Journal 4

Journal 4: Steven Pressfield, Gates of Fire, Books 7 - 8: Chapters 30 - 38: Pages 317 - 384

• Chapter 30: Not a whole lot this chapter either. In fact, most of the book from here on out is descriptions of battles and the like. Eleven are chosen for the night raid on Xerxes' tent, including Dienekes and Xeones. The Spartans sneak up all the way to where Rooster said the tent was, and it isn't there. They soon find the tent, though.
• Chapter 31: Xeo remembers some conversations from before the raid, the most important of which involved Dienekes discovering that the opposite of fear is love.
• Chapter 32: The night raid commences. The Spartans find the tent of Xerxes, but his servants manage to unleash a bunch of birds which confuse the Spartans and save Xerxes' life. Alexandros' hand is chopped off, and a Spartan named Doreion is beheaded. The rest flee.
• Chapter 33: Only one thing happens in this entire chapter. The night raiders get back to camp, and Alexandros dies.
• Chapter 34: The historian relates the fact that Athens is burned and sacked. Xeo then continues his story of the final battle of Thermopylae. Preparations are made for a suicide mission. Leonidas sends all Greeks except for the Spartans back to their cities. The Thespeians refuse, though. Leonidas tells the Spartans that the cities need those men, but if the Spartans leave too, the Persian cavalry will roll through and hack them all down. Therefore, the Spartans must stay alive for a few hours more. They advance to the widest part of the pass so that each man may "sell his life as dearly as possible."
• Chapter 35: With the preparations having been made, the Spartans await their death. Leonidas actually snoozes until the time of battle. Xeones tells Xerxes that if he wants to know what a true king is, he should look at Leonidas. Dienekes says that he doesn't hate the Persians and, were it not wartime, many of them he would welcome as a friend. Xeones had slept too, and he awakes to find the entire Persian empire less than a bowshot away. The Spartans and Thespeians get into formation; Xeones is terrified of all of the Persians, and prays for his courage to not fail. The battle commences, with uncountable moments of valor from the Spartans. Finally, inevitably, the Spartans are killed.
• Chapter 36: The final chapters are purely the historians. Athens may have been burned, but her navy serves to Xerxes' navy a crushing defeat at Salamis. A general orders Xeones to be killed, but the historian refuses.
• Chapter 37: With his story having been told, Xeones dies. The historian and a different Persian general who had come to view Xeo as a friend order him to be carried to the temple at which Diomache served.
• Chapter 38: In this final chapter, the full Spartan army defeat the Persian army at Plataea. Spartans bust into the tent of the historian, and he saves himself by crying the names of the Spartans of Xeones' tale. The Spartans spare him, and he acts as an interpretor for a year or so until he is ransomed by Xerxes. On his way back to Persia, he crosses Thermopylae again. He sees a monument to Leonidas that states one of my favorite lines in all of history: "Go tell the Spartans, passerby, that here by Spartan law we lie."

• This book is absolutely insane. I love it, and I can't thank my preacher enough for it. As I said, I had read the "cool parts" before, but they're only so much cooler after reading the rest of the novel. I think that what stood out the most to me was the historical accuracy, especially in the numbers. One part that blows my mind is this: at Thermopylae the Spartans lined up 50 or 60 men across, and 6 men deep. At the battle of Plataea, according to the Persians, "Our warriors beheld again that line of lambdas [the upside down V on Spartan shields] upon the interleaved shields of Lakedaemon [Sparta], not this time in breadth of fifty or sixty as in the confines of the Hot Gates, but ten thousand across and eight deep..." Ten thousand across and eight deep. I can't comprehend that.
• Because this is an incredibly historically accurate novel, there aren't too many ways in which it applies to my life. The theme of forgiveness can, of course, apply to everybody's life. I've forgiven many people for many things in my lifetime. I wish I could say that it applies to me in that I'm a Spartan, but nobody can be that cool in this day and age. :/
• I think that I am most like Dienekes. As I said earlier, not because I'm a Spartan, but who can be? I am nearly constantly pondering the intricacies of the human mind. One of my favorite subjects to consider is fear, its causes and its opposites. Dienekes is the exact same, he is always thinking about fear.
• There can be only one event that truly resolved the plot, and it is obvious. The Battle of Therymopylae pretty much sums everything up. There was a resolution to a subplot, however. The underlying plot of Xeones' love for Diomache was ended when he visited her and they both agreed that they couldn't be with each other.
• Honestly, I don't think the author was really trying to get any kind of message across. I truly believe that this was more along the lines of Steven Pressfield getting what really happened at Theryompylae out to the masses, along with a bit of fiction. Sorta like what Achebe did in Things Fall Apart except without all the metaphors. I guess one message I got was "It doesn't matter what position in life you occupy, all men are equal." I got this because, in the end, the most heroic aspect of Thermopylae, the suicide battle at the very end, slaves and masters fought side by side.
• I would totally recommend this book to other people. The imagery the author uses throughout the entire thing is incredible. Sentences such as "Does His Majesty recall that moment, upon the slope beyond the Narrows, after Leonidas had fallen, struck through with half a dozen lances, blinded beneath his helmet staved in from the blow of a battle-axe, his left arm useless with its splintered shield lashed to his shoulder, when he fell at last under the crush of the enemy?" and "There were ungodly numbers of them. My lungs howled for air; I could feel the blood pounding within my temples and read its pulse upon the vessels of the eyes. My limbs were stone; I could feel neither hands nor feet. I prayed with every fiber, simply for the courage not to faint" paint a vivid picture to the reader. It's all so great.

