Join me as I review The Annotated Legends: War of the Twins, live! Share your thoughts on the continuation of the best selling trilogy and this new annotated edition. I share the insights I gleaned, how the annotations presented a new perspective and why I still love this novel.
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Review
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. It is Kirinor, Palesweltthe 4th, my name is Adam and today I am going to give you my Spoiler review The Annotated Legends: War of the Twins. I will be spoiling the story, so if you don’t want to know it, stop watching now! I would like to take a moment and thank my collaborator patrons, the Heroes of the Lance, and invite you to consider becoming a patron or member of this channel by visiting the links in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate link. This is my perspective only, and if you have any thoughts or disagree with mine, I invite you to share them in YouTube chat.
Book One picks up with Raistlin, Caramon, and Crysania in the Tower of Palanthas. Caramon is blind from crysanias spell, Crysania doesn’t know where they are and Raistlin is too exhausted, literally passed, from casting the time traveling spell. They moved forward in time a hundred years and the Tower of Palanthas is still held under the curse, as the Master of past and present hasn’t returned yet as foretold. The guardians begin to creep in dangerously closer to them and Crysanias medallion of faith is slowly losing effect due to her lack of faith.
Caramon has given up on killing Raistlin, though Crysania still doesn’t trust him, and they are both in imminent danger. Raistlin stirs for a moment telling the guardians he is Raistlins and the master and the guardians don’t believe him. After conversing with themselves the guardians delve into Raistlin’s mind to discover who he is. This is where we get the whole story of Raistlin vs. Fistandantilus. He choses Raistlin as his new host from his apprentices because he’s the most clever, and doesn’t yet recognize who he is. Fistandantilus begins to tell him about the bloodstone and Raistlin holds out until he has revealed the spell to use it, then Raistlin attacks. They battle to exhaustion and in the end, a black robe wins and absorbs the others’ memories. Who is the victor? Not even the authors know at this point. The guardians realize who he is and cease attacking him before he passes out from exhaustion again.
The guardians start draining the life out of Caramon and Crysania tries desperately to wake him. Banishing them temporarily. Finally the spell wears off Caramon and they work to revive Raistlin. Caramon does not trust his brother at all, and Crysania is defending Raistlin’s abuse to her. Ultimately Caramon leaves to get food and water, Raistlin casts sleep on Crysania and travels to the upper lever of the tower to study the Portal he believes is there. It is not, and he loses his mind. When he is woken he sends Crysania to Astinus in the great library for answers and Astinus demands what Fistandantilus said he would give him. Initially confused, Raistlin crafts the Globe of Present Time Passing and he helps Raistlin recall where the portal is. In Zhaman. Raistlin believes he has changed time, but Astinus reveals the River of Time analogy that Tracy guides Dragonlance’s time with. A pebble does not change the course of a river if thrown in, so Raistlin is doomed to follow Fistandantilus’ footsteps, which is revealed later with a nightmare Raistlin has. The problem facing Raistlin is that he doesn’t truly know if he is Fistandantilus or Raistlin at this point either.
They leave south and are attacked by brigands led by a half-ogre named Steeltoe. Caramon barely wins the fight after they are captured, saving Crysania from being gang raped, and actually begins to fantasize about her at the end of the book. He turns the gang to their side and plans to take them south for more protection under the guise of attacking Thorbardin for closing their gates.
Tas wakes and it turns out he’s not exactly dead. He has been transported into the Abyss by Takhisis in preparation for her return to Krynn. Seeing Tas there, which led to her knowing her future failure, she will now prevent Fistandantilus from saving Raistlin in his Test of High Sorcery, which prevents Raistlin from stopping her at the end of the Chronicles and she can now rule Krynn. Tas is held in the Abyss to prevent him from messing up her plans. He is in his own personal Hell, as there is nothing around him, and no one to talk to. Suddenly a gnome appears and conveys his Life Quest was to create a portal which actually worked, and now he’s stuck in the Abyss too. What a coincidence! Tas shows him his broken device and the gnome works on repairing it. Who would have thought? A gnome that actually makes things work would be in the Abyss just when Tas needed him!? So when Margaret was dismayed by killing off Tas, and Tracy said he wasn’t worried, THIS was his correction!? This was his brilliant plan? Ugh.
Annotations
- TSR wouldn’t allow the word Demon into the book. This must be a holdover of the Satanic Panic. So when Fistandantilus summons a creature from the beyond, we know it wasn’t a demon, so your soul is still safe. Truth be told, not even Tracy or Margaret knew what was summoned, only what it couldn’t be called!
