...I admit, I'm confused.

Is...is Roshaun dead? I'm having trouble accepting it, and it seems that Dairine is too. That last scene-- was it saying that Ro was not dead, en facto, just, er...lost? I mean, he wasn't in Timeheart (or whatever the hell that was), and there was a lot of talk about finding lost things and not accepting Death. So...anybody with a clear interpretation of all this?

Quite honestly, it seems to me that if DD isn't willing to knock off Ronan, how could she possibly knock off Roshaun? It just doesn't make sense for him to die. Especially after all the stuff about him and Dairine--which, by the way, sounded a lot like what Nita and Kit went through in HW--the "JUST REALLY CLOSE FRIENDS" deal but at the same time, awfully shippy.

Overall, I don't think I'll be able to deal if Prince Unlikely doesn't make an Unlikely return.

Roshaun is dead. He couldn't be more dead, he was incinerated in a star. I know how you feel, as he was my favourite character. However, DD did say that she was going to kill him off, and guess what? She did. That's life! (and death)

Now wait a second...

1) DD mentioned it in passing, I believe...it was never a "Oh damn, I hate him now, I'm gonna kill him."

2) Incinerated. If he was really, obviously incinerated, wouldn't the collar go too? And I bet Dairine would be a little less doubtful.

3) You haven't explained your dismissal of the "searching for what is lost in the real world" lines/the "timeheart" bit. So what was that?

It all sounded pretty ambiguous to me, and I think that requires a bit more thought than "he's dead as a doornail." Or perhaps more explaination as to why you think that? He was my favorite character too, and I'd just like to know, fan-to-fan, why you think he's so dead. More in-depth, more text related than just the actual "death" scene. I hate to sound offensive, but I just want more than that.

Personally, I don't think that Roshaun is dead. Dairine wasn't sure and when she went and checked it seemed to confirm her suspicions. So now she's going to look for him.

I think what happened was that Roshaun was doing a spell similar to the one Ronan did for his Ordeal. Roshaun may have been "taking the Sun in" and combined it with a matter transportation routine. It would explain the degree of control he had to exercise. It's possible that the backlash of the spell was too much to handle so now he's part of our Sun. As in his essence, his soul or whatever term you prefer is inextricably joined into the essence of the star.

Inextricable until Dairine figures it out and does something about it. So maybe we get to see something like this in WoM (DD - I'm hinting as plainly as I can!!)

Ah. I like that idea, Vidur. And it makes sense. I really didn't think Dairine would think that line about "unfinished business" if he was really dead. Dairine isn't the type to give herself up to false hopes, and for me that line was the clincher.

Now, in thinking about this more extensively since my first post, I'm beginning to think something a bit like what you said, Vidur, but not quite as complex--what Ro was using was a transport spell. What if he just lost control of that spell and got thrown willy-nilly off into the universe--hence the "searching" implied in the book (which you could of course take in the context of your theory too)?

Now, I know it sounds like I'm just fishing for what I want to hear, and I'm sorry if that offends you nightvol--I hate to alienate another Prince Unlikely fan.

Yeah, another vote that he's-not-dead. I'd crack up completely, though, if this turned out to be, Spikelike, a you-thought-I-burned-up-but-my-ghost-is-in-the-amulet kind of thing.

You know, I did think of that but it's too corny and I really hope that DD doesn't do something like that. The Harry Potter books have started becoming corny with prophecies and all the regular stuff you'd expect. I'm pretty sure the YW series will not go down THAT path, but after watching so many authors ruin their own work, I can't help feeling a little bit apprehensive at times.

Meh. Even if (when) Roshaun returns, and even if it is rather Spikelike, I'm confident that DD can pull it off sans corny. All right, I'll admit, whatever brings him back will make me happy.

...I was actually beginning to think he might pull a Tyrian (College of Magics by Caroline Stevermer) and conciously reincarnate. Which, if it is like Tyrian, could be pretty bittersweet anyways.

I wondered if Roshaun might be in the Sunstone, but I haven't seen enough Buffy to realise they'd used an idea like that.

I want to know what the sentence is that the emerald is strung on. I suppose we'll find out in AWoM.

Dairine certainly doesn't believe he's dead. Is she really in extreme denial? And how long has Nita been spying on her sister's dreams ?

I don't think Dairine would let herself be in extreme denial. That's a very un-Dari like thing.

In the sunstone? For some reason I feel like he would have made himself know if that was true. And wouldn't Nelaid and Miril be able to tell? But it is also, at the same time, the biggest lead we have so far.

Oh man. As soon as I noticed that line about what the string said (and it took a couple of readings to catch it) I went "SO?? WHAT DOES IT SAY, DAMMIT!" And then spent a lot of useless time re-reading and trying to guess. Do we have any clues, even? Oh, we'd better find out. It seems obvious to Dairine, at least. Ah, must go read again...