If I may make a final comment, directly to the Ms. Rickard, I would also strongly recommend this to you. I think you would love this book; if you get the time, perhaps you should read it.

Journal 3

Steven Pressfield, Gates of Fire, Books 5 - 6: Chapters 18 - 29: Pages 190 - 314

• Chapters 18 and 19: These two chapters are of very little importance to the overall plot. All of these chapters are told from the perspective of the historian. Xerxes is feeling ill and confides that he's having troubling dreams. He's determined that these dreams come from blood guilt to Leonidas, but he is assured by his generals that this is not true. Athens is on the verge of being sacked, and his generals argue over whether Sparta is worth attacking or not.
• Chapter 20: Many of the following chapters are long in word count, but rather short in important content. This is not any kind of misdeed by the author; it is only that most of the chapters are descriptions of the battle, things which don't have any true bearing on the plot. Dienekes is selected as one of the Three Hundred, which means that Xeones goes with him. Alexandros and Olympieus are also both selected. Arete summons Xeo, and they discuss what he had already talked about with Dienekes. Xeo does, however, confirm that on a trip to Athens he had seen and talked with Diomache. Arete begs Xeones to allow her to summon Diomache to Sparta and then to run away with her to Athens, but Xeones refuses.
• Chapter 21: The Spartans arrive at Thermopylae and find the place deserted. Allies were supposed to meet them there. Leonidas sends messages to all the allies telling them to come. Raiding parties are sent to the surrounding area, taking everything they can and burning what they cannot. The Spartans and other Greeks are milling about an old broken down wall that needs fixing, so Leonidas King of Sparta walks up and simply, without a word, starts working on the wall, setting an example for the rest. Leonidas attempts to commit to memory all the names and nicknames of those around him, and converses and laughs with them. Finally the allies begin arriving. Nearly the same time, the Persians' massive forces arrive.
• Chapter 22: With the Persian forces still massing beyond countable numbers, Leonidas stages a candid speech to the Spartans which is meant for all to hear and to build courage for everyone.
• Chapter 23: Dienekes and Xeones are up before dawn walking around exploring the Hot Gates. The battle wall, The Phokian Wall, is completed. Leonidas is also up. Dienekes and a young man named Ariston and Alexandros have a very long discussion on fear, debating what its opposite is. They decide that the opposite is an untranslatable word, andreia. The Egyptians with whom they had talked so many years ago shows up in the camp with a translator to talk to them. Leonidas converses with him in disguise. He urges the Spartans to surrender, but Leonidas proposes a different idea: The Persians surrender to the Spartans. This is not received well, and the Egyptians leave.
• Chapter 24: The Medes of the Persians come forward, but for the longest time do not attack. Xerxes himself appears on a high ridge to watch the expected slaughter. The Spartans are not on the front lines first, but send the Thespians. Finally the battle starts. It is a massacre, but in favor of the Thespians, not the Persians, because the Persian armor is designed for open field fighting, not close combat. Finally the Spartans get in on the action. All the Greeks are exhausted simply from slaughtering Medes. Occasionally a Spartan is killed, but often the Spartan is saved by the shield of the man beside him. The battle constantly goes back and forth. The Spartans are far superior, but the sheer number of Medes keep pushing them back. Finally though, the Medes crack, and turn to run. The Spartans and other Greeks are elated.
• Chapter 25: Again, not much of import happens in this chapters, only more fighting and slaughter. Much the same as the first battle. A few Greeks here and there are lost, each one hurting the Greeks. At the end of the chapter, Xerxes sends his regiment of 10000 elite troopers, the Immortals.
• Chapter 26: The battle against the Immortals is not described, but Xeones says that Xerxes may judge the Spartans' effectiveness, and that by nightfall the Immortals were retreating. A merchant had camped with the Greeks whom the Greeks loved and who provided much humor. Dienekes helps Polynikes with his injuries. Polynikes and Alexandros make up, kind of.
• Chapter 27: Xeones tells Dienekes of his visit with Diomache in Athens, in which not much is said. Diomache is a priestess of Persephone in a monestery; both are aware that they cannot love each other, and that neither can abandon his/her post to live with the other. Thus, the two part.
• Chapter 28: Rooster is captured trying to talk to the Spartans, and he is beaten. Xeones and Alexandros talk to him through his injuries, and he informs them that Xerxes is offering great wealth to anybody who can flank the Spartans. He also says that he knows how to get to Xerxes' tent, and that a few men could get in and out in the dark to kill Xerxes. They leave. Dienekes punishes captured deserters by, instead of killing them as the crowd wants, releasing them and leaving them to the guilt of deserting.
• Chapter 29: More fighting in this chapter, not much to report. The Spartans are told that the Persians are moving to flank, but they don't believe them. At one point in the fighting the Greeks are retreating and pushed completely behind the wall. The enemy is dismantling the wall when from nowhere comes a vicious explosion from the heavens which terrifies the enemy and revitalizes the Greeks to beat back the Persians. It is learned that storms had wrecked large portions of the Persian navy. A Persian noble moves in to talk with Leonidas, and attempts to convince him to quit the field of battle with his forces. Leonidas' response is not learned.