- The outcome of the battle between Raistlin and Fistandantilus is unknown even to Margaret Weis! This is one of the most horrifying scenes in the trilogy to her as Raistlin can never know if he is himself or Fistandantilus. And that he has truly lost himself at this point.
- Tracy believes in light of the War of the Souls trilogy, it was in fact Raistlin that won.
- When asked about the extent of Raistlin’s illness, Tracy recalls Terry Phillips in the AD&D sessions using the voice, and that it commanded attention. Margaret Weis would then use it in the novel and now, Raistlin may use it to manipulate others and command the room.
- Tracy notes the abusing relationship Crysania and Raistlin have, it was very similar to Caramon and Raistlin. She makes excuses to others for his abusive behavior to him. She believes that she can turn him or fix him with her love, but it only enables his abuse. They’ve received many letters from women sharing Crysanias love for Raistlin and Tracy fears they may fall into the same abusive trap in their own lives.
Book Two is about the setting of a post Cataclysm world, and how the companions, Raistlin, Crysania and Caramon are unable to alter history, succumbing to the flow of the river of time to their own dismay.
It opens with Thane Duncan and Kharas’ discussion of the conflict with the Neidar dwarves at Pax Tharkas. Kharas is doing everything he can to sway Duncan away from the war the Neidar are threatening. They believe the mountain dwarves are stealing from them and underbidding their work. The truth is far from this suspicion as the mountain dwarves are faced with an impossible decision. Save themselves or doom their race. This would never be accepted by anyone but as a leader, Duncan has made an impossible decision that will lead to war, thereby distracting those who will die in the winter and hopefully save those who have a small chance of survival. It ends with the Neidar and a representative of the plainsman traveling to Fistandantilus’ coming army, asking to join them.
Then we change to Caramon and Crysania where he professes his love for her. I am reminded of the old Army saying , what happens downrange, stays downrange. Meaning it doesn’t count as cheating if you are deployed and no one judges you for it. This seems to be Caramon’s mindset. Crysania wants to stay in her own tent but Caramon refuses as the camp sees her as a witch.
We get a chapter through the eyes of the soldiers in the army, showing how far Caramon has come as a general and how feared Crysania and Fistandanitlus are.
Crysania follows Raistlin who is suffering from nightmares of being executed by himself, a sign that he is trapped in the river of time, unable to escape his coming death. She throws herself at him, and he nearly succumbs to temptation, striking out violently in the end to make his point that they cannot be together, and she is ashamed, embarrassed and breaks down crying.
Raistlin leaves and Caramon comes to find Crysania who tells him the truth but he refuses to believe it and confronts Raistlin ready to kill him again. Raistlin knows he can’t die since Fistandantilus did not die till Zhaman, so he goads Caramon on. They get a report that Crysania has fled on a horse, and they give chase.
Crysania wants to bring the gods back to the citizens of the world and comes across a plague ridden town and the final dying resident who is a seeker cleric refuses to let her heal him since her god forsook them and caused all this hell in the first place. Caramon and Raistlin follow till dark and Raistlin wakes from a nightmare to be held by Caramon soothingly as he wraps in a moment of weakness. They are both reflecting on their shared past fondly and then they hear something in the trees. Caramon investigates and steps on a wolf trap which hangs him upside down by the leg. Raistlin sees it and bursts into laughter, so hard even Caramon joins him for a bit before he is cut down. The sound they heard was a trapped rabbit, who Raistlin let go. In the morning they find Crysania who has realised it’s not her role to bring the gods back, but she is convinced that she can rid the world of evil by following Raistin into the abyss.
As a test, Raistlin calls down fire and draws Crysania into it as a sorf of trust experiment. There is one test left. That of blood.
Annotations
- Tracy notes that Caramon may take women away from Raistlin as his only way of subconsciously competing with him.
- Raistlin must resist sexual passion to preserve his power.
- The chapter where Raistlin and Caramon are camping before looking for Crysanias trail is Margaret’s favorite chapter she has ever written. It shows that there is a bond between the twins and the rabbit being released presages the end of the trilogy.
Book Three wrapps up Fistandantilus’ accumulation of an army as they land on Abanasinia’s shores and are greeted by the armies of the Niedar dwarves and the plainsmen. None of them trust the other, and Caramon devises a nice team building exercise with a fine weapon reward to lure them both. We get to whitnes Caramons final growth from dumb warrior, to pathetic drunk to wise general.
