Join me as I review Redemption by Jean Rabe live! Share your thoughts on this final novel in The Dhamon Saga, released by Wizards of the Coast on July 1, 2002. You can pick up a copy here: https://amzn.to/4gP6sYF
About Redemption
The epic conclusion of The Dhamon Saga, which began with Downfall and Betrayal, Dhamon Grimwulf and his companions continue their battle against the dragon overlords of the Fifth Age and the minions of evil that not only shadow their motley group but also threaten to engulf all of Krynn.
Review
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga review episode. It is Bakukal, Fierswelt the 3rd. My name is Adam and today I am going to give you my review of Redemption by Jean Rabe. I would like to take a moment and thank the DLSaga members and Patreon patrons, and invite you to consider becoming a member or patron. You can even pick up Dragonlance media or get $10 by signing up to StartPlaying.Games using my affiliate links. This is my perspective only, and if you have any thoughts or disagree with mine, I invite you to share them in YouTube chat.
Review
We pick up right where we left off in Betrayal. Dhaman, Ragh, and Fiona are on manticore back, fleeing Sables swamp from Nura Bint-Drax and her Black Dragon Spawn. However, a group of spawn catch up and attack the manticore to try to capture Dhamon. They fight in the air, but ultimately they crash into the ground and the three flee, unsure where they are. Then we cut to Nura and Maldred. It is now revealed that Nura serves two masters, Onysablet the Black Dragon Overlord and another dragon. I believe it is a shadow dragon. Nura and Maldred argue over loyalty and who is a slave to their masters, when they address the new dragon. It is the one that wants Dhamon, not Sable. And it demands that they get him immediately. He sends maldred after him.
Then we return to Dhamon and company who enter a town that is empty, mysteriously so. Fiona is still crazy after Rig’s death and hears him calling to her. It is a Chaos Wight drawing her in for a feeding. This wight and its partners consumed all of the people here entirely and now they are starving. They have learned to take a single memory and leave their victims alive, so they have an opportunity to feed from them again. This evolution is incredibly interesting and terrifying to consider. To think the Chaos minions are adapting to survive in Krynn means they are going to be around for a long time yet. Perhaps I should bring them into my post War of Souls campaign?
The Shadow wight feeds from Ragh and Fiona and turns to Dhamon. He struggles as much as he can, but it is inevitable that the wight will take a memory. The one it chooses is the one where Dhamon leaves his family to join the Dark Knights. It’s an interesting memory, and a side of Dhamon we have not seen yet. It also forces me to consider who we are without our memories. Our motivations, beliefs, morals, hell part of our very being is informed by what we have gone through. What if part of that is ripped away? Would we still be ourselves? We wouldn’t even remember it having been there, so we couldn’t mourn it, we would simply be different. It’s like those who suffer from amnesia and don’t remember or love their partners or children anymore. It’s a terrifying notion, like dementia. Anyway, he takes the memory and decides he wants more, but Dhamon evades him and flees with the others.
They travel to a nearby town, realizing they are on the isle of Nostar. This town is inhabited by many people, all with no memories, clearly being kept here like cattle to be fed off of by wights. Dhamon realizes this and Maldred and Nura appear. They found him via magic and are going to take him but the shadow dragon also appears. It charges Dhamon with killing Sable. No one thinks they can, but it offers to stop the pain and scale growth Dhamon is suffering from if her doe sit, so he takes his weapon back from Maldred and agrees.
He threatens Nura and she disappears with Fiona. Thi sleeves Dhamon, Maldred and Ragh to find Sable. They travel to the swamp again, returning to Sables territory and Dhamon goes off alone in search of Sable. He manipulates a Spawn to show him where Sable’s lair is then kills him. He sees the overlord sleeping but leaves before it wakes. He doesn’t believe they can kill Sable, and at this point, he doesn’t want to. He tells Maldred that he wants to kill the Shadow Dragon instead, and forces Mal to lead him to his lair. The one Mal knows about is empty but they find a crystal that allows them to divine from someone named Sabar. They learn that the Shadow Dragon is in Throt so they head out. They begin looking for Fiona but Nura twisted her mind further, and Fiona evades Dhamon and company.
Then we get back to Nura and the dragon who reveals he is dying and was going to have Dhamon kill Sable to inhabit its body, but with Dhamon accepting the transformation so well, the dragon will now just inhabit Dhamon. This is such a weird change. If he didn’t believe Dhamon would kill Sable as he claims, why send him after him? Who did not just enter Dhamon’s body in the first place. It’s like they are running around for no reason except exposition and the author doesn’t even know what the story will be until it is revealed through writing. This leaves a terrible experience as a reader as we go back and forth on character and story beats needlessly.
Dhamon is rapidly losing himself to the transformation and it doesn’t seem that he will make it to Throt before Nura or the Dragon catch him and destroy him, but then again, this character is the main character, so it will probably miraculously survive. They barter passage with fishermen across New Sea to get to Throt and see Bakali attacking Fiona. They defeat the bakali and have Fiona who is now insistent on killing Dhamon when this is all over. They split up with Ragh and Fiona heading to find Rikali to make sure Dhamon’s child is okay, and Maldred and Dhamon heading to the Shadow dragon with the crystal ball Sabar guiding them.
The Shadow dragon knows Dhamon is coming so he just waits with Nura to claim him. Dhamon’s body is rapidly changing into a dragon, though he believes it is a spawn or abomination. Fiona and Ragh come across goblins and are forced to join them in defeating Dark Knights hobgoblin forces. They eventually do and meet up with Rikali. The baby is healthy and safe now with the hobgoblin forces defeated so they both return to Dhamon and Maldred. They converge with the shadow dragon and a massive fight ensues. Nura is creating a barrier to separate Dhamon and the dragon from everyone else and Dhamon is slowly losing himself. The dragon is using magical item’s power to help, but the chaos wights created a barrier to the dragon by removing memories and the dragon needs more magic to complete the transformation.
Ultimately they break through Nura’s barrier and Ragh kills her. Maldred and Fiona face off against the weakened shadow dragon and then Ragh joins the fray. They all destroy the dragon together but Dhamon’s transformation is complete. He is now an amalgamation of all the dragons the shadow dragon killed in the dragon purge. Fiona dies in the melee, so Mal leaves, Dhamon and Ragh go to look in on Rikali’s baby, which is named after Dhamon, his middle name, and they fly off into the distance.
The ending was good I suppose. The wishy-washy motivations and teams amid the characters was nonsense. I really think this needed an editor to focus the author more and tighten up the story. It could benefit from it immensely. That being said, if you have read the first two novels, you might as well finish with this one. It is interesting that the once human Dhamon is now a shadow dragon, kind of, and I am interested to see where he goes from here. I know he is featured in the Age of Mortals novel, Lake of Death, so I will be reading that one next to find out.
Outro
And that’s it for my review of Redemption by Jean Rabe. What do you think of Maldred being in league with Sable? Do you think Dhaman will become his good honorable self again? And finally, could he have been cured if Ragh didn’t slay Mad Maab? Feel free to email me at info@dlsaga.com or leave a comment below.
Thank you Creator Patrons Aaron Hardy & D. Robert Handy, Producer Patron David Galindo, Developer Patrons Chris Androu & Sam Ruiz, and all of the YouTube Members! I would also 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.
This channel is all about celebrating the wonderful world of the Dragonlance Saga, and I hope you will join me in the celebration. Thank you for watching, this has been Adam with DragonLance Saga and until next time Slàinte mhath (slan-ge-var).
