History Fridge / TheBelgariad

* When Cyradis is faced with the CHOICE, one of the things she laments [[spoiler:during her breakdown]] is that she can't see their faces, and [[spoiler:her blindfold's removal]] helps her make the CHOICE. Seems odd all around, but remember the Grolim Zandramas sent to Kell? He was beaming and drunk on the joy of seeing the face of the new God of the Angaraks. Since the Seeresses of Kell are the ones who struck him with that vision, that would suggest they know what the new, benevolent God will look like. But since Cyradis is wearing her blindfold, she doesn't know whether [[spoiler:Eriond or Geran]] has the right face!
** Furthermore, [[spoiler:when her blindfold is removed]], she still takes a few moments to [[spoiler:look between them]]. Since [[spoiler:Geran is a toddler, she was probably deliberating whether his features would mature into that of the face of the new God.]]

* OK, read this: [[quoteblock]]OneGenderRace: The nonhuman Dryads. They kidnap human men and force them to father children. This goes one of two ways: a girl will always be a Dryad, and a boy will be human with Dryad genes lying dormant. These Dryad genes can then be passed on to the children of that male — and they are, resulting in Ce'Nedra, who, thanks to dilution, is half Dryad. Pure dryads don't have male children. In "Belgarath the Sorcerer", Belgarath notes that crossbreeding dryads with the House of Borune did some odd things, since a pure dryad "would never give birth to a male child".[[/quoteblock]] Got it? A full-blooded Dyrad will never have a male child. Easy enough. The first Dryads to marry a Borune were all full-blooded. So ''where did the first male Dryad-Borune male come from?''

** Which also ties in well in the prequels, with the deaths of Belsambar and Belmakor. The suicidal tendencies brought on by Belsambar's brutal killing of his own kinsmen and Belmakor's realization of Zedar's betrayal sapped them of that will to live and [[DrivenToSuicide drove them to]] [[MagicAIsMagicA intentionally break the one law of magic.]] [[TearJerker On themselves.]]

** In some cultures, male children are considered preferable to be a legitimate heir to the family. At minimum, the step it took was to ensure that the next child conceived was a boy, right on time to inherit his father's role as protector of the Rivan Crown, once Garion had his own son.
** Among other steps, the prophecy made both Barak and Merel do, out of necessity, things that the other would be proud of, in front of each other. But even if the prophecy made them not hate each other ''after'' being married, the lengthy time they ''were'' married ''and'' hating each other was not [[GoodIsNotNice a bed of roses]].
** It also might be that their troubles were at least partly ''because'' The Prophecy Did It. A) When Silk tells Barak and Merel's backstory to Garion, it implies that Barak was pretty much a noble, spoiled rich kid who'd gotten everything he ever wanted simply by asking... or demanding. It's possible that the effects of BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor and Barak thus having to ''work'' for peace with Merel and not getting it for so long were part of what made him The Dreadful Bear - in fact, without that work (including, perhaps, learning to temper the more 'beastly' aspects of his character) his mind might very well have shattered under the impact of his transformation. B) The more uncomfortable idea is that, like Vordai and the Old Man in the Mountains, Barak and Merel's troubles were part of ''Garion's education''. Anyone else think that Silk's description of Merel sounds awfully like Ce'Nedra in the first series? It could be that their troubles lasted so long, in order to teach Garion what not to do with Ce'Nedra, and to show him what life with her could be like if he doesn't learn to compromise with her, and accommodate her pride, right from the start.

** "WOULD never give birth to a male child". One had read this to mean that the Dryads would refuse to carry a male child to term normally, and that part of the Borune marriage was the agreement of the Dryad wife to bear male children.
** Or it was a Necessity driven exception.

** All forest Dryads are pure Dryad and only have female children. The Borunes are a possibly a Necessity driven exception.

* For that matter, how are ''any'' of the Dryads "full-blooded"? They catch human males to procreate, as stated in ''Queen of Sorcery'' -- so the forest Dryads aren't any more full-blooded than the Borune ones. While the original created Dryads were full-blooded, they weren't immortal; by now, all Dryads are at least half-human. Polgara and Belgarath make a big deal about full vs. half, but the illogic of this apparently doesn't occur to any of the characters.

* The whole WizardsLiveLonger thing never made any sense- until one read the page and another troper's explanation. [[FunctionalMagic "Magic"]] in that world is based directly on will, AND HUMANS HAVE WILL TO LIVE- a basic instinct that nobody has to think about.

* The whole WizardsLiveLonger thing never made any sense- then I read the page and another troper's explanation. [[FunctionalMagic "Magic"]] in that world is based directly on will, AND HUMANS HAVE WILL TO LIVE- a basic instinct that nobody has to think about.

** "WOULD never give birth to a male child". I read this to mean that the Dryads would refuse to carry a male child to term normally, and that part of the Borune marriage was the agreement of the Dryad wife to bear male children.

* This Troper loved the Belgariad, but the whole WizardsLiveLonger thing never made any sense- then I read the page and another troper's explanation. [[FunctionalMagic "Magic"]] in that world is based directly on will, AND HUMANS HAVE WILL TO LIVE- a basic instinct that nobody has to think about.

* Dryads live long lives, apparently tied to their trees. Ce'Nedra is tied to The Tree by association with the medallion she inherited. It's very likely her being a dryad has to do with giving Belgarion a wife that he won't outlive.

