Trade, lightning, cancer, cryptarchs and so many lesbians: can Falcrest fall?
Welcome to the third and final (for now) part of my discussion and analysis of Seth Dickinson's Masquerade series. Part I introduced the books' cast and themes and Part II examined Baru's growing understanding of compliance & rebellion. Today I'll speculate about the forthcoming conclusion to the series, where it might take our favourite characters and what its message might be, as an answer to empire, bigotry and colonialism.
Trade Concern
As I alluded to at the end of last week's post, Baru has turned from the Tain Shir-like path of chaos and destruction to achieve her goals and decided she will beat Falcrest, the Empire of Masks, at its own game: trade. Being a savant in accounting and economics is a large part of the reason Baru was recruited in the first place, so setting herself wholly to economic endeavours – seemingly on behalf of Falcrest – plays directly to expectations.
Baru Cormorant, by sheppard
Her plan – set up mostly by her subconscious mind, a detail that will sadly have to wait for a dedicated post on her and Tain Hu's relationship to explain – is to establish trade directly between Falcrest's rival nations: spices, food, lumber and more from the Oriati Mbo flowing directly to the wintry desolation of the Stakhieczi in exchange for their miraculous glass and steel. In her ideal world, this will see profits and development rise by cutting out Falcrest's role as omnipresent middlemen.
The problem comes back to the themes I explored last week: this interweaving of trade and culture is exactly how Falcrest has established its empire, and even if Baru succeeds she might just be playing to her master's hands and furthering the globe-spanning dream of the Masquerade. Baru's plan is to lure Falcresti money to invest wholeheartedly into her concern only to pop the bubble on them, destroying the empire by causing them to over-leverage their most effective weapon.
Iraji, Tain Hu, Aminata, Tau-Indi, Svirakir and Baru, by ash-and-starlight
Now, I have very little understanding of economics – consider reading this much more informed analysis by canmom for details and historical parallels – but I think it remains unclear to what extent Baru successfully popping this speculative bubble will negatively affect the rest of the world.
A question raised throughout the series is the price of throwing off colonial Falcrest: the potential loss of engineering, education, vaccinations and so forth, even if trade could now be replaced or maintained. This is also the first argument in defense of colonialism in our world, stemming from Eurocentrist ideas that colonialist ways are the best and only. Given how thoroughly Falcrest mirrors this ideology, I fully expect to see a brief, painful period of decolonization in the novels followed by a fascinating emergence of new and old methods throughout this world. (The Oriati Mbo, so far mostly untouched by Falcrest, is a great example of a thriving society completely different from the Empire of Masks.)
I do believe Baru's plan will succeed to some extent, especially given how many allies she now has to potentially push it forward without her. Because her path has not been an easy one, and I see no evidence it is about to get any safer.
Baru before and after her travels, by marceline2174
Cryptarchs
The central obstacle in Baru's path are her rival cryptarchs, who may be far more numerous than the six she was led to believe existed.
Baru and the reader are told in Monster that Renascent (?) was the sole survivor of a previous Throne (the secret ruling cabal of Falcrest) and that she recruited Itinerant (Cairdine Farrier) and Hesychast (Cosgrad Torrinde), who presumably recruited Apparitor (Svirakir) and Stargazer (?) in addition to Agonist (Baru) and Durance (Xate Yawa).
It's easy to be immediately suspicious of this claim, given that Renascent (an extremely mysterious spymaster, more on her in a moment) is its only source. But only in Tyrant do any of the characters question it: First with Tain Shir, ever dedicated to opening Baru's eyes to the lies which envelop her; then with the chaotic blazed Faham Execarne, who responds to Yawa's threat of Imperial authority by suggesting he could negate it with his own.
The theory which multiple characters arrive at is that this is the provincial cell of the Throne, dedicated to the governance and control of matters outside the nation of Falcrest itself. After all, Farrier and Hesychast's ideological contest is about the control and subjugation of the provinces through psychological conditioning and eugenics respectively, and the three known lesser cryptarchs each hailed from a different province: Yawa from Aurdwynn, Svir from the Stakhieczi and Baru from Taranoke. Baru even speculates that yet-unmasked Stargazer could be from the Oriati Mbo to round things out.
Ultimately while this was a fantastic twist – setting Baru and Yawa even further from the power over Falcrest they thought they had already won – I don't imagine it will be a major plot point with only one book supposedly to go. Whether Baru is set to face off against a hundred cryptarchs or just Renascent, Hesychast and potentially Farrier, the confrontation will likely be decisive and explosive.
Who (and what) is Renascent?
