second wife, Regal as the golden child, Verity as the forgotten middle child, and Fitz as the black sheep are pretty critical to understanding how everything plays out.
I honestly hope Hobb had a good childhood, because she writes dysfunctional family dynamics with a disturbingly accurate flair.
Seriously, swear some of the stuff she wrote just was directly part of my childhood emotionally
I’m not convinced Regal actually is Shrewd’s favorite. I got the feeling it was more “youngest child” syndrome. The youngest kids tend to be babied more and get away with a lot (I’m the youngest). We tend to get more forgiveness and seen as perpetual kids that don’t know any better. I felt it was more blindness to what Regal really was. And since Regal had no real duties, he had time to ass kiss and play his dad while Verity wasted away fighting the red ships.
This is a good point too. Regal was actually very good at politics, which was very useful for the Farseers. You don't just throw someone with that skillset away, especially when Verity was not blessed with that skill.
Verity should’ve made getting Kettricken pregnant a top priority once he realized how terrible Regal was! Not sure why he didn’t.
Because he is tired and distracted by the constant war and using the skill. He has so much to do since shrewd isnt really an active and helpful king.
There was a winter where pretty much all he did was sit in his map room though
Using the skill to make the raider ships get lost, I think it's stated he is using the skill all the time and that is why he is losing weight and looks disheveled etc
He wasn’t doing that in winter, he was doing it in summer. In winter he gets much healthier and studies his maps. Fitz is frustrated multiple times about how he ignores Kettricken but doesn’t see it as his place to say anything
Maybe just finish the trilogy lol
The main thematic forces of Royal Assassin are duty vs disruptive independence.
Chade is the ultimate proponent of duty (hiding away for decades so the Farseers don't look bad), and as someone with so much subtle power, he really enables all this evil shit. The Fool is not afraid of disruption, but, truthfully, he needs someone else to kickstart his independence. Kettricken is incredibly independent (because she sees it as her duty), but her focus is on Verity and not Shrewd.
Verity has his own concerns going on, and knows that his brother is a detrimental force, but really never considers that Regal could be actively malicious (if he is). This is the second main theme of Royal Assassin, empathy as a weapon, introduced by the Fool in the last book, when he talks about not assuming that other people have the same motivations or rules as you. Fitz genuinely just needs to learn to step outside himself and consider other people's perspectives.
I also like to imagine Royal Assassin as a Telltale game where Fitz is repeatedly given the option between duty (which leads to slow destruction) and independence (which leads to immediate destruction).
Duty, duty, and more duty. It keeps them inert, but it's the lifeblood of a kingdom.
Keep reading, they touch on all of this.
Ok I’m glad to hear they don’t just ignore it
My interpretation: Shrewd forbade them to fight if I recall. Verity was also sure Kettriken would hold while he sought the Elderlings. Verity also thought the red ships were a greater threat and it was his duty to end that war
I would think Verity knew the risk he took by leaving but in his mind there was no one else who could defeat the red ships
The whole book, Regal is just waiting for people to leave, so he can work behind their backs (Smithy). Once you see it, it's hard to unsee.
What does the spoiler refers to ? I don't remember any in the story :o
Yeah I just think Verity was completely delusional to think Regal would respect Kettriken as Queen when he didn’t even respect Verity as King in Waiting. I think you are right about Shrewd forbidding them to fight but at the very least Verity should have made sure it was only his own men responsible for guarding and caring for Shrewd once the state of how his rooms were was revealed. Chade and Fitz both know Regal is drugging Shrewd and the Fool has tried to get help for the King multiple times but everyone just sits around letting Regal run the show
Shrewd refuses to believe Regal is anything but a loving son. Plenty of parents refuse to hear a single bad word about their favorite petted, spoiled, enabled, child. This work of fiction mirrors real world generational cycles of abuse.
Regal comes off as a cartoonish villain to many readers, but is a real depiction of worst case scenario of ignoring the bad in a child, and enabling them in their petty cruelty. I know someone exactly like Regal, who, thankfully, is not in a position of power, but perhaps you could think of some rich powerful people, spoiled by permissive parenting, who take what they want, and harm so many others, seeing virtually no consequences for their horrible abusive actions?
