The Enigma That Is Quick Ben | Malazan Character Profile (Spoilers All)

[@Niall001]

Quickben is a collective consciousness. He can have a sister and be a human while still being an ancient Tiste etc. He can be all of these characters simultaneously.

[@beatrice5043]

My brain hurts is such a Malazan mood xD Ugh, where to begin with Ben? I definitely remember him saying "I've been here before" when he meets Hairlock at the Spar of Andii in GotM. Another Korya hint. When I originally read FoD I had the theory that since Korya is prepared to be a mhybe, at one point a soul is going to shift into her body. What if it's Arathan? That could explain Mommy D being Koryas 'mother' because she's Tiste and Drac being Arathans father and also explain why he's referring to himself as "we". Re Torahaval: whatever we assume about Ben's "original"soul, I don't think her existence speaks against him being an old being since rebirth is a thing in the series. Another point is that he seems anxious about Sandalath in DoD and wants to stay away from her. Apparently he's scared she might find something out about him now he's been proclaimed magus of dark. And he also says he thinks that Rake saw through his disguise, as well as Gothos, Gothos who knew both Korya and Arathan. If Ben is indeed Korya, it would be quite easy for Rake to make the connection after Whiskeyjack tells him the BB-story in MoI. I just looked it up, Rake says: "I've heard of shifting one soul - sending it into a vessel prepared for it". What if he's referring to Korya here? And after that he says why he understands that Ben didn't want him to probe him further. If he now knows who Ben is, he would also know why he wants to keep that secret, and he would no longer need to probe Ben. Ben beeing a shard of Draconus? What a mindf*ck. "Hey there Whiskeyjack, you're holding hands with my daughter!" xD Whoops, I wrote a lot now. Also, please do more spoilery discussion, they're great! Oh and btw. you seem to have gotten a spam bot comment, too. I've been seeing comments by girls with profile pictures with little clothing on on several different videos now, saying things like "find info about me on my channel" with lots of heart emojis. Just so you know it's probably not a genuine comment.

[@IskarJarak]

That is a really interesting idea about him being both Korya and Aranthan and would explain a lot of the multiple personality stuff as well as the connection to mother dark-I love it Counsellor!! I totally forgot about him being scared that Sand would recognize him. I’m telling you, I’m kinda turning myself on to the quick Ben = Draconus ghost thingy in the closet back in FoD!! And thanks for the heads up on the spam bot. I kinda thought so too, but I didn’t want to pre judge based on the profile 🤪 you’ve now given me the cover I need to delete the comment!!

[@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy]

This is my new favorite among your videos- I love these deep dives! I had heard the Korya/Arathan theories before, but the connections you raise to the Azathanai and Mother Dark are mind blowing. Very cool! One thing seems certain to me: There are hidden layers to Quick Ben that only Erikson and Esslemont know about definitively. I really enjoyed this video - thank you!

[@IskarJarak]

Glad you are enjoying because these ones are fun to make! Quick is the onion 🧅

[@EricMcLuen]

I have always wondered if they keep secrets and are surprised when they read each other's stuff. They seem to each write about different areas.

[@kevinzalac8945]

I’m not sure either author really has a handle on QB. I think QB is…outside the control of the authorship

[@zackheight11]

Finally finished The Crippled God and I can watch this one!

[@simonahrendt9069]

My thoughts exactly (albeit two years later)! New level "collective deep dive" unlocked :D

[@TheInderTaker]

This video is so dope. Bro don’t change anything, the content on this channel is awesome. I’m def gonna recommend his channel to my friends. The level of discussion on these videos are so cerebral and super appreciated. Haven’t been able to immerse myself in this universe in decades. I was really into game of thrones back in the late 90s, before the hbo show. It was on the ASOFAI forums that someone recommended Malazan Book of the Fallen. People just don’t understand how this series dwarfs GoT in sheer epic scale.

[@quickben2090]

Now you got my attention

[@IskarJarak]

Haha, so what’s the right answer?!?!?!

[@kevinzalac8945]

Uh. Just spit balling. It’s been a decade since I read the series. And I’m. It up to date on the latest stuff. Could QB *BE* shadow. His father is Light. His mother is Dark. Shadow is fractured because he himself is fractured. Shadow wanders because QB is in the world wondering. It would satisfy the OP’d, resentment of the Tiste and a few other aspects of his character.

