The Ghost

D'you have a link or something?

Have to google hawks. Heard that most birds have no penises and not sure if it'd be okay to make fun of that or not. oô

It was in some interview, but shoot me, if I remember where...

Just been thinking that the ghost can't be an arrow. Judd says that he knows the identity of the ghost, but if the ghost was an arrow wouldn't Judd's betrayal for leaving the arrow squad make their partnership a no go? tell me what you think

No, when he meets with Aden at the end of KOS, Aden tells judd that he didn't break the code as he left to save an X (Sienna). So the Ghost could be an Arrow

^This sort of conversation is why I love this forum.

I vote Kaleb or someone privy to the Council superstructure's business. Supported by a passage from CBI:

"The data is sensitive. From what I've been able to confirm, it appears that only a small percentage of the Council superstructure knows its exact location."

Which meant that if they acted on it, the Ghost's anonymity could be compromised.

Hey everyone!

I've been obsessing with this for so long and I am very happy I found this forum

I think something that's gotta be factured into the equation is, that after the way ToN ended, it is only plausible to assume, that Kaleb's book will be next. And if that is true, then he can't be the ghost, right? Cause it would be weird if he was and it wasn't revealed in his book.

I totally thought Kaleb was the ghost up until KoS. That was when I first started thinking Vasic could be the ghost as well.
And now that everything kinda points towards Kaleb being up next, I think Vasic is a very good candidate for being the ghost. One thing that has me thinking it might be him is:
Nalini wouldn't relveal his last name. That means Vasic's last name is important and would give something away. It has been speculated that he might be Kalebs brother. But my theory is: His last name is Adelaya. And that makes his a direct decendant of the first twins that ever became silent. Since it was said that it would be a major thing for the entire Psy race, if the ghost broke Silence, it would all add up if Vasic was the ghost and his last name was Adelaja.

After I came up with this (granted, weird) theory, I went back to reread all the Psy/Changeling books and noticed how many times Vasic was mentioned, even back when no one ever even mentioned his name. I mean - he was the one who got Shaya to Dark River land, he and Aden helped save Dorians life when he was shot, he who sent Dorian away before the rest of the clean-up team arrived at the scene of that Psy murder/suicide and so on.
I think, at least to me, he kinda stayed in the background for a long time. i only really focussed on him after KoS and ToN. So although for a long time I believed Kaleb to be the obvious choice, I now kinda think the ghost may be Vasic (Adeleja?).

What do you think?

EDIT: Damn, I just reread Blaze of Memory and now I am not so sure about my hypothesis anymore... that scene in which the Ghost, Judd and Father Perez talk about the possibilty, that the Arrows have stopped following Ming is what got me rethinking everything. Because the Ghost talks about the Arrows as if he is not part of the squad... it could be camouflage... but I think it may be true. So maybe I should put my mones back on Kaled, mh?

Damn it....

I´m reading Branded by Fire right now... and there is this scene with Faith and the Netmind and the Netmind shows her the Net and the cracks in the shield of silence and one of them is the Ghost...

"But there were cracks in the shield. She touched a finger to one crack, and knew that was Judd. The one
next to it, Walker. And not far from them, Sascha. So many fine, fine cracks. The most isolated one, the
newest . . . no, this was the very first, but it was hidden, hidden deep. And it was male, powerful, so very
powerful. When this ghost . . . “Oh,” she whispered, realizing who it was she touched. “The Ghost.”
When the most notorious rebel in the Net broke his Silence, the shield would well and truly shatter."

And everytime I read this description I think of Zaid....

I know, Nalini said, he was dead.
I just can´t help it.

The first Arrow....

