Chapter Text
I’m going through my notes for the final chapter of The Case of the Dissembling Detective, and I’m realizing how many theories I’ve RAMMED into that story. I’d been thinking about writing up some separate posts about some of these ideas. But laying it all out in bullet lists just feels more to the point!
Ever since The Unwanted Guest was released, I’ve also been thinking about how Corona and Ianthe are both extremely unreliable reporters. They are performers first and foremost. Naberius Tern was too, but I think the details we got about him in TUG, and that I think we’ll continue to get in Alecto the Ninth, hold a lot of significance for the twins and Third House culture by extension. So some of these theories are very Tern-centric, but most of them have wider implications.
TONS of spoilers, obviously!
THE THIRD AND THEIR SWORDS
- Babs taught Corona swords in secret: not quite confirmed, but extremely likely. We see them training together at Canaan House, though we don’t actively see Babs teaching her anything. But Corona’s response to Gideon walking in on her in the training room is very telling. She also asks Gideon if she’d ever seen a necro hold a sword before, which suggests that it’s extremely unorthodox.
- Corona wanted to replace Babs as Ianthe’s cavalier: I think this was absolutely an idea at work in Corona’s head. I don’t think Babs would agree; the standards he was taught for cavaliership demand a high level of perfectionism, and he believed in that standard. He was NOT impressed with the other cavs. But the other cavs also might have confirmed for Corona that her desire was possible (more on this below).
- Corona killed Babs: I want to believe! I think the evidence is strong; it makes more sense for Ianthe to have his blood on him if she was standing in front of him/the exit wound while Corona stabbed him in the back. I also think Ianthe taking credit for Corona's murder tracks with Ianthe’s character in general: 1. Ianthe had just achieved Lyctorhood and wanted the full credit, 2. She has a tendency to mishmash hers and Corona’s identities as a set of twins, so I think she sees herself as somewhat responsible for everything Corona does, 3. If Ianthe’s plans for Corona are not yet resolved, then it’s probably best for Corona to maintain her good-girl image. 4. Upper body strength??? Ianthe??? Hell no.
- Gideon’s duel with Naberius directly inspired Corona to kill him: Corona and Ianthe each have an epiphany that they are in a place with “no rules.” Ianthe had hers during the key debacle, but I think Corona had hers when she watched Gideon punch Naberius after their duel. I think the Third House is a place where rules and standards are extremely important; there is a way things SHOULD be done (which is why Babs is such an insufferable rules-nick). By Idan standards, Corona could never hope to be Ianthe’s cavalier; Naberius had been training for the role since birth. But what if beating Naberius fairly didn’t matter? Corona watched a room full of cavalier primaries from the other Houses dismiss formal duel etiquette in favor of real-life fighting tactics. She might not have decided to kill Babs on the spot, but I bet that whole scene made a huge impression on her.
- I think when Corona realized the cavalier would have an important role in Lyctorhood, she challenged Naberius to a duel for the position of cavalier primary. I think he indulged her, thinking he would beat her easily and shut the whole thing down; he could always comfort her afterwards. He expected her to follow the etiquette they had both been taught. He did NOT expect her to attack him after he had “won” the match. He won and turned away, thinking the matter was settled, and then she stabbed him in the back.
THE BUBBLES IN THE RIVER
- The “madness” in the River is the bubble worlds: This theory in part because I find Palamedes and Harrow both delightfully insufferable and a little too inclined to think well of themselves. The whole “oh, we’re doing something so SPECIAL” tone of the way they talk about the River rubs me wrong. I think EVERYBODY who goes to the River ends up cycling through constructed worlds made up of things they both remember and imagine. I think existence in the River means cycling through these bubbles forever, which would eventually lead to madness.
- Palamedes purposefully anchored himself using the memory of the room in which he died. It was very, very boring for him and negatively affected his mental health. To cope, he got into fanfiction; I think this was like a training wheels version of how souls typically cope in the River. Had he not been focused on surviving to one day reconnect with his skeletal fragments, I think he would have gotten sucked into the bubble system and lived out his fanfiction until he went insane.
