Character · from book 5
Epitome Tagg
Leader of the Dream and son of Epitome Noflex, whose photograph Louis snatched from Carl: he sends hunters onto the sixth floor, members of his family among them, not for the gear but to find Louis, who, a captured hunter says, besmirched his mother's honour.
First appears: Book 5 · Seen for what it is: Book 7
Series arc
In hindsight, after book 7
A photograph among the seven the AI gave Carl, one of each plaintiff's mother — Epitome Noflex of the Dream, 'a very angry-looking, bald elf woman' — is the first the series sees of the family (B4 ch. 28); a captured hunter on the sixth floor, handcuffed to a pole before Carl kills him, says 'Epitome Tagg doesn't even care about the gear […] He just wants us to find that crawler' (B5 ch. 22). He sits at the warlords' table in book 6, humiliated by his mother's face on a changeling (B6 ch. 21). Book 7 has him flee on a zebra, hide in a ball, and turn up as Louis's biomechanical heart and lungs — a Reaver-type cyborg after all — and die chewed by a dinosaur (B7 ch. 62, B7 ch. 80, B7 ch. 84).
As of book 7. Dead, chewed by Mongo, the kill credited to the pet — 'Consider it a present for the baby shower.'. The Dream's warlord was a Reaver-type cyborg on the post-physical path: he fled on zebras behind a decoy hat, hid in the ball, and turned up as Louis's biomechanical heart and lungs, bargaining from inside — 'My mother is on the 18th floor' — until a cat's new name enraged him past caution. His last word on the failsafe: 'That orc princess was right.'
Through book 4
A photograph among the seven the AI gave Carl, one of each plaintiff's mother: Epitome Noflex of the Dream, 'a very angry-looking, bald elf woman', whom Louis asks Juice Box to impersonate (B4 ch. 28).
Through book 5
Through book 6
'You're not even real' (B6 ch. 22).
Through book 7
Blood on his armour at the council (B7 ch. 42); a decoy in the fancy hat as he flees on zebras (B7 ch. 62); in the ball (B7 ch. 73); 'That orc princess was right' (B7 ch. 78). Louis's new heart and lungs — a Reaver-type cyborg after all (B7 ch. 80, B7 ch. 81); terms from inside, 'My mother is on the 18th floor' (B7 ch. 83); enraged by a name change, chewed to death by Mongo (B7 ch. 84).
Trace
The thread line by line, in reading order: its presence before anyone could see it, and the lines that made it legible. Each line is verbatim from the cited book.
| Where | The line | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Book 4, Ch. 28 | “Dude, who’s the hottie?” he said, picking up a photo of a very angry-looking, bald elf woman. […] The description had her as Epitome Noflex of the Dream. | His mother's photograph, and the joke that follows Louis for three books. |
| Book 5, Ch. 22 | “We weren’t even hunting you. The Dark Hive and the Skull Empire have both laid claim. […] Epitome Tagg doesn’t even care about the gear. Or what you did to the factions. He just wants us to find that crawler.” | Tagg's name, from a handcuffed hunter. |
Where they appear
| Book | Chapters they are in (of the book's) | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 5 — The Butcher's Masquerade | 1/78 | Ch. 22 · the book's own page |
| 6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride | 2/74 | Ch. 21, Ch. 22 · the book's own page |
| 7 — This Inevitable Ruin | 20/89 | 22, 28, 42–44, 59, 62–63, 65, 69, 73–74, 77–84 · the book's own page |
By book
Epitome Tagg in book 5 — The Butcher's Masquerade
Epitome Tagg in book 6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride
'I am Epitome Tagg of the Dream,' from the sixth seat at the warlords' table, and nothing more; Stalwart rages that Tagg said he had taken care of this (ch. 21). On his feet, he shouts at Cascadia that Carl and the orc are planning right in front of her, and answers Juice Box's 'I’m my own team': nine teams, eight really, plus the chaff — 'You’re not even real' (ch. 22).
Epitome Tagg in book 7 — This Inevitable Ruin
Blood on his armour at the council from nobody knows whom (ch. 42); a decoy in the fancy hat as he flees on zebras (ch. 62); in the ball (ch. 73). 'That orc princess was right. We should have blown the failsafe weeks ago' (ch. 78). He turns up as Louis's new heart and lungs — a Reaver-type cyborg after all, secretly on the post-physical path, which Glory apparently knew (ch. 80, ch. 81, ch. 83) — and bargains from inside: 'I control his vital organs […] My mother is on the 18th floor' (ch. 81, ch. 83). Donut's renaming enrages him past caution; 'Fuck this existence […] You don't deserve singularity'; the organs come out with a squelch and Mongo chews them to death (ch. 84).