Fool's Fate question

I have read these books again and again, and can easily admit that I hated the ending of the Tawney Man Series, until about the third time I read them. It was then that I began to understand the complexities of the ending. I was, and still am, a bit perturbed by the Molly and Fitz getting back together, but the book speaks of what an incomplete person he became when he gave his memories to the Girl on The Dragon at the end of the assassins series. It would make sense that upon regaining all those memories he would return to his adolescent love, as it was stated before, the only true love he ever experienced.

I always thought the Fool's sex is ambiguous because it does not matter to the Fool only to the people around him/her. Fitz found it easier to cope with the fool being male and thus he was, most of the time. Also the love the Fool feels for Fitz is generally platonic. The Fool even makes a mockery of Fitz for thinking otherwise.

I would recommend reading the LiveShip Trader series, as the fool is also present in it, just in a different form.In fact he spends the whole time as a Female bead maker. If you read the three series in order, Assassins then LiveShip, then Tawney Man, you get a more complete picture of the Fool's life.

I also would agree that the Fool was by far one of the best aspects in the book, but would have to disagree on the ending. However sad the ending was, I believe it couldn't have ended better. Fitz still felt for the Fool, but because the differences in culture I do not believe even if they were to have gotten together it would have been any better. Remember what the Fool had said "Where I come from Love is different" or along the lines of that, I doubt Fitz would have been able to give the Fool what he was wanting, even if it did turn out to be a love affair.

I don't agree that Molly was the only one that Fitz ever loved. Their love was juvenile and shallow. They don't really know or understand each other. To Fitz, Molly represented a life away from the Farseer throne. To Molly, Fitz was the reckless but loveable wild boy. They should have moved on, became friends and bonded over their shared daughter. No more. Oh and Burrich should not have died, but returned to Molly. He really was the better man for her as he said before he died. Fitz should have stayed a family friend, and uncle of sorts.

The love between Fitz and the Fool transcended normal human bonds, as it was magical as well i.e. Catalyst and Prophet. Their bond is not a normal human bond, it goes beyond that and therefore I do not see them in a normal "human" relationship.

The love, admiration, respect and understanding between Fitz and Kettricken is mature and based on a deep knowledge and acceptance of each other. I've also always felt, from the first, that there was a certain attraction between them.

I would have liked for Fitz to stay at Buckkeep with Nettle and the coterie, guiding Dutiful and perhaps have a relationship with Kettricken (not necessarily marriage). I mean, what was all that "we have a king again" from Chade about if Fitz only ended up vegetating in the country side?

I think the Fool was perhaps capable of sequential hermaphroditism, i.e. being able to at will/need change his/her sex. For Fitz, he was a man, for those that knew the Fool as Amber, she was a woman. The Fool is not truly human after all, he didn't even have a scent as Nighteyes remarked more than once.

I agree about the Badgerlock identity being necessary at first, but feel that should have come to an end when the quest was over and peace etc. restored. There was even a new fragile peace with the Witted.

No, for me the ending of Molly and Fitz felt cliched and contrived.

I really expected Fitz and Kettricken getting together in the final book. He is already Dutifuls genetic father, and the Prince sees him as a father figure.

I think the final chapters ended some aspects of the story rather quick. His relationship and "getting-back-together-with-Nettle" was a big dilemma that ended quite flat. The Molly-part lacked originality. What about his relationship/fatherhood to the Prince?

I liked the series but feel I got cheated in the end. I hope the follow-up in August can improve the impression cause I love the Fitz.

By now everyone knows that Fool's Assassin (Realm of the Elderlings: Fitz and the Fool Trilogy) will be published on August 12th, right?

I agree wholeheartedly with Sofi. There was an undercurrent of tension running throughout the entire series, and to have it left unresolved like that...
Well, it seemed like a bit of a cop-out, to be honest. I never really liked Molly, anyway, and the fact that Fitz went back to her after watching her husband (and his almost-father) die kind of creeped me out a bit. It smacked of Oedipus complexes.

Sofi,

I agree with you. Worst, ending possible. Ruined the entire series for me.

I will never pick up a Hobb book again.

My big issues:

The fool is a woman, right? If not what was that about! So much inuendo..

The Queen has a thing for Fitz. If not, what was that about.

Why can't Fitz drop the Badgerlock facade? Really, people are mad at him? For what?

