I can’t stop thinking about how almost no one probably knows that Tom Badgerlock and Prince FitzChivalry Farseer are the same person, given that the public story to explain why he was MIA for so long and looked about 30 years too young was that he had spent the missing decades among the Elderlings.

So when he showed up at an actual Elderling city with the scaled and golden eyed Lady Amber, and they were looking for their kidnapped child in the fabled land of the Whites, it probably started a whole legend. Prince FitzChivalry the Witted Bastard took a golden Elderling bride and they lived in a magical realm to the south until one day, he reappeared at Buckkeep for help because their beloved daughter was stolen by the evil kingdom of Clerres. They recruited their fellow Elderlings, the Bingtown Traders and their liveships, and the dragons themselves to defeat their enemies and rescue their daughter, valiantly perishing in the process but returning Princess Bee Farseer to her ancestral home. The princess in question eventually learns how to stop getting annoyed by the inaccuracies whenever the ballad is played at a feast.

Time to suffer!

Do you have any thoughts about the parallel between Fitz hiding parts of himself from Molly that he doesn't think she will accept, and Beloved doing the same thing for Fitz, with Fitz being upset when he learns about Amber and other things? The recent post made me think about it

Hi anon,

That's a very good question, I haven't really thought about it before. I think there is indeed a parallel, and for quite a long time Fitz is truely struggling to accept all aspects of Beloved. But at the same time I think there are differences between these two relationships. Fitz is aware that Beloved is keeping parts of his life secret, and he knows not to bother Beloved about it or not to feel hurt. Exept when he feels his trust has been broken in Golden Fool, and we got to read that disastrous confrontation. But I think Molly doesn't know that Fitz is keeping secrets, she definitely didn't in the Farseer trilogy. I believe Fitz were given the chance to know Beloved better than anyone and to learn to accept who he is, but Molly didn't get that chance or not as much.

I wonder if Beloved should have been more forthcoming with Fitz, since Fitz certainly should have been that with Molly. But if I take two examples, the answer is maybe no, Fitz was lying about stuff that could impact Molly's life (assassin, royal bastard), and Beloved secrets about his feelings and past gender representations shouldn't impact Fitz that much.

Okay, at this point I'm only rambling and thinking out loud. I'm sure the answer could be exanded more, but I rather cut it short now :)

I may make fun of Fitz all the time for being so painfully oblivious to the exact nature of his relationship with the Fool, but in all seriousness it is a very realistic portrayal of an abused and abandoned child who never got the tools to process it. There were so many formative events that all stacked on top of each other: his mother leaving him, his father choosing to never even meet him, Chade bluntly informing him that his grandfather is allowing him to live because he will be a useful tool for the royal family, Burrich threatening to cut him off because he has the Wit, being abused by Regal and Galen and all of the adults who he trusts looking the other way because it’s more convenient for them to pretend they don’t notice (except for Burrich, but he has no power to stop it.) Even when he’s nearly killed, he tries to turn to Verity, Shrewd, and Chade, and they all shrug their shoulders and say Regal got a talking to and they’re sure he learned his lesson (6 years later, he has Fitz tortured to death.)

All of this led to a Fitz who struggles with attachment, is extremely distrustful of the people he’s close with, and who doesn’t believe he deserves love. Whenever someone does get close, he subtly pushes them away out of fear. He assumes that Chade wouldn’t even do something as simple as help his foster son get an apprenticeship without bargaining for it. He lets Burrich and Molly believe that he’s dead, despite this meaning he can’t meet his own daughter. He won’t even reach out to Patience, the closest thing he had to a mother. He of course makes up excuses about how this is for the best but really I think it’s because he’s afraid to face them. He believes that they wouldn’t want him, or that he would just cause trouble for them, or that he failed them. He prefers to keep things surface level and transactional, like with Starling or Jinna, because it doesn’t involve being emotionally vulnerable and the rejection and abandonment that he fears will inevitably come with that.

