This page provides information on inconsistancies or errors in the MBotF series. Most notably, there are several inconsistancies between the first novel, , and the rest of the series due to GotM being written significantly earlier than the rest of the novels. These inconsistancies are frequently called "GotMisms". For more information, see What is a GotMism.

Index:

Lorn knowing Toc the Elder

The number of Jaghut Wars

Orfantal's gender

Duiker meeting Pormqual

Saltlick's squad

Balgrid's Warren

The 4th 9th Company

Lorn knowing Toc the Elder:

In GotM, when Toc the Younger meets Adjunct Lorn, she claims that she knew his father, Toc the Elder, but also that Toc the Elder has been missing since Emperor Kellanved's death. Later on in GotM, Lorn states that she remembers Tattersail from the Mouse Quarter Riots and that Lorn was eleven years old at the time. Emperor Kellanved's death occured at the latest in early 1155, while the Mouse Quarter Riots occured sometime in 1154. Thus, Lorn would have been at most twelve years old when Toc the Elder disappeared, and so it is unlikely that she did, in fact, know him.

"I knew your father. Also a great bowman [...] He was a fine commander too. [...] Disappeared since the Emperor's death." -Lorn to Toc the Younger 

GotM, UK mmpb, p. 275

"We have met before, though I doubt you'd remember. [...] I was but eleven years old at the time. [...] They burned the Mouse Quarter a week after you swept through it, Tattersail." -Lorn to Tattersail 

GotM, UK mmpb, p. 303

The number of Jaghut Wars:

In GotM, Tool states that the Logros T'lan Imass' battle with enclaves of Jaghut in the Jhag Odhan following the Emperor's demise was the twenty-eighth Jaghut War. In the prologue of MoI, however, the Imass declare the death of the Jaghut to be the end of the thirty-third Jaghut War, indicating there are many more than twenty-eight. While it is not stated that the numerical system for the Jaghut Wars is by incrementing numeracy, the passage from GotM - wherein Lorn states that the Jaghut Wars numbered twenty-seven before the Logros journeyed into the Jhag Odhan - implies that this is the case.

Steven Erikson confirmed that this is a GotMism in an interview with Wotmania in 2003.

" 'In the lands west and north of Seven Cities, I alone among my clan survived the Twenty-eighth Jaghut War.'

Lorn's eyes widened. 'I thought those wars numbered twenty-seven,' she said quietly. [...]

'Our Bone Casters sensed an enclave of surviving Jaghut,' Tool said. "

GotM, UK mmpb, p. 319

Orfantal's Gender:

Orfantal is a female Tiste Andii in some versions of Gardens of the Moon and sister to Korlat. In later books, Orfantal is a male Tiste Andii and brother to Korlat.

Steven Erikson has acknowledged this error and stated that Orfantal is supposed to be male.

Duiker meeting Pormqual:

In DG, Coltaine asks Duiker at his first council if Duiker has met High Fist Pormqual, to which Duiker replies 'I have'. However, when he reaches Aren, Duiker does not initially recognize Pormqual. Furthermore, Duiker's conversations with Mallick Rel early in the novel imply that Duiker has spent some time at the Aren court.

Steven Erikson acknowledged this error in an interview with Wotmania in 2003, though did not state which version should be taken as correct.

Saltlick's Squad:

Saltlick is a heavy infantryman in the 14th Army. In The Bonehunters, following the Last Siege of Y'Ghatan, Captain Faradan Sort assigns him to Sergeant Urb's squad, the 13th. In Reaper's Gale, however, he appears with both the 13th Squad and in the 5th Squad under Sergeant Gesler.

Balgrid's Warren:

Balgrid is a squad mage in the 14th Army. In House of Chains and The Bonehunters, he is a formidable user of the Meanas warren. In Reaper's Gale, he is labeled as a necromancer and Beak states that his primary warren is the "white candle" - Hood's Path.

House of Chains and The Bonehunters never make any mention of Balgrid possessing any ability as a necromancer or with Hood's Path, while Reaper's Gale makes no mention of his ability to use the Meanas warren.

The 4th 9th Company:

In Reaper's Gale, when the 4th, 5th, 8th and 13th squads of the 9th Company, 8th Legion encounter the 4th, 5th and 10th squads from the 3rd Company, 8th Legion, the 9th Company is incorrectly referenced as the 4th Company several times.

"The marines of the 3rd and 4th Companies gathered in front of the tavern, [...]"  -RG, Chapter 21.

"Fiddler sat on the edge of a water trough [...]. Since the coast, the three other squads of the 4th Company had taken losses. Gone from Gesler's squad were [...]. From Hellian's, [...], while from Urb's [...]"  -RG, Chapter 21.

"We only got thrown into the mix because of the 4th's losses at Y'Ghatan."  -Badan Gruk; RG, Chapter 21.