[split] What does the name "Farseer" really mean? SPOILERS ALL BOOKS

[Farseer]

Fitz chose to restore the dragons to the world. Not a shortsighted choice by any means.

Agreed! Not only did his choosing life for Icefyre mean that Icefyre would live but, in the end, that the Pale Woman would fail and the Forging of Six Duchies folk would cease (remembering that it was Forging that was the ‘stain down the shirt of the Six Duchies’ and the event that, as a consequence of there being no Farseer heir on the throne, began the destruction of the entire world as Fool had seen in and foretold Fitz from his visions).

As to Fitz and his actions regarding the dragon Icefyre, I just think he did it for the Fool, not because he really cared or understood about the implications of dragons coming back into the world.

I disagree with this in that Fitz didn’t free Icefyre just for Fool. He actually looked at various options before making his choice, like, “If I make this move, this will happen...what will happen after that?” and, in this way, used a similar strategy to that which he would have used in a stone game. By being able to sift through the outcomes of his actions in this instance, I think he did ‘see far’ and honoured his Farseer name. Certainly he didn’t look at it simply from a ‘What will happen if dragons come back into the world?’ perspective, but he definitely tried to see all of the various personal, political etc consequences of his actions and make a choice from there, despite having to lose Beloved and seemingly going against Chade, Dutiful, his family/blood etc in the making of that choice.

As for the meaning of Farseer, I can’t help but think of Fool in Fool's Fate when he was about to give away the Rooster Crown as payment for taking Fitz's memories back for him. Fool had been reminding Fitz of their time in the plaza, when they first saw the Rooster Crown together in AQ:

Fool: ‘You looked far back that day, to see a White Prophet clowning on top of a Skill-pillar. Did you see all that?’

Fitz: I blinked slowly. It was like awakening from a dream, or perhaps returning to one. His words seemed to wake memories I could not possibly hold.

In this I wonder if the title is not possibly linked more to his being able to see far back into the past (like drowning in the memories) rather than into the future, as all futures are based on pasts. As I have mentioned elsewhere recently, it is this looking at the past, the threads and the lives and choices that are woven into the already-made tapestry of life, that Fool attributes his ability to 'forsee' or guess the future as a White Prophet. Possibly it is the same for Fitz?

Fitz speaking of memories he could not possibly hold makes me also think of dragons and their ability to hold such long-lasting memories...as a Skill-ability is a consequence of having ‘the stuff of dragons enter your family line’ or from having ‘Elderling blood’, it would stand to reason then that Elderlings and their descendants would also experience an increase in their ability to withhold memories?

As an extension of this, I agree that the name is also linked, but not exclusive to, to his ability to Skill as a Skill-ability has certainly allowed Fitz to see past events eg in Kelsingra, along the Skill Road etc. It has also literally enabled him to see things from afar as they have happened eg what happened between Amber and Lavoy aboard Paragon and Molly's escape from the events at Siltbay through Skilling via Shrewd, for a couple of examples. Despite this link to Skilling, I think it has to be a more personal name-giving than just the Skill as the name Farseer was given to Fitz...if it was exclusively for the ability to Skill, then it could just as easily have been given to Verity, Shrewd, Wisdom etc, as they were all also Skilled. Though they DO share the name, it was still gifted to Fitz.

That’s enough for now!