The ending doesn't make sense? Spoilers Farseer & Tawny Man

[Apples]

So, I read all the way to the end of Fool's Fate, and was absolutely blown away by how the ending was handled. And not in a good way.

I can accept that Fitz might prefer to go back to Molly, but for a start it seems like he hasn't learnt anything at all: once again, he is retreating back to relative isolation just like after the third book instead of dealing with his problems, and passively shrugging and laying about rather than thinking "oops once again I have given someone the impression I am dead, maybe I should do something about that". He was a rather likeable character even though he was prone to melodrama and laziness at times, up until the ending which made him seem like a complete moron.

The way the Fool is basically just given a "he disappeared and I never saw him again" handwave at the end is dreadful, especially since Hobb seemed, through all the books, to be setting up a specific ending involving him. The Fitz/Fool relationship is specifically compared to the Fitz/Nighteyes relationship, which makes sense considering the link and the life span issues. But Fitz has also specifically stated that he did not regret having the bond with Nighteyes, even though it may have in some ways hurt them both (Fitz by having Nighteyes die long before him, and Nighteyes by not being able to live a natural wolf life). So the Fool saying he doesn't want that sort of relationship to exist and Fitz just accepting this as some sort of wisdom doesn't make any sense. What about 'tis better to have loved and lost'? A complete retraction of the skill link and any contact seems like a childish "if I can't have it all, I won't have any at all!" response, which is out of character.

In addition, I think I may have missed something here but wasn't it also shown that the Skill, which Fitz definitely has, can be used to prolong your life? I think I might have missed some kind of conversation where it was revealed that doing this has horrible consequences or something. Can someone explain this to me?

(P.S. i don't think that many people actually use this forum but uh, i wanted to vent)

[Mervi]

Hi Apples and welcome to the forum! Yes, it's often quiet here, but we do have a few regulars who check in often.

I'm one of those who thought that the ending was bittersweet but made sense. I don't think Fitz retreated back to isolation, he seems to be quite involved in the Farseer business even though he spends most of his time in his new home. Living with Molly and the kids and Burrich's horses etc probably isn't a very lonely life.

I think Fool's Fate is a book that needs to be read several times before all the pieces start to fit together. At least that's how it was for me. (My problems weren't in the end, but earlier in the story, and they started to make sense when I revisited them.) There are lots of little things and clues that are easy to miss.

About the Skill and prolonging one's life... I don't think any horrible consequences were mentioned. Actually, I'm not sure how it works. At first we were shown that Nighteyes seemed offended by being Skill-healed and later on Fitz seems to feel that his own healing was a bit odd too (doesn't he go and put back the outer side of his scars?) If I remember correctly, Fitz also seemed to think that Skill-healing somehow burned reserves, that it might actually shorten his life?

[chriSchaeffer]

I contest! This forum is great and lots of people read it... there's just a lot of reading a very little posting.

As for your comments about Fool's Fate... I have nothing to add.

[joost]

Kettle used the Skill to prolong her life. But as far as I understood it, it doesn't make you younger. So you'll be stuck in an old body for a very long time. Not something to look forward to.... Nighteyes was offended because he understood (better than Fitz) that dying is part of living. Without death, life has no meaning. He saw little difference between dying and letting your soul live in your bonding partner, and skill-healing. Both are unnatural ways to prolong life.

Fitz added the superficial scars mainly to avoid questioning, but also because he felt some of the scars were part of who he was.

The fact that Fitz never learns from his mistakes is pointed out several times by the Fool, by Burrich, by Verity, by Patience, by Molly..... Well, by almost anyone .

[Chrischa]

Actually, I found the end of the Fool's trilogy to be quite satisfying. I think that Fitz had both learned to pursue what he wants, but also to let go of what he knows is finished.
One impression I had from him throughout the entire story was that he was both damaged by the stolen memories, but also by the fact that he could never let go of Molly. I felt that it was both these things that stopped him from building up a relationship with anyone else. I was very happy to read about his acceptance of the Fool's disappearance, because sometimes loving someone means you know when to let them go.
I think Fitz knows that the Fool and he will always be the best of friends, even without being in each other's presence, and that he can be content with that.

[n00854180t]

So, I read all the way to the end of Fool's Fate, and was absolutely blown away by how the ending was handled. And not in a good way.