• Holy crap. Those battle scenes are the craziest things I've ever read. I can feel myself there, holding the phalanx with the others. At one point in the book, before the final suicide battle, Xeones states that "The thought of fighting again on that farmer's ground of killing was too much for some to bear." This and other sentences make me feel for the Spartans and Greeks. It sounds stupid, but I felt tired reading about the exhaustion of the Spartans.
• My character sketch is going to be of the slave Bruxieus
• Appearance: Being Elean - hailing from a part of Greece - Bruxieus probably has light skin, although not much detail is given to his apperance. He is blind, and has the slave-brand of the Argives on his brow.
• Actions: Bruxieus flees the city with young Xeones and Diomache. For the longest time he kept them alive with his knowledge of herbs, cooking, and medicine. Eventually he dies of sickness, age, and cold.
• Ideas: Bruxieus' ideas aren't really fleshed out in this book; however, he does state that the only time one can be brave is in the presence of other men. He also does his best to keep the children from becoming feral.
• Reactions to Other Characters: Bruxieus loves Dio and Xeo. He also made basically every decision around the house despite being a slave. The master and mistress of the house deferred to him on every decision they made.
• Why he/she is important to the novel: He's important because he keeps Xeo and Dio alive while they're fleeing the city. Without him, none else of the novel could've happened.
• Why do I like or dislike the character?: I love Bruxieus. He's the voice of reason when there isn't much reason to go around. His knowledge of herbery and medicines keep the children alive in the wilderness. I wanna be Bruxieus when I grow up.

