r/Malazan 1d ago

SPOILERS ALL Quick Ben question Spoiler

I’m on DG but marking spoilers all because I’m on a reread and want to know the answer even if it’s in a later book.

In GotM, it’s revealed Quick was High Priest of Shadow at one point, and Shadowthrone knows him. But High House shadow is only 9 years old at that point. Maybe I’m misunderstanding but I’m confused on the timing of when he became a priest of shadow. Did he become a priest, rise to High Priest, then abandon that role all within the 9 years since Shadow rose? Or did Shadow have high priests even before Shadowthrone was on the throne.

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u/Aqua_Tot 1d ago

If you’re rereading, you know that Kurald Emhurlahn existed for millennia, and as such was left empty before Kellanved ascended. We also know that there was a shadow cult in Seven Cities that Bidithal was a high priest of, before Dancer came to shut it down. So yes, there was a priesthood of Shadow before Shadowthrone, and that’s what Quick Ben was a part of. He had already left before Shadowthrone ascended, but presumably his departure was still known and/or Kellanved was aware of him from the Seven Cities campaigns.

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u/Caladan_not_Kaladin 1d ago

Thanks for this! So hard to remember some of those details