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Logen Ninefingers: A Character Study | The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie
In this piece, I break down Logen Ninefingers and his journey across the First Law Trilogy, deconstructing his relationship with war and violence as well as characters like Bayaz, Ferro, and Jezal Dan Luthar. This includes spoilers for The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, and The Last Argument Of Kings.
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Just finished the series, I was so heartbroken with logen's story. When luthar told him he was the best man he knew was sad knowing what he truly was but also knowing what he wanted to be
@AlexCortright
3 жыл бұрын
Omg yes! Heartbreaking!
@vin8889
2 жыл бұрын
Yeah but then in Logen’s own words… “you have to be realistic about these things”
@valdimer11
Жыл бұрын
It was poetic. It just perfectly articulates that while traveling with his group, he was becoming the person he wanted to be. Jezal has no idea what he's done since
@gdoggcasey
Жыл бұрын
I just finished the trilogy today, and this part stands out to me as well. Loved the Logen and Jezal relationship.
One of my favorite things about this series is how Bayaz asks most of the main characters what they want, and in this very Faustian manner, provides it for them. Except Glokta, who asks for pretty much nothing and gets arguably the best ending of all the characters.
@valdimer11
Жыл бұрын
When you read the next three books, you'll realize Glokta got exactly what he actually wanted. He just didn't want to get it from bayaz
@pCthulhu
Жыл бұрын
@@valdimer11 Very true, he sniffed out Bayaz's game early on and outplayed him beautifully. I finished the next three books recently, they were excellent, as usual.
@Ray_D_Tutto
3 ай бұрын
@@valdimer11 What i love about Glokta is how small his relative ambitions are.
@valdimer11
3 ай бұрын
@@Ray_D_Tutto to be fair, Glokta found out what lofty goals and ambitions get you on a bridge in Gurkel. But I enjoy it too
Joe Abercrombie is one of the best authors at manipulating your emotions towards characters: Collem West: I despised him after he beat his sister at the end of Book 1 but at the end of Book 3 after all the countless trials he was put through and lives he saved I felt completely sorry for him when he’s withered away into a Glotka type situation Bayaz: At the start he seems like the typical Gandalf stereotype but over the course of the trilogy he is shown to be a vindictive power crazed individual who’s 1000 year span has turned his perception of human lives to that of insects Logen Ninefingers: Seemingly the most humble man in the whole of Abercrombie’s world who turns out to be the craziest, bloody man the world has ever seen trying to get out of a violent cycle he is doomed to always repeat The whole trilogy was just a masterpiece of character work
@AlexCortright
3 жыл бұрын
Agreed!
@fiddlesticks7245
4 ай бұрын
If you despised West after he slapped around his self-obsessed sister then you need to get your testosterone checked
Logen's story gets rounded off so well with Red Country. Would be a cool addition to Logen's story. I think it would be worth it to give one of these videos to Caul Shivers :)
@AlexCortright
3 жыл бұрын
Yes! Not a bad idea at all!
@oneminutereviews25
3 жыл бұрын
Do you get scared shivers? No. .......Why not? ...... I got my eye burned out of my face.
@asmodeojung
3 жыл бұрын
Shivers' story is much similar to Logen's.
One of the best things about logens story was how it starts with what feels like the immediate scene after he jumps off a cliff. Then ends the trilogy with him jumping off the tower. It goes full circle, and probably means something to someone who can read into that stuff
@tyrandorp
3 жыл бұрын
A very fatalistic view of things - it doesn't matter where you do, you end where you start.
@quattrobajeena135
3 жыл бұрын
Yes but red country
@jake.presents
3 жыл бұрын
Joe has almost all of the characters (and story) start where it ends… at least thematically Logen: cliffdiving for survival Dogman: “Grey morning time, out in the cold, wet woods, and the Dogman was just sat there” Glokta: "Why do I do this?" (Because he's good at it, and he wants to win) I won't elaborate on characters from other books as spoilers
@thisguy8106
3 жыл бұрын
You gotta read Red Country to get his full arc. And now the final book of Age Of Madness that is coming out. It's about to conclude this entire story.
@thisguy8106
3 жыл бұрын
@@quattrobajeena135 and the new Trilogy of Age of Madness. He's about to make an appearance in this one.
