After finishing Esrahaddon, I have a new “Revelation”…
This question has long driven me crazy - who gave Merrick the poison to kill Esrahaddon? After finishing the final book in Rise and Fall, I have a new conclusion I’d like to bounce off the group.
I believe now it was Turin that provided the poison to kill Esra. I think this is part of his apology to Esra when they meet, knowing full well that after introducing the art to Arista that Esra needed to die for the new world to move on properly.
It’s important to note that in these God’s eyes and in the eyes of the Legends, death and Pyre is a good option in this series. Realistically Esra can now rest and be with the people from his time.
But basically Esra was far too powerful an artist to properly control in this new day and age, and Turin decided that Arista would be sufficient for the era and purpose.
A couple points to further support this;
In Revelations, Turin makes his appearance in this era shortly after this event. It’s easy to assume that Turin had been busy to that point getting in the proper channels to sell the poison to Merrick.
In Rise and Fall, Ruby says she had met Turin who came to her. Ruby also provided the poisoned dagger to Elayna. I think we can assume Turin provided the dagger to Ruby, or perhaps made her aware of the poison in order to plant the seed that would be that poisoned dagger.