From Pg 327:
Eva Schiffer
Huh, just remembered that most Icelandic mages are female... I bet that's why Reynir wasn't identified as having magic talents.
anonion -> Eva Schiffer
My headcanon is that his parents are totally aware of his talents, but they never mentioned anything because they wanted at least one of their kids to stick around (and also keep him safe, being the youngest and all).
JoB -> anonion
“My headcanon is that his parents are totally aware of his talents”
How would they have become aware of his talents, if all they yield is strange dreams that Reynir never remembered after awakening?
anonion -> JoB
Well you see, in my headcanon he did remember his dreams in childhood. He stopped doing so only after his parents made it a big deal that he's not supposed to talk to anyone about this. (He didn't stop remembering them on purpose, of course. It's just his brain's way of protecting him of something that he learned to see as dangerous/unwanted.)
Again, this is something I'm completely making up. Feel free to disregard it completely and/or not expect very much coherence from it.
leavescat -> anonion
My favorite theory expands that last part a bit. All his siblings were born from a genetics program where donated eggs/sperm were used to ensure that they'd have immune offspring, which is also why all his siblings look nothing like him. Someone theorized that one of his parents was thought infertile, so they had all their kids this way. This means Reynir isn't just the youngest and non-immune, he's also their only biological child, and he's very likely a miracle baby that they never expected to get.
This means they don't just want one kid to stick around, they want Reynir specifically because he was a miracle.
JoB -> leavescat
“Someone theorized that one of his parents was thought infertile [...] This means Reynir is[...] very likely a miracle baby that they never expected to get.”
And now I wonder whether that "miracle" might've been the magic now inherent in Reynir that overcame the odds and created a human vessel for itself ...
LooNEY_DAC -> JoB
…Beware: the Disney/Lucas lawyers are everywhere. Just don't say the word "vergence" and you should be fine.
Eva Schiffer -> leavescat
Having "miracle" babies in your 40's is not as uncommon as you might think.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/fem...
wavewright62 -> leavescat
Reynir would likely have had some inkling that he was considered special, then, instead of feeling so useless. Parents of 'miracle babies' seldom refrain from informing precious of that fact, repeatedly.
LooNEY_DAC -> wavewright62
See also the below post by Crimson knight, ninja. Thing is, he's the youngest. The youngest in a big family tends to be treated as "the Baby" forever, and, if the subject is energetic or ambitious enough, it produces frustration: "Why won't they let me do anything?" In Reynir's case, he's hampered by trying too hard, when makes him mess things up, which leads the elders to tell him, "Just let us handle it and stay with the sheep", implying that that's all he's good at, so Reynir thinks, "They won't let me do stuff because I'm stupid."
Crimson knight -> wavewright62
as I was one who used to be the youngest, the issue is how much is expected from us. when your siblings have gone on to do great things, as the youngest you feel like you have to meet a certain expectation to do as well, if not better, than they have. when you don't meet that expectation you begin to feel quite useless. I can relate to Reynir a lot
wavewright62 -> Crimson knight
Yep. I had to sit in a class once where the teacher passed around an exemplary paper from a previous year, and my heart sank when I saw my brother's distinctive handwriting. Worse, each student who got passed the paper saw the name, then looked at me. But my point was that a person pegged a 'miracle baby' is the one who gets talked about, and often any other siblings don't get a look-in regardless of what they do.
Zlatoglazka -> wavewright62
I agree. It's more likely his parents wanted at least one child of their own blood and flesh completely... and at least one child to stay with them for the whole life (and to inherit the farm).
leavescat -> wavewright62
Yes, but parents of miracle babies don't often have a bunch of other kids that they don't want their sheltered miracle baby to realize aren't technically related to him.
P__ -> leavescat
They're probably aware that they're Dagrenning babies, either having been told or figured it themselves. But either way, I don't think parents would want to make their favourite child too obvious to the rest of the group.
Another thing is, his low self esteem doesn't seem to come from lack of praise (maybe it does) but rather from comparison with his brothers and sisters, who aren't sheltered and can do a ton of amazing things, while the best he can do is wash dishes and herd sheep
leavescat -> P__
They all know they're Dagrenning babies, but Reynir himself isn't quite aware of what the program is. He said that he wasn't sure why they didn't use the program for him, and was lamenting that because it meant he wasn't immune.
anonion -> P__
Interestingly enough, there have been studies that prove low self esteem can actually come from too much praise in childhood (specifically being praised for what you "are"- smart etc, rather than the effort you put in). I don't think it's the case here, since I don't think Reynir actually has low self esteem. I think he's just a bit stressed and disappointed that his whole big plan failed so spectacularly. I suspect he'll bounce back to a self-assured self anytime now (learning that he's a mage might help).
P__ -> anonion
so *that's* why Emil doesn't look at him nice in the group-shot. none of that mortal enemies nonsense: just rivals in confidence and hair-awesomeness
anonion -> P__
P.S. Emil actually has low self esteem, likely for the reason mentioned above.
anonion -> P__
Here I go again: *in my headcanon*, Emil is giving him the side-eye because he's jealous of whatever mage-bro thing Reynir will end up developing with Lalli, especially since most of it happens in a place Emil can never even go to.
P__ -> anonion
plus *he* found a way to talk to Lalli >:/
Keeper -> anonion
And in that mage space, there's no language barrier like there is between Emil and Lalli.
Eva Schiffer -> anonion
It seems like the sort of thing that should have been noticed by someone else, like a teacher or family friend, even if his family is in denial. Besides, being a mage doesn't seem like it would necessarily make him more likely to leave the country, especially if his talent is dream visions.
anonion -> Eva Schiffer
It wouldn't make it necessary for him to leave the country right off, but he would at least leave the farm to train at the mage university (in Reykjavik?) - and who knows what ideas *that* might put in his head!
And his talents might not be noticed by other people if his parents instructed him from a very early age to, say, never tell his dreams to anyone - which eventually lead to Reynir not even remembering his dreams anymore. There, I managed to make his parents, who are probably very nice people, seem manipulative and twisted.
I'm making this up as I go, so what you say is at least as valid
JoB -> anonion
“There, I managed to make his parents [...] seem manipulative and twisted.”
The fact that they lied about him not being legally allowed to travel to Reynir painted them somewhat manipulative already.
ReturnOfDaveBro -> anonion
It's for his own good because we're good parents! Groupthink -- gotta love it for rationalization. :p
Whatever -> anonion
My headcanon is that his dad's a latent/undiscovered mage too.
Laufey -> Whatever
According to both Finnish and Icelandic traditions magic abilities do run in families so it's not at all unlikely! Besides Icelandic tradition does not automatically equate prophetic dreams to magic abilities (some people are just considered "seeing" more than others, but any real magic has to be learned) so Reynir's dad might have simply gone unnoticed even if he occasionally had a weird dream.
Sunflower -> Whatever
It would make sense, since Reynir's father Árni is presumably the descendant of Árni from the Prologue, from whom they both got their red hair.
P__ -> Sunflower
that was confirmed by Minna in the page he's introduced, IIRC. Bloodline goes Arni "Prologue" Reynirson -> Something Arnason -> Arni Somethingson -> Reynir "i'm stupid" Arnason.
