Final Quest # 13

If Sunstream can be shape-changed to live underwater with them, I'm pretty sure they can be shape-changed to live comfortably on land.

manga wrote:

Arthis wrote:

Beside, I think that among the many retcons brought by Final Quest, WordsofWendy said that there were too many healers in the Wavedancers tribe, and that Reef was no longer one of them (but a shapeshifter instead).

Oh for the love of Mike... you made your bed, now lie in it!  It's no more silly that there may be a tribe with a tendency toward healing than that every single elf in Blue Mountain (with the exception of Winnowill) was a flyer.  Work with it, find a way to use it - why not have a Wavedancer healer choose to stay in the Palace (well, besides this whole "you have to be evolved enough to deserve it" thing she's got going) or even join another tribe that needs more healers?  You know what would be neat - if one joined Shenshen in her work among the humans.  I'm sure she needs it - I'm not sure her skills are much good against Pre-eclampsia.

Or at least pick someone whose backstory does not hinge on an attempted healing.  Bah.

If it is indeed a retcon - It's a shame, when a comic, that sure has been around for a little bit - has already done some retcons. I can "understand" it (doesn't mean I typically liked it), when Marvel or DC would do a retcon - these are comics and characters that have been around for 60 years... I think it was a "quick, and easy" out to say that he's not a healer; why not go with he used his "healing" to reshape his body and burned out his magic or something? Anything? Rather than, a retcon. Not that I care too much (for Reef, or even the Wave Dancers in general; but for those that do, this seems like a cheap cop out).

I can accept that Reef is damaged-- that he maybe can't do now all of the things he could do before. Maybe he can't heal anymore. That seems plausible, given his character arc. I don't have a problem with it.

As for the two dead guys outside... maybe Reef killed them. Maybe Rayek did. I don't know that it's such a violation of state ethics in any case. Only Cutter has ever said "No elf must die" and only Leetah was shocked by deliberate violence. Others have been shown to be very willing to kill. Rayek actually threatened to kill Cutter in Book 1-- when he stabbed the pig in front of him. Then, later, was willing to wipe out the majority of elves on the planet- in order to save the High Ones. Go Backs killed Sun Folk- didn't they? During that attack on Sorrow's End. Winnowed has obviously caused or allowed some deaths. Aroree didn't kill Kureel-- but she thought she had and she was willing to. Just because it had never happened before, when Strongbow did kill Kureel, in "the collective memory of four elf tribes"-- didn't mean it had never happened or could never happen. It just meant that no one knew of it having happened. But it wasn't against everyone's personal ethics.

As for the rest of it... I pretty much agree with what's been said.

One of my favourite lines from this issue is this one:

"She is her mother and father's daughter. She makes no sound."

I've always found it funny how unlike either of her parents Venka is, but maybe the truth is that she's very like both of them; taking all of the best, and none of the worst.
+ =
Could you imagine Rayek or Kahvi crying out in a situation like this? Of course, part of Kahvi's worst could be that she'd refuse to get healed, even in a situation like this. However, as long as she wouldn't deny others the right to be healed, I really don't think that's too much of a problem.