In that last dance of chances

nigigi

Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2008
Messages
6
untill now i haven't seen anyone talkes about the poem the Fool has wrote to Fitz. i would like to read how others think about it.
i think when i first read it - it broke my heart.
i am still heartbroken....:(
 
I only completed the trilogy in June (a latecomer to these wonderful 9 books) but even now I can't read the Fool's poem without crying. To know Beloved has gone away with so much dignity but full of longing for Fitz, his one true love, is heartbreaking and Hobb makes it feel so real.
 
One of the few poems in a fantasy book that i actually liked. A lot.
Erikson and Tolkien fail at it.
 
I love it, too. In my mind it is sung in a very sad but beautiful melody which is probably a rip-off from some popular song as I am definitely not a musician :)

The words are very beautiful and though it is a little (alright; a lot) bizare, I would like them read at my own funeral (which hopefully isn't due any time soon).
 
I think the entire ending is sad, touching, and depressing. I grew to love Beloved and I really thought that he got screwed. At the end of the book he left thinking that FitzChivalry was dead, probably wandering toward his school somewhere god-awful far away with no way to contact him, thinking that he was the one who set into motion Fitz's death since he could not predict or foresee anthing after his own death, and he was the one who severed the Skill-link that would have let him know that Fitz lived.

Boy just thinking about this gets me sad and angry....
 
Fitz should have gone with the Fool. I was so upset by the ending of that book. Fitz and the Fool belonged together. I hated that he ended up with Molly.
 
Anyone know where i can find the passage where some minstrels come sing at court, and one sings about Fitzchilvalry the witted *******?
 
Nvm, i found it.
It is when Starling comes to visit his cabin in book1.
 
Fitz should have gone with the Fool. I was so upset by the ending of that book. Fitz and the Fool belonged together. I hated that he ended up with Molly.

I honestly don't know how you can say that. Am I the only one that noticed the gulf that was created between Fitz and the Fool after the Fool was brought back to life? Did you not notice his lack of emotion and state of confusion. The Fool is a different being after his resurrection. He is a Prophet living beyond his time and therefore can't hold the same relationship with Fitz. In fact, I think Fitz was acting somewhat selfish when he brought the Fool back to life. He only considered the relief of his own grief and didn't consider how the Fool would feel. The Fool accepted death and he died in a state of mental happiness knowing that Fitz would be able to live a happy life afterwards.

Also, I can't believe how you hate Fitz ending up with Molly. I absolutely loved that ending. In fact, the main motivation I had in reading the Tawny Man was knowing that there would be some sort of reconciliation between the two of them. How could there not be? When Molly was torn out of his life, he was absolutely devasted. That was probably the most heart-wrenching scene in Fitz's life for me. It might be because at the time I read it I was of a similar age to Fitz and I could relate to that better. So, I was hoping that by the end Molly would at least understand his absence from her life. The way it ended was even better than I imagined.
 
The ending with the Fitz and Fool was great (apart from the Fool thinking Fitz was dead, that was just depressing). The rest was bittersweet. The sort of thing that stays with you long after. However...Why does he have to be with Molly? It's not right! It's unrealistic! It's unnecessary!
 
You guys, come on! I am totally with temaire on this one. Without Molly, Fitz would still have been introverted and solitary, even if Beloved or Nighteyes had still been alive. To me, Molly makes him whole.

The Tawny Man ending was very well constructed, it was tragically beautiful and bittersweet but never would I call it depressing or unnecessary! Of course it's not a "happy" ending. But ask yourself, did you realy believe Fitz would live happy ever after with both the Fool and Molly? The answer I suspect, is no. He is the White Prophet.

For those of you in doubt, read the epilogue again;

I count myself fortunate for what I had of them.

I have Molly and she is enough for me, and more.


I am content.
 
I can't believe I've only just found this thread.

In that last dance of chances... I love that poem. It made me get a little misty-eyed when I read it the first time, and every time since. I thought that it summed up so beautifully the way the Fool felt about Fitz, and how the precious the memories that they had shared would become to the Fool after their parting.
 
The ending with the Fitz and Fool was great (apart from the Fool thinking Fitz was dead, that was just depressing). The rest was bittersweet. The sort of thing that stays with you long after. However...Why does he have to be with Molly? It's not right! It's unrealistic! It's unnecessary!

It's not entirely unrealistic, since the two still love eachother, and they ave a connection through Nettle and Burrich. That said i do understand why a lot of people dislike Molly. I don't hate her myself, i just think that for a woman whom supposedly has a rather strong will, she moved on from Fitz rather fast. She left Fitz a month or two into her pregnancy, Fitz 'fake-died' around 5-6 month i think, She *bleeped* and fell in love with Burrich a month or so after Nettle was born. Basically she moved on from Fitz in less then half a year after he died, and in less then a year then she left him. For me, that's quick seeing as she loved Fitz oh-so-much and she was carrying his child.

Same thing with Burrich, how many months did it take for her to move on from Burrich back to Fitz? Not long in any case. And that after years of marriage, and a boatload of kids.

