Others' Island (spoilers all books incl RWC)

[Valarya]

I apologize for not going through ALL 11 pages of posts here but I do remember going through quite a bit of them when I first joined these forums.

I was just sitting on the couch reading Fool's Fate and something struck me that has never STUCK before. I don't know how I missed this the first few times around!!!!!!!!!!

(Since there's a spoiler tag for ALL books in the thread title, and we've already been discussing the books without spoiler tags, I'm just gonna go right for it.)

That being: Others are deformed dragons who have taken on too much 'essence' of humans.

I.. I'm just so shocked to the core that tiny paragraph never sunk in before. I'm sure you remember it, Farseer.. but for anyone else: after Fitz takes Fool through the Pillar on Aslevjal back to the marketplace close to the Dragon Graveyard... and brings him back to life... they eventually return through the Skill Pillar to Aslevjal. As they're walking through the ice labyrinth they notice a few depictions (once again) of Elderlings... Fitz makes the comment that the pictures remind him of Selden, to which the Fool nods. Fool then uses the analogy of a white and red rose living alongside one another for a long time.. eventually one starts to take on characteristics of the other.. adding a reddish tint to a white rose, or vice versa. He explains that, so too is it with humans and dragons. Humans long in cohorts/proximity to dragons begin to take on their 'essence' thus becoming the Elderlings.

That's when Fitz asks "But what of dragons? Do they take no effect from their exposure to us?"
And Fool replies "I suspect they do. But they find it shameful and banish such beings. You have been to Others Island."