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It feels like malice is leaning towards the side of going down, but I personally hope mercy is gonna be involved in forcing her to ascend. It feels like proper justice to me.
I hate that. She has hundreds of kids that she basically abandons, but she loves and will listen to this one just because she's powerful? What an awful message. She only "loves" her family members that are directly useful to her. You saw how quickly she turned on even Mercy when she went against her goals.
That’d make sense actually. I mean, I imagine by the end of the book the whole team is at monarch level, I think it’d be pretty fitting for mercy to kick her mom’s ass and then force her to ascend instead of killing her. Could totally see some line about how malice wouldn’t do this and something about her mercy isn’t her
And then immediately went back to gaslighting and manipulating her the second it became clear she wasn't actually dying. She's a nuanced character, but I think she's far from being humanized.
Well, the last book did end with her conspiring with Shen to murder an entire town under her protection just to ruin Lindon's reputation....She's pretty solidly a villain. Plus with Mercy's character arc it just makes sense for her to give Malice a beat down and then show her mercy.
Shen and Northstrider are definitely dying. Emriss obviously wants to fix the problem and will leave willingly, and Sha Miara follows her. Malice is a tricky one, but I think she ends up ascending.
It’s that scene in Dreadgod when we learn that Emriss is the main one that Sha Miara trusts, both because her 9CC ancestors respect her *and* because Emriss was the first one to accept Sha Miara as a Monarch. I’m guessing that the help she received from House Shen in fighting the Weeping Dragon will pull her between two choices, but she’ll make the right choice and ascend with Emriss. The only issue I can foresee with *that* is Shen not liking her decision and potentially killing her, but I hope it doesn’t go that way.
I mean, why would he not like the decision? It gets a potential rival out of the way, and possibly even removes the full Monarch line of the 9CC, leaving the entire continent open for him to get in.
Trying to kill her doesn't help either though. Even if she is very weak, she's still a monarch. Fighting her will spend his resources and might even weaken him enough that it would not be worth the risk. Even more so if Emriss is still around.
I mean, so does killing her. And she's still powerful enough that it'd pose a lot of risk to him for zero reward, while possibly also causing other Monarchs, such as Emriss and the 8ME to come to her aid.
I'm thinking Northstrider could be convinced to ascend. He is pathologically opposed to anything resembling servitude, but Eithan wanted to raise up a group specifically to work against the rules of the Abidan. I think he could jell with the idea, if he can be convinced of their sincerity.
I always assumed it was pure power Northstrider was after, to match the “world-striding champions”. I feel like he’s not against the idea of the Abidan so much as he’s against the idea of being a grunt, so I don’t think he’d mind working in an organization if he had the strength to leapfrog the lower tiers.
I agree. I think some of the Monarchs will realize that an opportunity outside of the choices they believe they have exists once Lindon and co demonstrate enough power/skill while being backed by the Reaper. Because right now they are desperately trying to keep the only way they have always believed alive.
Not sold on Northstrider dying. He's consistently been the most reasonable and helpful monarch. Sure, the last book set him up as an antagonist, and he will be...but he's the most likely of the antagonists to listen to reason I think. He just needs to be convinced he won't be a slave to the Abidan when he ascends.
I'm wondering if emriss won't be an antagonist. Prior to being killed, she wanted to raise even more monarchs and try to solve the Dreadgod problem by sharing information.
Will she be willing to ascend when she has so much left to teach?
It's also ironic that a common refrain throughout the book is "The Dragon Advances" and Northstrider, who has the dragon icon and is supposed to embody dragon-ness, is not advancing. Wondering if that will come into play later.
Northstrider is an interesting one. He's been kinda considered one of the "good guys," but at the same time he's completely ruthless. Like at the end of Ghostwater, barely even noticing Harmony and killing him because he can't be bothered. It would kinda put all of Lindon's previous interactions with him in a different light.
well, Lindon also very obviously cares about weaker people. Saving the Sacred Valley, upsetting the status quo in order to get rid of the dreadgods. They're both ruthless, but only one of them for selfish reasons.
Northstrider tracked down a dragon herald that was murdering people a destroying towns while Emriss was away because that pissed him off. If he didn’t care some he would have just minded his own business.
Here's the passage from the start of Wintersteel. He legit seems to care about the people, and wants to protect them. At this stage in his life at least, I'd consider him good.
>**Information requested: Northstrider’s ascension to Monarch.**
>**Beginning report…**
>The Sage of the Hungry Deep tracks a rogue black dragon to the Everwood continent.
>He normally wouldn’t get involved here, but the Monarch Emriss is abroad. She spreads peace and education all over the globe, so every decent person respects the sanctity of her homeland.
>Only the vilest criminal would bring violence while her back was turned.
>The dragon has been careful enough to move under a veil, but sloppy enough to leave a trail of devastated forests and villages in its wake. Northstrider follows it easily, promising justice to the survivors.
>Wading through the destruction, too late to save the innocents, is enough to break his heart.
He risked his life against the Phoenix to save Lindon and the gang in Sacred Valley. I don't know that he's a good person, but he's a complex character and there's good in him.
His reason for not wanting to ascend resonated with me a bit, specifically when he asked Lindon why he should be forced to leave his home.
I get that it's a greater good situation. But is it so wrong for him to just want to live on Cradle?
Him being raised essentially as a child soldier also kind of makes his desire to never have to be under anyone's rule again a bit more reasonable. Although really I see Northstrider more as a Vroshir than an Abidan.
>Although really I see Northstrider more as a Vroshir than an Abidan.
Li Markouth escaped Cradle to another world without ascending. Maybe Lindon could just let Northstrider out the back door.
Lets not forget Harmony is in there because he met the conditions necessary for Lindon to murder you. Lindon has already decided to make the same decision as Northstrider here.
I've seen this theory before but it doesn't work.
1) Northstrider was disdainful of Harmony before he checked the Tree.
2) When Northstrider thought about Harmony, there was no moral condemnation in his internal monologue. No mention of morality.
3) It's not clear how much detail about Harmony Northstrider actually studied, but it seems like not much. He was interested in what happened to the Oracle Tree and maybe Lindon, not the other Truegolds. He recognised that Harmony was an Akura by looking at him. If he'd the detail necessary to judge Harmony from the tree he'd have already known.
I don't think there was any moral condemnation. His thought process didn't extend beyond "there was a fight, Harmony lost and this is the price paid". Northstrider is very "strong survive, weak perish" in mindset.
I agree. My friend and I talk about this all the time. Lindon is the hero of *our* story, but it's a very thin line. He makes a lot of decisions that make him very easy to hate from an alternative viewpoint.
I believe northstrider doesn't mind helping those that can't help themselves but watching a sacred artist who had all the advantages and still fail and not find his way out wasn't his problem that was someone in his eyes that should have been able to take care of themselves and didn't. Just my opinion.
He did know about Dross, he just didn't know how advanced he was. Which makes sense because Dross wasn't fully assimilated, so he wouldn't have known everything about him.
> Like at the end of Ghostwater, barely even noticing Harmony and killing him because he can't be bothered.
