Why didn't Ashe contact Ien?

[Oudeis]

Re-reading Elantris for the... I don't knowth time. I'm in chapter 2, where Sarene and Ashe are trying to figure out what happened to Raoden, if he really died as they claim of the shaking cough.

 

King Eventeo mentions that Sarene has spoken to Raoden via Seon several times. Presumably, via Ashe and Ien. Do we know how this works? Ashe comments as one point, "Your father would like to speak to you," presumably meaning that the king's Seon has contacted Ashe to let him know "i want to open the channel now". Can any two Seons talk to each other across any distance this way?

 

Regardless, there's one person they must know would have been near Raoden, someone that Ashe especially would think about. Ien. And to ask him, apparently, all Ashe would have to do would be to think about it. As far as he's concerned, what must've happened is this: Raoden died, and Ien was passed on to someone else. There's every chance Ien was present for Raoden's death, and almost no chance that he was farther away than a few hundred feet. Even if he's now bonded to someone else, surely Ien would still be a good person to ask "what happened". And if Sarene and Raoden have spoken via Seon that frequently, surely by whatever mechanism Seons can use to communicate, Ashe would be able to contact Ien.

 

Even if you suggest that you can only speak through Seons, and they can't talk to each other (something I don't buy, as Ashe himself told Sarene, "your dad's on the line"), surely they could have pinged Ien's 'number' and told the human, "Hey, whoever you are, can we come to your physical location and talk to your new Seon?"

 

EVEN IF they really DO have to somehow know who Ien is bonded to to contact him, surely that's something someone in court would know, and Sarene would be able to come up with SOME justification for it (Ashe got to know Ien rather well, and was hoping to greet him in person).

 

What would have ACTUALLY happened, then, would have been that Ashe would have felt whatever it is you feel when you try to reach a Shaod-ed Seon. Perhaps that's a unique enough experience that Ashe would instantly realize it meant the Shaod, and thus the mystery of Raoden would be solved. What else could it feel like?

 

Now we get into pure speculation on my part. Off the top of my head, if Ashe reached out to Ien and felt... whatever he would have felt, the only other thing I can think of it might have been similar to is death. So, if Ashe reached out and felt whatever, if he DIDN'T start to at least suspect Elantraining, it's certiainly plausible that he'd suspect Ien's death. The death of a functionally immortal globe of light would surely raise even more questions.

[king of nowhere]

Well, probably ien felt like he was dead to ashe. yes, the fact that ien supposedly died with raoden would be a bit strange, but probably not a totally uncommon occurrence for a seon to die when his master dies. Also, as far as suspecting elantris, remember that sarene knew next to nothing of elantris before she started investigating it. In fact, even the guards didn't knew very much about elantris and elantrians.

[Meg]

I did a (very) quick search through Elantris and found nothing that Ashe tried to contact Ien. He only talked to other Seons in Kae which didn't want to talk about Ien (probably because they knew what happened to Raoden and Ien and didn't want or mustn't talk about it; otherwise the lie about Raoden's death would have been blown (or busted, don't really know which word is the right one), and the Seons are said to be very loyal so they wouldn't work against their owners wishes).

If Ashe tried to contact Ien I could imagine that didn't find him (so to say, couldn't "ping" Ien because Ien's "IP" was destroyed). I don't think Ashe feels as if Ien were dead, more that he couldn't reach him as if he didn't ever exist.

 

Raoden mentions that the Seons of Elantrians go mad and that he thinks Ien's aon isn't complete, it has cracks (that's what I mean when I said Ien's "IP" is destroyed).[*]  Raoden also mentioned that sometimes the Seons die if their masters were taken by the Shaod. May be if Ien would have died, Ashe would have felt it.

 

edit:

[*] I just found that quote (not really helpful but related to my ideas):

 

 

BRANDON SANDERSON (paraphrased)

What happens to Seons during the Reod is that the Reod messes with the Seon's spirit.

source

 

Edited October 2, 2013 by Meg

[Oudeis]

 probably not a totally uncommon occurrence for a seon to die when his master dies.

 

Ashe himself is over two centuries old, so old he's forgotten much of his own past. He's been through how many masters. Yet he's still surprised at the lack of Seons in Kae, despite the fact that no one is making any more. Surely it is a very uncommon occurence for a Seon to die under any circumstance.

 

other Seons in Kae which didn't want to talk about Ien (probably because they knew what happened to Raoden and Ien )

 

I shouldn't think they knew about Raoden; Iadon was very careful to try to keep the knowledge from anyone but a few priests who NEEDED to know. I suspect the other Seons simply believed what everyone else did; that Raoden had died as was claimed.

 

 I don't think Ashe feels as if Ien were dead, more that he couldn't reach him as if he didn't ever exist.

 

And again... how is that not worthy of note? "Ashe, contact Ien, see what he says." "Ien who?" "...Ien the Seon you've been talking to for months." "There's no such person as Ien. YOU SPEAK MADNESS, WOMAN." Clue...

[Meg]

And again... how is that not worthy of note? "Ashe, contact Ien, see what he says." "Ien who?" "...Ien the Seon you've been talking to for months." "There's no such person as Ien. YOU SPEAK MADNESS, WOMAN." Clue...

 

I see your point and apologize for my straggling.

[Oudeis]

I see your point and apologize for my straggling.

 

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come across so harshly. I sometimes let my pursuit of a joke cloud my better judgement.

[Vortaan]

It might have just been Sarene being a little less clever than she could be. She arrives, Raoden is dead, and then she gets caught up in all the intrigue of the Arelon political situation. In all honesty, she doesn't do a whole heck of a lot to prove her "Raoden was murdelered" theory, does she? She sends Ashe through the dungeons, and that's... pretty much it.