Assassin's Apprentice
Chapters - Robin Hobb
Chapter 1: The Earliest History
A young boy is brought to Buckkeep by his maternal grandfather, who reveals him to be the illegitimate son of Prince Chivalry Farseer, the King-in-Waiting. The child is left in the care of Burrich, Chivalry's man-at-arms, who is recovering from a boar wound. FitzChivalry Farseer's arrival triggers a political scandal that leads Chivalry to abdicate the throne and withdraw from court with his wife Patience, leaving Verity Farseer as the new King-in-Waiting.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Burrich, Vixen·Mentioned: Verity Farseer, Regal Farseer, Shrewd Farseer, Chivalry Farseer, Patience
Chapter 2: Newboy
FitzChivalry Farseer grows up in Burrich's care at the Buckkeep stables, a lonely child on the margins of keep life. He bonds with a puppy named Nosy through the Wit, a forbidden beast-magic, until Burrich discovers the connection and takes the dog away. Fitz is devastated by the loss and the isolation that follows, as Burrich keeps strict watch to prevent him from bonding with any animal again.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Burrich, Nosy, Vixen·Mentioned: Molly Chandler
Chapter 3: Covenant
King Shrewd Farseer discovers FitzChivalry Farseer scavenging in the Great Hall and decides to claim the boy as his own, seeing him as a political tool. Shrewd gives Fitz a pin signifying his protection, promises to provide for him, and arranges for formal education including weapons training under Hod and a proper room in the keep. The Fool makes his first brief, enigmatic appearance, and Fitz begins his transformation from a feral stable boy to a prince's bastard with purpose.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Shrewd Farseer, Regal Farseer, The Fool, Burrich, Mistress Hasty·Mentioned: Hod, Fedwren
Chapter 4: Apprenticeship
FitzChivalry Farseer begins formal training in horsemanship under Burrich, weapons under Hod, and letters under Fedwren. Late one night, the mysterious and pock-scarred Chade Fallstar reveals himself to Fitz via a secret passage and begins teaching him the art of assassination at King Shrewd Farseer's command. Chade becomes both mentor and father figure, opening Fitz's mind to observation, herbalism, and the political realities of being a royal bastard.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Burrich, Chade Fallstar, Shrewd Farseer, Mistress Hasty, Fedwren, Cook Sara, Kerry·Mentioned: Hod
Chapter 5: Loyalties
Chade Fallstar trains FitzChivalry Farseer in stealth, observation, and manipulation through increasingly complex tasks around the keep. When Chade tests Fitz's loyalty by ordering him to steal from King Shrewd Farseer's chambers, Fitz refuses on principle, causing a painful rift between them. After days of anguish, Chade and Shrewd acknowledge Fitz was right, and their bond is renewed stronger than before, with Fitz demonstrating his loyalty by openly taking a knife from Shrewd's table.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Chade Fallstar, Shrewd Farseer, Kerry·Mentioned: Burrich, Charim
Chapter 6: Chivalry's Shadow
FitzChivalry Farseer learns of his father Chivalry's death from Verity Farseer and Regal Farseer while returning from town errands. Burrich cuts Fitz's hair in deep mourning while Chade Fallstar warns that Chivalry may have been murdered, likely from within the keep. Fitz renews his friendship with Molly Chandler Chandler in Buckkeep Town and reads her mother's tablets for her. Chade counsels Fitz that as a royal bastard he can never leave Buckkeep safely, and the chapter ends with Fitz's sombre walk home after learning his father is gone.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Burrich, Verity Farseer, Regal Farseer, Chade Fallstar, Molly Chandler, Kerry·Mentioned: Chivalry Farseer
Chapter 7: An Assignment
Chade Fallstar reveals to FitzChivalry Farseer his first real assassination assignment: to investigate and possibly poison Lord Kelvar of Neatbay for failing to man Watch Island's watchtower. Fitz, now thirteen, accompanies Prince Verity Farseer's diplomatic mission to Neatbay. The Fool delivers a cryptic prophecy to Fitz. Fitz struggles with the moral weight of his task while preparing for his first journey away from Buckkeep.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Chade Fallstar, The Fool, Burrich·Mentioned: Shrewd Farseer, Verity Farseer, Duke Kelvar
