In the second half of the fourteenth chapter of A Wizard of Mars<\/i>, Nita faces off with Aurilelde, while Kit convinces Khretef to make an important decision. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Young Wizards<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Oh, Nita.<\/p>\n
OH, NITA<\/b><\/p>\n
OH, NITA.<\/i><\/p>\n
What an incredible experience, cousins. I was already impressed with Nita during the first half of chapter fourteen, but this<\/i>? SHE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SO TALENTED. Duane writes Nita in this confrontation with a combination of fury and dedication. She allows her to be angry \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and she has every right to be! \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but Nita gets to channel<\/i> that anger into something else, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important. At the same time, Aurilelde is an antagonist who makes sense<\/i>. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d even venture to say that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a sympathy for her in the text, even if what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doing is ultimately so horrific. I love a villain who doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe that what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing is wrong. And here, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so easy to see how Aurilelde can truly believe that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just trying to do what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right for her people, that they deserve<\/i> to return because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve waited so long in slumber.<\/p>\n
Generally speaking, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s real hard to reason with someone like this. The more you try to convince them otherwise, the easier it is for them to double down. Nita does try, though, and her attempt focuses on showing Aurilelde how misguided she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s being. On how she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to care about power and responsibility, or Khretef\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s well-being, or that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just desperate to hurt Nita by bringing up the whole jealousy thing. At least, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how Aurilelde\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s outburst read to me. Aurilelde was so certain that Nita was fighting this battle solely<\/i> based on her feelings for Kit, and while that plays a part in this drama, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not reality at all! And let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say it was, just for the sake of it. Look at this beautiful rejection, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all:<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153But even if you and Khretef are so much older than us, that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t give you the right to do whatever you like with Kit\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s soul! And if you and Khretef have actually done<\/i> what you say you have\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c she found suddenly that she was shaking \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u0153then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s better we should all<\/i> die, right here and now. The One will sort us out, reincarnation or no reincarnation. I <\/i>know what Timeheart is, if you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Nita cuts so expertly right to the major problem here: Aurilelde and Khretef used teenagers to get what they wanted. AND I LOVED THAT NITA KEPT PUSHING THE POINT! She even theorized to Aurilelde\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face<\/i> that Khretef would eventually realize that he was being used, too, and how long would it be until he left her, too? It was a risky, dangerous thing to say, but Nita had<\/i> to get close enough to Aurilelde in order to remove the kernel from her.<\/p>\n Then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the whole complication of Aurilelde becoming<\/i> Mars, which is really goddamn frightening. Is she aware<\/i> of that? I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t actually tell if Aurilelde knew what was happening, but it wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be surprising if she was ignorant to it. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a wizard! All she cares about is immediate solutions, and damn the ramifications of what she does! That includes trying to murder Nita multiple times, but it also<\/i> includes AURILELDE TEARING APART THE VERY FABRIC OF THE PLANET. And it was fascinating to me as Aurilelde threw everything she had at Nita (sometimes literally!), I watched her become exactly what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d claimed Nita was: utterly devoted to someone else. Because y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, she she justifies destroying Mars because as long as she has Khretef, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be fine. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll just take Earth! NO BIG DEAL. So who is actually doing something entirely because of a guy they like?<\/p>\n And simultaneous to Kit\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s development (which I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m getting to), Nita reveals the truth to Aurilelde: that Khretef is only staying with her out of fear and pity<\/i>. IT IS THE LAST STRAW BEFORE CHAOS BREAKS OUT, and oh my god, the very last part of this fight is breathtaking<\/i>. I mean, I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even mentioned this, but it features Nita calling Kit her boyfriend, which\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 is cute, but maybe you should talk to him about that soon? MAYBE ONCE THIS IS ALL OVER. Anyway, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a visceral sequence, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it??? Nita REACHES INTO SOMEONE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S CHEST. This is real! Canon! It happened! And yet, after all of this, Nita rejects prophecy, which is about the coolest thing in this entire chapter. Prophecy may have gotten them all to this point, but Nita refuses to allow it to come true.<\/p>\n She tries to save Aurilelde. The chapter ends before we find out if she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s successful, but regardless, I admire Nita for what she chose to do.<\/p>\n OH, KIT<\/b><\/p>\n Yes, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard to change hearts and minds, so let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all take a moment to appreciate that Kit actually changed Khretef\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mind<\/i>. HE ACTUALLY DID IT. I guess that means that Khretef really did<\/i> begin to feel some sort of regret at the end of the first half of this split. Here, though, Kit takes that moment and helps Khretef come to his senses. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not an easy thing to do, especially since there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so much fear and hope wrapped up in what these people are trying to do. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why Aurilelde behaved as she did and why Khretef believed in this so fervently. Who wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be afraid of the alternative? Who wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think that this was the last and only chance to return to a real life? At the heart of this, I think Kit gets how desperate these people are, and he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really begrudge them for that. Instead, he focuses on the techniques, on the way that Aurilelde has used Khretef\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s powers without a true appreciation for how wizardry is supposed to work. She doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand cost or accountability. She selectively<\/i> paid attention to the vision that she received because only parts of it suited her. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make a good seer!<\/p>\n Even when Khretef feels hopeless, Kit doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let him sulk and doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t encourage him to give up, either:<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You can love Aurilelde all you like, but if you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t act now, the Lone Power\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just going to sit there laughing at how you gave It just what It wanted while you were sure you were doing the only thing you could.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not quite ready to accept that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too late for Khretef to take back his power. Maybe he believes it is because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so consumed by guilt and regret that he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be bothered to try anything that isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t obvious. AT LEAST I HOPE THIS IS THE CASE.<\/p>\n https:\/\/youtu.be\/VF2VlIsY7MQ<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n -\u00c2\u00a0Please visit my new site for all announcements<\/a>. If you’d rather not have to rely on checking a website regularly, sign up for my newsletter instead<\/a>! This will cover all news for Mark Reads, Mark Watches, and my fiction releases.\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the second half of the fourteenth chapter of A Wizard of Mars, Nita faces off with Aurilelde, while Kit convinces Khretef to make an important decision. Intrigued? 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