“A self-governing world shall require a self-governing citizen. It will require a woman who can without coercion or persuasion be trusted to make perfect choices to keep the Masquerade strong. Once this citizen can be created, then the Republic will last forever. No force of law will be required. All citizens will gladly perform their own functions, for no reason except the joy of it. This is the great desire of Renascent, the Throne Reborn. And I must prove to her that I am the way to fulfill this desire.” --- “Is Renascent really an old woman?” I asked. “Someone told me so, at the Elided Keep. But Falcrest despises the old and fears the powerful woman … it’s quite incredible to me that you’d follow her.” “She’s not,” Hesychast said, tersely. “What? An old woman?” “I’m not sure she’s a person at all, any more. She made certain requests of me over the years, and—well. I speculate.” “What? Is she a parrot, then? A whale? Another tumor?” “It’s complicated. And taboo. We won’t speak of it now.” - Seth Dickinson, The Tyrant Baru Cormorant
An aspect of these books which I touched on in a previous post and will go more into below is Seth's incredible imagination for alternate ways the world and science could have developed. Suffice it to say that Xate Yawa isn't necessarily talking complete nonsense above: a popular theory is that Renascent is secretly a branch of the immortal Cancrioth, benign tumours passing genetic information and perhaps personalities down through the generations. The most promising example of this last is the Brain, where the tumour's memories may be most easily accessed by its host; the Cancrioth's current Brain host isn't the most sane, but it is entirely possible that an alternate branch of the line secretly found success and stability at the core of Falcrest.
As likely a Renascent as any: "Immortal Empress", by James Ng
The other somewhat prominent theory I've seen is that Renascent has achieved the immortality-through-ideology that Farrier and Hesychast seem to be competing for and which I also explored in that previous post:
Unless Farrier finds the answer to the Imperial Question, the riddle of closure. Unless at last one of his protégés comes back perfect. Then, in the only way that matters, he will be immortal. - Seth Dickinson, The Monster Baru Cormorant
It could be that Renascent is alive in the very structure of Falcrest, from the yearning of its empire to the manipulations of the Throne and its utter disdain for monarchy post-revolution.
But... I'm not entirely convinced, given Hesychast's statement above that Renascent has made unusual requests over the years. If she's the host of a tumour she should be human enough, and if she's ascended as a concept I struggle to imagine her doing much in the way of communicating. (Yet even as I write, I can imagine explanations: a detached brain in a complex machine; messages through the movements of Falcrest society. Who knows.)
In this strange world, there are endless possibilities.
Lightning in the East
Seeded throughout the series are hints of the mysterious world beyond the familiar Ashen Sea Trade Ring and current time period. We learn that 'Jellyfish Eaters' ruled this region not long ago, and that their descendants still inhabit some of the islands Baru visits on her travels – we also see Tain Shir eating a jellyfish at one point, adding to her unparalleled mystery.
More strange lore is hinted at everywhere, from the far south with the Cancrioth and more, to Aurdwynn's immortal Virtues and to the ancient history of legendary narwhals apparently important to the extinct Falcrest monarchy. (I'd love to go deeper into every hint of these and about the history of this world sometime; perhaps once the fourth book arrives.)
But the lightning on the eastern supercontinent, past the ship-breaking Mother of Storms, surpasses all in the amount of attention and foreshadowing it has received. Through frequent hints about his scars and experiences we know that Svirakir/Apparitor and his lover have visited the East and wish to return. It's subtle, but Traitor establishes that Baru herself has read a book containing all Falcrest knows about the Lightning. We even get to see it ourselves in the epilogue of Tyrant, through the eyes of a doomed Falcresti expedition.
And, holy shit, it is a thrilling and fascinating chapter. Ghostly letters appearing in the afterimages of strikes, strange symbols seemingly etched by the lightning itself and a group of warped armour-wearing humans (I theorize they're the Stakhiezci survivors of Svir's expedition, but perhaps a local people) performing a sacrificial ritual and eating the victim's brain.
I'm calling it now: this thing is sentient. Whether the supercontinent is a massive brain and the strikes are the firing of neurons or Seth has dreamed up something even stranger, I'm utterly enraptured by this world.
Perhaps related, we get other hints through Svirakir's perspective and Baru's fever dreams (I'm assuming that she's influenced by what she read of the East in that book, but perhaps it's complete nonsense):
Long ago, in a faraway place, a secret fire had passed through Svir’s body. It had aligned something in him … something that thundered in the empty spaces of his mind. Whenever he didn’t know what to do, that palefire leapt within him, and a solution came. --- A lightning farm collected thunderbolts to animate the meat golems that conducted various labor. “Those must run on the same galvanic principle that makes corpses twitch,” Baru assured Hu. - Seth Dickinson, The Tyrant Baru Cormorant
The first quote feels like it could easily point to a sentient being that briefly inhabited Svir – and perhaps still does to a lesser extent. The second feels like a hint from Seth: If Baru dreams of putting the lightning to use in this way in her utopia, maybe that is Falcrest's best current understanding of the warped locals – meat puppets animated and controlled by the all-powerful lightning.
Could this be related to Renascent's true form? Falcrest certainly associates the threat of the East with a sense of doom, almost to the point of taboo – could that be why Hesychast wants to avoid speaking more about his mysterious master?
Even if that's not how things work out, the lightning has been set up to be a major force in the series. Maybe Tain Shir has been there, since she's already associated with every other mysterious force in this world (more on this in one of my future posts, promise!) Maybe Baru will be caught and exiled, only to find a new destructive weapon to leverage against Falcrest.
No matter how it turns out, I can't fucking wait <3
Baru and Iscend Comprine, by dungeonmistrix
That's all for now! Thanks for making it this far; once again I'll highly recommend these books to anyone who's somehow reading this but hasn't yet enjoyed Seth's incredible work.
Cheers!
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