- Harrow was messier because she didn’t realize what she was doing/she’s got heightened necro powers thanks to her whole 200 souls situation. Once she abandoned the fake version she concocted of Canaan House, she began whipping her way through bubble-versions of mashed up memory/fantasies. I think this later part of her River journey was a totally normal experience that every soul in The Locked Tomb universe inevitably has.
- For Dissembling Detectives, Naberius wheedles his way around the parameters by working to rule. He (unconsciously, not really understanding what he was doing) split his soul into further divisible parts and made a memory construct in the form of Corona as a kind of anchor to hold things down. Then the rest of him went off to have fun and explore the bubble worlds as a last hurrah while Ianthe slowly digests his soul. Speaking of Naberius Tern:
A TEPID, DOMESTIC, PROFOUNDLY BORING SOUL
- In life, Naberius needed to wife up and have kids: This man is an only child of a Resurrection-pure family FAMOUS for providing cavaliers to the royal family. His job is Swords, but it’s probably also breeding. Given he’s a man in a necromantic civilization rife with fertility issues (rather than a female cav trying to balance a pregnancy with her duties) I think there was an implicit expectation that he was going to have as MANY kids as possible to shore up the family stock, so to speak.
- I say “wife up” specifically because the Third House—the flesh crafters!—seem likely to value gravid carry (using a womb in a body); we know that Ianthe and Corona’s birth was a gynecological event because their mother had to “risk intervention” (ugh, Silas). And given how difficult pregnancies are in this series, I imagine gravid carry being a class signifier valued by the royals and the elite.
- But that’s fine, because Naberius WANTED to wife up and have kids: Babs has been indoctrinated from the cradle to be the Perfect Cav; I think this included teaching him that having kids is both important and the best thing ever. Like everything else in his job description, I think he grabbed that shit with both hands and had no real opportunity to interrogate it. I’m mainly deriving this possibility from The Unwanted Guest: Ianthe describes Babs’ romantic drama as entertaining, but also bitches about his “tepid, domestic, profoundly boring soul.” So which is it? Is he the drama, or is he boring?? “Domestic” could cover many different things, but reproduction specifically has come up CONSTANTLY in this series. And given what we know of Ianthe, I think she would find the idea of children revolting. So having a cavalier who wants them would piss her off royally. As for Babs, I’m side-eyeing all of his interactions with Corona in GtN (more below).
- Less seriously, I’m ALSO rethinking Ianthe’s comment to Harrow: “I have never been good at attracting indulgent fathers.” She’s needling Harrow about being Jod’s favorite, and she’s likely just referencing her relationship with her own biological father. But wouldn’t it be funny if she was talking about Naberius too?
- Naberius is an only child because the last few cavalier primaries to the Third royal family were women: Why the hell would a cav-breeding family not invest in making multiples?? There's an argument to be made for focusing all their resources into one perfect product, but the Third seem like they have the resources to at least throw in a younger sibling. A female cav balancing duties to the royal family AND the task of successfully carrying to term might explain it, though. The Houses are constantly struggling with fertility issues; royal families are not an exception. I think Naberius was the one successful birth after a series of miscarriages; once he made it, the family said "screw you, we did it, we're done." Multiple miscarriages is already hell on the body; if the cav in question became permanently incapacitated (or died in childbirth) someone would have to replace her, and suddenly the family would be subject to challenges to their status as the cav-makers. Why risk it when Naberius could grow up and marry someone who could make their entire job babies and motherhood and move the family to a more secure position then?
- Otherwise, it might be that the royal families of Ida ALL limit their numbers of offspring to avoid power struggles. But given what we know of the Third House leadership, that seems a little too self-aware. Their King apparently saw his wife give birth (barely) to twins and said "hot DOG, two cakes, and they're SPOOKY with prophecy!"
