62 pages • 2 hours read
Steven EriksonGardens of the Moon
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1999A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Book 3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Book 3: “The Mission”
Book 3, Chapter 8 Summary
Whiskeyjack and the Bridgeburners arrive on the shore of Lake Azul, outside Darujhistan. Whiskeyjack’s original orders had been to detonate explosives at the city gate. He changes the plan, telling his squad, “The original plan’s been scrapped, since it was intended to get us all killed. I didn’t like that part” (191). Instead, they decide to enter the city unnoticed and plant explosives at various city intersections.
Quick Ben contacts Hairlock, tracing the puppet deep into a Warren of power. Quick Ben worries that Hairlock has gone dangerously far into ancient magic. Hairlock updates the wizard about Tattersail’s encounter with the Hound of Shadow.
Book 3, Chapter 9 Summary
Paran is hiding in Tattersail’s rooms, unsure of his next step. He wonders what will happen to his mission and Adjunct Lorn’s plans since Whiskeyjack left for Darujhistan without him. He worries about Hairlock, suspecting that the puppet wants Tattersail dead. Although Paran does not know Tattersail, he feels some connection to her because she nursed him to health, and then he did the same for her.
Tattersail wakes. Her first words are, “I heard the coin drop, Captain” (205). She and Paran discuss Paran’s injury, and Tattersail confirms that a god must have intervened to save him. They agree that the god will expect service or payment in return. Paran is attracted to Tattersail and is surprised to find how much compassion he feels toward her.
Paran reveals that he’s been working for Adjunct Lorn for years. At first, this makes Tattersail suspicious. She deduces that Adjunct Lorn’s mission involves more than just killing Sorry. Tattersail suggests to Paran that the Adjunct may be trying to kill all the Bridgeburners, but Paran resists the idea. Tattersail resolves to leave Pale to warn Whiskeyjack. Before she goes, she and Paran sleep together.
Toc the Younger searches the plains outside of Pale, looking for Adjunct Lorn. She is late for their planned rendezvous. While he is searching, Toc finds evidence of a conflict between the Adjunct and some Barghasts, a race of nomadic warriors.
Adjunct Lorn and her few remaining guards fight more Barghasts on a nearby hill. The Adjunct fights well, but her guards are killed, and she injures her shoulder, leaving her helpless to defend herself further. Just in time, a skeleton bursts out of the ground and defeats the Adjunct’s attackers. This skeleton is Onos T’oolan (also known as Tool), a T’lan Imass.
Adjunct Lorn and Toc travel to Pale. The Adjunct notes how discontented the army seems. She meets with Dujek and with Tayschrenn, demanding that Tayschrenn leave the governing of Pale to Dujek. Adjunct Lorn recognizes Dujek’s skill as a military commander and also sees the deep loyalty that the army has to him.
Adjunct Lorn recognizes Tattersail’s name from her childhood; Tattersail had been one of the imperial mages to “cleanse” Malaz City of sorcery during the events described in the Prologue. Adjunct Lorn’s family lived in Malaz City, and her parents died in the aftermath of the violence there. Adjunct Lorn was taken to join the Claw after the violence. The Adjunct confronts Tattersail, who does not defend her actions. Dujek defends her, stating that many—himself included—committed violence in the name of the empire and that it would be unsustainable to punish them all.
Adjunct Lorn leaves Pale after only one night. She travels with Tool into the wilderness between Pale and Darujhistan.
Book 3, Chapter 10 Summary
Paran sets up a meeting with Toc the Younger, who had believed him dead. Toc convinces Paran that the Adjunct’s mission includes more than just killing Sorry. Paran resolves to leave for Darujhistan, hoping to catch up with Tattersail to help her warn Whiskeyjack. Toc decides to travel with him.
Tattersail travels with magic, through her Warren, for some time before she is forced back onto solid earth. When she reemerges from her Warren, she meets Bellurdan. Bellurdan is carrying the body of Nightchill, hoping to find a place to bury her. Tayschrenn has sent him to arrest Tattersail or kill her if she resists. Tattersail delays by asking Bellurdan about his previous work for Tayschrenn. Bellurdan reveals that he had researched a powerful ancient being, a Jaghut Tyrant. Tattersail, terrified, deduces that Adjunct Lorn and her T’lan Imass companion, Tool, plan to release the Jaghut from his burial grounds near Darujhistan.