That brings us to the Fool. He is the only person Fitz ever believes truly knew him (Nighteyes did too of course but he’s not a person, which is why I think it was easier for Fitz to accept their bond.) The Skill wrist was both an obvious sexual metaphor and a reflection of the kind of love the the Fool offered him: unconditional, unlimited, with total honesty and sincerity. This scares the hell out of Fitz. He doesn’t think it’s possible to have that kind of emotional intimacy with someone and have that person still love him. I think that is what really bothers Fitz, and why he tries to nuke their relationship (well that and finding out that Amber existed and Beloved had this whole other persona who he didn’t know triggered some major trust and abandonment issues.) The homophobia is just an excuse that he makes to himself to not have to examine his feelings any further. Tragically, after the Fools death and resurrection, he seems to come to terms with things and be open to that kind of love and the vulnerability that comes with it; but at that point the Fool rejects him and leaves. This is pretty much the most painful thing he could have done given Fitz’s history, and it it weighs on them until the very end.

tl;dr the real thing keeping Fitz and Beloved apart is Fitz’s fear of accepting love

We all as a fandom talk about Fitz’s trust issues and difficulty letting people get close to him, but Beloved manages to fly under the radar despite the fact that he only told one person his first name for the entire 50 year span of the story

Can’t decide what my favorite Fitzloved era is.

The Assassins Quest era? Brought us “what has become of me, that I did not know you though I carry you in my arms!” Starling seething with jealousy over the Fool and deciding he must be a woman because homosexuality apparently doesn’t exist! Them sharing their little yurt! The birth of the Skill bond! Nighteyes declaring the Fool pack! Some of the best dialogue between them of the series (“I think you found your manhood before I did.” “How droll!”) The Fool full on kissing Fitz on the mouth!

Early Fools Errand in the cabin where they get a chance to live peacefully for once in a way they won’t find again until their death? Beloved finally telling Fitz his real name? The middle of this trilogy is of course brutal but then you get the Fools Fate era! The highest highs (the Elderling tent! The Skill joining! “My dream was dead in my arms!” “The man I had been would not survive this loss!” THE BODY SWAP! the resurrection! “All that night, I cradled him in my arms as if he were my child or my lover!”) and lowest lows (PRILKOP!) This one has the greatest number of scenes that live rent free in my head.

The last trilogy? It had some excessive grimdark (was Fitz accidentally nearly killing him as their reunion really necessary?) but also so much more. We got the complete and total breakdown of Fitz caring about people assuming they’re a couple! “‘Would you kill for me?’ I didn’t even have to think about it!” Paragon being jealous of Fitz! Pausing the revenge tour for a family cuddle! Whatever tf happened in Kelsingra! The promises to raise their daughter (!) together! “and we will live happily ever after?” “That is my intention!” “He loved you more than he ever loved any of the rest of us!” GOING INTO THE WOLF TOGETHER TO SPEND ETERNITY IN THE SKILL STREAM.

Hot RotE take: Fitz going straight back to Molly once Burrich died would not have happened if he hadn’t partially Forged himself.

Molly was Fitz’s first love, and I believe that Kettle was right that their relationship belonged to his youth. They were never going to work long term. It was a fundamentally childish romance primarily based on physical attraction; they were generally either having sex or fighting which is age appropriate for teenagers but not the foundation for a life partnership. He used her to hide from himself and the parts of his life that he didn’t want to acknowledge. Molly was a symbol of simplicity for him, one that I think he had outgrown by the end of Fools Fate. More than that, I think he would have gotten over it if he hadn’t put all of his pain over her marrying Burrich into Girl on a Dragon. By getting rid of those feelings, he made it impossible to process them in a healthy way, so when he gets them back suddenly it’s 17 years later and Molly is a widow approaching middle age with 7 children but he still thinks of her exactly the same way he did when they last saw each other. Add on Beloved leaving him just after he got over his fears of accepting the intensity of their bond and was ready to reciprocate love with no limits (the most traumatic possible thing that could happen to someone with attachment issues like Fitz,) and he’s regressing to who he was when he was a traumatized 20 year old. So while obviously his time as Holder Badgerlock isn’t necessarily bad, it makes me sad because it was so clearly a regression for his character.

“In Amber’s guise, the Fool became a very fetching woman.”

Every POV character who met Amber in Liveship described her as unattractive, but Fitz thinks she’s beautiful. Fitz is totally attracted to the Fool and it is obvious to everyone but him

Been presented with the theory that the Fool knew Fitz was in love with him by Tawny Man but that his upbringing and emotional damage combined meant that he would never be able to admit it to himself, which just adds so many extra levels of pain to the quarrel. Like it’s bad enough if he thinks that Fitz doesn’t love him in the same way and is rejecting him outright, but if he knows that he does but Fitz has too many issues for it to make a difference…