FOREIGNER: Discussion Post #4, Spoiler Edition

[krait]

If you have discussion points for Chapters 5-6 you wish to bring up but which include spoilers, please post them here. Then link your comment in the general post, so those who want to avoid being spoiled can do so!

Comments

[krait]

SPOILERS for later books in the series; this comment is part of this thread about the dowager's invitation.



I was struck by the huge difference in the way Bren's security works here, compared to later books!

The Banichi/Jago/Tano/Algini quartet would NEVER leave Bren unsupervised and unprotected (personally, not just by wires/surveillance) in, say, Book Seven.

It's really shocking and strange to me, when rereading, to see this big gap in the paidhi's security! Are Banichi and Jago et al newer at the idea of having to continuously cover someone? (It seems Tano and Algini were brought in because they have appropriate security clearances, so if Bren's old servants were also security, this would be a new partnership for B&J to adjust to; or, if the old servants weren't security at all, Banichi and Jago might not be accustomed to working as a foursome -- maybe there's some friction over the added numbers?

Maybe Tabini hasn't made the entire situation clear to them, regarding just what Bren might or might not know (and how vital it is to find out)?
There's some deep shifting of man'chi going on with that transition! I can't imagine Tabini's guards ever letting anything create a security gap of any duration; are Bren's security team just not accustomed to thinking of their mild-mannered, kid-sized charge being important enough that ducking out for an hour or two could have significant consequences? But Tabini's guards have man'chi directly to him; Bren's just informed us that his servants (and presumably his security is included) don't have man'chi to him, but to Tabini... whereas they seem to regard him as their direct authority by the middle of the series-so-far, to the point that Tabini tells them not to come back from a mission if they'd be coming back without Bren.

Can a human really inspire/hold man'chi? What a fascinating research paper THAT would make for Bren... :D

Maybe because they themselves don't know exactly what the fuss is? How well-informed are they regarding the issues that have dragged Bren across the continent?

[cheyinka]

It seems a human really could inspire it, because one inspires it by succeeding, right? By making a grand gesture and having it work? So Bren, the most willing to "go native" so far except maybe for Ian, is the most likely to be able to inspire it - but then he won't feel it, he won't have the visceral reaction to seeing someone else have man'chi to him, and he won't have man'chi to anyone.

I concur that the quartet leaving Bren unaccompanied is really strange. Like I said on the non-spoiler post, there had to have been a way for a gentleman to accept an invitation that included his security, but Bren didn't know what it was, or know that it was expected that he do that - did he insult Banichi et al again by not including him in the acceptance?