Silver Elite: Chapter 23
Oct. 6th, 2025 07:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penwallaWren rushes off the roof, leaving behind Betima's body. She runs into an officer who she tells what happened. She then goes into the barracks, blurts out everything to her co-recruits, and collapses into bed.
She is wracked with anguish.
In a vaccuum, sure, this is a good passage. But there's a couple problems when we put it into the context of the actual book.
One, we are at the 47% mark and we are still being hit in the head repeatedly with the idea that Wren is alone in Silver Block because she is an Aberrant. WE KNOW. That's the premise of the fucking book. It needs to go somewhere. Two, this angst about her parents is coming out of fucking nowhere. Wren has never before this doubted herself. She's always had an insane level of confidence in her own skills, despite the face she is dumb as a post. This is important character motivation and yet we're getting it dumped on us at the 47% mark with no prior set up that she has ever felt this way, even though her parents have been dead the whole time. And Wren herself tried to save Jim earlier in the book and she protected that kid from the coyote in this book's inciting incident. She very clearly is not a coward and that has not been a problem she has had in the book--her actual problem is her inability to think ahead when she makes decisions.
Wren makes out with Kaine a little bit because they're both sad.
Kaine is a deeply unconvincing love interest
Next scene.
The recruits are called up in the morning and informed that Betima is dead and they shouldn't worry about it. Wren is shocked and horrified by this callousness, though I don't know why. She lives in a fucking dystopia with an oppressive government, why is she surprised that it's a dystopia?
Wren once again reminds us that she is in danger and needs to escape. So her plan is to...to go to Cross's office and ask to be dismissed.
That is idiotic in the extreme and there is no reason for her to believe that will work. But of course, this is a plot contrivance so that Wren can show up and eavesdrop on Cross's meeting with General Redden.
Like, do you expect me to believe that the fascist dictator of this country doesn't have guards posted? He's just having a conversation in his son in a room with a door so flimsy that Wren can hear through it? This would be a great time for Wren to be forced to risk using her powers, by the way. But no. She just has her ear to the door.
Wren literally watched them execute Jim and Betima, is she not concerned that SHE COULD ALSO BE EXECUTED?
Apparently, Cross doesn't approve of his brother shooting Betima in the head, but his father does. Cross also apparently is prone to sending Aberrants to labor camps instead of executing them. Redden tells Cross that he's keeping Roe in Silver Block, regardless, and Wren is so furious that she storms off and decides to escape immediately. She spends the rest of the day doing poorly in class as she plots her escape.
Chapter end.
In a good book, characters develop. They respond to events and slowly change over the course of the story.
In this book, characters periodically will monologue at you, and then will go back to being the exact same idiots they were at the beginning of the story.
She is wracked with anguish.
I wish I had parents.
I wish I had a mother to comfort me and tell me I’ll survive this.
A father to tuck me in and tell me he’ll stay with me until I fall asleep.
But my parents aren’t here. They’re both long dead, and I can’t help but feel I’ve let them down somehow. How does someone like me even measure up to someone like my father? My mother? I don’t remember either of them, but from the meager details Uncle Jim provided, they were braver than I could ever dream of being.
They both sacrificed their lives for the Uprising. They both fought against the tide of oppression, refusing to back down. They weren’t motivated by personal gain or glory. They dedicated their lives to a deep-seated sense of duty to stand up for what’s right, no matter the cost. My father wasn’t even Modified, yet he stood by my mother, by her people.
How am I supposed to follow in those footsteps when I’m pathetic in comparison? I just watched a friend get murdered in cold blood. My father threw himself in front of bullets to protect his allies. I ran. My mother faced a firing squad. I ran.
I can’t follow in their footsteps.
They’re far too big for me.
In a vaccuum, sure, this is a good passage. But there's a couple problems when we put it into the context of the actual book.
One, we are at the 47% mark and we are still being hit in the head repeatedly with the idea that Wren is alone in Silver Block because she is an Aberrant. WE KNOW. That's the premise of the fucking book. It needs to go somewhere. Two, this angst about her parents is coming out of fucking nowhere. Wren has never before this doubted herself. She's always had an insane level of confidence in her own skills, despite the face she is dumb as a post. This is important character motivation and yet we're getting it dumped on us at the 47% mark with no prior set up that she has ever felt this way, even though her parents have been dead the whole time. And Wren herself tried to save Jim earlier in the book and she protected that kid from the coyote in this book's inciting incident. She very clearly is not a coward and that has not been a problem she has had in the book--her actual problem is her inability to think ahead when she makes decisions.
Wren makes out with Kaine a little bit because they're both sad.
Kaine is a deeply unconvincing love interest
Next scene.
The recruits are called up in the morning and informed that Betima is dead and they shouldn't worry about it. Wren is shocked and horrified by this callousness, though I don't know why. She lives in a fucking dystopia with an oppressive government, why is she surprised that it's a dystopia?
Wren once again reminds us that she is in danger and needs to escape. So her plan is to...to go to Cross's office and ask to be dismissed.
That is idiotic in the extreme and there is no reason for her to believe that will work. But of course, this is a plot contrivance so that Wren can show up and eavesdrop on Cross's meeting with General Redden.
Like, do you expect me to believe that the fascist dictator of this country doesn't have guards posted? He's just having a conversation in his son in a room with a door so flimsy that Wren can hear through it? This would be a great time for Wren to be forced to risk using her powers, by the way. But no. She just has her ear to the door.
I move closer despite my better judgment. But their voices are low, and I can’t make out exactly what they’re saying. I press myself to the wall outside his door, straining to hear the conversation within.
I’m sure there are cameras watching me do this. I don’t care. I’ll own up to it if Cross interrogates me later. Yes, I eavesdropped on you and your father. No, I’m not sorry. Please, cut me from the Program. Release me from this nightmare.
Wren literally watched them execute Jim and Betima, is she not concerned that SHE COULD ALSO BE EXECUTED?
Apparently, Cross doesn't approve of his brother shooting Betima in the head, but his father does. Cross also apparently is prone to sending Aberrants to labor camps instead of executing them. Redden tells Cross that he's keeping Roe in Silver Block, regardless, and Wren is so furious that she storms off and decides to escape immediately. She spends the rest of the day doing poorly in class as she plots her escape.
Kill them all.Wren decides that her master plan will be to throw a sparring match so that she gets injured. So she gets picked to fight with Kess, the recruit she slugged in the face earlier in the book. The Fourth Wing vibes are strong here. Her wrist gets broken, and she gets shipped off to Medical.
Uncle Jim would kill them all.
Sadly, this isn’t a viable solution.
So then how? How do I facilitate my escape?
The conundrum sticks with me into our afternoon sparring sessions. I sit on the floor watching but not really seeing as Lyddie and Bryce exchange jabs on the mats.
This is what I know. I know Cross Redden won’t cut me from the Program, no matter how low my scores are.
I know I don’t want to go to the stockade again.
I know it will take more than a few hours to execute a foolproof escape plan.
My only move here is to force Cross’s hand. Do something that will remove myself from the equation—today—without making it appear like I planned it.
Chapter end.
In a good book, characters develop. They respond to events and slowly change over the course of the story.
In this book, characters periodically will monologue at you, and then will go back to being the exact same idiots they were at the beginning of the story.
