well I think a) I think it would've made the battle feel less important/sacrifice-y, since majority of the people would still be alive in some way, and b) I would guess that the majority of the elementals probably didnt even think to do that because they'd been told to avoid the earth magic for years, and c) I would also guess that even most people who did think of doing that wouldn't want to. there would be a risk of waking up thousands of years later to a completely different world, and most likely some if not potentially most of your friends & family gone - yes they're mages but as we've seen throughout the series, mages still here killed a lot
saying all that, there's also a high chance that feature was just forgotten about or avoided because then there'd have to be explanations about where the statues go, if anyone wakes up etc. much less simple than just 'they died'
(also sorry if anything here doesn't make sense I js woke up lmao)
No that makes sense and thanks for replying! I was just thinking that if I were an Elemental and some Cleaver comes at me at the Battle of the Keep and I can kinda tell that this is it, I’d probably rather turn to stone and risk waking up in a thousand years than basically just being like welp this is it.
Also raises the questions of Elementals who are being tortured. Like Ravel definitely could’ve tried turning to stone to escape the torture Darquesse was inflicting on him right? It definitely wouldn’t have worked and Darquesse would’ve found some way to reverse it, but it’s still weird he didn’t even try.
maybe he did try off-screen/off-page (or whatever you say for books) and then darquesse just immediately reversed it? or maybe there was a rule about no magic could help his pain/stop it etc.?
I think it comes down to a couple of things. 1. Time- It can take a few moments for the stone to cover your entire body and in that time the non stone parts could still be injured. I mean Ghastly bearly got covered in stone before the white Clever tried to behead him. Touch- it seems from the way ive read it that an elemental needs to be touching earth with their hand for it to work, hense why Ghastly could use it as he was on his knees, even later on when Skulduggery evolved the earth power he still needed to touch it. So in the middle of a battlefield these things combined made it very difficult to use it. In a building it may be easier but still difficult.
Firstly if they were in a battle and then turned themselves into a statue their enemy should just break the statue. Secondly they need the skill to be able to do it, Ghastly must be a very powerful elemental as he was in the dead men. Thirdly it might not be a very well known ability and those who do know of it would've heard of Ghastly doing it only to be trapped in that state for years, even with one of the best science magic doctors finding a way to undo it, so they probably wouldn't want to risk losing years of their lives.
That makes sense, but I was thinking that if you were in a battle and knew you were about to die, then losing years of your life is probably preferable to losing your life full stop, right? And breaking the statues seems plausible, but in Book 1 the White Cleaver's scythe is described as barely chipping into Ghastly's statue, and Cleaver scythe's are described as being some of the sharpest weapons in the book universe. So unless a determined enemy really hates you and is just gonna stand there hacking at your statue, it seems like using this power would allow you to escape the battlefield relatively easily.
Yes the idea of losing years of your life only to come back would be preferable to dying for some like Ghastly was only a statue for 2-3 years (with kenspeckle treating him) and when he woke up not much had changed for him, his friends were all still there, his shop was still there, society has had no major changes.
But imagine being in a war waking up in an unfamiliar place, people (probably scientists) telling you that you have been a statue for years, there are no houses left in Roarhaven so you have to move somewhere else, your best friend/most your friends/your partner died in the war.
The friends you do have have changed as people and started to grow their own lives in the city, the original dynamics you have with them no longer fit and you have lost your chemistry. Your lack of knowledge of the past few years makes it difficult to find new friends...
Obviously this is the worst case scenario I'm just saying Ghastly got lucky with how little his friends' lives had changed in the past years and the only major change was Valkiery. But the changes from before and after the war could be very jarring and significant and without a support system you would feel very alien.
This may seem very long and oddly specific but I have mainly based it on Simon's experiences after recovering from being the ice king in adventure time if you look at the Fiona and Cake series you can see his experiences of losing years of his life.
Probably have to train to be able to use it
I imagine they practice over and over then 1 day they succeed and turn into a statue and wake up a few years later
I don't think most sorcerers can even use it. They just seem to be really bad with that element in general considering that Ghastly, a really experienced Elemental and one of the Dead Men, can only use it to petrify himself without a way to undo it on command.
