Bob wasn't thinking too clearly about damage to Mo or their relationship at the end of The Rhesus Chart. At the start of TDB Mhari has to prod Bob into contacting Mo to 'talk'. Neither of them was willing to put down their eldritch parasite if saving their relationship came at the cost of hindering the Laundry's defense of the land. I'm not sure that Bob prioritizes Mo's safety over anything else in the world, he isn't valuing a single individual over various CASE NIGHTMAREs. He does care a lot for her and based on a few clues through the book has some guilt over not helping her previously.
Leading up to the snap at Heathrow he: - had planned the op, putting Mo in danger at his design for the first time - had received orders from the SA to provide support at the House (emphasized in the text, the geas is in play) - finally reconnected with Mo after an extended separation - coming down from the action adrenaline high of the battle When the police charge in Bob is blindsided at a weak time when his defenses against the EoS are relaxed. The scene shows more about his constant fight not to feed and how close he is to his own breakdown (and I'm sure Bob and all the rest of the gang are aware of just how much fun they would have if he ever lost it. Probably a design flaw having Bob still in there with the EoS, safer if the host was mindless in an Angleton/TEAPOT kind of way). Perfect storm, sets us up for the upcoming drama of Mo's new post-survival state.
]]>Bob, Johnny and Seph can't be seen by Schiller so can't be at the party; Seph is the expert at infiltration/burglary so gets the apartment; Bob/Johnny get the airport as kicking in the doors of a bent arms importer is the most likely target to need explosions and retail-level killing.
On the SA: he's scared of far more than Bob. He's got the BP, the Sleeper, the Black Chamber run amok, Benthic treaty violations and a camp full of elves. He used to play Lecter if I remember correctly. At this point he'd probably welcome Bob/EoS leveling up to the point where he can take on the Mandate, screw the fallout.
]]>And I don't see Mo as a long-term willing mole surviving through the breakdown, etc. That much stress combined with the geas, it doesn't seem credible that she wouldn't have tripped up somewhere. For something involuntary it would need to be more recent than Atrocity Archives (people retrieved from the Black Chamber's clutches are very thoroughly examined) and having a major plot point like that happen completely off-camera and unremarked seems unlikely.
]]>The Sleeper on the other hand seems to be more of a 'Blood and souls for my lord Arioch!' kind of guy, no fun at parties.
]]>Chris Womack thought Iris had already received her back pay and normal promotions. The SA apologizes to her when they first meet. She was placed out of sight, not punished for her actions.
]]>Looks like Mo was aware of the plan to reactivate Iris and some history after the PLAN TITANIC briefings. Hard to see her not reaching the same conclusion given her position; Bob might have a few trust issues when he starts putting things together and realizes how much he's been kept in the dark.
]]>We see an increase in Bob's effectiveness with the EoS across books. That may not just be Bob's familiarity with EoS but better familiarity on the Eater's part with it's gateway into the universe. It takes time for a feeder to completely process a host (see end of TDB, etc.). In The Annihilation Score the Mandate/BP was still getting up to speed, similar to Bob in The Apocalypse Codex; now BP is comfortable with this fun new gateway and universe and can throw some weight around.
@allynh: I share some of your concerns with Mo's characterization but she's no less human than Theresa May, the SAS Counter Terrorism group or Ann Coulter. You know Coulter would be the King in Yellow's handmaid in a New York minute after picking up Lecter. I just have trouble seeing how Mo could shift from her prior (early TAS) opinion of Bob (cuddly, not that sharp about life, needs occasional rescuing, lacks gravitas) to something that will keep Bob from becoming the Eater of Souls with a thin veneer of middle-aged geek.
]]>I'd go with collections of pointers. Bob started with one in the list referencing 'Bob', Iris added a second referencing 'Eater of Souls'. Angleton had the first pointer removed as part of adding the EoS pointer and is now part of the memory leak in Briefing Room 202.
]]>In TDB Bob is comfortable walking into an armed, opposed entry with him as the heavy support and overwhelming force; rewind a bit and he would be sneaking in the back under a hand of glory with a basilisk gun and a prayer that the EoS wouldn't come out to play. There isn't the same self-loathing at the use of the EoS, compare the narration of the assault on Basil in TRC with the airport scene in TDB. Our unreliable narrator is evolving.
And speaking of unreliable I can't see Mo's perspective as undeluded. It's strongly implied that Bob isn't considered human by the SA or Mahogany Row; it seems improbable that an up and coming Auditor would be denied that assessment on a critical resource that close to her (as they have no problems offering a threat assessment on Mo to Bob); she's fighting for a relationship with that after the burnout from the violin? Bring on Mhari as the sweet voice of reason and sanity.
]]>Very much this, and we've now seen the scaling limit of the structures that grew to be the Laundry. The organizational breakdown and failures in TNS and TDB might be my favourite aspect of the series.
While the story is developing very nicely TDB didn't add much clarity for the characters. I was left wondering how one of Mo or Bob (choose one or both based on how unreliable you consider the narrator) hasn't just shut down or gotten all stabby yet. Bob is now casually using/wrestling the EoS and needs a field supervisor with stand-down codes to accompany him, Mo may be in a worse place based on the wrap up from the Mandate and the SA and I'm not sure either of those things are in the top 10 nastiest aspects for the two of them.
At some point things break and don't come back; its getting pretty close to the point where its unreasonable to think they'll keep coming back to get kicked in the head as good guys. Start shifting to a Mhari/Cassie/Seph focus I guess.
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