The scene where Logen meets back up with his crew was such a gut punch for me. The whole trilogy I’d imagined what their reunion would be like, thinking about how they’d celebrate their leader’s return and commiserate the fallen together. Instead, no one is happy except Dogman - you realise that almost everyone hates and fears him. It’s not that Logen was just self hating in his perspective chapters, he really was feared and despised all along, and for good reason. I wanted so badly for him to become a good person, even when he made the bad decision to go back north, but in that moment I realised that the awful person we’ve been hearing about is who he really is deep down. I think Logen is addicted to killing, and the bloody nine is a safety mechanism he’s invented for himself - you can’t blame the man if its just some semi-supernatural red mist that takes over, right? I think the key moment for Logen is when he kills Bethod - he’s in bloody nine mode, but the descriptions of him walking up the battlements and killing Bethod refer to him as Logen, not bloody nine. He slips up, so enraged and ashamed by Bethod’s words that he can’t keep up the bloody nine charade even to himself. All that said, I’ve only read the first trilogy and sharp ends so far in terms of Logen stuff so what I’m saying might be totally contradicted by the other books.
Logen is probably my favourite fantasy character of all time, I miss him😢
I'm loving these First Law videos! Keep it up!
@AlexCortright
3 жыл бұрын
I’m so glad! Thanks for watching!
@dennisrydgren
3 жыл бұрын
I agree. I went thru the first 6 First Law books between 12-15 times during a few years and love to hear what others have to say.
Just got into the Red Country. So glad to get more Logen Nine Fingers
Great job Alex! Logen and Shivers are really amazing characters.
@AlexCortright
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you! Agreed! I love so many of the characters in Abercrombie’s books I wish I could do videos for all of them!
As I am just done with Best Served Cold, I was left wondering about Logen character arc through the trilogy and its similitude with Shivers. Although Logen trip to Adua was forced by fate, I've got a feeling of reversed Heart of Darkness where a man seek society to get away from his sinisters ways but his unwillingness to accept the Bloody-Nine as a part of himself and instead treating "him" as a different entity, therefore distancing himself from his deeds, leaves him exactly where he started. Glad I stumbled upon your video
@AlexCortright
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks for watching!
To me Logen is a superb depiction of what a berserker could have been, normal fellow trying to get by but with a side to him that can come out and cause mayhem when the situation caused or required it. You could also say a man possessed by himself. Totally agree with the Red Country comments as well, brought his story to a satisfyingly fitting conclusion.
Great breakdown. One of the best characters. Would like to see one on jezal or other characters as well.
I finished The Trilogy for The second time now. Amazed by The characters. We love Logen, Glotka and hate Bayaz just a little.😂
This was a great video, just finished the First Law and reading Red Country now, after The Hero’s. That was a great character analysis! More videos like this would be great!
Just wanted to let you know that I found this via a Facebook ad, so that got you at least one view. Also, nice work, well written and thoughtful, I’d love to see a short follow up that includes Red Country and Sharp Ends, which add to his future and past respectively, and maybe even the heroes, which adds to his reputation post-“death”.
When will you do Bayez, Shivers, Monsra Glokta and Cosca? I think Finry, Gorst, Tunny, and Beck deseve a video too. Maybe the Dozen and Logens old boys too? I guess I am asking for every character in the series at this point. I would love to see an analysis on all of them they are so good
Logen reminded me a lot of Elric from Moorcock. Both of them are trapped with evil companions necessary for their survival. Logen with Bloody Nine, Elric with Stormbringer who kill indiscriminately, friend or foe. If you like Logen you would probably like Elric as well. Thanks for the video, looking forward to watch more.
First, let me say I love the way you do your videos. The presentation is fantastic. And talking about fantasy and more specifically the First Law series? Sign me up! I can say it’s changed my opinion on Logen somewhat, as he was a character I initially liked in TBI and most of BTAH. He’s a man who wants to change, but keeps getting dragged into situations or making the wrong choices. The series wants you to believe Logen will be redeemed, then snatch it away, which is beautiful and I like the idea of it. But I just personally thought Joe Abercrombie butchered the believability of Logen’s with one crucial mistake. Logen chose to go back to the North. Why does he choose to do this? A man who has spent the last two books being a better man, trying and succeeding in some ways, but then... goes back to where he knows he’s hated? Did he forget or something? No reason is even given for this decision, he just chooses to do it. Not saying he had to stay in Adua or whatever, but if he’d had a good reason to leave the crew, I’d more readily believe it. He had Jezal, who looked up to him and are still friends by the end of book 3. He could have been there to help Ferro since he clearly still cared and he’s a stubborn bastard as the story shows. And I’m not saying that’s what I wanted this to happen, I’m down for a tragedy, but there is literally no reason for him to go back to a place that he spent a good portion of his life running from if his whole goal was to get away and start anew. He simply abandons his new life because the plot needed him to. None of this is to say he’s a bad character, I think he’s very well done in my opinion, but I lost believability in him when he made a decision that does not make sense based on what we’re given beforehand. And even afterward. If he truly wanted to change, he would have done it and stayed away. None of his role in book 3 would have happened. I think the story or circumstances should have forced his hand somehow to make it more believable. Maybe After Jezal became king, he asked Logen to go north or something. But Logen making the choice himself doesn’t make sense to me. I’m glad it works for everyone else and I don’t mean to take that away from you or anyone else. But I think there are flaws in the way he was written in this aspect. A problem Joe Abercrombie repeats later on. This is just my two cents, again this is a fantastic video and I subscribed cuz I’d love to see more. Keep up the good work, man. :D
@AlexCortright
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks so much for the thoughtful comment. It means more than you know! As for Logen’s story being believable, I agree with your thought process. I definitely don’t like it when writers do things as you’re saying, but I kind of didn’t question Logens choice because to me, I thought he returned north because of duty. Because he was the one that sort of elevated Bethod and contributed to the north becoming what it was, he felt it was his responsibility to undo his mistakes. That’s just my take.