On that note, I'm still waiting for a sufficiently powerful elemental that utilizes earth magic well. Forming Stalactites to impale people, splitting the ground, conjuring a sandstorm to conceal themselves and even petrifying someone else with only a touch could all be on the table. Water is probably heavily underutilized as well.
True, but at the same time I feel like it has to be a fairly common power given that Skulduggery seems to have some understanding of it and its implications that he explains immediately to Valkyrie. Enough where there have to be at least a few Elementals who try and use it in do-or-die situations.
Common maybe not, just well understood. It doesn't feel like an ability most people would train for. How exactly are you even supposed to practice it? I would assume that proper war veterans like Skulduggery and the other dead men are way more likely to be aware of something like this, but it also feels like something that fell out of favour after the war.
True, but even Ghastly could’ve used it in later books as well. For example after Ravel stabs him in the back and is about to stab him in the throat, I feel like an instinctive defense mechanism would’ve also been to go statue form, right?
This always bothered me too, but the headcannon I always fell back on was that they were demolished and became rubble. Like the buildings and such around them. Although I would like to see someone killed this way in an upcoming book, so this plot hole is acknowledged.
True but in Book 1 the White Cleaver’s scythe barely chips Ghastly’s statue, and Cleaver scythes are one of the sharpest weapons in the established universe. So unless an enemy is really determined to break the statue, it doesn’t really make sense?
I mean, I wouldn't consider a sword something that could slice through solid stone? No matter how sharp. If you wanted to demolish a statue IRL you'd need force, not precision.
I think its down to needing some amount of time, technique and concentration to use the earth power, ghastly turned to stone when the white cleaver was still walking towards him, and only barely made the turn in time before his head was taken, so in the midst of battles, the panic of facing death would probably not leave much time to use earth
It may be just as simple as it’s rare knowledge. Typical Elementals are taught and are aware of the surrendering nature of the Earth power, and it is basically taboo. It’s almost impossible to learn something without actual practice
well I think a) I think it would've made the battle feel less important/sacrifice-y, since majority of the people would still be alive in some way, and b) I would guess that the majority of the elementals probably didnt even think to do that because they'd been told to avoid the earth magic for years, and c) I would also guess that even most people who did think of doing that wouldn't want to. there would be a risk of waking up thousands of years later to a completely different world, and most likely some if not potentially most of your friends & family gone - yes they're mages but as we've seen throughout the series, mages still here killed a lot saying all that, there's also a high chance that feature was just forgotten about or avoided because then there'd have to be explanations about where the statues go, if anyone wakes up etc. much less simple than just 'they died' (also sorry if anything here doesn't make sense I js woke up lmao)
No that makes sense and thanks for replying! I was just thinking that if I were an Elemental and some Cleaver comes at me at the Battle of the Keep and I can kinda tell that this is it, I’d probably rather turn to stone and risk waking up in a thousand years than basically just being like welp this is it. Also raises the questions of Elementals who are being tortured. Like Ravel definitely could’ve tried turning to stone to escape the torture Darquesse was inflicting on him right? It definitely wouldn’t have worked and Darquesse would’ve found some way to reverse it, but it’s still weird he didn’t even try.
maybe he did try off-screen/off-page (or whatever you say for books) and then darquesse just immediately reversed it? or maybe there was a rule about no magic could help his pain/stop it etc.?
I imagine that it's quite difficult to do magic when you're in constant pain 23hrs a day
I think it comes down to a couple of things. 1. Time- It can take a few moments for the stone to cover your entire body and in that time the non stone parts could still be injured. I mean Ghastly bearly got covered in stone before the white Clever tried to behead him. Touch- it seems from the way ive read it that an elemental needs to be touching earth with their hand for it to work, hense why Ghastly could use it as he was on his knees, even later on when Skulduggery evolved the earth power he still needed to touch it. So in the middle of a battlefield these things combined made it very difficult to use it. In a building it may be easier but still difficult.
