Flight of the Heron read-along: Part V chapter 5 and Epilogue

[regshoe]

Better loved ye cannae be...

The final chapter.

I'm planning to do a sort of wrap-up post in a couple of days' time for any last thoughts, and to recommend some Flight of the Heron fic and some other books that may be of interest. I will say goodbye and thank you properly then!

Comments

[regshoe]

Right, I'm going to do this in two parts—one for my usual commentary on this week's chapters, and one for more general Thoughts on the Ending.

About Morar being pronounced as Móar—Christopher Duffy, in the appendix to his Fight for a Throne listing regional and period pronunciations, agrees with this, but as far as I can tell it's not typical now. Perhaps an older pronunciation that's now obsolete—or a local pronunciation that modern online sources are unaware of?

Oh my goodness, but the natural imagery in chapter 5.5 is amazing. The sea-fog, the 'ghostly ship', the moonlight, the outlines of the Isles, the white sand... Broster certainly knows how to set the scene for her tragedies. Absolutely stunning—as is the place in real life, by all accounts.

The parallels between Keith and Alison, or between Ewen/Alison and Ewen/Keith, have come up several times already in the read-along, but this is surely the most blatant—and obviously significant—of them all: '...he still carried the packet with the lock of hair upon him, a material token of the tie between him and the foe who had captured him a year ago...' Er, wow. And the line continues, '...and had held him in a species of bondage ever since.' ...! Actually, the bit after that—'The thought had never formulated itself so definitely until to-night, but, by gad, it was true!'—is a bit ambiguous; is 'the thought' Keith is thinking of here the 'species of bondage' idea or that of the lock of hair as a link between them, or both? In either case, I don't blame him for his 'by gad'!

Keith's thoughts of Ewen are so sweet—amidst his continuing (and perhaps somewhat over-compensating) ambition to do his utmost to capture Charles, here he is happily picturing Ewen to himself safe back at Ardroy. Aww. Unfortunately he's wrong.

Keith is still merciful himself—not burning all the boats along the coast although he recognises that it would have been better from a practical point of view, and perhaps also his reluctance to shoot Charles to disable him when there's a risk of doing worse—and also still naive about the extent of his superiors' mercy, in his imaginings of Ewen's chances of remaining in Scotland safely.

I said so in rot13 at the time, but again—I feel like we ought to have got a bit more explanation of Lachlan's miraculous survival after chapter 4.1 than just 'having recovered', given the descriptions back then! (Or, as I speculated last week, perhaps he didn't—the word 'spectre' is even used to describe him here...)

Right, I'm afraid most of the rest of this comment is just going to be crying over that last scene. Here we go:

As he was lifted, Keith came back from a moment’s dream of a shore with long green rollers roaring loudly under a blood-red sunset, to pain and difficult breath and Ewen’s arms. He knew him.

— ;__;

He reopened his eyes. “Your hand . . .” Ewen gave it to him, and saw a little smile in the moonlight. “Have you been . . . burying any more cannon? . . . I always liked you,” said his enemy clearly; and a moment after, with his hand in Ewen’s, was gone to that place ‘where an enemy never entered and from whence a friend never went away’.

— ;____;

He would rather have stayed, now; but he knelt again and kissed Keith’s forehead.

— ;_;

;_;

... *puts hanky away* Right, the quoted line in that second bit is from one of the sermons of Bishop Jeremy Taylor, from a passage describing the joys of the saints in heaven. You may recall Taylor as the author of the book of sermons which Aunt Margaret offered to Keith to read when he didn't attend Morning Prayer at Ardroy all the way back in chapter 1.5. I think there is some kind of religious-thematic Thing going on here.

The epilogue is a particular emotional style Broster does very well—dwelling on descriptions of light, happy, everyday details (the weather, Philippe and his sand, the basket) in the aftermath of tragedy in a significant and terribly poignant way, at once relieving and highlighting the sadness. It's very powerful.

