Loosing of the Shadow

The Loosing of the Shadow is the pivotal catastrophe of Ged's youth, the moment when pride and rivalry drove him to break the laws of Roke and summon a spirit from the dead, only to tear a breach in the world's fabric through which a nameless shadow-beast entered, an act that cost Archmage Nemmerle his life and set Ged on a long, harrowing path of flight, pursuit, and eventual self-integration.

Causes and Background

The event was the culmination of a long-brewing rivalry between Ged and Jasper, a polished, older student from the Domain of Eolg on Havnor. From the day of Ged's arrival at the School for Wizards on Roke, Jasper's polite, mocking demeanor had stung the proud, unschooled mountain boy. Jasper's taunts on Roke Knoll—"Play us a trick, Sparrowhawk. Show us your style"—and his later, more cutting jibes had festered. Ged, who had already been warned by the Master Hand that "to light a candle is to cast a shadow," and who had been secretly taught Great Spells of Change by the Master Changer without the Archmage's knowledge, was ripe for a fall. The immediate trigger came during the Long Dance festival, a rare conjunction of the Moon's Night and the Long Dance that occurred once in fifty-two years. In a courtyard of the Great House, after two nights of dance and music and magery, Ged and Jasper's mutual spite erupted into a direct challenge. Jasper, with his cool smile, accused Ged of being a prentice who didn't know the First Change. Ged, in a flash of true transformation, turned himself into a falcon and back, proving he knew more than Jasper thought. But Jasper dismissed it as mere illusion, and the challenge escalated. When Jasper sneered, "Summon up a spirit from the dead, for all I care!" Ged, in a fury of pride and rage, swore by his name that he would do it.

What Happens

Ged strode out of the courtyard, followed by Jasper and a group of other students, including Vetch, who tried in vain to stop him. They climbed the dark slopes of Roke Knoll, a hill whose roots were said to go down to the world's core, a place where all spells were strong. There, on the east slope under the stars, Ged turned to face Jasper. His hate and rage were gone, replaced by an utter certainty of power. He felt the hillroots going down into the dark, and the stars above him; he stood at the center of the world. Dismissing Jasper, he announced he would call the spirit of Elfarran, the fair lady of the Deed of Enlad. He began the Spell of Summoning, a spell he had once read in Ogion's book in darkness, and now he understood it fully. He spoke the words aloud, weaving the spell with voice and gesture. The wind rose roaring in the grass. He dropped to his knees and called out, then rose holding something dark and heavy in his straining arms. Three times he cried the name "Elfarran!" A pale oval of light appeared between his arms, and for a moment a tall, beautiful, sorrowful woman looked back over her shoulder. But then the oval grew bright, widened, and became a rent in the darkness of the earth and night, a ripping open of the fabric of the world. Through that bright, misshapen breach clambered something like a clot of black shadow, quick and hideous, and it leaped straight at Ged's face. Ged screamed as the thing clung to him, tearing at his flesh with taloned paws. It was like a black beast, the size of a young child, with no head or face, only four taloned paws. Vetch ran forward to help but was frozen in place by the power of the spell. The light faded, and the torn edges of the world closed. The shadow-beast was gone, but Ged lay sprawled on his back, his face blackened with blood, his shirt stained. Above him stood Archmage Nemmerle, who had come at the moment of crisis.

Consequences and Aftermath

Nemmerle, with the last of his power, drove the shadow from Ged and sealed the breach, but the effort cost him his life. He lay dying in the unroofed court where the fountain played, and the next day the iron bells tolled his death. The shadow, though driven from Roke by the island's protective spells, was now loose in the world. Ged was carried to the healing-chambers, where he lay blind, deaf, and mute for four weeks, his wounds deep and evil, the black blood refusing to stanch. When he finally recovered, he was scarred, lame, and stammering. The new Archmage, Gensher, told him that the thing he had loosed was a nameless shadow, the shadow of his own arrogance and ignorance, and that it would hunt him until it possessed him. Ged was forbidden to leave Roke until he could defend himself. The event shattered his pride and his confidence; he became a solitary, haunted figure, unable to speak spells without faltering. It also forged a bond between him and the shadow that would define his entire quest: he was the hunter and the hunted, and only by turning to face it, by learning its name, could he ever be free. The Loosing of the Shadow was not merely a magical accident but a moral and psychological rupture, the external manifestation of Ged's internal darkness, and the beginning of his long journey toward wholeness.