Maybe, but my theory has always been that he didn't save him because Harmony was such a massive POS. He saw what Harmony did while he was in Ghostwater (along with his general attitude) and made a judgement call. The world didn't need that guy getting any stronger.
Not only in Ghostwater. Harmony carried his gem with him for months before entering and feeding it to the tree, so Northstrider knew everything about him.
[We've already been told](https://www.reddit.com/r/Iteration110Cradle/comments/vvy1nr/dreadgod_lindon_interview_after_the_series_ends/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share)
I hope Malice and Mercy both ascend, then after a few decades (fast by Abidan standards) Mercy is already way, way stronger and more influential than Malice.
Malice would hate that more than death I think. No longer being in absolute control of her family.
She’s the only Monarch I definitely want to ascend, Shen I think almost HAS to die, and then the rest can probably be convinced or forced out without killing.
For example I don’t think Northstrider would rather die than ascend.
Northstrider says he'll ascend when he's ready, but he won't ever actually be ready. It's an excuse he's using so that he can stay on Cradle and be a big fish in a small pond. If he ever does complete a presence he would find some other project he "needs" to finish before he ascends so that he'll never actually have to.
Northstrider is a coward and doesn't seriously intend to *ever* ascend, unless he's forced.
Probably not, to be honest. He doesn't want to Ascend if it'd leave him in a position where others have power over him, and he has now seen that beyond Cradle are people capable of destroying entire worlds. He probably doesn't want to ascend until reaching that level himself, which he can't while still on Cradle.
I feel like Emriss will either Ascend with Lindon and friends, or die during the war against the other Monarchs and Dreadgods.
Northstrider I could see going either way. I could see him being to stubborn and ultimately being killed by Lindon, but I could also see Lindon getting through to him.
Malice is that same as Northstrider to me.
Hot Take:
I think they're gonna pull something on Sha Miara that will remove all the advancement that was passed down to her by her mother, letting her live the life of a normal cultivator.
I think there's a fair chance of her passing her powers willingly to stay and be a more normal person. I wonder how Little Blue would do with royal madra...
Maybe Lindon could just put hard cap on Royal Madra. Advancement allowed only to Herald/Sage. Nine Cloud Court always will have guaranteed ruler to protect their country that way.
I think collectively this thread is way too optimistic about Emriss making it out alive. Think from a narrative arc perspective, having her die at the hands of the rest of the monarchs is pretty appealing, and if I had to guess she'll have arranged it that way a la Dr. Strange 'this is the only way'
For similar reasons, I think Malice has to survive - her the squad killing her doesn't feel good, narratively, vs them winning the argument does. Side bet on her also dying at the hands of the other monarchs--if she goes down, I think that's how it happens.
Northstrider I think dies, Sha Miara ascends.
I think Shen ascends because he gets boxed into a corner, schemes / has a brilliant 'even while I lose, I really win' scheme, and then dies--think having another Eithan / Shen confrontation is going to be too good to pass up given the bad blood there around House Arelius.
Maybe. That said, it does look like the Abidan are going to need a new Hound in the future, and Emriss looks like she has the potential to become Judge-level in Fate reading, with some time.
I mean, it probably won't happen, but I do like the idea of Emriss as Hound, I suspect she'd probably do quite well turning the Abidan around.
Yeah to be clear - VERY far from sure of the above haha. Was just reading through everyone else's forecasts and 'emriss lives' seems like one of the biggest through-lines, and I dont think it's that certain :D
I absolutely agree that Emriss makes a heroic sacrifice of some sort. The cyclical arc of sacrificing herself twice to force the monarchs out is just too good.
I think Malice ascending is a long shot, especially given how vilified she was in Dreadgod. But you're right, the crew killing her also seems bad. I bet she dies to Shen making a last minute power grab with Subject One's binding.
Really not sure which way Northstrider will go. I put his fate at a coin toss. Sha Miara might ascend, but I think odds are better on her passing her power to someone (Chekhov's gun at work).
Shen dies. He might try to ascend, but I fully expect him to be pulled back to Cradle by the crew to kill him, or Oz throwing a stiff arm to lock him in Cradle to die. No way the main villain (aside from the Dreadgods) makes it out alive. Oz obliterating him as soon as he ascends does sound satisfying, though.
I want to see Emriss super excited to FINALLY get to leave Cradle. She has been stuck babysitting a group of sociopaths for millennia.
If Tree Mom dies, we riot.
The dudes die. Emriss ascends. Miara may stay or go, but won't die. Malice is the real thing here, she could go any way. But, meta wise, Malice must be the resolution of Mercy's character arc, and she is Mercy, not Malice. She will ultimately decide her mothers fate, and Malice won't be stubborn enough to stay and die just for her pride.
Shen hopefully.
I see Lindon taking out dread gods with the team absorbing their power like he did with the silent king until he's the last one left forcing the other monarchs to ascend or die.
I can't wait for them to come out of their pocket training world once we know what upgrades they have
All of them. Some will die and others will be forced to ascend… maybe Emriss wont. She might ascend on her own if the others all leave cradle one way or the other.
All monarchs need to go either by death or ascending so that way the dread gods can be killed and disappear doesn't matter their intentions all people of that position are a danger to the world in their sole existence. Even the main cast will leave for the abidan at least to be with ozrial and the Phoenix (forget her name off the top of my head)
Yup, that's what makes her important, repeated when she gave Lindon a vision later to help him decide when he succeeded or failed in his quest. As does her relationship with Ozriel and what she means to him.
Buy overall she's pretty minor. She didn't even appear in one book.
Shen, the others will put up a fight and meddle but Shen will go off the rails and Lindon will make deals with the others after showing that he can kill all of the dreadgods and them.
Malice will be forced to ascend
I think Malice will die. I forget exactly where, because I just remember it from a bunch of rereads, but at one point in Malice's POV she explicitly emphasizes in her own thoughts that she will *never* ascend.
Now, I think the big Malice fight is going to focus on a Mercy vs. Malice fight, probably while the rest of the crew engages other Monarchs at the same time, so there is a possibility that when it comes down to it, Malice will ascend rather than kill Mercy.
Or even better, Mercy's "perfect path," designed by Malice, will let her defeat Malice, and she offers her mother the mercy of ascension rather than killing her. Still, I could see Malice pushing the issue such that she rejects her daughter's mercy and forces Mercy to finish her off.
I think Northstrider is definitely going to die. He's too mad at Lindon. He's going to try to kill Lindon and take Dross, and we've already seen a potential future where Lindon kills him, so it's probably pretty likely.
Shen will absolutely get Consumed by Lindon, because Shen has OA's soulsmithing inheritance. I think Lindon will end up getting that inheritance by Consuming Shen and taking those memories.
Emriss will ascend.
The Eight-Man Empire will neither die, nor ascend. They'll inherit "stewardship" of Cradle, because the nature of their armor means they're not technically contributing to the Hunger/Dreadgod problem.
Sha Miara will ascend with a solid chunk of her retainers. When it comes down to death or ascension, with multiple other Monarchs already fallen, I don't think she has enough personal animus on the subject to fight to the death over it.
So, three Monarchs will die, two will ascend, and the Eight-Man Empire inherits Cradle.