[sanguinity]

It is a stunner of a chapter, from the beautifully scenic opening, to beautifully tragic ending. And I am exceedingly grateful (and on my first read, frankly stunned), that we were permitted such overtly romantic gestures between them: Keith carrying a lock of Ewen's hair over his heart, and the exchange of the ring.

A question I had: why is Keith so convinced that Ewen is alive and skulking near Ardroy? Didn't his guard officially put it about that Ewen is dead? That they found his body in the river? We know Archie wasn't convinced -- he came to Ardroy to confirm it for himself -- but apparently Ewen's guard did not feel moved to do the same due diligence themselves. So how did Keith hit upon his conviction that Ewen is alive and well, happily home at Ardroy?

[hyarrowen]

We're half in the Otherworld, Paradise, wherever, by the descriptions we get here. The ghostly bark, the fantastical peaks of Rum, and Keith's own thoughts of where he's been when Ewen lifts him. I gives a kind of ongoing sense of where he's going to be in a few minutes.

I think part of the reason for this is the date of publication of the book. Everyone reading it would have experienced WW1 in some form, and the 'flu pandemic. There had to be some kind of surcease. It seems to have worked, going by the publication history. t was a popular book. I don't know what the zeitgeist in the Uk was regarding religion; I think WW1 was a watershed in that respect, but maybe harking back to, and quoting, religious figures of the past was a conscious choice. She worked in Oxford after all, and would probably have seen reminders of the Oxford Martyrs every day.

The lightness of the Epilogue is therefore something that's necessary to counteract all the tragedy, imo. Like the jig at the end of a Shakespeare play, no matter how tragic. Or the last line in Lord of the Rings. Life goes on, even though Ewen didn't want it to while he looked down on Keith's body.

My Thoughts on the Ending

[regshoe]

Now, I have two sorts of opinions about the ending.

Or, actually, three. My initial reaction to the ending, and a big part of the reaction I still have now, is that it's a brilliant, affecting, tugging-on-all-the-right-heartstrings piece of tragic writing, terribly emotional, terribly well-written and generally the sort of thing that demands fix-it fic but yet is better in itself for being exactly what it is—a tragic ending that could, narratively and by the fate of the story, never have gone any other way. Since re-reading the ending several times, I've developed two other strands of thought about it, but this one is still probably uppermost in my mind and heart.

First is the stubbornly and perhaps unfairly queer one—though I do seriously think it's somewhat justifiable. I think I've mentioned before how reading Broster's other books puts the ending of FotH into a wider context. Without spoilers, then, two of her previous books also feature highly significant m/m relationships alongside very conventionally happy m/f romances—one ends with the second male character in question quietly and inconclusively fading away from significance, the other with him making a wistful decision to renounce his own interests and happiness in order to let the main couple have the happy ending that he'd really have preferred to go another way. Whether or not the m/m relationships were intended to read as potentially romantic/sexual, they are undeniably of central emotional importance, and they are in some way in conflict or incompatible with the romances, which, narratively, have to happen—and until this point Broster has never managed to resolve this conflict satisfactorily. Well, now she has. 'Yet he must not sadden Alison on this, of all days. It was Keith who had given it to him.' Indeed.

...I don't really have a conclusion here, other than that all this makes me feel a lot of things, and think about The Longest Journey and feel very glad that I've just read an uncomplicatedly happy m/m historical romance novel. I don't know. There it is, anyway! Also, this is the real reason I don't like The Gleam in the North and The Dark Mile—it's not just that they don't give enough significance to Keith's memory as such, it's that they seem to be actively disclaiming the queer subtext of The Flight of the Heron and pushing the story back into a conventional shape that Keith's presence didn't quite let it stay in.