Fitz and Molly and 7 Kids in the country side. Really! What was all the King Fitz stuff about?

The book was a mess, and if you look back so was the whole Tawny man trilogy.

I found Fitz ending with Molly a bit unexpected in that I didn't think they would actually end up together because it kinda felt cliched. I was expecting for them to realize that they had grown up and change too much for them to be together.

I'm not sure I would have been 100% happy with any ending since I couldn't see the book ending without bittersweet note.

I managed, with difficulty, to make it through the first book. I struggled with the opening chapters of the second - then I decided to get on with my life. Cannot stand this series. Endless angst does not make for good reading.

Sofi, thank you for that post, it made my day!)))) Among R.Hobb fans, admirers of her talent and the people who really do care about Fitz and the Fool, it was nice to hear similar emotions -when you lived through the whole 6th books with their ups and downs, was absolutely ruined by Fitzs betrayal (the talk about Amber and their relationship) and then put to haven when Fitz FINALLY did what the pale woman mocked he never would have the courage for - exchange names with his Beloved and thus admit that he is his true and only precious love.... and such an ending after it!!!

I mean, it's not totally bad, it's OK for Fitz as it was for Molly when she married Burrich:

The Fool did for Fitz what the latter did for Molly 16 years ago - RUINED their happy-together and sacrificed himself

I NEARLY threw the book across the room when I first read it. Didn't mind how the Fool's story ended (or didn't, as is hinted), but hated the molly thing. It undermined the first series.

On re-reading (both TM, and more recently Farseer), my opinion has changed. i still don't love the ending, but i see now why it was legitimate. Perhaps the adolescent martyrdom of Farseer's ending - though beautiful and powerful - actually DESERVED to be challenged and undermined.

My remaining problem is that it's all too easy. i can accept that he should try again with Molly, and I can accept that she might accept him back... but it should take more than an epilogue. It should take a book at least, and probably a trilogy (while he's doing other stuff as well, obviously - I'm not completely masochistic).

I felt the ending was rushed, and that did a disservice to Molly - it also did a disservice to Nettle. the most interesting thread throught TM was, to me, Fitz's inchoative relationship with Nettle, and in the end that felt shoved aside in favour of the cliche romance.

Personally, I'm hoping for another trilogy, when he's a little older, in which it turns out he a molly tried to rush things too much and all sorts of things have happened as a result.

I abohorred the end of the series ;P But not because Beloved goes away. It is because
1. Fitz seems to go on happily with his life, which is henceforth unicorns&glitters&rainbows. Which is not feasible. People don't just go on after having had experiences like his own. They just don't. Damn it, he should have PTSD!
2. Beloved's reasons are seriously skewed.

My impression the the Fool was transsexual.

I RESENT the amount of time spent on an (ultimately) under-developed relationship: Fitz/Fool.

Hobbs general depiction of the intensity and depth of the Fool/Fitz relationship ('Beloved', 'two halves of a single whole', various resurrections etc) is great. The very beautiful and profound death-rebirth of the Fool, complete with shared bodies, is of course very hard to top!...but this imagining of such a level of intimacy seems to have had no implications beyond, a kind of 'bros' "I did it for you, and now we're even".

The idea that Fitz is just fine as a married man---'content'--- suddenly he's living in the moment, because he's remembered his whole life (thanks to the Fool)---but conveniently FORGOTTEN the most significant relationship of that life????

And more to the point, for the reader, the more intriguing relationship...of Fitz/Fool has been ditched!

I believe that realistic writing can occur in any genre: Crime, Thriller, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Romance etc. when a story leads us to places where twists of fate and the human heart are truly represented and those places make sense ----given what the author has shown us to be previously 'true'. That's why the ending of Fools Fate is FALSE.

The quest for 'wholeness' explored in this series asks us to look at many types of non-marriage relationships as extremely powerful and nourishing: adoptive, mentoring, non-married lovers, constructed family, deep relationships with animals, ambiguous same-sex attractions, intertwined minds, intertwined dreaming, kinship, sibling, hierarchical/feudal.

It's a relief to hope (?) that Hobb may revisit the Fool/Fitz relationship in the upcoming 'Fools Assassin'.

It may be that Hobb is just plain cynically careful here---afraid to alienate her readership to seek ways in which this relationship might be continued, even if it never was physically spelled out.