- Naberius was going to be a… so-so Girl Dad: Points for enthusiasm, but Naberius was not out to break any cycles of trauma. His kids would have been about as neurotic and obnoxious as him, and he likely would have turned into an over-bearing stage dad and a mediocre husband, reinforcing strict binaries and social customs left and right. Heterosexuality and misogyny don’t technically exist as concepts in Jod’s perfect new universe, but I think there is absolutely a misogyny to Naberius Tern: rather than the kind that treats women as sex objects, it’s the kind that treats women as children.
- In Naberius’ head, Corona was his practice daughter: I think this framing gives a lot more clarity to what we see of his relationship with Corona in GtN. Their interactions suggest a kind of intimacy, but don’t read as romantic. Gideon observes that when he speaks to Corona, he’s “much softer, more coaxing and appealing”; whenever he’s talking her down from doing something dangerous (such as challenging Gideon) he calls her “doll.” It’s affectionate (one of his very few redeeming features!) but it’s also infantilizing. Which leads into the next point:
- Corona probably loved him, but she was also sick of him: Not a big mystery, but building on the potential father-daughter aspect of their relationship, I think she’d outgrown playing house with him but couldn’t get him to stop. Corona’s speeches to Nona about being independent and not needing to be “looked after” so much feel like they stemmed from her personal experience. His treating her like his kid was also screwing up the hierarchy: she’s not a real necro, but he’s supposed to treat her like one. Over their time in Canaan House, Babs stops deferring to her and starts explicitly following Ianthe’s lead instead. How would that feel to an insecure princess if the servant who’s supposed to obey her suddenly starts ignoring her orders, and also insists on treating her like a baby? I think it was a big contributing factor to her stabbing him; she wanted independence, in many ways.
- But Corona is also going to need to have kids: Or at least someone’s going to have to, between her and Ianthe. And I think it will be Corona, if only because I’m not sure Ianthe is even healthy enough physically to swing it. And, again, I think Ianthe hates kids. If Naberius and Corona both have prescribed reproductive futures, it might have been another point of bonding between them: not only are they publicly necro and cav, but they’re also going to be raising families together. It could also be another factor in Corona's impostor syndrome: does she want kids?
- Naberius was about to propose to someone/get married before Canaan House: As Ianthe revealed during The Unwanted Guest, this sassy little man had an entire life going on back on Ida, and I think he was serious about getting to it. Not that this explains away his behavior at Canaan House! I think he IS fundamentally an unpleasant person, but Canaan House would have been a massive disruption to his domestic ambitions, and I think he was mad as hell he had to be there.
- Ianthe (and probably Corona) were NOT happy about the idea of Naberius getting married: I think Ianthe’s “As if anyone was even offering!” in GtN was an interesting, unusually loud response to Naberius’ snippy little “I should have stayed home and gotten married.” The Tridentarii treat Babs like shit, but he also belongs to them. I think the idea of sharing him with anybody else gave them hives, even if they knew they would have to eventually (there's a lot to be side-eyed about the way the Tridentarii appear to anticipate the future).
LIFE ON IDA
- Babs knew about the twins’ secret: Based largely on his freakout when Corona challenged Gideon to a duel; it was very secret-keeper vibes. And given how much time they spend together, how well they have to understand each other to keep the operation up… Babs is a snobby bitch and stupid about LOTS of things, but he’s also an insufferable rules-nick and inconveniently observant. I can’t see how he wouldn’t have known.
- They all shared an apartment, and probably a bed: These three do not understand personal space. Also, looking at their intro scene: they complained about the food, but not the living quarters? Babs never bitches about the weird little cav-cot? Please.
- At parties, Babs made their drinks as a protective measure: In TUG, Ianthe talks about how Babs made a “creditable cocktail.” This suggests that he often made her drinks, and therefore probably Corona’s. Just imagining Corona’s popularity, I would think people would have been falling over themselves to get her a drink. So why would she need Babs to mix her anything? But in terms of security and princess protection, having a bunch of randos get the crown princess her drink would be a nightmare. Ianthe and Corona talked in NtN about how Corona used to mess around with poison to scare her sister when she was little; poison and drugs are definitely a thing on Ida. Hence, put the cavalier on drink duty. And if he controls their drinks, he controls how much alcohol they get…and probably limits what Corona gets to have. Over-protective dad; infantilizing.
