The Courts of Chaos, chapter 2

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of The Courts of Chaos by Roger Zelazny, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. You may well have a lot of reading ahead of you.

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Oberon, the long-missing king of Amber, has returned, having been disguised as Corwin's friend Ganelon. He reclaimed the Jewel of Judgment, and began to formulate a secret plan to counter the plot against Amber by Brand and the Courts of Chaos.

In the Amber throne room, Corwin witnessed Dara and Benedict enacting their side of the vision he saw in Tir-na Nog'th, in which he and Benedict fought and Corwin stole Benedict's strange and elaborate mechanical arm. Martin looked on, and Corwin was angered to find out he brought Dara, a professed enemy of Amber, there. He also learned that he had a son by her, Merlin. But before he threw her into the dungeon, he agreed to meet with her privately and hear her side of things.

In chapter 2, Corwin hears Dara out (more on that below). He doesn't trust Dara when he finds out she is relaying Oberon's order to Benedict to attack the Courts of Chaos immediately. He contacts Fiona, who is with Oberon and Dworkin in primal Amber. She confirms that Dara's orders came from Oberon, but also tells Corwin that he is planning to repair the Pattern, at the cost of his own life. Corwin Trumps to Dworkin's cell, where he confronts Oberon and grabs the Jewel of Judgment, intending to walk the Pattern himself, but Oberon or Dworkin uses his own attunement with the Jewel to immobilize him. Corwin returns to Amber and confirms that Dara is on the level, and she delivers their orders.

The plot against Amber gets increasingly complex. Dara is, not surprisingly, an agent of the Courts of Chaos—in fact, she coyly implies she is a member of their royal house. They were conspiring with Brand against Amber, but for their own ends. The—Chaosians?—want to restore the balance between Chaos and Amber, giving Chaos more access to Shadow on their side of reality. Brand's ambition would have given him control over not only a remade Amber, but Chaos as well. The Chaosians planned on using him to achieve their own aims, even perhaps putting him on the throne, but did not trust him, and ultimately would have replaced him with a ruler friendly to Chaos: Merlin, who is descended not only from the royal family of the Chaosians, but Benedict and Corwin, the two Amberites with the most legitimate claims to the throne.

Oberon, for his part, is one of the architects of this plan. He killed Ganelon and took his place, ruling as Protector over Lorraine, knowing his presence would eventually strengthen that Shadow and draw Corwin there. He has been manipulating events—and Corwin himself—to ensure that he met Dara and she provided him with an heir. Corwin sardonically notes that he is the subject of a "calculated breeding project."

During these revelations, Oberon also ties up one of the loose ends from The Guns of Avalon. He killed Benedict's servants: again, to bring Corwin and Dara together at the right time. Admittedly, I suspected Ganelon at first, as the only person who seemed to know where the bodies were buried, but no motive for him doing so ever arose, so I abandoned that theory. Oberon comes across, so far, as quite amoral. Between Ganelon and Benedict's four retainers, so far he's killed five people just to get Corwin to do what he wants.

Oberon, too, wants Merlin to take the throne eventually, but would rather have Corwin on it in the meantime. He told him so earlier, but at the time, it was just a ruse to motivate Corwin to take action. Now he means it sincerely. However, Corwin admits that he wanted the throne before because his hated brother Eric wanted it—but after everything that's happened so far, he no longer hates Eric, and consequently doesn't want to be king of Amber anymore, which apparently disappoints Oberon.

Dara's plan to restore balance between Chaos and Amber is more moderate than what her fellow Chaosians want. Brand wanted to extend his own rule over Chaos as well. The Chaosians want the opposite: domination over Amber and total control over all Shadow. One side, Dara notes, would usher in complete stagnation; the other, complete chaos. She doesn't want either alternative, which does not put her in the other Chaosians' good graces.

Dworkin, incidentally, came from Chaos before creating Amber. Remember that his plan was to destroy the Pattern, and with it, Amber, and he opposed Oberon's plan to repair it. On the surface, his own plans seem to align with Brand's or the Chaosians'. Of course, he's also crazy, but whose side is he actually on? Dworkin is also a shapeshifter, and all Chaosians have that ability. So does Oberon, but none of Corwin's generation of Amberites have shown it, at least yet. Does the ability fade after a few generations, or is that a power none of them have yet learned?

This chapter is cleverly bookended with Corwin visiting his own mausoleum. At the beginning, he even opens his casket to see if he's wandered into the wrong Shadow, and there's a version of him there. I wonder whether that's meant as a shout-out to his vision in Tir-na Nog'th, where Dara told him he had been dead for centuries—clearly untrue, as the vision came from the present.

Oberon's orders, as relayed through Dara, are:

• Benedict to attack the Courts of Chaos, and fall back
• Gérard to take charge of defending Amber herself
• Random and Julian to defend the forest of Arden
• Corwin to hellride to Chaos

It feels like the story is ramping up to some action, with an elaborate battle plan, and possibly some surprises. We'll see how it pans out next Thursday.