Journal 2

Steven Pressfield, Gates of Fire, Books 3 - 4: Chapters 12 - 17: Pages 121 - 186

• Chapter 12: Xeones is made aware of the fate of Leonidas after the battle: Leonidas' body was beheaded and crucified. Because of this, he refuses to tell his story for a time, until he is persuaded to continue. He introduces a slave named Rooster, the bastard son of a Spartan, who has great contempt for the gods and for the Spartans, and who has a girlfriend whom he got pregnant. Alexandros admits that he hated seeing the battle, and is put through rigorous verbal abuse, especially by Polynikes, who feels himself above everybody else. Dienekes, however, tells Alexandros not to take it personally.
• Chapter 13: The important part of this chapter is the conversation between Xeones and Arete, Dienekes' wife. They discuss the journey to follow the army and the way back, and Alexandros as a Spartan. She also introduces him to the krypteia, a secret society of Spartans who assassinate the Helot whom they deem to need it. They discuss the reasons for Xeones being so loyal to Lakedaemon - Sparta - without having been born there. Arete reveals that the father of the bastard son Rooster is her brother - the brother of the wife of a high ranking Spartiate officer. He promises to look over Rooster.
• Chapter 14: Xeones and Alexandros receive their proper whippings for sneaking out to follow the army. Rooster helps Xeo's stripes heal by dunking him in water, and then Alexandros comes with a stolen piece of myrrh which helps heal. Dienekes comes and threatens Rooster, then assigns him to be the squire of Olympieus, and tells Xeones that he will be Dienekes' second squire, and he gives Xeo back his bow.
• Chapter 15: Over the next five years the Spartans march out on twenty-one battles. Darius of Persia dies, and all Greece thinks the Persian threat is done. Then Xerxes comes to power and phobos - fear - is rekindled. Throughout these years Xeones keeps trying to make contact with his cousin, but unsuccessfully. Finally he vows to stop searching, and he marries a Spartan woman. Alexandros has children, as does Rooster, but Dienekes has no male heirs. Finally, the word is put out that a stand would be made at The Hot Gates - Thermopylae. The Three Hundred King's Companions would be the forward party, in effect making the stand, which is known to all to be a suicide mission because only men with male heirs were in the Three Hundred King's Companions. These are sent so that when they die, their family name will live on. Dienekes does not have a male heir, and thus can not go.
• Chapter 16: Twice the honor of being a near-Spartan was offered to Rooster. Twice he turned it down, because he considered himself Messenian. Because of this, he cannot be picked either for the Hot Gates. Also, for spurning their honor, the Spartan kypteia ambushes Rooster in his home with his wife and children while he confers with Alexandros and Xeones about running away. All are hauled off by the krypteia.
• Chapter 17: At the meeting of the krypteia, it is judged that Rooster and his wife and male infant son must die. However, the lady Arete steps in and defends the babe. She claims that the young male is not the offspring of Rooster and his wife, but of her husband Dienekes and Rooster's wife. After much arguing, this is proven to be correct. As the krypteia, astonished, go to kill Rooster, Alexandros proposes that it would be more beneficial to Sparta if Rooster should be allowed to go to the Persians rather than be executed, lest he be considered a martyr. This is done.

• The more I read this book the more and more I like it. Pressfield makes this thing seriously real to me, and I can really relate to the characters. When Rooster was arguing with the krypteia and trying to convince them to kill him but not his child, I was really scared for what would happen. This is a great book.
• This book is far easier to understand than anything we've read in class. I'm sorry Ms. Rickard, but this is the first book I've read since joining your class that I can completely understand. Pressfield uses Greek words and terms, but manages to simplify his text, not to the point of being childish, but it is understandable.
• I'm feeling something of a theme of redemption, revenge, but also forgiveness in this book. Xeones' only purpose for going to Sparta and becoming a helot is to take revenge on the cities who destroyed his hometown. However, as he goes about the agoge serving Alexandros, he sees many times somebody being forgiven. As an example, Alexandros helping Rooster tend to their backs.
• The only seriously important new character in this section is Rooster. Rooster hates the Spartans, and is almost an antihero to Xeones. Whereas Xeo is pro-Spartans and something of an idealist, Rooster provides a realists look at the world, and an anti-Spartan look.

Journal 1

Journal 1: Steven Pressfield, Gates of Fire, Books 1-2: Chapters 1-11: Pages 1 - 118

Hello, or as the Ancient Greeks would say, Me'ga khai're. This is my online journal for Gates of Fire which is turning out to be one of the better novels I've read.

