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Codex Alera/Headscratchers: Difference between revisions
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* In the books most of the Alerans explicitly refer to the Marat as not Human. Yet the Marat are 2 armed intelligent bipeds just like anyone else. Is that technically true or is it [[Fantastic Racisim]] ?
** "Two-armed intelligent biped" != human. Otherwise, elves, [[Star Trek
** So the Marat are in fact, not human? Why exactly?
*** Because they're obviously not. Humans don't have white hair, white skin, canted eyes, and the biological ability to bond with other lifeforms. That's enough for the Alerans to identify them as not human.
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** Neither of the ideas are that terribly bad. It's just that attempting to fuse the two together would be difficult except for a particularly talented writer. Butcher basically combined the two concepts ''flawlessly.''
* For that matter, the series doesn't have much to do with Pokemon. The Alerans are really [[Avatar: The Last Airbender
** I think it's most obvious in ''Furies of Calderon'', where almost everyone can summon a manifest fury with a distinct appearance, personality, and attributes. Later books seem to move more away from the idea, as we learn that most city-born and Citizen crafters use "generic" furies that come across more as invisible spirits that give their summoner superpowers.
** There is mention throughout the series of actual discrete furies. Pretty much anytime Amara or Bernard or Isana are working, they use their own named furies, and even the High Lords seem to use specific furies. For example, Aquitaine has probably a dozen individual furies under his command that appear as discrete entities, and the the Vord Queen's entire strategy for attacking Riva hinges on the use of thousands of wild furies. The interaction between urban Citizens and their furies is more like Avatar-esque bending, while interactions between rural Citizens and their furies is much more in line with Pokemon.
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*** No. You ''can'' earn Citizenry by dueling a Citizen, yes. But you have to find a Citizen willing to do so and a ruler willing to recognize that. You can also earn it through distinguished military service, marriage, or appointment by the First Lord. All of these are more complex than they seem; you can be an extremely strong crafter like Isana but can't earn Citizenship because the local ruler won't arrange a Citizenship duel. There's a reason why relatively few women are Citizens. Also, most steadholders have little reason to desire Citizenship because that places greater responsibilities on their shoulders when they already enjoy the rights granted a Citizen on their holts and they don't want to get involved in politics.
* Is it just me, or do metalcrafters seem to get the short end of the stick, power wise? Their abilities all have seemingly more drawbacks than other crafters, are learnable by non-metalcrafters (if to a much lesser extent), or require one to be ridiculously good at metalcrafting, if not some combination of these. Additionally, they have very little, if any, use outside of combat, no discrete or wild furies are ever seen, and they can't manipulate their element like other crafters. They could be able to, say, turn metal into a semi-liquid state and "mold" it. This would allow them to repair armor, keep swords sharp, work with earth- and woodcrafters to make rebar for buildings and wagon wheels, make really complicated locks, sculpt beautiful statues, make dazzling jewelry, or simply [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|make silverware]].
** They actually do all of the above. The best smiths in Alera are metalcrafters who retired from the military. (Fade, for example, spends most of his time in Bernardholt working the smithy, before coming out of retirement). Also keep in mind that being able to actively serve in the military in Alera has a much greater meaning than in our world; the heavy emphasis on and prestige of serving in the Legions means that any metalcrafter is going to be highly-valued, especially as all able-bodied males serve a term in the Legions, where skilled metalcrafters will get noticed. It's no coincidence that nearly every single metalcrafter in the series is a soldier.
*** Oh. I must've missed it. [[The Other Wiki]] also mentions some stuff like because they can sense metal, they can fight in absolute darkness. It still seems a bit odd that we never see any metal furies, though; when the feral furies invade Riva in ''First Lord's Fury'', metal is the only fury that doesn't appear, when they could've been, say, creatures made of scythe-like blades.
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