Second is the potentially more interesting character and plot angle. Here we go, then: Is Keith being 'saved... from a decision too cruel' by being killed at the moment of decision actually a satisfying way to end his character arc? Broster argues very eloquently in that passage that it is, but the more I think about it the more I'm really not sure. By this point, Keith has twice put his career in real peril for Ewen's sake, and twice been saved by convenient circumstances from experiencing the consequences he might have expected. We're in no doubt that he values Ewen and his feelings for Ewen over his career, no matter how ambitious he keeps being in this chapter. Would it not have been far more powerful to end with a decisive statement of that, by having him make a definite decision for Ewen, and then finally experience the consequences and see where he ended up afterwards?

Of course, that's not a fair presentation of the thing. The conflict here is not Ewen or career, it's Ewen or duty, a far more serious matter to Keith—on the two previous occasions Keith's superiors felt that he had acted against his duty, but he could credibly decide that his actions were consistent with duty and honour in his own heart. He can't do that now—and Ewen would agree with him that duty and honour are important above all, even if they go against the wishes of a friend, as the penknife incident in chapter 4.7 shows.

...But wouldn't it have been more compelling to have him make that decision in Ewen's favour—to end his emotional arc about learning to value love friendship and human connection above the military ambition which was introduced as the only thing he cares about by his making a final decisive statement that he will go against the duty that his military position demands of him in order to save Ewen? The more I think about it, the more the avoidance of that statement feels like, well, really a bit of a cop-out.

And I do really think he would have made it! I think the things he says in his final scene suggest so. His comment that 'I did not have to . . . fire' is intriguingly ambiguous—is he observing that he was saved from 'having to' make the decision to fire by Lachlan's attack, or stating a realisation that firing was not what he 'had to' do—that another decision was possible and was in fact what he would have done? Apart from that, he very happily tells Ewen to get away before the soldiers appear, and tells him about the hole in the boat—helping him escape, or at least trying to.

I don't know! I wrote a fic trying to deal with this a while ago, and I don't think I really succeeded, and it's picked at my brain ever since. What does everyone else think?

Re: My Thoughts on the Ending

[sanguinity]

I agree that it's something of a cop-out, to spare Keith having to make that choice, and to likewise spare him having to live with its consequences. But I also think that narratively, it would have opened a whole bag of worms: the aftermath would have rattled on for ages, and would have opened the question of whether they would ever meet again after all the dust had settled, etc. These are obviously questions of great interest, to myself and others (*gestures at all the fix-it fic*), but it wouldn't have been in keeping with the prophecy trope she was writing, and it wouldn't have had the resonant finality of the ending she chose.

I feel very much the same way about Znvgynaq'f raq va Gur Qnex Zvyr -- to let him live out his confession and redemption would have been long and messy, very nearly another story unto itself. Instead, she chose to give it a decisive, tragic ending. Which is definitely a tool that exists if you want to make someone feel the full weight of their choices/dilemma, without the messiness of them actually having to live with said choices or dilemma.

Re: My Thoughts on the Ending

[osprey_archer]

I think the difficulty with having Keith make that decision in Ewen's favor is that Keith and Ewen are both so invested in the ethos of "I could not love thee, dear, so well, loved I not honor more." If Keith chose Ewen over honor/duty, Ewen would likely think less of him: duty and honor are supposed to come before family, love, romance, everything. And Keith too I think would have a hard time justifying such an action to himself.

[sanguinity]

And only a chapter ago, Ewen had been so happy at the thought that he had one more meeting with Keith in his future! *bawls*


I'd like to add to regshoe's collection of lines that are currently tearing me up:

“My dearest on earth,” he said, but not as he had said it a year ago, for the gift he asked meant even more now,—“my dearest on earth, give me your kiss!”

When he first says "My dearest on earth" to Alison, way back in the prologue, there's a happy innocence to it and the strong implication that she is his dearest because he has no other dear to him.

But here in the epilogue... Now she is his dearest on earth -- for his other dear one no longer lives. And the gift of her kiss means more now than it did then, because he never had the gift of his other dear one's kiss. He kissed Keith, but that kiss was never -- and now never will be -- returned.

