Keeper of the Lost Cities Forgotten Secret #5 Kenric and Prentice

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.

I have included all of my past comments on this Forgotten Secret.  I want all of my thoughts in the same post, and it will be easier for me to find what I need if I separate the Forgotten Secrets into separate posts.  My new thoughts are at the end.

From Keeper of the Lost Cities #9 The Forgotten Secrets:

Page 244   There was Kenric, sitting in a cluttered library.  And in the armchair across from him sat Prentice.

Page 247   Kenric propped his feet on what looked like a polished tree stump.

Page 247   Kenric downed his drink in one gulp.  "Because I have a proposition of sorts, for the most talented Keeper I've ever met."  "The most talented," Prentice repeated, tucking several of his dreadlocks behind his ears.  "That is some heavy flattery.  Sounds like this is going to be a big proposition."  "It is," Kenric agreed.

Page 248   Sophie frowned, trying to do the mental math.  "Wait—if Wylie was three, wasn't Prentice already working with the Black Swan during this memory?"  "I'm not sure that we know exactly when he swore fealty," Oralie told her.  "But he might've been, since he was arrested a few years later."

Page 250   "You're right—and there's no subtle way of saying this, so I'll just have to put it out there.  I brought you here because I'm hoping you'll be willing to serve as my Keeper."  He let that sink in before he added, "Off the record."

Page 253   "My training as a Washer has taught me how to hide memories in a very specific way, where the person holding them remains completely unaware—but the memories can easily be triggered if the need arises.  And I, as your partner, would know the triggers.  They would be carefully selected words or phrases containing enough of a clue about the secret that I'd be able to recognize any need to call for it, yet remain completely in the dark otherwise."

Page 254   Prentice shook his head.  "We all know how easily information can leak."  "Not if you and I are the only ones who know we're working together.  I'd tell the Council that I have a Keeper—but not your identity.  And I would sooner let my sanity shatter than expose you."

Page 255   What if Kenric was the reason Prentice was arrested?  Or part of it, at least?

Page 255   And either way… Kenric was yet another person who should've come to Prentice's defense and didn't.

Page 255   Kenric was dead.  Prentice's memories were gone.  And nothing would ever change that.  "Seriously, are you okay?" Dex asked, pointing to Sophie's white-knuckled fists.  She relaxed her grip.  "Yeah. I just… wish we knew if Prentice agreed to Kenric's plan.  But with the way these memories are going, I have a feeling it's going to cut off before we get that answer."

Page 258   "Are the Councillors using Keepers now?  Don't say you can't tell me—"  "We're not," Oralie cut in.  "As far as I know, Kenric never made the suggestion.  I'm assuming that means Prentice chose not to take him up on his offer—or that their tests to protect his sanity failed."

Page 259   "But remember:  Kenric recorded each of these memories for a very specific reason.  We just need more time to understand why."

This memory unpacks some very important clues.  I was a bit puzzled by the memory the first two or three times that I read it.  I then had a lightbulb moment when I realized the context.  Remember that these memories are problematic due to the lack of context.

I at first took the memory at face value and accepted that Kenric wanted Prentice to be his personal Keeper as stated.  I didn't understand, since I knew that Prentice actually became the Keeper of the Black Swan.  I finally realized that Kenric wasn't saying what he really meant.  Kenric was requesting that Prentice be the Keeper of the Black Swan.  Kenric is Forkle.  It all makes sense.  He just wasn't going to mention his little rebel group the Black Swan until after Prentice agreed to be his Keeper.

On page 253, Kenric specifies that he knows how to hide memories so that they can be retrieved with a word or phrase.  Forkle has mentioned doing exactly this with Sophie.  In Book 3 page 377, we learn that this is called "implanting" and that it is "a super-hard skill only a few people can really pull off."  How curious that few people can do it, yet both Kenric and Forkle have this ability.

This Forgotten Secret also confirms that Kenric was a Washer.  Forkle is a Washer as well, since he has erased some of Sophie's memories.  It's strange how much Kenric and Forkle have in common.

From Keeper of the Lost Cities #9 More on the Forgotten Secrets:

Page 244:   There was Kenric, sitting in a cluttered library.  And in the armchair across from him sat Prentice.

Sophie blinks several times when the memory begins, because she can't believe that she sees Prentice with Kenric.  I didn't see it as shocking at all when I first read this memory, just because I didn't understand.  In fact, it seemed odd to me that Prentice's name is even italicized.  That's how clueless I was. 

It took me several readings over a number of weeks to figure out that Prentice is being recruited as the Keeper of the Black Swan.

One aspect continued to bother me.  Kenric makes the request as himself.  If Prentice should accept, then Prentice would know that Councillor Kenric is in the Black Swan.  That seems like too big of a secret to entrust to anybody.  I believe that nobody in the Black Swan knows who Forkle really is. 

So something just didn't add up.  Recently, I put it all together when I read the memory yet again and noticed one passage that I hadn't thought about carefully during my previous readings.

Page 249:   Everyone assumed he'd used the Black Swan's code for imminent danger because he'd somehow uncovered the Lodestar symbol and feared the Neverseen would be coming after him.  But the explanation didn't totally make sense, as Prentice could've told someone what he'd learned—both to help prove his innocence and to make sure the information didn't get buried if he ended up in Exile.  Instead, he had kept everything to himself.  Almost as if he hadn't known who he could trust.

Ah-ha!  Kenric must have washed Prentice's memories of anyone involved in the Black Swan.  Prentice had no idea who had recruited him, and he likely didn't know the names of anyone involved in the order.  That's why he hadn't known who he could trust.  This all makes sense now!   

This next passage immediately follows the one quoted above.

Page 249:   And now Sophie was watching Prentice sit with Kenric in a secret library, about to discuss some sort of "big proposition."  "You okay?" Dex asked.  Sophie blinked, realizing he was staring at her—and that she was breathing very, very fast.  "Yeah, I'm just... trying to decide if I should tell Wylie and Prentice this story."

Sophie is beginning to hyperventilate as she thinks about this, then she lies to Dex about what she is thinking.  Sophie fears that Kenric is responsible for what happened to Prentice, which means that she is on the cusp of figuring out that Kenric recruited Prentice to be the Black Swan's Keeper.  This would then lead to her realizing that Kenric is Forkle.  She is just not quite there yet.

Page 257:   Instead he stepped closer and told Kenric, "No amount of talent will ever make me infallible."

I wonder...  Is this a clue as to why Prentice called swan song?  Did Prentice make a mistake that led to his capture?

Here are my recent thoughts.

Prentice tells Kenric that Wylie is 3 years old.  Wylie is now around 20, so this memory is from around 17 years before.  Sophie is around 16 at this time, so this is from around the time that Sophie was born.

On page 256, Prentice points out that there aren't enough highly-skilled Keepers for all 12 Councillors to choose one.  Even if they did find 12 Keepers, everyone would know who they are.

Kenric doesn't address the shortage of Keepers, but he says that no one would know if the Keeper program were kept secret.  Kenric is just lying.  He knows that his story makes no sense, but he's not going to tell Prentice the truth, at least not at this point in time.

All of my past Keeper posts are linked from this page:

Keeper of the Lost Cities Summaries, Reviews, and Theories