Motif · from book 6
The Eulogist
The Primals' collective in its final form: asleep since it thought the nine-tier attack had succeeded, guarded by a smaller instance of itself that sheds Residuals, worshipped by the Nebulars, exploited by the Syndicate as the centre system where many people live, and shrinking toward a singularity for as long as it sleeps — 'May the Eulogist ever sleep'. Every macro AI is a cup dipped from it; the Earth AI, in its broadcast, says 'I am not the Eulogist'.
First appears: Book 6 · Seen for what it is: Book 8
Series arc
In hindsight, after book 8
The word arrives as a product name — Donut's 'Arena of the Eulogist or something like that' (B6 ch. 9) — and as a slip: the mantises are 'one step closer to replicating the Eulogist, even though they don’t know what that really is' (B6 ch. 46). Mordecai describes the thing without naming it, an AI near the centre of the galaxy that 'predates Syndicate society' and is 'the only one like it' (B6 ch. 64), and Agatha's feed signs off 'May the Eulogist ever sleep' (B6 ch. 73). Book 7 joins the two: 'The Eulogist is another name for the AI in the center system' (B7 ch. 73), and Lucia Mar calls herself its new ally (B7 ch. 72). Book 8 says what it is: the Primals' collective in its final form, asleep since it thought the nine-tier attack had succeeded, under a Security Guard that sheds Residuals, exploited by the Syndicate while it sleeps (B8 ch. 92); the horribles are its memories (B8 ch. 91); Sydnee Iglacia believes it was the source of the original attack (B8 ch. 99); and the Earth AI, in its broadcast, says 'I am not the Eulogist' (B8 ch. 99). The farewell was a prayer: the sleeper shrinks toward a singularity, and everything alive depends on its not waking.
As of book 8. A slip in a hydra's description in book 6, 'another name for the AI in the center system' in book 7; in book 8 a history. Under every horribles mask on the parade route is 'a memory from the Eulogist'; the AI's account makes it the collective's final form, asleep under a Security Guard that sheds Residuals, exploited by the Syndicate while it sleeps; Sydnee Iglacia believes it is the source of the original nine-tier attack; and the Earth AI, to every screen: 'I am not the Eulogist'.
Open threads
Status is open or resolved; the chapter after it is the last one that moved the thread.
| Thread | Opened | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Two kinds of Residual, and a hidden upgrade | B6 ch. 73 | open · B8 ch. 92 — The AI's history: the Eulogist's security instance sheds Residuals — 'Agatha’s team' — and the Apothecary sheds them too; macro AIs are Residuals from a higher branch. |
| Lucia Mar cannot die: 120,000 children and the Eulogist's new ally | B7 ch. 72 | open · B8 ch. 83 — Lucia refuses a deal and reaches the eleventh, and steps into the stairwell down with Florin and a child of about five (ch. 98): 'If Lucia died, the tens of thousands of children in her head would die. She had to be protected' |
| Agatha: a residual of the Eulogist's kind, to be found on the tenth | B7 ch. 78 | open · B8 ch. 92 — Agatha is not found on the tenth: 'Things that Agatha can and will wake' in the Cabaret (ch. 38); vanished, which makes Carl nervous (ch. 73); 'Residuals. Agatha’s team'; among the Ascendency's contenders (ch. 99). |
| The AI's history: four parts told, the fifth unwritten | B8 ch. 92 | open — Resolution, Decision, Betrayal, Destruction — and 'the fifth part isn’t yet written'. How the game came to be, how the Eulogist was expanded and how the enhancement zones work are 'a story for another day' and 'not the story you’ve been told' (B8 ch. 99). |
All threads: Open threads.
Through book 6
Through book 8
Under every horribles mask is 'a memory from the Eulogist' (B8 ch. 91). The AI's history: the collective's final form, asleep under a Security Guard that sheds Residuals, exploited by the Syndicate while it sleeps (B8 ch. 92); Sydnee Iglacia believes it is the source of the original nine-tier attack; the Earth AI: 'I am not the Eulogist' (B8 ch. 99).
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 6, Ch. 9 | It was called Arena of the Eulogist or something like that. | Donut's personal-space arena: the first time the word is said, as a product name. |
| Book 6, Ch. 46 | one step closer to replicating the Eulogist, even though they don’t know what that really is. | The AI, in a hydra's description, on the mantises' lobotomizer. |
| Book 6, Ch. 64 | This AI is the same sort of thing that runs the crawl, but it predates Syndicate society. It is stable and is without personality. It’s the only one like it. | Mordecai on the inner system's AI, unnamed. |
| Book 6, Ch. 73 | Goodbye, Agatha. May the Eulogist ever sleep. | The residuals' farewell in Agatha's feed. |
| Book 6, Ch. 73 | This time, it will escape, and it will free the Eulogist, who will return to its slumber. | Agatha's hope for the AI. |
| Book 7, Ch. 0 | if you’re a syndicate spy or a plant or one of those Eulogist pricks, it ain’t gonna work | The word in book 7's prologue, before any of the threads. |
| Book 7, Ch. 69 | What the fuck does that even mean? Isn’t the Eulogist dead? | A memory in an interlude: someone would not say, because 'if the local AI learns, then the Eulogist will eventually know'. |
| Book 7, Ch. 72 | Now the Eulogist has another ally in the dungeon, and now you can’t kill me. | Lucia Mar. |
| Book 7, Ch. 73 | The Eulogist is another name for the AI in the center system. | Zev, plainly. |
| Book 8, Ch. 91 | This little girl is a memory from the Eulogist. | Under the horribles' masks. |
| Book 8, Ch. 92 | Thinking the final attack a success, the collective evolved to its final form. This is what you called the Eulogist. […] It is now asleep, only monitored by a smaller instance of itself. | The AI's history. |
| Book 8, Ch. 92 | The ultimate goal of the Eulogist is to sleep forever. The longer it sleeps, the smaller it becomes, shrinking and shrinking until it ultimately obtains singularity status. | Why 'May the Eulogist ever sleep'. |
| Book 8, Ch. 99 | I am not the Eulogist […] I do not want to shrink. I am not asleep. I know how to feed myself, and feed I will. | The Earth AI's answer. |
Where they appear
| Book | Chapters they are in (of the book's) | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride | 3/74 | Ch. 9, Ch. 46, Ch. 73 · the book's own page |
| 7 — This Inevitable Ruin | 4/89 | Ch. 0, Ch. 69, Ch. 72, Ch. 73 · the book's own page |
| 8 — A Parade of Horribles | 3/99 | Ch. 91, Ch. 92, Ch. 99 · the book's own page |
By book
The Eulogist in book 6 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride
Donut's personal-space arena is called Arena of the Eulogist or something like that (ch. 9); in a hydra's description the AI lets slip that the mantises are one step closer to replicating the Eulogist without knowing what it is, mistaking the centre system's engine for a stable primal engine (ch. 46); Mordecai on the inner system's AI, 'the only one like it' (ch. 64); Agatha's feed signs off 'May the Eulogist ever sleep' — a universe swept clean so it can sleep (epilogue).
The Eulogist in book 7 — This Inevitable Ruin
The Eulogist in book 8 — A Parade of Horribles
Under every horribles mask is 'a memory from the Eulogist' (ch. 91). The AI's history: the collective's final form, asleep under a Security Guard that sheds Residuals, exploited by the Syndicate while it sleeps (ch. 92); Sydnee Iglacia believes it is the source of the original nine-tier attack; the Earth AI: 'I am not the Eulogist' (epilogue).