Wizard 38

Chapter 38
Zedd and Kahlan are arguing about how to deal with Giller, and both of their plans seem to consist of “We'll march into town and everything will work out fine.” Richard, clinging tightly to his newly-seen intelligence, points out that this isn't the best of plans, and if Rahl happens to be in town they're all dead.
Richard's plan is...for them to march into town cleverly disguised as themselves. Kahlan will be the Mother Confessor, Richard will be the Seeker, and Zedd will be the Mother Confessor's cloud reader. The plan is that Queen Milena will be scared to bar a Confessor from her land (despite the fact that she is allying with Rahl, who has had all the other Confessors slaughtered), and will be thrown off-balance by the Seeker. This will allow Team Richard to make contact with Giller and acquire the magic box. Sounds like a pretty sketchy plan to me.
The others go to sleep, and Richard angsts some more about how he and Kahlan can never be together. Because love = sex, and you can't have one without the other. \~/ Now, I would think that if Richard and Kahlan truly loved each other, and weren't just horny or infatuated, they could be together without having sex. Yes, sex would be nice, but it's not the be-all and end-all of a relationship. Love is a lot more than just sex. At least, I think it is.
And of course, Kahlan can't just blow her power on inanimate objects, or animals, or people she's already mindraped, and then have sex. Because...then there wouldn't be all this angst. It's tragic, really.
Richard hears a sound, and sees the yellow eyes that have been following them for a while now. It turns out they belong to a wolf, the biggest wolf he has ever seen. The wolf knocks him over and attacks a heart hound that had been sneaking up behind him. Richard hits his head and blacks out.
Have you ever noticed how head trauma in a fantasy book always knocks the victim out, and never causes any long-term problems? I'm just sayin'.
Richard wakes up and tells Zedd and Kahlan about the wolf. Kahlan immediately calls for Brophy, and the wolf emerges. It turns out that Brophy was a man sentenced to be executed for child-killing, but he demanded a Confessor to prove his innocence and Kahlan mindraped him. Apparently this is extremely rare, as most men prefer to be executed for crimes they did not commit than to be mindraped. To me, this just reinforces how terrible the Confessors are, that innocent men consider their touch a fate worse than both death and dishonor. Also, I wonder why Kahlan specified “men.” Do women prefer a Confessor's touch to an unearned execution? Or do women not commit execution-worthy crimes? There's something subtly off here.
Anyway, Brophy was innocent of the murder, but turned out to be guilty of various other things. He was a trader of magic items, and according to Kahlan, “Some of them happen[ed] to be alive at the time.” So...is that slavery? Or is it more equivalent to trading animals, which are also alive? It's presented as a Bad Thing, which seems to imply that Brophy was trading in sentient magical...things. Which makes him a slave trader and all-around terrible person.
So far, the only completely sympathetic character in this book is Rachel.
Oh, and Brophy also tended to solve problems with his muscles, and admits to having a temper. Lovely fellow. But it's okay, because he would donate money to orphanages, after first terrorizing the owners into silence. Was that really necessary? Most charities are more than happy to accept anonymous donations.
We learn that, in the rare cases when a Confessor mindrapes someone who turns out to be innocent, her wizard transforms the person into an animal. This weakens the mindrape enough that the victim is capable of concern for themselves. Of course, they're now stuck in the body of an animal (albeit one that can talk) with none of the animal's skills or social knowledge. Great plan. And I can't help but wonder...if one transformation weakens the mindrape effect, what about two? What if the wizard turned the victim into an animal, and then back into a human? Or a slightly different human; say, a six-foot blonde man instead of a five-three brunette?
Once again, I fear I'm giving the subject more thought than Mr Goodkind did.
Bleargh. \~/
We learn that Brophy was accused by Denim Nascar, Rahl's pederast friend. Kahlan states that Denim “has a very sick interest in little boys.” So Brophy was accused by a known child molester. Now, maybe Denim's friendship with Rahl protects him from the law, but surely there would be a trace of doubt if Bob the Trader was accused by Rapey McChildporn. \~/
Brophy has a wolf-wife and six wolf-children. Just thought I'd share that.
Kahlan tells Brophy that they're off the fight the wizard, and it's too dangerous, he should go back to his wolf-family. Brophy replies that, although his transformation removed most of his need to obey Kahlan, he would still die for her. “I must protect you, or I could never be at peace. Command me to leave if you will, but I will not go. I will shadow you until you are safe from Darken Rahl.”
First, Brophy has been away from Kahlan for several months minimum and possibly longer (it's late autumn, and he refers to having a litter of pups “this last spring”). He apparently didn't feel any overpowering need to seek her out before now. Second, this contradicts what we were told about Confessor magic, that the victim would obey any command. If Kahlan specifically orders Brophy to leave, he should be fixated on obeying her, not protecting her.
But the Rules of Magic have never been consistent before now, so why should that change? \~/
We get Brophy's description of how it feels to be mindraped by a Confessor: “Pain. I remember the pain. It was exquisite, beyond anything you could imagine. The first thing I remember after the pain is fear. Overpowering fear I might be breathing wrong, and it would somehow displease her. I almost died from fear that I would displease her. And then when she told me what she wanted, to know, it was a flush of the greatest joy I have ever known. Joy, because then I knew what I could do to please her. I was overjoyed that she had made a request of me, that there was something I could do to satisfy her. That's what I remember the most, the desperate, frantic need to do as she wanted, to satisfy her, and make her happy.”
Look at these words: “pain,” “fear,” “overpowering fear,” “desperate, frantic need.” These are not words used to describe something positive. The power of the Confessors inflicts pain, fear and desperation on its victims. These are, in fact, words that could be used to describe rape.
Oh, but it's okay because he eventually feels joy. Joy because he can please his Mistress. He gets into it. It's not rape if you enjoy it, right? \~/ This is like some kind of horrible fantasy porno.
This is the power of one of the heroes. Not the Evil Overlord. The hero is a mindrapist. The hero crushes the wills of her enemies, inflicts pain and fear upon them, and destroys their original personality. And then the hero forces her victims to enjoy it. I just wanted to make that clear. \~/
Hey, is Brophy a last name or a first name?
Drinks: 6
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