Jaro Abandons His Mission to Kill Tiuri marks a decisive reversal in Tiuri’s journey: the young man he has reason to distrust is both his would-be killer and the person whose life he saves. When Jaro confesses that he was sent to prevent Tiuri’s letter from reaching King Unauwen, the rescue becomes more than a narrow escape. Tiuri’s mercy has changed what Jaro is willing to do, while Jaro’s departure brings a new danger into view: the spy called Slupor.

Causes and Background

Tiuri and Jaro are travelling along a path that has grown so narrow they can no longer walk side by side. The sound of the water grows louder as they approach a deep, steep-sided ravine; loose stones make Tiuri slow his pace to avoid stumbling. They expect to come out above a waterfall and continue along the river. The setting gives their uneasy companionship an immediate physical danger: on the narrow track, a single misstep could send either traveller into the chasm.

Jaro has followed Tiuri despite knowing that Tiuri does not welcome his company. Tiuri, for his part, has doubted him, even while allowing him to travel alongside. That distrust is not baseless, though Tiuri does not yet know why. Jaro has been ordered to kill him and prevent the letter he carries from reaching King Unauwen. The path brings the concealed purpose of their journey together into a sudden, literal crisis.

The Fall and the Rescue

Jaro appears to stumble, knocks into Tiuri, and grabs him. Tiuri manages to stay upright; then Jaro lets go with a cry. Scraping stone and tumbling rocks mark the instant Jaro vanishes into the ravine. Tiuri drops to the ground and looks over the edge, expecting the worst, but sees Jaro hanging from a branch jutting out of the rock face. Jaro clings to it with both hands, visibly terrified and unable to call out.

Tiuri reaches down and takes Jaro’s hands, promising to pull him up. Jaro warns that he is too heavy, but Tiuri insists that he must manage. When Jaro begins to slip, Tiuri spots a broad ledge on the opposite wall, several feet below the rim. He removes his tunic so it will not hinder him, jumps across the ravine, and lowers himself onto the ledge. Avoiding a look down, he stretches across the gap until he can brace himself against the other wall, making his body a precarious bridge between the two sides.

Tiuri tells Jaro to place his feet on his shoulders so that Jaro can use him as a foothold. Jaro hesitates, then swings his legs over. One foot slips and comes down again on Tiuri’s injured arm. Tiuri grits his teeth and holds steady while Jaro struggles upward. Once Jaro reaches the path, he collapses there, too exhausted to respond when Tiuri asks him to pull him up in turn. Tiuri carefully regains his position on the ledge, climbs back, and jumps across. Shaken and trembling, the two sit together in silence. Tiuri puts his tunic back on and wonders whether Jaro noticed his mail; the danger has passed, but what the fall meant remains unspoken.

Confession and Change

After a pause, Jaro takes his travelling bag and announces that he is going back east. Tiuri is surprised and tries to reassure him that he can come along. But Jaro says that Tiuri does not trust him—and Tiuri recognizes the truth in the accusation. He had been uneasy about Jaro and had not wanted him as a companion. Jaro had understood that reluctance and had wondered whether Tiuri’s invitation was foolishness or a clever way to keep an enemy where he could be watched.

Jaro now says that Tiuri has beaten him, and that Tiuri need not fear him any longer. Pressed to explain, he admits that he was sent to kill Tiuri and ensure that the letter never reached King Unauwen. The rescue has made the assigned killing impossible for him: Tiuri saved his life, and Jaro says he can no longer kill him. He adds that, had Tiuri simply distrusted him, Jaro would not have been made powerless in the same way. The reversal lies in Tiuri’s action, not in any proof that Jaro had been harmless all along.

Jaro then clarifies that the fall was not simply bad luck. He had meant to throw Tiuri into the ravine, but stumbled and fell himself. The would-be victim chose to save the attacker who had tried to kill him. Jaro calls the reversal almost like a story with a moral, but he does not claim it has made him a good man: he acknowledges that he has killed other people. His confession gives the rescue its full weight, while leaving his past deeds and future course unresolved.

Jaro identifies himself as one of the Red Riders and names the Black Knight with the Red Shield as his master. He refuses to reveal more about that master, saying only that refusing this order is the first time he has disobeyed him. He also cannot promise that he can safely return: his master does not welcome servants who fail their assignments. Jaro’s choice thus breaks his immediate obedience without establishing that he has found a secure new allegiance.

The Warning and Parting

Before leaving, Jaro explains that he was not the only pursuer sent after Tiuri. The Red Riders had seen Tiuri’s travelling party split: Jaro followed Tiuri, while another agent pursued the group heading west, including two Grey Knights, a squire, and a young man on a black horse. Jaro says he recognized Tiuri as the boy the riders had followed in King Dagonaut’s forest. The other agent will realize he has been following the wrong people and resume the hunt, perhaps by trying to get over the mountains ahead of Tiuri and lie in wait for him beyond them.

That pursuer is called Slupor. Jaro says no one among the Red Riders knows his true name. Slupor may appear as a Red Rider, an ordinary soldier, or a spy, and Jaro describes him as difficult to identify by appearance. His eyes, Jaro warns, are the one feature that might give him away. Jaro considers Slupor more dangerous than himself: he is cunning, feared even by the other riders, and would not have hesitated to push Tiuri into the ravine after being rescued. The warning turns Jaro’s departure into a transfer of crucial knowledge. Tiuri has lost one enemy but learns that another, more relentless one, is still pursuing him.

Jaro starts away east, then stops and returns because he does not want Tiuri to think that his departure ends the danger. He says that he owes his life to Tiuri and cannot leave him without warning. Tiuri answers that their lives are now bound up with what each will do in the future, though they may never meet again. Jaro allows that their affairs may indeed concern each other, but says they must take separate roads—and that his own road may differ from what he once expected. He leaves without waiting for a reply. Tiuri says farewell, then advises him to speak with Menaures if he does not know what to do, because Menaures may offer counsel and help. Tiuri watches Jaro disappear and sits down to consider what he has learned.

Narrative Significance

The event turns on a sharp contrast between suspicion and mercy. Tiuri has reason to doubt Jaro, and his own admission confirms that he did doubt him; nevertheless, when Jaro hangs over the ravine, Tiuri acts before he knows the truth. That choice saves Jaro’s life and makes Jaro’s planned murder impossible to carry out. The scene does not erase Jaro’s violence or guarantee his redemption. Instead, it shows a change in conduct with uncertain consequences: he refuses the order, warns his former target, and departs into an unknown future.

The ravine also gives the reversal its form. First Jaro is the one clinging helplessly above the drop; then Tiuri stretches his body across the gap so Jaro can climb to safety. Their physical dependence reverses the relation Jaro had intended to impose, but Tiuri does not use his advantage to punish or abandon him. The episode closes not with a new alliance but with separation, a warning, and Tiuri left to think. Its resolution is therefore partial: Jaro has withdrawn as an immediate threat, while Slupor’s pursuit makes clear that the larger danger continues.