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Is Madelyn confirmed to be 13? It said in the comic that she was 13 turning 14, but she doesn't really seem that age.
Plus, who would conscribe a 13/yo into the army!?

I'm not sure about her age, but in the comic i believe it said they are put in the army for training at 8 years of age.

minime wrote:I'm not sure about her age, but in the comic i believe it said they are put in the army for training at 8 years of age.

That seems strange, considering the Basitins age at the same rate we do.

Not really, there are a militarized nation, they live for war which is why when either the east or west side are winning they fall back to allow the other side to rebuild and rearm themselves.

Fawkes wrote:

BeyondBlitz wrote:

minime wrote:I'm not sure about her age, but in the comic i believe it said they are put in the army for training at 8 years of age.

That seems strange, considering the Basitins age at the same rate we do.

Considering the time period of the story and how it relates to our actual history, putting an 8 year old into military training isn't all that strange.

I see your point, but it still seems strange to me.

BeyondBlitz wrote:Is Madelyn confirmed to be 13? It said in the comic that she was 13 turning 14, but she doesn't really seem that age.

The simple answer is 'No, it isn't confirmed.' We only have Maddie's word for it, and obviously she could be lying. I tend to believe her, but also kinda expect her to be lying. You could say she has me confused

Even if she's telling the truth, being in the military isn't remarkable; but her rank -- and the fact that she participated in Keith's trial -- probably is. On the other hand, this [2014-08-21] would rather support her being young.

And even if she is her claimed age, she's older than Keith was when he was exiled.

As amenon says, what we have is Madelyn's word on the matter, and moreover, her word given when she was in the middle of a con. Not the most trustworthy of statements. (And I find it hard to believe even a thirteen year old would use "mommy" without it been the sort of joke or touchstone that would still be valid for an older woman too.)

Considering the age of her mother, I would not be surprised if Madelyn is actually older than Keith. She takes advantage of her small stature to provide the appearance of extreme youth, as a way to keep her opponents off guard.

So needless to say, Madelyn's age is undetermined and a point of contention.

BeyondBlitz wrote:Is Madelyn confirmed to be 13? It said in the comic that she was 13 turning 14, but she doesn't really seem that age.
Plus, who would conscribe a 13/yo into the army!?

This came up a little bit ago, and I pointed out (and I'll repeat some here) that far from being unusual, starting a career in the military when you were 13 or 14 was done in Western European nations up until at least 120 years ago. And being from an aristocratic or royal family didn't keep you out of it, in fact you were MORE likely to end up in the military if you came from a prominent family. It was expected of you. And it could get you into some very dangerous places.

You could become a Midshipman in the Navy or a Subaltern in the Army at the age of 13 or 14, and be expected to command men two or three times your age. A literary character that you could compare Maddie to is the 14 year old Midshipman Blakeney from Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World . Early in the story, set on a British frigate during the Napoleonic Wars, he seems like a typical kid, but during his first battle at sea he turns out to be a very capable and brave officer.



Another literary figure - one with a great deal in common with Maddie talent-wise, is Rudyard Kipling's Kim. One of the greatest novels in the English language (number 34 on the Guardian's top 100 lists) it tells the story of one of these young people recruited into British Intelligence. It follows the title character, an orphan whose father was Irish, who lives on the streets of Lahore, in what is now Pakistan, from age thirteen until seventeen. He becomes the disciple of a Tibetan lama, who sees he gets an education, and through an old friend, a Pashtun horse trader Named Mahbub Ali he is connected up with the British Secret Service, and told about their decades long conflict with the Russian Empire which was called "The Great Game". He speaks several languages, can disguise himself expertly, and has a great ability to get people to trust him. We follow his adventures across the Afghanistan and India of the late 19th Century.

I have no idea whether Tom patterned Maddie after Kim, but characters like that can make for great stories.

avwolf wrote: ↑Mon May 23, 2016 3:56 pm As amenon says, what we have is Madelyn's word on the matter, and moreover, her word given when she was in the middle of a con. Not the most trustworthy of statements. (And I find it hard to believe even a thirteen year old would use "mommy" without it been the sort of joke or touchstone that would still be valid for an older woman too.)

Considering the age of her mother, I would not be surprised if Madelyn is actually older than Keith. She takes advantage of her small stature to provide the appearance of extreme youth, as a way to keep her opponents off guard.

So needless to say, Madelyn's age is undetermined and a point of contention.

My sister is 23 and she sometimes calls our mother mommy. But I do agree that Madelyn could be lying.

The latest word is she's 17 but she could still be lying.

AmigaDragon wrote: ↑Wed Jul 10, 2019 4:57 am The latest word is she's 17 but she could still be lying.

I don't think she is lying....not with that backstory. The emotion at the end -- right before Karen hugged her -- seems very honest.

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