In the book, Five Kingdoms: Death Weavers, Cole can be characterized as loyal and courageous. To start with, Cole can be characterized as loyal. First off, Cole is loyal by trying to figure out how to get his friends from Earth home. Throughout the book and the series, Cole never forgets the kids that came with him when he ended up in the outskirts. Whenever he meets a powerful character he asks them if they know of anyway they could get him and his friends home. This shows he is loyal because no matter what he goes through, he has his friends foremost on his mind, and how to save them.
A second example of Cole’s loyalty is his promise to Mira about finding Destiny. At the beginning of the book, Cole promised Mira that he would do whatever it takes to find Destiny. Destiny is one of the missing princess, Mira’s favorite sister, and one of the keys to the revolution. This shows that he is loyal because Cole goes through large amounts of suffering and pain, in an unknown world, to find Destiny. He never gives up looking for her until he finds her, and several times when the option to give up arises Cole remembers his promise to Mira and pushes on.
A third example of Cole being loyal is, when he is tempted by She Who Stands at the Summit. Cole had to seek the advice of She Who Stands at the Summit on where to find Destiny, and She Who Stands at the Summit has Cole go through two tests. This quote helps explain the two tests, “The basement. The supposed spook alley where Jenna, Dalton, and so many others were taken to the outskirts by slavers… I have to find Destiny. ‘ Everything went black. Cole was lying on his side. He could feel the rock beneath him. He opened his eyes” (Mull 343-352). These quotes help prove his loyalty because when given the hance to avoid going to the outskirts, and to avoid going through all of the suffering he has endured, he chooses the same path.
He chooses to go after his friends down into the sewer, and begins his journey in the outskirts all over again. Within the second test, he was in his room, and remembers his promise to Mira about finding Destiny, and Cole calls out to be returned to the Echolands. Cole could also be considered courageous. The first example is when, Cole rejected Ramarro/ Nazeem’s offer.
This quote helps explain this, “Which is why I now invite you to join the winning side’… You have chosen to endure my wrath. ‘ Ramarro said, his disembodied voice falling from the sky and rising from the ground. ‘Bring it on,’ Cole replied” (Mull 477-481). This shows that Cole is courageous because Cole has encountered Trillian, an immensely powerful torivor before Nazeem, and Ramarro/Nazeem is just as powerful of a torivor. To stand up to him, knowing the power Rammarro can wield, would take multitudes of courage. Another example of Cole being courageous is because of some of the beings Cole encounters in The Hall of Visions.
The first being Cole encounters in The Hall of Visions is Morgassa who stops him, with fear, in his tracks. She looks and sounds the same way she did when he first encountered her. Now this apparition helps prove his courageousness because the hall will throw the people/creatures that you fear the most at you, and make people want to touch/attack them giving the apparitions the right to retaliate. In his first encounter with Morgassa, right before she was defeated, she latched onto Cole and mangled Cole’s powers so bad that not even Dandalus, one of the most powerful beings, could fix Cole.
For Cole to find the courage to walk past Morgassa, and continue on to the next person he fears would take tremendous courage. Cole encounters several other beings that he fears and that tempt him to touch them, but he keeps on going and makes it out of the hall without giving into his fears. A third example of Cole’s courageousness, is when he jumps into a slipstream after Destiny. This quote helps explain what happened, “Tessa/Destiny never slowed. ‘Tell my sisters I love them! She shouted as she sprang into the slipstream… Cole jumped in. The shrill whistling of the slipstream gained the overwhelming fury of a hurricane” (Mull 406-408).
A slipstream is a river in the Echolands that echoes enter when they want to move onto the other, the life after the Echolands. This shows Coles courageousness because to jump into a slipstream means certain death, and he jumped into a slipstream, regardless of his own safety, to rescue someone else. He not only pulled Destiny out of the slipstream, but he also got out himself. Conclusively, Cole can be considered loyal because he never gives up on his friends or breaks their promises, and he can be considered courageous because he faces his fears head on and risks his life to save others.
Within the story, two questions arose, who contributed the most help to Cole finding Destiny in the Echolands and what would Nazeem have actually have done to Cole and his friends if Cole pledged his loyalty. To begin with the first question, who contributed the most help to Cole on finding Destiny. The first person(s) who could be debated to have contributed the most help are Harvan and Winston. Cole met both of these people in the Echolands and they agreed to help Cole traverse the Echolands because they have explored it extensively.
Harvan and Winston navigated Cole across the Echolands and help him avoid dangerous locations. They also helped Cole stay sane in the unchanging landscape where he spent all of his time traveling because he could not get tired in the Echolands. When Cole was about to reach one of his destinations they were attacked by enemies and Harvan was captured while Winston was killed. They did all of this to buy Cole time to escape. The second person who could be debated to have helped Cole find Destiny the most is Prescia.
This quote helps explain all that she did for Cole, “Prescia returned carrying a shuttered silver lantern. ‘See this, Cole… The light of the beacon will drive away dead echoes. And help conceal you from enemies” (Mull 323, 324). This quote helps show that Prescia helped Cole the most. First she tells them about She Who Stands at the Summit, and that She Who Stands at the Summit can help Cole find Destiny’s location. Prescia also gives Cole a lantern that will lead him to where he needs to go, and this gives Cole a bit of hope that will eventually find Destiny.
The lantern Prescia gives them will also drive away dead echoes so they will not be attacked, and it will shield them from prying eyes. These two traits that the lantern provide will keep them safe from an ambush. The third person who could have possibly been the biggest help for Cole in finding Destiny is She Who Stands at the Summit. First off, she tells Cole about the one person who will know Destiny’s location guaranteed, The Warden of Light. She Who Stands at the Summit also resets Prescia’s lantern to lead Cole to The Warden of Light.
Then she tells Cole that he will have to pass through the Pass of Visions, and she gives him advice on how to survive it. Lastly, she teleports Cole as close as she can to The Warden of Light’s domain. The next question that arose was, what would Nazeem actually have done to Cole and his friends if he pledged his loyalty. One possibility he might do is, take their shaping power and torture them all. He would take their powers because that is what Nazeem did with the princesses, and Nazeem has proven to be power hungary with his ambition to take over the Outskirts.
With three princesses, two Grand Shapers, and Cole, Nazeem has some of the most powerful people in the outskirts take power from. Once he has their power there is no one to stop him from torturing them for all of the trouble they caused him. Another possibility he might do is recruit Cole just as he says and imprison the rest of his friends, and sending them to the Other if Cole rebels. He would leave Cole’s power with him because of what Cole says, “Because you can’t lie” (Mull 479).
Nazeem cannot lie, and he said he would recruit Cole if he were willing, and let him keep his power. Nazeem could imprison the others because he never said that he would keep them from harm just that he, “may borrow aspects of their shaping power without torturing them. But | make no promises. I will do according to my pleasure” (Mull 478). This shows that he never outright said that he would not harm them. A final possibility is Nazeem will let those who wish to work with him, work with him, let them keep their shaping power, and imprison the rest.
Nazeem might take this route because he would get strong shapers in his army that he lost to Cole previously. Nazeem is a smart torivor, and when he sees something that can benefit him, he will take it. Ultimately, Harvan and Winston helped Cole the most in finding Destiny because they helped him navigate the Echolands, and they help keep Cole sane, with their company, in the endless landscape. Next, Nazeem would recruit the willing shapers and imprison the rest because he knows strong power when he sees it and will not want it going to waste.