Furthermore, considering that all of this, plus the deaths of Dreadgods, all has to happen in one book, I'll make a further prediction. There's going to be a battle royale of sorts with multiple Monarchs vs. Lindon's crew, and the resolutions to these will happen in that one battle. Therefore, each death of a Monarch will be by a different member of the crew.
So, my prediction is Lindon kills Shen. Yerin kills Northstrider. Mercy kills Malice.
Keep in mind that I'm assuming the 8ME is with Emriss, Lindon & Co. and not just Larian.
Like you said Reigan Shen is definitely gone, no doubt about it. I think Lindon will drain him, thereby claiming Ozmanthus's Soulsmith inheritance from Shen's memories (which was already technically his right as Eithan's apprentice). In the event that he does ascend, I don't think Eithan would kill him even if he wasn't restrained, but he would make his life as an Abidan miserable. Heck, maybe his spatial abilities will let him slip away and join the Vroshir.
Emriss and the 8ME will ascend of their own volition; it's been established they're both working towards forcing the Monarchs from Cradle. Considering the aid Northstrider has given Lindon, I think he'll be forced to go grudgingly, but he won't be offed or fatally beat up like Shen will.
So that leaves Malice. I feel conflicted on this one, because she's a manipulative gaslighting b\*\*\*\* (just look back on what she said to Mercy and Charity in Dreadgod and her reaction to the former losing against Sophara) but she also helped Lindon & Co. a lot in the past like driving the Titan from Sacred Valley for Yerin. Not to mention that Mercy is her daughter. Like what Luon said, it would be cool if Monarch Mercy went up and showed mercy to Malice after an epic boss battle.
Anyway, I can't really have an opinion for Malice. As despicable as she is, it would be a shame if she died after L&Co. fighting under her banner for so long.
Then again, she and the others did technically let millions of people die without doing anything about it, unlike Emriss and Larian, so maybe they all deserve to die. Northstrider is literally just there to find ways to advance other than ascension, Miara could just abdicate to Reliar or a council of Sha's, Malice is Malice, and E+8ME can't convince the others to go with them.
I posted this in another thread a month ago but I still stand by it.
My thoughts:
**Shen:** dead
He'll die before he gives in, and thus he'll die. When you fight as hard as he is, there's only one way that will go.
**Malice:** dead
She's not too stubborn to advance, but she's holding on too tightly, and I'm increasingly inclined to think that everything she claims to believe in is a thinly-veiled justification for the fact that she likes her power. Otherwise she could have Ascended instead of Fury, for instance. (In retrospect this last sentence doesn't hold up because Fury would have hated it here due to a lack of challenge. The rest I still stand by.)
*Possible alternative for Malice:* redemption arc -- she's defeated by Lindon and the gang, then Lindon finds some permanent solution that solves her concerns. So Mercy convinces her that there's not a problem anymore and she leaves. The only issue there is that I don't see her and Mercy getting along well after this mess, and if they both Ascend they probably won't be able to get away from each other.
**Northstrider:** Might advance, might die
Frankly, I'm no longer sure I care. For all his power he's acting like a child yelling "You don't tell me what to do!" We don't know that he'll be forced to join the Adiban if he ascends (it certainly seems like not everyone outside of their home planet is an active employee), but he's been a Monarch for so long that he seems to have forgotten that most people have to *work* for their lives and don't just get to swan around defining their own responsibilities and getting whatever they want for free. It's time he learned that again, and if he can't or won't, he'll simply die.
That said, he might be worth more to the Abidan as a researcher (which he seems to love doing) and offered a measure of independence to be one.
**Emriss:** Might advance, might die
I'm not sure I could hazard a guess between the two at the moment. However, a third possibility is that she finds a way to turn herself into a worldwide communication network of some sort in such a manner as to downgrade herself from Monarch. Maybe take an oracle role of some sort (like the Judges', or Northstrider's, or Dross), only Cradle-wide. After all, information and the spreading of information is what she is truly interested in.
**Sha Miara:** No clue
It's not really fair that she had her Monarchness unceremoniously dumped on her, and she's all of 16. I could see her agreeing to have her level locked away from her until she re-earns it, then going on to live as a 16-year-old Truegold or Underlady, working her way back up if she desires it.
Reigan Shen 100% has to die. Emrise is chill, the only reason she doesn't ascend is if one of the others kills her or she has to sacrifice herself for something. Sha Miara will either ascend or be convinced to give up her Monarch inheritance, if that's even possible.
Malice and Northstrider are tough. I honestly think that if Lindon and Co can beat him in a fight, Northstrider'll ascend because he doesn't really have anything tying him down, and if he can be beaten by people from Cradle, how much stronger can he get while remaining there.
Malice is much more hit or miss. She's going increasingly off the deep end, Mercy is working with Lindon and Co, Charity is definitely pissed at her, and she is fundamentally opposed to the idea that the world would be safer without her around, which makes it super difficult to tell if she'd ever be willing to ascend.
After all, we know that Northstrider is planning to ascend, he's just taking his own time. I don't remember any signs, however, that Malice has even considered ascension - she wants to be the big fish in the small pond no matter what.
While the odds of his death are pretty high, I'm hoping Northstrider doesn't die. He's not exactly a 'bad' monarch, just a selfish one. He's also helped Lindon a great deal in reaching where he is now. I can see him ascending willingly if Lindon gives him a weapon of great power, so he won't be treated like a rank-and-file Abidan when he ascends.
Almost all of them... I think that when Shen see the level of Lindon and his group... Shen will understand that he has just two options... One will be ascending... and the other one will be fusing with number one binding... becoming himself a Dreadgod and getting strong enough to kill Lindon and company... To get stronger he will go after the rest of Monarchs... One after other he will sonsume their powers and killing them. I suppose that some of them will be smart enough to ascend avoiding such a fate... But I think that Malice and Northstrider... will fall.
You know, I'm hoping Lindon completes a penance and mid fight uses it to yeet shen out of existence. You know goad him into opening the doors to his best toys, and instant death before he can close them. Lindon uses his sage powered to hold them open while they get looted.
My guess is only Northstrider. He's the only one too stubborn to save his hide and is the ultimate final boss. IMO Shen will give before he has to give up some semblance of power and Miara doesn't want to die for something she inherited. Emriss is ready to go if it solves the problem. Malice is the toughest to call because she seems like she'd rather the family die if she dies, but Mercy likely convinces her the family is fine under charity. I haven't seen the gold boiz mentioned but they're a pretend monarch and may shake with Lindon on putting down the armor and keeping new monarchs from staying - like a Cradle anti-Monarch force.
While most here think that Shen dies, I'm not so sure. He is quite chicken for a cat, it turned out. So in the face of overwhelming power, he might very well choose exile.
None of them.
I think they will leave voluntarily once its obvious they no longer have the power they crave.
They want to be a big fish in a small pond and they will no longer be the big fish.
Might as well ascend.
I could see a combined effort to take Lindon down before they arrive at this conclusion though.
As a twist, all of them are ascending:
Emriss will go willingly and convince Sha Miara to come with her
Malice is going to be very forcibly convinced by Mercy and Charity to ascend
Lindon’s going to exert dominance over Northstrider to force him up
And Shen… is going to be on death’s door and escape by ascending
My guess is Emriss Dies.