[regshoe]

And only a chapter ago, Ewen had been so happy at the thought that he had one more meeting with Keith in his future! *bawls*

I knowwwww :( :(

...I am very grateful to you for making that point about that line. I was going to say the same thing—have thought it for some time—but wasn't sure of myself, and now I feel better about it. Genuinely, thank you!

[luzula]

Aaaah. That is a lovely interpretation that I didn't see myself, but I'm glad you made it.

[hyarrowen]

I kinda hate myself for noticing that Ewen only calls Alison his dearest on earth before he meets Keith and after he loses him...

[hyarrowen]

Re-reading this comment - dearest on earth is something that I'd missed before. Which makes me want to write afterlife fic. Hmm.

[luzula]

Again not looking at other comments first.

I was thinking what an irony it was that this is the second time Keith is looking for the Prince and gets Ewen instead--the first time as farce, the second as tragedy--but then Keith himself has this exact thought.

The line about 'a species of bondage', aaaaah!

In actual history, when the Prince leaves Scotland it's with a party of almost 200, so they could easily have defeated Keith's spread-out little forces.

I find it chilling that Lachlan comes after Keith just after Keith has said 'God help me!', as if Lachlan is God's answer to Keith's dilemma!

This is so romantic, and echoes the moment when Ewen finds himself in Keith's arms before the firing squad: As he was lifted, Keith came back from a moment’s dream of a shore with long green rollers roaring loudly under a blood-red sunset, to pain and difficult breath and Ewen’s arms. He knew him.

The brandy, Ewen, as though that is going to help...

Okay, those are my random thoughts. But as a whole, the end of the chapter still makes me cry, even though I've read it multiple times by now. Gah. It's tragic, but also beautifully written in a way that makes sense and meaning out of Keith's death: that Ewen gave him someone to live and die for. In a meta sense I might resent that Keith and Ewen aren't allowed a happy ending whereas Ewen and Alison are, but I also genuinely do relish the meaningful tragedy of the ending that we get. And of course, this is only one possibility and we can write all the happy endings we want and they are as real as this.

I think Alison's worry and hope in the epilogue is beautifully written, too, especially the way she turns back down the stairs because she can't bear to immediately open the door because it might not be Ewen. The only thing I don't like about the epilogue is Ewen's comment about women and food! I'm thinking you're going to be glad of some good food, Ewen. But their relief and joy at finally meeting again, at the same time as Ewen can't bear to share his memories of Keith yet...yeah, that rings true to me.

(I still remember my proof listener at Librivox. When she commented on the next-to-last section, there was no reaction aside from that it was technically fine. When she commented on the last section, here is what she said: "Yay for happy endings :) So that's a wrap! Congratulations on a fine audiobook!" WHAT ON EARTH.)

[sanguinity]

Yay for happy endings :)

OH MY FUCKING GOD WHAT

as if Lachlan is God's answer to Keith's dilemma!

Well, FUCK.

(Sorry, I seem to have nothing but profanity in me!)

[regshoe]

In actual history, when the Prince leaves Scotland it's with a party of almost 200, so they could easily have defeated Keith's spread-out little forces.

Huh, that's a good point!

I find it chilling that Lachlan comes after Keith just after Keith has said 'God help me!', as if Lachlan is God's answer to Keith's dilemma!

Oh noooooooo...!

It's tragic, but also beautifully written in a way that makes sense and meaning out of Keith's death

Aww, you're absolutely right. Yes, I also feel that resentment to an extent, but I also think there's something tremendously powerful in the weight of the tragedy—the sense that, while they don't 'get' a happy ending, this is what really matters and what is really meaningful.

And of course, this is only one possibility and we can write all the happy endings we want and they are as real as this.

Very true :)

I also like the detail of Alison returning down the stairs for her basket—I've done very similar things when expecting bad news!

I remember that proof-listener! I can only assume they were doing such a good job at technical proof-listening they remained totally unaware of the actual story, or something.

[hyarrowen]

I'm boggling at the happy endings comment. Way to miss the point entirely, proof listener!