Or it points to double freakin cardinal Kaleb... but then he most have broken from Silence (not necessarily Silence itself) as a child or youth.
But then Vasic, though not as powerful, never has truly been silent either

when I read that lately I thought about someone "old" because it seems so powerful and hidden and so on, I thought somehow it´s someone from the beginning of Silence ...

like yeah... Zaid...

jupp, like Zaid....sorry forgot to mention that in my last comment

TheFLuff wrote:2070 - Judd becomes an Arrow
2071 - Judd start his own little insurgency
2072 - Judd meets the Ghost ? (CbI Judd ' fesses up tp Brenna, near end)
2073 - disappearance of Sahara, 16 year old cousin of Faith NightStar
2073 (Spring, early Summer) - Judd meets Xavier (CBI, first scene with XP))
2074 (Summer) - Kaleb starting his search
2078 (Spring/Summer) - the Laurens defect
2078 - Slave to Sensation, Visions of Heat (as per Timeline floating around in the net)
2079 - Slave to Sensation, Visions of Heat (as per beginning of Slave to Sensation)
2079 (Winter/Spring) - Caressed by Ice
(CbI to BbF: 1 1/2 years according to Q&A with NS)
2080 (Autumn) - Branded by Fire
2080 (Winter) - Blaze of Memory
2081 (late WInter, Jan/Feb?) Bonds of Justice
6 years, five months, and three weeks ago.
-> Summer 2074

I know, I have two dates given for StS and VoH
Explanation included ^^

Judd was 26, going on 27 in CbI, He was an Arrow for 8 years, from 18-26, since he is almost 27 in CbI, his birthday must be sometime in Spring. So, the Laurens must have defected sometime after Spring 2078

For Reference: /Q&A post by NS)

"Bonds of Justice" is set at the beginning of 2081 (in SF), while "Play of Passion" is set a little later, during spring (which is still cold in the mountains).

For Reference, timeline from Wickedscribes:

http://wickedscribesnalinisingh.wordpress.com/the-psychangeling-series/psychangeling-character-guide-2/

1969 - program to condition all negative emotion out of the Psy put in place
1970 – Alice Eldridge begins study of X-Psy designation
1975 - supposed death of author Alice Eldridge
1979 - Silence protocol changed to stop Psy from feeling all emotion
2019 - Psy attempt to ban Christmas
2059 - ShadowWalker pack attack kills Lucas Hunter’s parents
2060 - train accident injuring Annie Kildare; Sophia Russo disowned by family; Clay Bennett kills Orrin Hendersen
2061 - Beat of Temptation
2063 - Nathan becomes a Sentinel
2067 - Mercy Smith crowned Miss Bikini Babe
2068 - Lucas Hunter becomes DarkRiver Alpha
2069 - death of Iliana Aleine
2070 - death of Lachlan, former DarkRiver Alpha
2072 - Whisper of Sin
2073 - disappearance of Sahara, 16 year old cousin of Faith NightStar
2075 - death of Riena Duncan, making Nikita official head of the Duncan family
2077 - Kylie Christensen murdered by Enrique Santano
2078 - Slave to Sensation, Visions of Heat
2079 - Caressed by Ice
2080 - Stroke of Enticement, Mine to Possess, Hostage to Pleasure, Branded by Fire, Blaze of Memory
2081 - Bonds of Justice, Play of Passion
2082 - Kiss of Snow, discovery of cryogenetically frozen Alice Eldridge

I´m going to rework that list, expand it a little.

But since I´m rereading BoJ right now, I had this curious idea, that Kaleb may never have seen his "Quarry"
There was a curious wording in the part, after he killed Bonner, about him being curious what awaited him, when he found her.
So, might jsut as well be Sahara and the only contact he had with her, was on the net, even after she had already been incarcerated

So, I caught the tail end of the Twitter chat with the Ghost and Dear Author: https://twitter.com/search/realtime?q=%23penguinromance&src=hash

Of course, the Ghost could be trying to misled us all, but if any of what he said is true then:

*The Ghost is male.
*The Ghost has no family. However, he has one male relative but the relationship is unknown by others.
*The Ghost is not related to Sascha, Dev, Lucas, Zaid Adelaja, anyone in the Lauren family, Hawke, or the NightStar clan.
*The Ghost does not have a tattoo.
*The Ghost has been working on his plan for over two decades.
*The Ghost's loyalty is to a single individual (a woman).
*The Ghost speaks a number of "useful languages".
*Only Judd and Hawke know the Ghost's identity.