@Mitcham28
3 жыл бұрын
@@AlexCortright I can actually see that being the reason he did it, and I think that’s the beauty in the First Law series, you can fill the gaps yourself in some places and the story works. It lets you be a part of Logen’s story by letting you imagine the things he did instead of just telling you everything. It’s easy to just give the reader all the info, it takes a lot of skill to give them just enough to make the story work, and leave enough open to keep them reading. I gotta give it to Joe for that.
@AlexCortright
3 жыл бұрын
Yeah. I don’t know how much of that was implied in the text, but that was just why it always made sense to me! Also, a lot of that trilogy is about people struggling to change, yet they often can’t. So him not being able to actually walk away from the life he claimed to want to escape still makes sense for me.
@caluminnes579
3 жыл бұрын
I feel like that’s kinda the point and why it’s believable. It would be completely unbelievable to me if logen chose to live a quiet life away from his past with little consequences. Yeah he doesn’t want to return but at the same time logen has changed and he cares about honour and duty and he knows that if it wasn’t for him bethod wouldn’t even be in power and he’s the only man who can help take back the north
Fantastic video. Well put! We pronounce "Bayaz" differently, I say Buy-yaz. Keep the content coming!
@AlexCortright
3 жыл бұрын
Hmmm! I’ve never heard it that way. But then, I don’t think I’ve heard a pronunciation at all! Maybe I’m saying it wrong? Haha thanks!
Great breakdown!
Damn..brought a frikken tear to my eye. Love Logen.
Cool topics you're covering. Subscribed.
@AlexCortright
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks so much!
What about Lamb? Logens character study without talking about Lamb? Logen did change after all or maybe just started to try to change again. After diving into river he let all people believe hes dead, he didnt go back to kill Black Dow. Past got back to him in the end but he still struggled, tried to be better than people see him.
@keirscott-schrueder5625
3 жыл бұрын
probably hasn't read that yet
Hello. It was very cool and fun to watch! How about the Ferro Malgin video? I would love to see this because she is a very bright and Cool character. Thank you
Logan story starts when th village / home was threatned by the flatheads, he referes to his dad aswell. Now I dont remember if this was revealed after the triology or not, but what I remember he looked up at his dad, and want justice. With nothing to lose and no hope left when times go on and on after he left, he turned to bloody nine. When he is on the run again he jump back to the state of mind when he ran for help against the flatheads, it a man for the situation, the man you need. Why the fist for the magi got him. I belive he was a father aswell.
Loved this, would love to hear your thoughts on the somewhat controversial Red Country. I think it pushes this concept even further. However even Abercrombie admits he was a little burnt out for that one.
@Bones_Jr.
2 жыл бұрын
Personally, I like how Joe seemed to be trying different genres with each of the stand-alones; in the case of Red Country, westerns. I also got excited when I realized who "Lamb" was!
A man who wants to change...but who realises deep down that a man is what he is.
I was wondering While reading this trilogy weather or not, Logen has either a demon in him or a split personality... I can't really justify the demon but he could have gotten a split personality due to grief and anger at the loss of his wife and children??? What do you think?
@valdimer11
Жыл бұрын
I think it's likely to be a demon. One of the three sons of Euz, Bedesh had the power to commune with spirits. Logen has this ability. I found it odd that Bayaz didn't point out that Logen may have devil blood in him as well, but just not in the same way as Ferro, but he is a diluted descendent of Bedesh. Also, along the journey, Logen pointed out that he had his first "blank spell" when he was just a boy. I almost think he was born with a demon inside him, but popular opinion is that he has a split personality. It's hard to say because they both go hand in hand in this regard. I think Logen has a split personality, but that personality is outside of his control because there is magic involved due to the devilkin blood.