** Among other steps, the prophecy made both Barak and Merel do, out of necesity, things that the other would be proud of, in front of ecah other. But even if the prophecy made them not hate each other ''after'' being married, the lengthy time they ''were'' married ''and'' hating each other was not [[GoodIsNotNice a bed of roses]].

* * "WOULD never give birth to a male child". I read this to mean that the Dryads would refuse to carry a male child to term normally, and that part of the Borune marriage was the agreement of the Dryad wife to bear male children.

** For that matter, how are ''any'' of the Dryads "full-blooded"? They catch human males to procreate, as stated in ''Queen of Sorcery'' -- so the forest Dryads aren't any more full-blooded than the Borune ones. While the original created Dryads were full-blooded, they weren't immortal; by now, all Dryads are at least half-human.

* OK, read this: [[quoteblock]]OneGenderRace: The nonhuman Dryads. They kidnap human men and force them to father children. This goes one of two ways: a girl will always be a Dryad, and a boy will be human with Dryad genes lying dormant. These Dryad genes can then be passed on to the children of that male — and they are, resulting in Ce'Nedra, who, thanks to dilution, is half Dryad. Pure dryads don't have male children. In "Belgarath the Sorcerer", Belgarath notes that crossbreeding dryads with the House of Borune did some odd things, since a pure dryad "would never give birth to a male child".[[/quoteblock]] Got it? A full-blooded Dyrad will never have a male child. Easy enough. The first Dryads to marry a Borune were all full-blooded. So ''where did the first male Dryad-Borune male come from?''

** Among other steps, the prophecy made both Barak and Merel do, out of necesity, things that the other would be proud of, in front of ecah other. But even if the prophecy made them not hate each other ''after'' being married, the lengthy time they ''were'' married ''and'' hating each other was not [[GoodIsNotNice a bed of roses]].

** In some cultures, male children are considered preferable to be a legitimate heir to the family. At minimum, the step it took was to ensure that the next child conceived was a boy, right on time to inherit his father's role as protector of the Rivan Crown, once Garion had his own son.

* You know how Merel goes from being stuck in a loveless marriage with a husband who thinks he is entitled to sex regardless of her feelings, to being happily married to her rapist as soon as their son is born? Consider that if Torak had won Polgara would have been brainwashed into loving him, although she believes that there would always be a part of her that knows what happened and would be screaming in horror for the rest of her life. Now consider that the Purpose of the Universe outright tells Garion that the reason all his friends find themselves married with BabiesEverAfter is because it took steps to arrange that as a reward for their service. Exactly what steps did it take on Barak's behalf?

* You know how Merel goes from being stuck in a loveless marriage with a husband who thinks he is entitled to sex regardless of her feelings, to being happily married to her rapist as soon as their son is born? Consider that if Torak had won Polgara would have been brainwashed into loving him, although she believes that there would always be a part of her that knows what happened and would be screaming in horror for the rest of her life. Now consider that the Purpose of the Universe outright tells Garion that the reason all his friends find themselves married with BabiesEverAfter is because it took steps to arrange that as a reward for their service. Exactly what steps did it take on Berek's behalf?

* Sorcerers are implied to subconsciously choose their appearance, which is why Belgarath looks like a wise old man, and Polgara an attractive young woman. So what does that say about Ctuchik, who looks like the very archetype of the EvilSorcerer? Likely that he's fully aware of how evil he is, and either doesn't care, or is ''proud'' of it.

** which also ties in well in the prequels, with the deaths of Belsambar and Belmakor. The suicidal tendencies brought on by Belsambar's brutal killing of his own kinsmen and Belmakor's realization of Zedar's betrayal sapped them of that will to live and [[DrivenToSuicide drove them to]] [[MagicAIsMagicA intentionally break the one law of magic.]] [[TearJerker On themselves.]]

* Sorcerers are implied to subconsciously choose their appearance, which is why Belgarath looks like a wise old man, and Polgara an attractive young woman. So what does that say about Ctuchik, who looks like the very archetype of the EvilSorcerer? Likely that he's fully aware of how evil he is, and either doesn't care, or is ''proud'' of it.

* After a while, you suddenly realise that the PlanetOfHats arrangements serve a vital purpose -- most of the characters who are walking stereotypes of their cultures ''need to be'' those stereotypes to fulfil their roles in the prophecy, for either side. Mimbrates aren't heavily into armoured knights just because they think jousting is awesome -- they were deliberately kept in that state for thousands of years just so Mandorallen would come out the other end. The same is true of Algarian horsemanship, Drasnian guile, Cherek barbarism, Asturian archery, Ulgo religiosity and so on.

* Sorcerers are implied to subconciously choose their appearance, which is why Belgarath looks like a wise old man, and Polgara an attractive young woman. So what does that say about Ctuchik, who looks like the very archetype of the EvilSorcerer? Likely that he's fully aware of how evil he is, and either doesn't care, or is ''proud'' of it.

** which also ties in well in the prequels, with the deaths of Belsambar and Belmakor. The suicidal tendencies brought on by Belsambar's brutal killing of his own kinsmen and Belmakor's realization of Zedar's betrayal sapped them of that will to live and [[DrivenToSuicide drove them to]] [[MagicAIsMagicA intentionally break the one law of magic.]] [[TearJerker On themselves.]]