The Cauldron

So, here it is - The Big Question. Aside from how you would *like* to see the Ashe/Achmed/Rhapsody love triangle pan out, how do you actually think it WILL conclude?

No character-bashing please, but all speculations welcome!

My guess is that Ashe will die one day, and that Rhapsody will not want to live any longer, so she will make a visit to the Veil of Hoen, like Oelendra did at the end of Destiny. Rhapsody wants to die some day. She's said it in the book at least once. If she's still madly in love with her Sam when he dies, then she may just decide to join him. Despite what feelings she may or may not have for Achmed, unless she is in love with him before Ashe dies, nothing will happen between Rhapsody and Achmed.

I'd lean toward what you said too, OS. I might even take it one step farther and say that Ashe and Rhaps go into the Veil together. I can't see either of them willingly be apart permanently. If one dies before the other, the remaining one will certainly go the way Oelendra did. Even in the original time line, they did somehow come together to make Meridion, so I would say that even with Meridion's interference, the two of them were meant to be.

I kind of hope that this is the way the series ends, with both of them crossing over (and finding Llauron and *Ashe's mom* and Rhap's parents, along with Jo). I think they are due some peace!

I don't think it will, but it never hurts to hope, right?

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Avie pic by me.
Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it. ~ The Blues Brothers (1980)

Valecynos wrote:

finding Llauron and *Ashe's mom* and Rhap's parents, along with Jo

Llauron and Cynron (Ashe's mom).  Rhapsody's mother was Allegra, and I don't know if we're ever given her father's name, but we know that their "last name" was Turner (as in Earth-turner).

And what is this "end" of which you speak?  END???  There is no end!!!  I refuse to acknowledge the possibility of an ending to this wonderful series, and will most likely descend into the depths of madness after having created my own little fantasy world with Achmed to keep my fragile heart from shattering at the contemplation of an "end". 

My best guess is to assume that yes, Ashe and Rhapsody do remain happily together for time indeterminate. However, I also expect that Rhapsody and Achmed would at least have some sort of discussion about their relationship - I can't imagine that Rhapsody can continue her current oblivious outlook forever without picking up on or acknowledging Achmed's more-than-friendly feelings toward her. One possible vehicle for such a heart-to-heart or whatever could be that Achmed somehow realizes the events of an old past in which they meant more to each other. But he would respect her wishes, and she would of course remain loyal to Ashe.

As for what happens with Ashe, I agree that he and Rhapsody will probably cross into the Veil together, with Lord Rowan fulfilling her request. Achmed will thus remain behind, ruling his kingdom, and keeping an eye on....or guarding....their son Meridion. Who would likely be steward of the Lightcatcher. That would make things nice and circular, now, wouldn't it?

AL, it would be hard for the Symphony NOT to end. Think about it:

There are seven ages all up. The trilogy begins (Excluding the time in Serendair) at the end of the Fifth Age, The Age Of The Schism. Requiem begins at the beginning of the Age of Twilight, the Sixth Age. The only other age after that is The Age Of The Wyrm, which doesn't sound too promising for me.

Of course, the fact that there are only seven ages does not mean that the world will end. I think it means that the books will end by the conclusion of the Seventh Age.

Myself, I have no idea how it will end.

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Avatar Art © Rhapsody - Yargh, that would be Thesa, the fiery Pirate Captain! =]

Series' ending....yeah, I know it has to end at some point, but I don't want it to.  Well, I'll say this:  I want to know how Grunthor and Achmed met (or how they're related, if they are) before the series ends.

And I want to know what happened to Achmed and the woman he loved all those years ago (maybe back in his youth?).

Knowing those two stories will help the series end easier...

I agree that Ashe will die or at least succumb to the dragon in him and that Rhapsody will also die.  It seems like the natural ending but knowing EH who knows what she has up her sleeve for them all!  What we think might happen usually doesn't.

Too true, Ruais! That's one of the things that makes these books so good; just when you think you have something figured out, Elizabeth throws us a fast ball! I couldn't tell you how many times she's stumped me and surprised me.

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Avie pic by me.
Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it. ~ The Blues Brothers (1980)

I am in denial that the story will ever end. We've all heard of the Neverending Story!

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Av. used with permission from me, to me, by me, for me etc.

I may not have ended up where I intended to go, but I have ended up where I needed to be.

FernGully wrote:

I am in denial that the story will ever end.

 

Welcome to denial...it's quite nice, actually.  If you'll be here on a Wednesday, they give tours.   

Achmed's Lover wrote:

Welcome to denial...it's quite nice, actually.  If you'll be here on a Wednesday, they give tours.   

Yah, I took that tour last week and the view was great!  But be very careful, along the way there is a fork in the road in which a weather beaten sign with a hanging arrow clearly marks the rightward path as “acceptance”.  DO NOT take the right branch of the fork---just keep left and all will be good.

 

But as for the bitter end, what I see is that years later when Meridion becomes fully attuned to his new powers of time he uses those “film editing” skills to make another splice in the timeline.  I think he (with great cost to his own existence) reinserts Ashe (as young Gwydion) back onto the road where the first Meridion ripped him away.  Gwydion notices a slight skip in time as this is done, but thinks nothing of it. 

 

Then a joyful Gwydion meets a happy Emily and she very shyly introduces him to her entire family.  Her father grumbles, her mother beams, and all her brothers spend the rest of the day giving Gwydion noogies.  They then have the best birthday party a little girl could ever ask for.  The two young lovers get married, have a child (which they name Meridion), live normal lives (as normal as they can) and when the end finally does come (in whatever fashion it does)---a woman grown named Emily realizes that she wouldn’t have lived her life any other way.

I apologize if somebody already mentioned this in the forum already... CAUTION: SPOILS AHEAD!

