What is Emma, what exactly Emma is

[bueshang]

OK
For all of you who has read the second book (Red Phoenix) you may remember a section near the end when a betting pool is being held on what exactly Emma is.
“There’s a book running on level Six” (Hell of the Poisonous Snakes)

So I would like to know what every one else thinks she is.

Here are the bets that are brought up:

My money is on she's an alien

[Kylie]

Oh I love this, I hoped there would be speculation about what Emma really is. That's one of the first questions people ask me when I meet them in person.

No, no hints at all. Wait and find out!

[Drago]

My original theory was she is a normal human with a strong snake alignment.

I wouldn't put it past Xuan to fall for a human again like his first wife.

But after i finished the second book, this has changed my theory a lot (no spoilers)

I am now caught up in the mystery of who/what is Emma... lol truly a case for Scully and Mulder.

I could be and prolly will be wrong but it's something i wouldn't mind being wrong at cause Kylie hasn't disappointed me so far with the story's reveals and the pace.

Can't wait for "Blue Dragon".

[ajDelta]

This has to be one thing that im intensely curious about. but this is going to sound wierd, i dont know if i want to find out or not.
I mean obviously im dying to find out, but haveing said that from past experiance with such mysteries what makes them so good is that drive to work it out.

my vote is a on her being the unraised human part of a southern shen. kind of like Xuan wu's human part before he was raised like he talks about through both of the previous books. ofcourse i could be totally wrong but thats what makes it so interesting.

[bueshang]

I know exactly what you mean, there is a part of me that is dieing to know but also a part that lust wants the suspense to continue longer.

[Aurelien]

I speculate that Emma's serpent is actually a part of John's serpent, but not the serpent itself if that makes sense. I'll try to explain.

We know that John is both turtle and snake. He lost his snake, and the snake is found deep in the ocean crying about what it lost (assumed to be the turtle). But at the same time, it's never confirmed that it was indeed crying about the turtle. So I'd speculate that it's actually crying about the snake in Emma. Emma's snake said that it doesn't remember who it is, and cannot answer whether it is John's serpent or not. Therefore, there's a chance that it's actually a part of John's serpent.

Of course I could be very wrong, but I just think it's possible. Giving the obvious answer from the betting book seems to be a bit weird.

[ajDelta]

I think you might be on to something Aurelien. but maybe rather than part of it, it might be like the child of Xuan wu's serpent or something like that. I'm curious to know if the time the Xuan Wu disappeared and lost his serpent corrisponds to when emma was born?

I think it is mentioned in 'Red Phoenix' when Xuan Wu disappears and hints at when emma was born, and from memory these dates are similar. I think I'm going to have to check that.


PS apologies for the bad spelling.

[Aurelien]

From the top of my head, Bai Hu mentioned that Xuan Wu lost his serpent around 1975. And if I remember correctly, Emma was said to be 30 years old (on her birthday cake). I'm not exactly sure what year the whole story is supposed to be (2005??), but it definitely fits the number if it is indeed 2005. But then again, I have no idea how long it would take for John's snake to have snake child.

One thing that made me not lean toward Emma's snake being John's snake's child is that Emma's snake said that it didn't know what it was. It's a bit weird to see it not knowing what it is after "only" 30 years. When one forgets, I'd assume it'd take a much longer time than 30 years. It also said that it was looking for home, not its father (I think John's snake is male?).

But yeah, I don't know. It's a bit difficult to speculate. XD

[bueshang]

You both brought up good points, I like Aurelien first one that she may be part of his serpent.
It just seem a little weird and creepy if she is a child of that serpent.
I picked up on that slight reference to him losing his serpent in 1975 and I pretty much put together that it was fairly close to when Emma was bore, there is most likely something going on there.

[sextonja]

Just to remind you that Emma cant be Xuan's snake because the quotes at the beginning and end of the book state that his snake is at the bottom of the sea. so how could it be Emma's snake?

[Aurelien]

I'm not sure if that comment was directed toward my theory or not, but if it was, I'll try to explain why it wasn't a problem. John's snake has been found, but for all we know, we only know the location of the snake itself. It's not mentioned that someone has actually been there to see the snake (whether it's really the whole snake or not), and we're stuck with only knowing that the snake was crying in the deep ocean.

My theory remains that Emma's snake is a part of John's snake. To go further, I'd even speculate that when John's snake separated itself from the turtle, something went wrong. Maybe it was captured by Simon Wong and then experiments were (almost) done on it, but somehow the snake managed to escape. However, certain damage has been done, and it lost a part of the snake. Enter Emma's snake.

Of course I could be very wrong XD Kylie is good at keeping secrets anyways.

[Rusty]

I don't think she is a lost dragon (option #2), she seemed to be from descriptions to be more snake-like than dragon-like (from the scene where she fully transformed and totalled the earth-demons).
As to options #3-8, I don't think there is enough information to say either way.

My thought is that she is either:

1. Normal Human (simplest answer)
2. Southern Shen, not yet raised
3. Something we haven't thought of yet (possible)

[gxier750]

I dont know what she is, but from the extract, l think the 3rd book might deal very heavily with emma finding out about herself and the probable journey she has to take to "control" her self.

[bueshang]

I'm counting on Emma true nature being elaborated on in the 3rd book
I just cant wait to find out what she is, but I will also be disappointed because there will be no mystery no more

[ajDelta]

I know excactly how you feel. but i have a feeling that kylie will have another big mystery waiting to keep us in suspence at the end of book 3.