Plus, you know, Cam fed Valinor to a black hole, how could that have been averted. Because it was awful and traumatizing.

It sounds it! He wasn't happy about it either. The thing he got for it was very important. The Enemy should not have had that thing to bargain with, that is probably the best way they could have improved on the situation.

If they'd gotten into a fight for Endore the whole planet would have been destroyed.

Well, yes. It was, in fact, planet-destroying levels of important. Ideally they could have gotten it out of the way before the Dwarves and Men showed up. Were they under the impression the Enemy was going to stop of his own accord or something.

in five hundred years everyone'd be pretty much dead anyway and then they'd have intervened.

Is this the part where Elspeth explains that torture hurts.

They knew the Enemy was doing that and that it was really bad but it wasn't really clear what could be done about it without killing hundreds of millions of people and they categorically can't do things that'll kill hundreds of millions of people. If they were the sort of thing that could do that while also being Valar there wouldn't be any people in this dimension.

Really? Why not?

Valar are the set of things they're capable of doing.

...okay, but at what point would they have exercised the capability to wipe out all life in the dimension?

If killing hundreds of millions of people were the thing they were, then of course they would have done that, that is what it would mean to be capable of it.

...well, presumably at some times they take novel actions, right?

No? They only take actions that are inherent to the kind of thing they are. 

But, like, they are reacting to Elspeth. They are capable of reacting to Elspeth. That was probably not written in. She is from three hops away.

Sure, but 'talking to people' is the sort of thing that's in their nature. As is 'wanting to understand incarnates better'. 'killing hundreds of millions of people' isn't.

What would happen if something really unexpected showed up?

They would act according to their natures? If she's more specific she'll get a more specific answer. But there are literally no conditions under which they'd kill hundreds of millions of people. They would be completely different if they were the sort of thing that could ever be induced to do that.

Huh.

Well, incarnates are different! (Elspeth explains.)

And then she goes to visit Hex, Jake trailing after her.

They have been told about her, and are pleased to meet her, she must be a little tired of Elves. Mitros likes Elves but there are now a lot of them in Marlatia to give birth and Elves can wear on one. 

"Oh, I like Elves. They can all read minds and it's very Elspeth-friendly! Except not the Space kind and I think that's what you have here?"

"Yes, and I'd have had some reservations about inviting them over if they could all read minds."

"They don't have to do it, we could insist they promise not to. If any of the non-Space Elves want to come have spellbinder children."

"Yeah, but do the kids read minds, too?"

"Probably. Do they have to stay here until they're old enough to bind the familiar?"

"Don't think we know that yet, actually, has anybody with a spirit animal left?"