His devotion to his twin was absolute, to his own detriment. Let’s take a closer look at the complicated character, Caramon Majere. Buy The Art of the Dragonlance Saga: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/17389/The-Art-of-the-Dragonlance-Saga?affiliate_id=50797
Transcript
Cold Open
He was seen as a big dumb brute, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about Caramon Majere. I would like to take a moment and thank the members of this channel, and invite you to consider becoming a member by visiting the link in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate link. I am referencing The Art of the Dragonlance Saga, Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home, the Chronicles, Legends, and the War of Souls for this information. If I have left anything out, please leave a comment below.
Discussion
He was created as one half of a whole. Harold Johnson suggested Caramon, the fighter, be the twin to Raistlin, the mage, as if they were destined to be one person, but were split apart. This set up a juxtaposition that would echo in every development decision for the character. All except one. They both inherited the disease of addiction. Raistlin would find it in Magic, and Caramon would find it in dwarven spirits after his twin left him. Caramon’s whole purpose was to look after his twin. In his absence, nothing could replace him. Not Tika, his wife, not his family, and not his friends. This is the path of the addict. It takes their recognition of their state, and their will to even attempt a change. The irony is that it takes infinitely more strength for an addict to seek help compared to anyone else. They fight with themselves.
Tracy Hickman wrote that, more than any other character, Caramon is the one that changes the most. He has his ascent into light as his twin descends into darkness. This is not to say that outside of his addiction, Caramon was a pure soul, no he was truly a victim of his desires. It took Goldmoon to counciling Tika and Caramon to make him stop pressuring her to have sex with him. And though this may be an extension of his addictive personality, when he led the Army of Fistandantilus, he turned from his wife Tika, and tried his best to lean into the arms of Crysania. It was her love of Raistlin that prevented him from turning his back on his vows! Caramon is not in control of himself, and what’s more disturbing is that he doesn’t seem to want to be.
There are moments when his purpose is laser focused, but these are fleeting. When he wanted to travel back in time to murder his twin and was enslaved in the gladiator pits of Istar, he was awoken with purpose and direction. When he saw the future his brother would create, he faced the Abyss and his twin who scorned him to stop it. He was a devoted friend, and when he learned of his sister Kitiara and friend Sturm’s son from Sara Dunstan, he knew he had to try and help. Caramon would eventually master his passions and find as close to a sense of peace as possible with his wife Tika, and in his children, but there was always a hole inside of him, left by the loss of his twin, Raistlin. But let’s take a birdseye look at Caramon’s life, because it was truly an interesting one!
Caramon was a twin son of Gilon and Rosamun Majere. Half sister to Kitiara Uth Matar. He never had trouble making friends or turning the eye of girls. People thought he was dim witted or slow, becauce he would take his time thinking about all sides of a decision before coming up with an answer. He would defend his brother from bullies, and take every abusive word his brother threw his way because he saw himself as his brother’s keeper. This would be a role that his brother would resent and appreciate equally, until his brother took his Test at the Tower of High Sorcery in Wayreth forest. It was there he saw where his brothers true loyalty lay, and though Caramon saw it with his own eyes, his twin turning on him and murdering him out of jealosy, he still wanted his brother to love him, as he loved Raistlin. He buried that reality deep down, and focused even more on Raistlin. Whether this was because of his nature, or his selfish desire to change Raistlin’s mind about him, making him appreciative through his devotion, I can’t decide. But with Raistlin’s health failing even more due to the Test, Caramon’s attention was even more focused. The only thing that could pull them momentarily were adventure, food, drink and women.
They would get caught by destiny with the War of the Lance, and Caramon would find love in the barmaid Tika Waylan. It would be a love that would be a struggle to maintain, as all love does, but it would last his entire life, momentary lapse aside. They would fight together, and as Sturm would learn to dislike Raistlin for his treatment of Caramon, no one disliked him more than Tika. Caramon would be unable to give his whole heart to her. He truly didn’t want to. At the end of the war, after being abandoned by Raistlin in the maelstrom of the Blood Sea to die, he would reunite with his twin, only to realize that he was not needed anymore. His twin had become the most powerful wizard on Krynn, and he had only one mistress, only one love, magic. Fueled by his desire, Raistlin abandoned his twin, and Caramon would not take it well.
Without the purpose of his brother, he felt a vacuum, an ache that was only momentarily quieted by Dwarven Spirits. Tika nearly gave up on him. When Crysania came looking for Tasslehoff, Tika forced Caramon to chase after her. This was his last chance to fix himself, or she would leave him, as he had left her to the drink. Tasslehoff was his conscience, and drove him to purpose until Crysania died, forcing Caramon to decide to travel back in time to kill his twin. What actually happened was the opposite, because he ended up leading Raistlin/Fistandantilus’ army in the Dwarfgate War. He found self confidence in his own mind as the general, and his troops respected him like no other. Still his love for Raistlin was present, but he learned to let Raistlin go. It would be at the literal portal to the Abyss, but Caramon finally was able to walk away, without reservation or pain.
Destiny was not done with him however, for when he saw the future his brother was to create, for his family and friends, he turned back and revealed it to his brother. Content with Raistlin’s sacrifice, he went home, and gave Tika the life and husband she deserved. It would be his son Palin and Dalamar who would bring Raistlin back from his eternal sleep just before the Chaos war, and when Raistlin left with the gods, he swore he would wait for his loving twin in the afterlife. Another lifetime of raising children, losing them, taking care of his community and doting on his wife would lead to the inevitable separation and pain of the death of Tika. Rather than be consumed by the loss, he honored her in his patience. He would see her soon, and until then he would care for their family. Then Tasslehoff showed up, and the War of Souls was realized. Caramon would wander out of the inn, fall on the stairs and suffer a heart attack, wondering where his twin and wife were, sending Tas after Dalamar.
Caramon’s legacy is one of pain and suffering. Not from any external force, but from himself. His own self destructive nature. But eventually, with hard work, and a lot of help from friends and loved ones, he became as strong emotionally as he always was physically. Caramon went out of his way to help those around him because he genuinely cared about his fellow man. As large as his stature grew, it was dwarfed by the size of his heart. The journey he took in his life is one, much like our own, mired in struggle and self discovery. Ironically he achieved with love and community what his brother did through selfishness and desire… Immortality.
As much as his twin was one half of Caramon in narrative, Caramon would break down this dichotomy by his nature. It was always an overly simplistic premise to begin with, and one that could never hold up through experience and growth. Something we all are capable of, if we dare to put in the work. I will always appreciate Caramon as a cautionary tale, and even an aspirational one in some ways.
Outro
But that is all the time I have to talk about Caramon Majere. Was he a victim of his passions, or just a loving brother? Did he stay past his welcome in the novels? What do you think about his death? Leave a comment below.
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This channel is all about celebrating the wonderful world of the Dragonlance Saga, and I welcome you to join in the celebration. Thank you for watching, this has been Adam with DragonLance Saga and until next time, remember:
I will let nothing stop me. Look at Caramon’s face, Tanis. He knows! I killed him once. I can do it again.
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