[hyarrowen]

I find it chilling that Lachlan comes after Keith just after Keith has said 'God help me!', as if Lachlan is God's answer to Keith's dilemma!

It is chilling - but I also find it comforting. Keith himself seems to find it a relief.

[osprey_archer]

I find it chilling that Lachlan comes after Keith just after Keith has said 'God help me!', as if Lachlan is God's answer to Keith's dilemma!

Oh, I didn't notice that! It is chilling... Keith calls on God for help and this is the best that God can do for him.

Ewen is going to eat his words about women and food when he finally shuts up and eats the food that Alison prepares for him. I predict he will suddenly realize that he's famished (probably hasn't eaten properly for days in between the ocean voyage/his grief over Keith) and eat up practically everything in the house.

[hyarrowen]

Waily, waily, waily. It gets me every time.

I’ve put some thoughts in response to other comments. But here are a few more:

Keith by this time knows Ewen better than Aunt Marget and Archie. He knows Ewen won’t leave Ardroy of his own accord. How he knows Ewen is alive is anyone’s guess – except that this is an AU in which prophecies work, so why not some sort of telepathy?

But that begs another question. Why doesn’t Ewen try to get a warning to Keith once he knows of Lachlan’s vow? It wouldn’t have reached him, of course, but some sort of effort would have been nice. I suppose that’s why Broster put in the line about Ewen seeing Angus’ words in a far less disturbing light, as he goes back to his house. But still!

Silly Keith, showing himself on that promontory of rocks, just before Lachlan catches up with him. He’s short of sleep at this point, and perhaps not making the best decisions, but still, going out and standing there looking out to sea is a dangerous thing to do. I’ve walked part of that route and it’s all low-lying and pretty exposed and he should have been more damn careful.

I wonder what happened to Keith’s horse? Maybe Lachlan changed his mind about running to the patrol and made a getaway on it, and that’s why Angus ‘saw’ him returning to Ardroy.

Ewen cursing Lachlan is really a bit much – but it was a murder, after all.

And while Ewen and Keith are talking – it’s all at cross-purposes. One is saying ‘go’ and the other is saying ‘stay’. But of course what they’re both saying is, ‘I care about you.’ That little line, ‘Ewen held him closer’ is so tender and says so much in so little. It’s the most affecting one of the entire scene, to me. But Ewen, why didn’t you kiss him while he was still alive?

I can’t help wondering how Ewen coped on that long, lonely voyage to France. Duncan was probably the only one he could talk to about it, even a few words, unless there was a priest on board the ship. I don’t know whether that might be a possibility.

And a final thought. This chapter is set during a beautiful evening. Not raining at all. It is, perhaps, a good night for Keith.

I’ll try and link some pictures from my trip to the area on regshoe’s final post, if I can wrestle them off my computer and onto a decent platform – if anyone has recs for an easy site that doesn’t require me to give my phone number, I’d be most grateful.

[regshoe]

Aww, you're right about the significance of Keith knowing Ewen won't want to leave Ardroy! I especially like the idea of Keith understanding how important his home is to Ewen, when Keith himself was and largely still is so unenthusiastic about the Highlands in general.

Ewen cursing Lachlan is really a bit much – but it was a murder, after all.

Yes—and it's his reaction in the moment, whereas (according to Gleam in the North) he is much more forgiving of Lachlan once he's had some time to think about it.

And while Ewen and Keith are talking – it’s all at cross-purposes. One is saying ‘go’ and the other is saying ‘stay’. But of course what they’re both saying is, ‘I care about you.’

;_;

Also :_: at the thought of Ewen alone on the journey to France...

This chapter is set during a beautiful evening. Not raining at all. It is, perhaps, a good night for Keith.

;__;

(lovely observations—you're making it worse so beautifully!)

About pictures—that would be lovely! I find Dreamwidth's own image hosting pretty useful for this sort of thing, if that would work?

[luzula]

Just re: the photos, you can actually upload photos on Dreamwidth!

[friendofthejabberwock]

aaaah noooo!!