[@lazlax08]

I haven't seen it posted elsewhere, but i always thought that Quick Ben himself is young, but one of the souls he absorbed was ancient. So when he is talking to mother dark its him, but its that elder soul speaking.

[@IskarJarak]

That seems likely. But it begs the question of how he absorbed the first soul if he wasn’t already a mhybe. Crazy stuff-thanks for commenting!! 🙏❤️

[@simonmartineferland9419]

"You ask a simple question and you end up talking 30 minutes about something completely different": Who is Quick Ben is NOT a simple question XD I've always been fascinated by him and how many layers that freaking onion person has. I remember noticing the eerily familiar name in the Azath book quote. Soul shifting makes sense to me, but I still can't put my finger on who would've been shifted into his current body. I love that he totally could've used Mokra on his sister. Or not. Who knows? Lol So mysterious!! I looove those deep dives. I know you like Pust, Kruppe and Tehol. I'd be into videos about them if you find something to say. The whole Heboric arc is also very interestingin my opinion. Ganoes Paran and Tavore start looking almost insignificant and become such instrumental characters, it'd be cool to explore their choices/personality as well (what the fuck drives Tavore at her core? Cause she makes some pretty huge sacrifices; what does she believe in?) Thank you for posting so often and sharing your passion for the Malazan world with us! :-D By the way, I'm francophone (from Montreal, Quebec, Canada) and reading those books was my goal for years. Being able to read them was a stepping stone in my progress in English and... Well I pronounce all the names in French in my head XD Sometimes it takes me 2 or 3 times to know who you're talking about lol (but I'm definitely the one with the funny pronunciation and you're probably way closer to how Erikson thinks of them).

[@IskarJarak]

Great comment! I love the Parans. At first, they seem like the bus drivers of the series taking you from point to point, but by the end... whooo boy! And don’t be so sure on the pronounciation-I hear that I’m a crewing most of them up, but as long as you eventually get the point, them I’m going to call that a win. Thanks so much for the kind words and support! ❤️💪🙌👊

[@palangston1]

Love this thrown in. Mind you I’ve not completed the series. Just started toll of the hounds but quick’s knowledge of the past and/or his childhood are tied into one of the 12 souls he’s absorbed.

[@Punktastic13]

My theory is that one or more of the souls Quick Ben took in could be the oldest soul and the source of the knowledge. The older body could have been mortally wounded and "taught" Quick Ben to absorb souls in the Raraku. He technically could be all the people listed because each soul has a past we were never privy to. Also, imagine being Quick Ben and finding a BFF in Kalam. Kalam would feel so uncomfortable knowing his best friend is like a 4 million year old pantheon in one guy. He'd have to make 12 friendships bracelets for Quick Ben! 😆

[@IskarJarak]

Lmfao you are too much and absolutely right. It could be all of the above! So many possibilities!

[@Punktastic13]

@@IskarJarak He's basically everyone! *insert Spiderman meme*

[@IskarJarak]

I like it! It’s actually probably right too lol

[@GTTemperd]

He is older brother at start of forge.they still little girls wild and he has already had tutors training etc

[@IskarJarak]

That’s what I thought too, but could be a weird triplet aging thing... I still think he’s the older and a red herring.

[@GTTemperd]

@@IskarJarak totally and with QB being a forge of souls and that arathan being blood of draconus there has to be more there.yay PS just fin rereading path and damn I wish it was a saga instead of trilogy.

[@masoodvoon8999]

@@IskarJarak I don't think this will be conclusive evidence either way but they already said azanathai kids grow up at different rates b/c of experiences. So you theoretically could be born later and grow up slower and have another pass you.

[@MrKevmomoney]

When people talk about lack of good representation of different races in the fantasy genre, I bring up Quick Ben and Kalam two of the hardest most bad ass black characters in Malazan Book of the Fallen.

[@BradleyStDenis]

You made me wonder - what if Quick Ben was made manifest by a shard of the Tiste Andi Warren or Mother Darks realm. Maybe he was a son of Mother Dark and Draconus born in the newly gifted realm to Mother Dark from Draconus and somehow his conscious bled into a fragment of darkness that later became manifest in Quick Ben as a baby ... kinda like the Azath house in Lether planting itself inside of the undead girl later to be planted in the Imass Dream world by Silchas Ruin ... As Quick Ben pushes his limits more and more through the many challenges he faces he becomes more and more aware of his "consciousness" and connection to Mother Dark and the Andi? Too far?

[@IskarJarak]

Mind blown 🤯 join the discord - people would go nuts over theories like this!

