Firstborn, the ending

[Treamayne]

9 hours ago, KaladinsSenseOfHumourSpren said:

Firstborn by Brandon Sanderson

Interesting. 

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Though I'm still a little confused as to how Dennison won at the end, even with making Varion 'unlucky'.

@KaladinsSenseOfHumourSpren

I do not think . . . 

Spoiler

the ending was "Dennison winning" but it seemed to me very much about Varion losing. Having never had to cope with losing situations before, he chose to take his own life when he expected he might finally lose. We don't actually get the final results of the coup itself, only that forces are in retreat and the fleet was so dependant upon Silvermane that they fled when he died. 

Hope that helps

[KaladinsSenseOfHumourSpren He/Him]

9 hours ago, Treamayne said:

@KaladinsSenseOfHumourSpren

I do not think . . . 

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the ending was "Dennison winning" but it seemed to me very much about Varion losing. Having never had to cope with losing situations before, he chose to take his own life when he expected he might finally lose. We don't actually get the final results of the coup itself, only that forces are in retreat and the fleet was so dependant upon Silvermane that they fled when he died. 

Hope that helps

 

Spoiler

Well, yes, but Dennison still had to make it look like he was winning to Varion. How did he know where exactly he needed to make it seem like Varion's ships failed? 

 

[Treamayne]

1 hour ago, KaladinsSenseOfHumourSpren said:

 

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Well, yes, but Dennison still had to make it look like he was winning to Varion. How did he know where exactly he needed to make it seem like Varion's ships failed? 

 

Sorry I misunderstood. I do not think it was that precise. (spoilers)

Spoiler

It was not so much that he knew what to make fail as it was that he had spent the last years analyzing only Varion's battles to try to learn how Varion engaged on the tactical level. From the Endgame:

Quote

Dennison hesitated. Around him there were sounds—breathing, grumbling, called commands. One of the Admirals cursed loudly.

Dennison didn’t open his eyes. That Admiral’s curses—he knew what had caused them. “The battle for Tightendow Prime,” Dennison said. “Varion just took the eastern fighter flank, didn’t he?”

“Actually, yes,” the emperor said.

Dennison stood with eyes closed. “On the fifth screen. He is pressing toward the gunships in the western screen-sector. He is taking them now, though moments ago they seemed safe. On the first monitor, he is pushing toward the flagship. It will fall within ten minutes. On the ninth screen, Taurtan, he is leading your fighters into a trap. They are being cut off somehow—I don’t know how, but I know he is doing it. They are lost.”

Silence.

So, he knew how to predict what his targets would be, even if he didn't know how the objective would be accomplished - so he turned that around by bending "luck" in the same way he always felt he lost because things just went slightly awry:

Quote

However, in the simulation, Dennison made a few changes. One of the imperial ships got in a lucky shot, and Varion’s fighter line took a hit in just the wrong place. The fake imperial line rallied, destroying Varion’s ships in a way that was unlikely, but not unreasonable.

Dennison made such changes to each of the nine battles. Here, a squadron attacked at the wrong angle. There, a command ship’s engines failed at precisely the wrong moment. Individually, they were the kinds of small problems that happened in every battle. Nothing ever went exactly to plan. Yet all of these small bits of luck added up. 

Also, since the "string of bad luck"' opened with the Imperial Squadrons specifically attacking Varion's friends/lover, Varion could be convinced he had lost everything he cared about:

Quote

A group of officers walked down the ramp after Varion. Dennison recognized many of them. The woman would be Charisa of Utaries, a celebrated fighter pilot and squadron leader, one of the first rebel commanders who had joined Varion. The histories and biographies spoke often of her. What they didn’t mention was the way Varion rested his hand on her elbow as they walked forward, the way he watched her with obvious fondness.

To Varion’s right were Admirals Brakah and Terarn, two men who had been with Varion at the Academy, then had requested assignment under his command. They were said to be his most trusted advisors.
<snip>

 Dennison looked away from the ship, scanning the screen, searching for a particular squadron of fighters. They were always at the forefront of the battles where Varion himself was present. It was led by a particular pilot: the woman who had walked beside Varion on Kress.

Dennison walked over to the admiral who was contending with Varion in this tenth battle. “My lord, I need you to do something for me. Take five squadrons of fighters, and make certain to destroy every single fighter in that unit at mark 566.”

“Five squadrons?” the admiral asked with surprise.

Dennison nodded. “Nothing else is as important as destroying those fighters.”

 

At least, that was my take on it. Hope that helps

Edited April 7 by Treamayne
SPAG

[al_lan_mandragoran]

@KaladinsSenseOfHumourSpren

I made a post about this in What are you reading part 2 - hope that helps.

Spoiler

 

 

Edited April 7 by al_lan_mandragoran

[KaladinsSenseOfHumourSpren He/Him]

1 hour ago, al_lan_mandragoran said:

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He made his brother commit suicide.

The point of the story is that his brother excelled in everything so much that he had never lost anything, especially nothing so important. When he lost his girlfriend? Wife? and thought that he'd lost the battle, he killed himself.

The main character had spent his whole life being second-best (i.e. not the Firstborn), and losing - he knew how to lose gracefully. His brother did not.

 

That... isn't exactly what I'm talking about

3 hours ago, Treamayne said:

Sorry I misunderstood. I do not think it was that precise. (spoilers)

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It was not so much that he knew what to make fail as it was that he had spent the last years analyzing only Varion's battles to try to learn how Varion engaged on the tactical level. From the Endgame:

So, he knew how to predict what his targets would be, even if he didn't know how the objective would be accomplished - so he turned that around by bending "luck" in the same way he always felt he lost because things just went slightly awry:

Also, since the "string of bad luck"' opened with the Imperial Squadrons specifically attacking Varion's friends/lover, Varion could be convinced he had lost everything he cared about:

 

At least, that was my take on it. Hope that helps

Ah yes that makes sense.