The Link Between Worlds (and people)

As established throughout The Broken Earth series, orogenes have the ability to connect to one another via their orogeny and become more powerful as a result of this. Utilizing this ability to foster greater orogeny through connections, Essun was able to activate the Obelisk Gate, wipe out Rennanis and their army and locate her daughter via the network of obelisks in The Obelisk Gate, all due to the focus granted to her by her connection to the roggas of Castrima. Other groups of connections formed in the distant past of Syl Anagist composed of the tuners that were used by their oppressors to utilize the Obelisk Gate as Essun does in the future, but for Syl Anagist’s own purposes. It is my own theory that these connections function as an analogy to the metaphorical connections one forms with another that they trust and depend on, or relationships. I intend to more closely examine the nature of the more mystical connections orogenes share and compare them to relationships in order to confirm or deny my theory of analogy.

The earliest example of a trans-orogene link came about in The Fifth Season when Alabaster linked with Essun in order to control a volcanic event that begins on page 126. The context at this point is that Essun has a somewhat strained relationship with Alabaster coming from not fully understanding him or why he behaves the way in which he does, likely she would more fully appreciate and like him given time and exposure, but a seismic event on a scale Essun is unfamiliar with begins occurring right beneath their feet. Alabaster attempts to control it on his own briefly before resorting to connecting with Essun forcefully, resulting in a sense of shared experience where all that Alabaster is able to sess and do Essun is also aware of and does as well until the balance shifts and Essun has Alabster’s power and is able to subdue the event through her own will. The connection is shared, like a two-way street though also with aspects of control where at first Essun was directed by Alabaster and then flips to the opposite. Not only is this in many ways a mirror of the general shape of a relationship, but also specifically Essun and Alabaster’s relationship up to that point, with the language of that scene stressing the occasional points of contention when Essun struggles against Alabaster’s guidance and also Alabaster’s frequent moments of vulnerability where Essun is able to keep going for the both of them. It also tangents the development of their relationship in how the initial shock and confusion of the link that is forcibly made between them rocks Essun and causes her to rebel against Alabaster even though their cooperation is necessary for their survival and mutual benefit.

Another notable instance of the connection orogenes are able to make is that which is between Houwha and his fellow tuners, especially Gaewha. This instance of the connection is an abomination where the links that form between the tuners are utilized as a tool for the sake of using the Obelisk Gate. It is even more abominable when it is revealed that these same links are leeched off of in order to power the obelisks since they produce “magic”, though those used in this manner are kept in a comatose, deathless state. When viewed through the lens of an analogy to relationships, this exploitation becomes even more obscene as it translates to using the social relationships that people form for your own personal gain and to their own detriment. The only real-world equivalent I can imagine is how the ties between slaves on plantations were used to control them, with threats of separation through the sale of loved ones in order to keep slaves productive and docile. Yet Jemison’s depiction of these links make their exploitation seem even more vile than their hypothetical real-world counterpart due to the sheer intimacy of these connections. In truth, these connections are not actually any less intimate than those between trusted loved ones, which establishes a more visceral sense of how evil the exploitation of people’s relationships is in the real world.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.