RRTBI: Questions

In Questions, we meet Inquisitor Glokta, who beats confessions out of people and is not particularly liked by his superiors. Think you're ready? Then join Rocky as she reads The Blade Itself.


Well, we just met a whole slew of people. None of them having anything to do with Logen. Yet, at least. The POV character for this chapter is someone named Glokta, who is kinda bitter and injured. He's limping around on a cane and his left foot always causes him pain, so that probably explains why he's not such a stand up guy.

Oh, and his job is to beat people senseless until the confess to crimes and rattle off names of whoever else was a part of it. I mean, that can't really be good on your morale, so it probably adds to the bitterness.

Anyway, Glokta's sitting here interrogating Salem Rews, who was evading the King's taxes, and he keeps getting interrupted to talk to his superiors-- once by Superior Kalyne who is upset about Glokta being so independent/subordinate and Glokta has to pay him off, and once by Arch Lector Sult who also doesn't really like Glokta but likes his results and wants him to beat a confession out of Sepp dan Teufel. A confession for what? We don't get to know, Lector refuses to say. That means it's super awesome and devastating, whatever it is.

Glokta eventually gets back to Rews, and he-- after some persuading-- admits to the crime, as well as lists off people who were with him. On this list, Glokta tells him to add Sepp dan Teufel. Dun dun dun. Rews gets sent off to Angland, where Glokta doesn't think he'll last more than 6 weeks, and Glokta tells his people, Practical Frost and Practical Severard, to get ready to go arrest Teufel tonight.

The chapter has a lot of internal dialogue. It's kinda cool, I think. When we're with Logen as POV character, he doesn't really talk to himself in his head. He sometimes mutters under his breath, but more he exclaims out loud when something awesome or terrible happens. Like, when he was falling toward the cliff to his doom, but then caught on to the root, he shouted out in joy. Just, "Ha!" Little things like that. But Glokta on the other hand, is really snarky and witty, but he doesn't really say a lot of things outloud. He responds to people with sarcastic comments in his head, then actually says something appropriate to them. It's cool. And from his internal dialogue, we can sense that Glokta doesn't like what he's doing.

He and Rews were actually friends, once. And after he beats him up and gets him to sign the confession, he just sits there thinking about what he's doing. Beating Rews didn't make his leg hurt less. Getting him to sign the confession didn't make his front teeth grow back. He did all these horrible things to no gain of his own. And he can't figure out why he's doing it. It creates a little self-loathing on his part. Not enough for him to stop what he's doing, at least not yet, but enough that you don't just straight up hate Glokta.

Though I'm super curious. How in the world are Glokta and Logen going to connect? They seem like two completely different stories right now. I'm intrigued.

Is this where I beg for mercy? Is this where I crawl on the ground and kiss your feet? Well, I don't care enough to beg, and I'm far too stiff to crawl.