I think this narrows it down to Vasic, Aden, and possibly Kaleb. Does anyone recall if the mark on Kaleb's arm is actually a scar or birthmark rather than a tattoo?

When I read the thing about no tattoo I thought that might eliminate Kaleb, but I don't think the book (I forget which one has this detail, I think KoS) that mentions the mark on this arm calls it a tattoo. It could be a scar. I am going to have to find that section, unless someone can remember? At the beginning of the chat, Berkley announced that the Ghost will be revealed in HoO!!! There has been speculation, but I wasn't sure. Very excited. Nalini's blog will have a "storified" (new word for me) version of the chat in the morning! Just read some after the fact, but there was more information revealed than I expected.

Here's a more detailed summary of the Twitter chat: http://bookthingo.com.au/pre-release-spoilers-the-ghost-hijacks-nalini-singhs-twitter-account-for-an-hour/

* * *

I found the section describing Kaleb's mark. It is in Branded by Fire, page 285:

"Putting down the briefcase he'd carried in, Kaleb took off his suit jacket and removed his tie before opening the first few buttons on his shirt and rolling up his sleeves. He never ever did the latter while outside his home. No one could be allowed to see the mark on his forearm. Most would have no idea what it meant. Perhaps no one would know. But the PsyNet was the biggest data archive in the world--he couldn't take the chance that someone, somewhere, knew the story behind the mark."

So, it's described as a mark, not a tattoo.

* * *

I've been recently re-reading the series and I came upon something that may or may not be a coincidence.

It's actually all the way back in Slave to Sensation when we're introduced to the term "ghost" even though the Ghost, as an individual, doesn't show up until Caressed by Ice. In StS, Sascha has developed a telepathic shadowing skill called "ghosting" (StS page 193) which she uses to cruise the PsyNet as a "ghost", undetected, to gather information.

It's in Blaze of Memory (page 160) that we find that Kaleb Krychek can also travel this way through the PsyNet. And in fact, he learned this trick by observing Sascha.

Hey, Syaffolee, good catch on "ghosting" when I re-read this for the first time, I thought of how Vasic is shadowing Aden... anyways.

Alot of people say, this chat rules out Vasic. And they may be right, seeing, what we have read of Kaleb so far. The LOGICAL choice is Kaleb, concerning his history and how his way began at age 7.

But since I made my prediction, the Ghost is Vasic, I stick with it. Because I can. hehe.

BUT!
I might correct my prediction concerning Vasics last name, though

We already guessed a while back, that Kaleb and Vasic, the two males with slavic first names and rather similar looks, may be brothers. Guess, uhm... we might have been right, after all.

For those, who don´t remember:

Kaleb: Tall, short dark hair, cardinal eyes, TK/TP dual Cardinal very good looking.

Vasic: Tall, Short dark hair, silverblue eyes, very prominent bone structure (this, what Nalini told me, when I asked about a reference person), TK V, mid range TP

This would be like... hormonal overkill.
Vasic and Kaleb as brothers.
*thud*
I can´t
literally.
Running out of cans.
Oh god.
please.
*swoon*

One thing that says to me that Vasic is not the Ghost is that Vasic just want peace... whereas the Ghost doesn't understand peace, according to the twitter chat. And Hawke in Kiss of Snow, said that the Ghost had an agenda that had nothing to do with peace... so... yeah, Vasic is not the Ghost.

Hmm interesting twitter chat.

So the Ghost is male.

He is related to someone we have met although no one knows this, but considers he has no 'family'.

His loyality is to a women he met as a child and there is nothing he wouldn't do for her. This women is still alive.

He was broken as a child and commented that 'i'm not good. I have no conscience. It was destroyed a long time ago'.

He is not related to Sascha, Dev, the Lauren's, Hawke, Lucus, the NightStar's or Zaid.

It was confirmed he's not Zaid (Zaid is really dead) or Vasic (Vasic wants peace the Ghost doesn't understand peace).

Only Judd suspects what his end game might be and only Judd and Hawke know who he is. He has been working on his end game for two decades so must be in his mid twenties at least.

He has no plans to leave the PsyNet but the Net may not survive.