Sobbing aside, I do feel like the ending worked well for me. In a way it retroactively makes the rest of the plot more believable -- there have been a number of incredible-verging-on-unbelievable escapes already, and the way that this one doesn't work out makes the stakes in the book a little more real. The main characters (or Keith, at least) don't have plot armor.

Deaths that come out of the blue (or at least this one did for me -- I'm not usually so trusting, but I really thought this would work out okay for everyone) are also really easy to do badly and turn into something that feels cheap. Maybe it's just because I'm extremely partial to a good bleeding-out-in-someone's-arms, but this was handled very well.

But, I mean, vaguely more intellectual thoughts aside: KEITH NOOO.

I liked the way the epilogue returned some to Alison's perspective, and it was really lovely to see them reunited.

Finally, I'm already reading The Gleam in the North!

[regshoe]

I do think the way Broster structures the whole thing around the prophecy gives it shape, coherency and meaning in a way that—no matter what issues I may continue to have with the unexplored possibilities—works very, very well. I think when I first read this chapter I did not predict Keith's death exactly as it happens but I was pretty sure something was going to end in tragedy for someone, and it felt both creatively unexpected and elegantly inevitable.

more intellectual thoughts aside: KEITH NOOO.

I agree :D

I hope you enjoy Gleam in the North!

[philomytha]

So everyone else has already said lots and lots about the Ewen/Keith, but I remember reading this for the first time, and what struck me most wasn't the Ewen/Keith story at all, but the Ewen/Lachlan story, and Lachlan's death and the tragedy of his arc. It's all set up in the prologue with Lachlan's desperate, unreasoning love of Ewen and his protectiveness and his willingness to disregard Ewen's wishes to do what he sees is best for Ewen, and Ewen's relative carelessness about the depths of Lachlan's devotion - and here it all come to fulfillment, where Lachlan, believing Ewen dead and Keith his betrayer, finally achieves everything he wants and then some: first he stabs Keith and achieves revenge, and then he finds the Ewen is alive and right beside him. For about ten seconds, all Lachlan's dreams have come true. Then Ewen turns it all on its head, curses Lachlan and is willing to be recaptured or killed rather than leave the dying Keith. And then when Lachlan understands what he's done and goes to Ewen for forgiveness, Ewen can't - and so Lachlan kills himself.

And you have to wonder what Angus Og made of this - is he Lachlan's nephew or his younger brother, I can't remember? We never see any sign of his reaction other than wanting Ewen to escape, even as Lachlan goes to his death.

But they're odd parallels, Keith and Lachlan, both in different ways dying here because of their love for Ewen. In some ways, it's not Keith I want fix-it fic for, but Lachlan.

[regshoe]

Very good and interesting thoughts! Yes, I think I tend to disregard Lachlan because the Ewen/Keith story is what I care about most of all, but there is a lot there.

Good point about Angus too—he's Neil's son and Lachlan's nephew, so that must have been a bit awful for him, especially so soon after losing his father.

And I like the idea of a parallel between Keith and Lachlan both dying because of their love for Ewen. Oh, it is all so sad...

[sanguinity]

I'm with you re Lachlan! There's so much devotion and love and loyalty in his arc, and he comes to such a tragic, heartbreaking end. He and Ewen were brothers since they were babes in arms! Ewen is the marrow of Lachlan's heart! Lachlan loves Ewen too well to do as he is told, when Ewen's life may be at risk!

...and as near as I can tell, Ewen doesn't love Lachlan with anything like the same intensity as Lachlan loves Ewen. Even before we get to the end, it's heartbreaking.

But they're odd parallels, Keith and Lachlan, both in different ways dying here because of their love for Ewen.

Exactly! This is precisely why I want Keith & Lachlan fic, where they have to team up to save Ewen from something. They're both so hot-headed and passionate, both so devoted to Ewen... They'd be so wonderfully disastrous together, and that's even putting aside whether they can survive each other long enough to pull it off.