Which RotE character is your favourite? (spoilers all RotE books)

[Farseer]

Too true 'thul, not to mention other instances eg being with Fitz' mother, choosing Patience against Shrewd's wishes etc, but Chivalry was considered as coming across as too perfect a person by the majority of the SD population, until they saw Fitz as physical and undisputable evidence to the contrary. Even Verity was surprised and I think he said something like, "Who would have thought it of him?" (will confirm that!)...

This previously perceived perfection proved (crikey, talk about illiteration!) to actually be seen as a flaw in Chivalry's character, when he was considered from the viewpoint of others (not so much as that he was a flawless character as created by Robin Hobb but a supposedly flawless character of flawless reputation within the Six Duchies). Rather than be seen as an asset, his 'perfection' and perfectionist nature made him appear aloof and untouchable to others, and it was also something to be jealous of. He made other men question themselves and thus he was resented.

I'm not sure if there is a term elsewhere in the world but, here in Australia, we call it 'tall poppy syndrome' (okay, I call it that...other Aussies may not...Nuytsia?!). Tall poppy syndrome is basically when people are criticised or cut down (like poppies) once they achieve the height of success (they become superior or elevated in comparison to others so are then likened to tall poppies). It doesn't tend to matter how much the successful person actually deserves his reward or social status, once he attains success he is fairly quickly disparaged for it. The greater the height of excellence, or the length of time that the successful person stays in a successful positon, the greater the chance of being a victim of tall poppy syndrome.

Still, your observation makes me again wonder why Chiv didn't share any of it with Verity either straight up or via the Skill somehow...even by accident. He and Verity were very close as brothers, monarchs and as Skilled Ones...so why keep such a thing as his relationship with Fitz' mother a secret?

EDIT: I just realised I used 'his' and 'he' as gender-neutral pronouns in this post!