“ | "Burned a whole fucking pile of ’em," hissed Dow, grinning like he never heard such a joke as corpses on fire.1 | ” |
Flatheads is the fifteenth chapter in The Blade Itself.
Chapter Summary[]
Logen’s old crew2 are revealed to have survived the Shanka attacking their camp where Logen fell over the cliff. They have split up since, and now the Dogman3 and Tul Duru Thunderhead are waiting at the pre-arranged spot to meet up with the others. While Tul paces impatiently, Dogman tries to keep things calm.
Before they know it, Black Dow and Harding Grim appear out of the woods. Dow is being belligerent and sharp-tongued with the others, especially Tul, when Rudd Threetrees shows up with Forley the Weakest in tow. Dow turns his ire on Threetrees, squaring up to him and trying to assume leadership of the crew, since Logen is presumed dead. Once again, Dogman plays peacemaker; Threetrees was Logen’s second, so he is now the leader. Dow tries to stare down the others, but everyone else agrees, and Dow is forced to relent. Threetrees decides that they will head south.
Along the way south, they encounter a small camp of Shanka. Threetrees decides the crew should kill them in an attack that hinges on a signal, which no one bothers to demonstrate ahead of time. The signal ends up being Dow running into the Shanka camp like a bat out of hell, resulting in a surprisingly successful raid. After killing all the Shanka, they realise that the Shanka incursions in the North are greater than they thought. They really should warn someone.4 But who?
Characters[]
Introduced | Appeared | Mentioned |
---|---|---|
The Dogman | Logen Ninefingers | |
Tul Duru Thunderhead | ||
Black Dow | ||
Harding Grim | ||
Rudd Threetrees | ||
Forley the Weakest |
Locations and Terms[]
The North | Shanka |
References[]
- Black Dow is a bad man. He’s not the toughest guy on the block maybe, but it definitely seems he’s most lacking in human decency.
- Threetrees' dialogue indicates that most of the members of the crew were defeated by Logen in duels and only allowed to live by Logen’s grace. They owe Logen their lives as a result. Most of them seem to respect that debt, while Black Dow does so reluctantly.
- This is the first chapter for the Dogman. I've always respected how Joe introduces his six POV characters. Logen gets three of the first four chapters to establish him. Then Glokta and Jezal are also introduced. Only after Logen, Glokta and Jezal are fully established is Dogman, and eventually Ferro, slowly introduced. West is kind of sneaked in because his POV tangents off Jezal.
- Dogman and the rest of the crew are bad men, and could be despicable, but Joe gives them human decency and makes them underdogs. They take responsibility for warning others of the Shanka incursions, something that seems far too large for such a rampant band of thugs.