I can accept that Fitz might prefer to go back to Molly, but for a start it seems like he hasn't learnt anything at all: once again, he is retreating back to relative isolation just like after the third book instead of dealing with his problems, and passively shrugging and laying about rather than thinking "oops once again I have given someone the impression I am dead, maybe I should do something about that". He was a rather likeable character even though he was prone to melodrama and laziness at times, up until the ending which made him seem like a complete moron.

The way the Fool is basically just given a "he disappeared and I never saw him again" handwave at the end is dreadful, especially since Hobb seemed, through all the books, to be setting up a specific ending involving him. The Fitz/Fool relationship is specifically compared to the Fitz/Nighteyes relationship, which makes sense considering the link and the life span issues. But Fitz has also specifically stated that he did not regret having the bond with Nighteyes, even though it may have in some ways hurt them both (Fitz by having Nighteyes die long before him, and Nighteyes by not being able to live a natural wolf life). So the Fool saying he doesn't want that sort of relationship to exist and Fitz just accepting this as some sort of wisdom doesn't make any sense. What about 'tis better to have loved and lost'? A complete retraction of the skill link and any contact seems like a childish "if I can't have it all, I won't have any at all!" response, which is out of character.

In addition, I think I may have missed something here but wasn't it also shown that the Skill, which Fitz definitely has, can be used to prolong your life? I think I might have missed some kind of conversation where it was revealed that doing this has horrible consequences or something. Can someone explain this to me?

(P.S. i don't think that many people actually use this forum but uh, i wanted to vent)

Honestly I think the entirety of the reason Fitz let the Fool go so easily is because he at some level agreed that they were now living in a timeline that existed after he and the Fool had altered events to be on the better course that they envisioned, and for the Fool to continue influencing Fitz' decisions could have caused irrevocable change to said timeline (very similar to the reason that the black man was reluctant to help them).

I think Fool's Fate is a book that needs to be read several times before all the pieces start to fit together.[snip]

The Elderlings books are some of the few books I've ever read more than once, partially for this reason.

About the Skill and prolonging one's life... I don't think any horrible consequences were mentioned. Actually, I'm not sure how it works. At first we were shown that Nighteyes seemed offended by being Skill-healed and later on Fitz seems to feel that his own healing was a bit odd too (doesn't he go and put back the outer side of his scars?) If I remember correctly, Fitz also seemed to think that Skill-healing somehow burned reserves, that it might actually shorten his life?

My impression was that drawing from one's own reserves to heal oneself would indeed shorten overall lifespan, and that "overhealing" could do so as well (as was done to Fitz when he nearly died and the coterie was formed). As for the life extension, that seems more a matter of adjustments to mitigate cell-repair functions within the body than large scale trauma fixing.

[legerdemain07]

Hello all. I just finished the Farseer and Tawny Man trilogies, and I'm happy to find a community like this to discuss them with other readers.

While I agree with some of the posters here that Fitz's actions at the end of the Tawny Man trilogy seem out of character for him, I would suggest that we need to remember that Fitz is now whole again, now that the Fool has returned his memories of pain to him from Girl-on-a-Dragon. We never got to see how Fitz would have dealt with those memories over time, and so can't expect his actions now to coincide with his actions from the past, as only now is his healing finally complete. Second, also remember that time now flows in a new channel now that the Fool and Fitz have succeeded; history will no longer repeat itself. Fitz has a chance to change himself and his future, much as he changed everything else.

Just my two cents, thanks for listening!

[Liquid Ice]

I half understand what Apples is saying but idk I'm fine with the way it was handled. Mostly in the sense that Fitz deserves a break. And it really isn't isolation this time. Hes with Molly, with her kids and he's still doing work for the Farseer's.

Though the part with the fool does seem a little out of place. The "leave and no proper goodbye" almost seems like it was done so in the next book about the Farseers (If there is one) he could make a return.

[fleetzz]

I agree---the ending sucked and the poor Fool got screwed. However it was brilliant writing.

[kollkolen]

So although this book touched me deeply and has given me a strange type of wisdom, the ending just didn't fitted for me too. I can see why many people were happy to have Fitz and Molly find each other again, but it grated on me. He had come too far from the boy who loved her, that sixteen years apart had changed him in many ways and it didn't seem possible that they could come back from that. I would have liked for them to find peace with each other, but as people who had settled their past but knew they had come too long a way from who they had been.