Codex Alera/Fridge

Fridge Brilliance

 * In Academ's Fury, Tavi defuses a dangerous moment between guards and the Canim ambassador by bluffing: he pretends to be some important lord or something and pushes both the guards and the ambassador around, assuming that the guards will go along with this Bavarian Fire Drill just out of fear of Varg. This is a clever (and funny) moment, but Tavi spends almost the whole series bluffing or getting the drop on his enemies before they have a chance to react, so the specifics of this meeting don't seem all that important at the time. However, in the third book the reader is informed that, and in the fourth book Tavi finds out that the ambassador's sense of smell is so good he can tell when humans are related to each other. This means that Tavi's
 * A lot of things about that reveal become Fridge Brilliance on a reread: For instance, the First Lord's line towards the end of the first book: He said that to Fade, regarding a sword taken from the Princeps' Memorium. So
 * At first, I though Gaius Sextus didn't care for his "wife" because he was so wrapped up in politics and ruling his kingdom. Then I realized that Gaius Sextus could summon  anytime he wished - a   That was when I got it: Gaius Sextus was, in a way, married to  . I'm not sure if there was anything sexual going on between them, but
 * Minor one:
 * Jim Butcher wrote the Codex Alera by combining what he thought were two bad ideas: The Lost Roman Legion and Pokémon. Now consider that one of the most powerful and dangerous furies in the series is named Garados. There's also Isana, a Mama Bear among Mama Bears, using a Fury she calls Rill (as in "Ma-rill"). -- Sgamer 82
 * Cursor's Fury is full of these. (1) Magnus (or Max) explains to Tavi early on that anyone competent in the new Aleran legion will be a spy. At the very end of the book, we learn why Alera's version of Sergeant Rock came out of retirement for the job. (2) At the end of that sequence, Butcher reminds us that Gaius Sextus knows who Sergeant Rock really is, that he therefore couldn't come out of retirement without Gaius's approval, and that Gaius set up the whole Aleran legion for Tavi's benefit. In other words, Gaius turned Fidelias back to the cause by showing him Tavi in action. (3) Lastly, Gaius reveals that he knows full well what "Tavi" is short for.
 * Isana learns that Araris loves her, and realizes she loves him as well. I say "realizes" because I originally thought it came out of nowhere and she was just responding to his love, until I realized that she spent an entire month trying to save his life, even risking hers to do so. At the absolute least, she cares about him like a close friend or a family member, and probably more.
 * Tavi is
 * The symbolism behind Fade/.
 * Since he's almost always referred to as a slave, rather than by his profession, it's easy to miss that Fade,  works as a blacksmith.
 * The choice of pictures for the cover of this book. Each cover represents a high-level use of each kind of Aleran furycraft. Furies of Calderon - Wind, Academ's Fury - Earth , Cursor's Fury - Water , Captain's Fury - Fire , Princeps' Fury - Wood , and First Lord's Fury - Metal.
 * The British versions have symbols for what appears to be fire(Garm's Fearcrafting), Water(, Air, Earth, Wood, and Metal. The German covers are more direct.
 * One would think that "Tavi" is a very weird sounding name. Or at least, that it doesn't fit in a world of Awesome McCoolnames. And it appeared as if Butcher was shamelessly rubbing that name in our faces for 3 books. Well, that was until the fourth book, where it was revealed that Tavi stood for . And then, bricks were shat.
 * More Bricks.
 * Ever wonder why the Vord Queens are so unconventionally intelligent and such brilliant strategists and tacticians, and how they develop such potent furycrafting?  It's no coincidence that , but I'm pretty sure the raw intellect is simply a natural trait of that kind of Vord. ]]
 * From Books 2 through 6, the titles all follow a specific pattern. ... except the first. Furies of Calderon doesn't seem to fit ... until you remember one detail from the later books.
 * Also, the working title was
 * In Book 1, Frederick uses a spade as a weapon. This may seem a humorous reference to his farmboy nature and nothing more... Until one realizes that the Roman word for spade, 'Spatha' is also the word for the Roman Broadsword. (And indeed there's some evidence early Spatha swords saw double use for digging and cutting of both roots and limbs).
 * The way the Lords make lots of small fires rather than just big ones is an example of Tavi's preference for efficiency over the traditional Aleran brute force.
 * How did Tavi manage to anticipate exactly which street The Black Cat was going to rob, not once but twice?
 * Tavi's alias during his stint as subtribune and later captain of the First Aleran is Rufus Scipio. This is possibly a reference to Scipio Africanus, another badass general.
 * Tavi is a farmboy and rises to be  and that Title is reserved for the strongest man is Alera. In Pokemon, a basis for the series, the player starts as a kid from the smallest town and becomes champion, the strongest in the game. As a further nod to the games Tavi frequently encounters the Vord and defeats them. The Vord Queen   and becomes the final opponent Tavi must face, as a reference to the rival   at the end of the first set of games.
 * Why do the archers not wear armor? Most series say it allows them to move and bend better. But in Codex Alera the archers are woodcrafters. Metal cancels their abilities rendering them useless. Even a few metal bands can cancel a woodcrafters skills, imagine what a full set of armor would do.
 * On reflection, Tavi and his close circle of friends all reflect different outsiders from Aleran society. In a culture that prizes furycrafting, Tavi has none and Ehren very little. Kitai is a nonhuman in a humanocentric, xenophobid empire (and she's also an outsider among her own people, for that matter, not having a clan). Even Max, handsome, likable son of a powerful nobleman, is a bastard and suffers both a degree of social stigma and, more directly, a homicidal stepmother. Of course, that's just where they start, but still...
 * At the start of "Cursor's Fury", Gaius tricks Kalarus into acting too early with a faked letter claiming . His later   makes it almost certain that it was his real plan as well if Tavi.
 * And if you think about it, Attis may be a bastard (in the metaphorical sense) but he's smart, charismatic, relatively young, and a really powerful crafter  Out of all the High Lords, he's honestly probably the best choice for a successor.
 * And if you think about it, Attis may be a bastard (in the metaphorical sense) but he's smart, charismatic, relatively young, and a really powerful crafter  Out of all the High Lords, he's honestly probably the best choice for a successor.

=== Fridge Horror ===