• Intro and Chapter 1: A historian for the Persian King Xerxes is transcribing this book. The story starts in medias res after the Battle of Thermopylae. Xerxes is described as being desirous of more knowledge of the Spartans, and actually shows regret at having slaughtered all of them. The historian, unnamed, introduces a Spartan who was grievously injured but still alive named Xeones. Xeones is a Spartan squire who was born in a town called Astakos. He is told to tell his story to the historian, who will transcribe it for the "God-King." The story begins with Xeones discussing his own death. He compares being stabbed to being slammed by a shield, not being pierced. When dead, he descended into the underworld with the spirits of his comrades-in-arms. While elated at being joined in death, they weep for their lost story. Apollo, however, comes and tells Xeones that he will go back into life and tell the story. Suddenly, Xeones flies back into his body and is lifted into the tents of the Persians.
• Chapter 2: Xeones tells of the history of Thermopylae - it is Greek for "Hot Gates" and is a spa retreat for many Greeks. The wall around which a large portion of fighting took place was built in ancient times, and the Spartans rebuilt it. Xeones was assigned when he became a Spartan squire to be the squire of a Spartiate officer named Dienekes. Before this, however, his home was Astakos, which was razed in a raid, leaving Xeones without a home for years.
• Chapter 3: Xeones remembers a slave he had when he was a child named Bruxieus, who was blind. Bruxieus was a vital part of the decisions of the house. Xeo also remembers the training maneuvers in which the men of his village would participate in the summers. Nobody was particularly fond of these training sessions after the first few days, as all were farmers. One summer Xeo had some ptarmigan eggs and was going to market with his cousin Diomache to sell them. On the way they see fires. Men from villages that were allied with Astakos ride in on horses, and Xeo discovered that it was these men who were razing the village. They run away from the men and learn that Xeo's mother and father are dead, but Bruxieus is alive.
• Chapter 4: Xeones says that Xerxes doesn't need to hear about the razing of the village, because he's seen countless of them before. However, there is always fire. He says that he didn't have grief for his parents, only regret that he hadn't been there to fight. Bodies lay everywhere, and Diomache and Xeo wander around for a time. They then find Bruxieus who had been beaten. They realized that they had no idea where they were. A man who lost his infant keeps raving that even one Spartan would have saved them. They see an enemy who calls them to him for a conversation. They help the young children perform funeral rites for Xeo's parents, and then rape Diomache.
• Chapter 5: Diomache kept trying to abort a child she thought was growing from the rape. She, Xeones, and Bruxieus survived as well as they could for more than a month in the mountains, eating whatever they could find and begging from local farms. Diomache thought that she would never marry because of the rape. Xeo jumped in that he would marry her, but she scoffed him away. Bruxieus tried to keep the children from going crazy. They stole lambs, arrows, and a bow from various shephards throughout the countryside. One time Xeones was caught stealing a goose and was nailed to a board through his hands for a full morning. At this point he stops his tale and says that Apollo has directed him to jump ahead to a small story from his days as a Spartan, where a young man was lashed and would not give up, and so was killed from the lashing. A young man whom Xeones served at the time, Alexandros, was called by Dienekes, his training mentor, to discuss the event. Dienekes says that the young man displayed more than courage; he displayed recklessness. With the story concluded, Xeones finishes his previous tale, with Diomache and Bruxieus eventually rescuing him from the board to which he was nailed, but not before his hands were permanently disfigured.
• Chapter 6: That winter was the coldest in a long time. The group stayed in the mountains. Xeo kept refusing to go to a doctor, and wanted to be allowed to die, for he thought himself a coward. He regretted bitterly the fact that because of his hand injuries, he would never hold a spear like a Spartan. One night he crawled up to a snowy meadow and resolved to let the cold kill him. Just before he died, a stranger approached and comforted him by saying that the spear is inelegant. Xeo saw the bow on the stranger's back and realized that this was Apollo Himself, urging him to live because he can still fight as an archer. He is then rescued by Diomache and Bruxieus.
• Chapter 7: This is the longest chapter yet, but not much important happens. Xeones apologizes for the story taking so long, as Xerxes has overseen countless razings of towns. However, Xeo says that Xerxes doesn't realize the suffering it causes. He then tells that, years later as a Spartan squire to Dienekes, the Spartans ran into a fleet of Persian Egyptians while trying to rally support for a war against the newly discovered Xerxes. The men exchange conversations, and the Egyptian captain shows maps of the Persian Empire in order to scare the Spartans. Later, Dienekes tells Xeo the tale of a war he and his brother fought in, and the reason that Dienekes feels responsible for his brother's death - his brother said that his wife, whom Dienekes had the hots for, would belong to Dienekes after his death in war. Soon after, the brother died.
• Chapter 8: The historian reveals that Xerxes, conquering all of Greece, does not have time to listen to the story, so the historian is transcribing Xeo's story for later reading. Xerxes has requested to learn about the training practices of the Spartans. Xeones tells him the story of a particular eight-night training drill that cemented Alexandros' place as a Spartan. At the time, Xeones was assigned as a squire to Alexandros, and in this drill Alexandros got his shield up incredibly quickly to protect the line. This earned him the respect of the Spartiate high-rankers.
• Chapter 9: At the end of the training regimen, a young boy died from exertion. Alexandros blamed it on himself; this drove him to train harder. In addition, he developed asthma from multiple broken noses; the Spartans believed it to be because of fear, so Alexandros began learning how to control fear from Dienekes. The Spartans mobilized for a large battle, and Xeo was awoken at night to hear that Alexandros had taken off to stalk and follow the army, and Xeones set out to follow him.
• Chapter 10: Alexandros and Xeo continue to follow the Spartans, and Xeo explains to the historian how, to the Spartans, war is not a mystery, it is simply work. The two purchase night passage across a lake by boat, but the men betray the boys mid-journey and throw them over the side. Xeo tells Alexandros the story of his childhood, picking up where he had left off. Bruxieus had sent Diomache and Xeones to Athens, because they needed a city. Bruxieus soon dies of cold and of sickness, and the two set off to Athens. However, Xeones splits from Diomache and makes for Sparta.
• Chapter 11: Not much happens in this chapter of note, except for one thing. Most of the chapter is dedicated to describing the battle, which is basically a slaughter for the Spartans. However, as the Spartans are tending to their wounded after the victory, Leonidas commands them to tend to the enemy as well. Alexandros reveals himself, and is beaten, then received well. The Spartans begin to rid themselves of their war "possession."