[@GTTemperd]

Yeah and considering the triplets mother is olar ethil who know how they would age.

[@IskarJarak]

Right?!

[@waylander8571]

Maybe mother dark and draconus had a secret child and that child is quick Ben

[@IskarJarak]

I’m wondering if it wasn’t the ghost Draconus had locked in the closet!

[@Punktastic13]

Can you imagine the back child support that would be due?

[@IskarJarak]

He’s not even a tiny bit touchy about whiskeyjack bangin his daughter if he was the Draconus ghost 🤪

[@Cieges]

I wanted to like watch the first few minutes out of curiosity n ended up watching the whole thing. Goddammit quick is invites too much curiosity. Can’t wait to finish the 10 books now

[@IskarJarak]

Haha, glad you are enjoying the vids!

[@feral7523]

Love these Vids..Everything is easier when you remember everybody has being created by the Azathanai meddling!! All the Races elder and new: Quickben is deffo the Azathanai Maybe of all Maybe's!!.. Aranthan is Tayschrenn(Tay),he's called as much in Night of Knives! and doesn't he take over from K'rul in maintaining the Warrens which should be a job for an Azathanai ?

[@IskarJarak]

Tay definitely takes over from krul but I dunno if he’s aranthan. So many moving parts 🤯

[@shawngillogly6873]

Dang it! I hit this video drinking coffee & having left over KFC for brunch. And now my brain is fried for the day. 🤪 Love the spoiler discussions. And as always, you give yourself too little credit as a Malazan geek. I'm going to agree with those who suggest rebirth is part of the answer. I would not be surprised to see both theories true. But with different aspects of him. And perhaps an aspect of "awakening" when he became the Magus of Dark. Not in the sense he was unaware of Tiste in his souls. But how deep it ran. And this is the kind of mind game a writer can only play in a soft magic system where the rules are known only to the author.

[@indeliblyinked]

Well done dude. Quick is the best mage ever.

[@IskarJarak]

Thanks so much!

[@bryson2662]

Btw I love these videos

[@IskarJarak]

I’m so glad you guys enjoy them-it’s really fun for me to go in hard on a specific subject!

[@giladautumn2919]

mother as MOTHER DARK the roller of the darkness + he have 7 souls in hime so maybe it is 1 of them that toking

[@masoodvoon8999]

What we know about the Houses of Azath in relation to the Azathnathai from the Kharkanas trilogy thus far is this: 1) The builders make them 2) They act as a conduit for an aspect of magic naturally 3) Krull used them as gates to aspected realms he created w/ his blood 4) They already trapped others in them so are separate from the traps wrought by Ardata on the aspected planes to trap the dragons who would rule them 5) The Azanathai are known to be worshippers of houses even though they live in incomplete and arbitrary dwellings 6) For some reason a builder is trying to trap Krull in a house when first you see him in the series

[@bryanjturner21]

Maybe QB writes that book after the Azath figure out QB is too dangerous to be left walking free, then it happens years after the Cripple God. If QB was referring to him self as us, back in ancient times, perhaps he's some sort of D'iver that's a collection of souls that just keeps collecting them like some sort of walking talking Dragnipur.

[@michaelboruta655]

Have been checking out your videos for a bit....been enjoying them... just joined the discord (a general channel would be nice... or two... one spoilers one non) hate how you didn't tell me who Quick Ben was (didn't expect it but I was hoping) Keep up the deep dives, stay safe, have fun ... all those words

[@IskarJarak]

Awesome, thanks for the feedback and glad to have you in the discord. Make sure to react to all 4 questions in the channel assignment part and then you’ll see a lot more channels! Made it opt in so people didn’t accidentally get spoiled so you need to react to those questions to see anything!

[@GTTemperd]

I thought arathan and korya. and envy spite and malice are younger and olar ethil is their mom.drac is black skinned arathan should be too.i always kind of thought the azathanai were like aspects also draconus' finnest was loosed in tower maybe he got some of it too that kind of power could do anything.enjoyable to ponder

[@IskarJarak]

Ya, definitely fun to consider. As I was making this video, I started to wonder whether Quick Ben is the ghost Draconus thing that he had locked up in the house that got our and fathered Korlat on Sand... might have to make a third video!

[@GTTemperd]

Yeah and Anai loosely means being of or people of when put after so azathanai just means being of or from the azath.