(PM--"...and how long has Nita been spying on her sister's dreams?" That, though humorous, is a good question. I hope we learn more about Nita's lucid dreaming talent in books to come, and exactly what all that entails. It could get interesting )

My guess would be that the sentence is an expression of her feelings about Roshaun, or her relationship/partnership with him. I love that she's met "the in-laws," as it were.

Okay...so I'm being a little obsessive-compulsive about this forum (checking every hour much? I kid, but seriously, I'm being a tad twitchy), but kli, on the in-laws thing...I adored that. And Ro's mother was all neat and nice and motherly (which is something that Dairine needs in her life), and his father was kind of scared of Dari

But I especially loved this bit (loosely quoted):

"He would be pleased to know that it was passed on to someone who he...felt was worthy of his attention."

Oh dear. "Just good friends", huh? (I know they're too young and all, but it's kind of a neat inference nonetheless, and I'm never opposed to romance). Then again, Nelaid seems to be prone to exaggeration/romanticism (the marriage stuff? Hello, she's twelve/thirteen).

...If the sentence expresses her feelings about Roshaun, then no wonder she doesn't want anyone to see it .

I'm still saying he's dead. People say things like "Dumbledore isn't really dead" as well. Unless I see some cold hard facts that he's not dead, I'm sticking with what I said. Characters die, and we can't do anything about it.

Well, there is a slight difference between the two cases. Dumbledore appears to have been hit by a known spell, the Killing Curse, after which he fell from the tallest tower in the castle (and from my attempt to build parts of the castle in 3D software, that's at least fourteen floors). His body was then seen by the hero and many others.

Roshaun vanished while doing a wizardry only he and Dairine appear to understand. Both Dairine and Ponch asked where he was almost immediately after his disappearance. There was no body, no ashes (which would follow, if solar heat were used to reduce him to a plasma - but I'd think reducing a human body to a plasma would have injured Dairine physically as the plasma expanded).

Nguyet may only have been in one book so far, but I'm concerned about her, too. "Burned. Burned out." - what? Did Tuyet mean his sister has "burnt out a fuse" and needs rest before doing any more wizardry? Did he mean her wizardry is spent, she burnt out all of it and will never be a wizard again? Did he mean her brain burnt out from the effort and she's now a vegetable? (If their parents don't know about wizardry, that's going to be very hard to explain!)

Alida: Yes, Nelaid clearly felt that Roshaun loved Dairine, whatever the two of them said. (Roshaun seemed to take it for granted they'd both return to Wellakh, too.) Spot made the necklace, but presumably took the sentence from Dairine's thoughts.

And the first draft of AWOM is with Harcourt, or being edited, right? So we just have to wait a year... or see if we can ask spoiler questions in the next of DD's online chats.

I keep going back and forth on whether he's dead or not. Most of the time, I'm going with not. The way the book ended (with Dairine looking for him and not finding him where she should have found him) seemed to leave things more open-ended than that.

While that hasn't stopped other authors from declaring death of their characters, I don't think I believe that.

I wondered if Roshaun was pulled into the sun, which was possibly part of the reason the Sunstone changed colours, rather than it passing into Dairine's hands. (Although that works too, as well.)

The vague comment about the sentence the emerald was strung on has been driving me mad since I first read it. Gah. That wasn't fair.

Uh... I don't have enough time to read this whole thing (sorry guys) but I got the feeling that Roshaun is alive at the end of the book... he's not in Timeheart, and Dairiene went looking for something. Either he's dead inside of something.... or he's alive. I rather prefer the latter if you know what I mean And I was one of the Roshaun haters during the excerpts of Holiday... hmmm, guess he kinda grew on me lol.

PM--You're right, of course...Nelaid is just as much of a shipper as I am!

I think I've reached my verdict though--he is just not dead. He might be "dead" but I don't think DD would give us so many hints to the contrary if he was. Open ended is the exact right way to describe it.

(Hm...spoiler questions...I really need to come to the chats.)

i definatly think roshaun is still alive.
y would it go in so much detail?
unless of course to make even more twists and turns, but i dont think it would fit, i mean, Timeheart was empty.

and how did the silicon things know?! how did they know that he wasn't dead?!

and i really reallywant to know what is on that necklace... though i bet it probly shows her feelings for Roshaun....


but, yea, he's alive

Tally up another vote for "Not Dead".

That whole situation was left way too wide open at the end of the book for DD to start the next one with "And it turned out Dairine was severely deluded and Roshaun was dead after all, even though he wasn't in Timeheart." Come on, now.

Eeeee, I love this whole forum for making learned Buffy and HP references! You guys make my day!

This forum is now officially my baby. 'Tis crazy.

Mel--The mobiles, you mean? I think they "knew" because

a) They're superubercrazyfast. Like, really. They're quick little buggers. They figure things out in miliseconds.

b) They're connected to Dairine. And I bet Dairine, being part of the spell, really did know all along that he wasn't dead. She just didn't want to set herself up for a huge disappointment, so she let herself stay ambivalent (or something to that affect). The mobiles, on the other hand, being, well, computers let themselves take in the facts more quickly than Dairine did.