The Blade Itself

Glokta dreams of his pre-war glory as a master swordsman, fantasizing about defeating Jezal in a duel and winning the affection of Ardee West. Suddenly, Practical Frost pounds on his door and tells him that the Arch Lector is waiting. Glokta’s servant helps him into a hot bath—one of the few things that eases the pain of his old wounds—and he prepares to meet his superior.

In the high office of the Arch Lector, Glokta meets Surveyor General Halleck, who is a candidate for promotion to the “Closed Council” in the absence of Sepp dan Teufel. After a brief exchange, Halleck leaves, and Sult argues that beneath the Union’s indomitable surface, the nation is weak—fettered by a senile king and a feckless crown prince. Furthermore, the Inquisition is riddled with corruption, and the Lord Chancellor is dead. These factors create a power vacuum which Sult hopes to fill with Halleck now that Teufel has “confessed” to treason. Sult then offers Glokta the position of Inquisitor Exempt, a position that gives him the power to operate beyond legal authority and makes him answerable only to Sult himself. Sult’s first target is the Mercer Guild, and he orders Glokta to bring in one of their members.

Logen and Quai pause by a lake—still 40 miles from their destination—but Logen reckons that Quai, who is wracked with fever, will die before they reach it. Still, he lightens his pack, hoists the apprentice over his shoulder, and starts the long journey to the First Magus. When they reach the first marker—two towering stones carved with ancient writing—Quai, in a fever dream, warns Logen, “It is forbidden…to touch the Other Side!” (87). He then lapses back into unconsciousness.

After an arduous climb, they come to a bridge, on the other side of which sits a locked door. Logen knocks, and an old gatekeeper admits them, leading them through a narrow valley to a three-spired structure carved into the mountainside. On the steps sits a bearded old man—the Magus, Logen assumes—but he is instead greeted by a stocky bald man wearing a butcher’s apron. This man is actually Bayaz, First of the Magi. No sooner have they carried Quai inside than riders appear at the gate—messengers of Bethod, King of the Northmen. Bethod’s younger son, Calder, is admitted, and demands that Bayaz answer his father’s summons. Suddenly, Calder sinks to his knees, choking for air. Bayaz responds that he will deal with Bethod only, not with “fools and younger sons” (94). He releases Calder from his spell, and the Northman mounts his horse and rides off. Logen mentions that the spirits are “dwindling,” and Bayaz notes that magic is disappearing from the world. He hints at a larger mission, but for now, he simply offers Logen food and rest.

Major West stands in attendance as the new Lord Chamberlain, Fortis dan Hoff, sees petitioners, including emissaries from Bethod. The emissaries claim to seek peace between their kingdom and the Union, and Hoff grants them an audience with the King the following day. Lastly, a representative of the Great Order of Magi, Yoru Sulfur, enters and announces that Bayaz seeks to return to the Union after a long separation. Hoff schedules a meeting for the following day, but then quickly sends word to Arch Lector Sult requesting an immediate audience. As West leaves Hoff’s chamber, he sees one of the rejected petitioners—a poor farmer—and gives the man some money.

Glokta and his two Practicals break into the home of Villem dan Robb, intent on coercing a confession, but he’s already dead. Glokta asks, “Who’s next on the list?” (112), but every target the seek is already dead. This fact suggests that the Mercers are preemptively eliminating witnesses. Someone within the Inquisitor’s Office, Glokta reasons, has leaked information. He meets with Sult to report his discovery, and they suspect that Superior Kalyne may be the source of the leak. Sult advises Glokta to “tread carefully” as he pursues his investigation. Together, they concoct a plan to draw out the assassin, whom they plan to “squeeze” for information about the source of the leak. Sult leaves, and moments later, Glokta is approached by Lord Marshall Varuz, who asks Glokta to speak to Jezal and persuade him to train with greater dedication. Glokta agrees.

Jezal continues his brutal training regimen with Varuz berating him at every turn. Jezal wants to quit, but he desires a life marked by greatness rather than mediocrity, so he perseveres despite his frustration. As he leaves the training ground, he meets his fellow soldier, Kaspa, and his cousin, Ariss. They make perfunctory conversation, but Jezal, with a bruised body and deeply wounded pride, quickly excuses himself.

Jezal stands guard at the Open Council while nobles and their proxies entreat the Lord Chamberlain for help with their political crises. War looms, and the Union’s many provinces seek military and financial help to secure their borders. As debate rages, the doors fly open, and trumpeters announce the arrival of the High King of the Union, whose massive bulk is carried in on a palanquin. The king doesn’t know why he is there. Just then, the two envoys of Bethod enter: a cloaked giant named Fenris the Feared and a translator. They bring an offer of peace from the Northmen, with one condition—the Union must cede the northern land of Angland to Bethod. Protests erupt when Fenris drops his cloak and reveals himself to be a massive, tattooed “monster,” striking fear into even the most hardened warriors in the room. He challenges any knight to a duel and declares that the winner of the duel will lay claim to Angland, but the Lord Chancellor refuses. With the threat of war, Fenris and his translator depart.

When Logen awakens, he is clean, well-fed, and freshly shaven, and is wounds are healed. Quai also looks somewhat improved. Together, they discuss their journey and the battle they fought along the way, and Logen recounts the many victims of his violent past, saying “I can never be free of it” (140). Bayaz enters and dismisses Quai, then informs Logen that Bethod is coming. Bayaz requests that Logen remain by his side during the visit. Once a prisoner of Bethod, Logen agrees.

Bayaz leads Logen to an armory in the cellars beneath his library, and Logen finds a sword to his liking. Later, they sit in Bayaz’s study and wait for Bethod. Logen is tense, but Bayaz reads calmly from Juvens’s Principles of Art, the foundational text of his order. Bethod arrives with a small retinue: his eldest son, Scale, and the sorceress, Caurib. She speaks, and Logen is entranced by the spell of her voice, but Bayaz dispels the enchantment. Bethod offers the Magus an ultimatum: join him or oppose him. Bayaz initially agrees to join him but only to hear the Northman’s plans, which are to invade Angland. He then renounces his promise, and Caurib threatens him and his home with destruction. Bayaz responds angrily, sending her to her knees. Prince Scale steps forward, hand on his sword, but Logen blocks his path. With Scale and Logen nearly at each other’s throats, Bethod reins in his son, and they depart, swearing a curse on Bayaz.