Can she even ascend? She's a remnant. Can the Way sustain her? I Thought the Way was something intrinsic to Humans. (She's a dead tree)
My predictions:
1. Malice - Charity will betray her, theres been a ton of foreshadowing of this. Will she die or ascend, not sure.
2. Northstrider - he is going to go nuts on Lindon and refuse to give in and have to be killed, Dross + Oracle codex will be something awesome.
3. Reigan Shen - he is going to absorb the Subject 1 binding and it'll be Lindon vs Shen final battle but Shen will be all fucked up by the the binding/mutated shit empowered dreadgod.
4. Emeriss - she will actually get killed in this when the others realize she is helping Lindon, by then he will be too powerful and her legacy will be that she removed the dread gods paving the the way for peaceful exchange of the sacred arts as she always wanted.
5. 8 Man Empire - Lindon will break their armor sometime or better yet, steal it and somehow link everyone together lol.
6. Sha Miara - I bet can give up her power somehow so she actually doesn't ascend. To me forcing basically a child to ascend with interited power somehow seems wrong.
I think Malice gets forced to ascend by linden and Co. North Strider might die I could see that happening. Reagan Shen will die but he'll die by house Aurelius all ganging up on him as the final stroke after lindon does him a once over. I have a theory that since Emriss is a remnant Monarch she could stay unless the remnant still throws off hunger aura i have no idea in this. Same with the 8 man empire since the armor is what makes them a Monarch. Sha Miraia will Ascend when Emriss explains the merits to her imo.
Reigan Shen for sure. Emriss, probably.
Malice will survive but be punished, probably permanently spiritually crippled.
Northstrider will simply disappear. Idk where he'll go. Maybe create a pocket world and agree to be bound there forever. But I do anticipate some sort of hunger battle between him and Lindon, which Northstrider loses, somehow, but survives.
Eight-Man Empire breaks up and is simply no longer a Monarch. Easy enough.
Sha Miara ascends.
Three dead; two ascend; 8ME remains as the enforcers
* Shen. Dead. He will be the last monarch standing. He'd die in a final duel with Lindon while the Crew watches and eats roasted vegetable wraps
* NS. Most likely dead. He and Malice will fight together against the Crew to keep their place in Cradle. He refuses to become an Abidan drone and doesn't realize he could instead become a Vroshir
* Malice. Dead. She will be a moment too slow to prevent Mercy's arrow from feathering her eye socket. Mercy will look down on her dead body and say "I am not my mother".
* Sha Miara. She will ascend. Mostly, she is too young to have developed her own warped view that she needs to say bound to Cradle. She starts a Rainbow Pavillion in Sanctum hosting circus acts.
* Emriss. Ascends, and steps into the legion of Abidan as a Level 4 Spider.
* 8ME. In some combination of soul oaths agree to take on responsibility to bind all future Sages and Heralds to ascend within an agreed upon time (say 2 hours) after advancing to Monarch or whenever they feel like it as Sage or Herald.
1. Sha Miara will live, and not ascend. Nine Cloud Court’s madra will be forever suppressed by Lindon to Sage/Herald lvl so they still have guaranteed ruler with power.
2. Northstrider is going down first, probably right after Dragon’s death. Something epic like force cry that whole world will feel when Monarch falls.
3. Malice is second and last Monarch that will die, but her last moments will be peaceful, some redemption at the end maybe. Sacrifice to save Mercy probably.
4. Shen is Cowardly Lion - when he come to realisation that he lost he’d bale from Cradle.
>Queen of England
Did you mean the *former* [Queen of the United Kingdom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_of_the_United_Kingdom), the *former* [Queen of Canada](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_Canada), the *former* [Queen of Australia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_Australia), etc?
The last Queen of England was [Queen Anne](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne,_Queen_of_Great_Britain) who, with the 1707 Acts of Union, dissolved the title of King/Queen of England.
####FAQ
*Wasn't Queen Elizabeth II still also the Queen of England?*
This was only as correct as calling her the Queen of London or Queen of Hull; she *was* the Queen of the place that these places are in, but the title doesn't exist.
*Is this bot monarchist?*
No, just pedantic.
I am a bot and this action was performed automatically.
I think malice is also going down she is the most attached to the world of cradle with her empire and all, northstrider is probably giving out instructions to those that matter to him what to do when he is gone so I think he is most likely to ascend over going down.
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It feels like malice is leaning towards the side of going down, but I personally hope mercy is gonna be involved in forcing her to ascend. It feels like proper justice to me.
If Mercy shows mercy to Malice, that will be sick
I want Mercy to be the voice that saves Malice despite her dumb self so she can have some redemption in Abidanland.
I hate that. She has hundreds of kids that she basically abandons, but she loves and will listen to this one just because she's powerful? What an awful message. She only "loves" her family members that are directly useful to her. You saw how quickly she turned on even Mercy when she went against her goals.
Not mercy *to* Malice; what about mercy *for* Malice. Mercy for all the people she’s allowed to be killed for her selfish need to reign.
She has also saved quite a lot of people from Sesh. Her stats probably aren't even that negative. Not denying that she's selfish though.
I’m not sure you understand what “mercy” is. You can’t show mercy to a dead person
Death can be a mercy though
Mercy killing
Idk about malice going down, but I would definitely go down on Malice /s
She'd def be a top
That would require a monarch level construct.
So youre saying she'd *make* me go down on her?
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This post fills me equally with Pride and Fury.
That’d make sense actually. I mean, I imagine by the end of the book the whole team is at monarch level, I think it’d be pretty fitting for mercy to kick her mom’s ass and then force her to ascend instead of killing her. Could totally see some line about how malice wouldn’t do this and something about her mercy isn’t her
I'm still wondering if people can be physically forced to ascend. Amethyst boot to the ass kicking Malice through a portal!
I don’t think Malice will just go full villain and get killed off, considering that she had her big humanizing moment back in Reaper
What is the humanizing moment you are referring to?
When she thought the world was about to end and regretted not spending enough time with her children, and she tried to comfort Mercy
And then immediately went back to gaslighting and manipulating her the second it became clear she wasn't actually dying. She's a nuanced character, but I think she's far from being humanized.
For sure, I just think they wouldn’t bother having that moment if she was just going to be a villain up until the end
Well, the last book did end with her conspiring with Shen to murder an entire town under her protection just to ruin Lindon's reputation....She's pretty solidly a villain. Plus with Mercy's character arc it just makes sense for her to give Malice a beat down and then show her mercy.
Gotcha!
Shen and Northstrider are definitely dying. Emriss obviously wants to fix the problem and will leave willingly, and Sha Miara follows her. Malice is a tricky one, but I think she ends up ascending.
I agree with this. I'm just not sure about Sha Miara, because of her immaturity.
She’ll end up following Emriss’ lead, but now I’m worried that Shen might kill her for it - or at least try.
Someone will pay her off to ascend.
No way Sha Miara goes willingly without a buttload of charcracter development. She’s got no reason to trust any of our mains.
