Character · from book 6
Shi Maria
The Screamer, the Widow Endless, the Bedlam Bride, MaeMae to Samantha: a level-140 Reaper Spider Minion and demigod banished from the celestial realm to a Cuban swamp because, legend has it, she killed and ate her husband, a killing she does not remember, with a fifth eye that blinds and maddens and a human head on a putty neck. She swallows Samantha, weeps on cue, bargains her way into Donut's deck for a ride to Larracos, eats six heads off a hydra, and, combined with Carl by a misfired card, tattoos herself above his sternum with ink made from a root and a friend's blood. 'Either way, I win.'
First appears: Book 6
Series arc
As of book 7. The spider in Carl's chest: she casts through him and fails, a level at a time; in Katia's dream she kills and devours her husband sobbing, and he comes back a god and traps her in the memory; in a replay she stands in a ballroom possessing every goblin — 'I have always loved you'; 'You're always on rails […] You're a puppet'; 'I didn't kill him!' Carl can see through her eye and keeps it shut.
Open threads
Status is open or resolved; the chapter after it is the last one that moved the thread.
| Thread | Opened | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Damascus Steel and Anaconda go to avenge their mother | B6 ch. 34 | open · B8 ch. 85 — Damascus Steel and Anaconda, gone hunting for their father, joined his cause instead; Hamed runs the club and the Guild of Suffering; the strippers who went to see him vanish; the shadow mimics were sent against his revolution (ch. 86). |
| The Eye of the Bedlam Bride: an eye tattooed into Carl's chest | B6 ch. 71 | open · B8 ch. 86 — On the forehead of Carl as a dachshund the Eye speaks — 'Let me take over' and 'I am here when you need me' — and, opened by reflex, freezes a shadow mimic cold; Elle tells Carl he is keeping secrets from them: 'It’s going to bite us on the butt' (ch. 87). |
All threads: Open threads.
Through book 6
A spider in a swamp who ate Samantha and lets her plan (B6 ch. 8); the Screamer of the Bahamas book (B6 ch. 25); tears on cue and a whisper that quotes Odette's advice back: 'that gives you power over me' (B6 ch. 26). As a card she kills her own healer, eats a herd from the sky and opens her eye on Carl through a simulation (B6 ch. 28); eats six heads off a hydra and muffles Asher (B6 ch. 46). A Golden Combo lands on Carl and for three minutes she wears him — reads his inventory, eats Li Jun's eye, tattoos an eye above his sternum with ink from a root: 'Either way, I win' (B6 ch. 70, B6 ch. 71). Donut tears her card; the quest stays (B6 ch. 72).
Through book 7
Through book 8
The AI says Reaper Spider Minions are all over the place and Carl keeps missing them — a way to send a message to Juice Box in Sheol (B8 ch. 86).
Where they appear
| Book | Chapters they are in (of the book's) | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride | 21/74 | 8, 25–31, 34, 37, 39, 41–42, 46–47, 50, 57–58, 70–72 · the book's own page |
| 7 — This Inevitable Ruin | 17/89 | 1–2, 4, 11, 14, 16–19, 36, 47, 54, 58, 62, 65, 69, 81 · the book's own page |
| 8 — A Parade of Horribles | 4/99 | Ch. 35, Ch. 86, Ch. 87, Ch. 88 · the book's own page |
By book
Shi Maria in book 6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride
The swamp
Samantha's captor and best friend, who swallowed her and lets her plan (ch. 8); the Screamer of the Bahamas book, a banished demigod who may have eaten her husband (ch. 25); tears on cue, a fifth eye Carl feels closed, a whisper that quotes Odette's advice back at him: 'You know what I want, and that gives you power over me' (ch. 26). She wants a ride to Larracos.
The card
Kills her own healer in a mall, eats a herd from the sky, opens her eye on Carl through a simulation (ch. 28); plucks a gorgon's snakes and kisses her (ch. 29); jealous of Lazarus's entrance (ch. 39); eats six heads off a hydra and, eye open, muffles Asher's echo: 'Soon, soon you will do something for me' (ch. 46).
The tattoo
A Golden Combo meant for Alpha Carl lands on Carl; for three minutes she wears him, reads his inventory, burns a hole through a building, eats Li Jun's eye with his hand, and pokes an eye into his chest with ink from a root: 'I am a part of you […] Either way, I win' (ch. 71). Donut tears her card; the quest stays (ch. 72).
The title
The book is named for her three times over: the demigod in the swamp looking for her husband (ch. 8), banished, legend has it, for eating him (ch. 25), and a Reaper Spider Minion (ch. 26); Odette's people's proverb about the blinding eye of obsession, which Odette has stared into twice (ch. 37); and the eye itself, opened on Carl in a simulation, on a hydra, and last as a tattoo above his sternum (ch. 28, ch. 46, ch. 70–ch. 72). The bestiary's warning: 'Beware her lies' (ch. 25).
Shi Maria in book 7 — This Inevitable Ruin
She tries to cast through Carl and fails against Mind Balance, rising a level each attempt, and gets 'Watch out, Carl' through anyway (ch. 14). In Katia's dream she kills and devours her husband sobbing, then he returns as a god and traps her (ch. 17); in the replay she stands in the ballroom unhinged — 'I have always loved you' — possessing every goblin (ch. 19). 'Use me while you still can. I can save you' (ch. 54); 'You're always on rails […] You're a puppet' (ch. 62). She bursts into Katia's dream a second time: 'I didn't kill him!' — and a new, unnamed voice: 'Bitch, you swallowed me whole' (ch. 69).
Shi Maria in book 8 — A Parade of Horribles
The AI says Reaper Spider Minions are all over the place and Carl keeps missing them — a way to send a message to Juice Box in Sheol (ch. 86).