I liked her at the start, but after reading about how fickle she was i could no longer do so. It's not dislike, it's not hate, i just would have preferred it he he'd had fallen in love with Duke's daughter, i liked her.
 
I hated that he ended up with Molly.
I agree. I'm not sure that he should have ended up with the Fool - their ending was much more powerful the way it's written - but I thought it was too neat and a little unbelievable that these childhood sweethearts could lose each other completely, become entirely different people and then settle back into a life with one another.

And yeah, that Duke's daughter and her sister were awesome. Fitz totally should've hooked up with one of them.
 
Absolutely love this poem.

I always shed tears reading it. It captures Beloved's heart.

I just re-read the entire Farseer series (9 books), and yet again I'm not convinced Fitz could actually be at peace or content without Beloved/Fool in his life - especially considering the way they parted ways.

My heart breaks to think that the Fool left thinking Fitz was dead. I hope the Fool finds love again with someone who will be able to reciprocate it.
 
Re opening an old thread as I am re-reading Farseer and TM. The last dance poem was so sad! Moves me every time. I love how RH often wrote about something and then a few books later, ties it back to the first reference. The first time Fitz and Fool "danced" was when Fool was visiting Fitz at the cabin in FE. In one of their intimate fireside chats, Ftz and Fool had too much to drink and were unsteady on their feet. Fitz "I staggered a step sideways and he moved with me, then caught my elbow, righting me. "Care to dance?" I jested feebly as he steadied me. "We already do", he responded, almost seriously." Of course, towards the end of FF, Fool wrote this poem of the end of their dance (sob sob ... so sad!)

"In that last dance of chances
I shall partner you no more.
I shall watch another turn you
As you move across the floor.
In that last dance of chances
When I bid your life good-bye
I will hope she treats you kindly.
I will hope you learn to fly.
In that last dance of chances
When I know you'll not be mine
I will let you go with longing
And the hope that you'll be fine.
In that last chance of dances
We shall know each other's minds.
We shall part with our regrets
When the tie no longer binds."
 
Hi - I have just re-read Assasin, Ship, and Tawny Man triologi, and then read the Fool's Assasin.
No spoilers - The poem "Last Dance of Chances" and the way Fool and Fitz parted simply broke my heart. A ******* prince in hiding and a blind White Phrophet - and Fitz simply being contend. Though I liked Beloved more than Molly, she is his first love, and he recived back his feelings for her just there, in the mountains: everything sad and hard hapened fast, while love and companienship came slow and with effort for Fitz - which I find in line with his character, and what else would he do, if not going back to being some hermit.
And the poem - and Fools actions- clearly shows that Fool considers them done, for now, forever, who knows. In parting comes freedom to them both, though sorrow is also there. I did however note how a final descicion was not taken by either, but sort of happened by Fitz reckless behavior /ability to catch bad luck.

The poem is so hearbreakenly sad; it is also about hope, and leaving things to end, and.. well mourn I guess... I like the "I have never been wise" memory -also this makes me think that they are not totally done for...
I found a picture of the Fool and his "Last dance" on Devian art (no reference, dont know if it is cosher ,> ...but it is asian inspired redish, and shows the Fool in black) and with this as inspiration I made the poem into a song, with a simple midevial inspired tune.

I came to wonder - have anyonelse done/found/tried putting this poem into song/music?
I now have a set tune in my head, but was sort of wondering if I was the only one so captured by theese books, this complex relationship between Fool and Fitz, that I in my sadness and the empiness (untill Fool's Assassin) clung to this poem and made it into a song in my head...
I would like to hear other versions - can anyone help me search?
 
I honestly don't know how you can say that. Am I the only one that noticed the gulf that was created between Fitz and the Fool after the Fool was brought back to life? Did you not notice his lack of emotion and state of confusion. The Fool is a different being after his resurrection. He is a Prophet living beyond his time and therefore can't hold the same relationship with Fitz. In fact, I think Fitz was acting somewhat selfish when he brought the Fool back to life. He only considered the relief of his own grief and didn't consider how the Fool would feel. The Fool accepted death and he died in a state of mental happiness knowing that Fitz would be able to live a happy life afterwards.

Also, I can't believe how you hate Fitz ending up with Molly. I absolutely loved that ending. In fact, the main motivation I had in reading the Tawny Man was knowing that there would be some sort of reconciliation between the two of them. How could there not be? When Molly was torn out of his life, he was absolutely devasted. That was probably the most heart-wrenching scene in Fitz's life for me. It might be because at the time I read it I was of a similar age to Fitz and I could relate to that better. So, I was hoping that by the end Molly would at least understand his absence from her life. The way it ended was even better than I imagined.


I am sure you get a lot of grief about your feelings toward Molly and Fitz, just know you are not alone, I feel the same way you do ..
 
Hi and welcome to the Chrons, toorro !:)

You know that Molly is dead now and Fitz is still looking for their daughter in the new series The Fitz and the Fool trilogy ?
 
Yep. I will give Molly that she was a good mother which is exactly that which Fitz sought after. A family person. I still would have preferred the Duke's daughter. And as naive as it sounds, I still feel she moved on to quickly.

That poem remains one of the best I ever read.
 

Similar threads


Back
Top