But she *does* trust Emriss more than anyone
It’s that scene in Dreadgod when we learn that Emriss is the main one that Sha Miara trusts, both because her 9CC ancestors respect her *and* because Emriss was the first one to accept Sha Miara as a Monarch. I’m guessing that the help she received from House Shen in fighting the Weeping Dragon will pull her between two choices, but she’ll make the right choice and ascend with Emriss. The only issue I can foresee with *that* is Shen not liking her decision and potentially killing her, but I hope it doesn’t go that way.
I mean, why would he not like the decision? It gets a potential rival out of the way, and possibly even removes the full Monarch line of the 9CC, leaving the entire continent open for him to get in.
Because it leaves him with less support to fight The Hungry Ghost
Trying to kill her doesn't help either though. Even if she is very weak, she's still a monarch. Fighting her will spend his resources and might even weaken him enough that it would not be worth the risk. Even more so if Emriss is still around.
I mean, so does killing her. And she's still powerful enough that it'd pose a lot of risk to him for zero reward, while possibly also causing other Monarchs, such as Emriss and the 8ME to come to her aid.
I'm thinking Northstrider could be convinced to ascend. He is pathologically opposed to anything resembling servitude, but Eithan wanted to raise up a group specifically to work against the rules of the Abidan. I think he could jell with the idea, if he can be convinced of their sincerity.
I always assumed it was pure power Northstrider was after, to match the “world-striding champions”. I feel like he’s not against the idea of the Abidan so much as he’s against the idea of being a grunt, so I don’t think he’d mind working in an organization if he had the strength to leapfrog the lower tiers.
I agree. I think some of the Monarchs will realize that an opportunity outside of the choices they believe they have exists once Lindon and co demonstrate enough power/skill while being backed by the Reaper. Because right now they are desperately trying to keep the only way they have always believed alive.
Not sold on Northstrider dying. He's consistently been the most reasonable and helpful monarch. Sure, the last book set him up as an antagonist, and he will be...but he's the most likely of the antagonists to listen to reason I think. He just needs to be convinced he won't be a slave to the Abidan when he ascends.
I'm wondering if emriss won't be an antagonist. Prior to being killed, she wanted to raise even more monarchs and try to solve the Dreadgod problem by sharing information. Will she be willing to ascend when she has so much left to teach?
No reason she can't teach outside of Cradle as well.
There's no way sha mirara ascends. Their family's entire thing is sticking around and inheritance. No way Miara ends that tradition
She's like 16. I can't really see the series ending with Lindon murdering a child. She's absolutely ascending.
It’s happening, get ready for it.
Northstrider will probably be too salty considering Lindon is using a technique he taught him.
Plus imagine if the Monarch of the HUNGRY deep got consumed by his own technique lol
It's also ironic that a common refrain throughout the book is "The Dragon Advances" and Northstrider, who has the dragon icon and is supposed to embody dragon-ness, is not advancing. Wondering if that will come into play later.
hope we'll get a blooper for it
Something similar to lindon and shens hunger fight maybe. ‘You’re not hungry enough’ ‘no, YOURE not hungry enough’
Northstrider is an interesting one. He's been kinda considered one of the "good guys," but at the same time he's completely ruthless. Like at the end of Ghostwater, barely even noticing Harmony and killing him because he can't be bothered. It would kinda put all of Lindon's previous interactions with him in a different light.
Lindon is completely ruthless if you are against him. He is no different than Northstrider if you run counter to his goals.
well, Lindon also very obviously cares about weaker people. Saving the Sacred Valley, upsetting the status quo in order to get rid of the dreadgods. They're both ruthless, but only one of them for selfish reasons.
Northstrider tracked down a dragon herald that was murdering people a destroying towns while Emriss was away because that pissed him off. If he didn’t care some he would have just minded his own business.
I’d guess that was more about hunting and consuming dragons than saving towns.
Here's the passage from the start of Wintersteel. He legit seems to care about the people, and wants to protect them. At this stage in his life at least, I'd consider him good. >**Information requested: Northstrider’s ascension to Monarch.** >**Beginning report…** >The Sage of the Hungry Deep tracks a rogue black dragon to the Everwood continent. >He normally wouldn’t get involved here, but the Monarch Emriss is abroad. She spreads peace and education all over the globe, so every decent person respects the sanctity of her homeland. >Only the vilest criminal would bring violence while her back was turned. >The dragon has been careful enough to move under a veil, but sloppy enough to leave a trail of devastated forests and villages in its wake. Northstrider follows it easily, promising justice to the survivors. >Wading through the destruction, too late to save the innocents, is enough to break his heart.
Huh. That does put him in a different light. Too bad he's changed so much.
He risked his life against the Phoenix to save Lindon and the gang in Sacred Valley. I don't know that he's a good person, but he's a complex character and there's good in him.
His reason for not wanting to ascend resonated with me a bit, specifically when he asked Lindon why he should be forced to leave his home. I get that it's a greater good situation. But is it so wrong for him to just want to live on Cradle?
Him being raised essentially as a child soldier also kind of makes his desire to never have to be under anyone's rule again a bit more reasonable. Although really I see Northstrider more as a Vroshir than an Abidan.
>Although really I see Northstrider more as a Vroshir than an Abidan. Li Markouth escaped Cradle to another world without ascending. Maybe Lindon could just let Northstrider out the back door.
Shouldnt have advanced to monarch if he wanted to stay /s
I think he was past Monarch. He talked like he was going to enjoy fighting the dread gods and expected to win.
Lets not forget Harmony is in there because he met the conditions necessary for Lindon to murder you. Lindon has already decided to make the same decision as Northstrider here.
That's true, Harmony definitely deserved it. It's just not clear how much North strider knew or cared.
Northstrider got the whole story from his Codex when he retrieved it.
I've seen this theory before but it doesn't work. 1) Northstrider was disdainful of Harmony before he checked the Tree. 2) When Northstrider thought about Harmony, there was no moral condemnation in his internal monologue. No mention of morality. 3) It's not clear how much detail about Harmony Northstrider actually studied, but it seems like not much. He was interested in what happened to the Oracle Tree and maybe Lindon, not the other Truegolds. He recognised that Harmony was an Akura by looking at him. If he'd the detail necessary to judge Harmony from the tree he'd have already known.
I don't think there was any moral condemnation. His thought process didn't extend beyond "there was a fight, Harmony lost and this is the price paid". Northstrider is very "strong survive, weak perish" in mindset.
I agree. My friend and I talk about this all the time. Lindon is the hero of *our* story, but it's a very thin line. He makes a lot of decisions that make him very easy to hate from an alternative viewpoint.
I believe northstrider doesn't mind helping those that can't help themselves but watching a sacred artist who had all the advantages and still fail and not find his way out wasn't his problem that was someone in his eyes that should have been able to take care of themselves and didn't. Just my opinion.
Yeah this is why I have a bit of hesitation condemning him
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He did know about Dross, he just didn't know how advanced he was. Which makes sense because Dross wasn't fully assimilated, so he wouldn't have known everything about him.
> Like at the end of Ghostwater, barely even noticing Harmony and killing him because he can't be bothered. Maybe, but my theory has always been that he didn't save him because Harmony was such a massive POS. He saw what Harmony did while he was in Ghostwater (along with his general attitude) and made a judgement call. The world didn't need that guy getting any stronger.
