It's Ranger. Nobody else qualifies. Hell, Ranker alone basically said as much.

Stray thoughts:
-Appreciated Nauk dropping a short history lesson as to why Afolabi and the Twelfth are more than buttmonkeys.
-The Matrons have their own language. Because of course they do.
-There's a future battle called the Prince's Graveyard. So looking forward to Procer's shit getting pushed in.
-This battle is called the Four Armies and One, with Ranger obviously being the One. Mysterious hooded stranger trope aside... the Lady of the Lake will be living up to the hype this battle, I'm sure. And with the Prince of Nightfall's eye taken already this incarnation, I think Sulia's really the only bounty worth hunting.

 

I'm not so sure about the four armies and one. To me, the wording means four armies and one army, with the four armies being:

• the Fourth Legion under Ranker,
• the Twelth Legion under Afolabi,
• the Fifteenth Legion under Cat,
• and the Deoraithe under Kegan,

versus the one army of Summer under Sulia.

It's either that or the four armies who think the story is about a fighting retreat, and one who knows it's about baiting all of Summer in to be destroyed. Or maybe both of these options.

 

That doesn't quite fit though. Saying "Four Armies and One" puts the "One" apart from the armies, so it makes sense for that to be Ranger off by herself. The armies can number four quite nicely if you divide them by primary loyalty:

1. to Praes (Fourth and Twelfth Legions)
2. to Cat (Fifteenth Legion and the knights)
3. to Winter (army under Prince of Nightfall)
4. to Summer (army under Sulia)

 

If Ranger wasn't around, then 1 Army vs 4 Armies would make sense, but with her here as a clear solo act it precludes that option. Personally I see the four armies as:

1. Main expeditionary force (Deoraithe and the Legions)
2. Army of Summer
3. Army of Winter
4. The Order of the Broken Bells

Basically, four separate blocks/contingents of soldiers, although Nazgus' distribution works too (I guess the Deoraithe fit under Cat because Callow?). Either way, I think Ranger vs Sulia is going down, which is good because Sulia is probably one of the most powerful things we've seen in the story so far and Cat herself stands no chance.

 

Spoiler: My 2 cents on "4 Armies and One"

If 4 armies vs 1 army:

• Expedition through Arkadia vs
• Summer flanked by
  
• Winter from the East,
  
• the 15th + Broken Bells from the West
• and ??? (Either a new army from behind the host of Summer or the Deoraithe are counted separately)

But probably it is:
4 armies + Ranger:

• Legions of Terror (4th, 12th & 15th [Cause Juniper is probably right behind those Knights])
• The Deoraithe / Watch
• Winter
• Summer

The army of Summer is described as being at full strength, so I expect their Queen to show up once they realise the Squire is not retreating. Then Ranger will probably be the one to force Summer to back down.

All that aside, I am really wondering how the "Calamities 2.0" will pan out in Book 3. Right now it looks like:
Squire = Black Knight (Teacher)
Adjutant = Captain + [organizational part of Scribe]
Apprentice = Warlock (Father/Teacher)
Archer = Ranger (Teacher)
Thief = Assassin + [Spynetwork of Scribe] (Offered to teach)

That is 5 Named, just like a Band of Heroes. Assuming they end up with Thief, and not "Robber", then all 5 of them would have "neutral" Names. 3 of those "grey" Names (Adjutant, Archer and Thief) look like they won't change anytime soon. Only Apprentice and Squire are clear transitional Names.
Apprentice last Interlude makes it look like he might gain a new Name that isn't Warlock soon.
As for Catherine: I'm not a big fan of "Grey Knight" theories. If I had to make a guess, she will probably be the first of a new brand of "Callow-Präsi" Names. But, lets just see where the author takes his story.

 

This doesn't work because the Deoraithe under Kegan aren't part of Praes or loyal to Cat. It would then be Praes, Cat, Deoraithe, Winter, and Summer making five.

