How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"I ran hot lead in the marrow of their bones, they will die of it." (7.70)
There's a lot of philosophical talk in this book about magic, so it's interesting to see some more traditional magic. And by "traditional," we mean this is a spell you could find in a video game. But notice also that it's the untrustworthy Serret who uses this magic. Do we ever see Ged and Vetch use magic like this? Or would that upset the Balance?
Quote #8
The creatures returned to the attack: botched beasts, belonging to ages before bird or dragon or man, long since forgotten by the daylight but recalled by the ancient, malign, unforgetful power of the Stone. (7.75)
A lot of the supernatural elements that Le Guin uses in this book are good old fantasy standbys (like dragons), but the Servants of the Stone are pretty original. They exist beyond the categories of bird, dragon, man (which might be the Earthsea equivalent of animal, vegetable, mineral). We're just not sure what they are. How does that affect the way you read about them?
Quote #9
"That is, I saw a presentment of you, or an imitation of you, or maybe simply a man who looks like you." (9.18)
We find this list from Vetch kind of hilarious since it moves from supernatural reasons to totally natural reasons. It's the kind of list you have to make when you have the supernatural in the world – that is, just because there are wizards and shadow monsters doesn't mean there aren't also non-supernatural reasons for a thing.