Chapter 8: Lady Thyme
FitzChivalry Farseer travels as attendant to the irascible Lady Thyme, who is actually Chade Fallstar in disguise. At Neatbay, Fitz serves as Verity Farseer's spy at the diplomatic feast, reporting on Lord Kelvar and his young wife Lady Grace. In the kitchen late at night, Fitz saves Lady Grace's choking lapdog and cleverly uses the encounter to inspire her to champion the proper manning of the watchtowers, potentially resolving the mission without poison.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Verity Farseer, Hands, Duke Kelvar, Lady Grace·Mentioned: Chade Fallstar
Chapter 9: Fat Suffices
Chade Fallstar reveals that Red-Ship Raiders have struck at Forge and taken hostages with a bizarre ultimatum: pay gold and the hostages die, refuse and they will be returned. Chade and FitzChivalry Farseer ride urgently through the night to Forge on a harrowing journey. Chade uses carris seed to sustain himself, alarming Fitz who knows its dangers from Burrich's warnings. They arrive at the coast to board a boat across the bay.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Chade Fallstar, Sooty·Mentioned: Burrich
Chapter 10: The Pocked Man
FitzChivalry Farseer and Chade Fallstar arrive at Forge to find the hostages have been returned, but horribly changed - stripped of all human empathy and connection, what will become known as 'Forging'. Fitz discovers his Wit sense cannot detect the Forged ones at all, and he realises for the first time that he possesses a unique sensory ability others lack. The townspeople flee in superstitious terror, mistaking the pock-scarred Chade for the legendary harbinger of disaster. Chade collapses from carris-seed withdrawal, and they make a slow, grim journey back to Neatbay.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Chade Fallstar
Chapter 11: Forgings
The aftermath of Forge spreads fear across the Six Duchies as more villages are raided and Forged. FitzChivalry Farseer walks the beaches with Molly Chandler, sharing an evening of growing romantic tension, while the kingdom fractures under the Red-Ship threat. Chade Fallstar agonises over King Shrewd Farseer's indecisiveness and passionately argues for stronger action. The chapter ends with a mysterious noblewoman appearing in Buckkeep's kitchen, staring at Fitz with unnerving intensity.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Chade Fallstar, Molly Chandler, Patience·Mentioned: Burrich, Shrewd Farseer
Chapter 12: Patience
The mysterious woman is revealed to be Lady Patience, Chivalry's widow and FitzChivalry Farseer's stepmother, who has come to Buckkeep to demand Fitz be recognised as Chivalry's heir. Though King Shrewd Farseer refuses formal recognition, he grants Patience's demand that Fitz receive a princely education and be trained in the Skill. Patience assigns Fitz as her page, and Chade Fallstar warns that his Skill instructor Galen is a dangerous man who hates Fitz and once killed a woman with the Wit.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Patience, Burrich, Chade Fallstar·Mentioned: Shrewd Farseer, Verity Farseer, Regal Farseer, Galen, The Fool
Chapter 13: Smithy
Patience gives FitzChivalry Farseer a black terrier puppy he names Smithy, and the two bond deeply through the Wit. Fitz struggles with Patience's scattered teaching methods but finds common ground with her through his paintings of the puppy. The Fool visits Fitz privately, warning him about Patience's vulnerability and revealing that Chivalry had refused to let Patience raise Fitz. Patience and Fitz share an emotional breakthrough when she sees his paintings and cries out that he should have been hers.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Patience, Lacey, The Fool, Smithy·Mentioned: Burrich, Chivalry Farseer
Chapter 14: Galen
Galen begins his Skill instruction with deliberate cruelty, isolating students on the cold tower top, imposing deprivation, and singling out FitzChivalry Farseer for abuse. Burrich warns Fitz that Galen killed a woman with the Wit and fought at the Witness Stones over it. The Fool secretly cares for Smithy while Fitz endures months of escalating physical and psychological torment. Galen's training methods are designed to break rather than teach, and Fitz begins to lose himself in the abusive dynamic.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Galen, Burrich, The Fool, August
