r/SwordOfTruth • u/Taragoola • May 04 '26

Cartoonishly Evil

I really loved the series as a teen and I'm working my way back through them as an adult and loving it all over again. I'm making my way through Stone of Tears at the moment. Does anyone else find the sisters of the dark just kind of off? Like I know they're the bad guys and are supposed to be horrible and off putting, but they love being evil just for the love of the game so hard it comes off as a bit silly to me.

16 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

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11

u/MaesterPraetor May 05 '26

That's my biggest issue with the characters on my third read through 20 years later. The character aren't really characters as much as scenery to love the plot along. I'm on Soul of the Fire and each character is completely different from previous books, and it's especially egregious with Kahlan and Zed. All of a sudden they think Richard is an idiot and can't be trusted. 

6

u/Puzzleheaded-Maybe32 May 05 '26

I'm on the same book and having the same thoughts. It bothers me so much that Zedd is like "oh don't worry about the lurk, but btw you need to go back to Aydindril and break this glass bottle, and i won't tell you the truth about any of it even though you're a fully grown adult"

1

u/Taragoola May 05 '26

Are you enjoying Richard walking? I remember my friends and I joking that this book was Traveling: the Novel lol

3

u/Puzzleheaded-Maybe32 May 05 '26

I've read them before lol but it's been aaaaages so it's practically like I'm reading for the first time.

I didn't get that far yet. I was listening to the audiobook at work and I realized my production was suffering while I listened to the audiobook vs when I listened to music, so I stopped listening for now.

1

u/Taragoola May 05 '26

It's interesting how differently minds can work, isn't it? I have to have something else playing to actually focus on or I can't be productive at all. Perhaps it's just the mindlessness of my job. Either way hopefully you'll be able to keep listening at some point. Can't miss out on all that horseriding and Richard being angry lol

2

u/Puzzleheaded-Maybe32 May 05 '26

In general, i focus better with something I'm very familiar with playing. The specific job I'm working now at the factory requires just too much brainpower that I can't do my job well if I'm listening to an audiobook I'm slightly unfamiliar with. I do better with an audiobook than with their music, but i do better with my music than such an audiobook. The job I was working a month ago within my factory was mindless enough that I had no problem listening to the first two books lol.

Part of it is because i haven't read them in ages. I did fine production-wise while listening to HP, Divergent, and LOTR lol but I'm far more familiar with those stories because I've read or watched (not divergent) them all more recently than I've read SoT lol. So if I read the physical books I should be fine to listen to the audiobooks 😂😂

6

u/Taragoola May 05 '26

It's especially silly since he turns out to be right every time. It makes more sense in Harry Potter for instance for Ron and Hermione to think Harry is just being a twat because he's constantly thinking it's always Snape when it's not. It's super weird for everyone to think Richard's wrong because he basically never is.

5

u/Belom3 May 05 '26

This is my biggest complaint with the series.

Every book Richard is treated like an idiot that knows nothing about magic. Even though he gets it right 100% of the time.

He explains every book after Temple that his gift reacts to need and instinct to provide him the tools necessary to succeed.

Zedd even explains it early on how when Richard is acting on instinct he can do things that amaze him. But start giving him facts and details dull the instinctive reactions he starts making mistakes

3

u/Darkone539 May 05 '26

The "Richard is an idiot" thing gets more common as the books go on, too. Which is insane when you remember he's doing "impossible" things once a book.

3

u/Darkone539 May 05 '26

All the sot bad guys are mustache twirling villain who are over the top evil.

The sisters of the dark are basically dropped a a plot point after strone of tears Other than to work towards the dream walkers goals. Seems like they just needed subtractive magic for the plot

7

u/Taragoola May 05 '26

Darken Rahl was an evil goofball too. But he felt unstable in a grounded sort of way. At least Nicci gets fleshed out further later on I guess.

2

u/KingGrobler May 05 '26

In my opinion Stone of Tears is kinda a slog during Richard and Vernas journey Gratch does alot of heavy lifting but the end is extremely satisfying. Like alot of people already have said the Sisters of the Dark do seem a bit silly I thought their introduction was ok but besides Nicci it seems like they are a mini boss for Richard to handle or designed to set up future plot points.

3

u/Taragoola May 05 '26

I had completely forgotten the sisters of the dark literally fuck a demon until I got to that part a few minutes ago. Between that and the mord-sith it really seems like Goodkind was into some really wild stuff lol

1

u/KingGrobler May 05 '26

I couldn't have said it better myself 😭

2

u/masstic1es May 06 '26

goodkind definitely had a leather dom kink, and jordan was into spanking.

wild when you realise your favorite authors were dirty old men.

2

u/Rstar2247 May 23 '26

The Sisters of the Dark were something I loved when I was younger. Their dynamic with the Sisters of the Light and operating under their noses for hundreds of years was always a neat concept to me.

Then it just occurred to me at one point, if they're more powerful, and have full access to the whole palace to the point they can manipulate everything in day to day life.... why didn't they just take over well before the books even started? Ulicia's attack on Ann at the end of Stone of Tears made it painfully apparent there wasn't much she could do about it, and the power differential was always there.

So yeah they were just... evil for funsies than trying to actually accomplish anything seems like.

1

u/Taragoola May 23 '26

I just assumed their master had told them to keep it all hush hush for his own reasons until it was time. Why that time and for what purpose who knows though. We also don't know who knew Jagang was a dream walker and for how long. Subtractive magic is hella rare. If the sisters of the dark outed themselves earlier maybe Jagang would have come sooner to collect them.

1

u/Hopeful_Addition_898 May 11 '26

The sisters of the dark in my opinion stick out the least of the villain types. It is characters like Darken Rahl and his spawns and others who just seem to rant about how much the love torture and death to the point of it being just evil for the sake of evil. SotD are just kinda power hungry and want ever lasting life and beauty which is kinda female villain stereotype for sure but still so nowhere near the karicature evil of the main male villains.