Subject: Would much change?
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Posted on: 2019-10-07 12:20:00 UTC

(First up, I'm not sure if I've confused people: I think Matriarchal Weyrs was Anne's idea during the writing of Flight, but by Quest she'd decided they were patriarchal. So all later books, even the prequels, reflect the new idea, not the original one.)

(Secondly: oh that's an adorable website. I've just found a genuine early-noughts 'Some of these images are very large and may take a while to load' - for a page with four! whole! pictures! you utter fiend.)

So, Matriarchal Weyrs. Would much change? I'm not sure it would. The Holds have shown that they aren't much influenced by Weyr practices, so I feel like the Fax affair would probably still happen. His primary interaction with the Weyr was killing F'lon - but F'lon's Weyrwoman was Jora, and she was useless. Benden would have to run under its Weyrleader, which means we still get R'gul's ineffective reign.

The one thing that might change would be that a Weyrwoman would have been more open to trading for supplies, which I remember being the primary driver of the Hold Rebellion in Flight. If trade had commenced under Carola, say, then the Rebellion might never have happened. Given that it had no effect on the ongoing plot, though, I don't think that matters.

Lessa would still act much the same; R'gul wouldn't want her to assert her traditional role (and, in fact, I seem to recall that he didn't), F'lar would support her, we know how this goes. She'd still go on her Ride, and bring the Five Weyrs through.

Dragonquest is where things change. That's the book where the Weyrleaders Gonna Weyrlead setup really takes off, and they're... kind of... universally awful? T'ron is hidebound, T'kul is a flaming sociopath, T'bor is an impulsive F'lar fanboy... and we all know where this leads.

Instead, let's imagine the Weyrwomen stepping up.

-Kylara is in sole charge of Southern, which is... kind of terrifying and awesome. She flits between 'stuff you, T'kul, I'm taking your Weyr and fighting your thread' and 'meh, I'm off to canoodle with the Lord of Nabol'. The wiki already says that in her useless periods Southern 'looked to Brekke for leadership'; now picture that conflict with the full power of the Weyr at stake, instead of just food supplies.

-Mardra, Weyrwoman of Fort, wanted to stay in the North; she wouldn't let T'ron ruin that with his stupid duel. She was also a primary driver behind Fort's superiority, so a Lessa-Mardra conflict to mirror the F'lar-T'ron one is not out of the question. Remember that Mardra is a daughter of Ruatha, so this story drags Jaxom right into centre-stage.

-Merika, Weyrwoman of High Reaches and mate to T'kul, doesn't get much screentime, but the wiki says she shared leadership duties at Southern after the exile. She's clearly a strong personality. I'd lean into that and have her chain T'kul up like a rabid dog. ^_^ Maybe not, but you get the point: he'd be on a very short leash.

-What do we know about the others? Fanna of Ista seems fairly mild; Bedella of Telgar is called dim by Lessa. Do we know anything about Nadira of Igen? I think this will remain a Benden-Fort-HR-Southern story.

So, rather than the duel in Quest, we have Lessa and F'lar breaking tradition by acting as co-leaders; Mardra asserting her authority and even considering laying claim to Ruatha itself (I think she considered it in the book, and now she has even more power to play with); Merika being a conniving schemer; and Kylara as a fickle wildcard who could go either way on any issue.

... and Brekke, who at times is unofficially leading Southern. And who wants her Gold to mate with a Brown.

I'm picturing two core arguments in Book Two:

1/ Mardra is spending half her time at Ruatha 'overseeing' Jaxom's education. When Jaxom impresses Ruth, she asserts that since the Lordship of Ruatha now has no choice but to fall on a dragonrider, it should go to her, as she has the stronger claim. Merika supports her, because frankly she'd like to claim a Hold for herself. Kylara is neutral-leaning-Mardra, because "Southern is practically a Hold anyway" (they farm their own food, remember). And Lessa... well, Lessa a) resents Jaxom, and b) is convinced that he and Ruth are going to die soon anyway. So she decides that her best response is to press her own claim to the Lordship.

2/ Meanwhile, Brekke is running Southern while Kylara is playing politics. When Winreth rises, Prideth is nowhere around - but F'nor and Canth are, and Canth successfully flies the queen. Shockwaves run through all the Weyrs: the brother of the Benden Weyrleader (who is, ironically, being the voice of Tradition about Ruatha's lordship, putting him into direct conflict with Lessa) has flouted the oldest tradition of all! And it looks like Brekke and F'nor are attempting a coup at Southern (they're not, but Kylara's off in the North, and T'bor... let's have him injured by felines, that always works). This is nothing less than a hostile Bendenite takeover!

Where does the story go? I feel like 'dragon fighting dragon' is less likely than 'the Weyrs play politics'. Perhaps Merika pressures Bedella into extending Telgar's authority over Lemos Hold, stealing it (and its tribute) away from Benden? If Igen and Ista stand with Benden, I can also see Mardra siezing control over Ruatha and attempting a march on Igen, supported in a shocking twist by Nabol (hi, Kylara's influence). Heck, Merika might well decide that if Mardra can have Ruatha, she deserves to reclaim Fax's title as Lady of Six Holds and One Weyr. The dragons aren't involved in the fighting - they won't attack humans - but their riders are the ones moving the playing pieces around.

hS

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