Logen and his (former) band's story was probably the saddest one to me, and the series does not lack sad stories to put it mildly.
Still my favorite character... Good or bad "you have to be realistic about these things" lol
In my mind: Sand dan Glokta - Christopher Waltz, Jezal dan Luthar - Cary Elwes, The Dogman - Guy Pearce, Bremer dan Gorst - Brock Lesnar, Ferro Maljinn - Summer Glau, Collem West - Jason Statham, Nicomo Cosca - Benicio del Toro, Bayaz - Jon Voight, Logan Ninefingers - Scott Glenn
@AlexCortright
3 жыл бұрын
I 100% agree on del Toro and voight! 😂
@archlectoryarvi2873
3 жыл бұрын
I've always imagined Logen as a younger, long-haired version of Viggo Mortensen.
@wardog3248
3 жыл бұрын
@@archlectoryarvi2873 Wow, thats a good one. my version of Scot Glenn is definantly the young version, but, buffed up to the max, its his demeanor more than anything, his potrayal of "Axe" in the movie "Backdraft" came to mind when reading the book, and stuck.
@mrhayzeus
3 жыл бұрын
Rutina Wesley would be a perfect fit for Ferro. I mean, Tara from Trueblood Is already really close to Ferro in terms of anger
@horsthooden4600
2 жыл бұрын
Honestly I have always imagined Cosca as Sir John Cleese who fell very very deep. If Sir John ever was on a true binge or has had alcohol problems, he wd be made for the role. If hes a sober as he seems Benicio.
Great video. I just finished the trilogy yesterday, and I’m struggling with my emotions! Logen is my favorite character, and yet by the end I sort of hoped that Black Dow would kill him :/
@AlexCortright
3 жыл бұрын
The trilogy was such a roller coaster of emotions for Logen! It was so hard to read!
Bethod, like method *
The character is possessed by a demon, or the Great Leveler himself... That's when the rage sets in
The berserker with ptsd.
abercrombie should just do....... one more book. i want to or at least a short story or SOMETHING about what happened with ferro... and how glokta's marriage with ardee is going....... aaannnddd if terez ever did give jezal a few heirs.... and if logen survived the jump from from the window to escape the ambush by black dow......... but i guess that's the point right? no happy endings... for anyone. except maybe glokta.
@gordolarry97
Жыл бұрын
there are more books
My favorite barbarian. There is enough human in him to entice interest, but when the hacking gets going... Logen wins based on physicality, reaction time, situational awareness and, most importantly, aggression. That's what wins fights, most of the time. He is not an intricate character, like Glokta, but just as fascinating. To get a better insight on Logen, you need to read his short story from Sharp Ends; this is where you truly understand where he comes from and just how far his personal journey has taken him. In the new "Age of Madness" trilogy, with the death of Dogman, the era of the barbarians comes to an end. The next generation's sophisticated scheming can never replace good old hacking the named men so freely provided. They shall be missed!
@danielburke789
Жыл бұрын
He is an incredibly complex character that is why he is so fascinating.
Open windows Luthar Luthar Luthar Luthar Luthar Luthar Luthar Luthar Luthar Luthar Luthar…..
The look for logan in the comic book is just terrible.
Thats not how you say bayaz its pronounced with a i and its pronounced ad-u-wa
Haha, utter rubbish. Logan Ninefingers is the greatest warrior character since... Aragorn maybe? (and he is a poor comparison) Can't think of any other off-hand that contains Ninefinger's depth and complexity.... The complexity by being not just one person, of course. The revealing of the Bloody Nine late in Book is one of the most sublime moments for me in 40plus years of reading... Naturally, it turns out that he does not have the choices he hoped for.. and the past, and ones deeds, are always present... just like they should be. And he knows it ... and he knows the best way to deal with such things.:) Ps not utter rubbish (though I do feel you have missed his central characterization) but starting with an insult improves the drama... :) Subscibed.
obligatory "your pronounciation sucks" comment. It really hurts after the audiobook
Man. I think you misunderstood who the Bloody Nine was.. It didn't separate me b from NineFingers, it made me pity him more. The Bloody Nine is a demon within him.. it's not him at all. So I never held those actions against him as himself..
Are these…canonical pronunciations? If so, I’ve been pronouncing every single thing wrong for a decade.
You basically just described the plot. Not sure what the point is of this. Also why are we staring at your face? Don’t blame me you promoted to me on Facebook
@AlexCortright
3 жыл бұрын
It’s ok. You clearly aren’t familiar with KZread content. Thanks for stopping by!
Gorst character study please?