- I’m aware there’s also been some confusion about who Palamedes got the knowledge of smoking from in The Unwanted Guest. Smoking is something Ianthe picked up from Augustine during HtN. I cannot imagine a universe where Naberius smoked, and I think the smoking is going to end up being some kind of flag for when “Ianthe Naberius” is being more Ianthe than Naberius. But given the cocktails comment, I do wonder if Babs had some issues with drinking. It’s similar to the Corona situation above; he’s a prince, so what is he doing making drinks? AND he’s a famously dedicated, competitive athlete; I don't imagine he would be drinking recreationally regularly enough to know how to whip up cocktails. It might just be a fun hobby or party trick, but I wonder if making the drinks was a way of getting out of drinking the drinks.
- Or, it might be that the flesh crafters of the Third have miracle hangover cures to purify the body, so none of it really mattered. But of all the details for Ianthe to offer about his home life and habits, it felt weirdly specific. Maybe we're going to see her working the bar at a party in Alecto the Ninth as she succumbs to the mindmeld.
- It's not just Tern; perfectionism is a THING on Ida: It ain't his fault; he's just a product of his culture! This one is pretty much directly stated in TUG, but to continue the thought: There are several comments throughout the series about how the Fifth House is pretty complacent in their position as leading House in the Empire (even Abigail comments on it in HtN). The Third seem to be looking for opportunities to ascend, and I think as a culture full of craftspeople, they're trying to elevate their standing by simply being the best. This is one of the very few ways Ianthe and Naberius suit each other: they are each EXCELLENT at what they do. This also puts Corona is a really tenuous position; she's a jack of all trades with no real specialization to distinguish herself. She'll be king one day, but in the meantime, I think she's dealing with a massive inferiority complex reinforced by her sister, her cavalier, and her entire society.
- I think there's also something to be said for the observations Tazmuir makes throughout the series about specialization and how it can backfire. Gideon only ever learned how to use a two-hander and suddenly has to cram skills for a completely different combat form. Her CRAMMING is good enough to unsettle a specialist like Naberius. In HtN, Harrow writes herself a note ordering her to STOP specializing, to hurry up and learn about other forms of necromancy to better ensure her survival. Corona is a generalist, and her ability to learn sets her apart; she adapts, over and over and over, to each new situation and consistently benefits from this (she makes way more headway with BOE than Palamedes or Camilla ever did, for sure). But this skill isn't celebrated. I think that's going to bite the universe in the ass.
CANAAN HOUSE FILES
- Corona and Naberius were gathering intelligence at Canaan House: “Teehee, let’s have a fun little sparring match!” said the incumbent King of Ida, immediately taking control of a room full of her fellow scions’ cavs and officiating their matches for her own amusement. (I think this was also just Corona desperate for something to do and feeling out of place and awkward in general, but STILL. The king was making moves!) This theory further spurred on by the Fifth immediately following up with a dinner party. “Forgotten anniversary” my ass, they saw the Third establishing authority and realized that they needed to assert dominance.
- Babs and Colum hooked up at Canaan House, or would have if there had been time: I want to believe! Babs followed Colum around like a puppy for a good little while there after the dinner party. I think there is going to be narrative significance to the way he attached himself to Colum at some point in Alecto.
- Babs had issues with Jeannemary specifically because of his desire to have kids: Naberius is also an immature brat and unaccustomed to being outright challenged and spoken back to. But compared to Corona—who was probably his ideal for what he wanted his daughters to be like— Jeannemary might have been something like his nightmare anti-daughter: bad attitude, not cute, contradicts everything he says. Again, it’s the Girl Dad archetype leading to a very specific brand of misogyny!