I can see you having:

• Praes (including Cat and the fifteenth)
• Deoraithe
• Winter
• Summer

But that still doesn't work brilliantly because Praes and Deoraithe are part of the same force.

This doesn't work because the Order of the Broken Bells is specifically part of the fifteenth as talked about between Cat and Black a few chapters back. Maybe this would work if you have the expeditionary force as an 'army', and have the reinforcements beyond the gate as a separate 'army', but it's more rejoining the fifteenth together.

Hmmm... So Summer vs

• Expedition
• Winter
• Reinforcing army
• Another to be seen.

That sort of works. It also sort of works if you have it being four armies and the one Calamity.

We'll have to see what happens next week.


-------------------------------

Adjutant being the next generation of Captain doesn't really work except for the loyalty to Amadeus/Cat. He has no training or other link to Cursed/Captain. Also, is Scribe a Calamity? She said herself she came along later.

The thing I keep thinking is that the Calamities were working towards putting Alaya on the throne. What are the next generation working towards, and do they have an Alaya analogue?

 

Of course, their Alaya analogue is Cat herself. Of course she's also a new Calamity but it still stands that they're all gathered around her. Also worth considering that it's just the idea that they will make the world a better place, but I'm not so sure about that. Maybe a clear goal will become available in book 4, or introduce a new character that they will build around.

 

I think you're looking at the word "army" too literally. You'd be right if we were talking about the term in its official sense or something, but we're not. It's being used poetically. I look at a map of the battle right now, I see four blocks of soldiers and one Calamity. The expeditionary force is sitting behind their wooden palisade. The army of Summer, 50 thousand strong, marching down the road from the north. Twenty thousand men from Winter led by the Prince of Nightfall (presumably their only true warrior prince) coming out from the woods. And three thousand of Callow's finest charging in out of nowhere from Creation. The last of those groups is definitely a whole lot smaller than the other three armies, but it makes up for that by being highly trained cavalry. For comparison, the Order of Broken Bells is a bit over three times the cavalry of the Silver Spears, and they're better skillwise. Sure, they can't fly, but they'll pack a helluva punch.

It's possible the Fifteenth will be behind them to add some bulk, but personally my guess is that Cat is having Juniper take Dormer with Istrid and Sacker going for Holden. It was said in the Interlude that Summer must have little more than a skeleton guard left in the cities, and with Cat breaking their army here those cities will be free to take back without fear of Summer returning. This story's proven me wrong before, though.

It's not about Adjutant's link to Captain; it's about the similarity in their Roles. Captain's first Aspect is to Obey Black. She is an auxiliary to him and completely loyal and wholly subservient to Black and his vision. That is her Role. Hakram is similar. He is an extension of Cat's will. The main difference between him and Sabah is the noted administrative one, which is accounted for by him taking up a bit of Scribe's duties. This is how Adjutant is a bit different, in that he is a fully fledged right hand while Captain is more like Black's third fist. But regardless, their Roles are very similar in how they are ultimately subservient to their Knight's will while standing at their side. That is what they do. That is all they do. They Serve.

Clear links between Calamity members and 1:1 analogues is an exercise of forcing it anyhow. That's not how the Calamities work. The point of the Calamities is that they are a united Five Man Band of villains that don't have to worry about anybody putting knives in anybody else's back - a complete break from pattern. Because of how Bands of Heroes/Villains work, they need to be well rounded, but the niches of each member aren't set in stone, and it's not a legacy passed down from each member to their successor. Only exceptions are the Names of Warlock and Black Knight, because this is Praes and those are just baked into the fabric, and by the nature of how those Names work you'll see Warlock's spot passed down to Apprentice and more importantly that of Black Knight to Squire. But every generation will not require an Assassin or an Adjutant or an Archer, nor will any of those three need to train their future "counterparts". The reason Thief may be Cat's fifth isn't because at one point Assassin talked to her, or even that she's all that predisposed to it (because she obviously isn't). It's because Cat needs a fifth, there aren't any other available options so far, and Thief's cloak and dagger nature is different from what Cat already has and checks off a different niche for the group.

