Mar-09-2018, 01:44 PM (UTC)
Hi matt_o and welcome to the forums!
I think it depends on how you define "happy". It's not the usual fairy tale ending - the protagonist doesn't get the princess and half the kingdom. But what he gets for many many years is true freedom: no obligations towards his royal family, no secretive and dangerous business in the service of the crown. No skill-command forcing him to keep going. He's freed from many (but not all) things he struggled with during his adolescence. He also knows his loved ones are safe and the war will be over.
I won't spoil the next books for you, but if you read the last few pages carefully you also notice that he won't be entirely on his own and alone either. But for a time, it's just Fitz and Nighteyes and they can go whenever they want and do whatever they please. I would be happy to have such a life.
I think it depends on how you define "happy". It's not the usual fairy tale ending - the protagonist doesn't get the princess and half the kingdom. But what he gets for many many years is true freedom: no obligations towards his royal family, no secretive and dangerous business in the service of the crown. No skill-command forcing him to keep going. He's freed from many (but not all) things he struggled with during his adolescence. He also knows his loved ones are safe and the war will be over.
I won't spoil the next books for you, but if you read the last few pages carefully you also notice that he won't be entirely on his own and alone either. But for a time, it's just Fitz and Nighteyes and they can go whenever they want and do whatever they please. I would be happy to have such a life.
"Green nubs on the dry sticks of the clematis promised that the appearance of death was not death itself." - Ship of Destiny
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