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Why The Copper Islands Worship Mithros

In pretty much every religion out there, one of the big themes is the theme that hubris = bad. You can worship gods, but you cannot declare yourself equal to them or greater. When the luarin first came to the Copper Islands, they encountered the raka who, like the Sun God Mithros, have dark skin. The original luarin settlers took this to be hubris - the raka taking the same skin tone as their sun god, and so declaring themselves equal. Mithros and the Great Mother Goddess, who wanted the luarin to settle in the Copper Islands and kick Kyprioth to the curb, encouraged this idea. Rebellion, war, slavery, it all gets mixed up and hundreds of years later, no one can even remember why. This also helps explain the similar bigotry towards the Bazhir.

• Also, because she is the Great Mother Goddess, and because you are meant to take on aspects of your mother, it explains why all the characters considered the most universally attractive are the ones who most resemble her (i.e. white skin, black hair) like the Conte line and Thayet the Peerless.

After Lady Knight( but still in Tortall)

• Tobe finishes his indentureship with Kel and she recommends him to Evin Larse, who has taken over for Burri( who has taken to riding with the King's own). Tobe works for a while with Onua as Horse/Pony master for the Riders, before taking the position over fully when Onua finally retires.
• The three girls Kel met in Squire all survive Page training, and one ends up as Kel's squire.
  • Whether or not all three girls become pages is still unknown, but Word of God is that one of then does become Kel's squire.
• Some of the elder children of Haven/ New Hope decide they like bashing raider's heads, and want to follow in Kel's footstep, and join the riders. ( After all, they might be awesome, and times might be changing, but they were still commoners)

Cloud is a God

At the end of Realm of the Gods, after Numair and Daine have their big reunion, Cloud makes a comment about it being as lovely as fillies in the field, and her dialogue is typed in italics and bookended by colons. But only gods or dragons get their dialogue typed that way, regular People are just typed in italics. Now, this could be chalked up to a simple editing issue or it could be that Cloud is in fact a God in disguise, a greater god than even Mithros and the Great Mother Goddess, who has been guiding Daine and Numair throughout the entire trilogy, and not until now has she chosen to reveal this power, knowing that as inundated with gods as they have been, it wouldn't matter because they just wouldn't care!

• Maybe she's a constellation.

George kept a darking

Because, really, do you think the Whisper Man of Tortall would have let an opportunity to monitor the political situation in the Copper Isles pass him by?

In addition, he would also have been able to check on his daughter's safety, to a point. If he needed to get her out of a dangerous situation, he could do so.

Pounce/Faithful isn't just hanging out with certain humans because he's bored; he's actually breeding them.

The main characters of these books tend to have more communication with the Gods or unique/rare powers than most in the Tortall Universe, by far. Okay, so the Cat wants to spend time with special people who get important things done, that seems natural. If it weren't for the way most of the series end with the protagonist getting engaged to somebody with equally rare powers. We've already seen that the marriage of Alanna's and George's powerful Gift and Sight, respectively, produced a daughter with particularly powerful Sight. Who marries a crow. Going back to his ancestress, Beka, George himself could be seen as a product of careful breeding, of a girl who talks to the dead & the wind and a mage with a talent for using other peoples' magic. Both rare skills. Furthermore, George's mother has been known to be possessed by the Goddess herself. (Very end of Mastiff.)

Where is all of this heading? I don't know, but it's clear the Cat is guiding certain special people to their future mates, then disappearing. He even insisted Beka and Farmer get married before he had to return to the Divine Realms. He only died in Lioness Rampant once it was clear Alanna was going to choose George. Personally, I'm hoping the bloodline combination is meant to end with someone with every cool protagonist power seen so far. This person might be so powerful as to become a new god, even.

If one of Aly&Nawat's children married one of Daine&Numair's, that's be one heck of a power combination. Just thought I'd mention it.

• Maybe it's a hobby for him. Like breeding dogs.