• Gates of Fire is striking a deep chord in my mind. The characters are fleshed out incredibly well, I can relate to many of them, and the whole book seems incredibly real to me. All of Xeones' descriptions of the physical and mental pain of being nailed to the board, such as, "I begged the farm men to release me, to end my agony. I would do anything, and I described it all at the top of my lungs. I cried out to the gods in a shameful little boy's voice piping up the mountainside" make me feel like I am really there suffering the same fate as he is. The fact that the book starts in medias res lends a dark overtone to the entire book, because I know that no matter how good things get for the characters, they're going to die.
• This novel was recommended to me by my preacher. Ancient Greece is my absolute favorite time of history, more specifically the Spartans. Even more specifically, I love learning about the Persian invasion of Greece and the Spartan battles against them. My preacher is aware of this and told me of a book he had about Thermopylae. I accepted the book and realized that it's an incredibly historically accurate novel.
• This book is told in first person from two perspectives. The one that is used most often is the perspective of a Spartan squire captured from Thermopylae named Xeones, who is telling his life story. The other perspective, not used much at all throughout the book, is the perspective of a Persian historian who is never named. I trust Xeones because he claims to be inspired by Apollo to tell the story true, but I don't trust the historian because he is very biased towards the Persians.
• Technically, the setting of this novel is Greece after the Battle of Thermopylae while Xerxes is mopping up other city states. The characters are lying inside tents of the Persians while Xeones speaks. However, the story that he tells takes us back to before the battle, all over the land of Greece, from Astakos to Sparta. This double setting may seem confusing, but it all offsets nicely. One goes straight from hearing about the beauty of Athens in the story to the destruction of Athens in present time.
• Xeones is the main character of this story. He has other characters come and go, such as Diomache, Bruxieus, Alexandros, and Dienekes, but the constant is Xeones. He faces many problems, such as a lack of belonging to a city. His hands are horribly injured because of him being nailed to a board as a child, and as such he cannot hold a spear or shield. He still wants to fight with the Spartans to avenge his home city of Astakos, which had been razed to the ground.
• I currently have read the novel in its entirety, so I shall relate what I predicted while I was reading it. My prediction was that, because he fought at Therymopylae, Xeones would eventually graduate from the ranks of squire and become a full Spartiate infantryman. With this title, I predicted that he would go on to fight and fulfill what I knew from the beginning of the book would happen at the Battle of Thermopylae. I also predicted that he would rejoin with Diomache, just because I thought the author made her too important at first to not reintroduce her.