    1. But what about Achmed or Grunthor? How do you suppose it will end for them? Maybe once Rhapsody goes to the Veil, Achmed and Grunthor will plop themselves in The Cauldron, and drinks themselves to a stupor, discussing and re-memorying Rhapsody and all she accoplished.
    2. Or maybe Achmed and Grunthor will travel with her through the Veil, that is, after Achmed get's eveything through with the Archons.
    3. Achmed will destroy The Vault (well, maybe not, that's a little extreme) or terminate the rest of the F'Dor and live/die in the process. Or he'll do something heroic, like save Rhapsody or the Sleeping Child in some way.

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The instructor put's out a single chair in the middle of an empty room, and he says; "Explain to me how this chair is not here."
One student says: "Chair, what chair? I don't see a chair."

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Ruais wrote:

I agree that Ashe will die or at least succumb to the dragon in him and that Rhapsody will also die.  It seems like the natural ending but knowing EH who knows what she has up her sleeve for them all!  What we think might happen usually doesn't.

I don't think (or at least don't want to think) that this would be a "natural" ending. Llauron chose to succumb to his inner dragon, but throughout the books the differences between father and son (Ashe) are always so emphasized, I don't think Ashe should do the same. He is constantly battling his inner beast, which Llauron never had to do, and so I think in a happy/perfect ending Ashe would win his battle. I also think that both he and Rhapsody will never split up. I love Achmed and all, but I just don't think he and Rhapsody are the perfect couple. The most perfect ending for me (that I can think of now at least) are Ashe and Rhapsody, as was said above, going into the Veil of Hoen together. I love those kinds of endings to books where there really is an ending at which you can cry, but where at the same time it's a happy ending. Bittersweet (with an extra lump of sugar) all the way!

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"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." ~ C.S. Lewis

*Avatar by me (formerly adain_hwyfar)*

I get what you're saying Eaving.  By natural I meant an obvious ending, Ashe and Rhaps going through the Veil of Hoen together would be the perfect happy ending and one that would have me in tears of happiness but it is way too obvious.  If I remember rightly, not got the book with me, but Lord Rowan only says he will come for her if he can so she may not even get to die, she is after all fighting for life and the afterlife so what if something happens that there is no longer an afterlife as such to go to i.e the void Lord Rowan speaks of claims it?  I don't believe in an afterlife for real so I suppose it is easier for me to see life without an afterlife than for others.

The books that have stuck in my mind the most are the ones with the shock endings where you are literally grieving the loss of a major character (ooh if Harry Potter dies I will be upset ).  It is easy to make things all sweet and happy but some of the best stories I've read are the ones with unexpected endings.

Ruais wrote:

The books that have stuck in my mind the most are the ones with the shock endings where you are literally grieving the loss of a major character.  Some of the best stories I've read are the ones with unexpected endings.

I know what you mean, but above all, I want the Ending (haha) to be nicely and neatly wrapped up in a bow...none of this "open-ending-not-sure-what-happens-after-all" garbage.

Those are probably the endings I hate the most, simply because they're not endings to me...I need closure, for better or for worse.

And if it's one of those "worse" endings (ie Achmed dies in the end... well, that would be my own personal worse-case-scenario... Achmed dying a horrible, painful death in vain and going to the Void instead of the Veil...)  But, as I said before, if something like that should happen to come out in the end....I will build myself a fantasy world in which Achmed lives.  It'll be like an "alternate ending" on a DVD...

Achmed's Lover wrote:

I know what you mean, but above all, I want the Ending (haha) to be nicely and neatly wrapped up in a bow...none of this "open-ending-not-sure-what-happens-after-all" garbage.

Those are actually some of my favorite endings...lol, because then the author leaves it wide open for you to try to fill in the blanks and use your imagination. I'm a big fan of unpredictable characters and endings in movies and books.

Achmed's Lover wrote:

Those are probably the endings I hate the most, simply because they're not endings to me...I need closure, for better or for worse.

Oh me too! I can handle most endings, as long as they are endings! The whole we'll-leave-it-open-for-maybe-another-book-you-just-never-know endings are horrible!

King did something that I kind of liked at the end of The Dark Tower. He left you with an ending, then stopped and told you that yes, he knows you want to know more, but are you really sure you want to know how it ends? If you do, keep reading, if not, stop now. The way it ended was still a bit unnerving, but if you asked for it, you got it. At least I knew what happened.

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Avie pic by me.
Elwood: It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
Jake: Hit it. ~ The Blues Brothers (1980)

Alright, here's my dream ending:

Something bad happens, Ashe HAS to give up his human self and embrace his dragon self to save Rhapsody or Meridion ((or maybe even Achmed in a truly bizarre twist of irony ^^)), Rhapsody is understandably upset and is all "oh, woe is me!" and then Ashe, now removed from all human emotions, 'gives' Rhapsody to Achmed to take care of and whatnot.

^_^ Or maybe Ashe betrays Rhapsody in some horrible way ((like he gives himself willingly to the F'dor)) and ends up being killed and she goes sailing off into the sunset with Achmed...just as it should be.

^^ Achmed and Rhapsody forever, yo!

Also, I think it'd be cool if Rhapsody and Achmed had a baby, and it had the same power that Achmed did when he was the Brother. ^^ Oh, and it'd be cool if the baby was a girl who inherited her mother's beauty and her father's sharp edge. ^_^

Wow, I've thought about this way too much...

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Avatar is a close-up of one of my kitties.

"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense." - Buddha

bluegrass cat wrote:

Achmed and Rhapsody forever, yo!

Wow, I've thought about this way too much...

AH-HA!!!  Now we know where this one stands in the whole "Ashe v. Achmed" thing!!!!!!!!   MWA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

and join the club, honey...I think we've all thought about these things way too much, which is why we know the books inside and out