This post contains MAJOR SPOILERS from late in the set. Do not read this post unless you've read ALL of the books that have been published. You've been warned.
A fan pointed out what appears to be a pretty big inconsistency early in this book with Keefe appearing to know that Leto is Forkle. Keefe joined the Neverseen before the Leto reveal, so there's no way that he could know. On page 18, Sophie finds an envelope in her locker. The envelope is marked with a black swan and contains a black swan pendant. An enclosed note tells her to go to the principal's office.
Page 19 "I'm glad you came," Magnate Leto said from the other side of his huge swiveling desk chair. He was turned toward the windows, hidden behind the stiff winged-back cushion. "Sorry my note was so hasty. Next time I'll make sure it rhymes." The last few words sounded higher-pitched, and Sophie was trying to figure out why when the chair slowly spun around to face her. Instead of the dark-haired elf she'd been expecting, she found a boy dressed all in black, with artfully styled blond hair and an infamous talent for mimicking voices.
Since Keefe mentions rhyming, he's definitely referring to the Black Swan's notes.
However, there's this.
Page 56 Would you rather hear about how loud Ruy snores? Or how this room smells like rotting toenails? Or Alvar's crazy theories for who the Forklenator is? The last question reminded her that Keefe had already run off before the Magnate Leto-Mr. Forkle reveal happened.
Ah. Since Sophie mentions that Keefe doesn't know on page 56, this makes me think that the note from page 19 is not an inconsistency.
Keefe quits imitating Leto's voice during the last part when he says, "Next time I'll make sure it rhymes." Keefe is at Foxfire on a pretense. To the Neverseen, Keefe ostensibly is at Foxfire to set off an explosion. He is actually there to talk to Sophie, so he uses a note to lure Sophie to the principal's office. Keefe doesn't keep up the pretense of being Leto as he delivers the line about rhyming, which is a reference to Forkle.
I don't think this is an inconsistency. It's just ambiguous enough to be interpreted as an inconsistency. Rather, it's a coincidence that Keefe fakes a note as if Leto were with the Black Swan; I think it's supposed to be an absurd joke. Keefe doesn't know that Leto is actually Mr. Forkle. How ridiculous would that be?!
I can't think of a specific example from my own life, but there are times when people have joked about something that they would never expect to happen... and then it does. That's what this is like. Magnate Leto couldn't possibly be with the Black Swan, at least from Keefe's point of view. It's just a joke.
I wrote a post about Sophie and Oralie awhile back.
Keeper of the Lost Cities: Oralie and Sophie
When I wrote that post, I thought that Oralie used a pencil to secure her bun. I was surprised when I read through the Forgotten Secrets again and found that wasn't the case.
Book 9, Page 181 "No distractions," Oralie clarified, gathering up her hair and coiling it into a loose bun.
I couldn't figure out why I thought a pencil was used. I found the answer during this reading of #5 Lodestar.
Page 212 "Don't worry," [Juline] told Sophie, wrapping a flyaway hair back into her messy bun and securing it with a chewed-on pencil. "I have a trick to keep them under control this afternoon."
I confused Juline with Oralie. That explains my false memory.
Forkle speaks about Cyrah's death on page 300.
"Wylie hailed Elwin for help, but the damage was beyond anyone's skills. By the time Elwin called Alden to search Cyrah's memories, her mind had grown too weak to recover anything. The last of her form faded not long after."
In Book 1, Alden referred to seeing someone fading away. That was Cyrah.
We also learn on page 301 that Cyrah had a booth where she sold hair ribbons. Biana mentions how she and Alden went to that booth, and Alden purchased some combs for Biana. All of this ties in with the plot developments of Book 9.
On page 355, Lady Gisela uses a starstone in Keefe's recovered memory.
Page 355 [Lady Gisela] reached for the back of her head and pulled a long silver hairpin out of her twisted style.
Page 355 "It's not a crystal. It's a rare starstone—which is important. Someday I'll need you to remember that."
Page 359 "Starstones," she told him, twisting her hair back into its sleek style and pinning it in place, "always remember the path back to where they've been. You'll need to know that someday."
Starstones are first mentioned in this book, thus laying the groundwork for Stellarlune.
Keefe mentions that he searched everywhere for the hairpin, but he couldn't find it.
Page 363 "She had a bunch of hairpins in her jewelry box, and one of them pricked my finger and the whole thing rushed back. After that I searched everywhere I could think of, but she either hid the pin really well, or got rid of it—or took it with her."
I was thinking that Lady Gisela must have it, but it turns out that the ogres have it. Sophie retrieves it in the next book.
Page 371 And Oralie... Imagining the ethereal Councillor in the hands of the ogres—or the Neverseen—made her want to leap back to Eternalia and beg the Council to go into hiding.
I wonder if this could happen to Oralie in a future book. Gethen tries to kill her near the end of this book. In a later book, if Oralie were in danger, it could cause Sophie to reevaluate her feelings and resolve her differences with Oralie.
Sophie practices telekinesis at the Exillium training.
Page 421 And when she planted another "seed," the splotcher splattered purple everywhere. Coach Rohana tilted her head. "I suspect you could bring down a mountain if you sat in solitude long enough." "Why solitude?" Tam asked. "No distractions or activities to drain her reserve."
This is foreshadowing of what happens at the peace summit.
On page 473, Gethen says that "all this rest made me so much stronger." He's speaking of his mental abilities. Mr. Forkle makes the same observation about Gethen on page 479.
Page 479 The energy in his mind felt different. So much stronger and purer. All this idleness must be building his reserves.
[This post was written in November. I've now read #9.5 Unraveled, and this mention of energy ties in with what we learn about the internal energy of elves in Book 9.5.]
Page 513 The Coaches were ramping up the training now that people finally seemed scared enough to commit to it. And it made a difference—by the end of the lesson, almost half of Sophie's Hemisphere had achieved the day's skill and cracked small stress fissures in their stones. Sophie had shattered hers completely.
This is more foreshadowing of what happens to the castle in Lumenaria.
Since Mr. Forkle's body appears to be partway between identities when he dies, it's possible that Oralie sees enough to get confirmation that he is Leto.
Sophie mentions the comic book character, Rogue, explaining Rogue's powers to Mr. Forkle.
Page 538 "Hers makes it so she can't ever touch anyone without absorbing their power—and if she touches them too long, she'll kill them." "Humans and their wild imaginations," Mr. Forkle said with a small smile.
I wonder if the description of Rogue foreshadows what Elysian does. It certainly seems suggestive of Elysian, based on what happens at the end of Book 9.
[I'm now sure that it does tie to Elysian because of the discussion about energy in Book 9.5.]
On page 640, Sophie puts the Neverseen's plans together when she thinks of the skill training and how Coach Rohana said that Sophie "could bring down a mountain" with enough solitude and concentration.
All of my past Keeper posts are linked from this page:
Keeper of the Lost Cities Summaries, Reviews, and Theories
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