[@GTTemperd]

Also the ghost in tower dracons is his power like raest with the finnest because he's too potent a being when whole to mix with mortals and remember he made mother dark from queen to goddess with the terondai and down in the bowels of her castle is found a painting with a previous queen tho almost identical which shows its not his first attempt at what it is he's trying to do.mind boggling.

[@BradleyStDenis-gt5yx]

What if Quick Ben is Dessimbellackis the first emperor ... reassembled into 1...

[@mezla_]

quick ben is a human magic 8 ball of personalities

[@IskarJarak]

A magic 12 ball, even 🤪

[@allanwidner9276]

Pretty sure any comments on this video should be considered spoilers, but spoiler: . . . . . . . . . . . . . OK, on the subject of timing, and the idea that whoever Quick Ben or (more likely, I think), one of his souls predates the elevation of Mother Dark - in the Kharkanas books with oh phooey I forget which guy's obsessing over the ancient tapestries, the guy realizes Draconus has interfered with Tiste affairs before, in history ancient enough to be mostly lost to the Tiste of that time. That the entirety of what Kharkanas books are addressing - the Tiste civil war, the parting of Dark and Light, the rise of the First Shore - all of it has happened before, maybe even more than once, over the eons.

[@masoodvoon8999]

I never heard the Ruthan Gudd theory but nothing I've read so far leads me to believe Arathan isn't the leading contestant to be Ben. There are plenty of quotes and background to his story in those first two books of Kharkanas, together with Arathan's background that lead me to believe he has the most vested interest in behaving as Quick Ben does in the last book of MBotF series. There are plenty of arcane combinations and magical creations in the series that are open ended but what would happen if Arathan takes control of the vessel that is Korya? As an azanathai w/ a mhybe he could both change appearances as we know Ben can as well as possibly explain the trapping of souls.

[@garygwong88]

"Nothing Gudd can come of this " nobody

[@IskarJarak]

Lolololol

[@fredc1932]

Why does everyone in the kharkanas books refer to arathan as a bastard but not spite envy and malice

[@IskarJarak]

Never noticed that before.

[@LadyKestrel23]

The man of my dreams lol

[@jacobvardy]

Just a comment for the algorithm.

[@graciousvictorious4773]

You can't call quck Ben and draconus, Draconus is the God of elder God. If you have read the books you will know Draconus made mother dark who she was.

[@bryson2662]

I don't think the big brother little sister aspect should be considered. We know that the triplets age differently so Arathan could be younger than the triplets.

[@IskarJarak]

Interesting! I never thought of that! They never explicitly say, but I just got the feeling like they don’t really know each other the same way the sisters did! Thanks for watching! 💪🙏❤️👊

[@masoodvoon8999]

Yeah they say they can control their aging somewhat by what experiences they expose themselves (the Azanathai) to. That combined w/ the absorbing soul aspects just mean that one of the souls is from the age in the Kharkanas series. Any one of the souls in his body could be the one which played with dolls, from any age, although I thought the connection to Korya too strong to not push to the forefront of possibility. I felt the Arathan case was stronger. It would make sense to combine the two in book three.

[@galvatron3323]

Quick is Batman

[@IskarJarak]

Pretty much...

[@galvatron3323]

@@IskarJarak in that i would like to think Quick is from around here and somewhat human. I know there is evidence to support a lot of claims about quick but trying to tie him into other past races and ascendant beings and lore, but can't we have someone who doesn't have to fit and is just one of us but one of the best of us?

[@IskarJarak]

I would absolutely love that as well-it just bugs me that there’s such a personal connection to Mother Dark and I wanna know who papa bear is! There’s all this stuff hanging out there but maybe you’re right and it’s all just metaphors and we’re all overthinking it 🤷‍♂️

[@galvatron3323]

@@IskarJarak i get ya man after this i was like...oh yeah that and that. Thats why im saying he is the Batman of Malaz, loads of super beings around and we got Quick, a human, talented, resourceful, and key, smart enough to outwit and best them. Whiskeyjack was the best of us then he ascended. One day soon ill pop up in the discord yoke and annoy ye all..muhaha

[@IskarJarak]

Hahaha... I love the Batman analogy!!

[@quickben7978]

Not me

[@quickben7978]

But yeah bottle gruntle quick ben and karsa etc some of the best characters iv ever read

[@IskarJarak]

I don’t know how people say he can’t write characters-the characters are some of the best parts of the books for me!

[@rodneykaseke9173]

Arathan and Korya are not Quick Ben,