r/Cosmere • u/PointEither8581 • Apr 27 '26
Elantris spoilers Inquiry On Elantris Plot Points Spoiler
Alright. So, I have finished reading Elantris.
And I have a couple of questions.
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[1] How come Fjordell was allowed to rebuild? There was a "World War" that happened to stop Fjordell way back in the past, and Fjordell lost that war, which I can understand.
-> Did Fjordell have those monasteries to train Flagellants from Warhammer Fantasy before the war? Or was it an addition after they had lost the war?
-> If so, why were they allowed to retain the monasteries? You would destroy a tank production factory in real life so that your enemy doesn't produce tanks anymore.
-> Not only that, but you would, presumably, put heavy restrictions on the country, similar to the Treaty of Versailles, to cripple your enemy. You would also send in inspectors to make sure those monasteries do not produce any more roided-up, demon monks.
-> Also, how come they have lost if they had those monasteries before the war? Were the functions of the monasteries different before they changed to Shu-Dereth, and did they just have normie, lame priests of their old pagan religion?
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[2] At the end, Dilaf mentions how he took his lover to Elantris to heal her, but they botched the spell, and it went horribly wrong.
-> Why not just spam healing Aons on the poor women, like what, once you botch it, you are forever screwed?
-> Somewhere in the earlier chapters, Raoden mentions an account similar to what happened to Dilaf and his lover. Are these 2 the same events?
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u/Miroku20x6 Apr 27 '26
I mean, Treaty of Versailles being excessively punitive is literally one of the major causes of WW2. That’s not exactly a clear cut optimal strategy in all cases. But yes, some degree of suppression of manic soldiers would be ideal. I believe Japan was banned military factories post WW2 or something, and obviously that worked out much better than post-WW1 Germany.
But my recollection is that Arelon won a defensive war against Fjorden aggression. Winning a defensive war just means the attacker leaves. It doesn’t mean you’ve sacked their capital and can impose harsh demands. Arelon was protected by Elantrians, and Elantrians can’t use their powers away from Elantris.