The Courts of Chaos, chapter 4

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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While Oberon attempted to repair the primal Pattern using the Jewel of Judgment, he instructed Corwin to hellride from Amber to Chaos. Partway there, a red bird created from Corwin's blood gave the Jewel to Corwin. Successfully or unsuccessfully, Oberon's work on the Pattern was finished. Then, Corwin was confronted by Brand, who tried to trap him in a small Shadow, but Corwin escaped, with the help of the Jewel.

Brand again appears and faces Corwin. He says that he has the ability to see across Shadow, and has seen Oberon fail and die in his attempt to repair the Pattern. Shadow is now being destroyed as well. Brand wants Corwin's help to use the Jewel to create a new Pattern—and a new Amber, with him as ruler—where they are. A new, unmarred Pattern would destroy the black road, denying the Chaosians access to Amber.

However, Corwin doesn't believe Brand, believing instead that Oberon succeeded, and the primal Pattern is repaired and intact. He wonders what would happen with two Patterns in existence; Brand doesn't know. Corwin tells Brand to get lost, and retreats, but Brand promises he will get the Jewel of Judgment. Corwin rides through Shadow until he finds a mountainous area with a cave, and falls asleep.

Not too much happens in this chapter. Corwin and Brand posture. It builds up some suspense around whether Oberon has succeeded or failed in rebuilding the Pattern. All this could have been folded into about two additional paragraphs in the previous chapter. It's almost as though Zelazny needed to pad the story out because it was serialized. (Oh, wait…)

The chapter ends with Corwin taking shelter and falling asleep in a strange cave. I've read that other fantasy epic, so I know nothing good ever comes of that.

Oberon instructed Corwin to ride from Amber to Chaos—from one end of reality to the other. He specifically forbade him from getting there by a more convenient method (such as Trumping over to Benedict, who is already there), and gave no instructions for when he arrived. Something tells me Corwin is being used as a distraction, which seems below the pay grade of someone who was the de facto king of Amber not long ago. I wonder what else is going on that Zelazny hasn't let the readers in on yet.