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Meta Month 9 - Soren and the Sage
Tonight's meta goes hand in hand with a visitor at any hour, the piece I slaved away at through August. If you have any intention of reading that fic at all, I ask for you to save this meta post until after you've read it.
Canonically speaking, the sage makes an incredibly brief appearance in Ike/Soren B support. Everything ever said of him is right here.
And yet, I think the sage's role has long been distorted or underestimated. Fanfiction has long favored the view that the sage was horribly abusive, and that Soren's proclamation that the sage was any better only shows how shitty his life was with the woman. (The pleasant exception to this is Asidian's Motivation, which overall takes a view similar to what I've outlined here -- I probably owe some subconscious influence to that fic.) This is far from a complete listing. Fics are rather fond of demonizing the sage to make Ike's role greater.
Is that even necessary? Ike did a remarkable thing in saving Soren's life, sage or no sage. And regardless of any interpretation, it is canon that Ike's aid was unconditional while the sage's was very much conditional. And it is furthermore canon that Ike was the first one who was interested in having a conversation with Soren. ("...I was happy, too. Not just because I wasn't hungry anymore. Because someone finally would talk to me." - 4-F-5 Base) These are the things that canon points out as the things that Soren remembers about that first meeting, and it is powerful enough as it is.
In fact, I think a more sympathetic sage makes that encounter with Ike richer rather than weaker.
Logically speaking, Ike did not keep his promise. He said he would come back the next day to feed Soren, and he didn't. Soren is not left with an explanation. Yet instead of assuming that Ike had forgotten or simply went back on his word and therefore was just another uncaring person, Soren chased him across the continent. I think that says a lot about his ability to trust and attach. Desperate or not, a child who had only ever known uncaring people would not have attached his hopes to another person. Almedha was probably there for his infancy, which does a lot for him. But I think the sage was also important in that he was reliable. The sage provided a state of constancy and security.
And, though strict and perhaps harsh, the sage wanted an apprentice.
True, teachers were not fluffy and ~always there for you~ back in that age. In Ancient Egypt I believe that the words for teacher and punishment were somehow related. The rod was certainly common practice. Figures like Saleh and Pent would've been the exception rather than the norm.
And yet, in such a one-on-one mentorship, the sage would've been passing on his own knowledge and style to a child day after day for two years. And, the sage was without a successor until such an old age. Additionally, in the English he lived quite a ways from the nearest signs of civilization. It wouldn't be such a leap to suggest that he was a lonely kind of guy. Could he remain apathetic for so long toward a child, the only person he has had regular contact with, that he is trying to carve as an image of himself?
Yes, Soren's remarks that the life with the sage was "the best I had known/far better" is relative. The sage definitely worked him at least as hard as you imagine those little tiny 6-year-old piano prodigies are worked. It was a childhood that deprived him of many joys and kept him from learning things other than magic. And in many ways their dynamic was starkly professional.
But the sage cared in part about Soren. It would've been hard for him not to. Soren probably sensed that in a way he couldn't quite put into words.
And when Ike came along, I suspect his impossible levels of hope came at least partly from a need to replace the caregiver he'd just lost.
Canonically speaking, the sage makes an incredibly brief appearance in Ike/Soren B support. Everything ever said of him is right here.