Like many readers, I felt so empty and dis-satisfied with the ending of FF. The only thing that kept me sane was knowing that a new Fitz/Fool trilogy came out Aug 2014! So, I was sad about Fitz an Fool parting at that juncture in their lives but hopeful they get a 2nd shot at their relationship.

I feel so bad for the folks who read Fool's Fate a few years ago and thought that was IT. Finito.

I understood Fitz and Fool had to part - for all the reasons they talked about. However, I was bummed at how unresolved their parting was. They had no closure, no final words. Fitz wanted to come back but was stuck in the pillar-land. Fool looked for Fitz at Buckkeep and missed each other by one week. That to me was more tragic.

My hope to Ms. Hobb is that she is thinking about a "forever" for Fitz and Fool. It is possible. Fitz is strong in Skill, and the Skill kept Kettle alive for 300+ years. So why not Fitz? The Fool seems to age slowly also.

Hopefully, in 100 years or so - after Molly dies of old age, Fitz's step children and Hap have gone on, the current Farseer line is on solid track to peaceful times - that Fitz and Fool are still both alive and finally can commit to am exclusive relationship. It doesn't matter to me if they remain platonic or otherwise, as long as these two sol mates finally stay together.

Although I wept buckets at the final parting in Fool's Fate I did have the sense that it was kind of inevitable. The Fool's role in both the Farseer trilogy and the the Fools trilogy was that of a kind of spirit guide. Unlike most commentators who seem to feel tricked out of any kind of commitment on Robin Hobb's part to assigning the Fool a gender, I initially believed the character was a girl but later grew to see the Fool as being gender-neutral as of course he/she has to be in any relationship with Fitz in order for their bond to be anything other than that of lovers.
The Fool's role in the stories was never to be Fitz's mate/lover call it what you will. The Fool is much more important than that and although I was left with a sense of loss the first time I read Fool's Fate, I also believed that at some point the author would revisit this series and I for one am so very glad that she finally did.

I totally agree that this ending was bad. Molly couldn´t be liked as she never was a growing or deep signed char, and it was so often and long said that they not see each other and it was nothing about love, but what they had seen in each other. On the other hand, there was sooooo many beautiful romantic and absolutely true love betweeen fitz and fool that it even breakes his whole char for me that he could thought about the fool of being one with him, being his dream and so much more about 3 minutes ago and then said truely amazed to fool: of course I´m going back to Molly what else?!? It even breaks believe in whole story fpr me. I have the feeling that Hobb is always playing with this, makes it totally clear what they are about, and then she is not brave enough for a homoerotic love? Really?? After all I go through with you?? I am so disappointed. The Fitz and Molly story really has NOTHING in it, nothing there talks about love, just the gender is main accepted?? That really cuts me deep so deep

I loved the ending. My husband read the whole series from start to finish in the last 6 months, and as he pointed out "Molly was the only one Fitz ever truly loved" and he is right! So for me the only truly satisfying ending was for him to be reunited with Molly. They had both grown up, weathered so much separately and come to understand that the expectations we have of others when we are young are not always realistic, people are imperfect, and Fitz and Molly had reached a point where they had moved beyond the misunderstandings, failings, and hurt feelings of youth and were able to forgive each other and find the love they had always felt for each other again. The perfect ending.

I also agree with Luisi - the Fool was male.

I think the ending was apt. Molly is exactly who he should have been with and I love that the final sentence in the book was that Fitz was content.

What I was not satisfied with was the end of the Fool storyline. I would have preferred he die to be honest because then there would at least be some finality to it. The way it ended for the Fool...was just too open-ended.

Frankly, I enjoyed the ending of this series.

My impression of the fool was that he/she was another kind of being; one capable of being whatever was needed to fulfill his/her "mission."

As to Fitz and the Queen, I doubt she would marry the son of her husband's brother. It would be slightly strange, no?

Fitz maintained the Badgerlock identity because, folks with the Wit were being killed throughout the kingdom. If he wanted to threaten himself and the monarchy, he could have "come out", but it would have undermined much of the rest of the plot. In my opinion, enough going on without that complication.

Anyway, who knows if a bucolic life in the country is his end. Perhaps there will be more. Authors have a habit of returning to successful series.

If Ms. Hobbs does, I be quite pleased. She's one of my favorite authors.