Soooo this year I have read all the GE books except for Archers Cup (reading right now) and Dragon War. After reading on this site I have tons of questions and theories and opinions. It’ll be a long post so read at your own risk! I’ll number it so you can say what you’re responding to.
Like mentioned by others, I’d have loved to of “experienced” the reunion of Picket with his family instead of hearing the account from Smalls. It just seems like it would have been much more heartfelt that way.
Why is Picket still holding onto old scars like Helmer? I know war is hard on those involved but Picket just didn’t enjoy the Mending like everyone else did. And I don’t mind Picket as a farmer but I wish he wasn’t most likely doing it because of Helmer. I feel Helmer’s death more because of the impact it had on Picket than myself. Usually when characters die, whether they are my favorite or not, I feel worse for those characters closest to them.
Another thought I had, I wasn’t a big fan of Picket losing an arm until way after I finished EE and realized “My arm for the Cause and Crown, my all for the Cause and Crown”. Picket literally lost an arm for the Cause. I like to think of it that way for Helmer. Maybe that makes no sense. Idk lol
I know this is a big one. I don’t like the way the rabbits talk about the True Blue flower completely doing away with death. It just doesn’t fit into the story. I don’t mind it going as far as having healing properties but to completely stop death? It is sad to think that those in the Mending wouldn’t get reunited with those lost in the war. And Picket would have to live with his grief for Helmer forever.
Another thing I personally don’t think fits into the series is the dragons. I think S.D. Smith should have used a different animal in their place. Like maybe a bobcat or something. Idk. I just don’t really like the dragons or think they fit. Granted I haven’t read Prince Lander and the Dragon War yet.
How did the Starsword get into the Dragon Tomb? (remember I haven’t read Dragon War yet) And how did Smalls find it?
Another thing I don’t like but understand, is that the breaking of the Starsword means no more war, but I kinda wish they would still use weapons in the Mending. I mean, maybe they did just for friendly competitions (another Archers Cup maybe?).
Why is Ember’s End called what it is? I don’t get what it means by Ember’s end because obviously the Green Ember didn’t get broke or anything, and Smalls and Heather had children for it to be passed on to. (Unless because of the TB flower Smalls lives forever and never passes down the GE)
Also in Ember’s End, what happened to Nate, Owen, and Studge? Last we saw them was up on the wall and Nate was badly wounded but still in the fight. Could they have made it to the Mending and we just don’t “hear” from them? I wish Smith had at least given us an answer. I really liked Nate
Studge is in EE but where did he come from? Last we saw of him in First Fowler we didn’t know if he had made it across the field or not. (I haven’t finished Archers Cup tho)
Who is the Pilgrim? I‘ve read theories of it being Massie Burnson and I am in agreement with that. I thought at first it was the old Lord Captain (can’t remember his name) who went looking for TB. Any other theories on that now?
A scene I thought would be cool to see (and even thought we’d get it) was Emma giving the GE back to Smalls. I was so hoping we’d get to see that.
Something I find really humorous honestly is the triangle with Whittle, Sween, and Garten lol Garten literally joined Morbin because he was in love with Sween and his brother married her. Like wow. Kinda cliché lol
I think the book wrapped up way too fast. It should have had two more books instead of one for everything that happened. Like, who does Naylen marry? I really wanted to know that. Lol And what happened to Kylen? Does he rule in Terralain? And there’s no wrap up for Jo (well, other than he was working for Emma), Cole, and Heyna. I wanna know what happened to the Blackstar Twins.
Another cool thought, what if all the frayed ends is Smith’s way of pushing his readers to use their imaginations? It has definitely worked if that was his motive lol
And my biggest thought, wouldn’t it have been cool for literally that whole story have ended with Heather telling her kids? As if Heather was the one telling the story all along? I mean, that would have been an epic way to end the series. Not that I don’t like the ending already, ‘cause I LOVE it. It had me crying. But anyways, I think Heather telling that whole story all along would have been cool.
If you’ve made it to the end I congratulate you! Thanks in advance to anyone who answers me.
A lack of reunions was definitely a bit of an issue with Ember's End; I'm hoping Sam may correct that with future books. He's confirmed that no other works will take place AFTER Ember's End, but he could still revisit the time of the book or stuff before that.
The Mending does not automatically mean that everything is all hunky dory. I mean, many of the rabbits-Picket included-still bear scars and lost limbs, eyes, and other body parts from the war. I think the true capstone of the mending will be an event that sees these injuries healed and the reunion of the survivors with their fallen, faithful comrades. As for Picket's occupation, it kind of makes sense that he would take up farming after bonding with Helmer and his family. The only occupational training he had received was as a soldier, and there is no longer a need for soldiers in the world of the Mending.
