The son of Tika and Caramon Majere, the nephew of Raistlin had a lot of dreams that were destroyed by the Chaos War. Let’s learn more about Palin Majere. Buy Dragonlance: Fifth Age Dramatic Adventure Game: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/186462/Dragonlance-Fifth-Age-Dramatic-Adventure-Game-SAGA?affiliate_id=50797
Transcript
Cold Open
He had the makings of the greatest wizard on Krynn, then Chaos came…
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about Palin 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 links. I am referencing Second Generation, Dragons of Summer Flame, Dragonlance: Fifth Age Dragmatic Adventure Game and the War of Souls for this information. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below!
Discussion
I think you would struggle to find someone who was let down more, yet stood in the face of loss, torture, gods, chaos and through it all inspired so many, and at the age of 59, walked away from the very obsession that drove him from birth. Palin Majere is the son of Tika Waylan Majere and Caramon Majere. As a child he was regaled with stories of his fathers adventures as a member of the Heroes of the Lance, and those of his uncle, Raistlin Majere, the most powerful wizard Krynn has ever known. He was led to believe that Raistlin sacrificed himself for Krynn, and with that knowledge Palin held him up on a pedestal. This heritage of magic, mixed with his raw talent placed him firmly on the path of the Magi, to the dismay of his parents, especially his father Caramon who wanted his son as far away from what he believed was the downfall of his twin brother Raistlin. I wonder if Palin would have been so insistent if Raistlin wasn’t his uncle?
Palin would not be deterred however, and when the Orders of High Sorcery conspired to present Palin with his Test of High Sorcery, they unintentionally awoke Raistlin Majere from his peace in sleep granted to him by Paladine. Raistlin truly believed that Palin would become an even greater Wizard than he himself had, and gifted him the Staff of Magius after completing his test. Raistlin would go to sleep again, but he would always hang over Palin’s thoughts and actions, and eventually return from death one last time. Palin could be said to be the very catalyst for the Chaos War, as if it weren’t for him and his twin brothers Tanin and Sturm joining Dougan Redhammer in his attempt to steal back the Graygem, the Irda would never have laid their hands on it in the first place, and then broken it open, releasing Chaos. There is a fair amount of Irony that Palin was the keystone for the disappearance of magic, the very thing he devoted his life to.
Though the events preceding the Chaos War would mean the death of his brothers when the Knights of Takhisis invaded Ansalon, it would also lead him to his future wife, the love of his life Usha. He would discover in the end that he was just another puppet in Takhisis’ schemes, chasing that which she wanted him to chase. With the help of his uncle Raistlin, his cousin Steel Brightblade and Tasslehoff Burrfoot, Palin and Usha would travel to the Abyss, and together they would all defeat Chaos. The gods would leave Krynn to save it, all except for that wiley Queen of Darkness, who stole the world, appearing to Palin as both Paladine and Raistlin, and telling him that there is still magic on Krynn, it just needs to be discovered. And when it took him too long to discover it, Takhisis would appear to him again as the Shadow Sorcerer and teach both Palin and Dalamar Primal Sorcery, or Wild Magic. This was the primordial Magic that was instilled in Krynn upon creation. It was incredibly difficult to tap into and to reliably use, but it was all they had. Palin would go on to disband the Orders of High Sorcery, and build the Academy of Sorcery in 412 AC.
Palin’s obsession with magic would never dim however. He was born in an age where the gods freely granted magic to those who would devote their lives to it. It was like a drug that fueled all Magi, and Palin had a legacy to live up to. But due to the chaos of chance, (or a bankruptcy TSR more appropriately) he would become addicted to it, and it would be ripped away, leaving him to forever chase the dragon so to speak. He was not alone in this obsession, even the new Dragon Overlords were obsessed, and when Berylinthranox captured Palin to discover why magic was ultimately leaving Krynn, Palin would be tortured, forever twisting his hands, preventing him from forming the precise semantic gestures his old magic required. This event changed Palin forever, sending him into a darkness that threatened to consume him. In fact, it would take the return of an old friend and his own death to truly get through it.
Tasslehoff would reappear to Palin, desiring to see Caramon’s funeral, which would begin the unraveling of many mysteries. Not only answering the question about the changing of Krynn’s skies, but also the fading of magic. When Takhisis stole Krynn, she was weakened and needed magic to build up her strength in the effort to enter and rule Krynn. You know, that ol’ chestnut. She used the spirits of all the dead since the Chaos War to collect magic for her, and her agent Mina to gather worshipers from the living. In Palin and Tas’ efforts to uncover this scheme, Palin would reunite with Dalamar and they would both come to be murdered by Mina in the Tower of High Sorcery. Takhisis knew they were the only two people who could find the Device of Time Journeying, the one artifact that could call out to the Gods, revealing the location of Krynn, so she tied their souls to their animated corpses in the hopes of finding Tasselhoff Burrfoot.
Palin would team up with the dragon Mirror and destroy the Dragon Totem Takhisis was hoping to use to enter Krynn, and the gods would finally find Krynn after thirty seven years of searching. Takhisis would be punished, so Paladine stepped down as a god so she could become a mortal, maintaining balance, and Palin would be granted life and offered the old magic again. The very magic that inspired his fantasies as a child, the magic he would bind his soul to in his Test of High Sorcery. The magic that he would spend decades of his life searching, and was tortured mercilessly for, permanently disfiguring his body. After all of that, he finally came to the conclusion that what he truly wanted was his family. Palin would refuse the magic, and return home to his wife and children, living the remainder of his life in Solace, in as much peace as he could find.
Palin’s life can be seen as an allegory for those controlled by their passions, or other people. An individual that finally learns to stop chasing the fame of others, or the life he was told he should have, and finding his independence, deciding for himself what is actually worth living for. You may land on a different answer than Palin in your life, but I think it’s an idea that is worth exploring. How long have you chased a dream only to be devastated by the journey, never finding what it was you were seeking? How much damage did you cause yourself in the obsessive search? And in the end, is it worth it? For some, who have found that success, yes, I am sure it is, but perhaps for those who haven’t, perhaps you were chasing the wrong dream. Perhaps you were chasing someone else’s, that you were told was yours. This can be interpreted in the American Capitalism promise of great wealth through hard work, or your family telling you that you can be whatever you want to be, ignoring the idea of inherent talent and skill required.
I would posit that, no matter what your achievements in life may be, no matter what your goals are, it is incredibly important to have them, and to follow your passions, but never let it get in the way of the only thing that truly matters in life. Your connection to other human beings and those you have chosen to love and include in your life. Palin finally learned this lesson, and so can we.
Outro
But that is all I have to say about Palin Majere. Do you think Raistlin was right about Palin’s potential? Would Raistlin have inadvertently corrupted him if he was Palin’s Shalafi? And finally, would you have walked away from magic like Palin did? Leave a comment below.
I would like to take a moment and remind you to subscribe to this YouTube channel, ring the bell to get notified about upcoming videos and click the like button. This all goes to help other Dragonlance fans learn about this channel and its content. Thank you for watching, this has been Adam with DragonLance Saga and until next time, remember:
Do your damndest, Takhisis! You are too late.
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