Commentary

(Spoilers ahead, so if you have not read the story in it's entirety, I highly suggest you do so before reading this)

This was a very long road, one I am happy to be at the end of at last. One thing is for certain, I never expected this story to be as long as it did! Seriously, most of my stories last no longer then ten chapters, 17 at the most, but here I am, having finished a novel length fic at a whooping 42 chapters! I guess this proves to myself that I can write a novel if I really set my mind to it, especially considering I do hope to publish stories of my own someday.

Even before I finished 'The Warrrior's Agenda' I knew I'd be writing a sequel, the basic plot already in my head. Where 'The Warrior's Agenda' was about purpose and faith, I wanted 'Chains of the Past' to be about facing personal demons and failings, with a love story element to it. The Arbiter had his lingering remorse over the lost of the family he once had, coupled with the desire to start a new one, while Rtas was dealing with his phobia and the fear he had failed his father. Then there is Sari, whom had to fight her own lack of self-confidence due to years of mental and physical abuse by Kesi's hands. Then of course there is Kesi himself, the one that tied all three together.

Originally, I had planned for two separate stories: the Arbiter and Sari's, dubbed 'The Traitor's Daughter' and a parallel running one involving Rtas and his Gynophobia. However, I felt the title 'The Traitor's Daughter' gave too much away: I wanted Sari's relationship with Kesi to be not so obvious at first. Plus, I realized that trying to write the two stories separately like that would have been next to impossible, not to mention at the time I had so little material for Rtas' storyline initially. Therefore, I combined the two, which I believe was for the best.

I usually make no outlines for my stories before writing them (though I did outline plot events towards the end of this one to help calculate how much further I had to go), as my style is more of a 'have a basic idea, but let the characters write themselves'. By doing this I leave room for new ideas to put in later on, or plot twist as you were. Rtas discovering Sari is related to him was one of those, though I admit on failing to make it not so obvious. Granted, there are times I have to beat a character with a stick to get him or her back on the track I prefer: fortunately, this did not happen in 'Chains of the Past'.

The new lore that was revealed from 'The Cole Protocol' very nicely screwed up bits of background I have made up for the Arbiter and Rtas. Only reason it bugged me so much is that the book was released when I was in the middle of writing this story. If I had already finished it when it came out, I would have just shrugged my shoulders and said 'oh well'. That I was still writing when it did, compelled me to try to incorporate the new lore. Rtas' background I am able to savage somewhat, though that won't be apparent until I do a side story involving it. The Arbiter's, however, I had to just except as having been shot out of a cannon and into a black hole with no hope of being savaged, so I had no choice but to continue on and blatantly ignore the new lore in his case. Future stories though will incorporate the new lore fully though where I can.

I admit in the writing of this fic I made some mistakes. Certain parts dragged on for too long, for one. Kesi and Hyso didn't get much character development done to them and were rather bland (Kesi seemed more fleshed out in 'The Warrior's Agenda' then in this one), in no small part because I focused so much on the protagonists. In addition, I feel certain parts toward the end aren't as good as they could be, likely due to the trouble I started running into in regards to motivation and writers block. I tried my best not to fall into the 'rush through the rest to just get it done' trap, but I feel I did not succeed in that completely. For instance: I really wanted to write out the scene where Hyso get's his due, however I recognized that to have a second climax to the story would have been awkward, so I just summarized it. Though I did so for the sake of the story, I still feel it was a mistake. The other big mistake is not getting the Kesi vs Arbiter fight scene to be as 'epic' as I wanted it to be: a major disservice to the characters and the readers. Believe me it bugged me to no end, but I couldn't think of how to improve it: a curse of my own current limitations.

Then I remind myself: this is the first time I have written such a long story, so of course there are problems and mistakes. That I tend to use no outlines only contributed to this problem I believe and that it turned out as well as it did is a miracle really. But as with any project, mistakes are made and hopefully lessons are learned. In my future stories I hope not to repeat the mistakes I made in this one.

Now for some character related stuff.