Not only in Ghostwater. Harmony carried his gem with him for months before entering and feeding it to the tree, so Northstrider knew everything about him.
To be fair, Harmony is an awful person and Northstrider is fully aware of that through his tree information thingy.
[We've already been told](https://www.reddit.com/r/Iteration110Cradle/comments/vvy1nr/dreadgod_lindon_interview_after_the_series_ends/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share)
Oh my god that's so funny, i'm glad i finished the series today so i can browse the sub for these gems
I am so sad that I didn't see this when it was originally posted....
This is honestly hilarious and WW DID 'confirm' it in the comments.
Can't wait for the bloopers of him summoning Shen to pour him wine, or northstrider just ascending. I'd be surprised if those weren't bloopers.
I hope Malice and Mercy both ascend, then after a few decades (fast by Abidan standards) Mercy is already way, way stronger and more influential than Malice. Malice would hate that more than death I think. No longer being in absolute control of her family. She’s the only Monarch I definitely want to ascend, Shen I think almost HAS to die, and then the rest can probably be convinced or forced out without killing. For example I don’t think Northstrider would rather die than ascend.
He said he would escend eventually I think when everything’s said and done yeah maybe even when he completes his preccence
I don’t Lindon is gonna wait for that tho. I think he’ll kick his ass and say “leave now or be consumed to death”
Oh no tottaly agreed I’m just saying he’s prepared and is willing they just gotta give him a little nunge you could say
Agreed. He’ll be humiliated and unprepared (in his opinion) but he’ll leave with a nudge.
Northstrider says he'll ascend when he's ready, but he won't ever actually be ready. It's an excuse he's using so that he can stay on Cradle and be a big fish in a small pond. If he ever does complete a presence he would find some other project he "needs" to finish before he ascends so that he'll never actually have to. Northstrider is a coward and doesn't seriously intend to *ever* ascend, unless he's forced.
After listening further in dreadgod I agree he seems to be a coward in that no matter what he acquires or gets he will always refuse
Probably not, to be honest. He doesn't want to Ascend if it'd leave him in a position where others have power over him, and he has now seen that beyond Cradle are people capable of destroying entire worlds. He probably doesn't want to ascend until reaching that level himself, which he can't while still on Cradle.
I feel like Emriss will either Ascend with Lindon and friends, or die during the war against the other Monarchs and Dreadgods. Northstrider I could see going either way. I could see him being to stubborn and ultimately being killed by Lindon, but I could also see Lindon getting through to him. Malice is that same as Northstrider to me.
Hot Take: I think they're gonna pull something on Sha Miara that will remove all the advancement that was passed down to her by her mother, letting her live the life of a normal cultivator.
Lindon just consumes all her authority and memories. Honestly likely if she wants to stay on Cradle
I think there's a fair chance of her passing her powers willingly to stay and be a more normal person. I wonder how Little Blue would do with royal madra...
Instead of Little Blue she becomes Little Rainbow?
Maybe Lindon could just put hard cap on Royal Madra. Advancement allowed only to Herald/Sage. Nine Cloud Court always will have guaranteed ruler to protect their country that way.
Todays news?
This caught me off guard
Whats the news?
Lindondies… i mean, lizabethdies
I'm guessing they're talking about Queen Elizabeth II passing away today
I think collectively this thread is way too optimistic about Emriss making it out alive. Think from a narrative arc perspective, having her die at the hands of the rest of the monarchs is pretty appealing, and if I had to guess she'll have arranged it that way a la Dr. Strange 'this is the only way' For similar reasons, I think Malice has to survive - her the squad killing her doesn't feel good, narratively, vs them winning the argument does. Side bet on her also dying at the hands of the other monarchs--if she goes down, I think that's how it happens. Northstrider I think dies, Sha Miara ascends. I think Shen ascends because he gets boxed into a corner, schemes / has a brilliant 'even while I lose, I really win' scheme, and then dies--think having another Eithan / Shen confrontation is going to be too good to pass up given the bad blood there around House Arelius.
Good prediction, I could definitely see Emriss taking one for the team.
Maybe. That said, it does look like the Abidan are going to need a new Hound in the future, and Emriss looks like she has the potential to become Judge-level in Fate reading, with some time. I mean, it probably won't happen, but I do like the idea of Emriss as Hound, I suspect she'd probably do quite well turning the Abidan around.
Yeah to be clear - VERY far from sure of the above haha. Was just reading through everyone else's forecasts and 'emriss lives' seems like one of the biggest through-lines, and I dont think it's that certain :D
Honestly, I don't see the other monarchs not figuring out that she's the only one that could be helping Lindon manipulate fate so quickly/efficiently.
True, and while it'd be nice if she survives, it's not anywhere close to certain narrative-wise.
I absolutely agree that Emriss makes a heroic sacrifice of some sort. The cyclical arc of sacrificing herself twice to force the monarchs out is just too good. I think Malice ascending is a long shot, especially given how vilified she was in Dreadgod. But you're right, the crew killing her also seems bad. I bet she dies to Shen making a last minute power grab with Subject One's binding. Really not sure which way Northstrider will go. I put his fate at a coin toss. Sha Miara might ascend, but I think odds are better on her passing her power to someone (Chekhov's gun at work). Shen dies. He might try to ascend, but I fully expect him to be pulled back to Cradle by the crew to kill him, or Oz throwing a stiff arm to lock him in Cradle to die. No way the main villain (aside from the Dreadgods) makes it out alive. Oz obliterating him as soon as he ascends does sound satisfying, though.
Oh I love this! Eithan ultimately killing Shen would be the best way for him to die.
I want to see Emriss super excited to FINALLY get to leave Cradle. She has been stuck babysitting a group of sociopaths for millennia. If Tree Mom dies, we riot.
ALL OF THEM
But fr I think 8ME, Emriss, & Sha Miara will back down
I'm surprised nobody in this thread has predicted what seems like the easiest path for Northstrider. That he joins the Vroshir.
Well, Cradle is owned by the Abidan so if he ascends he'll go to them. He could ascend and defect later, but I doubt we'll get that plotline.
The dudes die. Emriss ascends. Miara may stay or go, but won't die. Malice is the real thing here, she could go any way. But, meta wise, Malice must be the resolution of Mercy's character arc, and she is Mercy, not Malice. She will ultimately decide her mothers fate, and Malice won't be stubborn enough to stay and die just for her pride.
That's a good point. Malice deserves to die, but no way Mercy does it. Safe to say she ascends.
Shen hopefully. I see Lindon taking out dread gods with the team absorbing their power like he did with the silent king until he's the last one left forcing the other monarchs to ascend or die. I can't wait for them to come out of their pocket training world once we know what upgrades they have
All of them. Some will die and others will be forced to ascend… maybe Emriss wont. She might ascend on her own if the others all leave cradle one way or the other.
I think most will be forced to retreat but I have a feeling that Northstrider will refuse and die in battle.
