Ponch

[Agent M]

Okay, why hasn't anyone posted about Ponch yet??! Remember when we were all saying that there was no way he could be a Power? Guess we were wrong... heehhe, spell dog backwards... Took me a few seconds to figure that out... *shrug* I think that the Ponch thing was cool, but we should have figured it out sooner. Just 'cause Peach was a Power doesn't Ponch can't be. And he came back as a sheepdog! hahah, that's how I pictured him in the first and second books... I like sheepdogs

[Mel]

yea

i didnt think that DD would put another animal as a Power, but i guess i was wrong...and i mean, there were hints everywhere! The Transcendant Pig, Ponch acting even weirder than wizards' pets, being able to createuniverses, it was all lying in front of our non-doggie noses.

dang

[Lamarquise]

I know. Talk about a shock to everyone involved! I guess the Powers have ways of putting themselves in a position to help out...and not even the Lone Power can handle the One when he knows who he is and wants to do something.

Of course, this is a problem on one level because it's hard to have a relationship with a Power you can only minimally understand. Ponch won't be around to help and Kit and the others won't get to take care of him and play with him and bounch ideas around with him anymore. Which is, I suppose, why it's a sacrifice. But then, it's hard to know what will stay the same. Maybe Ponch will keep in contact in some way.

So is the message that only non-human servants of the Powers become the Powers? Sometimes, I wonder if Duane doesn't have a fairly dim view of humanity. But that's just me.

[philosopherkat]

The part where Kit was holding the leash with tears running down his face waiting for Ponch to come bounding outside and realizing he won't . . . I had a massive lump in my throat.

But coming back in the form of all dogs could be interesting. I wonder how it'll affect things in their neighborhood.

[AlidaART]

Lump in your throat! I was crying!

...Well, that was also in response to the demise of Prince Unlikely, but same difference. It was still sad.

But didn't Ponch sort of "come back"? Or am I totally confused?

[Lamarquise]

As I understood it, the point is that Ponch has become an Avatar of the One. For the canine contingent of sentient beings. While that doesn't mean Ponch has to lose touch with Kit--it's always possible that Kit will never have to look farther than the nearest dog to make contact if he really needs Ponch--the likelihood is that Ponch will have other things to do and won't be around much. He's become something very different entirely, which makes it that much harder. It was necessary...the strange things is that all of the prophecy centered around the LP's new alter-ego while something bigger happened so quietly. Or maybe that's appropriate. But you're right that Kit found some comfort in the thought that Ponch really didn't have to be as far away as he might seem.

[EWizard11]

I loved--although of course I was choking back tears--how Kit thought that he now understood what Nita had been going through when her mom died...besides being utterly perfect, it makes them be able to identify that much more.

And though it didn't occur to me before that Ponch was the One, once I got over the initial shock it made perfect sense. The universe creation...all the dogs howling outside...the finding talents...it all fits.

But it's like what happened with Peach, only worse for the owner: I'm sure Kit had trouble equating his faithful dog with the ultimate power that he helps to serve (although Ponch might argue that Kit's known that all along...), along with dealing with the loss of that dog.

[fred22]

That was the most heart breaking part of the book. When Ronan got hit I didnt exactly care, *Shrugs* He is kinda weird and " Im all powerful and Wise" all the time. But Ponch was different, is different, he was loyal and helped out but didnt really, whats the word, Show off? Ponch was one of my favorite characters. Though it was pretty obvious that he was a power. Even though I didnt see it and now I feel eextremley stupid. LOL
But you got to admit, that was some good writing at the end and same as through the book, thanks DD for another great novel!
~Azen

[Mel]

I cried sooo bad.

Ok, not that bad, but I mean, It was soo sad!

Alida: Ponch came back mostly as that stray sheepdog taht no one knew who the owner was; remember him in WH? Well there you have it.

So, I'm guessing that that will probobly be Kit's new companion...And the person at the end...Sooo Nita!

[Gryphon]

M:
. heehhe, spell dog backwards..

OH!!! How slow can I get? XD I was like, "huh, Ponch doesn't spell anything backwards! Hcnop???" But if you add an S, you have all of the atoms that are important for organisms (my bio test has all this stuff you never needed to know stuck in my head). CHOPNS! And then with a few trace guys stuck in there.

I think DD had a lot of fun with this. XD Sadly, cat only spells tac backwards. Gip. Woc. Ersoh. Drib.

Okay, answer another one for this slow cat. Roshaun isn't dead, is he? 'Cuz he definitely wasn't supposed to die. DD, if you were gonna kill him off, it should've been in Holiday! You do terrible things to your poor fans' hearts. XD When Dairine came to his room, saw that it was empty (of him), and saw the portal, I was like, "he's not gonna be in there either."

[AlidaART]

For the whole "Is Roshaun dead?" discussion, try this topic, Gryph.

Hey, that CHOPNS thing is neat! I don't think I'd have ever even thought of that. I wonder if DD really did mean for that to happen...wow. Interesting.

[Cyber Mirage]

Originally posted by Agent M:
Remember when we were all saying that there was no way he could be a Power?

And he came back as a sheepdog! hahah, that's how I pictured him in the first and second books... I like sheepdogs

Isn't The One higher then the powers...?

Wait... Ponch doesn't look like a sheep dog...

Originally posted by Lamarquise:
As I understood it, the point is that Ponch has become an Avatar of the One.

I thought he is The One...?

[Lamarquise]

The One is above the other Powers. They don't always understand him, but he seems to outrank the others and have plans the others don't always understand. And it took the One stepping in to stop this particularly nasty attack by the Lone Power, since the Lone One seems to be pretty much on an equal playing field with the other Powers and they couldn't seem to stop him this time.

An avatar is a physical manifestation of a Power, in this case the One. It's certainly not the whole thing. So Ponch became an aspect or manifestation of the One. I'm not sure the sheepdog is the same, since it was (if I remember correctly) hanging around while Ponch was still there. But it might have been overshadowed by the One to give Kit a little comfort, just like a wizard could be overshadowed by the Lone Power. Or at least that's my theory.

[A Traveller with Magic]

Ponch is an avatar of the One? I had interpreted from the book that Ponch almost became the One Herself...doesn't an embodied Power have to become unembodied to do something like Ponch did? Hmmm...
I hope I didn't just repeat what the last posts just said.

But what about in the dogs' Choice, didn't it say that they wouldn't get any of the power since they chose to keep the humans company? But Ponch still became a version of the One...does that mean he just doesn't have wizardry?

[SilverMarine]

To me, I interpreted Ponch's...change, as him becoming the dog's version of the One, just as the cats see the One as a female. He's an avatar of the One in disembodied form, just as the LP appears as a lot of different avatars throughout the series.