“ | Did I? How wonderful. I daresay if I’d died on that bridge there’d be statues of me all over the place. Shame I didn’t, really. Shame for everyone.1 | ” |
Old Friends is the thirty-ninth chapter in The Blade Itself.
Chapter Summary
Inquisitor Glokta is in his rooms late at night, when there is a knock at the door from his former friend Collem West. West seems nervous, and tries to reminisce about the old times before getting to the point, but Glokta coldly refuses to indulge him. Eventually, West admits he has come to ask Glokta a favour; would Glokta watch over his sister while he is in Angland?
Years of bitterness rises in Glokta, and he berates West for never visiting him when he needed him, broken and alone after the Gurkish war. West is bewildered by Glokta’s reaction; he actually did visit him twice, but was turned away by him mother, who had always disapproved of her son’s friendship with the common-born soldier.
Glokta is rocked by the revelation, which forces him to re-evaluate his hostility towards West. They bond over their shared self-loathing, and he agrees to look in on Ardee. The pair part on good terms, Glokta’s faith in humanity restored, but barely.2
Characters
Introduced | Appeared | Mentioned |
---|---|---|
Sand dan Glokta | Ardee West | |
Collem West | Salem Rews | |
Locations and Terms
Adua | The Union | First Gurkish War | The Gurkish Empire | Angland | The North |
First Northern War | Union Army |
References
- We learn that Glokta not only served in the war, but was genuinely a war-hero, hold a bridge while the Union Army retreated.
- Right when we start to think Glokta might not be a cold hearted bastard, we get the little nugget that Salem Rews, who he tortured and sent to prison in Angland, actually served with him in the war.