Since the end of Fool's Quest, we know one comforting thing FitzChivalry Farseer does not: his daughter Bee is alive. She has been captured by the vile Servants and ill-treated by the sadistic Dwalia, but she is alive, and in her mind, Wolf Father is trying to do his best to keep her safe.
The following chapters will contain spoilers.
Fitz and his companions are in the city of Kelsingara, seeking aid to get to Clarres, the city of the Servants, where he is planning to enact his revenge. While he himself does not care if he lives or dies through this ordeal, all he wants is to wreak havoc on those who took his daughter, he still knows his companions, Fool, Lant, Per, and Spark he'd prefer to continue their lives after. Unbeknownst to him, Dwalia's unskilled Skill use caused their portal trip to take longer, so they are actually trailing behind him.
The 1st half of the book portrays two parallel journeys to the faraway Clarres. Fitz is trying to find his way there, seeking out allies wherever he can, Bee is desperately trying to escape Dwalia. She manages to do that a couple of times, but these attempts always fail, as it looks like fate itself has dictated she needs to be in Clarres. She is beaten badly many times before the ill-fated journey ends, but every time she manages to harm Dwalia or some of the other Servants in some way is always a cause to celebrate.
During their journey on a liveship, a living ship made of sentient dragon shells, Fool reveals to Fitz that he has seen in dreams that Bee is alive. At first, Fitz does not dare to believe him, but then, when he is trying to thwart his mentor Chade's attempts to reel him in the Skill stream, he senses Bee but is forced to block her off, making the girl believe her father has abandoned her. But he hasn't and after Chade dies, making contacting Nettle easier, the rest of the Farseer family gets the information about Bee. But Bee knows nothing of this, thinking she has been abandoned, so she is now more determined than ever to help herself.
Both Fitz and Bee, arrive and Clarres relatively at the same time. Bee's arrival is different from what she thought when the four leaders of the Servants punish Dwalia for wasting their precious resources on a fool's errand: they don't think Bee is the one they have been looking for, but still, capture her in a high tower. She does, however, draw the first blood when one of the leaders of the internal striving four wants to question her with Dwalia. with the help of her budding Skill, and some fire, she manages to kill both of them, then returns to her cell and pretends like nothing has happened.
When Fitz finally gets to the castle, Bee has started her own machinations and set fire to its great libraries of centuries-collected dreams. Father and daughter finally catch up, but during their escape, Fitz is caught by an explosion and Fool carries Bee to safety, believing Fitz dead. Then they witness how the dragons act their vengeance on the castle and the city, destroying it.
Fitz isn't dead though. With the help of the spirit of Nighteyes and some silver liquid Skill he had been carrying, Fitz manages to free himself under the rubble and slink out. Happy, that his daughter has managed to escape, he then kills the last of the four, then slinks away to find a way home. Fitz uses a portal stone, but an unknown symbol whisks him somewhere else.
Bee on the other hand returns home, or Buckkeep at least, where her life completely changes as she is now a part of the royal family, a position that official status she dislikes just as much as her father. She must endure, and keep up appearances, that's what is told to her by everyone, even those who want nothing but the best for her. Just like Fitz, Bee longs for her long-gone freedom, knowing it has forever gone.
Months later Fitz finally emerges from the stone. He is at the rock quarry where King Verity once carved himself a stone dragon, into which he poured himself to protect the kingdom. Nighteyes in Fitz's mind tells him, that this is their final task now. There's no time to return home, Fitz needs to carve himself a dragon. While Fitz disagrees, he can feel himself being ill from a deadly parasite infestation caused by the Servant guard's poisoned dart.
Nighteyes leaps back to Bee's mind, telling her her father is still alive, but needs help to carve the rock, even with his silvery hands. she tells her sister and queen Kettricken and in the end, they all arrive to witness how sickly Fitz is pouring himself into the stone, desperately trying to complete it before he dies. They can do nothing else but provide him food, as the healers are sure he won't survive the infestation.
While carving the stone, pouring his memories into it, he tells his story to Bee, who writes it down. When the statue is complete, Fitz is unable to sink into it, as something is missing. Bee knows what's wrong: Fitz needs his prophet, his friend, and his beloved Fool to come with him. And so he does, after Bee tricks him into doing so and the assassins, the fool, and the wolf finally merge into the single being they were always supposed to be, becoming a wolf who will always protect those he loves.
End of spoilers
Assassin's Fate is a marvelous conclusion to the saga of Fitz, the bastard son of Prince Chivalry. An unlikely son, who became an unlikely hero. His attempts of trying to find peace and solace, the short years he managed to do so, and how he finally gave in to the seductive and addictive power of his birth magic by doing the only thing he could stay alive: pouring himself into a stone statue like his king Verity did so many years ago. A man who made many mistakes, most of which were direct results of the Fool, the White Prophet, coaxing him, pushing him to do the impossible in order to change the direction of the world and which ended up in the birth of Bee, the unlikely daughter who became an unwilling White Prophet and finally the destroyer of Clarres.
It's not a happy tale, nor an easy tale. It's a tale of a man who feels bad about his decisions, the constant guilt of having abandoned his oldest daughter, and how he feels terrible for not being a better father to his younger one. But it is a fantastic tale nonetheless, which ends in something of a bittersweet notion with his daughters having found their way, knowing that Fitz has now become complete. Bee might see the Fool as a conniving manipulator, who without pity used her father to do what was necessary from his point of view, not caring what it would do to his Catalyst, the pebble that can change the direction of the wheel of fate. She also knows that the Fool is a part of him and so when the time comes, Fitz, Nighteyes, and the Fool need to merge into one.
I do think this is a very fitting tale for a man, who never could quite accept the things he was forced to do, not only by others but by himself as well. He was loved more than he ever could accept, he never did think he was good enough for it. Despite all that, his story, with all the pain, ends in a notion of peace, with his daughters continuing their lives just as he does, in the form of a wolf that combines three souls, Nighteyes who was his closest companion, and the Fool, Beloved, his closest friend.
It is at times an infuriating story, filled with despair. But it is also a heroic and hopeful story, with Bee finding her own way and with Fitz doing his all to save her. And in the end, he gets the reward he has always longed for when he with Skill turns into the wolf he has always wanted to be, hunting forever with his pack.
If it's worth anything, I do think Fitz and the Fool is Robin Hobb's best trilogy entry for Hobb's Elderlings Saga. It's emotional and impactful, tying up loose ends of the massive tale in a very satisfying manner. And what's more, it does leave a room open for more, if she so chooses at some point. One can only imagine the adventures of Skillmaster Nettle and her sister Bee, an unwilling White Prophet capable of seeing all the possible paths, no matter how unlikely they are.
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