And the Calamities weren't really built towards putting Alaya on the throne. They were just only doing that at first, because that's what Black wanted. We've seen time and time again how the Calamities are centered around Black, not the Empress (although we don't know Assassin's deal, but I doubt he breaks pattern). Alaya is her own entity. She's not part of that legacy. Although if anything that'd probably be Cat, but that would still play into the fact that the Calamities are built around and led by the Black Knight and he sets the agenda.

Also I think Scribe is more like an honorary Calamity. Character List calls her "directly affiliated". I guess she joined up after the Rebellion but before the Conquest? Kinda like a Sixth Ranger trope to fulfill the administrative void that Black needed.

 

I like @Stealthy's breakdown of the armies. Works nicely in the narrative sense which tends to be the main thing for how these things are named. Another point in favor of the Order of Broken Bells being a distinct army is that almost no one knew Cat had assembled it, so from a story telling point of view it's a new army answering to Cat.

 

I'm betting that Cat graduates to Dread Empress and Hakram ends up becoming the new Chancellor

 

New chapters are up.

Spoiler

A bit more of the battle with Juniper, Apprentice and Archer arriving. Ranger is still waiting though. My bet is still on the Queen of Summer being the one she came for.
Also new Extra chapter on Malicia dealing with Wolof. Scary new insides on the extend of her power
My guess is that Nim, as the "Marshall of Praes" is completely controlled by her. I'm really excited for her next meeting with Catherine.

 

Just realized that being Duchess of Moonless Nights is essentially being called the Duchess of 'Black (K)night'.

Clever stuff.

 

Big fan of the interlude. Don't get me wrong, the chapter itself was great, but getting a chance to see into Alaya's head was something new. Don't think Cat is gonna be very pleased about her funneling the supplies to Akua for her schemes if she ever finds out.

Confirmation about Ranger was nice, but I think we were all in agreement about her. The more interesting question is who she's here for. Chapter made it pretty clear it's none of the players already in the field, but I'm a little hesitant to say it'll be the Queen of Summer, if only because it seems like the obvious guess. Then again, this is Arcadia, so obvious guess might be story-mandated.

Not sure if I'm missing something or just a fun little thing.

 

Yeah just a little fun thing.

 

Spoiler

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Oh god, I love this story so much.

 

lmao what the fuck.... I love how the Chapter 30 quote suddenly makes sense at the end of Ch31.

 

This story is so delightfully cheeky.

I love the little detail about how the report by the House of Light was framed by Black and hung on her wall. It's a sweet father-daughter moment. But Evil, of course.

Shame she's going to kill him

 

Still not convinced that will happen, @Imraefi

But yeah, loving the updates. We got a new name transition, the action has been gripping and the humor on point.

Also still utterly delighted by the opening quotes. Fucking love those things, such great snippets of comedy.

 

As another note, now we have a

Spoiler

sun which Sulia said specifically was used to end Winter, and Hierophant, apparently a mage class revolving around destroying divine beings.

Sounds like we have two ingredients for Cat to use to fulfill her promise to the Winter King about learning to kill gods. And where there's two, one more is waiting in the wings to make three somewhere.

I'm guessing it's maybe the vengeance story the King hands her when he forces her to kill Black. Or maybe an aspect she gets in doing so and becoming Black Knight, something like End, which would be appropriate for Cat, considering she's the culmination of Black's ambition and her own desire to end the cyclical story of heroes vs villains with her homeland as the chessboard.

 

Thief at the end made for a great ending. At the end of this arc everyone and their mother is going to fear Cat. She invades Summer's domain and casually kills the Princess like it's not a big deal. I think it's going to get even bigger and the Queen of Summer is going to have to intervene and that's when we finally get some Ranger action. Cause who else is really left for her to troll? Archer claims she's done with the various Princes and Princesses so the only thing left is some good ol' Regicide.