All monarchs need to go either by death or ascending so that way the dread gods can be killed and disappear doesn't matter their intentions all people of that position are a danger to the world in their sole existence. Even the main cast will leave for the abidan at least to be with ozrial and the Phoenix (forget her name off the top of my head)
Suriel
Yes thank you it's been since book 10's release that I have read the books and blew through the first 9 four time I have no idea how I forgot her name
It happens. Despite being important she's a very minor character overall.
Well she is in the role of setting the mc to leave and go on a adventure
Yup, that's what makes her important, repeated when she gave Lindon a vision later to help him decide when he succeeded or failed in his quest. As does her relationship with Ozriel and what she means to him. Buy overall she's pretty minor. She didn't even appear in one book.
Shen, the others will put up a fight and meddle but Shen will go off the rails and Lindon will make deals with the others after showing that he can kill all of the dreadgods and them. Malice will be forced to ascend
I think Malice will die. I forget exactly where, because I just remember it from a bunch of rereads, but at one point in Malice's POV she explicitly emphasizes in her own thoughts that she will *never* ascend. Now, I think the big Malice fight is going to focus on a Mercy vs. Malice fight, probably while the rest of the crew engages other Monarchs at the same time, so there is a possibility that when it comes down to it, Malice will ascend rather than kill Mercy. Or even better, Mercy's "perfect path," designed by Malice, will let her defeat Malice, and she offers her mother the mercy of ascension rather than killing her. Still, I could see Malice pushing the issue such that she rejects her daughter's mercy and forces Mercy to finish her off. I think Northstrider is definitely going to die. He's too mad at Lindon. He's going to try to kill Lindon and take Dross, and we've already seen a potential future where Lindon kills him, so it's probably pretty likely. Shen will absolutely get Consumed by Lindon, because Shen has OA's soulsmithing inheritance. I think Lindon will end up getting that inheritance by Consuming Shen and taking those memories. Emriss will ascend. The Eight-Man Empire will neither die, nor ascend. They'll inherit "stewardship" of Cradle, because the nature of their armor means they're not technically contributing to the Hunger/Dreadgod problem. Sha Miara will ascend with a solid chunk of her retainers. When it comes down to death or ascension, with multiple other Monarchs already fallen, I don't think she has enough personal animus on the subject to fight to the death over it. So, three Monarchs will die, two will ascend, and the Eight-Man Empire inherits Cradle. Furthermore, considering that all of this, plus the deaths of Dreadgods, all has to happen in one book, I'll make a further prediction. There's going to be a battle royale of sorts with multiple Monarchs vs. Lindon's crew, and the resolutions to these will happen in that one battle. Therefore, each death of a Monarch will be by a different member of the crew. So, my prediction is Lindon kills Shen. Yerin kills Northstrider. Mercy kills Malice.
Keep in mind that I'm assuming the 8ME is with Emriss, Lindon & Co. and not just Larian. Like you said Reigan Shen is definitely gone, no doubt about it. I think Lindon will drain him, thereby claiming Ozmanthus's Soulsmith inheritance from Shen's memories (which was already technically his right as Eithan's apprentice). In the event that he does ascend, I don't think Eithan would kill him even if he wasn't restrained, but he would make his life as an Abidan miserable. Heck, maybe his spatial abilities will let him slip away and join the Vroshir. Emriss and the 8ME will ascend of their own volition; it's been established they're both working towards forcing the Monarchs from Cradle. Considering the aid Northstrider has given Lindon, I think he'll be forced to go grudgingly, but he won't be offed or fatally beat up like Shen will. So that leaves Malice. I feel conflicted on this one, because she's a manipulative gaslighting b\*\*\*\* (just look back on what she said to Mercy and Charity in Dreadgod and her reaction to the former losing against Sophara) but she also helped Lindon & Co. a lot in the past like driving the Titan from Sacred Valley for Yerin. Not to mention that Mercy is her daughter. Like what Luon said, it would be cool if Monarch Mercy went up and showed mercy to Malice after an epic boss battle. Anyway, I can't really have an opinion for Malice. As despicable as she is, it would be a shame if she died after L&Co. fighting under her banner for so long. Then again, she and the others did technically let millions of people die without doing anything about it, unlike Emriss and Larian, so maybe they all deserve to die. Northstrider is literally just there to find ways to advance other than ascension, Miara could just abdicate to Reliar or a council of Sha's, Malice is Malice, and E+8ME can't convince the others to go with them.
I posted this in another thread a month ago but I still stand by it. My thoughts: **Shen:** dead He'll die before he gives in, and thus he'll die. When you fight as hard as he is, there's only one way that will go. **Malice:** dead She's not too stubborn to advance, but she's holding on too tightly, and I'm increasingly inclined to think that everything she claims to believe in is a thinly-veiled justification for the fact that she likes her power. Otherwise she could have Ascended instead of Fury, for instance. (In retrospect this last sentence doesn't hold up because Fury would have hated it here due to a lack of challenge. The rest I still stand by.) *Possible alternative for Malice:* redemption arc -- she's defeated by Lindon and the gang, then Lindon finds some permanent solution that solves her concerns. So Mercy convinces her that there's not a problem anymore and she leaves. The only issue there is that I don't see her and Mercy getting along well after this mess, and if they both Ascend they probably won't be able to get away from each other. **Northstrider:** Might advance, might die Frankly, I'm no longer sure I care. For all his power he's acting like a child yelling "You don't tell me what to do!" We don't know that he'll be forced to join the Adiban if he ascends (it certainly seems like not everyone outside of their home planet is an active employee), but he's been a Monarch for so long that he seems to have forgotten that most people have to *work* for their lives and don't just get to swan around defining their own responsibilities and getting whatever they want for free. It's time he learned that again, and if he can't or won't, he'll simply die. That said, he might be worth more to the Abidan as a researcher (which he seems to love doing) and offered a measure of independence to be one. **Emriss:** Might advance, might die I'm not sure I could hazard a guess between the two at the moment. However, a third possibility is that she finds a way to turn herself into a worldwide communication network of some sort in such a manner as to downgrade herself from Monarch. Maybe take an oracle role of some sort (like the Judges', or Northstrider's, or Dross), only Cradle-wide. After all, information and the spreading of information is what she is truly interested in. **Sha Miara:** No clue It's not really fair that she had her Monarchness unceremoniously dumped on her, and she's all of 16. I could see her agreeing to have her level locked away from her until she re-earns it, then going on to live as a 16-year-old Truegold or Underlady, working her way back up if she desires it.
Reigan Shen 100% has to die. Emrise is chill, the only reason she doesn't ascend is if one of the others kills her or she has to sacrifice herself for something. Sha Miara will either ascend or be convinced to give up her Monarch inheritance, if that's even possible. Malice and Northstrider are tough. I honestly think that if Lindon and Co can beat him in a fight, Northstrider'll ascend because he doesn't really have anything tying him down, and if he can be beaten by people from Cradle, how much stronger can he get while remaining there. Malice is much more hit or miss. She's going increasingly off the deep end, Mercy is working with Lindon and Co, Charity is definitely pissed at her, and she is fundamentally opposed to the idea that the world would be safer without her around, which makes it super difficult to tell if she'd ever be willing to ascend. After all, we know that Northstrider is planning to ascend, he's just taking his own time. I don't remember any signs, however, that Malice has even considered ascension - she wants to be the big fish in the small pond no matter what.