Tattersail kills herself and Bellurdan with magic. Before doing so, she notices the preservation spell she cast on Nightchill’s body in Chapter 3. She plans to use that spell to perform something like the soul shifting that was used on Hairlock. It is not until Chapter 11 that the reader learns that Tattersail was successful in moving her soul into a different body.
Paran and Toc find Tattersail and Bellurdan’s charred bodies. Tattersail’s death rouses Paran’s vengeful anger. He blames Adjunct Lorn and wants vengeance.
Crone meets for an update with Caladan Brood, a longtime ally of Anomander Rake. Brood is waging the northern war against the Malazan Empire along with the mercenary Crimson Guard and Barghast armies. Upon hearing about the Coin Bearer and Oponn’s involvement, Brood decides to send some Crimson Guard agents to protect the Coin Bearer, Crokus. He thinks Oponn’s involvement can be used to their advantage and does not want to let Anomander Rake’s distrust of the gods prevent that from happening.
On the plains, Hairlock emerges from his Warren and attacks several Great Ravens. Crone sees this and vows to warn Anomander Rake about Hairlock. Tool senses the magic as well and is unnerved as Hairlock seems immune to magical barriers and shields.
Book 3 Analysis
Titled “The Mission,” in reference to Adjunct Lorn’s secret mission to release the Jaghut tyrant from its burial ground in the hills outside of Darujhistan, Book 3 centers most prominently on Adjunct Lorn. It is in Chapter 8 that readers first discover that Lorn possesses a rare sword made from Otataral, “the ore that kills magic” (203). This is an important detail of characterization. Not only does her sword kill magic, but it means that healing magic won’t work on her body and that she is especially sensitive to the “signature” and feel of magic being used. With these details, the author establishes Adjunct Lorn as a foil to the magic-wielding characters in the novel, specifically a foil to Tattersail.
Characters masking their true selves is a repeating motif in Gardens of the Moon. The motif makes a prominent appearance in Book 3 as Adjunct Lorn wrestles with the ghosts of her past. Upon meeting Tattersail and realizing that she can’t take retribution for personal harms done to her, the Adjunct consciously distinguishes between her self-identity as “Lorn” and as “Adjunct Lorn.” The latter is the mask that she must wear to do her job, a mask she’s worn so long that she wonders if it is becoming her whole identity. The former is the core of humanity and personal feelings that she carries with her, feelings like grief and empathy which have no place in the service of the empress’s harsh reign. The motif of concealing one’s true self supports the theme of The Positive and Negative Aspects of the Human Condition, which Lorn’s inner conflict exemplifies.
Adjunct Lorn’s encounter with Tattersail also emphasizes the tension at the heart of Rebellion Against Conquest. In this case, Adjunct Lorn (a high-up, dedicated imperial servant) longs to hold Tattersail accountable for violence that was perpetrated in the name of the previous empire; Adjunct Lorn desires to rebel against the conquest that her family was subject to years ago, even though she now subjects countless people to similar violent tyranny. Adjunct Lorn’s conflicted attitude underscores the novel’s overall rejection of tyranny and conquest.
Book 3 introduces the reader to two additional non-human races who occupy this fictional world alongside humans: the T’lan Imass and Barghasts. The Barghasts, an ancient and nomadic people, play larger roles in other books in the series. The T’lan Imass are undead creatures, made immortal by an ancient ritual that infused them with the magic of the Tellann Warren. This history is significant to understanding Tool’s role in Adjunct Lorn’s mission because the T’lan Imass people are powerful magical beings created to defeat the Jaghuts. As such, Tool has a better understanding of the Jaghut Tyrant than anyone else in the novel and is able to lead Adjunct Lorn directly to the Jaghut’s burial site. Tool is not only instrumental in helping Adjunct Lorn complete her mission, but his non-humanness provokes her to think about her own race’s failings, encouraging her to be more introspective in his company than she might be otherwise.
Chapters 9 and 10 mark an important turning point for Paran, whose loyalties shift away from Adjunct Lorn and the empire toward Tattersail and the Bridgeburners. His developing affection for Tattersail and his realization that Adjunct Lorn means to kill the squad over which she has offered him command lead Paran down a path of Rebellion Against Conquest. Fueled by anger, affection, and loyalty, Paran will defy not only conquest by the empire but will come to defy being controlled by the gods as well. Tattersail’s death is a dramatic and tragic moment; she is forced to kill a longtime colleague, Bellurdan, in a gambit to save her life. Tattersail will have no further involvement in the action of the novel, although her supposed death is an important motivating factor for Paran. Tattersail will be reborn as Silverfox and plays a role in the later novels of the series.