I found it completely believable. I work in a rehab so we can get some pretty rough folks. I see it all of the time that someone sees their kid are just poor little victims that are misunderstood and can do no wrong. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of them are just very sick mentally. But the parents do not help by refusing to see the awful shit their kids do.
I believe he felt like he had no other choice. They couldn't keep repelling the red ship raiders indefinitely and he could not entrust the trip to anyone else.
Keep reading and find out
It’s getting so hard to keep going when I just want to scream at all the characters about how stupid they are the whole time lol
Sometimes books are like train wrecks. Have you read Wuthering Heights?
No I haven’t I tried in high school but couldn’t get into it lol
Well, i would describe them both sort of like a car crash or whatever. You just have to rubberneck drive (aka read and find out).
My guess is Verity is working with Regal like he used to work with Chiv, unfortunately the trust isn't there. Verity also very much was raised as a second son, the non-public, getting things done role is what he knows.
He isn't half as delusional as Chade. Who is perfectly content to throw up his hands and do nothing, since the terminally ill king hasn't specifically ordered it. At least Verity had the excuse of being pre-occupied with the red ships
Yes I agree. Every time Fitz talks with Chade I want to strangle him!! Finding out he has been providing the King with drugs was shocking
It's unbelievably frustrating, hard not to spoil but I think Shrewd and Verity are simply poor/ incompetent leaders which causes a majority of the issues in the books
Great books though flawed characters that you like are interesting
Yeah I think Verity has no business ruling when he can’t even control his own brother. I hope they eventually go into more of why Chivalry abdicated solely because he had a bastard, that seems like such a stupid reason
True, monarchy in general is a system that rewards ruthlessness as opposed to familial love, which is likely why regal gets so far with such an obvious plan to take over the throne. He's not even particularly smart, just more ruthless than anyone else in his family
I think the chilvery abdication is explained perfectly by the end of the first trilogy, although I still disagree with his decision, but you understand the circumstances of why someone would choose that option. If you're waiting for any big plot twist or a black and white moment of clarity for any characters strange decision you won't get them in these books, but you will get a lot of very human characters stuck inbetween a rock and a hard place making the decision they think is best, with their own personal past and reasoning for their actions
I'm sure the peasants feel the same way, but they're not the ones making the decisions. It's about the character interactions, not whether you personally would vote for them lol
There's a a letter in the Tawny man trilogy from Queen Desire to her cousin in tilth, that basically explains why Chivalry abdicated.
It is realistic. And in realitiy..people also just don't lift a finger...we just don't want it to be true.
Imo he is delusional. He is drawn to the elderlings due to his growing skill addiction. My personal interpretation is that for this reason, Verity never acknowledged Regal as an actual adult because acknowledging him as the malevolent man he has become would mean he couldn't leave Buckkeep behind.
Verity sees himself as the most dutiful man there is, and it's very convenient for him to see his duty fulfilled by following the call of his addiction.
On a side note: On my first read throughs, I really loved Verity (and still do), but being at my fourth read through the series (coincidentally at about the same point as you in the series) and as a person who has many first- and even more second-hand experiences of how people lie to themselves due to their addictions, I can't turn a blind eye on this anymore.
Yes I agree with this, I think his skill addiction is worse than Fitz as the narrator realizes and is the true reason that he went to seek the Elderlings and neglected all his other duties and hid in his map room even during the winters when he didn’t have to worry so much about attacks. I also don’t understand how he didn’t see it as his duty to provide an heir as soon as possible once he saw what happened with Regal in the Mountains. Kettricken has been there over a year before she gets pregnant and only because he is happy she gave him the excuse to leave
Verity is too trusting, but part of that comes from his name, in the first book it states that there is a folk belief that royalty are unable to escape the virtue of their name, and you see in the princes how they live up to their names almost to a fault, the abdication of chivalry is more due to how chivalrous it was than any political thoughts, verity is true and honest and therefore expects it in those around him and regal puts his status above everything else
Delusional and desperate to save his people… and also maybe to make his own choice as his own man under the guise of duty…
Because shrewd loves his youngest son...
Regal is still a prince. So even if his actions are wrong, and people can see it, the only ones who may challenge him are other members of the royal family. That’s loyalty to the monarchy.
RAFO
I mean.... gestures at everything
Seems like the rich and powerful being able to get away with literal murder is probably the most realistic part of those books.