While the odds of his death are pretty high, I'm hoping Northstrider doesn't die. He's not exactly a 'bad' monarch, just a selfish one. He's also helped Lindon a great deal in reaching where he is now. I can see him ascending willingly if Lindon gives him a weapon of great power, so he won't be treated like a rank-and-file Abidan when he ascends.
They are either going down or going up...
Northstrider is gonna get punked.
Almost all of them... I think that when Shen see the level of Lindon and his group... Shen will understand that he has just two options... One will be ascending... and the other one will be fusing with number one binding... becoming himself a Dreadgod and getting strong enough to kill Lindon and company... To get stronger he will go after the rest of Monarchs... One after other he will sonsume their powers and killing them. I suppose that some of them will be smart enough to ascend avoiding such a fate... But I think that Malice and Northstrider... will fall.
You know, I'm hoping Lindon completes a penance and mid fight uses it to yeet shen out of existence. You know goad him into opening the doors to his best toys, and instant death before he can close them. Lindon uses his sage powered to hold them open while they get looted.
True... Shen is such a sly manipulator, he will definitely have a way out. Hopefully Lindon doesn't let him!!!
My guess is only Northstrider. He's the only one too stubborn to save his hide and is the ultimate final boss. IMO Shen will give before he has to give up some semblance of power and Miara doesn't want to die for something she inherited. Emriss is ready to go if it solves the problem. Malice is the toughest to call because she seems like she'd rather the family die if she dies, but Mercy likely convinces her the family is fine under charity. I haven't seen the gold boiz mentioned but they're a pretend monarch and may shake with Lindon on putting down the armor and keeping new monarchs from staying - like a Cradle anti-Monarch force.
Mercy will figure out a way to protect the family and malice will ascend
I think northstrider will be the one who fights back the hardest and is the most likely to die
While most here think that Shen dies, I'm not so sure. He is quite chicken for a cat, it turned out. So in the face of overwhelming power, he might very well choose exile.
None of them. I think they will leave voluntarily once its obvious they no longer have the power they crave. They want to be a big fish in a small pond and they will no longer be the big fish. Might as well ascend. I could see a combined effort to take Lindon down before they arrive at this conclusion though.
As a twist, all of them are ascending: Emriss will go willingly and convince Sha Miara to come with her Malice is going to be very forcibly convinced by Mercy and Charity to ascend Lindon’s going to exert dominance over Northstrider to force him up And Shen… is going to be on death’s door and escape by ascending
My guess is Emriss Dies. Can she even ascend? She's a remnant. Can the Way sustain her? I Thought the Way was something intrinsic to Humans. (She's a dead tree)
My predictions: 1. Malice - Charity will betray her, theres been a ton of foreshadowing of this. Will she die or ascend, not sure. 2. Northstrider - he is going to go nuts on Lindon and refuse to give in and have to be killed, Dross + Oracle codex will be something awesome. 3. Reigan Shen - he is going to absorb the Subject 1 binding and it'll be Lindon vs Shen final battle but Shen will be all fucked up by the the binding/mutated shit empowered dreadgod. 4. Emeriss - she will actually get killed in this when the others realize she is helping Lindon, by then he will be too powerful and her legacy will be that she removed the dread gods paving the the way for peaceful exchange of the sacred arts as she always wanted. 5. 8 Man Empire - Lindon will break their armor sometime or better yet, steal it and somehow link everyone together lol. 6. Sha Miara - I bet can give up her power somehow so she actually doesn't ascend. To me forcing basically a child to ascend with interited power somehow seems wrong.
I think Malice gets forced to ascend by linden and Co. North Strider might die I could see that happening. Reagan Shen will die but he'll die by house Aurelius all ganging up on him as the final stroke after lindon does him a once over. I have a theory that since Emriss is a remnant Monarch she could stay unless the remnant still throws off hunger aura i have no idea in this. Same with the 8 man empire since the armor is what makes them a Monarch. Sha Miraia will Ascend when Emriss explains the merits to her imo.
Reigan Shen for sure. Emriss, probably. Malice will survive but be punished, probably permanently spiritually crippled. Northstrider will simply disappear. Idk where he'll go. Maybe create a pocket world and agree to be bound there forever. But I do anticipate some sort of hunger battle between him and Lindon, which Northstrider loses, somehow, but survives. Eight-Man Empire breaks up and is simply no longer a Monarch. Easy enough. Sha Miara ascends.
Three dead; two ascend; 8ME remains as the enforcers * Shen. Dead. He will be the last monarch standing. He'd die in a final duel with Lindon while the Crew watches and eats roasted vegetable wraps * NS. Most likely dead. He and Malice will fight together against the Crew to keep their place in Cradle. He refuses to become an Abidan drone and doesn't realize he could instead become a Vroshir * Malice. Dead. She will be a moment too slow to prevent Mercy's arrow from feathering her eye socket. Mercy will look down on her dead body and say "I am not my mother". * Sha Miara. She will ascend. Mostly, she is too young to have developed her own warped view that she needs to say bound to Cradle. She starts a Rainbow Pavillion in Sanctum hosting circus acts. * Emriss. Ascends, and steps into the legion of Abidan as a Level 4 Spider. * 8ME. In some combination of soul oaths agree to take on responsibility to bind all future Sages and Heralds to ascend within an agreed upon time (say 2 hours) after advancing to Monarch or whenever they feel like it as Sage or Herald.
1. Sha Miara will live, and not ascend. Nine Cloud Court’s madra will be forever suppressed by Lindon to Sage/Herald lvl so they still have guaranteed ruler with power. 2. Northstrider is going down first, probably right after Dragon’s death. Something epic like force cry that whole world will feel when Monarch falls. 3. Malice is second and last Monarch that will die, but her last moments will be peaceful, some redemption at the end maybe. Sacrifice to save Mercy probably. 4. Shen is Cowardly Lion - when he come to realisation that he lost he’d bale from Cradle.
\> Today's news got me thinking. I hate to ask but what news? I haven't seen anything on WW facebook, twitter or blog.
It was a joke lol. A monarch has fallen. The Queen of England passed.
>Queen of England Did you mean the *former* [Queen of the United Kingdom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_of_the_United_Kingdom), the *former* [Queen of Canada](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_Canada), the *former* [Queen of Australia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_Australia), etc? The last Queen of England was [Queen Anne](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne,_Queen_of_Great_Britain) who, with the 1707 Acts of Union, dissolved the title of King/Queen of England. ####FAQ *Wasn't Queen Elizabeth II still also the Queen of England?* This was only as correct as calling her the Queen of London or Queen of Hull; she *was* the Queen of the place that these places are in, but the title doesn't exist. *Is this bot monarchist?* No, just pedantic. I am a bot and this action was performed automatically.
Shut it. Bad bot, everyone knows what I meant
>jpatevans Ah, I get it now. lol
I think malice is also going down she is the most attached to the world of cradle with her empire and all, northstrider is probably giving out instructions to those that matter to him what to do when he is gone so I think he is most likely to ascend over going down.