No, it makes sense.
I wasn't a huge fan of the True Blue twist initially either, though I've become more accepting of it. I still think that the Mending won't truly be complete until some event reunites the survivors with those who lost their lives and brings true healing to the wounds of both body and spirit.
The dragons are a bit of an oddity, but I think that's kind of the point. They're not part of the conflict with the wolves and raptors, but have their own separate history with rabbitkind.
Well, exact details will only be revealed when you read Prince Lander. However, if you think back to the prologue of Ember's End, you may remember that when Lander decides to create the dragon tomb, he says "We will bury the threat and our best weapon against it together." From there it's easy to infer that Lander had the dragon hatchery converted into the tomb and built the vault for the starsword and various other royal treasures. Presumably, Smalls started looking around once he got inside, and ended up finding the sword.
Technically, we do have one example of weapons being used in the Mending, though you could argue it's more of a tool. Picket uses a knife to cut cabbage when he's harvesting it from his field. I suppose archery contests and the like could still take place, but I wonder if rabbit culture might move away from that sort of thing now that the Mending has come. After all, since rabbits are vegetarians we know that they don't have bows for hunting game, so presumably the only reason they really had for developing them was fighting predators.
I think the title is meant to emphasize that this is the end of the story, at least so far as we're going to see. It's more to do with the theme of the story than anything related to the Green Ember itself.
Yeah, the Bracers didn't really get any coverage after Nate and Owen joined in the fight against two of the Six. I would hope that they and Studge lived, but it is possible that they perished when Morbin and the last attackers arrived. Still, I once asked Sam about a character who seemed likely to have perished, and he said on that occasion that he would've specifically mentioned the death of a character if they were important enough to him.
I'm guessing you missed the bit near the end of The First Fowler where Captain Frye and Studge rejoin the party heading to Halfwind after Jo takes out Solus. It's very brief and I don't recall their names being mentioned.
Massie is currently the strongest contender for the true identity of the Pilgrim, which has yet to be revealed. The idea that he might be one of the lost Lord Captains has been put forward before. However, when Emma asks whether King Jupiter knew the Pilgrim, Lady Glen informs her that the king "never had the honor." I'm pretty sure Jupiter would have known all of his Lord Captains, so that kind of rules out Harlan, Fesslehorn, or Stam.
Do you mean Emma giving the Ruling Stone back to Smalls? Remember that as of his fight with Morbin, he already has the Green Ember back. In any event, the two of them having a reunion-and for the first time since Emma's known he's her brother-would definitely have been nice.
Well, it's not like his "Submit to the enemy so we can survive" approach that Ember Rising focused on was exactly original. The Sween angle does help explain why he didn't try to enlist Whittle in his betrayal efforts. It could also explain why Whittle and Wilfred didn't catch on to his scheming; if they noticed him acting oddly, they may have just attributed it to him being bitter over Sween.
I think Sam could have maybe done one more book if he'd drawn things out a bit more, but two would probably have been pushing it in my opinion. We have no idea on the identity of Naylen's wife, though I personally like to think that after fighting alongside Lord Ronan he may have eventually met, fallen in love with, and married one of Ronan's daughters (The Archer's Cup reveals that Ronan has a number of children, but they're not really significant to the plot). Kylen seems to be ruling over Terralain, though Heather comments that he seems more at home in the Great Wood than there. As for Emma, Jo, and the Blackstar twins, they're all living new lives in the new world, with all the time in the world apparently to decide where they're going to go and what they're going to do. Jo and the Blackstars were seemingly set up to join the Pilgrim on some kind of expedition near the end of the book, but we don't know where they were going.
Sam definitely did definitely pack a lot into the final installment and left a number of things up in the air, but that's kind of in keeping with his style. He's said on a number of occasions that he likes to make references to things that he doesn't necessarily ever intend to explore fully, because it helps make the world feel more real. I recall him noting once how the Bible makes mention of people and place that we only hear about once or twice. He certainly likes to encourage creativity, so some things probably are left up to us as readers.
That is a neat idea. In a way, I think you could kind of say that the main Green Ember books are the story Heather will tell her children and others. I rather imagine that The Fall and Rise of King Smalden Joveson would end up reading a lot like The Green Ember, Ember Falls, Ember Rising, and Ember's End.