Chapter 15: The Witness Stones
Galen's Skill training culminates in a brutal test where he overwhelms FitzChivalry Farseer's mind and beats him nearly to death on the tower roof. Fitz crawls toward the edge to throw himself off, but Smithy's desperate love through the Wit-bond pulls him back from suicide. Burrich finds Fitz and tends his injuries, and the Fool reveals that Burrich had dragged Galen to the Witness Stones and beaten him in combat to defend Fitz's right to be taught. Fitz returns to lessons after Burrich and the Fool convince him not to give up.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Galen, Burrich, The Fool, Smithy
Chapter 16: Lessons
FitzChivalry Farseer returns to Galen's lessons after Burrich's challenge at the Witness Stones. Despite Galen's continued hostility, Fitz begins to show real Skill talent, growing stronger and even repelling Galen's mental intrusions. However, Galen conceals his inability to properly teach Fitz and plots against him. Fitz develops a deepening but unconsummated connection with Molly Chandler during walks in Buckkeep Town, while talk of finding Verity Farseer a bride fills the court.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Galen, Molly Chandler, August, Smithy·Mentioned: Regal Farseer, Verity Farseer
Chapter 17: The Trial
Galen sends his students on a Skill trial, scattering them across the countryside to find their way back using the Skill. FitzChivalry Farseer is deposited near Forge without a horse, and when Smithy is fatally stabbed during an attack on Burrich at Buckkeep, the severed Wit-bond devastates Fitz. He fights and kills Forged ones on his journey home, and upon returning discovers that Galen misted his mind to make him believe he had no Skill ability. Burrich rejects Fitz when he learns of the Wit-bond with Smithy, and Fitz falls into deep depression.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Burrich, Molly Chandler, The Fool, Smithy·Mentioned: Galen
Chapter 18: Assassinations
Chade Fallstar assigns FitzChivalry Farseer to kill Forged ones with poisoned bread while also serving as attendant to Prince Verity Farseer, who is being consumed by his constant Skill-work defending the coast. Fitz discovers Verity can draw strength from him through the Skill, nearly killing Fitz in the process. Shrewd Farseer summons Fitz to discuss Verity's coming marriage to Mountain Princess Kettricken, and privately orders Fitz to assassinate her brother Prince Rurisk during the wedding journey. Fitz also carries out a separate assassination of a cruel lordling.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Chade Fallstar, Verity Farseer, Shrewd Farseer·Mentioned: Regal Farseer, Galen, Prince Rurisk, Kettricken
Chapter 19: Journey
FitzChivalry Farseer joins the wedding cavalcade travelling to the Mountain Kingdom of Jhaampe, carrying both diplomatic gifts and hidden poisons. The Fool gives him seapurge as protection against poisoning, and Patience pierces his ear with one of Chivalry's earrings as a farewell gift. The long journey takes them through the plains of Farrow and across Blue Lake into the mountain forests, while Fitz privately wrestles with his orders to kill Prince Rurisk.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: The Fool, Patience, Hands, August, Burrich, Sooty·Mentioned: Lacey, Verity Farseer, Prince Rurisk
Chapter 20: Jhaampe
FitzChivalry Farseer arrives at the colourful mountain capital of Jhaampe, where the Chyurda people's customs of humble service by royalty contrast sharply with the Six Duchies' pomp. Princess Kettricken shows Fitz the gardens and speaks frankly about Regal Farseer's unflattering portrayal of Verity Farseer. Fitz speaks well of Verity to his bride-to-be. Kettricken then reveals that Regal told her Fitz is a poisoner sent to kill Rurisk, and Fitz realises he has been poisoned by herbs Kettricken fed him in the garden. He barely survives the night using the Fool's seapurge.
POV: FitzChivalry Farseer·On page: Kettricken, Prince Rurisk, Jonqui, Regal Farseer, August, Eyod, Sooty·Mentioned: Verity Farseer, The Fool