In the first part of the third chapter of “On Ordeal: Roshaun,†OH NO. SOMETHING BAD IS GONNA HAPPEN. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Young Wizards.Â
Let’s sum up this entire section with one quote, y’all:
…a peculiar thought pushed its way to the forefront of his mind and took hold of him, impossible to ignore:
That was too easy.
Oh. OH NO. See, I suspected something was wrong because of the page count. WE ALL KNOW THIS FEELING: When you’re reading a book and the main conflict is resolved, but there’s still a ton of pages left, IT IS TIME TO PANIC. However, even if there’s not a whole left in this story, Young Wizards fans know that something is up: we’ve witnessed at least four Ordeals in full, and all of them were mercilessly difficult. They were so challenging that each of these four characters—Nita, Kit, Dairine, and Darryl—approached a point where they felt it was impossible to succeed. That’s a huge part of an Ordeal! Is a person suited to face off with the Lone One in Its many incarnations? Their ideal must test that integral component of a person, and Roshaun’s Ordeal does…
Well, it doesn’t do that, does it?
That’s not an attempt to discount what he accomplishes because it’s still incredible. Duane manages to imbue this first part of the chapter with a palpable excitement. Roshaun is doing it!!! He’s using wizardry to help save three whole planets! Not just that, but it’s through the reactions of those Archaints he interacts with that contribute to this. These people, who are total strangers to him and are going through the most traumatic event of their lives, treat him with reverence and awe. It is, in many ways, exactly what Roshaun expected. Not everything is, but this part of the experience clearly thrills him:
Rho found this funny—not to mention even headier than being called “Emissary†for the first time—and found himself having trouble not bursting out laughing at the sudden wash of amazed respect from the other.
Contrast this with much of what we saw in the first chapter and the early part of chapter two. Roshaun felt isolated, under-appreciated, and invisible, as he was nothing but an unworthy burden on everyone around him. Of course he was going to respond this way to positive attention! And I don’t think there’s anything necessarily wrong with feeling appreciated and respected! IT IS A FANTASTIC THING TO FEEL, especially if you haven’t felt that before. It carries Roshaun through this experience as he navigates the complicated bureaucracies of Archaint decision-making, it helps him appear confident and certain, and when he actually achieves success by taming Peklimut, he is overcome with elation. Well, exhaustion, too. There’s always a physical cost to wizardry! It was a pleasure to read, and I felt so happy for Roshaun.
…and I also knew that something wasn’t right. The Lone One was just Peklimut fighting back? That’s it? Surely, it can’t have been this simple. I WAS INCREDIBLY SUSPICIOUS. It didn’t help that as this very question haunted Roshaun, he asked an even more important one:
Every wizard is the answer to a question. Today was my turn at last to be the answer to the question, and answer it I did.
…But who asked it?
HI, I’M REAL UNCOMFORTABLE. Because it was Avseh who asked the question, and I don’t know what this means. Does Avseh have some ulterior motive? Was she tricked into manipulating Roshaun to unknowingly work for the Lost Aethyr? Why is Mevseh so suspicious of Roshaun? WHAT IS GOING ON???
vid
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