All the while both Caramon and Raistlin are fully aware that they are moving with time and not against it. Meaning everything they are doing has been done before and they are incapable of altering their trajectory. This causes Raistlin nightmares and Caramon does his best to not think about it. Focusing on his soldiers and the battles ahead.
They take Pax Tharkas from King Dunkan, but only because Raistlin traded Caramons head for the Dewar dwarves’ treachery of Thorbardin. This struck me initially as Raistlin just lying to get his way, but it was paid off later by being a true bargain as Raistlin sets up the moment for the betrayal and ambush of Caramon. It makes Raistlin transition from being selfish and a liar into a true sociopath.
When Kharas attempts to assassinate Raistlin, and actually succeeds in dealing a death blow to him in their own camp, it was a thrilling and terrifying scene even as I realized that Crysania was there so it made no difference, and the fact that I read the novels before. But still! Seeing Raistlin continuously struggling from a person of absolute power to crying out for his brother and then shunning everyone wanting to die alone is a bit too psychotic even for Raistlin. It presents him as a whiny bitch, rather than a complete individual.
Also, it bothers me how Raistlin can teleport to the exact dungeon to confront Tas and kill Gnimsh. It makes sense that Tas would contract the disease that his fellow cellmates had, that is ravaging the land, but when Crysania came to heal him in Zhaman, he didn’t feel like Tas anymore. But rather a frightened child. Kender are not supposed to feel fear. Tas went to the Abyss and that showed him fear, but after staring into the face of the Queen of Darkness herself, any threat from Raistlin seems like it should feel laughable to Tas in contrast. I can justify it by the fact that Tas was suffering from a disease and the loss of his brand new friend Gnimsh, but it did feel off.
It is also frustrating that every sourcebook is vague on what magical item the Gnome used to cause havoc with Fistandantilus’ opening the portal, but the book clearly states the gnome was a captive of Thorbardin and fashioned a Time Travel device he constructed to escape confinement. Why this book doesn’t not name Gnimsh the gnome, and the sourcebooks do not name the Time Travel Device is beyond me.
Raistlin feels like since Tasslehoff came from the Abyss, and Raistlin killed Gminsh, that his victory and breaking from time is complete. This leaves a gaping hole in my opinion though.
If Gnimsh was in the Abyss without a time travel device in Fistandantilus’ time, how did he become a captive by the dwarves of Thorbardin and gain a time travel device to use in his cell that would cause havoc with Fistandantilus’ portal opening? It makes sense in this new timeline because Tas was the holder of the device. But time wasn’t altered till Tas got to the Abyss, and Gnimsh was already there.
Moreover the whole twist Takhisis planned at the end of Book One is seemingly abandoned as she allowed Tas and Gnimsh to leave the Abyss with a message to send to Raistlin. Why even set up the first plan, if this was what she was going to do in the first place? Did the authors forget or just say screw it?
The end is as good as a second in a trilogy could be with a killer cliffhanger. Caramon defeats the ambush thanks to Tas. They try to warn Crysania but Raistlin reveals he is a full on sociopath now, and Caramon walks away. They use the Time Travel device which impacts Raistlin’s spell and he realizes that the gnome messed with it before he was killed, continuing the river of time as expected and only by sheer will alone does Raistlin prove that he is in fact the most powerful wizard in all of time by keeping it open long enough to pass, or be pulled through.
Annotations
- Tracy and Margaret both share their joy at writing Legends as it is both a Prequel and a sequel to the Chronicles Trilogy
- Tracy related that Bertrem is the ‘Dumb Nut’ character to Astinus’ genius so that we the audience can understand Astinus. Modeled after Dr. Watson from Sherlock Holmes.
- Fistandantilus entering the portal is a nexus event of many possible outcomes. The High God chooses the ultimate outcome or optimum timeline according to Tracy.
- Standing before the portal, talking with Caramon, Raistlin is truly a sociopath according to Tracy Hickman
I loved this novel despite its faults, and I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Dragonlance. It’s a great second act in the Legends trilogy and gives real insight to Raistlin’s fall from the character we knew into something else entirely. A monster of sorts who not even he recognises. Caramon has finally realized who he is and he no longer needs Raistlin. Their connection is severed and for him at least, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel.
Outro
And that’s it for my review of The Annotated Legends: War of the Twins. Have you read the Annotated version? Do you enjoy the reviews I am putting out there? Feel free to email me at info@dragonlance-saga.com or comment below.
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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).
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