| Character | English | Japanese | My Rough Translation |
| Soren | The sage was old, and knew that death would soon come for him. His only goal was to teach his art to an apprentice. As time was short, he put me through terribly rigorous magic training. We worked day and night, without cease. I didn't even have time to think about who I really was. But it was still a better life than I had ever known. When the sage died two years later, I had acquired much magical skill. Perhaps too much for a child of my age... At any rate, once I had eaten all of the food in the sage's hovel, I left and walked for days to find help. Upon reaching civilization, I came to another grim realization... I couldn't speak. Not a word. | 賢者は死期が近く、 自分の知識を受け継ぐ者を求めていました。▼ 時間がないと言って、 寝食の時間をも惜しんで魔道の修行に 明け暮れさせられました。▼ でも…僕にとっては、 女との生活よりはるかにましでした。▼ 自分が何者であるかを 振り返る余裕もなかったので。▼ ２年後、賢者が死んだ時には…… 僕は一通りの魔道を身につけていました。▼ 賢者の館に食べる物がなくなったので、 外に出て町に行きました。▼ そして…… 僕は…初めて気付きました。 自分が一言も口がきけないことに。 | The sage's time of death was near, so he wanted someone to inherit his knowledge. He said he had no time, and being frugal with even time for eating and sleeping, we spent all our time on the study of magic. % But... to me, compared to living with the woman, this was better by far. Because I didn't even have the time to look back wondering what kind of person I am. Two years later, when the sage died... I had learned a full run of magic. Because the sage's house ran out of food, I left, into the outside world, and went to the village. And then... I... for the first time I realized. The fact that my mouth could not make even a single word be heard.% |
| Ike | Soren... | …セネリオ…… | ... Senerio... |
| Soren | Oh, I could read and write better than most of the villagers. And I could understand what they said. I just couldn't talk. I couldn't help it. The woman and the sage both used to hurl words at me. Unkind words, usually. But I never needed to answer, so-- | 読み書きはできました。 相手の言葉も理解できます。 だけど…自分では何も話せない。▼ 仕方なかったんです。▼ 女も賢者も、僕に一方的に 言葉を投げつけはしたものの 返事を必要としなかったので…… | I could read and write. I can also understand their words. But... I can't say a thing.*4 It couldn't be helped. Even though the woman and the sage both one-sidedly threw words at me, it did not require a response, so...%3 |
And yet, I think the sage's role has long been distorted or underestimated. Fanfiction has long favored the view that the sage was horribly abusive, and that Soren's proclamation that the sage was any better only shows how shitty his life was with the woman. (The pleasant exception to this is Asidian's Motivation, which overall takes a view similar to what I've outlined here -- I probably owe some subconscious influence to that fic.) This is far from a complete listing. Fics are rather fond of demonizing the sage to make Ike's role greater.
Is that even necessary? Ike did a remarkable thing in saving Soren's life, sage or no sage. And regardless of any interpretation, it is canon that Ike's aid was unconditional while the sage's was very much conditional. And it is furthermore canon that Ike was the first one who was interested in having a conversation with Soren. ("...I was happy, too. Not just because I wasn't hungry anymore. Because someone finally would talk to me." - 4-F-5 Base) These are the things that canon points out as the things that Soren remembers about that first meeting, and it is powerful enough as it is.
In fact, I think a more sympathetic sage makes that encounter with Ike richer rather than weaker.
Logically speaking, Ike did not keep his promise. He said he would come back the next day to feed Soren, and he didn't. Soren is not left with an explanation. Yet instead of assuming that Ike had forgotten or simply went back on his word and therefore was just another uncaring person, Soren chased him across the continent. I think that says a lot about his ability to trust and attach. Desperate or not, a child who had only ever known uncaring people would not have attached his hopes to another person. Almedha was probably there for his infancy, which does a lot for him. But I think the sage was also important in that he was reliable. The sage provided a state of constancy and security.
And, though strict and perhaps harsh, the sage wanted an apprentice.
True, teachers were not fluffy and ~always there for you~ back in that age. In Ancient Egypt I believe that the words for teacher and punishment were somehow related. The rod was certainly common practice. Figures like Saleh and Pent would've been the exception rather than the norm.
And yet, in such a one-on-one mentorship, the sage would've been passing on his own knowledge and style to a child day after day for two years. And, the sage was without a successor until such an old age. Additionally, in the English he lived quite a ways from the nearest signs of civilization. It wouldn't be such a leap to suggest that he was a lonely kind of guy. Could he remain apathetic for so long toward a child, the only person he has had regular contact with, that he is trying to carve as an image of himself?
Yes, Soren's remarks that the life with the sage was "the best I had known/far better" is relative. The sage definitely worked him at least as hard as you imagine those little tiny 6-year-old piano prodigies are worked. It was a childhood that deprived him of many joys and kept him from learning things other than magic. And in many ways their dynamic was starkly professional.
But the sage cared in part about Soren. It would've been hard for him not to. Soren probably sensed that in a way he couldn't quite put into words.
And when Ike came along, I suspect his impossible levels of hope came at least partly from a need to replace the caregiver he'd just lost.