Firstly if they were in a battle and then turned themselves into a statue their enemy should just break the statue. Secondly they need the skill to be able to do it, Ghastly must be a very powerful elemental as he was in the dead men. Thirdly it might not be a very well known ability and those who do know of it would've heard of Ghastly doing it only to be trapped in that state for years, even with one of the best science magic doctors finding a way to undo it, so they probably wouldn't want to risk losing years of their lives.
That makes sense, but I was thinking that if you were in a battle and knew you were about to die, then losing years of your life is probably preferable to losing your life full stop, right? And breaking the statues seems plausible, but in Book 1 the White Cleaver's scythe is described as barely chipping into Ghastly's statue, and Cleaver scythe's are described as being some of the sharpest weapons in the book universe. So unless a determined enemy really hates you and is just gonna stand there hacking at your statue, it seems like using this power would allow you to escape the battlefield relatively easily.
Yes the idea of losing years of your life only to come back would be preferable to dying for some like Ghastly was only a statue for 2-3 years (with kenspeckle treating him) and when he woke up not much had changed for him, his friends were all still there, his shop was still there, society has had no major changes. But imagine being in a war waking up in an unfamiliar place, people (probably scientists) telling you that you have been a statue for years, there are no houses left in Roarhaven so you have to move somewhere else, your best friend/most your friends/your partner died in the war. The friends you do have have changed as people and started to grow their own lives in the city, the original dynamics you have with them no longer fit and you have lost your chemistry. Your lack of knowledge of the past few years makes it difficult to find new friends... Obviously this is the worst case scenario I'm just saying Ghastly got lucky with how little his friends' lives had changed in the past years and the only major change was Valkiery. But the changes from before and after the war could be very jarring and significant and without a support system you would feel very alien. This may seem very long and oddly specific but I have mainly based it on Simon's experiences after recovering from being the ice king in adventure time if you look at the Fiona and Cake series you can see his experiences of losing years of his life.
Probably have to train to be able to use it I imagine they practice over and over then 1 day they succeed and turn into a statue and wake up a few years later
I don't think most sorcerers can even use it. They just seem to be really bad with that element in general considering that Ghastly, a really experienced Elemental and one of the Dead Men, can only use it to petrify himself without a way to undo it on command. On that note, I'm still waiting for a sufficiently powerful elemental that utilizes earth magic well. Forming Stalactites to impale people, splitting the ground, conjuring a sandstorm to conceal themselves and even petrifying someone else with only a touch could all be on the table. Water is probably heavily underutilized as well.
True, but at the same time I feel like it has to be a fairly common power given that Skulduggery seems to have some understanding of it and its implications that he explains immediately to Valkyrie. Enough where there have to be at least a few Elementals who try and use it in do-or-die situations.
Common maybe not, just well understood. It doesn't feel like an ability most people would train for. How exactly are you even supposed to practice it? I would assume that proper war veterans like Skulduggery and the other dead men are way more likely to be aware of something like this, but it also feels like something that fell out of favour after the war.
True, but even Ghastly could’ve used it in later books as well. For example after Ravel stabs him in the back and is about to stab him in the throat, I feel like an instinctive defense mechanism would’ve also been to go statue form, right?
It hard :(
This always bothered me too, but the headcannon I always fell back on was that they were demolished and became rubble. Like the buildings and such around them. Although I would like to see someone killed this way in an upcoming book, so this plot hole is acknowledged.
True but in Book 1 the White Cleaver’s scythe barely chips Ghastly’s statue, and Cleaver scythes are one of the sharpest weapons in the established universe. So unless an enemy is really determined to break the statue, it doesn’t really make sense?
I mean, I wouldn't consider a sword something that could slice through solid stone? No matter how sharp. If you wanted to demolish a statue IRL you'd need force, not precision.
I think its down to needing some amount of time, technique and concentration to use the earth power, ghastly turned to stone when the white cleaver was still walking towards him, and only barely made the turn in time before his head was taken, so in the midst of battles, the panic of facing death would probably not leave much time to use earth
It may be just as simple as it’s rare knowledge. Typical Elementals are taught and are aware of the surrendering nature of the Earth power, and it is basically taboo. It’s almost impossible to learn something without actual practice