He doesn't have a tatoo (neither does Kaleb, he has a mark).

He would have sex if it was necessary but hasn't done yet.
He speaks a number of different languages.

Nalini also comments in an interview that although there are two or three more books which will widen her story telling opportunities book 13 could be considerd the end of the arc.

He wouldn't confirm anything else about his linage, wouldn't reveal his age or confirm any contections with the Arrows.

So for me everything still points to the Ghost being Kaleb

Well there's that line in twitter that threw the cat among the pigeons. xD

"I have a location where I live. Home is not a concept I understand."

Yet on that passage on BbF pg 285. It says that Kaleb doesn't roll up his sleeves outside his home.

Is this just a technicality in words, or the word 'home' has some significance? >:3

I would put that under semantics, but who knows? There is one thing unrelated to the Twitter chat that I wanted to mention. In one the threads (not sure if it is this one, it all starts to run together), it is mentioned that the Ghost makes sure to have lunch with someone when Marshall is killed to have an alibi, but Vasic as Ghost wouldn't need to do this because as an Arrow he does not exist.

he exists to Ming though and would need to mislead him

I concede the point about Ming, but it still just doesn't jive for me that an Arrow would go to lunch in a public place to provide an alibi for himself. Of course, we are all arguing from our gut feelings of who the Ghost is and my gut just can't buy Vasic as the Ghost. Also, to date there has been no sign that Vasic is searching for anyone, let alone a woman (at least to my memory). I think it possible that whoever the Ghost is and the Ghost might be shown slightly differently in the books -- it makes some sense to me that a person acting in secret may behave differently than in his regular role. So, if it is Vasic I will be surprised but I would certainly be excited and accepting.

On another element, I never read the Ghost's passages as someone unstable, perhaps someone searching, but not unstable. So, arguments that Kaleb seems too stable to be the Ghost don't impact me too much.

It so interesting to speculate. I don't have anyone close to me that reads the series, so there is no one to poke holes in my theories and make me think, so thanks!

First of all, I never argue from a gut feeling.

I simply like the discussion. When none is happening, I am not unheard of creating one

With the latest information, it all points to Kaleb being the Ghost.
Not everything, because Nalini delightfully double up anything with those two characters. Their stories, their trauma, their background.
Only Vasic doesn´t have a woman, unless of course, he´s the Ghost and fell for Alice.

To me, the Ghost isn´t unstable. He has certain sociopathic tendencies. But heck, he´s a silent Psy... he has echoes of emotion, he can´t place and that makes him seem insecure.
But he´s not unstable.

And he surely doesn´t view himself this way.

Just as Vasic sees himself as silent, though we all know, he isn´t.
He can´t place the emotion he feels and has no reference whatsoever

btw. IO honestly can´t remember for the Ghost looking for a woman, except that one time, he was looking for Alice, of course.

I think at that point, all the councilors would be keeping tabs on each other. After all, with the death of Marshall, there would inevitably be a power struggle among the remaining councilors. And if Kaleb is the Ghost, not having an alibi would be something the other councilors would leverage against him.

* * *

Anyways, I came across the very first mention of Kaleb's mark (Mine to Possess, page 293):

"He glanced down at the mark branded onto his forearm, a deceptively clean-appearing shape that had shifted the course of his life beyond
redemption. It was a reminder of what he was, what he was willing to do."

And on the next page:

"If either of the Scotts discovered the truth behind the mark that branded him, it would give them the weapon they needed to challenge his meticulously planned takeover of the Council."

Considering the mark's description, it rules out a scar. Could be an actual brand. Or probably a birthmark.

I also find it interesting that Kaleb's takeover is described as "meticulously planned."

In Kiss of Snow (page 364/hardcover), we see the Ghost's thinking about Sienna: "She was a wildcard he couldn't control, one that might disrupt his meticulously laid plans."

Of course, I'm still in the middle of the series, combing for clues, but for those of you who are pro-Vasic-as-Ghost, are there any passages implying that Vasic has any plans?

I think "branded" is actually referring to being branded here.

i never got, why people thought, it was a tattoo