Originally I was going to have the Arbiter craft Sari her own suit of armor and weapons, plus have her directly involved in the last fight onboard the Righteous Justice, assisting the Arbiter in slaying Kesi then having to escape via escape pod before the ship self destructed. I ultimately scrapped the idea, even though I had written a large part of that scene already. This was mainly because it just didn't make sense that Sari could gain enough skill to be of any kind of match against Kesi in such a relatively short time (the entire fic takes place over just under three months: yes I was keeping track). There was also the blaring 'mary-sue' vibes that came off the very idea. This of course caused a problem with the 'prophecy' Azuwezia told the Arbiter in the previous fic: that it will not be him alone to defeat him. I solved this problem when I came up with the twist that Sari was not Kesi's daughter at all, but another child of Anko 'Tidumee, Rtas' sire. Thus, Rtas ends up being the one assisting the Arbiter in Kesi's demise.

The idea of giving Rtas gynophobia came from two places. First, was a single line from Spog the Brick in the Wall's spoof on 'Domestic Affairs' (read both, they are hilarious), where in one of the chapters Rtas said 'I am not interested in women, at all.' That got me wondering: why would Rtas not be interested in women? One obvious possibility was that he may have been a homosexual, but I didn't feel comfortable writing him that way (not that I have a problem with homosexuals, if Zeno is any indication). That's when I remembered a character from a game called 'Tales of the Abyss' named Guy, whom had gynophobia. I felt that could work, but unlike in 'Tales of the Abyss' where Guy's phobia was used more as a comic relief thing, I wanted to take Rtas' version of it much more seriously. Phobias, in reality, are not a laughing matter and I hope I made that clear in Rtas' case.

Zeno 'Ribal, I admit, wasn't even a 'idea' when I first started writing 'Chains of the Past', though he ends up playing a couple of essential roles in the story. The first was obviously the delivery of the data chip to Rtas, while the other was not immediately so apparent until the end: gathering evidence against Hyso. He originally was just going to play random roles in my 'Misfortunate Events' shorts, but as he developed as a character in my mind it became clear to me that he could play an important part in 'Chains of the Past' itself. He is essentially the 'Sangheili version of Johnson' in that he is capable of being both very professional and humorous (sometimes both at the same time). OC wise he has become my favorite and I am starting to piece together a story involving him, as the backstory that is developing for him is rather interesting.

Vl'asuna 'Mura I kind of struggled with this time around, mostly because she really wasn't that important to the story itself. Her role is greatly diminished compared to what it was in 'The Warrior's Agenda', being mostly a form of comic relief until Zeno and Johnson made their appearance in the story. Whether or not to have her die as a result of Kesi shooting her was a difficult decision to make, until I realized that her death would have taken a bit away from the Arbiter's reaction to Sari being gone, which is what I really wanted to empathize in that scene.

Anko 'Tidemee and Gala 'Misat were only minor characters in this story, though both had their roles to play. With Gala, her reasons for treating Rtas as she did are complex and only partly revealed in the story. Her only purpose in 'Chains of the Past' however was two fold: get Rtas in a position to finally be treated for his condition and to drive him to finally face her. Thus, I had no reason to reveal her motives more thoroughly in 'Chains of the Past'; however, I do intend to reveal them at some point in a short story. Anko I wanted to use to give us some idea of why Rtas cared so much for his troops, as well as to be someone that Rtas had a strong bound with. Unfortunately, I do not believe I've completely succeeded in this within 'Chains of the Past' itself.

I hope you enjoyed this story, despite its flaws. I do want to write more stories, but let it be known that this is the last one that will focus so heavily on the Arbiter. Rtas may have a couple of his own, one dealing with this relationship with his father and one regarding his older sister Gala. Right now though, I am to work on one about Zeno. Either way, I do not know when I may start posting the next one (though more chaps to 'Misfortunate Events' will be posted as I think of them), so all I can tell you is to keep watch. Farewell for now, and take care.

PS: Do not be shy about asking questions that may be burning in your skulls. However, here is an answer to one I have already been 'indirectly' asked: no, I will not use anyone else's OCs in my stories. I have always been very uncomfortable with writing other people's characters, with the obvious exception of canon ones, no matter how much I am told about them. In regards to people using my characters: I take that on a case-by-case basis and permission is always required first. That said, if anyone is ever interested in what my character's look like, I have done pictures of most of them I have posted on my DeviantArt page (link in my profile).